Page 39 of Planet Zero
Addie sat back on her heels. “Surely she needs more time. Is her mate taking care of her?”
“Hunlath left to hunt,” Chele said flatly.
Chele re-tied the pouches and stashed them in their hiding place, carefully covering the floor with furs. Together, they left her teepee and went to another, a similar one positioned across the settlement.
“It is Chele, Oma,” the old woman called before entering. “I brought Addie-woman with me. She is good, this Addie-woman.”
The teepee was occupied by a young, large-boned woman lying on a pallet against the wall. At their entrance, she turned her head and Addie looked into the largest, most gentle eyes she’d even imagined a For could have. They were brilliant from suffering and sadness. So much sadness.
The inside of the teepee reeked of blood.
“Hello, Chele,” Oma said as Chele lowered to her knees next to the pallet. Addie did the same.
“Hello, Oma,” she said gently.
Oma stared back. “Have the men returned?” she asked in a pleasant low voice that sounded tired.
“Not yet.”
Oma’s eyes briefly closed. “They have been gone a long time.”
“Did something happen?” Addie asked quietly.
Chele said, “The men have to travel farther and farther to find animals. And on many days they come back empty-handed.”
Oma swallowed with difficulty.
“Here,” Chele sidled closer. “I’ll help you.”
“If the High Counselor knows you come to tend to me, he will be most displeased.”
Chele muttered something unpleasant about the High Counselor. Meanwhile, Oma was getting agitated.
“No, no. Don’t, Chele. Leave me. I want to go to sleep. If only I could sleep! I failed. My mate is angry with me.”
Sorrow poured from Oma’s eyes in liquid amber. Startled, Addie realized she was looking at For tears. They slid down Oma’s pale, haggard face leaving faint orange tracks.
The woman was shattered by her experience.
Resolutely, Addie reached for her hand. “Your mate is not angry with you,” she assured Oma despite having no such knowledge. “He is sad, just like you are. Sadder even, because he now has to watch you bleed and suffer.”
Oma watched her warily out of her amber-leaking eyes but did not remove her hand.
“I’ve seen bodies before. I’ve helped other women. Can I see you?” She pointedly looked at Oma’s lap.
Glancing Chele’s way and finding reassurance there, Oma slowly nodded and shifted her legs.
“It hurts,” she whispered in a breaking voice.
Addie lifted the covers and fought to keep her face expressionless. The woman was a mess. The pallet was soaked with two days’ worth of hemorrhaging. If the bleeding didn’t stop soon, they would lose her.
“You will get better,” she promised hotly. “When was the last time you ate?”
Chele helpfully produced the herb-laced jerky.
After some uncomplicated dog-and-pony show, Addie and Chele finally convinced Oma to swallow most of the meat.
“She needs to be cleaned,” Addie told Chele under her breath. “She can’t stay soaked in her own blood.”
