“You take care of the horses, I’ll gather some food and set a few traps. Then… we swim.”
A large smile spread across both their faces. In record time they completed their tasks. Bethany hobbled the horses a short way into the jungle near the fresh water stream. Erin returned with large batches of three different fruits, none of which Bethany had ever seen. He broke the top off a long, yellow fruit and pealed the skin down to reveal white flesh. He handed it to her and she greedily bit down into it. The flesh was pasty in texture, with little moisture and she found herself growing thirsty.
The next fruit he grabbed was green and bumpy. He used his dagger to break it open. Inside was a white flesh, which he scooped out with his bare hands. He held out the paste and she took a little glob to try.
“It’s like sweet, wet bread,” Bethany said as she chewed.
“Funny enough, it’s called breadfruit.”
“Weird,” she said before taking another glob from his hand.
He ate the remainder off his hand before handing her the undisturbed half of the fruit. After a few more bites, they finally thought to sit down. They collapsed in the sand and gorged themselves on fruit.
“What sort of animals can you catch here?” she asked as she flopped back on the warm sand; Bethany couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so full.
“There’s some wild boar around here, but my traps are two small for that. Probably not much to be honest. I’ll have better luck fishing… once I get the energy to get up.”
“Can’t we just stay here?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.
“Maybe we could spend a day or two here. Rest, gather supplies, rest.”
“Rest sounds nice.”
A few minutes later, Bethany woke to a thump on her shoulder. “Don’t sleep yet,” Erin said as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
“Why not?” she grumbled.
“I thought you wanted to swim.”
“You do need a bath,” she mumbled, keeping her eyes closed against the warm sun.
He poked her again. “I’m not the only one.”
Bethany gave him a grumpy humph before forcing her eyes open and sitting up. She saw the blue water of the delta and suddenly felt the calling of cool water on her skin. Before she knew what she was about, she was on her feet and stripping out of her clothing. Completely forgetting that a man was watching her, she stripped naked and raced into the water, her dirty clothing in her hands. Within only a few feet, the sand gave out under her feet and she dove deep into the water. When she surfaced, Erin was with her.
They paddled around, keeping a discreet distance from each other. The water was clear enough that it provided very little cover. They used the occasion to rinse out their clothing as best as possible, though soap would have been helpful. While they swam, Bethany tried her best not to stare at Erin’s scars. They ran down his chest, looking even worse than they did on his face.
I have my own scars, she reminded herself.
It didn’t take long, though, for Bethany to feel the fatigue of their adventures. Her body wasn’t used to swimming, and her muscles began to feel soft and spongy. She started to wonder if she even had the energy to swim back to shore.
“I think I’m done,” she said, loud enough for him to hear her.
“Go on back. I’ll wait till you’re dressed.” With that statement, he turned his back on her and continued to tread water.
Bethany paddled out, used the cloak to dry, and scrambled into her long tunic. She draped her leather trousers and leather vest over a large plant to dry.
“I’m out,” she announced as she collapsed back into the sand, her back facing their little campsite.
She heard the splashing as Erin climbed out of the water.
“I’m decent,” he said a second later.
Bethany turned to see that he had wrapped the cloak around his waist and draped his clothing next to hers. He plopped down next to her and snagged another piece of fruit from their generous stock. Bethany felt a frown pull on her face.
“You sure we can afford to stay here a day or two, Erin?” she asked, staring out over the water.
“I think it will be good for us. Besides, the horses could sure use the rest. Éimhin’s been losing weight.” He paused. “Why do you call me Erin?”
“That’s your name, isn’t it?” she asked as she sat up to get a better look at him.
“Well, yeah, but no one’s called me that since I was a boy. They’ve always just called me Cal.”
“Would you rather I call you Cal?”
Erin shrugged. “I don’t care.”
“I guess I just assumed Cal was what Wolfric and his people called you. I’m not them.”
Erin smiled at her. “No, you’re not. Nor am I.”
“No more Cal.”
“No more Cal,” he repeated.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
With a sigh of resignation, Erin climbed up onto Éimhin’s back. The usually spirited beast had regained a little of its energy after three days of rest on the beach. He had too, but not nearly enough. They still had a very long road ahead of them. Perhaps, if he could earn some more money, they might be able to book passage from Nava to the northern lands, assuming, of course, that local ships sailed into Tokë lands. At least they had supplies now.
During their three days on the beach they had gathered up as much fruit as they could find. Erin had tried his hand at making crab traps, and had even caught a few. They now traveled with as much fruit as their beasts could carry. They had even found coconuts. After eating them, they had filled the shells with fresh water. They were now so well stocked Erin almost considered crossing the wastelands on their own, but in the end he wouldn’t risk Bethany’s life on a chance. He just didn’t like the idea of mixing with other humans. He felt safer keeping it just the two of them.
