Hepsie could hear the wailing before she entered the room. She opened the door to find an extremely harassed looking Juzzine, holding the bigger of the two babies in her arms. The other baby lay quietly in his crib, his face turned towards the wall.

They were terribly lucky to have Juzzine, she thought. The young woman had given birth a month ago and she now had the task of feeding not only her own babe, but Morven’s two as well. It was not an easy job, and Hepsie felt bad for her but there was nobody else. The only other women who had given birth on the island were Darina and the Queen. Darina barely had enough milk for Aisling, and of course they could not ask such a thing of the Queen. So the task had fallen to Juzzine, and she had accepted it without question as she did with everything.

She was trying now desperately to quiet the child’s incessant crying but to no avail. Hepsie could see his unhappy face pressed up against her shoulder, his tiny mouth open and tears running down his red little cheeks.

“Come now little’un”, Hepsie cooed, bending down to gently rub his feet, “will yew stop cryin’ fer poor old Juzzi then… she’s bein’ awful good to yew”.

Hepsie had a way with babies, usually she could get them to stop crying quite easily. Not this one unfortunately.

He looked at her accusatorily and yanked his tiny leg from her grasp. Then he opened his mouth wide and began to wail with more gusto than before.

Though he had his mother’s eyes, Hepsie thought she could see some of the cheek of his father shining out of them. It was almost as though his heart wasn’t in it and he was just putting on this show to get the attention of two young ladies.

“See there then… there’s nothin’ yew can be doin’. He just won’t be stoppin’”, Juzzine said sighing in exhaustion, “I’ve been tryin’ everythin’ I can think of”.

Looking at her Hepsie could see the weariness on the other woman’s face, and thought she must look quite similar. They were all being stretched too thin, and it was becoming evident in the small rips and fraying at the edges. She saw that if she were to fall apart now they would all follow, tearing into shreds to be scattered in the frigid winds of the gale outside.

“There’s bein’ somethin’ else too then Hepsie”, Juzzine said, her face creasing into a worried frown, as she hefted her small load onto her shoulder and began to rub its back “My milk’s running low now… I could barely get enough out for this little’un here just now”.

She choked slightly on her words, “What’ll I be doin’ fer me own littl’ bub, I don’t think I be havin’ enough in me fer the three of ‘em”.

This very thing had been worrying Hepsie too, but she could not let the other woman see that. Some women had more than enough milk while others were struggling to feed their own. And here Juzzine was feeding three. But she also knew that sometimes stress and lack of sleep could cause this to happen and they just had to hope that this was the case. Otherwise she didn’t know what they would do.

“Now then’ Juzzi… don’t yew be worryin’ that pretty head o’ yers”, Hepsie began reassuringly.

“Yer just bein’ overtired then, it’s bein’ hard work takin’ care o’ all these little’uns and with all the feedin’ it’s bound to be… tiring”, she caught herself just before she said draining.

“But yew probably just be needin’ a bit o’ sleep. Sometimes this be happenin’ when us ladies are tired. I’ll find someone else to be watchin’ over these two tonight and yew can go back to yer husband and yer own littl’un and get some rest”.

“When was the last time yew been feedin’ these un’s?”, she asked.

“Well, I just fed this’un which is maybe why he’s bein’ cryin’ so much… I think it hurts his wee tummy, but it dried up when I wasn’ quite done. Before that I fed his brother, but Hepsie he don’t be eatin’ so much and he’s bein’ suckin’ so very weakly”.

“And what about yer own?”, Hepsie asked gently.

The other girl’s tired face broke into a proud smile at the mention of her son, “Oh Sermak’s been bringin’ him to me bout’ an hour gone, so he’s good an’ fed now”.

“Well then… all that’s bein’ left fer yew to do then is goin’ get some sleep fer a time”, she smiled kindly at Juzzine, “Now let be seein’ the other littl’un here”.

She went over to the crib and gazed down at the tiny baby inside.

He looked back up at her with Morven’s big blue eyes, his arm lying limply at his side. She didn’t like to say but she had grave fears about this one. They were both such small things, but his brother seemed to have been imparted all the energy. This little one only lay there listlessly, listening to his brother’s loud wailing.

She gently picked up the limp baby, and held him close to her. He did not object , but only lay in her arm’s, his eye’s half-closed as though the action of her lifting him from the cradle had exhausted him.

“Poor littl’ mite”, she murmured softly too him, cradling him against her shoulder, feeling his tiny cold face against hers.

The exhaustion of the day came crashing down on her and she thought she might sob, but she held it in, gently stroking the soft skin on his back.

“Yew just better be arright then littl’un”, she whispered fiercely to him, “yew’ve got a papa who’s bein’ in sore need of yew”.

Cade, Hwratar