Jenny Plague-Bringer

Chapter Seven



Juliana and her mysterious, sexy, handsome rescuer rode on through the night and the rain, Juliana holding him tight. After a long and cold lifetime without touching anyone, she couldn’t get enough of feeling his warm body through his wet shirt.

They followed a small stream westward from the Mississippi, staying in the wilderness. He finally stopped the horse in a meadow full of tall grass and wildflowers and climbed off. Juliana smiled as she let him help her down. The rain had slowed to a misty drizzle, and the horse soon found his way to a copse of trees, which protected him from the raindrops while he nibbled flowers.

The boy stood by the stream in his muddy boots and looked at the dark water glinting in the moonlight.

“Are we safe now?” she whispered.

“Maybe. The horse needs a break.”

“I don’t hear anyone.” Juliana could hear the gurgling of the stream, the pounding of her heart, and a cheeping chorus of night bugs, but no horse hooves. She looked at him, studying his handsome face, though it was shadowy under the moonlight. He had a familiar look to him, though she was sure she’d never seen him before today. “Why did you do that?”

“Horse was tired, like I said.”

“I wasn’t asking why you stopped. I was asking why you started.”

“Why I grabbed you and ran out? What else was I supposed to do?” he asked with half a smile. “Those people were ready to kill you, after hearing about the devil all day.”

“But you weren’t.”

“I think I might understand you better than most people.”

“You’re the one with the healing power, not the preacher,” Juliana said. “Why do you let everyone think it’s him?”

“I’m just the assistant. I don’t need everyone staring at me.” He winked, then held out his hand. “Let’s see it.”

“See what?”

“You know.”

Juliana cautiously let her take his hand, still not used to the idea of anyone touching her without suffering. He held it in his own, watching as she summoned the demon plague, letting dark blisters burst through her fingers and palm. He didn’t seem scared. Instead, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed each one of her fingertips, making the blisters disappear. The feeling of his lips on her fingers was almost too much to bear. She wanted to scream, or run away, or fling herself at him, so she just stood where she was, gaping at him like a fool while her whole body trembled.

“All better,” he said. He released her hand, but she didn’t lower it from his face.

“Will you ever tell me your name?” she whispered.

“Sebastian. And what do I call you?” He looked down along the front of her ripped dress, then quickly looked away.

“Juliana.”

“Where do we go now, Juliana?” He smirked a little. “I don’t think the good reverend will want me back after I helped you. I’m tired of making him look holy, anyway.”

“Why did you do it in the first place?”

“I don’t know, it’s not a bad job. Lots of travel, helping people who need it. You meet lots of interesting people, too, like mysterious pretty girls with a lethal touch.”

“Have you met many of them?” she asked, and he laughed. He looked her over, and his gaze warmed her body.

“Have you had this your entire life?” He touched the palm of her hand.

“Yes.”

“Me, too. But yours must have been a little more...difficult.”

“I’ve survived.”

“You live here in Missouri?”

“No, I’m with a carnival.” She smiled. “I’m the freak show special attraction. The World’s Most Diseased Woman.”

“I’ve heard about your carnival. I’ve been meaning to go, but the boss won’t give me a break...”

“We can go now! If we circle back south.” She looked up at the dark sky. “I have to perform tonight, anyway. Can you take me?”

“I’ve got no job and a stolen horse,” he said. “A man can’t be more free than that. We can go wherever you want.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want? Staying with the carnival?”

“Why not?”

“It just seems like you’d get tired of people staring at you, like you’re some kind of...”

“I’m a freak whether I’m in the show or not. I might as well get paid for it. It’s better than stealing for a living.”

“Sure, but there must be other work out there.”

“Like what? I can’t work with people, can’t even touch animals. In the sideshow tent, I can see people all day and not worry about whether they’re going to brush against me. Being a carnie is the most honest work I can manage.”

He laughed. “Honest work as a carnie.”

“And what were you doing? Helping some guy run a revival-tent scam.”

“It wasn’t a scam,” he said. “People actually got healed.”

“And I really am the world’s most diseased woman. You’re just lucky you were born with something that actually helps people.”

“We’re exact opposites, you know that?” He stepped closer, looking down into her eyes. “That’s what I thought, when I saw the disease taking him over. Another person like me, but opposite.” He took her hands in his. “It’s in our touch. I have to touch people to fix them.”

“I can’t touch anyone,” she whispered.

“You can touch me all you want,” he said. From his twisted grin, she knew he was trying to joke, but his words made her tremble. She released his hands and reached up to his face, then his neck. His skin felt hot beneath his uneven stubble. His hands found their way to her waist.

“Have you never kissed anyone?” he whispered.

“Never.”

Without another word—or bothering to ask permission—he lowered his face to hers and gently kissed her lips. She felt like she’d been set on fire, her body glowing with heat.

The kiss lasted a long time. When he drew back, their eyes were locked on each other. Something had happened. She could feel a deep sense of connection with this boy, like it had been waiting there all her life, just waiting to wake up.

“We’d better keep moving,” she whispered.

“If that’s what you want.” He gazed at her for another long moment before turning toward the horse.

She touched her lips. Her hand was shaking.

As they rode on, she held tight to him, but reminded herself that she’d only just met him. She couldn’t trust him, not yet, no matter what intense feelings he brought up inside of her. He’d helped her, but she began to realize that he was also the only person in the world who could hurt her. Without the demon plague, she was defenseless against him. The thought was scary but thrilling.

The horse walked into the fairgrounds just before dawn, and they stabled him with the Wild West horses. Inside Juliana’s tent, she heaved the blankets from her cot onto the canvas floor, and they lay together. Juliana knew it wasn’t proper, but she was far too tired to find him a different spot. Fortunately, he was far too tired to try anything, if he’d intended to.

She slept with her back against him, his arm around her, and his hand just happened to lay across her breasts as he fell asleep. She smiled to herself.