Page 105 of Planet Zero
The man hefted his fellow tribesman who by now seemed to have lost consciousness but said nothing.
“Is this one tapped?” Chemmusaayl pointed to the unconscious man.
“No, High Counselor.”
Chemmusaayl threw another veiled glance at the chief and nodded. “You can stay the night,” he said to the refugees and turned to the women. “Bring some skins for the pallets and food. The warriors need rest.”
The tension broke, and the tribesmen slowly went back to their teepees. Only the three sentries remained alert and armed, walking about, keeping watch.
Oma and Vircea fetched skins to use as pallets and blankets. Addie ended up following Qalae who chose to share some of the chief’s dried Elkeks meat with the injured warriors.
The queen sorted out small portions into a basket. She handed the basket to Addie but didn’t let go of it. “How bad are their injuries?”
The question startled Addie. “I don’t know. I’ve only seen them from afar.”
“When you give them food, look.”
“What if they’re bad?”
“We live in uncertain times. We need warriors. These men, they better recover.” Qalae’s eyes were intent upon Addie.
ShewantedAddie to treat them.
Addie pursed her lips. “I’ll look.”
Taking the basked from the queen, she went to the spot a little away from the teepees where the men made a weary camp.
“Greetings, warriors,” Addie lowered to her knees next to them and set the basked down. “I brought you food.”
Ell nodded and stretched down on his pallet, obviously in pain. His hand on his stomach covered his wound. The man who was carried into the camp lay still with his eyes closed. The third, the more or less uninjured one, stared.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Addie. I live in this tribe,” she said simply. Not having met a human in his life, he was bound to have questions. She expected curiosity.
Her attention went to Ell. He was visibly hurting but she knew he’d rather die than ask for help. His future in their tribe hinged on his ability to recover.
“I will see about some moss to clean you up.” Rising to her feet, she went to her teepee.
The girls were laying down, too animated to sleep, talking excitedly. Chele stared at the ceiling. Addie gave her a covert look full of concern.
Oh’na pounced with questions. “Are they eating, Addie? What did they tell you?”
“Nothing, silly. They’re too tired and injured to talk. Besides, they just lost their entire tribe, their families. How talkative do you think they feel right now?”
This perspective subdued Melmie but not Oh’na. Bless her heart, the girl plowed ahead like a tank. “Did they tell you their names? Did the marauders ambush them? I hope they killed at least one marauder. Hack, hack!” She made hacking motions with her arm as if swinging an axe and catching Melmie in the nose. Melmie slapped her in the neck.
“Ouch!” Still, she wouldn't let the topic go. “So did they kill any? Do you know?”
“I’ll ask them,” she promised and tore off a hunk of moss from her supplies to take to the warriors.
“The one that sleeps, does his leg hurt?”
“Leg?” Addie glanced at Oh’na, puzzled by her logic. “Why do you think there’s something wrong with his leg?”
“Because he keeps laying down, like Chele. Except, Chele does walk sometimes. So it must be something else.” Oh’na looked crestfallen at having had a wrong idea.
Addie couldn't hide her surprise as she glanced at Chele’s blank face.
