Chapter Seven: Ginseng
PANAX TRIFOLIUM= dwarf ginseng (yunwi usdi) adaptogen, carminative, nutritive. Common spring ground cover. Bulbs eaten to strengthen lungs and resistance to colds. Leaves contain Ginsenosides; add to any traditional herb formula to increase effectiveness and activity. Source; Nvwoti: Cherokee Medicine and Ethnobotany, c. David Winston AHG 2001
Time: After Midnight 7/14/95, (Memory Time Line: June 27, 1979)
"When they say there are more ghosts in Hogwarts than any other one place in Great Britain, they aren't counting the inside of my head," thought Sirius. From the moment he had recognized Sapphire, standing outside Grimmauld, wearing the blanket wrap that her granny had woven with the odd Cherokee runes, his mind had been haunted.
At the first sound of her singing, a veritable hornet's nest of memories had swarmed from the graves he had so long ago buried them in. Habits of self preservation told him to force them back into silence, but something else -- something that had lain quiet for so long he had thought it dead -- begged him to turn from the reflexive vision of Pettigrew's mocking face. That something was... what? Hope? A ghost for sure, he believed; and wasn't he as good as one himself?
But Sapphire was no ghost, and she seemed to be calling him back to a life he had thought long over. Surely, all the spirits in Hogwarts together couldn't equal the commotion that now knocked , bumped and howled in his thoughts. Tired though he was, Sirius knew he would not sleep tonight. He sat up, pulled on his house robe and descended to the kitchen.
Pawing through the cupboards, looking for something to brew into a pot of tea, Sirius put his hand on a bag of ginseng root. Breathing it's earthy smell summoned new recollections of Granny M's cabin and the summer of '79 . Sirius had not been surprised to find no sign of a wizard's bank in the little town of Etowah, but from there it wasn't hard to bum a ride into Chattanooga, where careful observation and persistence soon got him what he needed.
He had a week left before his flight home, and had planned to apparate back to the Nantahala River for a go at the level five rapids, but found his mind kept returning to the little cabin. "Well, one doesn't want to splinch one's self," he laughed, and made his apparation to a brushy spot behind the McNiven hay shed. Before the motion stopped, he heard the argument.
"Granny, you need to take your pills. Look how swollen your feet are!"
Granny M's voice returned, "I'll take 'em later. I'm busy now."
"Sure you will!" Sapphire sounded exasperated. "Well, at least use some dandelion tea. If I fix some, will you drink it?"
"Not now, honey. It's too warm today fer tea. Don't worry about me, I've been lookin' after myself fer a long time."
"Which makes it a wonder that you're still here! You'll do what you want, obviously, regardless of how much I worry about you. Now that Sirius is gone, and I can leave you alone, I'm going up to the north pasture and see if there's any ginseng ready to harvest. Maybe the poachers didn't get it all this weekend."
"Be sure t' save th' seed. Yunwi Usdi is a great gift, and we ..."
"Granny! When do I ever waste anything! I've spent too much time around you and daddy."
"Your mother likes t' throw out useful things..."
"And I drive her crazy saving everything. Never fear, you've ruined me completely."
The women both laughed, and Sirius peered around the shed to see Sapphire open the cabin door.
Reaching behind the door frame, she drew out a rifle. Could that be the thing she'd been hiding all along, and not a wand? Well, who knew what the gun could really do. After all, there was a rumor that Hogwarts' gamekeeper could use an umbrella like a wand. Sirius transformed into a dog, lay in the bushes, and watched as she slipped a bridle and packsaddle onto Jack and rode him across the back pasture. Would she return to the meadow where he had first heard her sing, he wondered? He very much wanted to watch that ritual again. As soon as she was out of sight, he followed.
It was a long trip, and Sirius lagged more and more behind the big mule as they went. When he heard the voices up ahead, he slowed with caution.
"In as much as it's on my family's land, it makes more sense to ask why you are trespassing." Sapphire's voice was tense.
A man answered. "I've heard that people git shot for poachin' 'sang, ya' know."
"Then you should leave our Ginseng alone."
The man laughed. Sirius' hackles raised at sound. "You sure are funny. I like the way you make me laugh."
Sapphire said nothing. Sirius could hear digging sounds and guessed she was harvesting the plants while she argued with the man.
