Page 11

Chapter Eleven

I wake to the sound of dripping and bolt upright in a panic that my sink is leaking and probably has been all night—or worse, that the window is leaking again and I’m going to need to get some help sealing it shut. However, when I sit upright, a blast of pain explodes through my ribs and I am mildly confused to find myself bundled up in the back of my wagon. And then I remember everything all at once: Kai, Garrett, the journey, the owl.

“Let me see your ribs.” It’s Kai’s voice, but when I look around, he’s still just a frog and sits to my left on a shelf of washcloths.

I rub my side. “It can’t be that bad. I probably just hit them on a stone when I fell down the hill.”

“You fell down a hill?” Acorn scampers across the counter to gaze down at me. “And I didn’t get to see it?”

“Aren’t you glad I left you here? You could have been squashed if you were in the pouch with me,” I point out.

He pouts. “True.”

I sigh and lift my under dress, making sure to keep the blanket across my waist, and pull it up to expose my skin to the bitter morning air. I shudder against the cold, which makes me gasp instantly. The light in the wagon is dim, and it takes me a moment to make out the discoloration on my side.

“Where is the poultice?” Kai hops off the shelf onto my knee, turns, and hops up to the counter. He’s gaining more confidence as a frog.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I try to object, but Acorn helps him find it. A low rumble echoes across the sky and I gasp. “Garrett! He’s been out in the rain.” I roll to my knees to get to my feet.

“I’m not wet,” I hear from under the wagon.

I tilt my head, but the slats of wood are covered in my blankets, and I don’t think there would be a hole big enough to see through it anyway. “You slept under the wagon?”

“Only when it started raining.” I hear him groan and the shuffle of fabric. “I’m going to get wet getting out, though.”

“He can just stay there,” Kai mutters.

I lean back on my heels. “I suppose this means no fire. How badly is it raining?”

“It’s a light drizzle, but it’s been raining for hours so everything is wet,” he responds. “Too wet for a fire, but I have enough for a cold breakfast for us both. I’ve got a couple of blueberry orange biscuits, and nuts we can share. I’ve got salted beef for myself too. It should be more than enough until lunch.”

Kai croaks and pushes the poultice jar closer to me.

“I have a jar of canned peaches too,” I offer.

“I love peaches.”

It makes me smile. I open the poultice, dip my fingers into the chilly ointment, and rub it over my ribs. Touching them hurts far worse than I anticipated, and I let out a hiss between my teeth.

“Everything okay?” Garrett asks.

“I got bruised last night falling down the hill.” I look down at my ribs again. The sun is finally waking and offers a bit more light than moments ago, and I know this bruise is just going to spread. Sitting on a tilting wagon all day is going to be miserable.

“Don’t forget your hand,” Kai coaxes.

I drop my shirt. “I was going to do that next. Though, it’s rather inconvenient. I need to use this hand to get breakfast ready.”

“I can help,” Kai insists.

Acorn snorts. “How? By getting frog skin on everything?”

“My skin isn’t spreading everywhere,” he counters.

“Your frog juices are.”

“That’s water!”

My lips pinch, resisting a smile. I never thought I would hear Kai arguing with Acorn, and it makes me happy to hear them.

“Are you sure it’s not pee?” Acorn adds. “Did you pee?”

Kai croaks, though I believe he meant to growl. He’s hardly threatening. “It’s a good thing you’re the prickly one.”

“You two,” I chuckle as I climb to my feet.

“Is Prince Kaison arguing with Acorn?” Garrett asks from beneath the wagon. I can hear things shuffling and imagine he’s putting his bedding away.

“I wish you could understand Acorn too,” I say. “It’s rather amusing.” I pull my dress back on, wool stockings, and boots before I get my sweater.

And then I freeze.

Because sitting on the floor near the back door of the wagon is my hat. I lift it up and run my thumb over the brim. Garrett went back and found it? Why would he do that?

“Mind if I come in?” Garrett says from the back of the wagon.

“Go ahead.” I put on the hat. “You’ll be at least a little warmer in here.”

He opens the door and I catch a glimpse of the wet landscape behind him. A fine mist hovers in the trees and a gust of cold air fills the wagon. He closes the door and slips his muddy boots off. “I’ve got Pancho hooked up again. I think we should be able to make it to the waterfall today, as long as the roads aren’t too muddy, or the wagon might get stuck.” He runs his fingers through his hair. The back of the right side is sticking up. He’s not wearing his cloak, but has it draped over his arm, and his shirt is a bit disheveled.

“You got my hat.”

He smiles. “You were upset it was lost. It wasn’t hard to find.”

“But...you took the time to do it.” I want to tell him that Kai’s the only other person to do nice things like this for me.

Garrett shrugs. “It wasn’t a problem.” He sits on the floor and rummages through his pack, removing bundles of things wrapped in brown paper I assume to be the food for breakfast.

I pass a nut to Acorn. “Are you getting enough to eat, Kai?”

He croaks and his shoulders lift in a shrug. “I am hungry. I suppose with it being muddy outside I should go look for some worms.” He looks toward the back door.

“Acorn can go with you,” I suggest.

“No way am I getting muddy when I can stay nice and warm in here.” Acorn heads for his bed.

I pick him up. “Kai can’t dig. You can.”

He bristles, but I’ve handled him long enough his spikes are only uncomfortable.

“Please?”

“I can manage.” Kai leaps off the counter, landing on top of Garrett’s head.

Garrett cringes and visibly resists the urge to grab Kai.

