“You going with me. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
She groaned. “It doesn’t matter what you think. Dr. Prever wants a nurse to go with you and it’s me. I don’t know why, but I’m not going to waste time arguing when we could be looking for the soldier.”
He closed the door and here they were together in a room, alone once more. After she’d put on all her clothing and turned to him, he cupped her shoulders. “Annabelle, I don’t think you should accompany us. This could be dangerous. I have some medical training. Ziggy and I can handle this.”
“I’m going with you, so you can get that idea right out of your head.” She moved away from him quickly and opened her door. She wouldn’t allow the attraction she felt for him to interfere with her job.
“We might hike over some rough terrain,” Cade said.
She snapped her answer. “If I can survive France, I can live through anything.”
“This isn’t a quick walk in the park.”
Tired of his insinuation that she couldn’t handle the trip, she spoke sharply. “You really don’t know what I’ve survived or what I can do. You haven’t known me that long. If I can live through almost getting blown up, I can do this.”
She heard him mumble a curse, but ignored him and stomped down the hall with her bag of supplies. He followed, his boots making muffled sounds on the floor. At the rotunda they met up with Ziggy, and when she looked in the man’s eyes, she saw nothing but the sincerity he’d always shown before.
The weather had turned colder. Annabelle guessed it might hover in the middle forty degrees Fahrenheit. When darkness came, it would drop. Ziggy and Cade carried lamps for use when night took over. Although not a cloud could be found in the sky, the sun would be down in less than an hour.
Without conversation, they turned toward the back of the asylum, past the auditorium, and skirted the edge of the cemetery. As they passed headstones, she felt a shiver pass over her.
Annabelle didn’t feel hesitation now, not with Cade there. If it had been any other soldier, she wouldn’t have felt this way. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she felt safe with him nearby. She understood that he knew how to track and so did Ziggy. They would find the corporal and be back in no time. Cade would probably reprimand the corporal for putting everyone to such trouble. At least she hoped he would.
As they trekked into the woods, Ziggy looked for signs of the soldier’s path. “Damn fool,” he said, then quickly glanced over at Annabelle. “Sorry ma’am.”
She smiled. “It’s all right. I’ve heard far worse. There isn’t anything I haven’t heard, I suspect.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded and moved forward in front of them, searching for any sign of where the private could have gone.
Time stretched as they traversed the woods. Ziggy and Cade consulted their compasses, using their orienteering to keep track of where they were and where they planned to go.
“Dr. Prever told me there’s an old cabin just ahead. It’s well stocked by hunters. I wonder if the corporal took shelter there,” Cade said.
“I heard that cabin is over thirty years old and in a fine mess,” Annabelle said.
Cade continued to follow Ziggy closely. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t think a man who survived trench warfare is going to mind, do you?”
They went silent for a short time, and she noticed the temperature had dropped. Grateful for her warm winter wear, she also didn’t mind the mask, which helped keep her face warm. She tightened the scarf around her neck.
“Why are you still wearing that mask?” he asked. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere. Don’t you think it is a bit imbecilic considering many of the soldiers don’t have a mask?”
Anger surged. “Yes, we should have masks for all the soldiers, too. I agree. But since we don’t, it is probably best to give the caregivers protection. After all, if they die who takes care of you?”
A harsh laugh escaped his throat. “Me? I won’t catch influenza. I’ve never had the damned stuff. Not once.”
Annabelle couldn’t stop the sarcasm. “Remarkable.”
“I got it once,” Ziggy said to them, turning halfway around for a moment before spinning back to tread deeper into the forest. “Damn stuff practically killed me when I was five. I don’t remember much about it, though. Probably just as well.” He shrugged. “Don’t matter. I’m not afraid of it now.”
“I had it twice,” Annabelle said. “Once when I was ten, and one time when I was nineteen.”
“You’re strong and healthy. If you weren’t, the influenza would have killed you either time,” Cade said.
She shook her head. “No, not necessarily. It depends on how bad it is. And the enza that is in our world now isn’t the same. It just ... isn’t.”
