Jack finished putting the last of the medicinal plants he had found into his rucksack. Mama was acting mighty strange-- He really had no clue what was wrong with her, but she was clearly more sick than she was letting on. Deep inside, he suspected it was brain swelling from a tick bite-- such things happen-- and animals either pull through or they don't-- but the symptoms did not match, other than the headache. Mama could walk just fine, and aside from being grouchy from the pain, driving her to increased hostility as her baseline, she seemed more or less normal. He just didn't get it.
After tending to mama for a long time, trying to calm her down after her scare, he had wandered around in the forest edge where she had hidden the two of them after she ran and hid from Dula. Jack was kinda grateful she didnt drag him deeper in; The woods seethed danger today. Instead, he capitalized on the opportunity, (between very affectionate bouts of tending to mama when she wasnt digging for roots and shoots) and hunted for willow tree bark he could safely harvest; The only way to get it without actually hurting a living tree, is to get it from a fresh dead-fallen limb, and it took him quite awhile to find one. Stripping it bare with his knife, and brewing up a tincture from it, he convinced Mama to drink it, even though it smelled and tasted foul.
He had no idea how to actually fix what was wrong with her, but he would find out if anyone in the village knew-- It might be a local disease he had never encountered before. The willow tincture would at least take the edge off her pain, and help her be more sociable, and less demanding.
This area had been picked as much as could be safely done; Any more would upset the ecology.
He once again sat down next to mama, who had just finished snacking on some tender grass roots, and rubbed her huge furry head in what was quickly becoming her favorite spot.
We gotta get goin mama. He whispered to her gently. Aint safe here, though I know you meant well.
It took some gentle prodding, and some more sweet talking-- but since her headache was easing, she was more receptive-- A few more tries, and he had her lumbering beside him, back toward the forest edge, and back to town.
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What does One-Eye get from his gathering efforts?