Kai drops down to his shoulder and then to the ground. “Thank you, Captain.” One more hop and he’s at the back door.

Garrett’s lips tighten. “No problem.”

I step over Garrett. “Give me a moment to put on my boots and I’ll go with you.” I scoop Kai up in my free hand before he can jump out and sit myself on the edge of the floor so I can bend down and set both Kai and Acorn in the mud. I have to hold my breath doing so as pain burns up and down my right side.

“I’m sure they can manage,” Garrett says. “Birds shouldn’t be out hunting in this weather.”

“They could be. It’s barely raining.” I bite my bottom lip and grunt—or whine–in pain while I try to tug on my boots. I place my hands on the floorboards to push off, but Garrett snatches my wrist before I can.

He frowns and lifts my arm, making me wince. His blue eyes darken a little further and he pulls my shirt and bodice up to expose my ribs.

“Garrett! Stop it!” But when I actually see my ribs in full light, I realize just how bad the bruising is.

He breathes out my name. “Elowyn! Does it hurt to breathe?”

I pull away and push my shirt down. “Of course it does.” I slide out of the wagon.

He stares at me, mouth agape, then comes to and slips his boots back on before following me. “Let me keep an eye on them. You need to rest. Did you bring bandages?”

“Can ribs be bound?” I wrap my arms around myself. It’s not cold enough to see our breath, but I still shiver, which does nothing to help.

Acorn scurries toward the base of a sagebrush bush, muttering about finding worms quickly so he can go to sleep.

Kai doesn’t follow, but watches me.

“Of course they can. And you should.” Garrett steps up to my side. “If you move too much, and your ribs really are broken, you could puncture your lung or something else.”

“Why do you care?” I turn my head to look up at him.

He frowns and takes a little too long to answer. “It’s my duty to keep you alive.”

“Am I dying?”

“Not yet.” He folds his arms across his chest.

I pat his arm. “Then stop worrying about me.”

“Kai, get over here!” Acorn shouts at him.

Kai hops once, looks back, and then hops the rest of the way to Acorn.

Garrett shakes his head and returns to the wagon. “Let me know when you’re ready to go.”

Acorn digs at the base and tugs out worms, giving them to Kai and eating a few himself. “Fresh worms after a rain are actually much more delicious. Sometimes you can even break into logs and get some termites to munch. Well, I can. It’s sort of fun having someone to scavenge around with. Ellie! Can we get a frog after Kai is a human again?”

I return to them and chuckle. “I suppose we can look into that. Unless Kai wants to just stay as our pet.”

“Oh, that is a lovely idea!” Acorn spins to face Kai. “Do you want to?”

“No. Not at all.” He gulps down the last worm. “Should we take some with us?”

Acorn sniffs around toward another bush. “I think we should. The caterpillars won’t last past today.”

After assisting in the collection of possibly a dozen or so worms, I return to the wagon to find that Garrett has folded all of my blankets and stored them away and now has his cloak on again.

He extends a bundle, which I assume is my breakfast. “Are you ready?” He glances at my muddy hands. “You are...not like any woman I have ever met. I saw an empty...” He crouches. “Ah. Here.” He lifts up a jar and unscrews the lid so I can dump the worms inside. “Do you want to rinse your hands so you can eat your breakfast? I can show you to the river.”

“I can do it.” I dust my hands on my skirt and head away to find the river. It will give me a chance to relieve myself too.

“Don’t look at her like that,” I hear Kai say.

I can’t decide if I hear Garrett say “You had a chance” or “You lost your chance,” or maybe it’s none of those and he just said, “Look at her pants,” but when I glance over my shoulder all three of them are watching me. I roll my eyes and hurry to rinse off and return to the wagon.

The day is arduous and slow, but the rain stops shortly after breakfast. My ribs continue to ache, though the poultice helps each time I apply it.

“This must be the toll bridge,” I say as Pancho comes to a stop.

The wooden bridge dangles over a gorge about eighteen feet deep. It seems to be in good shape, as the ropes aren’t frayed and the planks aren’t rotting or broken.

Garrett drops down from the wagon and walks around the tree at the edge of the bridge to see around it. “There isn’t anywhere to pay.” He pauses and turns in a circle before returning. “I don’t see a hut for shelter either. I didn’t know this was a toll bridge.”

“I wouldn’t know either way. Let’s go, Pancho.”

The wagon rumbles forward, and a hollow rhythm sounds beneath the donkey’s hooves and the wagon wheels. The ropes groan as they tighten with our weight.

“I would almost rather walk at this point,” I mutter, rubbing my ribs.

“Did you apply more poultice, like I told you to?” Garrett asks, side-eyeing me.

I roll my eyes. “Of course I did. I’ve applied it three times today.”

He points his thumb over his shoulder. “You must have an oral pain killer back there. You should take some.”

“Why are you worrying about this? I’m fine.”

“You’re uncomfortable. That isn’t fine.” His blue eyes are earnest.

“No, but you can’t heal it and neither can I. Stop treating me like a child.”

He sighs. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to. I only want to—”

The bridge tilts sharply to the left and I yell out in shock as I am nearly thrown out of the wagon. Garrett reaches his arm out across my body and places it on my hip. I cling to his arm out of sheer desperation not to slide off.

A booming voice echoes through the ravine below. “Who is this crossing my bridge?”

An enormous green face appears with eyes as big as the wagon wheels, a nose wide and flat, and when it licks its fat lips, I can see rotting teeth inside.

I gasp. “Samuel didn’t mean toll bridge. He meant troll bridge!”