Betsy Visits River City.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The arrows led Faeryfaye down and down to the subterranean levels. She was used to an urban jungle as well as eldritch wood environments but she wasn’t used to this and soon lost her sense of direction. Everything was confusing, so she just followed the arrows.
Soon she heard sounds of battle in the distance and approached carefully. Peeking round a corner, her nose appearing first, she saw Robot Girl doing battle with Robot Man in the corridor. The confined space prohibited each of them from any sort of advanced moves and they were both reduced to trading blows, with victory going to the stronger.
There was no way Faeryfaye was going to get past those two, so she chose to enter the only door in the corridor she could see. There were no markings on it, so she was just exploring. Inside she saw it was an ante theatre to a suite of rooms. Walking through she came to an operating room at the end. It was empty, but the equipment there was advanced. She recognised a worrying amount of neural equipment. This must belong to a neurologist she deduced as she examined the equipment. There was nothing more she could glean her, so she turned and retraced her steps, this time opening the side doors in the corridor leading to the operating room.
The first three were obviously ward bed rooms. Faeryfaye didn’t approve of such places. They could be identified all over the globe and nobody in modern medicine seemed to have worked out that patients did much better away from such environments.
Faeryfaye never understood the concept of economics and couldn’t fathom why such places could treat more patients for the same amount of money. In her world, that sort of thing just wouldn’t be an issue.
Returning to the corridor from the third room, she found another woman there at the end. They each surprised the other.
“Who are you?” said Ffanci, berating herself for not reloading her weapons. Far too many things had happened in such a short space of time she became confused. When she was left on her own, her instincts led her to check up on her patients, rather than replenishing her weaponry.
“I’m Faeryfaye. Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. You’re trespassing. Get out.”
Faeryfaye looked closely at her. She was obviously stressed to breaking point.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Did you expect me to just leave?”
Ffanci stared at her and tried to think. Her mind was in a turmoil and the only thing she could comprehend was her patient. She couldn’t deal with this, so she did what every sane person does in an insane position. She ignored it.
Ffanci moved forward and Faeryfaye tensed. She tried not to as she knew that could trigger this woman, but her body had other ideas. She had seen the carnage outside. Hell, she had contributed to it. Her body tensed and nothing her head thought would gainsay it.
Fortunately this woman just walked to a door and entered. Faeryfaye followed her. Inside was a typical hospital bed with a patient. This patient was on a drip and life support equipment was left next to the walls, presumably for instant access. The patient’s head was bandaged and Ffanci busied herself checking readings and ensuring the patient was comfortable.
“Who is this?” Faeryfaye asked gently.
Ffanci looked up and stared at Faeryfaye. Eventually she said, “This is Pearl Girl. She was shot in the head but she now looks like making a full recovery. All she needs is time and I’m going to make sure she gets it.” That last sentence was said in a threatening way.
Faeryfaye kept her voice gentle. “That is good. I approve.”
Ffanci looked questioningly at Faeryfaye. “You’re not going to try and stop me?”
“I mean Pearl Girl deserves the best treatment she can get and from what I’ve already seen, she is getting it.”
Ffanci smiled. “Well then, leave me and let me get on with my job.”
Faeryfaye asked, “And who are you?”
“Why do you want to know? I live here and you don’t, so what gives you the right to wander around here and ask questions?”
Faeryfaye smiled gently. “I am with Betsy and she tells me the owners of this castle kidnapped her and others for nefarious purposes.” Only Faeryfaye would use a word like ‘nefarious’ in a spoken sentence without embarrassment.
Ffanci smiled. “Then we are enemies. I killed Betsy and I’ve helped TillyBetsy recover and I’ll do the same to you as well. She moved towards Faeryfaye. Faeryfaye moved back. She couldn’t see a weapon but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one. She wished she’d paid more attention to Betsy’s lessons now, even if there were always more important things to do.