Ahead, Connor’s black horse turned, leaving the river bank where Levi had cut their path. Tim was still conscious and loosely holding onto Connor. She prayed Tim would stay awake long enough to drink the gray leaf tea. Her head lightened and tracers clouded her vision. She continued her prayer, asking God to keep her alert too.
When she and Revel approached the turn, he looked at her. “You go first—” His face changed instantly and he reached over to pull her coat collar away from her skin. “What happened to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your neck is bruised.” Regret darkened his face. “Did I hurt you when I pushed you away from that creature? Oh, Bailey, I’m truly sorry.”
She rubbed the skin on her neck and felt the hot, raised area with her fingertips but the lump itself was numb just like the purple spots on her leg. As Revel’s caring gaze implored her, her hands began to tingle. Whatever was happening inside her body, she shouldn’t keep it to herself much longer. “Let’s take care of Tim before we worry about me, okay?”
Chapter Eleven
Bailey focused on her breathing as she rode Gee toward the flattened grass where Sophia and Everett were waiting with their horses and the extra horse that Tim was supposed to ride home. The fog had lifted enough to brighten the bare deciduous branches and fluffy green conifers that brushed Bailey’s legs as Gee squeezed through the narrow path. The rancid smell of the mountains no longer filled her nostrils. Still, the dark feeling of the mountains seemed to be following her.
When they cleared the brush, Revel jumped down from Blaze. He landed with a confident thump and his concerned gaze shot to Bailey. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She pointed ahead of them. “Help Connor with Tim.”
Revel obliged her request without hesitation and rushed to help move Tim’s unresponsive body to the ground. Sophia dropped beside them and opened her medical supply kit. It cost Bailey every ounce of concentration to slide down from Gee and not topple over once she stood on her numb feet.
No, she wasn’t all right.
Sophia pulled a glass vial out of her supplies and tapped the syringe’s corked tip. The gray leaf vapor swirled and sparkled inside the slender tube. She gave instructions to Connor, and he helped open Tim’s mouth. Revel asked Bailey something, but everyone’s words mixed together in a cacophony, giving Bailey no ability to separate one sound from another.
She shouldn’t just stand by her horse. She should be helping too. Tim was her father—a fact not confirmed in a lab but in her heart. She tried to walk toward the others, but her knees felt like they were made of rubber.
Everything around her moved as slowly as her muddled mind. Connor spoke to Tim while Sophia worked to fill her unconscious patient’s lungs with gray leaf vapor. Revel knelt beside them, his face scrunched with worry lines. Everett stood nearby and glanced up when Levi rode out of the brush and joined the group. The two men gave each other a solemn look that probably relayed volumes of information. Then they both looked down at Tim, their faces tinged with doubt, just like Revel’s.
Bailey didn’t doubt the healing power of the gray leaf; she’d experienced it herself and needed it even now. When she had the gray leaf tea in Lydia’s medical office back in Good Springs, the arrow wound on her thigh healed quickly, and in the process, she’d felt the greatest sense of peace she’d ever known. The gray leaf had filled her with light and hope and the assurance that everything would indeed be all right.
None of which she felt right now.
The poisonous vine on the mountain’s summit had injected her with a substance that promised the opposite of the gray leaf. Its unseen venom was beginning to ooze into her soul, removing all hope for herself, for life, for the future. Had God brought her to the Land to see all the possibilities and then to kill her before she could experience any of them? She wanted to claim the peaceful life and the close friendships for herself. And perhaps even something more than friendship someday.
She looked at Revel and her vision narrowed into a white tunnel, fuzzing out all the periphery. Her heart rate accelerated and pounded against her sternum like an out-of-control jackhammer. No focused breathing would settle her insides, no positive pre-competition mantras, no telling herself to move past this. Whatever she needed to beat this was beyond her natural strength.
“God, please—” She barely breathed the words when a jarring scream resounded from across the river. Another one of the giant birds must have found the one Levi killed, maybe its mate.
