It seemed all too terribly familiar with the families waiting inside for word. Most broke down into sobs when they realized what a massacre it had been. Momma Oaks would be searching for me, frantic, her hand in Edmund’s. I couldn’t move. The area was a mess of wagons, mules, and weeping women and children. I scrubbed shaking hands over my face and sank down into a self-protective squat. My wounds didn’t matter since I didn’t care how badly I was hurt.
Longshot, I thought, and the name stabbed me. I hated him for being a hero.
Outside the walls, the Freaks feasted and prowled.
They weren’t going away this time.
Stalemate
Tegan found me first. Beneath my despair, relief stirred; I was so glad she’d made it back since I’d suggested she volunteer to help with the planting. If anything had happened to her, I couldn’t bear it. Eyes worried, she knelt in the dirt beside me, heedless of her skirt.
“Let’s get you to Doc’s office,” she said.
I shrugged. It seemed like a lot of trouble to get up.
Then she took a closer look at me. “You’re bleeding.”
“Am I?” In more than one place, most likely. Because she seemed determined, I let her lever me up.
“Deuce!” Momma Oaks found us before we moved more than a few steps. Tegan fixed a stern look on her. “I’m taking her to my dad.”
I wondered if she’d noticed what she said and how Doc Tuttle felt about it. But he’d fought hard for her life and her leg, so maybe he was happy to have gained a daughter. His wife probably was too. In Salvation I’d learned that family ties didn’t always come from blood.
My foster mother went to hug me, and then stopped, hands on my shoulders. “Tegan’s right. You need medical attention. Edmund!”
He came up behind me and gently lifted me into his arms. I wouldn’t have guessed he had the strength, but in his shuffling way, he managed. My foster father delivered me to Doc Tuttle without mishap. On the way, my head went fuzzy, and my vision blurred around the edges.
“Another patient?” Doc Tuttle asked. “Damn those Muties. They’re keeping me busier than I like. Tegan, honey, get the soap and water and my instrument tray.” She murmured something that I didn’t catch, and he answered, “Yes, you can assist.”
I drifted off around the time Edmund laid me down on the exam table, and when next I woke, I lay in my own bed. Sitting up hurt more than I expected. Confused, I glanced beneath my nightgown and discovered four new scars, neatly stitched together. I’d been hurt worse than I realized.
As I debated whether I should get up, Momma Oaks bustled in with a tray. It smelled better than I deserved. She set it briskly across my lap.
“You gave me quite a scare.”
I’d reminded her of Daniel. And I regretted it deeply.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“Doc Tuttle says you’ll be fine.”
Fine, I thought, was a relative term, but he couldn’t sew up the wounds he couldn’t see. I picked at my food, nibbling to make her happy. Momma Oaks sat down in the chair beside my bed.
“How bad is it out there?”
She frowned. “Don’t worry about it. You need to rest … and heal.”
“Ignorance isn’t conducive to rest.”
Sighing faintly, she ran a tired hand through her hair. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d slept in that chair, determined not to budge until I woke up. Edmund peeked in on us while she debated which of us was more stubborn.
He took a step into the room. “I fixed your boots.”
That was almost more than I could stand because I knew how he was. He had no taste for emotional business, so from Edmund, that was like a hug. I nodded at him through misty eyes.
“Thank you. I was pretty hard on them.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said softly, and then retreated downstairs.
“I suppose it can’t hurt to tell you,” she decided aloud. “But if you try to get up, I’ll send to Doc Tuttle for another potion. You’ll sleep two more days, then.”
“It’s been two days?” I couldn’t imagine what must be going on, but then, it wasn’t up to me to fix it. I’d played my part.
“Indeed. They’ve surrounded the town. So far, they’re staying out of rifle range, and they seem to be watching.”
“Planning,” I said bitterly.
Momma Oaks’s kind face tightened and turned grim. “Once, I’d have thought you were crazy for saying such a thing, but I believe you’re right. They appear to be taking our measure and deciding how to get inside.”
“But they can’t?”
“No,” she answered. “Of course not. Elder Bigwater is having guards shore up the walls, just in case: And they’ve doubled the watches. We’re snug and secure in here, don’t you worry.”
Evidently she thought it was better not to upset me, but her eyes gave away what her firm words denied. She was scared to death and fighting to hide it. The dark circles beneath her eyes revealed sleepless nights, and her lower lip was rough where she had bitten it, not signs of a woman confident of our safety.
I pretended to believe her. “That’s good.”
“Eat now, and then rest. Promise me.” She held my gaze until I mumbled the words she wanted to hear.
Then I asked, “What day is it?”
When Momma Oaks told me, I laughed, the sound bitter and mirthless. She had gotten up to join Edmund downstairs, but at my reaction, she returned, perching on the edge of my bed this time. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s my day.” Her blank look prompted me to explain. “The day I was born. After fifteen of them, I earned my name. I’ve been Deuce for a whole year now.”
“You mean it’s your birthday?”
“Yes, that’s what you call it here, I think.”
Justine had a party, as I recalled. I had a body full of itchy stitches and a tray with herbal tea and weak soup. I poked at the toast.
“I had no idea. Let me make you a cake.” She bent and kissed me on the forehead.
I couldn’t remember a female doing that before, but … I liked it. Everything hurt less. To please her—and because I was getting cake—I drank some of the nasty tea. My lip curled.
“Is Fade here?”
I’d have to go looking for him if he wasn’t. He had no safe foster home, unlike Stalker, Tegan, and me.