“Dammit,” I muttered, gently prying open the girl’s mouth, pinching her nose shut. “I have no idea what I’m doing here,” I warned her, before lowering my mouth to hers. I had to remember to take a deep breath, drawing air into myself, before releasing it slowly past the girl’s lips.
I did this five or six times, breathing for the girl, feeling her stomach expand and contract with each breath. Bethany remained limp, unresponsive. I wondered if I shouldn’t shove on her chest, as I’d seen the man do with the boy, but decided against it. I still didn’t know my own strength, and the last thing I wanted to do was snap a rib by mistake. It made my stomach crawl just thinking about it.
By the seventh breath, I was about to admit defeat, when Bethany suddenly choked, gagged and started coughing, expelling river water from her mouth and nose. Relieved, I drew back as she struggled upright, bent over and vomited water and mud into the grass.
Shivering, she looked up at me, her small body tense. “Relax,” I told her, recalling all the wide-eyed, fearful looks she’d given me whenever I walked by. Ruth’s doing, probably. “You fell into the river, but you’re safe now. When you’re up for it, we can go find the others—”
Bethany lunged forward, throwing her arms around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder. I froze for a second, startled and uncomfortable, not knowing what to do.
She sniffled, mumbling something incoherent, and pressed closer against me, snuggling in. And her little neck was suddenly right there, inches from my cheek. We were all alone out here; no Zeke, no Ruth, no Jebbadiah Crosse to find us. It would be so easy, to turn my head…to…
Stop that. I closed my mouth, feeling fangs slip back into my gums, and gently freed myself from the girl’s arms. “Let’s get back to the group,” I said, standing up. “They’re probably looking for us.”
I hoped. Or had Jebbadiah already given us up for dead and moved on?
Gazing at the foaming river, I winced. I hope Darren made it out okay, I thought, trudging along the bank with Bethany close behind. There’s nothing I can do for him now.
It was a long, muddy walk back up the river. The current had carried us quite a ways, farther than I’d first thought. Bethany whimpered and sniffled a bit, especially when having to walk through deep mud, but I refused to piggyback her through the wet spots, so she eventually sucked it up and trailed doggedly after me.
The rain had finally let up, and dawn was fast approaching when I at last spotted a figure, walking down the bank toward us. It walked with a sense of purpose, scanning the bank and the edge of the water, and spotted me almost at the same time I saw it. As we drew closer to each other, I blinked in surprise. It wasn’t Zeke, as I was expecting, or Ruth or even Darren.
It was Jeb.
Bethany suddenly broke away from me, half running, half stumbling toward Jebbadiah who, shockingly, bent down and lifted her in his arms. I watched in amazement as he spoke to her quietly, smoothing back her hair, and wondered if this was perhaps Jeb’s long-lost twin brother. The one who wasn’t a heartless bastard.
Bethany suddenly pointed back at me, and I stiffened as Jeb’s steely gaze turned in my direction. Putting the girl down, he approached, his impassive face giving no hints to what he was thinking.
“I commend you for your bravery, Allison,” he said when he was a few feet away, and I blinked, shocked for the second time that night. “I don’t know how or why you did it, but you saved one of our own, and I will not forget that. Thank you.” He paused and said, very seriously, “Perhaps I was wrong about you.”
“What about Darren?” I asked, not sure if I should trust this unexpected change toward me. “Are there people looking for him? Is he all right?”
“Darren is fine,” Jeb replied, no change in his expression. “He managed to grab the trunk when he surfaced, and we were able to pull him to shore when it became lodged between two rocks downstream. We had almost given up hope with you and Bethany.” He paused and looked down at the girl, a soft, almost grandfatherly look crossing his face. “You are both very lucky, indeed.”
Abruptly, he straightened, brisk and businesslike again. “Come,” he ordered. “Dawn is approaching, and we must get back to camp. This delay was unfortunate, and I wish to have an early start tomorrow night. Let us go, quickly.”
We followed Jeb back to camp, where Bethany was greeted with hugs and tears of relief, and a few smiles and nods were thrown my way. Teresa even took my hand in both of hers and squeezed with her withered fingers, murmuring how I was a godsend and they were so thankful that I had joined the family. Embarrassed, I excused myself and retreated to the edge of the camp, setting up my tent per normal. When I’d finished, I straightened and turned around, and nearly ran into Zeke.