She paused and looked at me and then at Robin.
“She's right, Teal. Calm yourself.”
“What are we going to do? We'll never get me to a hospital in time,” she moaned, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Natani taught us how to handle a snake bite. He put something in his bag,” I said, bringing the sharpened branch back to her. “Straighten her leg out and let's see the bite.”
I saw the holes made by the snake's teeth clearly.
“I've got to lance it, Teal. It's going to hurt. Just bite your teeth together and try not to think about it.”
“How am I not going to think about it?” she screamed back at me.
“Think about the boys you're going to tease at the pool,” Robin told her.
I held her leg with one hand, then brought the sharpened edge to the teeth marks and pressed. She screamed and I hesitated, my own heart probably pounding as hard and as fast as her heart was pounding.
“Can you do it?” Robin asked me.
I swallowed, or thought I had, and nodded.
I brought the branch back and pressed harder and faster until the skin broke and I could tear down through the wound. Blood seeped out around the incision.
“Do you remember his instructions?” Robin asked.
“I think so.”
“You think so?” Teal asked through her cries.
I placed the bag on the ground and carefully looked at the contents until I located the rattlesnake weed. Then I looked at Robin.
“Got to suck it out now,” I said.
“I've already had dinner. Okay, I'll do it,” Robin said, which surprised me. She looked at Teal. “This doesn't mean we're in love,” she told her, and brought her mouth to the wound. She sucked and spit, sucked and spit. When I thought it was enough, I tapped her on the shoulder and she sat back. Then, again following Natani's instructions, I squeezed the juice of the weed into the wound.
“What is that? It looks like some weed,” Teal said.
“It is, but it has medical powers,” I said. “Natani told us.”
“Maybe it's just in his imagination.”
“We'll know soon,” Robin said.
“Thanks a lot.”
“You're going to have to chew this now, Teal, and swallow the juice. Swallow as much as you can.”
I gave it to her and she grimaced. “It tastes horrible.”
“Chew it!” Robin and I screamed at her simultaneously.
She closed her eyes and chewed.
“We have to make a fire, Robin, and boil the leaves in water.”
“What water?” she asked.
I smirked and lifted my canteen. “What choice do we have?”
We broke another thick branch, and I sifted through the sand and rocks under the brush until I found the thickest dead twig I could. I beat it open with a rock and brought the first branch to it. Robin gathered some dry moss and we took turns rubbing and rubbing, spinning the branch just the way Natani had shown us. It seemed to take forever, but finally there was some smoke. Encouraged, we both worked harder and harder, bearing down as he had instructed until, finally, a tiny flame was born.
Cheered, we fed it the dry moss carefully until we had a good flame.
“I can't believe you two did that,” Teal said, watching calmly, her eyes opening and closing. Suddenly, as if the sight of the fire was too much, she began to heave. She vomited hard and fast, moaning and groaning.
“He said whoever was bitten would be very sick,” I reminded Robin.
“Oh, I'm going to die,” Teal moaned, embracing herself.
Using more branches and thin vines, I devised a way to hold the canteen over the flame. Into it, I stuffed the remaining snake weed. When I thought the water was boiling, I fished out the leaves, and then, using the thin vines of the bush, we wrapped them around Teal's wound, again as Natani had instructed. Teal vomited again, but now she was just dry heaving and really suffering.
“What do we do now?” Robin asked.
“Looks like we take our rest earlier than 1 had hoped,” I said.
Using the backpack to fix a pillow for Teal, we urged her to try to sleep. She was shivering now. The desert night had dropped the temperature to where it was actually cold. Robin fed the fire, building it until we had some decent flames.
“Make it gigantic,” Teal muttered. “Maybe someone will see it and come help us.”
“Maybe,” Robin said, and started to forage for more wood.
“Be careful, Robin. I used all the snake weed in the bag on Teal.”
