A Perfect Bride (Bride books Book 5) by Ginny Sterling

Author:Ginny Sterling [Sterling, Ginny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Still waiting days later for the river to become passable by the ferry, that is when the illness began again. It was, at first, a few sniffles here and there. Then, came the coughing. Fever spread throughout the camp, this included where Little Fire and the others were tucked neatly against the rock face.

Great, wracking coughs and shaking overtook her body as she fought the cold she had caught. Hidden Doe seemed to be in the same boat as she was. However, others were much worse off. Bodies were being carried off each morning, more and more each time. They were dying off, slowly but surely, as they waited for the river to become freed up for crossing.

Little Fire felt like her entire body was cramping and shaking from the effort to keep warm. She could feel and hear the rattle when she coughed. Pulling the fur around her closer, she just couldn’t get warm enough and this made her so sleepy. Hearing footsteps, she struggled to crack open an eye and spotted Daniel nearby.

“Drink this,” he ordered, concern burning in his eyes.

She didn’t question him in the slightest. She felt too awful and too weak to even bother. The hot liquid was extremely bitter and pungent, burning a trail down her esophagus to her stomach. Gasping, she pushed the cup away.

“What was that?”

“A little something that I hope makes you feel better,” he replied tenderly, feeling her forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“I’m freezing actually.”

“It must be the fever. Is anyone else sick?”

“Hidden Doe is and several others that direction were coughing yesterday but I haven’t heard them today. I guess they are sleeping or…”

Her voice trailed off as she opened her eyes to see where they were laying. “They are dead, aren’t they?”

“I’m afraid so. I want you to drink this as much as possible. Do you understand me? Keep it down, too!”

“You think I’m dying, too?” she asked, terrified, feeling tears well up in her eyes as she stared at his concerned gaze. “Am I?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“I don’t want to die, Daniel,” she whispered softly, feeling a tear run down her cheeks as she stared at his gentle expression. She reached out and grasped his hand, almost desperately as if to tether herself to him. His warm hand was much larger than hers and she could barely close her fingers around his palm, but it was comforting to simply have the contact between them.

“I don’t want that either,” he admitted tenderly, stroking her cheek to wipe the tear away. “You have to be okay when we are ready to travel again. I’m hoping that is soon, but Berry…” he stopped, closing his eyes briefly in frustration and taking a deep breath. “Berry is in no hurry to ferry your people across and has increased the prices. I have heard rumor that the people that live nearby are quite angry at him and the Army for bringing you here.”

“We aren’t exactly happy about it either,” she said lightly with a smile, sipping on the strong brew.

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