"You not gonna talk to me now, huh?" he said. There was no answer. "I thought we were good neighbors. Why won't you talk to me?"
"I've said everything there is to say. Now I've got work to do. Why don't you leave me to do it?"
The man laughed again. Sirius could hear meanness in him. "Oh, I guess a college ed'gicated person like you is too good to talk to regular folks like me, huh?" Sapphire was silent. The man continued. "Is it true that your Ind'gin granny is a witchy woman?" The sound of dry leaves crunching was the only reply. "They say she's a witchy woman. Are you a witchy woman too?" Still no answer. "Maybe I should be afraid of the witchy women." The man's voice grew shrill with mock fright. "Are you gonna witch me? Ooh, I'm so afraid of the Ind'gin witchy woman! Maybe she's witched me already. Maybe I'm turning into a green ol' bullfrog. Ain't I supposed to kiss somethin' to change back? Le's see here..."
"Get away!" He heard Sapphire shout, along with a crash of breaking twigs and a snort from the mule. A low growl escaped Sirius' throat involuntarily. There was a long silence, and Sirius feared they had heard him. He crept carefully closer, hoping to see what the situation was.
"I'd be careful where I pointed that thing if I'us you." The man spoke in a menacing tone. "If you pull that trigger, my pap'll put you away for a long time." "Get off our land," Sapphire answered.
"You McNivens are gettin' too big for yer britches."
"You think because your father is sheriff, that you can make your own laws. As soon as we can afford a surveyor who isn't afraid to tell the truth, you'll see what belongs to whom. You don't scare me. Now go."
But Sirius could hear that she was afraid. And now he could see as well. Coming over a small rise, he found Sapphire standing behind Jack, the rifle pointing across his back at a young man. Sirius' hackles rose again. He liked nothing about this fellow; not his smell, not the way his rolled up tee-shirt sleeves revealed muscular arms, not the way he stood - hips thrust forward and his thumbs in his belt loops -- as he leered at Sapphire insolently across the mule's back.
Sirius growled again, then sank to the ground as the man turned his head to look. Sapphire had heard too, he thought. Her head had turned almost imperceptibly, thought her eyes didn't leave the young man. For whatever reason, Sirius could see that Sapphire was reluctant to use the gun. She also seemed to be in real trouble.
What to do? If he rushed the man in dog form, he might frighten Sapphire, who would have no way of recognizing him. He couldn't put a freezing spell on the gun in dog form, so there was no predicting what might come of that. Could he transform without being seen or heard? The man had stopped looking in his direction. Sirius crouched as small as possible and transformed. He immediately lost his balance and had to stand to avoid rolling out of the bush and down the hill.
Sapphire had turned entirely in his direction now, her mouth open in astonishment. Trying to look intimidating as he knocked twigs out of his hair, Sirius addressed the man. "The lady asked you to get off her property. You should do as she says."
The man was startled too, but he recovered his facade immediately as he sized up Sirius. It was clear he was measuring Sirius' superior height against his own shorter, but sturdy frame, and trying to guess whether this stranger knew how to fight.
"You're a far'ner." The man popped his scared knuckles and sneered. "You don't know what you're a'talkin' about. You see, Mr. far'ner, this here is Morton property and you and her is trespassin'."
" I have a witness, now," Sapphire said, "and I reckon he saw what you did before I raised this rifle, so you'd better get on home." Her eyes rested on Sirius for a moment. That was all it took.
The man was fast, but Sapphire was faster. He lunged toward Jack and caught at the barrel of the gun. She raised it and backed out of his reach, leaving him to scrabble across Jack's back. Jack let out an indignant "Hee-aw" and turned his hind quarters toward the man, who slid off, rolled and jumped up.
Now the man and Sapphire were behind Jack, hidden from Sirius' sight except legs and the man's head. The man grabbed again at the rifle again and this time there was nothing between them. Sapphire screamed, and the man collapsed on the ground before her. She stared at him, stared at the rifle, stared back at the fallen man. There had been no report from the gun. The man lay on the ground with his legs twitching like a dying spider.
"Get away from him," Sirius said, as he jogged toward them. Before he reached their side of Jack, he stopped. The man's legs stopped twitching, but his face made up for it, contorting in terror as he scrambled to his feet and backed away.
