by A. G. Henley
I have to get Eland inside by myself. I don't think I have the strength to lift and carry him, but when I have to, I do. I totter with him in my arms through the tunnel that leads to the main cave, shivering as my wet clothes stiffen in the increasingly frigid air. My thoughts flutter in all directions while I walk.
I wonder what such close contact with the sick ones will do to Eland and how long it will take him to recover. I catalog the medical supplies I brought in for Marjoram, hoping she has what she needs to help him.
And how will Moray take the news that he's going to be a father? What will he do?
I think about Peree, praying he's safe. What will we do now that the ceasefire between our people seems to be over?
And I consider Aloe's warning about the Three.
Fox was like a foster father to Eland and me as we grew up, thanks to my close friendship with Calli. He and Acacia fed me, bandaged bloody knees and palms from my frequent falls, and scolded me when necessary, while Aloe was busy doing her duty as the Water Bearer. In other words, they treated me like their own child. If I can't trust Fox, whom can I trust?
"Fancy meeting you here again, sweetheart."
I'm not surprised the Three posted a guard after the cave fire, but why, why does it have to be Moray? From the acrid smell in the air, I'd say he's standing next to the ashy remnants of the fire. The fire I wouldn't put past him to have set.
I clutch Eland tighter to me and stop in front of him, swaying on my feet.
"I need to talk to you, Moray. Later." I'm not sure I could sound any less enthusiastic if I tried. I owe our Lofty guide the courtesy of keeping my word after what she did for Eland and me. But I don't owe Moray a thing.
"Thought you'd come around eventually. That Lofty not man enough for you, then?"
If I could cut out the smugness dangling in his voice with a knife, I would. I hitch Eland up a bit as he slumps in my arms. What kind of boar's ass attacks a woman, acts like it wasn't a big deal, and then taunts her while she has a half-drowned, semi-conscious boy in her arms? I can't let it pass.
"Save it for someone else, Moray. You might have gotten away with almost-murder and rape, but you and I both know that's exactly what happened that day." I lower my voice in case anyone else is standing around. "I have a message from your Lofty friend. If you're interested in what she told us, come find me. And keep your hands and your thoughts to yourself when you do."
"You're pretty hot when you're all worked up, know that Water Bearer? Even if you have been out there wallowing in mud with the fleshies. Looks like they got the best of little brother, too."
He still manages to sound arrogant, but also like he has to work harder for it.
"How's your tongue, by the way?" I can't help smirking as I carry Eland on past him.
Calli intercepts us before we get too far into the main cavern, crying tears of relief that I found Eland. Acacia joins us a moment later, her own tears flowing. I push aside my doubts about Fox as I embrace them. Calli is my best friend. Her father would never betray me. Then I think about how the Three blinded me as a child and the doubts steal right back in. They make themselves at home when Acacia tells me the Three want to speak with me.
It's like deja vu. They wanted to talk to me the day I gave the Lofties more water than I brought to our people. Tonight, I gave the first water to the Lofties to fight their fire. How is it that doing the right thing can seem so wrong, depending on how you look at it?
Calli helps me deliver Eland to Marj's makeshift clinic off to the side of the main cave. It's empty for now. Calli says they only had a few patients so far: one or two with minor injuries after the mad dash to the caves, and one distraught woman, agitated over how long we'd have to be sequestered this time. I totally understand her concern.
"What happened?" Marj asks as we lay Eland on a pallet on the ground. He moans, but otherwise doesn't seem conscious.
"He was outside," Calli answers in a low tone.
"How long was he exposed?" Marj asks.
"A few seconds," I say. "He made it to the caves quickly, but I think one of the sick ones got pretty close to him at the end. He hasn't come to since then."
Marj snaps into action. "I'll make him a tea with valerian and hops to help him sleep."
"Will he be okay?" I ask. Please, please say yes.
"He should be fine. Leave him here with me; I'll look after him." She sounds confident, so I try to relax and believe her. She adds, "You look like you could use a bit of a rest yourself, Fennel. You're welcome to sleep in here with your brother."
