Return with the Elixir

When we were asked to write the Resurrection Scene for class, I accidently wrote my Return with Elixir Scene. So this time I wrote my Resurrection Scene and tacked it onto my edited Elixir Scene.

RESURRECTION

Evie stepped forward, wishing acutely that she knew something about homeopathic medicine in the US Northeast. She motioned to Eren to stay put. He, for once, did as he was told and sat cross-legged on the ground. There were still muskets trained on them, but the fervor behind them had lessened.

Evie approached the Indian leader, who looked at her with barely veiled hostility. She asked for water and was brought a water pouch. She poured a small amount over her hands and rubbed them together.

“May I touch his head?” She asked, keeping her gaze on the leader but expecting an answer from the interpreter.

The interpreter asked and the leader nodded.

Evie pressed her cool, wet hand to his forehead. He was clearly burning with fever.

“How long has he been ill?”

The interpreter shrugged. “7 or 8 days.”

Evie decided to check his chest and back for any sores or spots that would suggest measles, plague or another more obvious disease, since he had no marks on his face.

She mimicked removing her own outer layer and the leader, taking her meaning, took off his shirt. She saw immediately that, though he had no spots or sores, he had been bled.

“Who has been caring for him?”

"One of Montcalm’s own physicians. He is a very important man.”

“Ask him to cough into his hand and show me what he brings up.”

The interpreter asked, her patient coughed and showed her yellow green mucus.

Evie felt great relief.

It’s a flu. It must be. There is no blood in his lungs to suggest it is tuberculousis. There is no sign of measles, small pox or plague. It is too cool for disease-bearing mosquitos. His weakness is likely due in large part to the bleeding, which, if continued would likely kill him.

“You need to make camp.”

“We can not, we must meet the French troops on the other side of this ridge by midday tomorrow. He will be cared for there by the French physicians.”

“They can not save him now. Only I can.” Evie tried to speak with as much authority as she could muster. “If you want your leader to live, do as I say.”

She avoided looking at the muskets still pointing at her head in order to keep her fear under control. She continued. “Send a scout to tell the French that you will arrive two days late. Build a makeshift shelter. Make him comfortable and cover him in blankets. Keep him warm. He must drink a great quantity of water to flush his system of this illness. He must not be bled further. If he lapses into unconsciousness or raves, uncover and cool him, as that is a sign that his temperature has gone too high. If he does not, continue to keep him warm. You may apply cold compresses to his head to ease his pain. Under these conditions he will recover. If you go to the French physician for further treatment, he will die.”

The interpreter relayed her message to the leader and the group. Again they conferred. Evie wanted to look over her shoulder at Eren, but was afraid to, as it might alter the façade of strength she was portraying.
Soon the party was in agreement, heads nodded and the musket points came down.

“It will be done as you say.”

The party dispersed to gather wood and water. A makeshift shelter was quickly constructed and the leader laid beneath blankets and robes inside. Evie created the first cold compress and told them to immediately begin giving him water and healing teas.

She was able at this time to see that Eren had done as she had asked, staying seated where she had left him.
He silently watched the proceedings. The war party no longer seemed alarmed by his presence. His inactivity but watchfulness was proving that he was her guardian.

Evie felt it was time to go. She was anxious to get Eren back. She turned from the leader to the interpreter. “My work here is now complete. My companion and I must leave you now.”

He seemed to be considering and said a few words to his companions. They shook their heads. Evie worried that they would be reluctant to let them leave. They could tell others of the war party’s position.

As they continued to discuss she added, “If you keep me here, I can not fulfill my other missions, and the spirits will be angry.”

At this, they relented. She stood, made a sign of leave-taking and walked to Eren’s side.

“Get up.” She said in the whisper. “Walk ahead of me away from here, up slope. And don’t speak.” He did as he was told.

She turned back once to raise a single hand and then followed Eren through the brush.

When they had walked for about 10 minutes, Eren turned with an enormous smile on his face.

Evie spoke under her breath but with force. “Don’t turn around. A scout will be following us. Keep acting as though you are here as my protector and leader, you worthless…” She let her voice trail off. She could see his shoulders slump.

They continued to walk until they reached the crest of the hill. Eren looked back at her as if to ask which way to take. But before she could give a direction, they both heard and saw red flashes amongst the trees on the slopes below.