"What did you do to me!" He rasped, hoarse with fear.
"I didn't do anything. You tripped on your own feet," Sapphire spat back. Her eyes kept traveling back and forth between the man and Sirius. "Now get lost. Next time, I will pull the trigger."
"Damn, you are a witchy woman!" With that, he backed into the trees about ten feet and then turned to run.
Sapphire stared at Sirius. Sirius stared at his feet. "Are you OK?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure," Sapphire said in a strained voice. He could tell she was making an effort to look and sound calm and in control. "Thanks for -- for, you know, backing me up..."
"Don't mention it, " Sirius replied. "I'm not sure you needed any help, though."
Sapphire gave a forced smile, then they fell silent for a good while. "You're back," she said, finally.
"Yeah, I am." Sirius wasn't sure how much of what had just happened she understood. He would let her lead the conversation.
"Did you go to Etowah?"
"Found it just like you said."
"Did you get your money?"
"Had to hitch into Chattanooga for that."
"Oh, sorry."
"No, not at all. You put me on the right road."
"What are you doing here?"
"Getting you out of trouble." Sirius grinned, then he ungrinned. He still wasn't sure if Sapphire was witch or muggle, and he couldn't claim to have really done anything without revealing himself. As far as she knew, maybe the man did trip. If she recognized the jelly-legs jinx, she hadn't let on - but then again, maybe only English schoolboys used that hex. He's never seen it in a spell book. It wasn't generally considered a practical spell, in spite of immediate evidence to the contrary.
To his relief, she merely shrugged and said, "I was glad to have a witness. If I'd had to shoot him, there'd have been heck to pay."
"Will he give you any more trouble?" Sirius wondered if the man's assertions that Sapphire was a witch merited an obliviation attempt. Of course, that would also make him forget that trying to force himself on her had been a bad idea. And what about Sapphire's behavior? Had she refrained from using magic to defend herself just because she didn't want the muggle man to see it, or was brandishing that gun the best she could do?
While Sirius pondered this, Sapphire stared silently into the woods. When she did speak, she changed the subject.
"You didn't tell me how you found me out here." He noticed she was cradling the rifle in a way that she could raise it quickly. He would leave the freezing spell on for a bit.
"Dumb luck."
"This is as far from the road as our property gets."
"It was a long walk."
"Lost again?"
"Um, yeah." Sirius dropped his head, hoping she would mistake his relief for embarrassment. "I must have lost the road and walked right past your cabin."
"If you don't mind another long walk, I'm sure you're welcome to stay for lunch."
Sirius looked at Jack. Sapphire followed his eyes. "Sorry, seating for one only."
"That's OK." Sirius meant it too. He had never ridden a mule and was not anxious to try.
"Rest your legs while I finish here." Sapphire waved her hand at some mossy turf. Sirius sat, she kneeled and resumed digging.
"That's Ginseng," he observed.
"Very good, city boy."
"It makes things stronger- makes the other ingredients work better." There had been a term for this in potions class. Was it 'activator'? Did muggles ever use the word? Maybe he could get some clues if they talked about plants. He had quit the greenhouse after his OWLS, and stopped potions after his sixth year. Now he wished he'd applied himself a bit more to both.
Sapphire raised her dark brows and nodded her approval. "How do you know this?"
Sirius felt stupid. Of course, she could ask questions about his knowledge too, and what could he safely answer? He opted for minimal truth. "I learned it in school."
"What subject?"
"Er.., you know, plant studies."
"Could the word you want be 'botany'?" She made a pained face.
"Right, botany!" So much for impressing her with his plant knowledge.
"You can't be much more than a freshman?" Sirius didn't know how to answer that, so he just smiled. Sapphire shrugged and continued,
"Was it a regular botany course, or an ethnobotany course?"
"Yeah, that's right!" Sirius prayed she wouldn't ask for clarification. He got lucky.
"I never heard of any school that teaches ethno at the undergraduate level. I have to wait till graduate school before I can specialize... not that I can't learn plenty from Granny without any school. So, what college was this?"
"Hogwarts." What else could he say?
"Sorry, never heard of it. Where's it located?"
"Scotland. In the highlands."
"Near...?"
