Loving Lily- Sequel to Loving River

Painful feet and the dance

Lacey nearly groaned aloud as she followed Rhett through the the dark woods. Her shoes were rubbing her feet so badly. She never had problems with her shoes at home. They were elegant enough so as to not detract from the feminine  dresses she often wore. At home she would often were a leather slipper to protect her feet in the house. Her father never complained about the habit. Hidden beneath her dress, he rarely saw her feet. Now however, Lacey longed for the soft comfortable leather slippers. Every step became more painful then the last. She was way past limping. Her feet and ankles hurt so badly, she wasn't sure she even had skin left.

Rhett glanced over his shoulder. Lacey's habit the past two days was to walk beside him, sometimes even holding his hand as they moved toward the small town her sister lived in. Though he had set a brisk pace, she hadn't complained and managed to stay with him quite well. Now however, she seemed to have fallen behind. Several times, in the past night he had asked if she wanted him to slow the pace. Eager to reach her older sister, Lacey had declined and urged Rhett not to worry about her but to keep going.
Now, with dawn nearly upon them, Rhett noticed that Lacey was more then a little behind. She was nearly a quarter mile behind him.  Changing direction, Rhett ran to Lacey. "Now don't argue with me. You are tired." He said as he put an arm around her shoulder in support.

Thankful for the aid, Lacey leaned against him. "I'm not tired." She stubbornly insisted.

"Then what's the matter, Lacey? You kept up beautifully with me before." Rhett said, turning her, he pulled her closer to embrace her.

Lacey leaned her cheek against his massive chest and breathed deeply of the scents she associated with this brave man. "It wouldn't be proper for me to tell you." She mumbled.
"What?" Rhett leaned down trying to catch the words she had mumbled into his chest.
"It isn't proper for me to mention what's slowing me down." Lacey repeated as she glanced up into his eyes.
"Nonsense." Rhett corrected. "We gave up formalities the first day of our meeting. Lacey, if something is wrong, I need to know about it so I can assist you."

"I don't think there is much you can do about it."

"Are you ill?" Rhett's brows puckered in worry.

"No. My...my feet hurt."
"Sit down and take off your shoes." Rhett instructed leading her over to a grassy patch.

"Rhett!" Lacey gasped pulled her hand from his. " I can't take off my shoes in front of you!"

"Slap me if you must, Lacey, but do as I say. We need to see just how bad your feet are. When did they start hurting?" He asked. As she sat, he knelt and began to undo the laces.

"I can do it." Lacey said brushing his hand away. "You should turn your back."

Containing his sigh, Rhett stood and turned his back so she could take off her shoes.  "When did you first notice the pain?"
"Two days ago. I can't understand. They didn't hurt my feet in the - Rhett!"

Rhett spun around expecting to see an attacker of some sort. Instead, he found Lacey still sitting and staring at her stockinged feet. Holes were rubbed clear through the stockings in many places and dried blood caused them to stick to her injured feet.

"Lacey," Rhett groaned as he sat down and lifted her foot to his lap. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday about your feet?"

"I tried to take my stockings off but they're stuck to my foot and it hurts to pull at it."

"I'll search for a river or stream and we can soak - on second thought," Rhett stood and then lifted Lacey into his arms. "I'll carry you to a town. You'll see a doctor."