The caravan continued onward, slowly but steadily with the multitude of people it mustered. As far as Caspian knew, there was no precedent for such a great movement of people. The swaths of cattle and livestock grazed, driven before them or pulling their carts. Shepherds and cattlemen alongside the cobblers, the seamstresses, the nomads, and the peddlers.
The patchwork quilt of humanity was mesmerizing in its patterns.
Mayra's husband, Peter, did much of the conflict resolution. A sheepdog snapped at a group of donkeys who got too close to his charges, sparking an argument amongst the owners of the respective animals.
Someone accused a pig farmer of driving his herd too close to the midwives' covered wagons, causing a laboring mother within it to vomit from the smell.
These and a thousand other little dramas made life on the road colorful and strange.
The Rhone were a homogenous people with a common culture and way of life. The movements of their tribes were practiced and seamless, nearly silent. Every person knew their role and fulfilled it. To an outsider, it was eerie and unnerving, the unity and lack of sound.
This great squawking, clanging, braying collection of all tribes and nations was quite another thing. There was great noise, but also a measure of harmony in it that Caspian had not expected. There was bonding, and some laughter and joy. The little ones exclaimed over each new sight, and their delight was contagious.
Eventually, they reached the Northern township where there was rumored to be illness.
Caspian was curious about this development, and stepped forward with Peter to hear the news. They stopped a distance from the medical tent as soldiers gestured for them to stay away. Naomi stepped up beside him, and one of those odd halflings as well.
He didn't like their presence. One of them had been at the root of his brother's enslavement many years ago, and he still resented their race.
Gabriel emerged from the tent, wiping his hands on a towel, Victoria behind him, carrying a small child on her hip.
"Hello!" Peter called across the distance. "What news?"
"What news? Look at all of you!" Gabriel called back in disbelief. "What news do you bring?"
Caspian disliked that news such as this must be called out like an announcement, but he cleared his throat.
"We are evacuating Klain. The Beast comes with its forces to enslave the minds of all, and so we are traveling away. We turn East from here, into the mountains, led by this Fae." He gestured to Gwen.
"It's good to see you," Gabriel spared a smile for the grey-haired woman before turning back to Caspian and Peter. "Do I have new orders? More aid? Supplies?"
The words were understandably devoid of hope, but Caspian gestured and some crates were brought forward.
"This is all we can spare of what you requested," He shook his head. "I am sorry it is not more. Are things… that is, is your time here almost done?"
There was no tactful way to yell across a short field to ask whether everyone was dead yet who was likely to die, but Gabriel understood the question anyway.
"It is dire here. In those that recover, the disease lingers, but in those that die… they could die on the first day, the second, the twentieth… there is no pattern. There is so much death." The man's voice wavered, and Victoria moved to stand a little closer, but did not touch him.
"The child," Naomi asked, surprising her husband, "Whose is that?"
"Owen. His parents died." Victoria called. "I would send him with you, but he may yet carry the illness. There are many orphans here, but anyone well enough to care for them does not have the courage to risk exposure to the sickness."
Caspian felt a tug on his sleeve, and looked down at his wife. Her brown eyes were pleading, but he did not understand. Of course she must feel bad for these motherless children, and he put his hand over hers.
"In the crates, there are some herbs to try, grown by the halflings," Peter called. "Do you know how to use them?"
"No," Victoria shook her head, and Caspian frowned. The magical herbs had left their world when this young woman was still a child. There was no reason for her to have this knowledge.
"Finn has a book, maybe that would be helpful?" Naomi whispered to Caspian. He nodded down at her and she ran to fetch it.
"She will try to find some instructions," Caspian said. He heard heavy footsteps behind him and turned to see Dr. and Mrs. Sherman, his cousin's adoptive parents, coming from behind.
The woman had tears in her eyes as she waved to Gabriel and Victoria. A dog ran from the older couple and leapt into Gabriel's arms, nearly knocking him over.
"I missed you, too, Evey." Gabriel assured the animal with a chuckle.
"Don't worry, Mama, Papa, we are well," The young woman called.
"Do you know the disease?" Dr. Sherman called to Gabriel. The two doctors called symptoms and theories back and forth for a few minutes while Caspian began to wonder what had happened to his wife.
He was just becoming impatient when she reappeared, holding two large packs, one of which she handed to him. The Fae, Gwen, was looking at Naomi with an odd expression on her face. The strange female halfling was following her.
"What's this for?" He asked stoically.
"I… want us to stay here," Naomi dropped her eyes, as she often did when asking for something. Except she wasn't asking this time. She had simply stated her desires.
"All these years I have had to pry out of you what you want, or try to guess. We're finally to the stage where you're going to tell me plainly what you desire, and it's… this?" Caspian was confused.
"Victoria is a nurse, she has no time to care for the orphans. They need help. They need parents." Naomi's words wavered. "They need us."
Caspian gaped at her. "You want us to open an orphanage for sick children in a town we've never been to?"
"I want us to adopt all the children who will have us and raise the largest family you've ever seen." Naomi's eyes finally met his. "I've been trying to bring this up for a long time. It seems I'm not able to give you children… in the normal way. But we want children, and these children want a home. No one else is willing."
Their soft conversation was drawing more attention as the Fae continued to stare at them. Caspian's eyebrows drew together. "Roland gave me a mission–"
"With full discretion to make changes along the way as best suited the needs of the people," Peter interrupted, and then stepped back when Caspian gave him a sharp look.
"Please, Caspian," Naomi dropped her eyes again. Her hands were in front of her, clasped tightly on the strap of her pack.
He hesitated. She almost never asked for anything. It was part of what drew him to her, the mystery of figuring out what it was she desired. To have it laid out was a wonderful change, but to risk her health, her very life…
"Please," She whispered, and a tear dropped down her cheek. Sorrow hit him in the belly. He'd been sad as the years drew on without them being blessed with a child, but it must have been affecting her far more than he knew.
"All right," He nodded. "We will stay."
Naomi's head snapped up, a hesitant smile peeking through her tears. "Truly?"
"This might be a horrible decision, but, yes." He nodded.
Naomi hugged him while the halfling female looked on indifferently. Caspian shook Peter's hand and gave him a few brief instructions before hugging him and commending the leading of the caravan to him.
"If we can get this township healed up into a passable state, we will follow after," Caspian assured him. "I wish you all the best until we meet again."
Peter nodded. Those others in the caravan that wanted to shout messages of greeting or love to Victoria and Gabriel did so quickly as they got ready to continue moving. The woman halfling stayed in place near Naomi.
"Is there any reason you're here?" Caspian asked vaguely.
"I am to determine if this disease poses any threat to halflings. It may weigh into the decision we have to make." The small woman replied flatly.
"You're going to put yourself at risk of getting sick to see if your people are capable of getting sick?" Caspian asked incredulously.
"No. I have an excellent immune system supplemented by a special herbal concoction my mother gave me at birth. I will merely study the disease and attempt to find a cure in case it can spread to halflings who did not have that benefit." The woman blinked up at him. "Shall we go? It is a waste of time to stand here."
"After you," Caspian gestured, and the tiny woman strode forward. "What's her name again?" He whispered to Naomi.
"I don't think we were ever told." She said quickly back.