Finn had been silently, steadily worsening over the course of the morning. She didn't want to complain, and besides, it seemed too hard. She pulled a blanket higher over herself and shivered under it. Goodness, how much that storm had lowered the temperature outside. It must be freezing out.
The pain increased, and Finn groaned softly against it. Every bump of the wagon was agony. Thankfully, the cart had now stopped and only moved occasionally forward. She idly wondered why but didn't want to gather the effort to ask.
Someone lifted the back cloth of the cart to look inside, letting in bright sunlight. Finn cringed away from it and whined. Suddenly there was yelling. What was happening? She mustered up the energy to sit up, and reached to tug at Mayra who was sitting on the bench. The angry voices outside seemed to be saying they weren't allowed in the city.
Mayra didn't seem to be paying attention to Finn, and she was so tired. She laid back down and fell into a fever-dreamed sleep.
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"No exceptions. Fever is not allowed inside the city." The soldier was adamant.
"Please, you don't understand! The fever is not from contagious disease, but from a wound. She's not dangerous!" Roland pleaded again. " At least let me go in and get Doctor Sherman. He'll confirm that she's no danger to anyone."
"No one in the party of someone with fever may enter the city. This is by order of the Council to prevent the spread of disease."
"What can I do? May I send a messenger to get the doctor? What is the process?" Roland was desperate to find some way through the bureaucracy.
"You may hire a messenger if you wish, but if they spend more than 5 minutes in close proximity with you, they will be considered part of your group and will be prohibited from the city for a quarantine period. Now move your group aside. You must withdraw at least a half mile away from the city walls before nightfall"
Roland closed his eyes, knowing this was possibly the best chance he was going to be given. He quickly got a writing implement and paper from his saddlebag, hastily scribbled a letter explaining the situation, and addressed it to Doctor Sherman and/or Mrs. Sherman, in case the doctor was on rounds and unavailable when the letter reached them.
He took the letter and scanned past the merchants waiting in line until he came to one that had a young lad of between 10 and 12 years with him. "Hello, sir!" He called, keeping a distance lest the soldiers interfere with him approaching another group. "How would your boy like to earn a few coins?"
The man looked at his son, who shrugged nonchalantly in an apparent effort to not appear too eager. "All you have to do is deliver a letter as quickly as you can once you are granted entry into the city. I'll give you two coins now, and I've asked in the note that they give you another when you deliver it to them."
The lad smiled towards his father, still quiet, but clearly looking for permission or guidance. The father patted him on the shoulder. "He's a fast runner, he is. He'll deliver it quick enough."
Roland quickly approached, handed him the letter and two coins, confirmed the boy knew where in the city to take it, then backed quickly up to his own horse and the cart.
Riley was seething with rage, "What kind of terrible place is this with no pity on those who need help?"
"Hush, Riley, do you want to make the soldiers mad?" Mayra chided as she turned to climb into the cart to sit with Finn.
"Who cares if they get mad, they're heartless and ridiculous! It's completely shameful!" Riley's voice climbed in volume. The soldiers were already preventing them from coming in, what more could they do?
"I don't think they're being intentionally heartless, they're following orders given by the council. Imagine if a contagious disease did get loose inside the city walls. It would be a disaster." Roland tried to see it from their point of view.
"So it's always been like this? A fancy city full of wealthy people closed off to those in need of its help??"
Roland shook his head, "I don't recall this being a rule before, but then, I've not gone in and out of the gates, so maybe I was just unaware of it." He thought about it for a few moments, "No, I recall sick people being brought to the clinic from outside the city. That wouldn't have happened if they've never let them in. Unless there's a way in not through the gates... but that seems unlikely." He tried to think if any of them had told of their journey into the city, but the details were beyond his memory's grasp.
Mayra was in the back of the cart now, wiping Finn's brow with a cloth. Finn was semi-conscious and feverish. "How's it going out there?" Mayra called.
"We have to withdraw for now," Roland explained, "but I've sent a note in to Doctor Sherman asking for his help. He'll know what to do."
Roland tied his horse to the back of the cart and climbed in. "Riley, can you get us a short distance away from here while Mayra and I tend to Serafina?"
Riley grimly snapped the reins and glared at the soldiers, who did not react to his malice.
When they stopped, Mayra built a small fire to boil water for a tea to bring down the fever while Roland made a poultice for the wound. He hoped Dr. Sherman could act quickly, but treatment couldn't wait to find out.
The red streaks from the wound were spreading up Finn's leg, alarming Roland. He closed his eyes and breathed, praying the medicines he'd bought in the towns nearby would work. Finn moaned softly in pain.
"Gabe... sweets... Gabe. Remember."
Roland's hands froze. Who was she remembering? 'Sweet Gabe'? Riley hadn't mentioned another competitor for Finn's affection. Had anyone mentioned a brother in their conversations? He thought so, but he couldn't remember whose sibling was whose. Mayra had mentioned several brothers, maybe one of hers had been secretly courting Finn? He set the worry aside to concentrate. If he couldn't get her through this illness, it wouldn't matter who Gabe was.
"You have to make it, and get better," He spoke softly to Finn as he tended her, "Please, Serafina. I need you to survive. I can't lose another patient, it'll ruin my record forever," He smiled wanly at his awful attempt at a joke before it faltered. He looked down at his hands, until one of hers took his.
His gaze shot up to meet hers. She blinked away the sleepiness through glassy eyes. "I'll make it," She said softly, "for you."
"Promise?" He knew he couldn't hold her to it, but he couldn't resist asking, like a child.
"I promise." She whispered as her eyes closed. She drifted back to sleep and her hand relaxed.
'For you'. She'd said. His heart clung to that in a way that maybe it shouldn't. It was a delirious joke, more of a personal favor than anything. Right?
Mayra climbed into the cart with the hot tea. Roland gathered Finn up into a semi-sitting position, conflicting emotions warring within him. It felt wonderful beyond words to have her in his arms, but the heat coming from her stirred up a fear he'd not known since he was a street urchin trying to survive on his own.
It was a fear born of lack of control. The complete inability to have the ultimate say over whether his whole world would be stolen from him. And it was terrifying, almost crippling.
Breathing, counting, and blowing gently on the hot tea, he coaxed Finn to drink all of it. As she finished it, he handed the cup back to Mayra. As he did, Finn leaned her head into his shoulder and sighed quietly, as if content.
His heart stuttered in his chest. Knowing she would rest better laying down, he reluctantly eased her back to that position and slid his arm out from behind her shoulders.
As he did, Riley came to check on them after taking care of the horses. He stared, his face an unreadable mask. It was a change from his normally expressive countenance.
"A year, huh?"
Roland swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.
"Can't start soon enough for me, can it?" One corner of Riley's mouth tipped up ever so slightly.
"As soon as we get her well," Roland said firmly.
"You'd better not fail us, Roland." Riley grimly stated his greatest fear.
"I won't," came the reply. "I can't."
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Hours passed as they waited for a response. Mayra mopped Finn's brow as the girl continued murmuring in her sleep.
"Yes, Finn, I know. It hurts. Yes, I'll make sure we bring Gabriel some sweets and a nice toy. He'll be so happy to see you!" Mayra kept up a steady stream of responses to Finn's often-incoherent utterances.
Roland half-listened as he watched towards the city. A toy for Gabriel? He must be a child, then. He took the information in, but it didn't comfort him just now.
Finally, the same boy came back from the gate. It took a moment for him to spot the cart to where it had withdrawn, but he brought a sealed letter in his hands.
"Thank you, Lad." Roland handed the boy another coin. He had half-expected Dr. Sherman to come himself, but maybe that hadn't been possible. He opened the note hurriedly and scanned its contents, which were in Mrs. Sherman's delicate handwriting.
"My Dear Roland,
What a sweet boy you sent with your note! I'm having him return with this one. Dr. Sherman is on a home visit and will not be back until sundown at the earliest. I understand your predicament under this rule. We had not expected you to bring back a patient or we would have apprised you of it. Please don't hold this secret against me, but if the girl is as bad as you say, time is of the essence. Head towards the far shore of the lake, by a large boulder. There is a cave there where a fishing boat will come. Ask for Jimmy's help."