Page 50 of The Verdant Cage
Sal’s chest is rising and falling. She steps closer to me. “You tried everything to save Amina?”
I don’t know who to look at. I feel so exposed. Jonas had known about my visits? I’m desperate to take the out that Eero provided me, but I won’t. It’s time to own up to my mistakes.
“No, Salvatora,” I say, “I didn’t. I’m so sorry, but I won’t lie to you. I hesitated before going for antibiotics.” I feel bare beneath the truth of it, but I keep going. “But that day changed me. Your grief and the injustice of it all woke something inside of me. There are villagers alive today who wouldn’t be if not for the lesson your gran taught me. That’s Amina’s legacy.”
“She was too far gone, but you tried anyways.” Sal breathes hard, as if the words cost her. “You did, even knowing the price you might have to pay…and I accused you of killing her.”
My heart aches. “You’d just lost your gran.”
She raises her hands, and I flinch, but the next thing I know, I’m in her embrace. “I’m sorry,” she says simply. “I was wrong.”
She’s surprisingly strong, nearly squeezing the breath out of me. “You were right about me telling on you to the Priest,” I say into her thick, wavy hair.
“Yeah, I know.” She laughs, letting go and stepping back. “You were such a brown noser.”
“But one who took care of so many people inside the village,” Eero says. “And she wouldn’t be here right now with us, training, if she was that same suck-up from before. That counts, too. Not just what we did then, but who we are now.”
He reminds me so much of Jonas in that moment. My throat’s too tight for words, so I only nod, accepting the insult along with the praise.
I can do better. Iwilldo better.
Eero’s face drops as if he’s just thought of something. “Dang, though. There is one more thing.”
My breath catches. I don’t believe I can bear any more. “What?”
He glances down, appearing sorrowful. “It’s like this…” he says, clearly reluctant to spit it out.
I’m in a panic. But when the Carpenter lifts his head, there’s a glint in his eye. He’s grinning. “The last one in is a rotten egg!”
And then he whoops, his pretend sad expression wiped clean, and rushes off into the woods. Oscar throws back his head and matches Eero’s cry before running after him. And then—to my surprise—Gryphon follows. I guess training is over for the day.
“Last one in what?” I ask, feeling dense.
“You’ll see!” Meryl grabs my hand and Salvatora’s and pulls us into the trees.
We soon reach the creek. Eero and Oscar are already horsing around in the water when we arrive.
Jonas would love this, I can’t help but think.
“The trick is not to think about it before jumping in,” Meryl says. She’s tugging her tunic over her head, leaving on just her underclothes. “Because the water is ice-cold.”
Eero cannonballs into the clear creek. I gasp when a spray of water hits me. It’s been cool all day, perfect weather for physical training. It’s chilly for swimming, though. I stand on the shore watching Meryl and Eero splash each other, with even Sal getting in on the play. Oscar pops up ten feet down the bank, climbing onto a rock twice as tall as him. A mini waterfall has turned it into a natural slide. He rides it down, disappears underwater, then pops up downstream, shooting a plume of water out of his mouth.
“Feels great on sore muscles,” Gryphon says. He’s standing next to me, his arm almost touching mine. The way he carries himself, he reminds me of the statues in our history books, and a sudden need to put distance between us is what finally pushes me to strip off my overshirt and pants and take the leap.
The water is so cold it steals my breath. I drop down to the creek bed, digging my toes into the sandy bottom. The temperature makes my heart race, but it also leeches the soreness from my muscles, just as Gryphon promised. I stay down as long as I can bear and then push toward the surface. Everyone cheers as I come up. I hear a sound like music and realize it’s me, laughing. That makes me laugh even harder. I twirl in the water, delighted to find that my body is acclimating to the temperature. I’m able to stay in several more minutes, watching the others splash and swim, before heading toward the bank. Gryphon is just ahead of me. When he steps out, I see blood coursing from the back of his calf. He must have scraped his leg on a rock.
“You need to clean that,” I say, watching the crimson blood mix with the water. “Let me.”
I search the shore for sphagnum moss and find a nearby patch. It’s a natural antibiotic that’ll also slow the bleeding. I grab a chunk, pressing it against Gryphon’s leg. I don’t notice I’m shivering until I feel the warmth of his hand on my shoulder.
“I can hold it,” he says. As he reaches down, his fingertips brush against mine. He jerks back.
I feel my heartbeat. Are my cheeks as flushed as Gryphon’s?
Eero appears next to us, dripping water, his teeth chattering. “Aww, it’s just like the old days,” he says, grinning at Gryphon. “Rose taking care of you when you showed up at school all roughed up by your dad.”
I swallow. I always suspected Gryphon’s injuries weren’t just from training—why else would he refuse treatment at the Apothecary cottage? But now that I’ve spent time inside the Tzu house, there’s no denying it. I look at Gryphon, aching to console him, but he’s already checked out. His dark eyes have all but grayed over.
