by E A Chance
The steady downpour continued throughout the following day with no sign of Coop and Dashay. Riley invited Adrian to join her in her tent and keep her company. They played cards and Adrian instructed her on the uses of plants they’d find in the areas they’d travel through. She didn’t remember half of what he said, but it helped the time pass.
When it was time for bed, she asked if he’d be uncomfortable sleeping in her tent. “Not in the least,” he’d said. “I think of you as a little sister.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she was grateful when he brought his sleeping bag and gear from his tent, and they chatted just loud enough to hear each other over the wind and rain. Adrian eventually fell asleep mid-sentence. Riley gave meditation another shot, hoping to feel the baby move. She’d told Adrian about her experience the previous night and was surprised when he showed interest. It reminded her he hadn’t just sprung into life in a vacuum. He had a wife and two daughters out in the world somewhere. She made a mental note to ask about them in the morning, then laid down, hoping to sleep.
The second night didn’t go as well as the first. She’d spent hours tossing and turning, only dosing off for sporadic moments.
She’d been asleep for an hour when she woke at dawn and realized the rain had stopped. She poked her head out of the tent to find the camp under six inches of water. She was grateful they’d thought to pitch the tent on the highest ground in the area. Adrian was still sleeping, so she quietly put her boots on and went out to use the toilet bucket. The clouds still lingered, but they were high and thin. Riley hoped that meant they’d dissipate once the sun rose.
She sloshed through the water and pulled the bucket off the cart to carry to Dashay’s tent. A wave of sadness washed over her at seeing her friend’s belongings tossed around in a jumbled mess. Dashay had an abundance of amazing qualities, but neatness wasn’t one of them. Riley closed her eyes and tried to call up the sound of Dashay’s laughter as she and Coop had ridden away from camp, but all she heard was silence.
After relieving herself, she emptied the bucket downhill from the camp and went to get something to eat. She and Adrian were almost out of food and had made a rationing plan before going to sleep. If Coop and Dashay didn’t return within the next four days, they’d have no choice but to go in search of supplies. Riley loathed the idea of leaving, even if only for a few hours, but they couldn’t just sit still and starve to death.
She took her pack to Dashay’s tent and dug out a roll of fruit leather and a baggie of squirrel jerky. As she chewed on the tough, dry food, she let her mind wander into territory she’d avoided since Coop had become overdue. She had to admit that she might be forced to make gut-wrenching choices. She looked around and remembered that Dashay had made a similar choice when she left Nico. Riley chided herself for not being more sensitive to what Dashay had done. Would she be as strong if it came to that?
She heard Adrian call her, so she stood with a sigh and went to see what he wanted.
“This isn’t a great way to greet the day,” he said, as she walked toward him. He scratched his head and gazed up at the sky. “Hopefully, these clouds will burn off.”
Riley looked down at her boots buried in six inches of water. “Just what I was thinking. Adrian, we need to discuss how long we’ll wait before moving on. I hate the idea, but we can’t just stay here in the middle of nowhere forever.”
“No, we can’t. My vote is we give them another two days. We have enough food to subsist on for that long. Then, we try to find out what happened to them.”
Tears pooled in Riley’s eyes at the thought, but Adrian was right. She couldn’t start heading west without answers. She nodded and wiped her eyes. “We’re not there yet, so let’s make the most of today. Is it worth trying to start a fire on higher ground?”
“Possibly, if we can find dry kindling. Even the wood under the cart is soaked.”
They searched the area and found enough dry wood under a thick strand of trees to make a fire. They carried rocks to a knoll behind Riley’s tent and made a ring of stones to keep the wood out of the mud. Riley watched silently as Adrian worked for half an hour to get the kindling to light. She gave a cheer when the flames took, then carried their chairs to the fire. The clouds parted the instant they sat down and the temperature rose rapidly.
Adrian fished two cans of beans out of the cart and poured them into a pan to heat. Riley had never been a fan of beans, but they were an excellent source of nutrition and the best they had on hand. She finished the entire can in order to keep her strength up. She was sweating by the time they’d finished their meager meal.
