Time to Heal Read online

  “What? How long will it take?” Emmeline demanded, putting a hand to one full hip. “How can we possibly get there and get the Mother’s Milk and come back in time to save Jamie before your magic cure wears off?”

  “Without the aid of magic, it would take a week to cross such a distance, daughter.”

  It was the Old One, striding towards them with the help of his long staff. He might be old but he was still spry, Skahr thought, smiling a little.

  “Magic?” Emmeline looked at him hopefully. “Can your magic dust just—poof—make us appear in the forest?”

  “I am afraid not but it can speed you on your way. Lift your feet high, the both of you, so that I may reach the heels of your boots,” the old Shaman instructed, taking out a small jar of ointment.

  Skahr did as he said, lifting his feet so that his mentor could smear a tiny bit of the ointment on each of his boot heels. He was careful to place his feet back exactly where they had been and hold perfectly still after the operation was finished.

  “Now hold still, daughter and do not move an inch from where you stand,” the Old One said as he did the same for Emmeline. “The speed salve will enable you to cover the distance between here and the forest as quickly as a fire eats its way over the plains when the grasses are high. But you must use it sparingly—this is all I have left and it takes a year and a day to make more.”

  He handed the tiny pot to Skahr who slipped it into his belt pouch.

  “Thank you, Old One, for giving us the last of your valuable speed salve,” he said, nodding his head respectfully.

  “Use it well,” the Old One told him. “I will pray to the Goddess to give you traveling mercies and speed you on your way. Remember, the sooner you are able to mend Emmeline’s soul by healing her child, the sooner she can heal the Peace Crystal in turn.”

  “I will not forget it,” Skahr said. He looked at Emmeline and held out his hand. “Are you ready? We must journey together when we wear the speed salve or we may end up leagues apart in different parts of the wilderness.”

  “All right.” She let him take her hand. It felt small and soft and delicate, enfolded in his own much larger one, Skahr thought. He liked touching her—liked it more than he should. He reminded himself that she had a clouded past and probably would not have allow him to touch her at all if it had not been necessary.

  “Let us go then,” he said. He nodded at the Old One and Talli. “Farewell, we shall return as soon as we are able.” Then he looked at Emmeline. “Ready? Then lift your right foot. On the count of three, put it down and we will journey together. One…two…three.”

  On three Emmeline put her foot down and felt like she was flying. The wind rushed in her hair, blowing it straight back and the scenery whizzed by in a colorful blur.

  She gasped and tightened her grip on Skahr’s big hand. If he let go of her now—

  But he didn’t. He kept her close to him as they stepped and stepped and stepped again as the world rushed dizzily past them. It was the strangest sensation Emmeline had ever felt—even stranger than being pulled from her world into his. Just as she was beginning to feel that she couldn’t take it any more, they took one last step and then Skahr squeezed her hand and shouted,

  “Stop! Do not take another step.”

  Emmeline obeyed, putting her foot down and then standing stock still, afraid to stir so much as a toe lest she suddenly find herself hundreds of leagues away from the big Kindred.

  “Good,” Skahr growled. “Now bend your foot so that only your toe is resting on the earth. I am going to wipe the rest of the speed salve from the heel of your boots.”

  Emmeline did as he said and while he wiped first his own boots and then hers with a long swatch of grass, she looked around herself in wonder.

  The camp of Skahr’s clan had been set in the foothills of a range of mountains with some of the people living in the long, low hide tents and others living in caves, as far as Emmeline could see. The countryside had been hilly and green with many tall trees.

  Now she found herself standing on a vast plain, filled with high golden grass as far as the eye could see.

  Well, not quite as far as the eye can see, whispered a little voice in her head. There is the little matter of the huge, foreboding forest right in front of you.

  It must be the Bervoten she thought, staring at the dark line of trees rising before her. It cut through the golden plains as abruptly as a knife blade bisecting a ripe peach. Even in the daylight the trees looked huge and old and somehow haunted. Emmeline got the idea that they were watching her somehow, which was, of course, perfectly ridiculous. But it still gave her the shivers.

  “Here we are—the Bervoten,” Skahr said, confirming her guess. “I have not been here in many years.”

  “Why are we stopping?” Emmeline asked him. “Why did you wipe the speed salve off our boots? Why not just go right through the forest to the Hidden Hill at once?”

  He frowned. “Do you see how densely the trees have grown together? Would you want to walk face-first into one of their trunks or branches while moving at the speed which the salve makes possible?” He shook his head. “The first low-hanging branch would behead you like the sharpest blade—if you didn’t bash your brains out against a trunk first.”

  “Well, no, of course I wouldn’t like that” Emmeline said, frowning. “But I thought—you don’t think we could just avoid them?”

  “Not moving at such a speed,” Skahr said firmly. “The salve is only safe to use when moving over the open plains, as we have just done. Trying to go into a constricted area like the forest with it on our boots would result in our deaths.”

  “Well, all right.” Emmeline sighed fretfully. “Did we just stop to wipe the salve off then? Are we ready to go on? To go…in?”

  She heard her voice go high and doubtful on the last question. The Bervoten was full of black shadows she didn’t like the look of—not one bit.

  To her mingled relief and irritation, Skahr shook his head.

  “There is not enough time. The sun is sinking and we do not want to be caught in the forest after nightfall,” he told her. “We must make camp here tonight and we will resume our quest in the early morning.”

  Emmeline opened her mouth to protest that he was wrong, that there was plenty of daylight left, but then she realized that wasn’t true. She could have sworn it had been late morning or at most early afternoon when they had taken their first step out of Skahr’s camp. But now the fiery orange orb of the sun was sinking towards the horizon and the shadows of the forest were lengthening across the golden grass. Emmeline didn’t like the way they were growing towards her—like long arms reaching for her she thought—and shivered.

  Though she was desperate to save Jamie, she had to admit to herself that going into the extremely dangerous forest just as night was coming on wasn’t a smart plan. Skahr was right—they would have to camp here tonight and continue in the morning.

  Camp here…alone with him.

  The thought made her almost as uneasy as the forest. Though the big Kindred had been nothing but a perfect gentleman up until now, she still didn’t know if she could trust him. After all, Jack Torrington had presented himself as a gentleman as well and the moment he had gotten her alone, away from the safety of their flower-picking group—

  Don’t think of it! Emmeline told herself uneasily. Not every man is like Torrington. And Skahr has never even given any indication that he has an interest in you, except as the only one who can heal the Peace Crystal.

  Except for the way his eyes followed her as she walked and the way he had told her she was beautiful when he first saw her in her dove-gray afternoon gown. A gown which covered a great deal more than the outfit she was wearing now…Oh dear.

  “…well?” Skahr’s rumbling voice made her jump and Emmeline realized she’d been standing there staring into the shadows of the forest and losing herself in worry.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, pressing a hand to her racing hear