Or at least that’s the reasoning he gave himself. He refused to think he had any other motives than keeping her safe. After all, she was his ticket into Tokë society. The princess would buy him passage into a new life. He might even be able to gain a position in her brother’s court. He just had to keep her safe all the way to Dothan, whether by sea or by land.
Erin glanced back at her. She was munching on a banana and watching the landscape turn from lush jungle to the desert land as they journeyed away from the ocean. She was a very different creature from the one he’d saved from Féderic all those months ago. Bethany worked hard without complaint, even going so far as to try and take the load off him. The old princess would never have stayed up two nights in a row because she was worried about him, or anyone else for that matter.
There was a kindness to her heart that hadn’t been present in Tolad. Then again, in Tolad she had been focused on only two things: survival and revenge. The woman he’d known there would never have called him by his first name, much less thought through the meaning behind it.
Erin forced himself not to look back at her again.
She’s just a means to an end, he reminded himself as he urged Éimhin back into a respectable pace.
They rode on for hours in near silence. Bethany tried to start a conversation time and again, but Erin kept his responses short, effectively cutting off her attempts. They were progressing northward when they came upon a family stopped beside a thin trail.
Erin nodded to them as he passed, doing is best to ignore the scene before them. Their one mule was laden down to the point of collapsing. A boy played in the dirt while a mother and father huddled around a child lying on a cloak.
“Is everything okay?” he heard Bethany asked in a voice he knew all too well. Erin pulled Éimhin to a stop and turned in his saddle to glare at her.
The mother looked up at them and said in a quavering voice, “Our girl’s been bit.”
Bethany glanced at Erin. “By what?”
“We don’t know,” wailed the mother.
Before Erin could say anything, Bethany swung herself out of her sadd
le.
“What are you doing?” the knight snapped before sliding to the ground himself.
“We need to help them. I’m a healer, and you’re trained as well. We have to help.”
Erin glared at her. This wasn’t safe. He knew nothing about these people or what they might do to her.
“Can you, miss?” asked the mother, sounding desperate.
“Of course we can,” said Bethany in a calm, easy voice as she knelt beside the sick child.
Erin ground his teeth together as he followed her example. They would have it out over this later.
“Snake?” the princess asked as she gently pulled the fabric away from the swollen wound.
He nodded.
“Sweetie,” he said, brushing the girl’s hair out of her face. “Did you see what bit you?”
She shook her head, tears leaking from her eyes.
“Tie it off,” Erin ordered, directing his voice to Bethany.
Bethany grabbed a piece of rope and tied it around the child’s leg.
“This is going to hurt, but I need you to be brave. Okay?”
She yanked it tight and the child screamed.
“What are you doing!” snapped the father. “You’re hurting her!”
“I’m trying to slow the flow of the blood, to keep the poison from reaching her heart,” Bethany explained calmly, ignoring the hands batting at her.
“How long ago did this happen?” Erin asked.
“I noticed the bite about three hours ago,” said the mother.
Erin looked down at the child. “Did it happen much before your mother noticed it?”
The little girl nodded.
“How long?”
“This morning, when the sun was behind the trees,” she said, her voice sounding thin.
“Good job. Good memory,” he said, caressing her cheek.
Erin glanced up at Bethany and shook his head, just enough for her to see. Her face crumpled for a second before she schooled it into a professional and detached expression. She moved to the mother, releasing the pressure of the rope, and pulled the mother away from the child.
“What is it? What bit her?” asked the mother as they stepped away.
“It was a snake, most likely, but it’s too late. There’s nothing we can do for her now.”
“You lie!” screamed the wife, running back to the child and scooping her up in her arms.
Erin stood up and joined Bethany.
“We should go,” he said.
“Isn’t there anything we can do to relieve the pain?” Bethany asked.
“You’re the healer,” he growled. “As you remind me daily.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Erin saw her chew on her bottom lip and stare at the dying child. He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her toward their horses. She hesitated at first, but eventually obeyed and climbed onto her horse.
They rode in silence. No doubt Bethany knew that he was furious.
That night, when they finally stopped, Bethany spoke. “Oh, just say it already!”
“Say what?” he snapped back. “That you were a damn fool. That you always are a fool.”
“I’m not a fool. I just happen to have a heart,” she grumbled, snagging her horse’s saddle off its back and dumping it on the ground.
She unloaded Dinner and helped him with Éimhin in silence. Finally she took a piece of fruit and went to the far side of their campsite, as far away from him as she could manage.
They went to sleep without another word spoken.
Bethany didn’t feel much like talking the next day, even when Erin uncharacteristically tried to start a conversation. She kept her answers short, hoping he’d leave her alone. Even when she thought of questions, about their surroundings and the Zemê camp they were approaching, she kept them to herself.
They reached the camp and found a place to tie off their horses.
“I’m going to go buy us a passage,” he said after swinging down to the ground.
“With what money?” she demanded.
“I hid the coins before Pelor noticed them,” he said, digging into the hidden pocket in his saddle and producing the little leather pouch.