Her thumping heart ached for the beautiful animals. The ancient keepers of the deadly mountains would have to mourn their loss. She knew what that was like, but couldn’t think about it right now.
Her gloves felt too tight, so she peeled them off and let them fall to the grass. Each hand was colored with raised purple welts. Her tunnel vision locked onto the violet spots. “Revel!”
He rushed to her and gripped both of her shoulders to steady her. “Bailey! What’s wrong? You look ill.”
“I am. The vine on the summit… it injected something into my ankle when it grabbed me. Poison.” When she held out her blotched hands, he sucked in a short breath then walked her toward Sophia.
“Bailey needs the gray leaf too, and quickly!”
Connor was hovering over Tim and encouraging him to breathe deeply even though his eyes were still closed. Sophia recapped the empty syringe she’d used to force gray leaf vapor into Tim’s lungs. They both looked at Bailey, but she couldn’t focus enough to discern either of their expressions.
Sophia pulled another vial from her supply kit. “I have to help Tim. Here,” she said as she handed the fresh syringe to Revel.
The wobbling voices surrounding Bailey echoed in her ears. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and her knees buckled. She dropped to the ground and caught herself with her face inches from the earth. She pushed her shoulders up but remained on all fours.
Revel knelt beside her. “We don’t have time to make gray leaf tea. Sophia said you must inhale this vapor now.”
All she could see was each blade of flattened grass directly below her face. She spread her fingers over the beautiful sedge. “This grass is soft for a carex variety. Or maybe it just feels soft because my hands are half numb.”
“Bailey, you have to put this syringe into your mouth and inhale the gray leaf vapor.”
She tried to focus on the uniqueness of each grass blade to keep the poison from darkening her thoughts. Still, it uncovered the sludgy feelings left from every hurt she’d ever endured, every lie she’d been told, every sin she’d committed, pulling her into despair.
No, it wasn’t true. She had to hold on to something. All she could do was touch the grass blades. “I have to feel.”
“Feel what? Bailey?” Revel grabbed her shoulders. “Did you hear me?”
Violet spots began appearing over the brown grass, just like on her skin. “So many strange plants grow in the Land.”
He lifted her head and his face came into the center of her diminishing vision. “Bailey, look at me!”
She sat up and touched his stubble-covered jaw. It should have felt rough, but it was soft too. Just like his kind heart. How come she’d never realized how attractive he was? Before she could think any more, his skin began to darken. “Now you have the spots too.”
“No, I don’t. Bailey, listen to me. That vine’s poison is making you hallucinate. If you won’t inhale this, I’ll have to force you.” He opened her jaw and slid the syringe onto her tongue. The taste of gray leaf made her close her lips around it. “Now I’m going to pinch your nose and you inhale as hard as you can.”
She took hold of the syringe and shooed his hands away from her face. “I can do it myself.” Just the taste of gray leaf lingering on the vial was enough to jolt her thoughts. She forced all the air out of her lungs then pushed the syringe’s plunger and inhaled until it felt like her torso might burst.
The gray leaf vapor stung her throat and sinuses for
a few seconds. A brief lull between the pain and confusion of the vine’s poison and the peace and certainty of the gray leaf’s cure made her feel like she was floating in nothingness.
She dropped the empty syringe and swallowed the air in her mouth. Revel sat knees-to-knees with her, holding her shoulders steady. If he hadn’t, she might have floated away—or so it felt. The narrow tunnel of her vision began to widen and within seconds she could see clearly. “You don’t have spots on your face, nor does the grass.”
He made a half laugh, half cry sound. “No.”
The gray leaf’s healing warmth radiated from her lungs up to her neck, out to her arms, and finally down her legs. She shifted to remove her shoes. “I have to get these off.”
“Here let me.” Revel gently tugged off her hiking boots one at a time.
The ankle that had been caught by the vine was still twice its normal size and covered in welts, as was her whole body probably, but nothing hurt. She only felt weak and stiff and disoriented.