“The British are mounting the hill.” She whispered as she pulled Eren into the brush near the ground. “They are tracking the war party! We have to lead them away from my charge or he will be killed.” She realized that it may have been this threat and not the illness that she was meant to save him from all along.

“Eren, you are going to have to be still again.”

“I am not letting you get in the way of those soldiers.”

“You don’t have a choice. This is my job. You’re just a hijacker. My journey. My rules. Stay here and stay hidden.”

She began to crawl toward the advancing troops. When she was near enough to them, she changed her direction, stood and walked to the right so that she would seem to be coming from the east, rather than from the south.

She had dirtied her hands and rubbed dirt on her arms and face. She began to limp and whimper. By the time the first soldier saw her, she was in a state of utter collapse.

“Oy! There’s a girl here!” He yelled to his companions as he caught her and laid her on the ground.
They gathered about her as she cowered.

“Madam. You're safe. Who are you and where have you come from?”

“I'm Alice.” She sobbed as she spoke to try to cover any noticeable accent. “I was taken by the Abenaki three years ago, but in their haste to outrun you, they left me behind. I thought I should die of starvation and exposure. Thank the lord you have come to my rescue.”

“You were coming from the east. Is that the direction they have taken?”

“Yes, as you see. Follow and kill them that kidnapped me!” She tried to sound distraught and revengeful, but deception, even after this much practice, was still difficult for her.

“Why did they not kill you?”
“How could I know? They are savage and speak in a language only the devil could comprehend.”

From her prone position she could glance in her peripheral vision up slope. She could not see Eren, but she did see a fleeting glimpse of black hair as it crested the hill and was gone.

The scout has seen the danger. He will go back and they will move camp. I only need to stall them now.

“You must come with us.” They began to prop her up.

“I am too weak. Stay with me here, for just a little while. With some food, water and rest, I will be ready to go with you anywhere.”

This idea didn’t seem to align with her former vengeful wishes and planted the seed of doubt.

“How do we know she is not one of them?” One soldier exclaimed.

Then another joined in, “We have known others to turn. Maybe they left her behind as a decoy. They could be preparing an ambush as we speak.”

Fear rose in the eyes of the soldiers and she was roughly lifted to her feet. Their captain stepped forward and held her by both shoulders, looking into her eyes.

Before he could speak, she exclaimed, crying tears of genuine fear, “I am Alice! I was a prisoner. You have to believe me!”

The captain released one of her shoulders and turned to the troops. “Half of the party march east. Half go south. We will see who picks up a trail first. We will see whether she is telling the truth.”

He turned back to face her. “If you are lying and obstructing the will of the Crown, you will be hanged for a traitor.”

Eren, who had not been able to hear the proceedings but could see that Evie’s circumstances had changed drastically for the worse, had been slowly making his way down the slope.

He, however, was not as skillful at silence and guile as Evie had become. He was sighted by one of the soldiers in his descent. At the moment when the captain said “hanged for a traitor,” Eren was pushed roughly into the clearing to stand beside Evie.

“I see you were not alone. You were lying and obstructing the will of the crown.”

Evie, covered in dirt, her cheeks streaked with tears, drew herself to her full height and said, “I do not know him.”

The captain smiled wryly. “We shall see.” In a flash, he drew his sidearm, pointed it at Eren, and fired. Evie had no time to think. She heard herself scream and felt her legs spring into action. She felt the musket ball pierce her skin with all the grace of a ragged boulder entering water. It blasted a hole through her rib cage and lodged deep in her lung. She tasted blood immediately, then lost her breath. She fell to her knees. Not wanting to die on her face, she leaned to her left, and landing on her side, descended into black.

ELIXIR

Evie was conscious again. She knew only because the pain reached such a pitch that she felt her body contract in an effort to dim the throbbing. Her brain, however, could not ignore the irate signals that her nerves were screaming across each synapse.

She knew that she had taken the bullet. She saw the muzzle, the flash, the smoke.

Then she died. She was sure of it. She felt the black close in on her. She felt the pain disappear and the peace come. But now, now the black behind her eyes was red with agony. She was either alive or in the infernal hell that fire and brimstone preachers rage against. Damn them for being right.

Very slowly the searing pain downgraded to a more bearable burn. She felt her other senses, previously overcome, returning. She smelled vanilla and cat food. She felt fabric and plush beneath her. She urged her eyelids to rise in several tries like coaxing obstinate mini blinds. In between failures, she caught glimpses of her surroundings. She was clearly back in her apartment and, though she couldn't feel his touch, she recognized Eren standing over her, shaking her, terror contorting his face.

