“Luke?” Skylar’s voice was frantic as Richard tried to keep Luke from falling on his face, “Luke, wake up!”
Skylar helped Richard lift Luke into a standing position, who promptly fell into Skylar’s shoulder. Richard rushed to help her hold the weight of Luke’s unconscious body between them.
Skylar wrapped Luke’s arm over her right shoulder while Richard held Luke’s other arm over his left. They struggled to walk under his weight, but they managed.
“We need to find an inn,” Skylar ordered, “Now.”
They began to frantically search for an inn or hotel, anything to get Luke inside as the rain began to pour down on them.
The dirt roads were now slick with mud, and Skylar and Richard had a hard time keeping their footing as they carried Luke around the town.
Finally, they came to “The Mountain Song Hotel”.
Skylar stared at the sign as Peter joked, “Well, they sure capitalized on being near the mountains.”
She nodded in agreement, then stumbled to the door and Adalene knocked on the door.
The door opened to reveal a tired man, the circles under his eyes darker than his hair. He looked over their heads at first, expecting someone taller, then looked down as he saw the strange sight of six children while two of them held up an unconscious one.
“Oh,” he said in surprise, not sure which one to look at, “Can I help you?”
“We need a few rooms,” Skylar nearly gasped, exhausted from the hike around the town while nearly carrying Luke.
“Oh,” the man answered, looking at the children in confusion. “Uh…”
“What is it?” Adalene raised an eyebrow, “Can we come in, or not?”
Sweat began to bead across the man’s forehead, as he stared at the children again. His face was a mix of emotions Skylar couldn’t quite figure out until the man finally gave them an answer.
“I-I’m sorry, but we don’t have any rooms right now,” he answered rather quickly, then promptly shut the door in their faces.
Adalene scoffed, then grunted, “Let’s go,” as she began to storm off.
Skylar and Richard struggled to keep up with her, and Skylar felt like Luke became heavier by the second.
They wandered the streets, with no place to go as the rain continued to batter them, drenching them. Skylar felt like even the cloak Luke gave her wouldn’t be able to keep the cold rain off her for long.
“Psst,” She turned her head to see a head peeking out of a door. A woman with long, brown, hair braided down her back stared out at them, then waved her hand at them, beckoning them inside.
Skylar, Richard, and the others nearly slipped getting over there, as the woman muttered for them to get inside quickly.
“What is it?” Skylar asked, then shivered as she felt the cold at last take hold of her, the cloak no longer shielding her from the chills of the storm.
“You cannot be out here,” she whispered, her green eyes flicking over the street in fear. “People could recognize you. Come in, quickly.”
Skylar and Adalene gave each other a look, then Skylar stumbled into the doorway.
“Jean, get a bed for the young man,” the woman said to a younger girl inside, around Skylar’s age.
“Yes, mother,” Jean answered, then hurried into a room to make a bed.
“We need to get him by the fire,” the woman continued, “He needs to warm up before the cold becomes worse.”
“Why are you doing this?” Alice asked, staring at the woman in wonder.
“Hmm?” she turned, glancing over at Alice before Alice repeated, “Why are you helping us?”
“I don’t have time to explain,” the woman answered, then stoked the fire as it warmed the room. “Jean, is that bed ready?”
“Yes, mother.”
“You two,” the woman pointed to Peter and Adalene, “Help Jean carry the bed into this room. He needs to be in front of the fire. He needs to get warm.”
Peter and Adalene rushed over to Jean and brought the bed into the main room. Once it was set up, Skylar and Richard helped lay Luke on the bed.
“He just needs to warm up a bit,” their host explained, “But I’m afraid he might be a little sick. You need to look for some crystantheum before the symptoms become worse.”
Skylar nodded, then told Richard and Helen to follow her out into the rain.
“But be careful,” the woman warned, “People are looking for children like you. You must not be recognized.”
She nodded again, then pulled her hood over her head as Helen and Richard followed her back outside.
…
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“What’s crystantheum?” Helen asked as they made their way back through the streets.
“An herb,” Skylar answered, “It should be pretty common around here since we’re in a colder climate near the mountains.”
“Should it help Luke?”
“Yes,” Skylar tried to remember any of the places they had been when they were shopping for fur coats and boots for Helen, along with other supplies.
“Will he be alright?”
“Yes.”
“He seemed pretty bad when he fell before.”
“He’ll be fine.”
“I hope he’s not sick.”
“He-” Skylar started to say, fear gripping her heart, she took a deep breath, trying to keep her patience and emotions under control.
“He’ll be fine,” Skylar told Helen, then turned around and nearly ran through the town, “He has to be.”
She appreciated Helen’s concern, but it only heightened her own. She had already been worried about Luke from the moment he gave her his cloak.
No, that wasn’t when she started worrying. She started worrying about Luke and the others the moment she regained consciousness from the fall. She was so scared that they wouldn’t be alright on their own, so afraid that she might not see them again.
She couldn’t help it. She had been worried for so long and now that she was back with Luke, it only made things worse. He gave her the cloak then started to shiver, and Skylar feared that it would only be worse. And it had been all her fault.
If only they had found a place to stay sooner, maybe he wouldn’t have passed out. Maybe he wouldn’t be sick.
If only she had just insisted that Luke take the cloak instead of her, Luke wouldn’t be in this position.
But she knew that that meant she would’ve been the one sick in bed, surrounded by her worried friends as she was unconscious. And of course, Luke would worry. He’d worry more than Skylar was right now.
And he wouldn’t know how to find crystantheum, Skylar silently chuckled at the thought of that. At least with Skylar being healthy, she could find the herb to help Luke. He’d be lost without her.
If only she hadn't been here at all then Luke wouldn't have to have given her his cloak. She shouldn't have survived that fall. She shouldn't be alive. She should be rotting at the bottom of the sea-
“Skylar,” Richard said quietly to her as she realized she had stopped in the middle of the road.
“Are you going to be alright?”
She finally couldn’t take it anymore. She closed her eyes as the tears overcame her. Luke would be lost without her, and she would be lost without him. She had realized that while she had been alone, so alone.
She had longed to be near him while she was gone, missing his laugh. She missed his crooked smile. She missed his eyes. She missed him more than anything in the world.
And she knew he felt the same about her. And now, with the threat of possibly losing him for good, it became too much.
Her body shook from sobs and shivers, as she realized the horror it would be if he was gone.
She wouldn’t be able to live if she lost someone else…
230Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRBLymuJjI
