I still felt weak, but no longer sick. Unsure of the quarantine, I hoped my arrival back in the Water would not cause issue. The vial of medicine, which had been on the chair when I woke, now hid within my bodice. I'd sipped a small dose when I had wakened, as a precaution.
Walking out into the sunlight, I filled my lungs with the fresh air and let it out slowly. A crow watched from a nearby tree, and I bowed to it. It clacked its beak at me in return. Smiling, I ambled to the gate, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my face. It didn't seem to happen too often inside the estate.
Ahead, near the gate, a figure hid under the shadows of the trees. I halted as soon as I spotted it, wondering if someone had crossed into the estate without the beast's knowledge. I didn't have many friends in Konrall, and those I had wouldn't risk the beast's punishment for trespass.
"Will you not consider my offer?" the beast called to me angrily. "I've sheltered you, fed you, cared for you. You have no cause to deny me."
Hearing his voice eased some of my fears, and I started forward.
"Stay where you are," he commanded angrily.
I stilled, wondering what madness gripped him now.
"Your answer. I will give you everything you desire if you but stay and do as I command."
"Everything I desire?" I fought to keep from laughing as he swore to it. "That is a foolish promise when you have no idea what I desire. What if my desire was your death or to destroy the manor? Neither would be possible, would they?"
He snarled at my logic, and I moved forward. He called me a spiteful woman, ungrateful and cold to the plight of others, selfish and cruel in the face of giving and kindness. As I neared the gate, he moved back behind the underbrush, trying to stay in the shadows. When I stepped onto the dirt just before the gate, he began to beg.
"Please," he said. "Anything that is within my power to give will be yours. Do not take another step. Turn back and stay with me."
I shook my head and stepped forward again. The gate swung open as he struck the tree under which he stood. With a roar, he trampled through the brush, and I saw the beast with no obscurity a moment before I passed through the gate.
His pointy ears shot up from each side of his head. His dark eyes were set deep under a dark, shaggy brow. Claws tipped each digit, and fur covered his entire body. With lips pulled back, his very sharp teeth gave no illusions as to what he was. He truly was a beast.
I ran. When I reached the road, I stopped and loosened my grip on the sugar and coins to switch to the other hand. My heart pounded in my ears.
In the distance, I could still hear him. They could probably even hear him in Konrall.
Knowing I'd made the right decision to leave when I had, despite my weak and shaking limbs, I set out toward the Water.
Eleven
A nail held a sign to the front door of our home. Ignoring the quarantine warning, I let myself inside. A dry hacking cough greeted me, and I saw Father at the stove, cooking a watery soup.
"Benella," he cried, backing away a step. "You should have stayed away."
"No, Father. I couldn't ever do that." I moved toward him and plucked my vial from my bodice and set it on the table next to the other very low vial. "How much longer are you supposed to take the medicine?"
"Seven days from the onset," he managed before coughing again. The wheezing rasp at the end worried me. He looked drawn and pale. The hand that stirred the soup shook. I pulled out a chair, took the spoon from him, then guided him to sit.
"Where are Bryn and Blye?"
"Sick in their bed."
I found it odd that Bryn still lay abed when she'd been the first of us sick. I was already up and walking about the countryside. Keeping my thoughts to myself, I went to the well out back to fetch fresh water.
"The Head warned us not to go out during the day," Father said.
"We need water," I replied tartly. I didn't see how fetching the water only at night would benefit anyone. It just meant Father worked when he should be resting. If the Head cared so much, he could enter our den of sickness to scold me.
"Did you take your dose today?"
He shook his head, and I knew it was because there was so little left. How could the doctor think this would last seven days for three people when only a quarter of the vial remained? Father caught my expression as I carefully measured a dose into a cup and added water.
"Bryn took the dose twice a day hoping it would work faster. I suspect Blye did the same, but in hopes it would keep her from catching it."
I cast a glance at their closed door, the only consideration I gave them, and ladled some of the soup to Father. As he sipped it, there was a knock on the front door.
We both exchanged glances before I called out a quarantine warning.
"I know," a voice called back. "I put it there. So I'm wondering why we spotted someone entering this building a short while ago."
My eyes narrowed, and I jerked open the door. The Head stood in the road a good distance from the door.
"Good morning, Head. Please, won't you come in and discuss this transgression? Better yet, I will come to you, and you can properly reprimand me."
"Benella," Father scolded behind me in a whisper.
"Please stay where you are," the man said. "Now that you've entered, you may not leave until the sickness passes."
"I am fully aware of that. I can read," I said, pointing to the sign right beside me. "We are running low on medicine. The doctor said he had more if we had payment. We also need supplies: oats, flour, any greens to be found. Can you arrange for that? I'd rather care for my father than have to run any errands," I spoke softly, watching him to see if he understood my threat.
He nodded slowly.
"We can leave it on the porch and knock when you can come out for it. You have payment for it?"
Nodding, I turned away from the door and grabbed the two coins I'd set on the table. Father's eyes rounded, having just noticed them. At the door, I flipped them so they landed at the Head's feet.
"Boil them before you trade with them."
The Head reached into his pocket for a piece of leather and wrapped the coins within before walking away. He would probably boil the coins and burn the leather.
"Where did those come from?" Father asked when I closed the door.
I smiled and sat by him.
"You will never believe the story," I said, knowing full well he would.
Just then, the bedroom door opened, and Blye shuffled out. She coughed weakly into an embroidered linen square, no rasp evident in her exhale.
"I heard voices," she said pathetically to explain her presence. Then her eyes widened at the sight of me. "Benella, where did you get that dress?" She rushed forward and touched the sleeve of it. "Exquisite," she breathed and tugged me to my feet. "What happened to the hem?"
When she met my eyes, looking for answers, I asked a question of my own.
"Why are you still abed? You seem fit enough."
Her air of excitement immediately left her, and she again coughed into her linen square.
"I think I'm well and come from the room, but too soon I feel worn and shaky and need to rest. The illness teases me, giving me a moment of normalcy, then robbing me of it all within the same hour."
Probably just long enough for her to eat, I thought nastily. I closed my eyes and pushed away my anger, knowing Father listened to us. It would do no good to pursue the subject.
"Then you should be back abed to rest. I will bring you something to eat soon. The Head went for supplies."
She nodded weakly and shuffled back into the room.
* * * *
By dinner, I'd made a hearty soup with the supplies delivered by the Head. He'd put the two gold coins to good use, and we had plenty to hold us for four days, including more medicine. I ladled Father and I each a healthy portion. He rose from his bed to join me at the table. I felt his forehead when I noticed an extra shine in his eyes. He felt too warm, and I recalled how I'd burned with a fever. After we ate, I helped him to bed, giving him a drink before directing him to call for me if he needed anything.
Then I took what remained of the soup, added cold water, and served the tepid watery mix to my sisters in bed. They took their bowls without comment and drained them while I watched.
The next day Father grew worse. I gave him another dose from my bottle, promising that any pain he felt in his lungs would soon disappear, and left him to sleep. For my sisters, I gave them their dose for breakfast and promised them food, soon. I delivered the food several hours later. More watered down soup.