What a Festival (2)

Yolly flew to the second floor as Tamara and Lia followed suit.

In a room upstairs, they found Frankie thrashing around. All three of them dashed inside and tried to calm him down. Without a word, Lia found a bottle from their bags, uncorked it, and passed it to Tamara who tried to place it on Frankie's mouth. He resisted and a few drops spilled. Yolly held him down, and with her strength, they managed to make him stop just long enough for him to drink the medicine. After what felt like an eternity, he finally calmed down and went back to sleep.

"That should lower his fever," Tamara brushed her brow while checking Frankie's pulse. Once she was satisfied, she drove them out of the room. "But I don't know what to do about the delusions," she said as she pulled the door, leaving it partially open. "Do you think you still have that gin?"

Lia stood in the background, leaned on the wall, and crossed her arms over her chest as she listened, not really knowing what to do. From time to time, she would glance inside the room to check on Frankie.

The second floor of the shop served as Yolly and Frankie's house. Aside from the two rooms, it was an open space that had a living room and a kitchen. What struck Lia was the bare walls. No decors. This did not seem like a home, more like only a place to sleep. Lia could not help but wonder why.

Tamara grabbed Yolly's arm and stirred her friend to the kitchen. "I need you to calm down. Frankie needs you the most right now."

Yolly dropped to a chair and nodded weakly. Tamara crouched in front of her. "That's better. Now, tell me do you still have that gin?"

"He has a stash in his closet."

Lia was already on her feet. "I got this." Not too long, she was back outside. She handed it to her mother, then proceeded to prepare tea for the three of them.

"So let me get this straight. They get this drink in a tavern--" Tamara asked.

"Yes, that hole-in-wall in the corner," Yolly tilted her head in the direction.

"They got drunk, then ill, then came the delusions. They would calm down, then they would drink again?"

Yolly stared at her tea. "Yes, some people claim that it relaxes them."

Tamara knitted her brows, her stare disbelieving. "If people go wilder than this, then why is no one reporting to the mayor or the town guards?"

"The mayor doesn't want anyone knowing this because of the festival. He has the biggest tax collection at this time of the year," Yolly said with a roll of her eyes. "He ordered his men to postpone the investigation and announce that it might be…" She glanced at Tamara's direction, the rest of her words were clear to all three of them.

"Witch or not, I think I've seen this medicine used before." Tamara gave a tentative smell of the drink. "That smell -- I'm quite certain that they are the same."

"The same?" Lia said. That was the first time she knew about that.

Tamara gave the half-full bottle a swirl. "A long time ago, a village was wiped out because its residents fought one another."

"Don't tell me..."

Tamara nodded. "I'm sorry Lia but we will have to stay for a few days before we can leave. I need to find out how to cure this."

"Leave?" Yolly glanced around seemed to have only realized their bags. "Where are you going?"

By the end of Tamara's explanation, Yolly said, "Then we're going too."

"You can't."

"I promised my forefathers! This has been passed down. Now you're saving my son. He, too, has an obligation."

"Yolly, listen to me. You have a life now. You're not bound to me. To us."

"Excuse me, what do you mean obligation? Bound?" Lia asked, completely feeling like everything was spiraling out of her understanding.

But the older women ignored her.

"This is my life and I get to decide what to do. And what I want to do is leave with the two of you." The fierce Yolly came back with full force.

Not even Tamara seemed to have words against that determination. She pressed her lips as the minutes went by slowly. In a quiet voice, she finally spoke, "Let's find Frankie's cure first."