Astrid grinned at Teofil, then hurried over to throw her arms around his neck and hug him. She planted a kiss on Teofil’s cheek, then Thaddeus’s, and finally on Fetter’s. “You’re all amazing. How’s that?”
“I don’t believe I received a kiss,” Dulindir said.
Astrid was about to walk back to him when Teofil reached out to grab her hand. “And maybe we’ll wait on that for a few more days, hmm? Or years.”
Astrid rolled her eyes and shot Teofil a glare, but Thaddeus didn’t think there was much weight behind it. “I’m your older sister, you know.”
“Is there very much water down there?” Fetter asked, ignoring Teofil and Astrid and stepping around Thaddeus to approach Dulindir.
Dulindir took a step back from him and tightened his grip on the waterskin. “There is still water down there. But it is lower than I had expected.” He looked at Thaddeus and Teofil. “We won’t have much room for mistakes.”
Fetter looked at Teofil, anger flashing in his eyes. “I told you we needed to hurry. This may be our only chance to get this water.”
“And get it back to Thaddeus’s father,” Teofil added. “Right?”
Fetter straightened his back and glared at Teofil. “You’ve been making snide comments for a while now, Teofil. I’d like to know why.”
“Because you’ve been acting more than a little obsessed about this well. Would you care to explain why?”
Fetter’s glare faded and a smile spread across his features. There was no humor in it at all. It was a cold, sinister smile, and Thaddeus shivered at the sight.
“I’ll do better than explain it,” Fetter said. “I’ll show you.”
He reached for the waterskin. But Dulindir seemed to have been expecting the move and threw it with unerring precision right to Thaddeus. Reflexively Thaddeus caught it, hearing the water slosh inside. He clutched the waterskin to his chest so tightly, some of the water seeped out of the imperfect seal and dribbled over his injured palm. The water bubbled and sparked when it touched the open wounds, and a buzz traveled up and down Thaddeus’s arm. He cried out and dropped to his knees, injured leg burning with pain as he held the waterskin against his chest with one hand and reflexively raised the hand that tingled to his mouth.
When he sucked at the wound, the salty taste of the water burst across his tongue and the buzz that had run up and down his arm now traveled through his body. It reached into each of his limbs and even shot up his neck and into his head. The heavy, aching sensation in his sinuses dissipated even as the buzz strengthened into a painful vibration that focused in the stitched up wound in his leg. The intensity made it feel as if his skin was on fire, and Thaddeus moaned as he clamped the waterskin under his arm and gripped his thigh as he kept his other hand in a tight fist.
“Thaddeus!” Teofil knelt beside him. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“I don’t know,” Thaddeus said as he gasped. “The water touched me, and it’s burning my skin or something. It really hurts.”
“Where?” Teofil said and reached for his clenched hand. “Let me see. Open your hand.”
“I don’t know if I want to. I’m scared.”
Teofil gently took Thaddeus’s hand, which he still kept tightly closed. “Let me have it. Come on.”
Thaddeus hesitated and took a breath. The pain had subsided, and now that he thought about it, it might not have really been pain he’d felt at all. It had been more of a sensation, mostly in his hand and leg, and it had been startling instead of painful. Teofil slid the waterskin from under Thaddeus’s arm and handed it back to Dulindir. Thaddeus watched from the corner of his eye as Dulindir accepted it and then moved to the other side of the well, away from Fetter.
“Okay, I know it’s tough, and I know you’re scared, but I need to see your hand,” Teofil said. “Show me.”
“Okay.” Thaddeus closed his eyes and slowly relaxed his fingers.
Teofil gasped.
Thaddeus opened his eyes and gasped as well.
The wounds on his palm were completely healed.
Chapter 11
“It worked,” Thaddeus whispered. He looked at Teofil, and they laughed together. “It worked!”
He stood, excitement rushing through him at the absence of pain in his leg. Not caring who watched him, Thaddeus opened his belt, unzipped his pants, pushed them down to his knees and bent at the waist, letting out a quick gasp when he saw the smooth skin of his thigh. The wounds he’d received from the Bearagon were completely gone. Not even a thin red line remained to show where they’d once been. Inside the rolls of his jeans, the loose threads of the stitches lay like eyelashes, and he laughed as he flicked them onto the grass.
“It worked!” he shouted, joy bursting to life within him. It filled him with hope, sunshine, blue skies, and long summer vacations from school.
The water from the Well of Tears had healed his hand and leg. Now they would take the rest of it back to his father, and he would be cured. He would be able to save his father’s life.
Astrid approached and squatted down to inspect his leg. Thaddeus didn’t even care that he had his pants down. His t-shirt and long-sleeved button down shirt managed to cover most of his underwear anyway. She smiled and stood up, grabbing his hand to look at his palm, and then joining in Thaddeus’s laughter. It felt, for a moment, as if nothing bad could ever happen again.
But then everything changed.
“No! Let go!” Dulindir shouted.
“Hey,” Teofil called and got to his feet. “Fetter, let him go!”
Thaddeus jerked his head up and his good feelings merged into confusion, and then irritation. The well stood between them and the spot where Fetter grappled with Dulindir for the waterskin. Thaddeus pulled up his pants, zipping them and buckling his belt as he followed Teofil and Astrid toward the other side of the well to stop Fetter. His leg felt better than it ever had, and he had to keep himself from breaking into a run just because he could.
Before they could make it around the well, however, Fetter wrested the waterskin from Dulindir and ran to the edge of the clearing. He turned to face them, his crazed expression sending a chill down Thaddeus’s back.
“Stay back or I’ll slit this skin open and spill every last drop,” Fetter shouted as he held the waterskin high and pressed the point of a small knife to it.
“Fetter, don’t!” Thaddeus said, taking a couple of steps closer and holding out his hand. “Please. You’re holding my father’s life in your hand. Please don’t waste it.” All the good feelings and relief from a moment before now seemed like years ago, devoured by fear and confusion.
“Yes, your father’s life does depend on this, doesn’t it?” Fetter smiled, but it contained no humor, only malice.
“What’s gotten into you?” Astrid demanded. “Why are you acting even worse than usual?”
“You have no room to be speaking to me about acting worse than I have before,” Fetter said with a sneer that made Thaddeus flinch. From the expression on Astrid’s face, Fetter’s words and reaction hurt her deeply, and a wave of protective affection for Astrid went through him.