When she removed her hoodie and wiped her forehead with it, Adrian said, “At least the ground will dry in a hurry.”
“Is this weather typical for early June here? We’re not too far from Saint Louis. You must have traveled there in summer to visit your wife’s family.”
“We did a few times. It might be slightly warmer than I remember, but they get heavy rains and flooding this time of year, occasionally.”
Riley poked a stick at the fire as she said, “Tell me about them.”
Adrian raised his eyebrows when he looked up at her. “Who?”
“Your family.”
“You’re really interested in hearing about them?”
Riley chuckled. “More than hearing about plants.”
He smiled. “Fair enough. Where do I start?”
“Tell me how you met your wife.”
Adrian rubbed his chin while he thought, then stopped and his eyes widened. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Riley asked as she heard a horse whinny. She jumped up and faced the direction the sound came from. A second later, she caught sight of Biscuit lumbering toward them with Coop and Dashay on his back. She headed for them at a full run. As she got closer, she could see Coop was slumped over the saddle.
When she reached them, Dashay jumped down with a splash, and said, “Hurry, Riley. Coop’s sick. We’ve got to get him to your tent.”
As if on cue, Coop let go of the reins and toppled over. Adrian showed up just in time to help Dashay and her catch him. The three of them carried him to the tent and laid him on the sleeping bag.
Riley could feel his skin burning with fever as she removed his clothes to examine him. “Adrian, hand me the med pack.”
“I’ll get it,” Dashay said, but as she tried to stand, her legs gave way and she slumped against Riley.
Adrian dropped to his knees next to her hand laid his hand on her forehead. “Are you sick too? You don’t feel warm.”
“Adrian, pack,” Riley barked as she removed Coop’s sock and eyed Dashay. “Answer him.”
“No, not sick,” Dashay whispered. “Just exhausted. I wanted to stop at a village we passed, but Coop insisted on getting back here to you. He saved my life, Riley, so I didn’t argue.”
Riley took a few deep breaths and shook her head to clear it. “You can tell me the details later. Go to your tent and rest.”
She sat up and crossed her arms. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong with him.”
Adrian handed her the med pack, and as she tore it open, she said, “That will take time. You got Coop here alive. You’ve done well and you’re safe now.” Dashay held her gaze for a moment before gesturing for Adrian to help her to her feet. “Just one question. How long has Coop been sick?”
As Dashay ducked out of the tent, she said, “He woke up that way this morning.”
Riley pushed the thermometer under Coop’s tongue and took his blood pressure while she waited for it to beep. She was distressed to see his pressure was seriously elevated. The thermometer beeped, so she slid it out of his mouth and was stunned to see it read 104.5 degrees. She jumped up and ran to Dashay’s tent.
She pulled open the flap and said, “Have you given him any medication?”
Dashay nodded and propped herself on her elbow. “I gave him 800 milligrams of ibuprofen about five hour
s ago.”
Riley grabbed hold of Adrian’s arm and pulled him out of the tent. “Get me as much cold water as you can carry and as many towels as you can find.”
Adrian ran off to do her bidding while she returned to Coop. She opened a packet with the highest safe dose of acetaminophen she could find, then tapped his cheek to rouse him. His eyelids opened half-way, and he studied her face for a moment before closing his eyes.
“Dying, Riley,” he croaked. “I’m breaking my promise not to leave you alone. I’m sorry, love of my life. Tell my son I loved him.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” she said, doing her best to conceal her fear. “You’re not dying. I need to sit you up so you can swallow these tablets. Can you help?”
“Can’t move. Too weak. Too much pain.”
Adrian rushed in with a full bucket of water.
“Put that down and help me sit him up so I can give him these meds,” Riley said. Adrian did as she asked, then helped her lift Coop against a pile of packs and boxes. He let out a groan as they moved him.
