wrath of the Sea Queen (100 page)

"Max, I need you
to
keep a
nother
secret for me.  Can you do that?"

"What secret?"

"Max, I did not let that lady borrow me.  She did
not ask for
my permission.  I don
't want anyone to know that
she
borrowed me
against my will
. 
I know it's a
very
big secret, but you will keep it
,
won't you
?  Promise me that you won't tell anyone
.
"

"Ok
, pretty C
a
eli
.  I can keep a secret.  I don't tell anyone about my Uncle Michael ei
ther, but I'm glad you got to meet him
."

"Me, too. 
Your uncle is interesting."

"He teaches me stuff. 
Uncle Michael
says I'm very smart."

"
That you are,
Max
.  Listen
,
y
our Uncle
Michael was right. 
I
do
need help, grown up help. 
Can you go
t
ell Salma that I am sick and ask her to meet me in my room
? 
Will
you do that for me, Max?
"
 
C
a
eli
wasn't certain if she would be able to stand, much less walk back to her room
, but she
knew she needed
to reach the hotel and Salma's
help
. 

"
Yep
,
I
wi
ll get help for you
, pretty C
a
eli
.
"

Max looked down and saw that C
a
eli was crying.  He
had
promised Mr. Vin that he would keep an eye on her.  Max
had
tried to do that by bringing her to the cave
, but she was still hurt and sad
. 
Uncle Michael
reminded him that he
should help, so
Max took off running as fast as his little legs would carry him.  When he reached the outer door to the lounge,
Max
was completely out of breath.  The screen door slammed
shut
behind him,
waking
Ben w
ith the loud noise
. 

Once Max left
the cave
, C
a
eli was sick again
and
in a g
reat
deal of pain.  It was all she could do to inch her way up the wall to
shakily
stand up.  She
needed to
get back to her room.  C
a
eli forced one foot in front of the other, slowly making her way along the same path Max
had followed to bring them t
o the cave
. 
She began to wonder h
ow anyone
would be able to
help her when she didn't even know what was happening
herself
.
 
What if this was not a medical problem at all, but rather something Rika was doing to her? 
C
a
eli
began to consider such possibilities and rapidly amounted a vast
array
of
questions
,
too many
to count
;
and the answers were too few
. 
There were
other problems
that
needed resol
ving, as well
,
and not all of them were physical. 

C
a
eli fell multiple times as she made her way along the backside of the ridge. 
Once, she
tried to catch herself, but l
anded on her right arm
.  It hurt bad
ly
enough that she
thought
she had
sprained
it
,
yet she
forced herself to continue.  She needed to
return
to
the relative safety of
four walls and a solid floor
beneath her feet
; away from ocean tides
and
seawater
.

She
had
finally reached the halfway point when Ben came
trotting
up be
side
her.

"
C
a
eli,
l
et me help you. 
L
ean on me,
Lass
,
"
Ben reached out to support her as she walked.
 
C
a
eli
winced when he jostled her right arm
as he wrapped it around his shoulders
.

"
How
did you
…?
"
  C
a
eli began.
  She was interrupted by an overwhelming weakness that made her legs feel like wet noodles.  If Ben hadn't kept hold of her, she would have
fallen
again
.

"
Max
was looking for Salm
a
.  He
said you needed help and told me where you were.  I fo
llowed
your footprints leading this way.
  Seems I am just in time
, too
.  You
a
re
quite
determined.  I
wi
ll give you that
.  However
,
I don't think
you would have completed this trek on your own
,
young lady
.
  You should
have called for me.
"

"I'm sorry, Ben. 
I
t
didn't occur to me
to ask for you
because you are hurt."

"I'm no cripple and not so badly hurt that I can't still be useful
, particularly after your aid
."

C
a
eli
merely
nodded
in appreciation
.  Though she
stumbled several times
, s
he was glad to have Ben's help.  If she could
just
get to he
r
room and lie
down, C
a
eli
knew
she would feel better. 
Obviously, the walk was too much exertion
s
o soon
after
the trauma of the plane crash and the severe illness she had been fighting
.  Her body
simply
wasn't ready for th
at much
exercise yet. 
Ben
supported her
for
the
remainder o
f the
distance
. 

She
stopped at the bathroom door to thank Ben and let him know that she would be fine on her own
from there
.  Ben refused to leave.  He m
oved across the room and
planted himself
in a chair
.
 
C
a
eli closed the bathroom door and
heaved up her non-existent stomach contents on
ce more.  She could not force much water
through
the tightness
in her throat.  Great!  She wondered what would happen if she couldn't give her body the water it craved.

"
You will have
more
problems.  That's what will happen.
"

"
You again? 
Why won't you leave me in peace
, Rika
?
  What more do you
want?
"
  C
a
eli inquired in a weak and irritated voice
.

"
I
still
want to be your friend.
 
It would benefit you greatly to
accept my
friend
ship
rather than
oppose
m
e. 
I can
relieve
you
r p
ain
if you would only place yourself in my care
.
"