“And you didn’t think I would want to know that?”
“When exactly was I supposed to impart this information?”
“How about the three days we spent sleeping on a beach?” she asked.
Why would he hide this? she wondered to herself.
“It never came up.”
Bethany just stared at him. What was happening? They had been fine throughout their little break on the beach. Why were they always fighting now?
Before she could think of anything more to say, he tied the pouch to his belt and stomped away. Bethany was ready to yell at him, but her horse nudged her in the shoulder, nearly knocking her off her feet.
“What’s your problem?” she demanded, pushing back as though she were an angry child confronting a bully.
The horse sputtered before using her shoulder to scratch an itch on its long forehead. She tried to stay angry, but couldn’t as the horse began to nibble on his own reins.
“You’re ridiculous,” she said, half to the horse and half to herself.
A few minutes later, Erin returned.
“I’ve gotten a passage for us. We leave when the sun sets.”
“Why then?”
“It’s cooler. Across the wastelands it’s going to get hot,” he said, as though she didn’t already know that. “While we’re with these people, I want you to stay close to me.”
“Don’t trust them?”
“I don’t trust anyone,” he said before taking a hold of Éimhin’s reins and leading them to a tiny tent.
“What’s this?”
“They said we could sleep here during the day.”
Bethany’s stomach twisted as she looked down at the little covering. It would barely be enough room for both of them to lie down in. After tending to the horses, they climbed in. Bethany lay on her side, her back facing the knight.
As the sun set, Bethany and Erin set out with the Zemê caravan, still not speaking to each other.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bethany stood on the final sand dune, her horse beside her. The animal nosed around in the sand, always searching for something to eat. Thus far on their two week journey across the wastelands, her horse had only found something in the oases. During the two weeks in the desert, Bethany had spent half the time worrying about their water supply; but every time they ran out of water, the Zemê found another oasis or underground spring. For the first time, she truly understood why the other nationalities still hired the Zemê to escort them across the desert.
During their time with the Zemê, Bethany had obeyed Erin’s junction to remain close to him, but that didn’t mean she had enjoyed it. There was still an unusual rift between them. It felt as though so many topics were not acceptable. If Bethany was being honest with herself, there was only one word to describe the last two weeks: boring.
Now, as she stood looking out over the northern lands, her heart swelled and a smile spread across her face. Even from here, she could make out dull gray peaks of the White Cap Mountains. Just on the other side of that mountain range was Dothan and her family.
To her annoyance, Erin joined her on the top of the sand dune, Éimhin and Dinner in tow. Bethany had been walking ahead of the caravan, having had the way pointed out to her. She didn’t want to stand beside Erin, silent and alone. Her loneliness was more apparent when he was with her and yet so distant.
“What’s the plan?” she asked; Bethany suspected her forcing him to talk annoyed him, and so she did it whenever she could think of anything to say.
“We’ll go into Nava and see if we can book a passage to Dothan.”
“Book a passage?” Bethany glanced back at the Zemê. Did he mean buy a guide?
“On a boat. It would save us weeks, maybe even a month, not to mention all the hassle of crossing those mountains.” Hi
s voice was business-like.
“Good plan,” she said before leading her horse down the dune.
At the northern edge of the Central Wastelands, Erin paid the second half of the fee. They had received a slight discount due to the fact they shared their bountiful supply of fruit, and the result was they parted from the Zeme with two silver coins left over.
“Will two silver be enough to book a passage?” she asked as they walked toward the nearest road.
The horses had lost weight during their journey across the wastelands, and they had come to an unspoken understanding that they would spare the horses whenever they could. Bethany glanced back to make sure Dinner was still following with his mostly-empty packs. The donkey looked just as thin and scrawny as he ever had.
“Probably not.”
“What are we going to do?” Bethany asked, looking at Erin for the first time.
“How attached are you to that horse?”
Bethany glanced over her shoulder at the animal.
It is a pretty horse, she admitted to herself, even if it’s a little on the thin side.
Bethany dreaded returning to Dinner’s back, but in the end, she would rather get home than keep the horse. Besides, if she worked for her family as a servant, as she expected to do, she had no need of a horse, pretty or not.
“Not very. How much do you think we can get for him?”
“Not as much as we could if it weren’t so thin, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. I’ll check with the docks first, to make sure there’s a boat sailing that way. No point selling the beast if we don’t need the money.”
“Supplies might be helpful.”
“If we can’t get a passage, the money we have will buy us enough to get us by. Besides, once we get into the foothills, I can hunt for our dinner.”
“We’ll travel slower then.”
“True. We’ll just see what happens,” Erin said, effectively ending the conversation.
They walked on down the road, the landscape slowly turning from bleak to bearable. It was nothing like the green lushness of the beach jungle, but Bethany could see that beyond the approaching city they would find fields ready for spring planting and trees preparing to bud. She was ready to be surrounding by growing things again.
The Dothan Chronicles: The Complete Trilogy Page 53