She touched her head just to see if it was attached. “I’m still so confused. Why isn’t the gray leaf working against the poison?”
“It is. Just be patient.”
“The vapor would have several times as many gray leaf molecules as the tea. It should work faster. It should have beaten the vine’s poison by now.”
“You don’t know that for certain.”
“I don’t know anything for certain.”
He drew her against his side as he had the night on the boat. “Just lean on me and close your eyes.”
She let her weight sink into his chest, but she didn’t close her eyes. Hearing the rhythmic thump of his heart was like finding a metronome during a tornado. Usually, she was the most stable person in an emergency. How had she gone from rescuing Tim to needing to be rescued?
She tried to raise herself to look around the horses at her father but couldn’t. “How is Tim?”
“He opened his eyes. Sophia and Connor are talking to him.”
“Tell him I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
She looked at her welt-covered hands. “I’m a purple-spotted doofus.”
He held her close. “I have no idea what that is, but I’m sure after a few hours, the gray leaf medicine will cure it too.”
Her last experience with the gray leaf flooded back. “I’ll pass out soon, won’t I?”
“Probably.”
“Will we camp here tonight?”
Revel was quiet for a moment. “No. As soon as you and Tim are stable, we’re riding back to Southpoint.”
“How soon?”
“In a few minutes.”
“A few minutes? The first time I had gray leaf medicine I slept for hours. How am I going to ride all the way to Southpoint while I’m unconscious?”
“I’ll take care of you. I promise.”
“How are you going to ride with me leaning on you?”
“I’ll manage.”
“What if I snore?”
He chuckled once. “I’ll ignore it.”
As her eyelids began to close against her will, she thanked God for Revel Roberts and for the others. Whether any of them wanted anything to do with her once this was over, she didn’t know. “Do you think our friendship will survive this?”
The assurance in his low voice left no doubt. “Yes, even this.”
* * *
Quartered gray leaf logs burned in the fireplaces throughout the Southpoint overseer’s home. Revel’s chilled skin warmed as he carried a chamber lantern down the hallway. He stopped outside the last bedroom on the left, his heart threatening to cease beating if Bailey didn’t recover. The door was open a sliver, so he curled his forefinger and knocked softly.
Sophia opened it, her hair disheveled and her dress hem stained from the long day. Still, she managed a polite smile. “Revel. Do come in.”
Bailey was lying on one twin bed in the guest room, while Tim was atop the other, both of them unconscious and covered with a thin blanket. Revel never understood what to make of the vegetative state a person slipped into after consuming gray leaf medicine. It didn’t matter, so long as Bailey and Tim both pulled through. His soul yearned for Bailey to open her eyes so he could spend a lifetime learning everything he could about the fascinating, independent woman to whom he felt closer than anyone else in his life. His conscience needed Tim to fully recover so he wouldn’t have to suffer the guilt of causing another person’s death.
He dithered in the doorway, not wanting to disturb Sophia, but the overseer’s wife had sent him. “Sorry to bother you. Mrs. McIntosh has offered us the bath house. She asks if you prefer your bath this evening or tomorrow.”
Sophia peeled a stray wisp of hair off her sweaty forehead. “I prefer it tonight, but I must stay here with them. I’ll have mine in the morning.”
“Very well.” Though he felt he should leave, his feet refused to back away. He traced Bailey’s exquisite face with his gaze. A film of dust from their terrifying adventure in the mountains shadowed her face. It did nothing to distract from her beauty.
Sophia stepped into his line-of-sight. “Was there something else?”
“Has there been any change in their conditions?”
She shook her head. “Take heart though. It has only been a few hours since we administered the gray leaf. Patients rarely wake up this soon.” She pointed at Tim. “Since he was struggling with diabetes in addition to malnutrition, I’m unsure of how his recovery will progress. Bailey told me he managed the condition with medication his whole life. We don’t have any such medication here, and the gray leaf is not known for curing hereditary ailments.”
