Boundaries by Joan Powers

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"Boundaries", Part 4
by Joan Powers

WHAM. Bess chopped a squash with a savage blow. WHAM, her blade came down again. Her brow was furrowed as she concentrated on her task with her long curly hair held back loosely by a ribbon.

"Whoa honey, what's the matter?" Morgan asked, startled by the sound of his wife's activity. Before moving any closer to her, he quickly reviewed the events of the last day or two - did he do anything to cause her anger? Drawing a blank, he cautiously edged towards her and gave a tentative smile. As Bess looked up at him, her tense expression turned into a more pleasant one. He sighed, what ever it was - it wasn't his fault. He could handle this.

"What's wrong? What are you upset about?" He placed a hand on her shoulder and began to massage it gently.

She was slow to respond. "Let's just say that Devon and I had words."

"Oh" Morgan's eyes opened wider, indicating his understanding. "Where is she now?"

"I don't know" Bess quickly replied.

"What - what do you mean? You don't know exactly - that's it, right?" He stammered, trying to lead his wife into giving a more acceptable response.

"No, I don't know. She told me to leave her alone." Her words were terse, her anger still evident in her tone.

"But Bess, it was your job to keep on eye on her today. She's still not well." Beads of sweat began to break out above his upper lip, in addition to the heat of the day, he was fearful of incurring Danziger's wrath.

"Morgan, don't tell me what I already know. She's probably fine. She went to the stream to take a bath. She had her gear. I'm sure she'll be back soon. I just couldn't stand the thought of putting up with her attitude all day. I couldn't do it. She keeps insisting on doing things she's not ready for."

Her husband sank down beside her onto the fallen log which served as her seat. He grasped one of her hands as she continued,

"I thought we were making some head way. I know Devon and I will never be best friends but... I don't understand her. All we're trying to do is help her and she's acting like she resents us. The entire camp has gone out of their way for her and she has yet to act the least bit grateful."

"She did thank us all the first night she was strong enough to join us for dinner" her husband gently reminded.

"But that's it. Now she's acting like we're the enemy and I'm sick of it."

A gear transmission issued from the set about Morgan's neck interrupted their conversation. " Hey Martin, hurry up. We haven't got all day."

Morgan rolled his eyes and commented sarcastically, "Duty calls."

Devon's hands flew forward as she stumbled, her foot landing on a protruding root. As the ground rushed up to meet her, her hands and arms scraped against the rocky path. Grimacing in pain, she gradually pulled herself up to assess the damage. A gash in the palm of her right hand which was bleeding profusely commanded her attention. She yanked out her shirt tail to tear off some of the fabric and used the cloth to apply pressure to the wound. As she held the cloth tightly against her palm, she noticed several scrapes and bleeding cuts on her arms as well. She managed to control the bleeding of her palm wound then fashioned a crude bandage using more of her T-shirt.

Unnerved by her clumsiness, she remained seated on the ground as she collected her thoughts and dabbed at her other cuts with a clean piece of cloth. Why was she having so many coordination problems? More importantly, how had she managed to get herself into this situation?

When she realized that a Grendler was watching her at the pond, she had dressed rapidly to follow it. Her immediate thought was that it could lead her to food sources or at least to his lair. She acted hastily, for her swim had rejuvenated her and she was anxious to help out with their food situation. Unfortunately she had forgotten how quickly those creatures could move, he eluded her within fifteen minutes. While she was disappointed and it wasn't in her nature to give up easily, her tracking skills were adequate at best so she decided to return to camp to alert the others to the Grendler's presence.

Returning to camp. Seemingly a simple proposition. Yet, she had been in such a nasty mood that morning, she hadn't paid much attention to her route during her trip to the pond. To make matters worse, during her most recent trek her eyes had been fixed upon the Grendler, not on her path or any distinctive landmarks along the way. This wooded area was much larger than she had originally perceived it to be.

Keeping her wits about her, she reassured herself - it was still early, there was plenty of daylight left and she had her gear with her. Though she was loathe to call camp to tell them that she was lost and needed directions. Especially in the condition she was in. Everything within her being resisted that approach. She didn't want to give the camp, particularly Bess, more ammunition to use against her. She would rest a few minutes then try it again. She had been in worse situations. Her cuts had stopped bleeding and once she caught her breath, she was confident that she could figure this out herself. She didn't need to be 'rescued'.

As her eyelids fell shut momentarily, her level of fatigue frightened her. Immediately, she sprang up and pushed herself to continue to search for the pond or their camp.

As she finished preparing some vegetables for their evening meal, Bess looked up to discover True trudging into camp. The young girl was moving sluggishly, practically dragging her feet.

"Hey True, what are you doing back?" Bess asked with rising concern. She had seen the children and Yale go off exploring over an hour ago. "Anything wrong?"

