The Bounty Hunter

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

They travelled slower than usual that day, their way through the forest was still difficult and Safita found herself barely able to walk straight at times; as well as the ringing of her head her right leg was also very weak and it threatened to collapse underneath her many times throughout the day. She disliked having a limp greatly and occasionally she saw Finred adjusting his pack, keeping all of its weight off his left shoulder. Add to her major ills the numerous scratches that they had received from various plants, roots, rocks and thistles and Safita felt particularly pathetic. Still, it would not do to give up, especially when the completion of this job would give her so much that she had wanted for years.

They stopped much earlier than usual that evening and crashed to the ground, Safita relishing the chance to rest her leg, which had been aching all day, the blood seeping into the strip of shirt Finred had tied around it, and Finred the chance to rest his shoulder which was burning with pain, feeling as if his blood had been replaced with fire, every movement causing bursts of agony to shoot through it. Suddenly Safita began to laugh. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I was thinking about something my mother used to say,” she said in answer to Finred’s questioning look. “Whenever I’d been out playing with my- friends,” she amended quickly, “she used to tell me that I looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards.”

“We have,” he joked as they began to laugh and Finred winced, hissing in pain as his shoulder was jolted.

“Let me look at that,” Safita said as she shuffled over to him and examined his arm and shoulder. “Can you move it?”

“No,” Finred answered. “I think it’s dislocated. I used to do it a lot in training and I’ve had a problem with it for years.”

“This will hurt,” Safita said as she placed her hands on his shoulder, causing him to hiss in pain. “I don’t think that any of your bones are broken,” she said as she felt his shoulder gently, “but it won’t be pleasant.”

“Trust me I know-” Finred’s words were cut off by a whimper as Safita moved his arm outwards, forcing the bone back into the socket. “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” she said as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

“We really have been outdone by this trip,” he noted after a while. “Do you normally obtain so many injuries while you’re working or is it the curse of having a companion?”

“I do injure myself occasionally but normally I manage,” she replied as she poked her makeshift bandage.

“Don’t do that or it might get infected. Actually, we ought to change the bandage,” Finred said as he looked at the blood which had stained the strip of torn fabric. Retrieving some more plants he returned and peeled back her trouser leg slowly as Safita shut her eyes, focusing on the rain as it trickled down her face instead of the feel of Finred’s capable fingers on her burning skin.

“There,” he said as he rolled her trousers back down, heat which Safita was sure meant she was getting an infection spreading from wherever his fingers brushed her skin; surely no other cut that she had ever had before had had such an effect on her. “I hope it stops bleeding soon or I’ll run out of material from my shirt to rip up,” he joked.

“Maybe then you could use that hateful piece of cloth you insist on tying around your face,” Safita murmured as she wondered what was behind it. “It’s only fair now that you know my identity,” she said, remembering the brightness of the green eyes which had been revealed to her when he had given her his cloak.

“I could but you probably wouldn’t want to keep travelling with me afterwards,” Finred replied vaguely.

“That bad is it? Well your eyes aren’t exactly the worst I’ve seen though normally I don’t notice them,” she rambled, oblivious to the lazy smile which spread across Finred’s face.