She walked on tiptoe, gently moving brush, avoiding big rocks, and gathering twigs and branches as quickly as she could. Teal watched with a dazed look on her face.
“Will I be all right?” she asked me.
“Sure,” I said.
Of course, I had no idea if she would be all right. How poisonous was the snake? How much poison was in her body? How effective was Natani's weed medicine? Was it crazy to believe in him? The treatments he had given Robin and Teal for their sunburn seemed to help, and the ointment he had given them for their hands helped. The Indians lived side by side with all this danger, these creatures. What they had to help themselves must work or they wouldn't use it, I thought.
Teal's eyes closed and opened. She shivered and moaned. If she died out here, it would be so horrible, I thought. It made me rage against Dr. Foreman, but I did so silently, for I didn't want to stir Teal up and worry her any more.
Robin returned again and we fed the fire. It did provide warmth. The embers rose with the smoke and traveled out and away with the wind.
“Anyone looking for us would see this,” Robin said.
I nodded.
We both looked at Teal. She seemed to have fallen asleep, but every now and then she would shudder and moan and cry.
“Maybe we didn't get the poison out fast enough or all of it,” Robin said.
I shook my head. Her guess was as good as mine. We continued to sit on both sides of Teal, our knees up, looking at the fire. Coyotes howled around us, the wood crackled.
“Once, when I was very little, I went on a picnic with my mother,” Robin said. “She had some boyfriend with us, but I can't remember his name. I remember we made a fire and they roasted marshmallows for me, and then we had hot dogs and my mother sang and played her guitar. I fell asleep on the blanket, and when I woke up, there was no one there. They were off in the bushes or something.”
“Weren't you afraid?”
"I was for a while and then I watched some birds and got intrigued with how hard they worked at feeding themselves. It was a particularly beautiful day, too. I remember that, and I remember really enjoying myself. Finally, my mother and her boyfriend came from wherever they were and her boyfriend carried me on his shoulders all the way back to our farm. I can't remember his name, but I remember his hair. It was a reddish yellow and I had clumps of it in my small fists, holding it like the reins of a horse. Sometimes, he cried out because I was pulling on his hair too hard, but I remember feeling as if I was on the top of the world, seeing everything from an adult's height.
"I never went on another picnic, and I never saw that boyfriend again. Sometimes, I used to think of it as a dream I had when I was very young. If I mentioned it to my mother, she would look as if she didn't remember it at all. I don't think it was a special or important day for her.
“After a while, it slipped out of my memory, but just now, as we were staring at the fire, it returned and I recalled my fists full of reddish yellow hair. That's silly, isn't it? The only thing I really remember vividly, that hair.”
“No. Maybe you remember it so well because it made you feel safe to hold on to it.”
She turned and looked at me. “Maybe.” She smiled. “Maybe that's what I was looking for through the fire, a way to feel safe again.”
We were quiet.
Teal moaned.
I lay back and Robin did the same. Before we fell asleep, we each had our arms arou
nd Teal, and that was how we were when the sun woke us with its stinging good morning.
Teal looked groggy, her cheeks stained with lines her tears had made zigzagging their way off her face. Robin and I sat up and watched her wipe her eyes. She looked at us and blinked as if she had forgotten everything. Then she spoke and sent new chills of fear down my back and Robin's, even in this desert heat.
“Where's my mother?” she asked.
“What?”
She sat up and looked at us and then around us, shaking her head. “I've got to get home.”
“What is she talking about?” Robin asked.
I shook my head and reached out to feel her forehead. It was so hot, I had to take my hand away.
“She's burning up.”
“If I don't get home quickly, my father will be very angry and he'll ground me again,” Teal said. “Who's driving me home?”
“We have to walk first,” I told her.
“Walk? To where? Can't you call a cab?”
“Can't you see where you are?” Robin asked.
Teal turned to her, her eyes blinking. “Who are you?”
“Great,” Robin said. “What do we do now?”