"It's not too near any city you'd know." Was it possible that American witches wouldn't have heard of Hogwarts? Maybe not in rural areas. He was having more doubts.
Fortunately, Sapphire was distracted just then. She was rolling one of the dug roots in her fingers, eyeing it and smelling the leaves. She ran her eyes over the whole patch, looked up at the trees, pinched a bit of soil and tasted it. She spat. "You know much about ginseng? What do you think of this?"
She threw straight, and Sirius easily caught the plant. He smelled something familiar. His dog transformations had put him in the habit of using his nose for information. The greenhouse at Hogwarts smelled like this. It wasn't the plants, it was... "Fertilizer." He had almost said 'mooncalf dung', which it almost certainly was.
"You see it too, then?" Sirius didn't admit this ginseng looked like all the other to him. She continued, "But how?" This wasn't a test. She really didn't know. That wasn't surprising; mooncalves were rare. He glanced at the clearing nearby for signs of mating dances. It looked likely.
"Something dropped a turd near your plant."
"That's all I can think of. Wish it would drop a few more." Sapphire approached to take the root from his hand. Sirius didn't let go for a second, grinning as their hands touched.
A troubled look passed over her face, which turned into a scowl. She turned back to the patch, and started scattering the ginseng's red berries. She was careful to push several into the area of extra fertile dirt. She was singing again -- something about a woman who disguised herself as a soldier and followed her lover into battle.
She stroked the leaves of the undug plants, then turned to Sirius. "I sing to the plants to make them productive, and to remind myself to be grateful for these good gifts."
"That's an interesting incant..., I mean the words you sing don't seem.... Well, what I'm trying to ask is, why does that particular song make these plants grow?"
She laughed. "You make it sound like I'm casting a spell! Maybe you'd better run after Jake Morton!"
Was she giving him a hint, he wondered? "Do you sing different songs for harvesting different plants?"
Sapphire looked thoughtful. "I never thought about them having preferences. I'll have to explore that possibility. No, I just sing what I like. My daddy loves singing. Almost before I could talk, we used to sing together in the car. It drove Earl, my brother crazy. He would about crawl under the seat."
"You have a brother?"
"One."
"Does he come here, too?"
"He used to, but now I pretty much have granny to myself."
"My brother'll finish school this year. He's a year and a half younger."
"Mine's older. Seven years." She was packing the ginseng into Jack's saddle bags now.
"Bet he teased you lots growing up."
"You'd win that bet. But he was sort of protective too. At least, when we were younger, before..." She frowned and hoisted herself onto the mule.
"Where's your pack?"
"My...? Oh, thanks! I almost forgot!" Sirius usually shrank and levitated his pack so that if he wanted to transform, he could easily carry it in his teeth. Today, he had re-enlarged it behind the hay shed, and left it there. He couldn't say he'd been lost if the pack was back at the cabin. He trotted up the rise and behind the bushes he'd hidden in before. A quick transformation of a rock, and he emerged with a bag.
Sapphire smiled when she saw it, and offered a rope to tie it to Jack's saddle. Sirius was glad he had used a reasonably heavy rock. "Let's go."
"Your granny won't mind?"
"No, she says you should always feed the stray. Something about earning passage between two spirit dogs that guard the path to the afterlife." She observed Sirius consternation and laughed. "Don't look so spooked. It's just an old story."
But he couldn't forget the comment. Had she seen him before he transformed? He was fairly sure not. Maybe those growls gave him away? She seemed flippant enough, but soon he had a chance to wonder again.
As they approached the cabin, Granny greeted them from the porch. "Well, well, look who's here!" she called to them. "You feed a stray an' it comes right back!"
"He almost got to watch me shoot Jake Morton," Sapphire began.
Granny's face went sober. "Did ya find anything?"
"No, I think we've eradicated everything Earl planted, and if Jake's planted any I didn't see it. He may have just been taking the ginseng. But he tried to put his hands on me. I had the rifle on him and thought he was going to make me use it, when the strangest thing happened." Sapphire paused and looked at Sirius. He tried to look disinterested.
"Go on," Granny prompted.
"He made a grab for the gun. Just when I thought I'd have to pull the trigger, he fell... had some sort of fit. He lay on the ground and his legs were just twitching. I've never seen the like. Then he got up and ran off saying I had 'witched' him. He acted like he believed it. Sirius showed up just about then; he saw it all."
