“It will,” she said. “Just maybe not today.”
At that, he hobbled around and got settled on his bed, suddenly looking weary. He was asleep almost instantly.
*
Leia left Bullard to return to where she had seen the footprints. It bothered her to realize someone had been watching Bullard. If it was anybody from the island who knew her, they would have come and said something. They hadn’t made the visit seem more sinister, and she didn’t like that at all. There was no need for it, but, despite a thorough study of the site, she couldn’t find anything to identify who it may have been. She then made the quick trip across the island, hoping that Bullard would sleep long enough.
The old medicine woman looked up at Leia with a smile when she arrived. “Good,” she said. “Terk left another message.”
“And what is it this time?” Leia asked, looking sideways at the seer, not wanting to hear the message.
“He said, He’s coming.”
At that, her breath was gone, and it was a moment before she could breathe again. Slowly she nodded and took a deep breath.
“Good, you understand,” the medicine woman said. “How is he?”
“He’s getting much better.”
“But not good enough yet, is he?”
“No,” she said. “He’s also not sure what’s going on.”
“We’ll have to find out,” the old woman said.
“It’ll be the outsiders.”
“Yes, it will. Like it or not, change is coming. Danger is coming,” the old woman said.
“I’m not ready for change,” Leia said.
“I know, and that’s too bad because it’s happening anyway.”
Leia nodded slowly, knowing that the old woman knew things that Leia did not. Finally, when no other messages came to the old woman, Leia turned and headed back, moving quickly toward the hut where Bullard slept. If nothing else, she needed to get him as strong as possible before things changed. She knew that whatever was coming would bring an element of danger, and neither of them were prepared for it.
No way they were even slightly prepared for the kind of danger she suspected that Bullard might be used to. And despite his rapidly improving physical condition, they still needed several more weeks. She could only hope they got them.
When she got home, she made a note on her calendar of the old woman’s words regarding Bullard’s progress and kept a careful watch for another full week. There were no incidents, no further sightings of strangers in the brush. She felt like they were waiting, and something intense was going on in the background. It was almost as if Bullard realized that things had shifted because every day now he was doing exercises to build back some muscle. He was walking more, doing push-ups, also some kind of martial arts that she didn’t recognize.
Never asking him about it, she sat quietly, watching him go through the disciplined motions. What began as stilted awkward movements had transformed over ten days and now resembled something more like velvet in motion. She smiled when he finally stopped, the sweat on his skin now thick and glistening in the sun. “Ready for a swim?”
Straightening, he looked at her, still breathing hard as he nodded. “Absolutely.” He looked at the crutches and looked at her. The worn-out splint had fallen away, and he was now on his own. “Do you think we’re good without that?”
“Why don’t we go find out?” she said. She hopped up and grabbed several towels.
He looked at her, puzzled, and said, “Don’t you need to get on a bathing suit?”
“I have one on,” she said, with a laugh, then led the way to the pool. At the water, she carefully dropped her dress of the day. She had ten of them in a variety of bright fabrics that she rotated. She washed them in the water when she bathed, and let them dry in the air. Today’s selection was a deep fuchsia with purple accents and bright yellow flowers. She had only walked down a few steps when she felt an odd gaze. Turning, she looked at Bullard. “What?”
He shook his head. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you swimming. At least close up.”
“Does that mean you’ve been watching me from a distance?” she teased.
He grinned and said, “You are dynamite, so anybody would take notice.”
“Well, if it helps you heal, go ahead and look,” she said, with a laugh, then stepped into the water and let her body sink under the waves. The water was moving beautifully today. The waves were backing out from the collision that occurred where the river poured into the ocean. It was truly a wondrous experience, and she floated, letting her body relax and let go of the stress she had felt ever since hearing the latest words from the medicine woman.
Knowing that this peace would come to an end, she’d felt herself tense, uneasy, waiting for an attack. Yet she had no justification for it and no reason to suspect such an attack, except that it was out there and that it wasn’t going away.
When she heard a heavy splash, and her body roiled from the waves Bullard created, she smiled to see him pop up in the water beside her.
“It’s hard to float out here,” he said. “It’s a lot rougher where the river pours into the ocean.”
“That is true,” she said, “but it also helps you train. Look over here.” She pointed. “If you stick close to these rocks, there is almost no current.”
Nodding, he grabbed onto a rock and said, “There was a hard rain as well, and I gather it has quite an effect here.”
“It also depends on the tide,” she said, “and today the ocean is just rough.” They stayed out here, floating and swimming until they were tired, then got out to sit on the rocky ledge.
“How long will you hide here?” he asked, then he winced. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t exactly the best way to say it.”
“I came here to hide,” she said, “but I don’t know that I’m still hiding.”
“But you’re not back to normal life.”
“No,” she said, “I’m not. But I’m not sure how much of that is because I’m still hiding or if I’ve just not gotten around to changing it.”
“It’s really gorgeous here,” he said, “and I can see being here for a holiday, but I’m not sure how I would feel living here full-time.”
She wondered at that. “I guess that’s true. But I came here for a very different reason, and my recovery, although slow, is definitely completed.”
“And you still won’t tell me why?” he asked.
“I don’t think it’s important,” she said.
“Maybe not,” he said. “Unless whoever is hiding in the bushes all the time is here because of you.”
She turned to look at him, suddenly pale. “Have you seen him again?”
“Every couple days,” he said. “One of these days I’ll be strong enough to drag him out and find out what the hell he’s up to.”
She frowned at that. “I did talk to several people on the island, and nobody knows who would do that.”
“Well, the other thing to consider is the fact that you’re a stunningly beautiful woman, and you live here alone.”
“Yes,” she said, “there is that, and thank you for the compliment, but I don’t really see that it’s made any difference. I’ve been here for years alone, and the islanders know me well.”