A Healer’s Promise by Misty M. Beller

Author:Misty M. Beller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;Novel;FIC042110;FIC042030;FIC027360
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

17

Audrey eyed the dark clouds pressing low in the morning sky as she stepped from the trees with an armload of wood. The air felt much thicker than the usual winter morning. Snow would fall sometime today. She’d fully stocked their woodpile the night before, mostly because there was little else to do. Perhaps she should still bring up a few extra loads this morning.

For the last three days, the weather had been tolerable, but she’d stayed tucked in the cave during daylight hours. The searchers hadn’t been back for two days now, but she still tried to stay in the cave during the brighter hours of each day, saving her outings for wood or water for the dusky light of morning or evening.

The long daylight hours sitting across the cave from Levi had been a treasure, getting to know him and hearing stories of his family, especially his baby sister, who was only a year younger than he was. Hearing their escapades as they grew up in the countryside made her chest ache with laughter. She’d never had the chance for a younger brother or sister. Not when her own mother died during her birth.

The low chattering of a bird brought her back to the present. She needed to focus on what should be done to prepare them in case they were snowed in for several days.

Food. She’d been rationing what little they had left, but soon there would be only berries remaining. Could she hunt with only a knife? The thought of killing an animal soured her stomach. She’d dressed hundreds of carcasses brought to her by the village hunters, but she’d never had to look in the eyes of a creature and take its life. Could she do it, knowing the alternative was to starve?

Maybe she should return to Laurent for food. But once she made it through the gates, they would never allow her to return to Levi. That wasn’t an option.

Perhaps she could set a snare. That would be an easier way to hunt. She would only have to skin and cook the animal, both things she was very accustomed to.

When Levi awoke, she could ask him if he knew much about trapping. With the snow coming, today wouldn’t be a good day to set the snare, but they could prepare.

By the time she carried three more loads of wood up to the cave, Levi had awakened. Anytime she glanced over and saw his dark brown eyes watching her, shivers of pleasure swept through her. She could imagine them as an old married couple, her keeping house for him and cooking his meals. Reveling in the warmth of his gaze and snuggling in the strength of his arms.

She pushed the daydream aside, a task getting harder and harder as the days passed. In many ways, it felt like this world they created had always been.

But she wasn’t his wife—she was his nurse. Here to tend his injuries and see that he stayed warm and received the nourishment he needed to recover.

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