“Sorry, Coop, but we have to reduce your fever and you can’t swallow lying down. Be a good boy and take your medicine.” She lifted a canteen to his lips and poured water into his mouth. “Swallow,” she ordered. He grimaced as he gulped the water, but most of it went down. “Excellent. Now we’re going to do that again, along with the tablets. Open your mouth.”
He lowered his jaw and stuck his tongue out like a baby bird. She placed the tablets in his mouth, followed by more water. It took a few gulps, but he got them down.
Adrian clapped and said, “Excellent job.”
Coop attempted a thumbs-up, but couldn’t quite manage it. The fact he’d tried gave Riley hope that he was still in there.
She turned to Adrian and said, “Start soaking those towels while I het his clothes off. We’ve got to keep wrapping him and replacing the towels when they get warm. We can’t wait for the acetaminophen to work.”
Adrian reached outside of the tent for the towels and dunked three into the bucket. Riley took the top one and wrung it out before wrapping it around Coop’s leg. He flinched and tried to push it off, but Riley held his hand to stop him.
“I know it’s uncomfortable, babe, but this will save your life.”
Coop relaxed his hand and let her finish covering him.
While she worked, she said, “I have wonderful news. I felt the baby move while you were gone, and he’s getting stronger every day. He gave me a good kick this morning.”
“He?” Coop croaked.
“I’ve decided it’s a boy. We’ll take bets once you’re recovered and see who’s right when he’s born.”
“Deal,” he whispered.
“Keep that fire going all day to boil water and keep me supplied with cold water, too.” She handed him the empty canteen. “Fill this please.”
She turned her attention back to Coop, hoping to figure out what was wrong with him. As she removed the towel covering his chest to replace it, she noticed a cluster of bumps near his shoulder. She leaned closer to examine them. She found several more on his arms and legs and recognized what they were. Mosquito bites. Her mind shuffled through the diseases carried in that part of the country and couldn’t come up with any that would cause severe illness so rapidly, but epidemiology was hardly her specialty.
Riley was sure of one thing, Coop would need specialized care, and fast. She finished covering him with the cold towels, then went to Dashay for more information. Her friend was out cold on top of her sleeping bag. Riley gently reached for her arm to examine her for bites. Her skin was warm, and she had bites on her upper arm, but not as many as Coop.
Dashay swatted at Riley’s hand, and without opening her eyes, said, “Leave me alone. I need sleep.”
Riley patted her cheek. “Wake up. I know you’re exhausted, but you need to answer my questions. What are your symptoms right now?”
“Headache. Muscle aches. Joints hurt.”
“Can you tell what happened out there? How did Coop save your life? Where did you go? What did you see?”
Adrian slipped into the tent and leaned over Dashay. “Her, too?” he asked. Riley looked him in the eyes without answering, but he got her message. “What do you need me to do?”
“Riley,” Dashay whispered. “Help me sit up.”
Riley and Adrian propped her against the side of the tent. Dashay rubbed her face, then said, “The Ohio River has flooded. Henderson, which was our next planned stop, is under five feet of water. Bridges are washed out. It’s a nightmare out there. Coop and I helped who we could. I was trying to rescue a woman and her baby and got swept into the current. If Coop hadn’t dived in and grabbed me, I would have drowned.” She stopped to catch her breath and her face twisted in pain. “The woman and baby didn’t make it.”
“Were people sick?”
Dashay shook her head without opening her eyes. “Not that we saw, but it was total chaos. Impossible to know.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t bring back supplies.”
“No. Riley, the only way out is south.”
“Noted,” Riley said. “Adrian, we need to cover her with cold cloths and give her lots of water, just like Coop. If we’re out of towels, use whatever you can find. Then, we need to discuss what we’re going to do.”
While Adrian went to fill another bucket, Riley found some acetaminophen for Dashay. and made her swallow them. She was relieved to see that her blood pressure wasn’t elevated like Coop’s. After assisting Adrian in covering her with a wet blanket, she went back to Coop and rechecked his temp. It had dropped to 102, which meant the cold towels were working since the acetaminophen hadn’t had time to take effect.
