The Sapphire Broach

Chapter 19 (rough draft)

"Ivy?"

Ivy sat up so fast she nearly fell out of bed. Darkness hid her surroundings. Where was she? Who had called her?

"Your name is Ivy, is it not, child?"

Ivy turned toward the voice and in the dim light from the room below she saw Bonnie standing at the top of the loft in her nightdress. Memories of the day's events sprang before her eyes and she felt Kenric's sticky blood all over her, though she remembered cleaning herself up.

She jumped from the bed. "Kenric! Is he all right?"

"Yes, yes." Bonnie placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling down the narrow stairs head first, which is probably what she would have done in her haste. "He has called for you . . . that is if you are Ivy."

"I am. He is awake?"

"For a moment."

Bonnie released Ivy who went down the steps with only a little more caution than she would have a moment before. In the glow of the firelight she saw Kenric lying in the bed. He appeared to be asleep and still looked frightfully pale.

"Kenric?" She approached the bed and took hold of his hand. Its warmth filled her with hope and a quiet tingling that she couldn't quite describe.

He moaned and rolled his head toward her. "Ivy." He croaked out her name.

"I am here." She rubbed her thumb across the back of his fingers and stroked his brow with her free hand. The sound of his voice after so much worry warmed her to her soul. Perhaps he really would be all right.

He blinked, but couldn't seem to focus his eyes. "Ivy . . . are you . . . all right?"

She couldn't hold back her smile. "Yes. I am fine. Do not fret for me."

His eyes closed again and he didn't move. She wondered if he had even heard her.

"Good," he finally whispered. "I am tired . . . of saving you."

Ivy felt as though he had slapped her, though she couldn't understand the feeling. She hadn't asked him to save her. Ever. But he had so many times. Now he was injured because of that choice. She had thought that maybe, just maybe, he had stayed with her and rescued her again and again because he had wanted to. Maybe even because he cared for her.

He was tired of saving her? Was he tired of being with her all together? He had said as much in irritation before, but she had thought, just maybe—below his hard surface—that he hadn't minded being with her.

Unable to sort through her thoughts and feelings, she released his hand, stood, and stepped outside the home. Darkness swallowed her. She walked to the edge of the porch and leaned against the rough wooden railing.

What had she done? Why had she allowed another person to enter her chaotic life? She should have insisted he leave her to her fate. Nothing good could come of being near her at this precarious time in her existence.

The door opened and Bonnie stepped out. She wore a shawl over her nightdress and carried another in her hand which she draped across Ivy's shoulders. "Kenric is asleep again. Carl is watching over him."

"Thank you. I am sorry to be a bother."

"You are not a bother." Bonnie came to the railing and leaned her elbows on it.

Ivy glanced at her. They were nearly the same height, though Bonnie outweighed her and was probably fifteen or more years older. In the dim light, her face looked full of wisdom and understanding beyond her years.

"Would you like to talk?" Bonnie asked.

Ivy rested her face in her hands and rubbed her forehead. "There is nothing to speak of."

"I do not believe that." Bonnie looked out into the pre-dawn morning. "What about the feelings you have toward a certain man who may seem to not return those feelings?"

Ivy peaked out of her hands to look at the woman who had taken them in. Could Bonnie truly see so much? Could Bonnie express the feelings that Ivy didn't even know she had toward Kenric?

What were her feelings toward him? She had worried so much over him, but was that simply the concern of a stranger for someone they knew nothing of, like when Kenric dove in the lake after her? Or did she feel a little more?

She groaned. "I do not know how I feel for Kenric. We are nearly strangers. We only met . . ." She had to think. It seemed so long ago—an eternity even—yet it had only been seven days. "We met a week ago, and have been running for our lives ever since. I haven't had time to consider my feelings."

"He probably hasn't either." Bonnie placed a hand on her shoulder. "You cannot judge him by what he says now. He is very weak and still at great risk. The danger has not yet passed. He is probably not even aware of what he says."

Ivy nodded.

Both women fell silent and watched the sky lighten.

"There is one more thing we must speak of." Bonnie turned to face Ivy.

"What is that?" Ivy's stomach clenched, though she knew not why.

Bonnie licked her lips before she spoke again. "I washed your dress."

Ivy's heart froze in place and seemed to stop beating. Though Bonnie had only spoken four words, Ivy understood the full meaning behind them. In washing the dress, Bonnie had found the sapphire broach. Bonnie knew who she was.