"Stop, Calder," Xander yelled. Reluctantly, I stopped in my tracks. His head was hanging and his jaw was tight, but he widened his eyes and shook his head, instructing me to stay back. I didn't know what to do. Everything in my body was screaming at me to fight for my friend, but he was asking me not to. I brought my hands up into my hair and raked my fingers across my scalp, wanting to roar with anger.
Garrett and Ken came up behind me and grabbed my arms again. I didn't resist, didn't look at them.
Clive brought the whip back and let it fly again and this time I watched as it hit Xander's naked back, opening his skin in a long, raw, red line. Xander jerked, but remained quiet. Oh, Xander. My brother, my friend. I grimaced, closing my eyes briefly.
Clive brought the whip back again, the expression on his face filled with some sort of disgusting glee, and let it fly, creating a third welt on Xander's flesh.
Two more times the whip flew and two more times Xander jerked but didn't utter a sound.
"That's enough, Clive," Hector called. Clive looked over at him, seeming to come back to himself, his chest rising and falling in heavy pants. "I think justice has been served for the thievery. Did you get your chain back? Do you feel vindicated?"
Clive seemed to consider the question, looking back at Xander who was hunched over, his back a mess of blood and open wounds. "Yes," he said, dropping the whip on the ground and turning to walk back toward the main lodge.
Hector nodded over at Garrett and Ken. "Let him go. I think this served as a lesson to him, too. You can accompany your friend to the sick tent." I heard women crying around me, but I didn't turn to look at anyone in the crowd.
My arms were released and I rushed forward to Xander, kneeling down in the dirt beside him. "Hey, brother," I said gently, "let's get you off here."
Xander grimaced as I began to untie the rope binding his wrists. "Fuck me, it hurts, Calder," Xander grunted. He must have been in excruciating pain because I had never once heard him use the obscenity some of the people who came from the big society let slip once in a while.
I let out a breath, working the knot as gently as I could, so I moved Xander as little as possible. "Why didn't you let me pull him off you?" I asked, not able to keep the bitterness from my voice.
"He would have just whipped you, too. And then probably locked you up."
"I would have taken it."
"I know," Xander said as the rope came free and he fell forward, using his palms to brace himself on the ground. "Whatever I have—"
"That's right." I pulled Xander up to his feet and took his arm and put it around my shoulders, so he could lean on me to walk.
"He got our money. Every cent of it," Xander said, his voice hollow. "The only thing I was able to push out of the way as I reached in was the bag of clothes. I told him there was a nest of snakes that lived under our house and that I couldn't remember which floorboard it was under. That's the only reason he didn't reach in himself. Coward. And hypocrite, he stuffed the rest of the cash in his pocket. I doubt if he's even going to mention it to Hector."
My heart fell at the news that our money was gone. But talking about it was the last thing Xander needed. "Is there a nest of snakes that live under your house?" I asked, trying to distract him as we made our way to the sick tent.
Xander glanced at me. "No. A few mice, but thank the gods they were moving around when Clive was there or else he'd have gotten our clothes, too."
I couldn't help it, I laughed. "What are we gonna do with the clothes, without the money?"
"We're gonna walk out of here, that's what."
I considered that. I thought we might have to, considering how close the date of my wedding to Hannah was, and now that our thievery had been discovered, but it was far from the way we'd originally planned it. Dread settled in my stomach. We'd be leaving with absolutely nothing except the clothes on our backs—clothes that would blend in in normal society, true. So I guessed there was that. I felt like I might be sick.
We got to the sick tent and I helped Xander to one of the clean cots and he lay down on his stomach. There was a small cabinet I knew from being there with Maya over the years that had bandaging supplies. I hoped Mother Willa would arrive soon with the pain medicine she'd given me for my legs, but for now, I'd have to do what I could for Xander.
As I washed his wounds with a cloth and clean water, I talked to distract him. Even so, each time I brought the water to his back, he winced and grimaced.
"Remember that time you gave me chicken pox?" I asked.
Xander snorted. "You gave me chicken pox." He smiled a small smile as I wrung the cloth out, the water turning red.