With her two patients stable for the moment, she and Adrian went to the firepit. Adrian dropped into a chair while Riley paced in circles around him.
“We have to get them to a town today if we can. They both need more than I can give them. If we can’t find a functioning hospital or clinic, I’ll need a library to read up on their symptoms and plan a treatment. I suspect this was caused by mosquito bites, but not malaria. The infection is escalating too rapidly. Do we have any repellent?”
“I’ll recheck the inventory, but I don’t remember seeing any when we went through the supplies.”
“Add mosquito repellent to the top of our list. Next step is to plot a course out of here. Do you have the map?”
Adrian pulled the map they’d picked up in Huntington from his back pocket. He opened it across his lap, and they poured over their options, which were limited.
Riley poked her finger at the map, and said, “We’re here, just southeast of Henderson. If the valley is flooded and the bridges gone, it looks like our only option is Madisonville, due south. How far do you think that is?”
“Twenty-five miles,” Adrian said without hesitation. “If we pack in a hurry, it doesn’t rain, and we push Biscuit, we can make it by nightfall.”
Riley faced south and did the calculation in her head. The distance was twice what they’d been covering in a day because of the rain slowing them down, but if it stayed dry, they had a chance.
Turning back to Adrian, she said, “I hate to do it, but we have to leave two bikes and half of the gear behind to make room for Coop and Dashay in the cart. Let’s get packed.”
They loaded the gear as quickly as they could with having to move through the wet, muddy camp but were ready to head out an hour later. Adrian had conceived of a way to lash the bikes and some extra gear to the outside of the cart, so they didn’t have to ditch as much as Riley thought they would.
The hardest part had been getting Coop inside. Dashay had recovered enough to climb in most of the way on her own, but Coop was barely conscious. He moaned or cried out in pain as Riley and Adrian lifted him into the cart. Riley was exhausted and nearly in tears by the time they had him resting on his makeshift bed, and they hadn’t even started on their trip to Madisonville.
She straddled her bike and r
ested her head on the handlebars. “Give me a minute,” she told Adrian.
She could hear him puffing for air as he laid his hand on her shoulder. “That will be the hardest part of the day, sis.”
“From your mouth to God’s ear, as Coop likes to say.”
After giving themselves five minutes to recover, they got underway just after noon and headed due south. The morning sunshine had helped dry the standing water, and they were far enough from the river that the road was passable with the occasional deep puddle they had to circumvent.
The cloud cover returned with a refreshing breeze two hours into their trip, and miraculously, the rains held off. Riley was grateful since the temperature dropped at least ten degrees. She and Adrian had rigged a tarp canopy to keep Coop and Dashay shaded and dry, but the cooler air was an even bigger help.
Riley got a second wind and pedaled along the frontage road at a steady, sustainable pace. Adrian seemed rejuvenated, too, and talked nonstop about the flora and fauna of the environment they passed through as he rode alongside Biscuit. Riley didn’t mind for once as it kept her distracted from obsessing about her gravely ill husband groaning in the cart.
She kept her eye on Biscuit as she listened to Arian. The horse was exhausted after the four-day excursion, but he had brought Adrian and Coop back safely. They’d barely been time to tend to him while caring for Coop and Dashay, but he was making a herculean effort to save his master by pulling him to Madisonville. Faithful Biscuit was the unsung hero in the entire ordeal. Riley dared let herself believe they’d reach Madisonville in time because of him. The alternative was too terrifying to consider.
Chapter Ten
Riley focused on the beam shining out from the light on Adrian’s bike, repeating the mantra, just pedal. A glance at her watch told her it was almost midnight. Between circumventing washed out roads and having to stop and tend to Coop and Dashay, the journey had taken hours longer than expected, but they’d spotted lights in the distance on cresting the last hill. Adrian assured her the town was only five miles ahead. Five miles, she’d told herself. I can manage five more miles. I must.