‘Because it’s important,’ he finally said.
‘Why?’
‘Why?’ he repeated. He looked ready to tell her something. Her heartbeat quickened. ‘Look at my notes.’
‘What?’ She didn’t understand what that would prove. ‘I askedwhy, notif.’
He ran a hand through his hair, seemingly agitated. ‘Because—’ But then he broke off, shaking his head. ‘Don’t worry about it, Bis. We have more important things to focus on. I added chives to the last attempt, but we’re out of test trees. Can you grow me another?’
‘Yes, just a moment,’ she said, going over to where her sisters were sleeping. She wanted to check on them first, hoping it might give her heart some ease.
They were lying side-by-side: Azalea, Nori, Deeba. She hated to see them so frozen and still, quiet. They almost looked—
She touched each of their hearts to reassure herself, but the faint pulses weren’t much consolation.
She was stroking Deeba’s hair when she noticed Deeba’s expression was … different. It was hardly perceptible, but Bisma could tell. There was a slight crease between Deeba’s brows.
‘Xander,’ she called.
He walked over just as she lifted Deeba’s sleeves, and her suspicion was confirmed. The poison had spread further.
‘No,’ she whispered. Panic seized her with its icy claws. She turned to Xander, her eyes wide.
He swore to himself.
‘Bis, it’s going to be okay,’ he said, his voice sure. ‘Don’t worry. It’s only moved a little bit.’
‘What if it moves more?!’ she cried.
‘It won’t, not that fast. Give me—give me a second.’
He rolled up both Deeba’s sleeves, then ran back to grab one of his notebooks. He seemed to be tracking the spread of the poison since they had fed Deeba the freeze potion, calculating the speed. She saw him doing complicated math in his head, until he released a breath.
‘We have two more weeks before it spreads to her heart,’ he said. ‘That’s just a few days after the harvest festival.’
‘Two weeks?’ Her anxiety spiked. ‘Can’t we give her more of the freeze potion?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Giving her too much will stop her heart; each dose is a precise amount to keep the body still so the poison won’t spread, as well as just alive enough so the heart can beat. Of course, it won’t last forever, and will start to wear off. I should have thought of that, but I thought …’
They had two more weeks to find a cure.
Two more weeks, or Deeba would die.
22
Two weeks seemed like a lot of time, but days passed in the blink of an eye. Bisma had to keep up with her orders, for people were counting on her, and she continued working with Xander, but nothing they did seemed to be working.
Even the Enchanted Forest was upset. The fog around the perimeter had thinned, fruit was rotting, the lake was murky, creeks had run dry, and the animals were quiet.
Bisma tried to be cheery for Luna and Mei’s sakes, but she was unbearably frightened. Paranoia was setting in as well; she felt at any moment, her remaining sisters would fall.
What was the end game? To eliminate them all? Why not get it over with?
But more likely, the goal was to make Bisma suffer. If Eleanora was getting revenge for losing her best friend, who was like a sister to her, it would make sense to make Bisma feel that same pain again and again and again.
Whenever Bisma felt herself spiraling, she thought of the last letter she had received, and found strength from the words.
I confess I have also been feeling that way as of late, as though I cannot get my footing. I am dealing with a problem that is proving difficult to solve, and I have never dealt with anything like it before. But for both our cases, I think we needto focus on the good, the little steps we are taking. We must hold onto hope, for it is hope that will carry us through.