She shrugged and mumbled, "I don't feel so good. Yale told me to come back and lie down." She began to move towards her tent.

"I'll contact Julia and your Dad " She reached for her gear.

"No! Please, you don't have to bother either of them. I'll be fine." True insisted as she whirled about and approached her. "I think I just got too hot."

It was hard for Bess to tell if the redness in the little girl's cheeks was caused by too much sun or embarrassment. True didn't like to attract undue attention to herself.

"It is pretty warm today." Bess removed the ribbon which contained her own long locks and she began to braid her hair as she spoke, "I know a place where we can cool off. Can you walk further or do you need to rest first?"

"I think I can make it to the pond if we go slowly. But do you think it'll be okay with my Dad?" A worried furrow appeared across her forehead. Her father seemed so edgy lately that she didn't want to do anything which might add to his concerns.

"I'm sure your Dad would want you to feel better. Remember what happened to Magus and Cameron the other day? They got sick because they became over heated. We don't want that happening to you. C'mon, I'm going to let Yale know that you made it back to camp safely then we'll get some canteens and towels and head over to the pond. I need to see how Devon's doing anyway."

The afternoon sun shone relentlessly upon the two women whose bodies glistened with perspiration as they hiked through the woods towards the pond. They moved slowly, taking in the scenery -- not wanting to further aggravate the young girl's weakened condition.

"Is Devon ever going to be completely well?" True meekly asked. It had scared her to see someone she had remembered as a vibrant, energetic person become so weak and for a short time, subdued. The fact that almost three weeks had elapsed since Devon had returned to the group and she still slept more than half the day as well as the night disturbed her. It didn't seem right. Were the adults hiding something from her?

"Of course she is. It just takes time -- that's all" Bess assured her.

"But I thought the Terrians cured her. Uly was better overnight - why isn't it the same for Devon?" The young girl pressed her -- eager for answers, for it bothered her father to talk about this issue.

The older woman paused thoughtfully. "You know, I'm not sure True. Alonzo seemed to think it had something to do with the fact that Uly is a child and Devon, an adult. There are lots of things I don't understand about the Terrians and this planet. Let's just be glad that the Terrians have helped us out." She placed a friendly hand lightly upon the girl's shoulder as they continued to walk and chat amiably.

"Here we are." Bess paused and nervously scanned the pond area. Devon was no where in sight. *God, where is she?* she gasped. She turned to True who met her gaze with wide eyes.

"Where is she?" the little girl echoed.

*Don't panic. Think a minute.* Bess assured herself. Then it came to her. "I'll bet she was walking back as we were coming down here."

"Wouldn't we have run into her?"

"Not necessarily" she admitted with a pang of guilt. She averted her eyes as she explained, "Um, Devon and I had...oh...a disagreement before she headed off to the pond. I'm probably the last person she wants to see. If she heard us approaching, she may have purposely avoided us. She was pretty insistent that she wanted to be alone today."

True stared at Bess, not fully comprehending all that she had said. Sometimes grownups just didn't make sense. "Why is she mad at you?"

She tried to be diplomatic, fully aware that whatever she told the child would be relayed in some fashion to her father, whom she didn't want to offend. "True, have you ever been sick?"

She nodded. She had the usual childhood ailments -- occasional colds, flu and once she had the chicken pox. And she had been afflicted by the near failure of the bio-stat implants just as everyone else had.

"I mean, really sick -- for weeks or longer. I know I haven't been."

True peeled off her outer garments and eased herself into the water as she considered Bess's response. Ah-- that was nice, she was already beginning to feel much better. Oh, back to Bess-- well...what was the difference between the two? Nobody liked to feel bad.

"I think Devon is starting to feel stronger so she thinks she's completely cured and wants to do everything that she did before her illness. But her body isn't ready yet, it won't allow her to do all of them. This is bothering her so she's taking out her anger on us." Some resentment crept into her voice as she finished her statement.

The young girl quietly absorbed this information. Hmm...while it didn't make complete sense to her, perhaps that would account for part of her father's moodiness.

"Devon? Devon? Are you there?" Bess crouched down near the ground as she spoke into her gear. "Devon" Her tone became more insistent as her own anger began to rekindle. Had that obstinate woman actually turned off her gear to ensure her privacy?

True reached up, tugging her arm with a dripping hand to offer an alternative explanation. "Maybe she's asleep back at camp. I don't think she'd hear the signal."

Bess breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, of course that was it. They both could attest to how solidly that woman slept these days. Before joining True in the water, Bess tried to reach camp to confirm this but no one was responding to her. While she was uneasy about the situation, she noticed her young charge was looking better. She needed to rest and cool off longer before they could return to camp. Besides, they wouldn't be out long.

(end of part 4)

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