The Forbidden Daughter 'Completed'

~Twelve~

Jewel's Point of View

I stared at the girl from across my cave. I was still scolding myself for even bringing her into my home, and I could tell that Bolta felt the same from the way he was looking at me.

"I know Bolta, I know. But she was hurt." I fell silent as I watched her. The bullet had gone through her, and the hole was a bloody mess. I had to clean the hole out, but I was terrified to leave her alone.

"Think Jewel, think." I muttered, holding my head. I looked at Bolta. "I need you to watch her. Don't let anything happen, ok?"

He barked, turning to look at her. I took that as a yes and stood, grabbing a skin pouch. I figured I could wash the wound with water, and wing it from there.

I left the cave and started to walk down one of the numerous paths Bolta and I had made from years of traveling. There was a stream not far from the cave, and the water was nice and clear, good drinking water.

I had just crouched down to fill the bag when I heard a scream. I quickly filled the bag and started to run back up the path, trying to spill as little water as possible.

When I got to the cave, I slowed, my arms and legs burning from scratches that had come from the branches on either side of the trail.

I took a deep breath, getting ready to scare off what ever had wandered into the cave. I truly was not expecting to see the girl had collapsed, looking like she'd fainted.

I walked over to her before turning to Bolta. "What did you do to scare her that badly?" I asked, rubbing his ears gently.

He barked and I turned my attention back to the girl. All I would do was get her healed, and have her leave as soon as possible.

I looked at the small puddle of blood that had leaked out from her wound. I was amazed she was still alive and that she hadn't bleed out. There had been so much blood when I found her.

There must have been a reason for her to live. I wished I could talk to my mother and ask her.

"Bolta, watch the entrance, would ya?" I asked, trying to figure out how to get her to sit up so the water could go all the way through and get the dirt out. I started with lifting her head off of the stone and half pushing, half dragging her so she leaned against the wall.

I poured a little water into the hole, to make sure it drained right. When I saw that it did, I poured some more in there, having the dirt flow along with the water. I continued to do so until I'd emptied the bag, and went to get some more water.

I finally finished after three and a half bags of water. The wound looked much cleaner than when I started, so I stopped.

I looked around and my eyes landed on a small bundle of hide. I went over to it and started to tear it into strips as wide as my hand. I tied the ends together to make a kind of long strip.

I went back over to her and started to wrap it around her middle, doing my best to cover the hole from the bullet. I did my best to be gentle, but I wasn't sure if she could feel anything when she was like this.

"I'll be back in a bit. I need to have another look around." I whispered to Bolta on my way out of the cave, following a different path.