"Thanks, Marj. I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to speak to the Three first."
People stir around the main cave. Small fires dot the area, adding to the already thick canopy of smoke in the air. My eyes sting from it. Calli takes my arm, drawing me closer so she can whisper near my ear.
"Where were you two all this time? Were you in the trees?"
I don't want to lie to Calli, I really don't. But the doubts created by Aloe's warning haven't gone away. In fact, they've burrowed even deeper into my brain. Who can I trust?
"No, the Lofties wouldn't allow us up there after the fire and everything." I think fast. Might as well keep it as close to the truth as I can. "When I found Eland, he was halfway up a tree. He said he was sitting on a little branch. I waited there with him until we decided to make a break for it. That's when he was exposed."
My explanation is flimsy but not entirely unbelievable. The Lofties usually clear the branches off all the trees in and around our communities to discourage climbing. But occasionally they miss a few. In fact, some kids make a game of finding branches the Lofties overlooked and climbing up to them before a lookout, like Peree, spots them.
Now Peree really is up a tree somewhere, hopefully avoiding the sick ones. If the creatures haven't left after I get some sleep, I'll go out and look for him. Maybe Kadee would come with me. We can at least bring food and water to him and the rest of the hunting party.
Calli hugs me. The anxiety I feel must be obvious. "Marj knows what she's doing. This isn't the first time she's helped someone exposed to the fleshies."
But we both know that it doesn't happen all that often, either.
"Eland was trying so hard to be brave, Calli. He was trying to believe what I said: that the sick ones aren't really dangerous. If anything happens to him—” I swallow hard as my throat tries its best to close shut—"it will be my fault."
She doesn't respond. A second later I understand why. Fox claps me on the shoulder.
"Fennel. Acacia said you and Eland made it back. Thank the stars." His warm, kindly voice evokes conflicting feelings in me. If it had been anyone but Aloe that warned us not to trust the Three, I would probably tell him the truth about what happened. I glue my lips shut. He says, "Calli, see if you can locate some sort of warm meal for Fennel."
She squeezes my hand before she goes, and Fox steers me away to a quieter corner. "The Council is here. What news from the outside?"
"Have the Scourge left?" Pinion’s never had a problem tearing away the husk to get to the fleshy heart of the matter.
"No, not yet," I tell them. When they ask, I feed them the same tale I told Calli, feeling guilty the whole time for lying. The more lies I tell, the more I'm trapped by them, weaving myself into a web I don't know if I can escape from.
"And all that time on the outside, gathering the water and looking for Eland, you didn't meet any Lofties?" asks Bream. He sounds a little suspicious. Or maybe not. It was hard to read my old teacher's voice. I was usually too busy trying to stay awake while he spoke.
"I spoke to Peree's mother." I figure it can't hurt to admit that. "She helped me collect the water I brought back."
"Really?" Bream says. "What a fascinating development. A Lofty helping to collect the water." Everyone was astonished to learn that there are some people that the poison doesn't affect, like Kadee.
Time for more honesty. "I helped them get water to fight their fire, to
o." I worry a splitting fingernail, waiting for them to object. They don't. "The Lofties think a Groundling set them."
"Is their fire still burning?" Fox asks.
"It's out," I answer. "It's been raining for a while now."
"Now that is excellent news. As we've seen in the past, the flesh-eaters often move on in inclement weather conditions," Bream says.
"Probably because they're wet. And cold. And hungry. They're human remember? Who likes to stand around getting soaked in a thunderstorm?" Fatigue catches up to me, prodding me to speak more sharply than I meant to.
"Yes, well—" Bream begins, but Pinion interrupts him.
"What about your intended? You had no contact with him?" Leave it to her to find the probable hole in my story. Adder didn't have a thing on Pinion when it came to interrogation, although the anger that always blazed out of him was thankfully absent.
"No," I answer honestly. Before lying all over again. "He was . . . injured fighting the fire. But he'll be fine." Not that they would care.