It was then that she realized that the pain she felt flowed through her whole body and was not at all centered around her chest or the bullet. Finally, she was able to hold her eyes open and was rewarded by Eren's "I am so glad that you are alive that I want to kill you" look. She raised her head just enough to look down at her chest and saw nothing there, no hole in the shirt, no blood, no trace of a wound at all.

Eren saw where she was focused and spoke the question in her head. "Can you not die when you journey?"

"Apparently not," she managed.

"You didn't know?"

"No."

"You stepped between me and that bullet not knowing that you would be brought back unscathed?"

"I wouldn't exactly say unscathed." Air over her vocal chords felt like sand paper, I feel like I just escaped Dante's Inferno through the birth canal."

Eren rolled his eyes. "Well, at least I know it's you." He turned toward the kitchen, muttering under his breath, "'Dante's Inferno through the birth canal', where does she come up with this stuff?" Halfway across the room he turned back to look at her sprawled on the sofa. "Hungry?" he asked, cocking his head.

"Seriously?" She fought to lift her head, "Seriously!? You're asking me if I'm hungry? We haven't spoken for 4 months. You break into my apartment and hide in my closet. You jump out and touch the stone the instant my journey begins. We end up together in the midst of a war. I take a musket ball in the heart to save you. And you're asking me if I'm HUNGRY!?" Her voice was fully back now and her strength was returning on the wave of her frustration.

Eren looked at her sheepishly and grinned. "Um. Yeah."

"Well then, no, I'm not hungry. What I'd like from you instead of food is an explanation of what the hell you think you were doing hijacking my journey. If you'll recall, I told you never to come near me again."

Eren walked back to the sofa. "You're too tired to talk about this right now. You need to rest."

"What? And let my guard down so that you can steal the stone just like you always planned? I don't think so. If you don't intend to explain yourself, you are welcome to go." Evie looked over her shoulder at the stone to make sure it was still there and then meaningfully at the door. Then she let her head fall and her eyes close, wearied by the effort it took to act firm and resolved. She hoped she looked exasperated rather than exhausted. She had no intention of letting Eren see her weakness, she still couldn't trust him.

Eren sat down on the floor near her head and put his hand on her own limp hand. "Fine, Evie, if you want to talk now. We'll talk now."

He picked up her hand and held it between both of his, rubbing it until she opened her eyes again and looked at him.

"The truth is, I love you."

He paused, took a deep breath and then continued. "Yes, I was raised to hate the stone and its power, to believe that it was created by the Devil to alter the past to serve his own agendas, rather than by God to right the wrongs of a mistaken humanity. Yes, when I found out you were the Intercessor it was my intention to win you over and then use your trust to take the stone and destroy it for what I thought would be the good of all. I see now that I and my ancestors since the beginning have been wrong about the stone. You have shown me its real creator and its real purpose. I came here after 4 months of searching for answers because I had to see for myself. I know it was selfish, but I needed to know for certain. You not only proved to me that my faith in the stone's goodness is warranted by what I saw on the journey and what you did for that young man, but you also showed me that my love for you is stronger than even I had fully understood. When I saw you step in front of that bullet. When I saw you fall..."

Eren's voice became strained. "Evie, you were dead. There was no question. It was darkest moment of my life. I fell down beside you. There was blood everywhere. Then the battle faded away and there was a bright light. We journeyed back. Suddenly we were here and you weren't bleeding anymore. When you opened your eyes...the relief, I can't describe it."

His breath was quick and he looked into her eyes willing her to hear him. "Evie, the truth is, you are like a superhero. All I want is to be your sidekick. Just say that there is still a chance of that."

Evie who had listened calmly without response through Eren's speech had to smile at that last bit. She wanted to tell him about the months after she discovered him, how she had cried, how angry she was. She wanted to tell him that she had hated every day and night without him. She wanted to tell him that she loved him back and that all she wanted was for him to be her partner (she'd promote him from sidekick for good behavior).
But her eyes closed without her permission and all she could muster was a grin and a squeeze of his hand.

She held onto it, turned away from him on her side, pulling him with her, so that to maintain the connection he had to lie down beside her on the couch. The last thing she remembered was his arm around her waist and his body pressed against her back. She slept deep and long.