Now Granny looked at Sirius. " In th' old days, when the "Nn'h" pr'tected th' lands of the Cherokee, they were invisible, except fer their weapons. Today it seems God has sent us a pr'tector who's weapons we cain't see. "
Sirius had all he could do not to flinch. He tried to look bemused. "It was very odd, the way he fell. All that flailing around - like a fish on the beach." Sirius hoped he sounded innocent enough. To his relief, no more was said on the subject.
The cabin's electricity was now restored, and granny invited him in for a hot shower before dinner. The tiny bathroom had obviously been added rather recently - this cabin was far older than indoor plumbing. When he emerged from it, wearing only his swim trunks, Sapphire had given him the once over. She pretended to be engrossed in mixing biscuits, but he saw her eyes follow the drops of water that tickled their way down his long legs. He walked up to her, his bare chest inches from her face. She raised her eyes to his - but slowly. Her face was a studied blank.
"Can I do something for you?" There was an annoyed edge in her voice. He could smell lavender and other nice things standing here so close to her. He had dated several girls who used lavender scent spells on their hair. Maybe she did, too. Sapphire's scent seemed a bit more complex. He imagined burying his nose in those raven locks.
Grinning, he held out a bundle of clothes. "Your granny said I could wash these. Where do I put them?"
Sapphire pointed with her head. "Back porch. There's an old washer back there and some washing powder." She hesitated. "No, you'd better just put them on the porch floor. You wouldn't know where to start with that old machine -probably'd put your hand through the wringer. I'll take care of them."
"That's kind of you," Sirius said, and turned as though to leave, then paused at some shelves that ran along the cabin's wall. They were crammed with bottles, bags and tins. Some held food stuff, but most appeared to be full of herbs. Many he recognized as common ingredients for potions. His eyes strayed to an iron caldron that sat near a partly boarded up hearth. (The women had been cooking on a propane gas stove, squeezed in next to an ancient wood stove which ran it's pipe into the flue. The wood stove seemed to be serving entirely as counter space and was half covered with Mason jars.) The iron pot was rusty and full of dusty kindling wood. There was no sign that anyone had brewed a potion here in years, but appearances were easy to alter.
He imagined he felt Sapphire's eyes on his back. Was it another appreciative assessment, or did she know what he was thinking?
Just then she spoke. "That's our stock of herbs. Granny's grandmother was trained in herbal remedies by her birth family. The knowledge has been passed down to me, and I hope to write a book someday that will keep that knowledge alive. Some of those plants are quite poisonous if used in ignorance. You shouldn't bother them."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Sirius turned and smiled at her. She looked a bit anxious, but it was hard to say why. He now knew her rifle was real enough. He had taken off the freezing spell just in time when, on the way home that day, she had suddenly sighted on a rabbit. If she was that accurate with a muggle gun, (if indeed that was all it was) she should be amazing with a proper wand. He left the room, still wondering.
Sapphire still stayed near the rifle and seemed watchful while he was inside, but she was starting to laugh at his jokes- even the dumb ones, and he told plenty of those. The more clever jokes he knew, he couldn't tell, as they either involved magical topics, or were questionable for use in mixed company. But he so liked to hear Sapphire's musical laughter, and see her dark eyes light up beneath the shadow of her exotically strong brow, that he was willing to make quite a clown of himself. He grinned with real pleasure even when she rolled her eyes and made remarks about 'British humor'.
He stayed another four days. Mornings, he would knock on the door and come in for breakfast -it was too hot to eat inside for lunch or dinner - and help with the dishes after. If the ladies left him alone with his chore, they pretended amazement at how fast he could wash and dry.
Finally, he could stay no longer. "Could I come back and visit you two next summer?" he asked Granny, as she handed him a brown bag full of ham biscuits. "I want to hear more of your stories."
Granny smiled, but didn't answer for a minute. Her eyes seemed a little sad. Finally, she spoke. "You come back to th' cabin anytime, young man. I'm sure you'll be welcome."
Sapphire was looking at Granny and biting her lips. She only nodded as Sirius waved his good-bye.
@4329 words, Last Edit 07/14/07
Posted by Madmaxime at August 1, 2007 06:18 PM