Stowaway in Time

the energy to protest. He removed her backpack from his things and paused, puzzled by the zipper closure.
“Pull on the metal tab.”
He did, making a sound of astonishment as the material parted. He refrained from asking questions, merely digging out her coat. “Here.” He held it so she could slip her arms inside the sleeves. “Stay here and I’ll get wood.”
Diamond nodded. He stepped away, a deep cough wracking his body. She wanted to help, but couldn’t stop shaking. Jesse returned with sticks, logs and kindling. She watched as he stacked the wood, piled dried grasses around the base and struck a spark with his flint. He blew on it, nurturing the small flame as he added in twigs and then larger sticks. At last the logs caught, and he leaned back on his heels, relief in his sigh.
They both drew as close to the fire as they could without setting their clothes alight. Jesse’s hands shook, but not as badly as her own. Gradually the heat soaked into her aching muscles.
“I’ll pitch the tent.”
Diamond couldn’t bring herself to leave the fire to search for more supports, but once he returned with suitable branches, she helped him put it up.
“Now that we have a fire, you can fry up the salt pork.”
Diamond wrinkled her nose, but she’d been expending huge amounts of energy on very little food for the last several days. She needed protein. She sliced off a hunk of the strong-smelling meat, threw it in Jesse’s little frying pan and held it over the fire. It smelled better cooked and tasted better still, but that might just have been hunger talking. Even Jesse ate some, between violent coughing fits, and they both drank their fill of the lake water.
As soon as they finished eating, Jesse added more logs to the fire, and they crawled into the tent. Diamond didn’t even feel awkward as they both stripped out of their wet pants and pulled up the blanket. She ached in every muscle, but was no longer cold or hungry. For the first time in days, she was fairly safe. The Union Army would not suddenly swoop in and take Jesse, her best chance at finding Bob and Anne, from her. In the morning, they would regroup, gain strength, then work on getting her home. She had gotten Jesse out of Union hands. It was his turn to get her to safety.
As she drifted off to sleep, she snuggled closer to Jesse. Share body heat. Survival 101. It meant nothing more than that.

Eight


Chapter 8
Diamond awoke to weight on her chest and a scalding sore throat. Realizing she’d succumbed to whatever virus plagued Jesse, she wanted to pull the blanket over her head and curl into a ball of misery. Instead, she forced herself to sit up and take stock of their situation. She felt horrible and had a new respect for how hard Jesse had pushed himself for the last few days.
“Jesse, I’ve come down with whatever you have.”
He mumbled something incoherent but didn’t wake. His face looked waxen and when she placed her hand on his forehead, he felt warm as an oven. Great. She was sick and he was worse.
The fire had gone out, but the day promised to be mild. She had no appetite but drank from her water bottle and then held it to Jesse’s lips. It took some coaxing, but he took a few sips before falling back into a restless sleep. She didn’t think he knew who she was or where they were.
Shivering, she lay back down. Hopefully, she would feel better in a few hours.
When she awoke the trees cast long shadows, and the sun had already sunk towards the horizon. It would soon be night. If they were to have a fire, she would have to get it going. Though she’d watched Jesse the day before, she wasn’t sure she could duplicate his efforts.
Her pants were nearly dry, so she slipped them on and went to take care of nature’s call. When she returned to camp, she glanced over at Jesse. He’d had very little to drink but probably needed to go, too. She sighed. She had no experience with nursing and no inclination to learn, but she was all he had at the moment.
“Jesse.” She shook his shoulder. “Time to go use the little boy’s room.”
He opened his fever-clouded eyes and blinked at her.
“Come on.” He was too heavy for her to lift and needed him to cooperate. She tugged on his arm. To her relief, he seemed to understand, crawling from the tent and then getting to his feet with her help. She half-carried him a few feet from their campsite, glad they had removed their pants the night before. Instinct took over and soon they were stumbling back to the tent.
Her hope that he could help her with the fire fizzled as Jesse collapsed back onto the blanket, seemingly insensible. She was on her own. The raft lay where they had abandoned it upon reaching shore. She worked her bungee cords loose and tucked them back in her pack before going in search of fuel.
A bee buzzed past her as she gathered wood, grass, and tinder. She created a spark from his tinderbox, but the grass didn’t light. Finally, one of her sparks ignited the grass, but when she added larger sticks, the fire died.
Darkness had fallen by the time she gave up. She ate the bag of M&M’s from her backpack and filled her water bottle from the lake. They had slept without a fire before and would have to again. She gave Jesse some water and tried to get him to eat a bite of Johnnycake. As she recalled how hopeful she had felt the night before, a tear slipped down her cheek. Brushing it aside, she crawled in next to Jesse and allowed exhaustion to pull her under.
Diamond woke the next morning feeling better. Jesse seemed the same.