“It'll pass,” I said. I stood up and looked out to my right and to my left. Had we gone too far off the trail back? Nothing suggested we were heading in the right direction. It all looked so similar, the same hills, the same cacti and bushes. I glanced at the sun.
“We should probably go more to our left,” I said.
“You don't understand,” Teal muttered. “I can't stay any longer. I'm already well past my curfew.”
“Me, too,” Robin told her.
Teal touched her lips and looked at her fingers and then at us.
“I'm very thirsty. I'd like a Coke or something, please.”
“I'll call the butler,” Robin told her, and looked at me.
I checked Teal's canteen. It was bone-dry.
“We better get some water in her,” I said, and gave her my canteen. I didn't see how the boiling would have harmed the water. It was just very warm.
The moment it touched her lips, she complained, “Isn't there any ice?”
“Gee, we're all out. Here, try this.” Robin gave Teal her canteen. The water was cooler. Teal gulped at it.
“Easy,” I said, and lowered the canteen. “You can get yourself sick drinking that too fast now.”
“I am sick. I want to go home this instant. Where's the phone?”
“Gee, we forgot to pay the bill so they turned off our service,” Robin said.
“You're not very funny.” Teal's eyes grew small as she scrutinized Robin's face. “Are you Jeff's cousin?”
“No. Jeff's my cousin,” Robin said. For a moment that did confuse Teal and I actually smiled, although I couldn't see what we had to laugh about now.
“Let's get her up,” I told Robin, and we helped Teal to her feet.
“Ow!” she screamed, and looked down at her leg wrapped with the leaves. “What happened to me?”
“You hurt yourself dancing last night,” Robin said. “It's the best we can do for now. We've got to walk on.”
“I can't walk.”
Robin tried to pull her forward but she resisted.
“Oh, great. What do we do?”
“Come on, Teal. You have to try or you won't get home,” I said. I took her other arm, and together Robin and I forced her to take some steps. She cried with every one taken, putting as little weight on the bitten leg as she could. Finally, Robin put Teal's arm over her shoulder and that way we were able to get her to move forward a little faster, but I knew Robin couldn't carry her for long.
We took turns, resting every hundred yards or so.
“We're not going to get very far this way,” I said.
Teal's eyes were closed and she was rocking softly from side to side.
“You better put the top up. It's too hot,” she muttered. “And stop to get me a drink. Anything. Even a beer.”
“Yes, it is too hot,” Robin said. “Phoebe, can you raise the top on the convertible, please?”
“She's delirious.”
“I wish I were. Who wants to realize what's really happening and where we really are,” Robin said. “What are we going to do, Phoebe? We can't carry her all the way out of here. We don't even know if we're heading in the right direction, and we've just about run out of water.”
I shook my head. I was out of ideas. Gazing around, I spotted something on a branch.
“What's that?” I asked Robin.
She shaded her eyes and squinted. “What?”
“Looks like . . . something tied to that bush.” I rose and walked ahead to my left. It was a ribbon. Something was wrapped on the end of it, tied so it wouldn't fall out. I undid the knot and a small turquoise stone fell into my palm. An electric surge of hope shot through my body.
“Natani!” I screamed.
“What?” Robin shouted back, standing.
“I think this was left here by Natani.” I looked farther ahead and saw what was definitely another ribbon.
“C'mon,” I said, hurrying back. “He's showing us the way.”
“Why didn't he just show himself and help us?” Robin asked.
“Maybe he's afraid of what Dr. Foreman would do or say. I don't know. Let's go.”
We got Teal standing again and again took turns helping her walk. She mumbled gibberish, phrases and sentences from memories, about people she knew, things she had done, words she had exchanged with her mother, her father, and her brother. Most of the time, her eyes were closed.
On the ground under the third ribbon, we found a basket. I uncovered it and pulled out leather canteens filled with water, packs of dried food, and a pot with matches in it.
“What's that for?” Robin asked.
