FIRE AND ICE 

By Tessa Harvey


    "Hold still, princess," the doctor beckoned. "You must not move too much."
He sat down carefully close to her bed, dwarfing the metal chair and looking most uncomfortable. Then he noticed Helga crying again. "Hey, you can't do that," he stage-whispered, "this is a tidy clean ship. We can't have saltwater pooling on the decks. The other sailors might slip." Helga giggled, despite herself. For a moment she felt she was rocking in the sea waves, sun glinting on the water.     
    "Are you a bad pirate?" she whispered conspiratorily. "The very worst," he whispered back, like waves sucking at the shingle. He had such a funny voice. "I even made bad patients walk the plank!"
    "I can't walk well now. Am I going to have a peg-leg like in the stories?" Dr.Parker's eyes looked suddenly misty. "You will walk perfectly, but it will take a while. Your back is badly bruised.

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