The white blood cells began to increase in number.
Amazed, Gwen watched as Mother Superior caused them to split, grow, split again, and keep on multiplying till they outnumbered the rabies germs. Then, incredibly, the germs themselves began to change, withering and drying up. Sister Paterna was withdrawing the fluid from them, and the white blood cells swarmed in to absorb what was left.
It was only a beginning, of course. The germs had spread throughout the man's body, and Sister Paterna had to follow the main arteries to the heart, then sit in concentration while the blood circulated, killing the germs as they approached the ventricles.
Finally the germs were dead and the infection had ceased to fester. Mother Superior withdrew her concentration from the inside of the man's body with a sigh. Gwen followed suit, dazed by the magnitude of the woman's accomplishment. She looked up to see that the shadows had lengthened and the light in the room had taken on the ruddy glow of sunset. She turned to Mother Superior. "That was amazing, Sister Paterna!"
"Gramercy." Mother Superior gave her a weary smile. "Though 'twas more in the magnitude of the task than in the nature of it that the accomplishment lies."
The two peasants were staring at their fellow in disbelief. "Is he truly cured, Mother?"
"He will live," Mother Superior answered, "but his mind is still filled with hatred and rage. It will take a while for the poisons to ebb from it—and I must teach him how to think like a well man again."
"Like a man of any sort," the other peasant said, his voice low. " 'Twas a miracle, Mother."
" 'Twas nothing of the sort!" Mother Superior said indignantly. " 'Twas naught but the skill of one who can heal with the mind. There was no magic in it and certainly no miracle, for miracles come from God alone, and I am not saintly enough to serve as a channel of His grace!"
The looks the peasants gave her clearly denied the claim, but they didn't argue. Mother Superior sighed and gathered herself together. "They wait upon us for the evening meal. Lady Gallowglass, will you come?"
"Aye, Sister, and right gladly."
When they had gone out of the hospital, Gwen asked, "How is't you allowed those men to call you 'Mother' when you deny the title?"
"The poor folk would not understand the distinction. Lady Gallowglass, and would think there is no head to this Order. And, too, they have a need to look up to others who do not seek to oppress them. I would rather they called me only 'Sister Paterna,' as you do, but I am past arguing the matter with them—they will agree with all I say, then turn and call me 'Mother' again." She looked up at the crescent of the rising moon. "We should retire early this night. Tomorrow will be long."
It was an all-day process, starting early in the morning, dining and resting for two hours in the middle of the day, then laboring inside the man's mind till evening. Gwen followed Mother Superior's movements in silent wonder, watching as she stimulated production of new brain cells to replace those destroyed by the disease, increased resistance in a host of synapses, and lowered the neural blocks in others. In the afternoon, she moved inside the sleeping mind to banish memories of attack by opposing them with symbols of forgiveness and self-assurance—usually saints. Then, with images of other saints moving in the man's subconscious to show him the virtues of charity and compassion, she taught him to be human once again.
They returned to the refectory at sunset, Gwen still marvelling at the techniques Mother Superior had used. "Can you thus heal the minds of those who are mad, but not from disease, Sister Paterna?"
"Many of those we think to be 'mad' truly suffer from a disorder of the body, Lady Gallowglass. The body must be set to rights within before we can teach them to think again as they were before their illnesses manifested."
"The point is well taken." It helped confirm what Gwen had suspected. "Yet what of those in whom the body is not awry? Of those who are not truly mad in their own minds but whom others have twisted in their rearing, or who have suffered mightily at the hands of their fellows and cannot believe in goodness any longer?"
"We can aid, but only if the patient is willing—for in the end, look you, all we do is to teach them how they may heal their own minds."
Gwen nodded slowly. "I think that will suffice."
The "werewolf," no longer rabid, went home the next morning, albeit with considerable help from the other two peasants; he was very weak. Gwen left not long after, coming out of the refectory right after breakfast.
"I hope you will visit us again, Lady Gallowglass," Mother Superior said. "There are many questions I wish to ask, much that I believe you may teach me."
"I shall be delighted, Sister, when this current trouble is ended—though I think you may know more of healing than any in Gramarye."
"Nay," Mother Superior said quite seriously. "There is thyself, and an holy hermit who doth dwell by the Northern Sea, and a witch in the West who doth dwell by a lake"—a shadow crossed her face—"though I am not certain I can approve the means by which she effects her cures. Still, she is the foremost in disorders of the mind that stem from the heart.. . . Well, God speed thy journey."
Gwen hesitated at the gate, then turned back. "One last favor, if I may."
"Ask it," said Mother Superior with the hint of a smile.
"May I see this cassette from which thine Order doth derive its name?"
The smile grew and broadened. "I feared you had forgot."
Mother Superior led Gwen to a small room adjacent to the solar. It was little more than a closet with a reproduction of the picture of Father Marco on the wall and a flat box with two indentations on its top and sitting on a small table.
"Place thine index and middle fingers in the hollows," Mother Superior said.
"Naught more?"
"Naught."
Gwen placed her fingers in the two indentations, guessing that the computer within the box would recognize human skin temperature and texture and would feed its signal through her neurons.
She was right; her head seemed to fill with a voice saying, "Introduction to Neurology: Lesson One." Then a schematic diagram of the human body appeared in front of her, superimposed over the walls of the room, and the voice began to describe the nervous system. As it enumerated each component, that element appeared in blue on the schematic—first the brain, then the spinal cord, then the nerve trunks and the plexi. Gwen stood entranced, forgetting the cassette itself and caught up in the wonder of new knowledge. She stood transfixed through all ten lessons until the voice finally said, "That is the end of this recording. Please insert Cassette Two."
Then the room was back and the voice was silent.
Fatigue hit, and Gwen swayed on her feet. A strong arm reached out to brace her and she found herself looking into the smiling face of a middle-aged nun. "I am Sister Cecilia," the woman informed her. "Mother saw that you did not wish to leave the cassette and asked that I watch over you, which I have been glad to do. Come, let us go to her."
Dazed, Gwen went where she was led. "I—remark that you do term the cassette only that, Sister, a cassette."
"What else should we call it—a relic?"
"I would not have been surprised," Gwen said slowly, "or at least 'holy' or 'blessed.' "
Sister Cecilia shook her head. "Mother Moira was most firm upon the point—that it is only an artifact, a thing made by human hands, and not holy in itself. Any holiness about it would attach only from our Benefactor, and we have no knowledge that he was a saint."