Ziggy chuckled. “How do you know? You aren’t a scientist, are you?”
“Nursing is a science. Trust me when I tell you, what is killing people now isn’t exactly the same influenza. It’s ... mutated.”
“What’s that mean?” Ziggy asked.
“Changed. Altered into something else,” Cade said.
Quiet enveloped them for a long time, and night continued to encroach. Ziggy turned slightly to look at her. “I sure did like that one song you were singing, Nurse Dorrenti.”
“Which one?” she asked with hesitation.
Ziggy chuckled. “Something about being in love with a man. Now that’s the kind of woman I want. One that loves me and doesn’t argue with me. One that listens to what I tell her to do.”
The hair went up on the back of her neck as uncertainty and perturbation took hold. “You aren’t likely to find a woman anywhere near the asylum like that.”
“I can attest to that.” Cade’s statement was light, but his gaze stayed forward on Ziggy as the tracker continued into the woods. “Nurse Dorrenti doesn’t have much use for a man who thinks he can make her do what he wants.”
Annabelle needed to confirm it. “Exactly.”
“Anyways,” Ziggy said suddenly, “Ain’t no damned enza going to hurt me.”
Irritated, she started a lecture. “The sickness isn’t something to take lightly. If it decides to attack you, I doubt you’ll have much say in how or when.”
Ziggy’s expression fell. “What do you think started it?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t believe anyone else knows either. Fort Devens seems to be where the main event started, but that’s debatable.”
“Wasn’t God.” Ziggy shook his head and stopped momentarily to look at a tree and bushes nearby.
“This influenza comes from God knows what,” she said, “but we probably should have seen the signs.”
“Signs?” Ziggy asked. “As in religious signs?”
“No.” She answered quickly. “This year has been extraordinary for deaths caused by disease. Pneumonia is a big one.” She waved one hand in exasperation, then hefted her pack higher on her shoulders. “People are being worn down. Their defenses destroyed by this war. The worry. The grief of hearing a loved one has been killed.” Her glance strayed to Cade, and his gaze caught hers. Understanding glimmered in eyes filled with hardness and grief. “Soldiers have been packed together like sardines in camps and forts and then in ships. Everything is difficult, and they aren’t getting enough to eat.” She warmed to her subject. “It stands to reason sickness would occur somewhere and be passed along.”
“Makes perfect sense.” Cade’s agreement surprised her. When she’d expressed this hypothesis to Dr. Prever, he’d laughed.
Cade cleared his throat and tossed a look at her. “But even if anyone was paying attention, I don’t think the people who started this war would give a damn, do you? And I don’t think the powers in Washington would give a damn. They’re too worried about keeping the panic down.”
She made a small sound of exasperation. “Wouldn’t you?”
“Hell no. You don’t believe people are calm now, do you?”
What could she say to that? She skir
ted around some aspens, and their tall bodies separated her from the warmth of Cade. In that moment, she felt almost a mile a way from him. Time stretched as wilderness wrapped them in eons.
Feeling a despondency she didn’t understand, she asked, “What will you do if the corporal doesn’t cooperate and come back with us?”
Cade shifted his backpack and weapon on his shoulder. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe we’ll have to shoot him.” Ziggy’s cackle sounded dark.
Wind swirled across the treetops, the whispering sound sending disquiet through her that she couldn’t shake. A shiver worked its way up her spine that had nothing to do with cold. As they continued, darkness was well on its way to covering the land. The mountains and forest surrounding the area made certain night came early. Her breath frosted the air. Ziggy and Cade lit their lamps.
“Stay close to me,” Cade said.
“I’m not going to wander off. I don’t know where I’m going.” Annabelle smiled even though she didn’t feel like it. Perhaps the captain wanted Ziggy to know he intended to watch over her. The mere idea that Cade planned to protect her at all gave her a warm, cozy feeling inside. The comfort she felt from being near him competed with apprehension. Not because she feared him, but because the forest had a mind of its own. “This place is alive,” she said without thinking how it sounded.
