To Stand Beside Her (19 page)

Leila shivered.
It was a cool night
,
and she could see her breath
as she blew out.
Nalick sat down next to her and pulled his arm out of the right side of his coat.
Gently he draped his coat so that it covered both himself and Leila.
He strategically placed his arm around her to share his warmth.
She smiled at him as a thank you.
“So
, have
you been to the mountains before?”
s
he asked.

“I still don’t understand how you could miss this cold weather.”
Leila grinned.
He wrapped his arm that was under his jacket around her waist to pull her closer.

“I think the cold breeze is just what you need to remind you
that
you are still alive.
Besides, it is not just the cold I like, but what you will see tomorrow.”
Leila explained.

Nalick raised his eyes brows in
questioning, “Snow?” he guessed
.

“Have you ever seen snow before?” she asked.

“Well, if I squint a bit, I would guess over on that mountain top is snow
- so I that would be a yes,” Nalick replied while Leila shook her head no
and friendly patted his stomach
.
“Oh
,
you mean up close.
No
,
I have not.
I grew up in Lexia and only traveled a little over the years.”

Nalick and Leila sat in silence.
Leila’s hand rested on Nalick
’s
leg as she huddled close to him to keep warm.
In the cool
North Country
air, it seemed they both found something they didn’t want to move away from.

Chapter
1
1

As Leila had predicted
,
it was not yet
light out,
and Kay was already making breakfast in hopes to wake everyone up.
Kay checked again in her pocket.
Inside was the ring Nalick had given her the day before.
Kay
was very excited to give it to Roger.
She
held it close to her face and moved it around.

Silently
,
Leila joined Kay by the fire.
How such a little thing could cause so many problems
?
Leila thought.
Sitting down
Kay mouthed the words
‘
we are going home
’
and then grinned ear to ear.
Kay continued to make breakfast as Leila opened the bag Roger had given her the previous night.
Inside the bag were several smaller pouches.
Each had a different herb or medicine inside.
Roger had given her double the supply of everything.

What does he think is going to happen to me
?
she
wondered
.

The men
woke
to find it was just as cold outside as it had been the night before.

“You know
,
I don’t think you should be outside if you can see your breath when you breath
e
,” Theo commented.
Macarius nodded his head in agreement.

“How long before it is done?” Leila asked Kay.

“Fifteen minutes or so,” Kay replied
,
adding more spices.

“Then
,
I will be back then.” Leila stood and turned to Nalick.
“Would you like to finally meet Roger?”
Leila
asked him.

A short trip through the woods led them back to the inn.
Leila proceeded to the stables attached to the main house.
Instead of going in the front door on the main level, Leila climbed the stairs that were between the stables and the house.
Without knocking, she let herself in the home.
Nalick followed and was surprised to find the room they entered was not a normal room but seemed to be more of a medical room.
In the center of the room were two long tables with clean white sheets on them.
Along the inside wall of the room was a changing screen and two chairs.
A
number of various plants blocked the south wall window
.
As they crossed the room, Nalick could see
that
the drawer of one of the tables was partially opened.
Slightly he could see
a glint from
metal tools inside the drawer.

Leila continued through the room and into the next room.
It
was
a kitchen of sorts
.
The cupboards were not stocked with food
but rather with herbs and plants.
Leila continued to the next door
,
which led to another staircase.
Quickly
,
she bounced up the stairs two at a time.
Nearing
the top step,
Leila
slowed down.
Gently she tapped on the door twice.

“It’s open,” a muffled voiced yelled from inside.

Leila opened the door and walked into the greenhouse.
Nalick had not noticed
that
on the top of the main house of the inn was a large greenhouse.
The greenhouse was in the ideal location.
At the top of the third floor it allowed the best access to the sunlight in the forest.
Several tables were lined up in rows and various plants were on each table.
The warm humid air of the greenhouse was a stark contrast to the cool breeze outside.
Leila quickly removed her coat and hung it on the railing of the staircase.
Nalick did the same.
Leila
then
walked through the rows stopping every now and then to check a plant.

“Your
pulegium regium
doesn’t look as good as normal,”
Leila
commented, “
a
nd your elderberry doesn’t look like it will flower on time this year yet again.”

Roger appeared from beneath one of the tables.

