Page 69 of Beyond The Maples
I cringe when I think about Farra's back again. They had used a strap, leaving lesions of various sizes all over her back. I sit beside her on the bed and pull down the light sheet we covered her upper body with. Leo and I work silently, gently working the ointment onto her puckered and angrily split skin. He follows my lead, and I'm thankful my nerdy brother taught me a little before I left. Farra barely wakes; moaning in both agony and relief as we cover her up.
I ask Leo to grab a glass of water and then whisper for Farra to sit up slightly so she can take the pills; she does so without opening her eyes. She's utterly exhausted. I tried to ask what happened, what they gotout of her, and who did it, after we got back. I felt bad, forcing her to answer questions in her condition, but I needed to know what to prepare for while she heals.
She gave very short answers, but it was enough. She'd kept us safe, and it had cost her.
Apparently, it was mostly Kethler who doled out the questions and punishments, with the help of another officer, Callen Skiver. A name I commit to memory.
What's more concerning is how they figured out something was happening here to begin with. We had been so careful, and other than the plant and a few borrowed books, we hadn't really done anything. And, of course, the visits with Sibs.
I gasp.The herbs,I think, pulling out the crushed roots from my pocket frantically. I am lucky––so fucking lucky ––they didn't search me.
Leo tiptoes over to me. "What is that, Maple?"
My eyes bounce to our unconscious friend laying on the bed. I pull Leo over to the small bathroom and shut the door, not wanting to wake her.
"Sibs gave these to me. They help with memory loss, she said. She insinuated that the food here is dulling our senses, or maybe our memories? She said to crush this up and sprinkle some in our food and it would help keep us sharp..." I trail off, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Flush it," he demands, without hesitation.
I look at him, and we don't move. I don't know if that's the right call. But the agony on Leo's face when we brought Farra through the door flits through my memory, and I understand.
"It's not your fault, Leo," I say, because he needs to hear it.
He shakes his head, stepping back and avoiding my eyes.
"Leo, look at me. It's not your fault."
He just continues shaking his head, tears welling in his eyes.
"She just took it. She didn't argue, or fight them, or sell me out, like she should have. I shouldn't have let them. I should've said something. I mean, I did eventually, but it was already too late. They were already taking her."
He's still shaking his head, and I put the herbs down on the counter and pull him in for a hug, rubbing soothing circles on his back, while he breathes through the chaos of his brain. Once he's calmed down, I head into the main room again, grabbing the med kit and coming back into the bathroom.
I close the door and lock it, before spilling the supplies onto the ground. I hold up the pain pills to the light seeping through the tiny round window. They're a milky, dark yellow powder in a capsule––that should work.
"Grab my notebook and the envelopes on my dresser," I whisper without explanation.
I grab the mug holding our toothbrushes by the sink and dump them, sitting on the floor with my legs crossed.
Leo comes back in and I snatch the notebook, ripping out a page and throwing it on the ground. This isn't exactly hygienic, but at this point it will have to do. I use the paper as a clean base and place the herbs on it, then using the mug as a rolling pin, I begin to grind up the herbs from Sibs up. Leo looks bewildered, and I hand over the job to him, instructing him to grind it down as best he can. He frowns, but does it.
While he does that, I rip out more paper and create a funnel.
Taking the envelopes, I open up the capsules, carefully dump each capsule into individual envelopes, closing them, and placing them between the pages of my notebook. We might lose a bit of the powder, but I can always ask for more for her if she needs it. Pain medication is one thing they seem to hand out generously.
"What are we doing, Maple? This seems like a bad time for experiments." Ignoring him, I examine his work. It's pretty good, the herbs crushed enough to work with. The texture is off, but not enough to suspect anything at first glance.
After I'm done loading the envelopes into the notebook, I move it aside and instruct Leo to help me dump the herbs into the empty capsules.
The powder gets everywhere; despite the funnel.
Leo rips out a piece of paper fromthe book and slips it beneath my hand as a drop sheet to collect the rogue herbs. I smirk at him. He really is clever.
"Maple?"
I sigh.
"This way if someone finds the pills they won't question it, and we don’t have to dump it. I think it's worth a shot."
