The uncharted series box.., p.49
The Uncharted Series Box Set 2, page 49
part #5 of Uncharted Series
“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 having 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.”
“For something, sure. But it takes a man longer than a few months to learn how to make lifetime commitments, how to be faithful. You’ve spent your life running away.”
The last flicker of hope in Revel’s heart struggled to stay aflame. He stepped away from Connor. “Well, I’m not running anymore.”
Connor stopped him. “Eva told me your mother lives here in Southpoint. If you’re really ready to put your life in order, go talk to her while we’re here.”
That was the last thing Revel wanted to do. But Connor was right. Again. “Fine, I will.”
Connor widened both eyes and swallowed whatever he’d planned to say next. “Okay, great.”
“Great,” he repeated in the flattest tone he could. It wasn’t great. Speaking with his mother wasn’t much better than having to return to the inn, but he’d do anything to prove to Connor that he was ready to put his past behind him and build a stable life for him and Bailey.
Chapter Twelve
Gray leaf-scented air rushed out of Bailey’s lungs as she sat up coughing. Silky ribbons of soft light illuminated a nearby window’s sheer curtains. Her vision zoomed in on the tiny florets embroidered over the curtain hem, then on the woven wicker back of a chair beneath the window, then on the perfect stitches on the quilt covering her legs.
This wasn’t the Colburns’ house or the Inn at Falls Creek. The room’s quaint perfection and the gray leaf’s unmistakable aroma left no doubt she was still in the Land. And still alive.
She yanked her hands out from under the warm covers to check her skin. No purple welts. Her arms looked normal as did her bare legs. No sign of the poisonous vine’s cruelty at all. The gray leaf medicine had fought it and won.
Her stomach growled as she lowered her feet to the rag rug on the floor. The soft cotton of a thin nightgown slid down to cover her legs. Wherever she was and how she got here didn’t matter, but she dearly hoped Sophia had been the person who dressed her.
Sitting on the edge of the narrow bed, she twisted to look across the room. Her back and leg muscles were no longer aching from days of riding. Oh, the kindness of the gray leaf! As she scanned the room, she expected to see Sophia sitting nearby, maybe at a desk studiously writing medical notes or dozing in a comfy rocking chair. Instead, the only other person in the room was a thin, bearded old man lying on an identical bed a few feet away. “Tim?”
He was flat on his back facing the ceiling. “Tim, are you awake?”
He turned his head toward her but didn’t answer for a long moment. Finally, he opened his eyes. His expression brightened. “Bailey? Where are we?”
She scanned the rest of the room. “Southpoint, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I don’t remember coming here yesterday. I hope it was yesterday. Never know how much time has passed with the gray leaf.” She pulled the quilt off her bed and wrapped it over her nightgown. “How do you feel?”
“I’ve been better.” His gruff voice sounded painful. “Why don’t you remember coming here?”
She tiptoed across the cold floor not wanting to wake anyone in case it was as early in the morning as the delicate light made it seem, then knelt by his bed. “The vine I told you about… the plant that covered the western slope of the mountain—”
“The one you said caught your ankle and almost pulled you off the summit?”
“That’s the one. It injected me with some kind of poison. Made me swell up and get weird bumps. By the time we got across the river and gave you the gray leaf medicine, the vine’s poison was taking me down. I was covered in welts and hallucinating. It was horrible. I had to inhale the gray leaf vapor too.”
Tim rubbed his sleepy eyes with the heels of his hands. “Is that what was in the glass vial the young woman shoved into my mouth?”
“Yes.”
“It smelled like eucalyptus mixed with burning rubber.”
“No, it doesn’t.” She tightened the quilt around her body. “Sort of like eucalyptus maybe, but the gross smell was devil vines, I think.”
“Is that what you named them?” He chuckled. “Devil vines?”
“No, I don’t know why I said that.”
He lifted one hand in a weak shrug. “It’s your discovery. Name it whatever you want.”
“I don’t want to name those vines or study them or ever see them again.”
A half grin curved his chapped lips. “Some scientist you turned out to be.”
“I’d rather study the gray leaf tree.” She recalled the sensation of its healing power working against the poison in her veins. “That’s why we came to the Land, right?”
“It’s one reason.”
“True.”
The main reason she had wanted to come here was for a chance at a peaceful life and to meet the relatives Justin Mercer claimed she had. She’d found the Colburn family, but because of what happened when she came to the Land, she hadn’t had a chance to start building a new life yet. “Now that you’re safe, we can go back to Good Springs and study the gray leaf tree and forget about the war and the outside world.”
He grimaced in pain as he rolled onto his side to face her. “No.”
“Right, we will never truly forget, but you know what I meant.”