"Glad to hear it," Fox says. He actually sounds sincere.
"Who do you think set the fires, Fennel?" Fox asks. "Calli told us the arsonist spoke to you. Could you tell anything from the person's voice?"
"No, I could barely hear them." Not to mention I was scared stiff. "I couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman. But if I hear the person again, I'll know," I promise.
"If you remember anything, or have any ideas about who set the fires given your . . . closeness to certain members of the Lofty community, we certainly would like to know," Bream says. "There is little precedent for this situation. There was the fire that Jackal set, which of course we all remember, and there was the forest fire set by lightning during our parent's generation . . . You remember that, surely, Fox, Pinion? It happened during the storm that also blew down the—"
"I think Fennel could use a meal, a wash-up, and some sleep. She's had a difficult night." Fox pats my back, steering me toward the center of the cave. "We may have other questions for you—and for Eland—after you're rested and fed."
Which means I'll have to get my story straight with Eland when he wakes up. If he wakes up, a voice in my head whispers.
"And unfortunately we may also need more water at that point, too," Pinion says. "We're already running quite low."
"But we'll manage for now," Fox says. "Go on, and try not to worry about Eland. We'll keep an eye on him as well."
Somehow his words are a lot less comforting than they might once have been.
CHAPTER EIGHT
My hand jerks back from the cold, moist flesh of a sick one. I'd been trying to help it . . . or maybe it was helping me?
The dream fades; the dread remains.
I sit up and rub my face. Flakes of mud rain into my lap, reminding me that I didn't have the energy to wash up after eating last night. Last night . . . I call out for Eland.
"He's still sleeping," Bear says from close by. He sounds a little sheepish. I wonder if the hand of the sick one in my dream was really a very large, very human hand holding mine while I slept.
"Has he woken up? What's going on?" A small fire snickers nearby, but otherwise it's silent in Marj's corner of the cavern, assuming I'm still where I was when I fell asleep. It's never this hushed in the caves except when I'm here working by myself.
"Take it easy. It's morning . . . or maybe early afternoon now. The fleshies moved on a few hours ago. Everyone took off outside as soon as the Three reckoned it was safe to go home. Eland isn't up yet, but he's been thrashing around like he might come to soon."
I can hear my brother breathing now. I swing my legs over the edge of my pallet, but they’re numb and won’t take my weight. I shake them impatiently. "Shouldn't he be awake by now? Where's Marj?"
"She's been coming in to check on him. He'll be fine, Fenn. He just needs to sleep it off. Calli was here for most of the night, too, but Cricket came to see her a little while ago . . . and you know how that goes. I said I'd stay with you and Eland." Bear stifles a deep yawn, and I hear joints pop as he stretches.
"Did you get any sleep? Go on out, I'll wait with Eland until he wakes up."
"I'd rather stay." His tone is dark. "The fires, remember?"
I grimace, and more mud sprinkles down my face. "I'm not likely to forget. But you sound like you could use some rest."
"I could . . . but Moray's been hanging around, too."
I snort. "I'll bet he is."
"Why? What happened?"
I wish I hadn't said that out loud. "I saw him on the way in with Eland last night. We had words again."
Bear shifts his weight like he's settling in. "All the more reason for me to stay."
I tuck my blanket up under my chin and over my shoulders, covering my frozen torso and arms. I feel disgusting, covered in caked mud like this, but there's no way I'm leaving Eland in here while I go wash, even with Bear to watch him. Bear. How can he still be such a loyal friend?
"We haven't had much of a chance to talk since I got back," I say.
"Well, that's cause I've been avoiding you."
I can't help grinning at his honesty. "Yeah, I know. And I know why. But I hope we can start spending time together again like we used to—as friends."
"What a coincidence. That's my new plan, too. I figured I knew you first, and we were friends first. The Lofty is going to have to get used to me being around."
"His name is Peree. If we're all going to try to be friends, you might start with calling him that."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I said I still want to be friends with you, not necessarily him."
