Tina smiled and
prepared some plates of food for her older brothers who would be eating at one
of the tables in the common room with her and her sisters when they were done
feeding the kids. Tina carried five plates easily and swept into the other
room. She couldn’t help but dart her eyes over to the woman and man in the
corner. They were both calmly resting and seemed content, leaning against the
back wall, enjoying the minstrel’s show. Although calling the man resting was
like noticing that a panther seemed to be relaxing. Tina hurried over to her
four older brothers and served them their plates. She grabbed her own plate and
paused as the minstrel hit a single chord that echoed the sound of a deep
lament of an ill-fated lover. She positioned herself against the other wall in
the only seat that would give her a view of the woman and the man. There were
about twenty people that evening, visitors and guests staying the night, in the
upstairs rooms. The door kept swinging open and shut into the cozy room to let
in other patrons and townspeople that stopped by to say ‘hi’ or grab a mug of
cider before heading out.

Tina’s mother was the local healer
and one of the most important women in town. Her father was held in high
respect, both for his jovial nature and his shrewd business sense. However,
there was a healthy awe from the townsfolk because as a young man he had
traveled all across the country. Although he rarely spoke of his travels, his
knowledge of the countryside and politics always came in handy at the town
meetings. Tina herself had a knack for the herbs and medicines that her mother
used. Her mother had taken Tina on all her trips into the deep woods as a
child. Tina was also very adept in understanding the changing moods and
feelings of all the neighbors, farmers, and simple folk around her. Her mother
immediately recognized in Tina the ability to deal and cope with many different
kinds of humanity and so she took her around the countryside to meet and treat
many different villagers. Although Tina was the seventh child, she knew that
both her parents planned to give her the tavern and inn when they were old.
Tina’s two older sisters and four older brothers had always seemed perfectly
happy and content with the idea of getting married and living on farms or
raising a family in the town. But they wanted to be blacksmiths, seamstresses,
farmers and one brother wanted to be a surgeon. Among the eight younger
siblings, only Paul and Rose shared Tina’s affinity for medicine and knowledge.