Chapter 35: A Strange Illness

Cinnamon woke up feeling and looking miserable. Her eyes were red, her face was a sickly pale and blotchy, and her skin was clammy to the touch. When she moaned, "Good morning," to the others, her throat felt scratchy and raw. After saying good morning, she had a coughing fit that had her groaning.

Sharmon brushed Cinnamon's damp hair from her forehead with the back of her hand, and then let it rest against her forehead. "You have a fever," She stated, quietly. "Stay in bed; I'll get Muriel."

Feeling cranky, Cinnamon thought, D'uh, ya think? and then, Like I plan on getting up like this, but didn't say either. She just nodded and settled back down. Looking around, she saw that they'd added another tent across the cave opening, and left some room at the top for the smoke to escape. She was surprised to see only Ernon in the cave with her. He gave her a smile as he tended to the fire. "We'll have some broth for you in a few minutes."

Cinnamon smiled, and croaked out, "Thanks," and then asked worriedly, "Where's everyone else; are they ok?"

"They're ok," Ernon reassured her quietly. "Lancos and Vanessa went out to check the condition of the trail, and Harnley and Muriel went to get more firewood."

"Oh, I'm glad you're all ok," Cinnamon said, thankfully.

Sharmon was back with Muriel moments later. They shared a worried look as Muriel knelt next to Cinnamon. As she checked Cinnamon's forehead, she said, "I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well, Cinnamon."

Cinnamon apologized for worrying everyone, but Muriel shook her head. "Don't worry about it. These things happen, and with grace from the Goddess we'll have you feeling better in no time."

Sharmon helped Cinnamon sit up, while Ernon handed Muriel a cup of broth. "Here you go. Drink that up. Slowly now, it's hot," She cautioned, as she handed it to Cinnamon.

Cinnamon took the cup and sipped the contents carefully. It was hot and tasted good. It hurt her to swallow at first, but the broth helped. By the time she finished, and handed the cup back, she was able to say, "Thank you," almost normally.

Muriel returned the cup to Ernon as Sharmon helped Cinnamon back down. Then Muriel turned back to her and gently brushed her hair back. "Feel better?"

Cinnamon nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Muriel smiled. "I'm glad. Now close your eyes and try to sleep; the rest will do you good."

Cinnamon felt a little weird, but did as she was told. As she closed her eyes, she heard Muriel begin to pray. As Muriel prayed, Cinnamon felt herself grow sleepy, and surrendered to it.

When she next awoke, she was feeling much better. She was disappointed that she wasn't feeling a hundred percent better, though. She was surprised to find that it was dinner time. Muriel was handing her some more broth, when Harnley brushed the tent aside, and came in carrying a load of wood. Seeing Cinnamon sitting up, he said cheerfully, "Aye, 'ow's the sicky?"

"Harnley!" Sharmon snapped, while Cinnamon grinned.

"What? I was just asking if the lass were feeling better." He gave Cinnamon a playful wink, and she giggled. Her giggle turned into a cough, however. As she coughed, Sharmon glared at Harnley as she patted Cinnamon gently on the back. "See what you did?"

Harnley dumped his firewood saying, "Sorry, Lass."

Cinnamon waved off his apology while she coughed.

As she coughed, the others shared worried looks. Sharmon was especially worried and fearful. They tried to conceal their concerns from Cinnamon, however, as they didn't want her to worry. They joked and laughed while they ate, to cheer her up and take their minds off their worries. Cinnamon wasn't too hungry, but Sharmon and Muriel had her eat a bowl of soup and drink lots of broth and tea. By the time dinner was over, Cinnamon was feeling worse. Coughing and sneezing, she went to bed. Sharmon and Muriel went with her. Sharmon lay down with her and held her, while Muriel prayed.

When she was convinced Cinnamon was asleep, Sharmon kissed her cheek and tucked her blankets in tightly. Then she looked at Muriel fearfully. "Muriel?"

The others watched silently as Muriel struggled to answer. Finally, and with a great deal of courage, she met Sharmon's eyes and nodded. Her eyes were full of tears as she said, "We need to get her to town as fast as possible."

Sharmon slumped, defeated, and started to weep. Muriel moved over to hold Sharmon. While they cried, the others watched on miserably. Vanessa's and Ernon's hands each instinctively sought the other's. When they found each other, they clasped hands tightly. Then Vanessa turned, buried her head in Ernon's shoulder, and cried. Ernon stroked her back trying to comfort her, while he silently shed his own tears. Lancos put his plate down, leaned back against the cave wall with a weary, tired, sigh, and shook his head. Harnley muttered, "Smeg!" to himself, and went outside.

The rest of the night was spent quietly, each contemplating the past. They'd been through this several years before, and they knew what was at stake.

That night, the others had to convince Sharmon and Muriel to rest. They'd intended to stay up and watch over Cinnamon, but eventually they relented. They would need to be rested if they were to move the next day, and they knew they had to cover the distance to get Cinnamon help as quickly as possible. Still, none slept well that night, as they were all worried about Cinnamon.

During their watches, one would stay with Cinnamon and try to keep her fever down, while the other kept the fire going. Cinnamon tossed and turned throughout the night, moaning with fevered dreams, but didn't wake.

The next morning Cinnamon woke feeling even worse. Her head pounded, her nose was stuffed up so she couldn't breathe, the dim light in the cave hurt her eyes, every joint was stiff and aching, and her throat hurt so much she could barely speak above a whisper. Sniffling, she slowly made her way to the others and hoarsely whispered, "Hi."