“I’m Rhodda,” the woman said, head still leaning against the trunk behind her.
“Ah. The engineer from the settlement,” Girard said. “Can you tell us what happened? We found the crashed ATV.”
Rhodda opened her mouth, looking like she wanted to answer, but she hesitated. Her whole body was trembling, Hallie realised.
“You’re badly hurt,” Hallie said. “I’m guessing you’ve been out here for a couple of days at least and you’re in pain as well as tired and hungry. Let’s see if we can get you patched up a bit.”
“We’ve got medical supplies and food,” Girard added. “If you stay with Hallie, I’ll go get those.” He cast a look down at Hallie that she had no difficulty in interpreting as warning her to be on her guard. The woman looked injured and helpless, but she might still be dangerous. Hallie nodded to show she’d understood. Girard headed off into the trees and Hallie turned her attention back to Rhodda as the woman pushed herself away from the tree trunk with one hand. She kept the other hand tightly pressed to her abdomen, grimacing as she moved.
Hallie straightened to her feet and took a couple of steps back, not wanting to crowd Rhodda. The other woman struggled upright, grimacing, then came out of the shelter of the tree trunks. In the better light, Hallie could see that the woman was at the end of her strength, tight lines around her mouth and eyes betraying how much pain she was in. She was older than Hallie had first thought, perhaps her mother’s age, the first hints of grey in her hair, and not all the lines on her face were from pain. She also looked familiar. The shape of her face, with the tight knots of hair, and the outline of her brows were a painful echo back to someone Hallie had known, and liked.
“What is it?” Rhodda asked, wariness in her voice and face.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise I was staring. You just reminded me of someone,” Hallie said, and shook her head with a rueful laugh. “A long way from here.” Because talking seemed to be keeping Rhodda calm, Hallie continued. “A man called Devin. He ran an electronics shop in the city where I grew up. My father used to take me there as a child. I always felt it was a magical place.”
“You knew my father?” Rhodda asked, voice rasping.
“You’re Devin’s daughter? I didn’t know he had children,” Hallie said, then could have kicked herself for the clumsy words.
“Just me,” Rhodda said, a sour smile pulling her mouth. “And I’ve been gone a long time. Long time,” she repeated, voice fading. There was grief on her face now. “I got word that my father was dead.”
“Yes. I’m sorry,” Hallie said, the words feeling thin and pitiful on her tongue.
“Why are you sorry?” Rhodda’s voice was tinged with fierce anger and pain. “You didn’t kill him.”
“No,” Hallie said, pushing aside the reflexive guilt that she felt. Devin had been killed when she’d started asking questions. She and Girard had come across a home-made electric shock collar in their investigation and she’d taken it to Devin for his expert opinion. She hadn’t known that he’d already been involved, or that raising her questions and prompting him to ask questions of his own would lead to his death. She hadn’t been directly responsible for his death. She knew that in her mind. Her heart was still not convinced. “I liked him. I miss him.”
“Me too,” Rhodda said, her anger vanishing, grief returning. She sank back against the nearest tree trunk, somehow staying on her feet. At the end of her strength, Hallie judged, but she had to give Rhodda credit for not giving up, or letting her guard down.
The quiet sound of footsteps snapped Hallie’s head around and she realised she hadn’t been paying enough attention to their surroundings, too focused on Rhodda. But it was just Girard returning, wearing his pack, with Hallie’s strapped to his front. He shed both packs and unzipped a side pocket from his, bringing out one of the small energy drinks he’d given Hallie earlier.
“Why don’t you sit down and we’ll have a look at you?” Girard suggested to Rhodda.
He waited until Rhodda had sunk down to a sitting position, her back against the tree, then held out the drink. “I know you’ll need some water and food, but this should help give you a bit of a boost just now.”
“Oh, Saints, I haven’t seen one of these for a while,” Rhodda said, mouth lifting in a faint smile as she took the drink. She somehow managed to open it one-handed and took a sip, grimacing. “Still way too sweet, though.”
“I know,” Girard agreed, in his habitual calm, easy manner. He dug around in his pack and pulled out a slim packet with a red cross on a dark green background. “I’ve got some painkillers, and some basic medical supplies,” he said. “If you’ll allow me, I can see if I can patch up that wound you’ve got.”
“It’s probably infected by now,” Rhodda said, grimacing as she shifted position, taking her hand away from the stain. It wasn’t just blood there, Hallie saw. Rhodda had packed her wound with what looked like moss of some kind, perhaps harvested from the trees.
“Well, you don’t seem feverish and you’re not sweating, so if it is infected, it likely hasn’t spread too far. I think there may be some basic antibiotics in here, too,” Girard said. “Putting moss on the wound was a good idea. Definitely kept the risk of infection down.” He knelt down by Rhodda, keeping his movements slow and controlled. Hallie took another couple of steps away. She didn’t think the injured woman needed a close audience, and Girard seemed to know what he was doing. He peeled back the moss and layers of fabric from Rhodda’s skin and nodded once. “Alright. That looks like a through and through. The bullet went in and out, so we don’t need to worry about finding it inside you.”
“That’s something,” Rhodda said, her voice faint.
“I’ll clean it up, which is going to sting like fury,” Girard said. “But it will feel better soon.”
“If you say so,” Rhodda said, and Hallie could hear the doubt in her voice.
“I promise. And Hallie will tell you I don’t make promises easily,” Girard said. He glanced over his shoulder. “Hallie, if you go into the side pocket of my pack you’ll find some collapsible bowls and soup packets. There’s water in one of the front pockets. I think we could all use a break.”
“Alright,” Hallie said, glad to have something practical and useful to do. She found the items easily enough, reading the instructions on the back of the soup packets a few times to make sure she’d understood them correctly. When she added the water to the first bowl, stirring carefully, she almost dropped it as the mixture began warming up, the faintest trace of magic rising in the air. “Oh. That’s very useful.”
“I know, right?” Girard said, with a grin. “No more making fires or, worse, drinking cold soup.” His hands were working gently on adding a medical dressing to the wound on Rhodda’s abdomen. Rhodda had her eyes closed, furrow between her brows suggesting she was working very hard to avoid crying out in pain.
“Ugh. Cold soup. So much worse than cold coffee,” Hallie agreed, trying to distract Rhodda.
“Oh, don’t torture me by mentioning coffee,” Rhodda said, mouth pulling in a sour smile. “I’ve been stuck out here for days with barely any water, let alone coffee.”
