“I went through more of Mr. Silas’s grandmother’s things yesterday,” Millie said sheepishly. “Turns out, she stored a lot of things in that old shed out back.”
I turned my attention to the beautiful little girl with the mystery ailment. Eloise was looking up at me with saucer-sized blue eyes, and it seemed a queue was forming behind her as men and women and children lamented illnesses of all shapes and sizes.
“Here you go, Doc.” Millie winked, setting a cup of coffee beside me. “I’ve put a little enchantment on here so that your cup will refill as it gets low. It also keeps at a nice warm temperature.”
“Curses and coffee,” I muttered, taking a sip.
“We may have our magic and dragons,” Millie said. “But we still love a good cup of coffee.”
I scalded my mouth swallowing a gulp of coffee. “Did you saydragons?”
Chapter 7
“Guess what?” I lookedinto Eloise’s eyes.
The poor girl looked at me with wide, terrified eyes. I didn’t blame her one bit. According to her mother, Eloise had been brought from one Healer to another in the last twenty-four hours, ever since the mystery rash had first appeared. Nobody had been able to figure out what was causing the rash. Now, a fever was presenting along with it.
“What?” Eloise’s eyes filled with tears.
I grinned. “You are going to be just fine.”
“But my mom said...” Eloise looked up at her mother, who also looked at me like I was nuts. “I’m very sick.”
Both Eloise and her mother were stunning. I didn’t know much about the paranormal world, but considering their golden hair, the slight point to their ears, the beautiful, porcelain skin—I would venture they were of elfin descent. At least, based on the super-crash-course Millie had given me on some of the different species living here on The Isle.
“Do you see this little rash here?” I gently pulled Eloise’s head toward me and swept that gorgeous curtain of golden hair off her shoulder. “It looks like a bullseye.”
“Yes, of course,” Eloise’s mother snapped. “Along with the fever and chills. That’s why we came today, to see you. We can’t find out what’s wrong.”
“Eloise, my dear,” I said to the little girl. “I’m pretty sure you’ve been bitten by a tick.”
Anyone within earshot stilled around me, like I’d just given her a prognosis with zero percent chance of survival.
“Which is not that big of a deal,” I said. “We caught it fast enough that some antibiotics will do the trick. Doxycycline is an incredibly effective treatment, especially this early.”
“A tick?” Her mother waved her hands in obvious confusion. “Is that some sort of...”
“Bug,” I said. “Well, not technically bugs, since they’re arachnids. More like spiders or mites.”
“A bug bite?” Eloise stared at me blankly, as did her mother, as did everyone else around me including Millie. “I’ve never heard of a tick before.”
“Never heard of...” I glanced around and asked the larger group. “You’ve never heard of a tick before?”
A collective shaking of heads.
“Well, then, good news for you,” I said. “You’re going to be just fine. Let me talk to some adults about how toget you the right medicine, and you’ll barely remember this happened in a couple of weeks.”
“How did I get it?” Eloise asked.
“Do you like to play in the woods?” I asked. “Pick flowers in tall grasses, build forts, things like that?”
“Yes,” she said. “I swim in the creek by our house every day. There are lots of grasses and trees around.”
“Well, there you go,” I said. “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. “
Eloise stood, then threw her arms around my neck. “Thank you for saving my life, Dr. Alessia.”
“Eloise!” her mother chided. “You don’t use her first name. It’s Doctor...” Her eyes slid over to me. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your last name.”
