Darina stood in the mess-tent clutching a bowl of partially eaten porridge. The menfolk had come and eaten their lunch leaving the usual mess to be cleaned up and it was her day to do it. It was a hot, muggy day and the tent was stuffy and had the distinct reek of sweaty males.

Whoever had been eating this particular bowl had obviously not enjoyed his meal and had poked at the porridge until it had ended up a congealed cold mess that she had to clean up. Looking at the globs now, and thinking about the spoon going in an out of some dirty mouth made her stomach turn.

In fact, now that she thought about it, her stomach wasn’t just turning, it was doing sommersaults. She felt bile rising in her throat and clapped a hand to her mouth, using all of her willpower to keep from throwing up.

Not here, she thought moving quickly towards the doors of the tent so none of the other women on cleaning duty would notice and out into the fresh air.

She took a couple of gulps but this was not enough to appease her roiling stomach and she found herself bolting for the nearby bushes. She knew these bushes well, she had spent the last few days becoming very well acquainted with them.

She clutched her stomach and retched violently, spattering the leaves with the morning’s breakfast. She paused for breath trying to control her body’s reponse but the sight of her vomit caused her to heave again.

She raised a trembling hand to her face to wipe away the tiny beads of sweat that were adhering to her brow, and took a deep breath. It seemed that it was over for now.

She put a hand to her chest and felt her heart racing. This was not like her, she never got ill and it couldn’t have been rotten food because it had been going on for days and days. She felt mildly nauseous most of the time now that she thought about it.

She suddenly had an idea and cursed herself for being so stupid and naive. She carefully counted back the days since she had last bled and realised it had been much longer than it should have.

A smile burst through the close confines of her face. It was rare for Darina to smile about anything, unless she were laughing at some other’s misfortune. But for a moment a smile managed to make it through. How stupid she had been. She was not a young girl anymore, she had seen other women before. She knew what was supposed to happen and yet she had doubted her own body.

Thoughtfully she rubbed her still small stomach. Yes, it must be true, everything added up. She smiled to herself, her thoughts turning inward to the small being she carried within her. She half-whispered, “You are going to do great things my little one, great things”.