“Right as always.
What am I to do without you around to point out the plants that are
n’t doing as well as the others
?
She never compliments me on the plants that are doing well,” Roger said to Nalick.
“Roger,” he said
,
introducing himself before wiping his hands on his apron and extending his hand to shake Nalick’s.

“Now that you have met, back to business,” Leila said interrupting the two men.
“Kay is making breakfast
,
and you know
how
she is about food.
So
,
we only have ten more minutes before we must be back.”

Roger shook his head as he removed the apron around his waist.
Roger led the way as he talked to Leila.
“Which route are you planning to take home?” he asked as they went down the stairs.

“I would prefer the upper trail,” Leila responded following Roger through the kitchen into the first room.
“But you know that Kay will w
ant to take the evergreen trail
.”

“Yes, but I got word that it snowed just a few days ago.
You could get blocked up on the evergreen trail if too much has fallen.
I agree with the upper trail.”
Roger began washing his hands.
Leila removed her sweater and sat down on one of the tables in the room.
Nalick s
tood in the doorway and watched.

“What about the valley trail?” Roger asked put
ting
on his glasses.
“It should get you home at least a bit quicker than the upper trail.”

“The upper trail would get me home the fastest, but by bringing Kay, it will go pretty slow.
I’ll try to suggest the valley trail
.
”
Leila replied as Roger handed her a pillow.
Leila laid face down on the table and Roger lifted the back of her shirt.

“How’s
your
hand?” he asked.

“Still feels fine.
The strength is completely back,” Leila replied as Roger adjusted the light above Leila.

“The upper portion here looks like it is completely healed, but it looked fine before you left
. No sign of infection
,” Roger commented.
Roger
’
s finger
s
trace
d
the trail across her back that had been slashed open on her previous assignment before her trip to Lexia.
Leila turned a little onto her right side as Roger continued to trace the line.
Nalick watched as Roger carefully inspected the line across Leila
's
back.

“So did the stitches come out ok
ay
?” Roger asked as he neared the end of the line on her hip.
Leila pushed the waistband of her pants down a little exposing the harsh red line that was the end of the cut.
Nalick silently moved closer to see the end of the cut.
T
he last three inches had taken longer to heal than the rest of it.

“
The stitches? They came out fine.
I took them out
during
our first night in Lexia,” Leila replied.
Roger stared at Leila over the rims of his glasses.
Nalick was shocked.

“I told you to have Kay remove them,” Roger scolded Leila.

“You know how she gets.
Trust me, I did a much better job myself than she would have done,” Leila complained.
“But it looks fine
,
right?” she asked
,
with
slight
concern in her voice.

“Yes, it is fine.
But if you would have stayed here like I asked you to, I could have removed the stitches and then there would have been no scaring.
Now I am afraid you will have a slight scar here by your hip.”
Roger had tried in v
ai
n to keep Leila away from Lexia.
Roger gently pulled her shirt back down and Leila sat up with her feet dangling over the side of the table.

“How has your strength been?” he asked.

Leila shrugged.
“Normal.”
Roger put his hands on both her shoulders.

“Turn,” he instructed.
Leila turned her upper body to the left.
“Now, the other way
.
You still seem a bit weak on that side
,
but it is much closer to normal now than it was before you left.”
Leila hopped off the table and grabbed her sweater.
“And it hasn’t affected you
r
left leg?” he asked
,
and Leila shook her head
no
.

“We should
start to make our way
back,” Leila said to Nalick
.

Roger
gently patted her head.
“I don’t need Kay mad at me.”
Leila smiled and hurried back into the other room to put her coat on.
Nalick turned to leave but
Roger quickly caught his arm
.

“I may look like an old man, but if I hear anything has happened to her because of you, I will be to Lexia in the blink of an eye,” Roger whispered so that Leila could not hear.

“I will protect her with my life,” Nalick replied sincerely.

In the last few years,
Roger had grown use
d
to Leila showing up at a moment
'
s notice.
She always came back with more tales of her adventures that made him laugh and envy her youth and energy.
T
he shy determined girl she was when she first arrived was gone and replaced by a confident
,
stubborn woman.
Roger loved her as if she was his own child.
He
had
also
assumed that over time Leila’s heart would mend from the loss of Erich, but he was wrong.
It pained his heart to see her fade away from the chance of every finding love again.
Roger sniffled a bit and shuffled back up to his greenhouse.
He
was no longer sad for Leila as he could see in her eyes
that
she was finally happy again.