The woman turned sharp eyes on her. They were old eyes that had undoubtedly seen much, but they were as alive as the boy's.
"Is that important to you?"
"Of course it's important!" Elyse blurted out. "Why else would I have brought him here?"
The old woman only shook her head, then began applying bandages. They quickly turned crimson beneath her wrinkled hands.
"Where is Zamora?" Elyse asked. "He wanted me to find Zamora."
"I am Zamora."
When she recovered from that, Elyse moved beside Zach pressing the thick pad against the wound as the old woman directed, applying pressure until the muscles between her shoulder blades ached.
"It is no good," Zamora announced, drawing Elyse's startled glance. "The bleeding will not stop. The wound must be closed."
"What are you talking about?" Elyse's startled gaze locked with the old woman's. "You have to help him. Surely there is something else that can be done. Perhaps more bandages?"
The old woman shook her head. " Even now the bandages you hold are filled with blood. If the wound is not closed, he will die. I have done it many times for my own people, but there is great danger."
"What danger?"
"There is the possibility that the knife may have done more damage inside. If I close, he may continue to bleed inside. Then it will be only a matter of time until he bleeds to death." Zamora drew a heavily veined hand across her forehead, smoothing back a strand of silver-streaked hair.
"There is only one way to be certain. I have seen this many times. My people are very good with knives."
Elyse swallowed back the fear that tightened inside so that she could hardly breathe. "Then you have to close the wound inside as well."
The old woman nodded her agreement. "But I cannot do it."
Elyse paled, her throat going completely dry and making it almost impossible to swallow much less speak. "You have to do it! There is no one else!" Her voice grew stronger. "He asked me to bring him here. He said you could help! I thought you were a friend!" she accused, her eyes glistening fiercely.
The woman shook her head. "I am a friend, more friend than you will ever know. But there is only so much old Zamora can do. Do you think I like what I tell you?" She came out of the chair, her skinny arms waving through the air in a gesture of helplessness. Gold and silver bracelets flashed through the silence. "I owe him my life!” She flattened a hand against her breast.
"There was a time when I hoped he would take my daughter to wife. But they are too much the same—volatile and dangerous when angry. They would have torn each other apart. Still, I look upon him as a son. But I cannot do what you ask. I would do him more harm with these old hands."
Elyse hung her weary head, too tired to understand everything the woman was saying. "You said that he'll die if the bleeding isn't stopped. I won't let that happen, simply because you're afraid to try." She fought back tears of fear and frustration. Breathing past the constriction in her tight throat. She thrust her hands back through her disheveled hair, as she tried to think. Then her head came up. Her eyes were hard and determined.
"Tobias!" she whispered as if the name were a prayer.
The old woman's eyes narrowed. "That old man is here?"
Elyse nodded. "Aboard theRevengein the harbor." She breathed more easily as relief washed over her. Tobias would come! He would do what was necessary to save Zach.
Zamora spat out contemptuously. "The old fool is probably drunk. You'd be killing him to let Tobias touch him."
Elyse eyes riveted on the woman. "It seems I have no choice!
At least he's not afraid to try." She didn't voice her own fears. It was true. She'd seen Tobias several times when he'd had more than his share to drink. But in his sober moments, his hands were steady. She trusted him, and she knew that Zach did as well.
"We must send one of the men to the ship."
"No!" the old woman replied. "It is too dangerous. Those who did this will still be looking for him."
Elyse slowly stood. "Then I'll go myself!" She met the woman's gaze defiantly.
"He might die while you're gone."
"You won't let that happen," she replied. "You said yourself that he is like a son. Would you let your son die?"