Ziggy let out a grunt and dropped down on one knee in the dirt. “Here’s his tracks again. I’ll bet he headed for that cabin.”
“But how could he know about it?” Annabelle asked.
Cade pointed to the hill in front of them, and despite the lack of light, she could barely see the smoke coming upward. “Smoke coming from the chimney.” He lowered his voice. “We have to be cautious. Go slowly. Introduce ourselves so he realizes we’re his friends.”
“We aren’t his friends, are we?” Ziggy asked.
“As close as we can be.” Annabelle threw Cade a cautious glance. “That’s why we’re out here. At least if he had the presence of mind to go to the cabin, maybe he’s fine mentally.”
“Oh, no, ma’am. The corporal is crazy beyond anything I’ve seen.” Ziggy was now on her right, too close for her comfort.
“Shh.” Cade put one finger to his mouth. He’d pulled on his leather gloves. “Let’s take this quiet and slow. Extinguish your lamp. Annabelle stay close.”
There he was again, telling her what to do, but she knew in this case she needed to follow his dictates. Ziggy took his orders and blew out his lamp.
“We’ll leave the lamps,” Cade said. “Ziggy, have your weapon out. Damn, I should have given you one, Annabelle.”
“I wouldn’t use it. I hate guns.”
He didn’t argue with her. It occurred to her now, when it should have become evident before, that she hadn’t seen a single weapon since the soldiers had come to the asylum. “Where did you get the weapons?” she asked.
“Dr. Prever,” Ziggy said. “He has them hidden away for safe keepin’.”
Cade caught her gaze and held it. “Stay behind me at all times.”
Annabelle wished she’d borrowed trousers. Her skirts threatened to trip her as she ascended the hill behind the men. Steep and slippery with pine needles, the hill defied balance. Still, she pressed onward with determination. She wouldn’t regret coming here to help the soldier, and Cade wouldn’t regret she’d come along for this trip.
When they reached the top of the hill and over the side, they went down slowly, sliding through rocks and pine needles. The men crept along, as if on a battlefield. No doubt the soldier in the cabin, if indeed he was in the cabin, could hear them. But when they arrived at the cabin, no one came outside to greet them.
“We’ll knock on the door. Annabelle, stay back.” Cade moved forward with Ziggy.
A shout came from behind her, and through the last rays of day, she could barely see the shape charging her.
Chapter 15
Cade heard the man’s shout, and when he whirled, rifle at the ready, he saw Corporal Roger Colleto charging Annabelle from the woods. Time slowed for him, became precise, and drew into a pinpoint. She grabbed a stick from the ground and held it up in defense. The soldier’s face was deathly pale but enraged, as if he charged an enemy out of the trench.
“Yahhhhhhhh!” The man’s scream reached a pitch, high and fierce.
A gunshot rang out, and Cade jerked at the sound. Ziggy had fired. The insane soldier’s body hurdled face forward toward Annabelle almost too fast to blink. Damn it to all Billy hell. Annabelle dashed out of the way as the soldier fell, but momentum threw the man in her path and he dragged her down with him.
“Annabelle!” Cade cried out, unable to stop the rush of pure fear.
Ziggy rushed toward Annabelle at the same time Cade did. She was struggling to escape from under Colleto’s dead weight.
Cade lifted the man off of Annabelle. “God damn it to hell, Ziggy.” he growled. “What did you think you were doing?”
“Well, he’s loony isn’t he? Didn’t see you doing anything about him.”
“Annabelle, are you hurt?”
Annabelle rose to her feet before he could assist her. “I’m fine.” She immediately looked over the fallen man, and Cade knelt next to the soldier. “This man is—” She gasped. “Oh, my God.”
“What is it?” Cade asked, but he saw what she meant a second later. Even though he lay unconscious, Colleto’s breath rasped. Blood stained his chin, and his lips were bluish. “What is wrong with him?”
Without answering, she performed a quick examination. He’d only been clipped in the right shoulder by Ziggy’s bullet.