I unwrapped another packet and found some more snake weed. “He wants us to boil this and change her bandage, I'm sure.”
“It would help if he would just send for a helicopter.”
“Somehow, I don't think he can do that, Robin. Come on, let's not waste time now. Gather some wood.”
She did and we built a fire quickly. Once again, we boiled the leaves, then I changed Teal's bandage, this time using some tape Natani had left as well. We were able to give Teal a good drink of water, then wipe her down. She seemed to become more comfortable.
It was becoming scorching again. We had a hard time making it to the next hill, but when we got there, following another set of ribbons, we looked out and saw what was clearly the ranch.
“I never thought I'd be glad to see that place again,” Robin said.
“Me neither.”
“I'd like my breakfast now,” Teal declared.
“Oh, sure, miss. What would you like this morning?”
“Just some scrambled eggs, orange juice, cinnamon toast, and coffee.”
“Is that all? We'll have it for you in a jiffy,” Robin told her.
Teal nodded, her eyes still closed.
“Let's take a good rest before this last piece.” It looked like a good mile or so to me. We sat and ate what Natani had left.
“I have no idea what I'm eating,” Robin said, feeding Teal as well. Teal ate as if she were really having what she had ordered.
“Me neither, but it feels good in my stomach.”
Whatever it was, it seemed to renew our energy. After some more water, we fixed our towels on our heads, smeared some more of the sun protection on our skin, and started toward the ranch.
When we were about four or five hundred yards from the corral in which the horses were kept, Wind Song trotted to the railing and whinnied, raising his head. The other horses gathered beside him and looked out at us.
“At least someone is happy to see us,” Robin muttered.
Like three soldiers home from battle, we limped along, Teal still relying on our shoulders and keeping most of her weight off her right leg. As we drew closer, the buddies began to appear, coming around the corner of t
he horse barn. None of them rushed forward to give us any assistance. They stood watching us limp home until we were close enough to hear them.
Then, they began a silly cheer.
“Come on, girls. You can make it. Keep coming. Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Phoebe bird, Phoebe bird.”
They laughed and clapped.
“She was bitten by a rattlesnake,” I said when we were standing right in front of them.
“Did it die?” M'Lady Two asked, and the three of them laughed.
“If she does or gets sicker, you'll be sorry as hell,” Robin said, her eyes blazing at them.
“Whoa,” M'Lady Three cried. “Listen to her. A couple of days in the desert and she thinks she's tough or something. I'll tell you, girls, I'm really impressed. How did you manage to find your way back?”
“How could you leave us out there like that?” I countered.
“It broke our hearts to do it,” M'Lady One said. “But we have to do what we have to do. Go shower up and wait in the bunkhouse for Dr. Foreman,” she followed curtly.
“What about Teal?” Robin asked.
“She'll live, although I can't say the same for the snake.”
“She can't walk on her own,” I said.
“We'll take care of her. Move it.”
Slowly, we lowered Teal to a sitting position.
“I'm sorry, Mother,” Teal said. “It couldn't be helped. Our car broke down.”
“Oh, did it?” M'Lady Two asked. They all laughed again.
“She still has a high fever. She's delirious. She needs medical help,” Robin said.
“She was always delirious,” M'Lady Two said. “Will you two get moving or do we move you?”
“We're not leaving her,” I declared, reaching a firm, quick decision. I reached down to help Teal up. Robin did the same.
“I told you we would take care of her,” M'Lady Two said.
“Like you've been taking care of us?”
She stepped forward threateningly, but I didn't flinch.
“Go on,” I said. “I have just enough strength to fight one more battle.”
“Me, too,” Robin said.
Maybe it was the ordeal in the desert. Maybe it was the wild, determined look on both our faces, or maybe it was just the sight of us, standing fast despite all that we had endured, Teal wavering between us, whatever, but M'Lady Two hesitated, then relaxed and backed up.
Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight Page 27