I can tell he's half-serious, but I laugh anyway. "I guess that's a start. In fact, that's why I came back. I hoped, probably stupidly, that we could all be friends. Groundlings and Lofties."
"One big happy family, huh? You always have been stupid. That's why I—," he stops himself quickly, "tolerate you. You're sort of your own hopeful, stupid force of nature."
"Peree says I'm stubborn and you call me stupid. I'm glad you guys enjoy insulting me." Moray has called me some choice things, too, although the worst is when he calls me sweetheart. It makes my whole arm itch with the desire to punch him.
Bear snorts. "What can I say? It's so easy to do."
I choose to ignore that. "Is it still raining?”
"Drenching. Everyone's laying low."
That's probably a good thing. We need the water, and it might give people a chance to cool off, literally, after the fires. Thinking of moisture of any kind is torture. My tongue feels like a handful of berries left out in the sun too long.
"Is there any drinking water around here?" I ask.
"Heads up." A small sack sloshes into my lap. "Marj left some for you two. She said Eland might have a headache, like I did. He needs to eat and drink as soon as he wakes up."
I take a few small sips, saving the rest for Eland. I hadn't even thought to ask about how Bear was doing last night when I came back to the caves. "I'm really sorry about . . . everything . . . yesterday. How are you feeling?"
"My head's pounding, but I'll live. My memories of it are sort of fuzzy. Like I had a nightmare, but I can't remember it now. Marj says that's pretty normal, though."
"Eland was out of it, too."
"If he's like me, he'll feel like he hit the spiced wine way too hard."
Bear sounds frustrated, as if he's mad he couldn't wrestle his nightmare to the ground and declare victory. I know how he feels. I have a few I'd like to conquer myself. I hope this doesn't add one more bad dream to Eland's list, but it probably will.
As if on cue, my brother stirs and tries to speak. His voice still sounds slurred, but whether it's from sleep or disorientation, I can't be sure. I hurry to his side. He stiffens when I touch him, so I run my hand gently up and down his arm and murmur, trying not to alarm him.
"You're okay. You're safe. You made it to the caves."
"I did?" He sounds weak, but gratified.
I hug him. "You did. How do you feel?"
"Hungry and thirsty." I help him sit up. "Ow, and my head hurts."
"Tell me about it." Bear comes over. "Here, drink some water. Heard you had quite the adventure out there."
My hand tightens on Eland's arm, and I shake my head slightly, trying to give him a silent warning not to tell Bear too much. We need to talk first, given the lies I smeared around the caves like crampberries last night.
"Yeah, it was," Eland says. He must have gotten the message, but when did he learn to lie so smoothly? "Where is everyone? How long have I been out?"
Bear fills Eland in as he eats and drinks. I make sure he finishes the water before I allow him to try to stand up.
"My head still hurts, but it's okay," Eland says, shaking me off. "Let's go home. It's creepy in here when no one's around. And freezing." Like most Groundlings, the caves are probably his least favorite place. Bad memories are etched into the rock walls like the ancient drawings of humans and animals we've occasionally found.
"Good call," Bear agrees.
I scoff. "Wimps.”
We move across the main cavern, our footsteps bouncing through the space. Bear repositions himself to walk between Eland and I, probably so he can support him if he has any lingering weakness. Or maybe in case I do. Eland seems okay despite the headache, joking about how the caves smell better. It's true; the smoke from the fire drove out the foul human-waste scents.
We reach the cave mouth. The rain is still pelting, so we make a break for it to our shelter. I hang on to Bear's arm as my feet squish through the mud on the path. We're all panting and laughing by the time we get there. We crash inside, landing in a heap on the floor. Bear hauls us up.
I catch a familiar scent in the air and my heart springs into my mouth.
"Peree!" Eland chirps.
"Hey there, little brother." His voice is warm but cautious.
I reach out for him. I probably resemble some kind of half-drowned ground animal recently ejected from its muddy home, but he doesn't seem to care.