Annabelle wrapped the man’s wound swiftly. “Help me get him inside.”
They moved as fast as they could. Ziggy carried the man’s feet and Cade the man’s torso. The corporal weighed very little; like many soldiers back from the war, he hadn’t gained significant weight yet. Annabelle opened the cabin door, and when they rushed inside, a warm fire greeted them from the fireplace.
“At least Colleto knew to make a fire,” Ziggy said.
“In here.” Annabelle headed into the only other room—a small bedroom with two tables, a dresser with basin and pitcher, and an old rickety looking armoire. They settled the injured man on the bed. “Help me get his clothes off and into bed.”
“What?” Cade began helping Ziggy take off the man’s boots and clothes. “Why?”
Impatience flickered over her face as she put her pack on a chair by the bed and dug through it quickly. “Look at his lips. Cyanosis, and the way he’s breathing. He’s either dying from a small wound to his shoulder, or he’s got the influenza.”
They continued removing the man’s clothes down to his long underwear. Fear could have taken Cade right then, but he didn’t allow it. In the scheme of things, he didn’t fear the disease. He felt like an ass for the way he’d talked to her all the way up here, and he didn’t understand why he’d been short with her. Later. He’d have to apologize later.
Ziggy chuckled, but it was a sound that lacked amusement. “So he’s crazy and sick?”
Annabelle didn’t answer as she removed her outerwear and made certain her mask was firmly strapped over her nose. She glanced upward and caught Cade staring at her. For a moment they locked gazes, and a new place opened within him. Connection drew them together, and he knew it somewhere deep inside. It threw him into turmoil, and he didn’t understand how it could be.
She tore her gaze from his. “I suggest you both leave the room while I take care of him.”
Cade frowned. “Why?”
“Because we’ve been exposed to the disease but if you leave the room now there’s less of a chance you could contract it.”
Annabelle’s expression pleaded with him, and he saw fear mixed with her determination.
“I’m leaving all right,” Ziggy said.
“Wait.” Cade knew what he must do. He looked Ziggy square in the eye. “We cannot leave her here to fend for herself.”
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“You heard what she said.” Ziggy’s voice was hard and cold to the core. “I’m not staying here and catch no influenza.”
“A moment ago you said you weren’t afraid of it.” Cade almost growled his words as anger rolled to the top.
Ziggy’s face remained unsympathetic. “Makes no difference to me.”
“You should go with him,” Annabelle said, her voice calm. She touched Colleto’s forehead. “He has a high fever. He’s definitely ill with something, even if it isn’t enza.”
Cade crossed his arms and stared down at the man. Pale skin and blue lips promised that the soldier couldn’t be that far from death. “I’m not going anywhere. Ziggy, you should stay with us. If you’ve been exposed to the disease, you can’t take it back with you to the asylum.”
“What the hell?” The man’s curse came out harshly. “I’m not stayin’ here with this guy choking on his own spit. If he’s got the enza we should just leave him here.”
“We are not leaving this man behind to die.” Cade towered over Ziggy. “Get that through your thick head.”
Ziggy backed away. “Well you aren’t stoppin’ me.”
Cade heard Annabelle’s sharp intake of breath. “Please Ziggy. You said you weren’t afraid. Don’t go back to the asylum and possibly infect anyone else. Stay with us here.”
Her plea, softened in the female way, eased the tightness in Ziggy’s face. His expression eased into a self-indulgent smile. “Well, all right. If you want me.”
Cade didn’t like the gleam in the man’s eyes, and the insinuation in his words, but he stayed silent. The next few hours were going to be hell.
* * *
Cade and Ziggy stayed in the main living area of the cabin. Annabelle insisted they leave her with the patient in the bedroom with the door closed. Cade sat on the couch with his rifle over his lap, hovering between sleep and wakefulness. Ziggy sat on a stick-like chair across from the couch and near the fire. He slept most of the time, and Cade couldn’t say he minded.
Shadows Rise Page 18