Free Encala by T.M. Nielsen Page A

Mommy?” Allen asked,
walking over to Emily. Kyle pulled him into his lap to keep him
from touching her.
    “ Mommy’s sleeping,” he
whispered into Allen’s ear.
    “ Wake up Mommy!” Allen
yelled, before Kyle could cover his mouth. Kyle frowned when she
didn’t respond.
    “ Is Mommy sick?” Allen
asked Kyle.
    Kyle nodded and sat him back on the
ground
    “ Do you think it would help
if we took her into the pond?” Mark asked.
    Kyle thought for a moment, and then
shrugged, “I guess we can try it. So far, nothing’s working to get
the fever down.”
    Kyle picked Emily up gently, but she still
moaned in pain. He carried her limp body to the pond and then
stepped in, fully dressed. He walked in until she was submerged and
only her face was out of the water. He could feel the heat from her
body even under the cool water. As her body began to cool, she
blinked a few times and opened her eyes.
    “ Hi,” he said, smiling down
at her.
    She looked around confused, “Where are
we?”
    “ In the pond. I’m trying to
get your fever down.”
    “ I hurt
everywhere.”
    “ I know, does the water
help?”
    She nodded and then shut her eyes again. He
brushed his lips lightly against hers and held her close to his
body. It wasn’t until darkness set in that he took her back to the
cave and laid her down on the palm leaf bed. Allen was already
asleep on a makeshift bed in the opposite corner. The guards
listened to the rain fall all night and watched over their
charges.
    For the next few days, Emily was in and out
of consciousness as the guards played with and fed Allen. Kyle
stayed by her side and helped her drink water and try to eat when
she was awake. Even awake though, she was dazed and couldn’t
remember where they were. Kyle stopped telling her about the
island, it upset her, so he lied and told her they were at the
palace.
    The morning of the thirteenth day on the
island, Emily sat up and looked around. Her fever had broken in the
night, and the blisters had either dried up or burst. The skin on
her legs, face, neck, and arms was peeling.
    “ How are you feeling?” Kyle
asked, handing her a coconut husk full of water.
    “ Ok,” she said, her voice
cracking. “What day is it?”
    “ Friday”
    “ So we’ve been here for six
days?”
    Kyle pushed the hair off of her shoulder,
“Thirteen days.”
    “ No sign of anyone else?”
She sat up and reached out for a banana.
    “ Nothing, we have a guard
on lookout with a bonfire, but so far he hasn’t seen anything,”
Kyle explained.
    Emily ate in silence and watched Allen
playing with Kralen. When she was done, she laid back down, feeling
tired again.
    “ How are you all holding
up?” she asked.
    “ We’re fine.” He
smiled.
    “ Not thirsty?”
    He shrugged, “It’s manageable.”
    “ Hmm, I’m so
tired.”
    “ Then sleep,” he suggested,
smiling down at her.
    ***
    “ I don’t think it’s a good
idea,” Mark said, frustrated.
    “ I just need some time
alone,” Emily explained, heading out of the cave.
    “ You have thirty minutes,
and I’ll come looking for you.”
    “ I’m not a child, and
there’s nothing on this island to hurt me. Stay here and watch
Allen,” she said, and disappeared into the jungle.
    Emily walked through the dense trees and
looked around. She needed time to think, and the tension in the
cave was stifling. She knew the heku were getting thirsty. It’d
been three and a half weeks since the shipwreck, and as she was the
only adult mortal on the island, she could feel them watching her
closely. She knew they wouldn’t attack unless it came down to too
much pain, but she wasn’t sure when that would be. She also wasn’t
sure she could sustain fourteen thirsty heku and she worried about
dying and leaving Allen alone with them.
    Emily walked for about an hour and then sat
against a tree on the spongy moss. She pulled her knees close to
her and wrapped her arms around them, “Where are you, Chev?”
    She sighed when she