She shifted her pointing finger toward Bailey. “She, however, will probably rouse during the night and be raring to go.” She capped her statement with a tired grin. “I’ve never witnessed a poisoning patient receive treatment, but Bailey—”
“Can survive anything.”
“It certainly seems that way.”
He leaned his aching body against the doorframe. Sophia’s optimism was music to his ears. Somewhere between the river valley and Southpoint, he’d decided he was meant to be more than Bailey’s protector, more than her friend. His duty to her should outlast this journey and his purpose should be bigger than simply returning her safely to Good Springs. But what that meant specifically, he did not know.
Sophia spread a quilt over the thin blanket that covered Tim and picked up another for Bailey. Footsteps tapped through the hall behind Revel, but he stayed in the bedroom doorway, watching Bailey breathe.
“It’s your turn, Revel,” Connor said from the hallway. “Mrs. McIntosh is heating your water.”
Revel finally looked away from Bailey’s peaceful face even though he didn’t want to. He’d committed himself to the security team and that included obeying its commander. He backed out of the guest room. “Good night, Sophia. Thank you.”
She nodded as he closed the door.
Connor rubbed a towel over his wet hair as he strode down the hall in front of Revel. When they reached an empty sitting room, he stopped and turned. “You did your job out there today, Revel. You stayed close to Bailey and kept her safe like I told you to.” Though Connor’s words were a commendation, he didn’t look pleased. He lifted his chin at the dark hallway. “But that look you had on your face when you were staring at Bailey just now, that’s what I warned you about.”
“What? I was sent to Sophia with a message from Mrs.—”
Connor’s gaze stopped Revel’s self-defense. “I told you not to fall for Bailey.”
“I haven’t.”
“I warned you before we left Good Springs and again at the inn. Remember? The last thing the security team needs is a scandal and the last thing Bailey needs is to have a guy she trusts wanting more from her than friendship.”
Revel’s mouth opened to deny his feelings, but the words escaped him. Without a home or profitable work, there was no sense in thinking about havi
ng a future with Bailey. Not that he needed this to make sense, but Bailey would. The hope he had for their growing relationship began to flatten inside his chest. “It’s complicated.”
“Exactly. And that’s why I told you to stay focused.”
“I feel more protective of and responsible for Bailey Colburn than for my own relatives and inheritance. This day has made me want things I’ve never wanted out of life. Things I’ve never cared about.” How could he explain to another man the things he couldn’t even explain to himself? “I don’t want to take care of Bailey for only one day. I do want more.”
Connor’s disappointed air evaporated. “Look, man, you will have all that… someday… with the right girl. It isn’t Bailey.”
“How do you know?”
“She isn’t the marrying type.”
“I don’t mind.”
Connor lifted one eyebrow. “Oh, really? How many times today while you were riding with her in your saddle and your arm wrapped around her holding her, did you imagine carrying her over a threshold somewhere?”
About a dozen, but he wasn’t going to admit that to Connor.
“You figured since you rescued your damsel, you are entitled to drag her to the altar. Well, forget it, man. Bailey isn’t one of those girls. If anything, she’s going to be ticked off when she wakes up. You know why? Because she wanted to do this herself but she had to be helped. She’s too independent to want a partner in life, let alone to want to answer to a man. You come from two different worlds.”
“That doesn’t matter to me. I come from a family of strong women.”
Connor crossed his arms. “Revel, I didn’t want to say this, but even if you and Bailey seemed perfect for each other, you have too much to sort out in your own life to bring someone else into your problems.”
The skin on the back of Revel’s neck grew hot. “I have been sorting things out. John has counseled me. And I started seeing things differently when you gave me a place on the security team. I’ve been at this job longer than anything else. I stuck with it despite all that’s happened. That has to be good for something.”
Uncharted Destiny (The Uncharted Series Book 7) Page 14