“It isn’t that, Bailey.” He drew a labored breath. “I’m not going to make it to Good Springs.”
His words opened the fresh wound in her heart. “Don’t say that. Of course you will. Maybe you need a second dose of gray leaf. Sophia said that happens sometimes.”
“It won’t help me.” His bloodshot eyes begged her to accept the truth. “I don’t have many days left. That’s why I’m so grateful that I got to see you again.”
Her throat tightened. She tried to swallow its threat of crying. “It isn’t enough. I want to get to know you as my father. I want to hear about my grandparents and aunts and uncles if I have any. Do I have cousins? What diseases run in our family? Do we—”
“Well, diabetes for starters.” He gave her the same look he used to in class when she asked too many questions. And just like old times, once she closed her mouth, he spoke. “Your grandparents were hard working, middle class, debt-ridden Americans. They divorced when I was a kid. I had two older sisters, who both had families. So, you had two aunts and five first cousins. None of them survived the water poisoning and plague.” He took her fingertips in his thin hand. “But don’t let that matter to you because it won’t change who you are. You have a new life and a new family here. From what you told me over the radio about the Colburns these past few days, those are the people you need to get to know.”
His eyes closed and she waited for him to open them again. His hand went limp and released her fingers.
“Tim?”
He didn’t respond.
“Dad?” The term still felt odd coming out of her mouth, but she was determined to say it.
His chest rose and fell intermittently with shallow breath. He was still alive but wouldn’t be for long—or so he said. She laid his hand on the mattress and held it as she prayed for his complete healing.
“Get some sleep,” she whispered to him, then stood, holding the quilt around her body.
If she could get Tim back to Good Springs, Lydia would be able to help him. Sophia had done all that she’d been told and had probably stayed with them all night. Still, Tim needed expert care. He needed Lydia.
She found her belongings near the closed bedroom door. Her clothes had been folded and draped over a quilt rack with her black backpack propped beside it. Her wool coat and hat hung from a wooden peg on the wall above the rack. Her hiking shoes had been wiped clean but were still without laces.
After changing her clothes, she slipped on her shoes and carried her backpack out the door. Warm daylight filled the hallway from a sitting room on the far end of the corridor. It was later in the day than she’d first thought. Possibly mid-afternoon.
She found a washroom at the end of the hallway. When she came out, Revel was perched on the edge of an armchair. Before she could sling her backpack over one shoulder, he stood and wrapped her in a tight hug. The sudden closeness triggered her defense-trained muscles, but she stopped them before her flinch could turn into a shove. This was Revel, the man who had saved her life.
He didn’t loosen his grip. “Thank God you’re all right.” He pulled her back and searched her freshly washed face. “You look better. Back to your normal self. Are you all right?”
He was acting more like she imagined a worried grandma would act than a twenty-eight-year-old man. She put a hand on his chest—partly to calm him, partly to hold him back from another surprise bear hug. “I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“I am now. You’re alive and well.” He traced a finger down her jaw. “And smiling.”
Every feeling she’d felt when Revel gave her the gray leaf vapor and promised to take care of her rushed back. She’d found him handsome and strong, which he was, but she may have said too much and given him the wrong idea. She drew her head back to regain a little personal space. “Thank you for taking care of me yesterday. Am I right in assuming that was yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I never know how much time has passed while the gray leaf knocks me out.”
“It was only one day.”
She pulled back a little more. “Look, if I said anything weird while all that was going on yesterday, I’m sorry.”
He moved his hands to her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Awesome. When do we leave here?”
He released her shoulders but squeezed her arms gently all the way down to her hands before he finally let go. “The overseer’s wife insisted we stay here another night while you and Tim convalesce.”
“Oh, I’m totally fine. All convalesced out. Yep, I’m good.” She held her backpack with one hand and pretended to flex the other arm as if he could see her bicep through the bulky sweatshirt. “See, fit and ready to go. When does the trader’s ship leave?”
“It left yesterday, but it will be back tomorrow morning and we’ll sail to Riverside.” He pointed a thumb down the hallway. “Is Tim awake?”
“He was for a few minutes, but he fell back asleep.” She wanted to tell Revel how Tim didn’t think he would be alive much longer, but she couldn’t bring herself to repeat the words as though saying it aloud might make it come true. “We need to get him back to Good Springs soon.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded solemnly. She didn’t have to say anything else. He understood what was up. As he gazed at her, she noticed the hazel of his irises was a distinct mix of blue with yellow flecks. How had she never seen that before?
And the look he gave her, so intense, like he could see past her scars and walls and fears. It was only a look, but it was more intimate than she could bear. She looked away. “So, we’re staying here one more night?”
