Fighting A Fever

When he was done, Wolf Head let the sage burn in the dish by River's head while he prepared other remedies. Seeing his eighteen year old daughter with fever reminded him of his wife Water Lilly. She too had been eighteen when the fever took her.

"Father," River muttered. "Help her."

Abihu turned to Wolf Head who said nothing.

In a shallow dish, Wolf Head combined Yarrow, Ginger, and Juniper berries. These were ground into a fine powder as River continued to mutter. He added a little water, just enough to make a thin meal with the powder. Raising River's head, Wolf Head tipped the bowl a little so some liquid would enter her moth. She swallowed on reflex at first, but coughed when he tried to give her more.

"Why is Mother sick?" she mumbled. "Help her, Father."

Wolf Head tried once more to get his daughter to drink, but the liquid remained in her mouth. She wouldn't swallow. Setting the bowl down, Wolf Head held her jaw closed hoping she would swallow, but she still would not. He had been focused on helping River that Wolf Head had forgotten Abihu's presence until his hand gently stroked River's throat. She swallowed.

Wolf Head picked up the bowl once more and poured a little liquid in her mouth. Again she wouldn't swallow, but as Wolf Head set the bowl down and lightly stroked his daughter's throat, she swallowed. This continued until River had taken in all the herbs. When he had done this with Waterlily, and she had been unable to swallow anymore, he hadn't forced her. He had cried and prayed to the spirits to aid her recovery, but his sweet young wife of four years passed away.

River's muttering stopped and a sheen of sweat covered her body, cooling the fever. She shivered and her eye lids fluttered as if she was trying to open them. After a minute, the fluttering stopped and River slept peacefully. Wolf Head chanted and sang to the spirits. Abihu remained silent and just listened. Much of what Wolf Head said he didn't understand. His father had spoken about these prayers, but never in detail about what was spoken.

Hours passed. The sage was long burned, and was nothing more than a pile of ash in the bowl. Wolf Head had not ceased to chant next to his daughter's sleeping body. River stirred and Wolf Head's chanting stopped. His hand brushed through the short fuzz on the top of her head as she opened her eyes.

"How are you feeling, River?" Wolf Head asked.

"Still tired, Father."

"Where did you go this morning?"

She turned her head to look at the door. Abihu was still there.

"River," Wolf Head said, wanting her to look at him.

"Same place I've always gone," she replied.

Then she got up on her elbow to get a better view of the door. Her brow furrowed since the walls of the hut no longer looked solid. She could hear a deer walking passed and a shadow of its form crossed the door. Abihu shifted uncomfortably under her studious gaze. From where he sat, River looked angry.

"Did something happen while you were there?"

"I saw Mother."

River's head lowered and she closed her eyes. It was still too weird to see the world like that. Being able to hear things differently was hard enough. Why had the wolf added spiritual sight?

"You took the Kava with you, didn't you?"

"I never take the herbs with me. Not when I go there."

"River, I have taught you repeatedly to carry them with you. You never know when another will need your help."

She shook her head then forced herself to sit up. The smell of the burnt sage was lingering. Wolf Head only used it if he believed the disease to be caused by a demon. She opened her eyes to look at her hands and saw another's resting over them. Lifting her eyes, she came face to face with her mother. Again she smiled at River, but this time her smile was sad. Water Lilly turned to Wolf Head and caressed his cheek as he watched his daughter.

"Fa…," she started to say, but her mother shook her head. River nodded then looked back at her hands.

"River, what were you going to say?"

"I can't remember." Then she turned to Abihu. "You have questions."

"Wha…? Me? I… I do," he stammered. "But I feel I may have intruded long enough."

"Not at all."

"Where did you go, if not hunting?"

"I don't hunt because I am a healer. Despite…."

"River," Wolf Head said in a warning tone.

She glared at him. "What is wrong with you? You're open to talk about our people, but are evasive when it comes to me. Why?"

"Because you are special."

River scoffed.

"Why are you angry all of a sudden?"

"You know the answer to that."

"Because of the lake?"

"No, because you…." River groaned. Her head hurt from her new gift.

"River?" Wolf Head put his hands on her arms.

She peeled his hands off and lie back down. Her body curled tightly and her face was turned to the grass mat.

Wolf Head sighed. "You best be on your way, Abihu."

"Will…?"

"Leave."

"I apologize, Wolf Head. Thank you for your hospitality." Then Abihu left, his heavy limp fading in the silence of the snow.

Wolf Head left his daughter's side and sat by the fire pit to stare within its depths. What had happened at the lake to turn River against him? Her fever? Her pain? He couldn't recall a time when she had gotten angry; even after Water Lilly had died. Was it possible that it came because of Abihu? No, that didn't seem possible. As he stared, he allowed his tears to fall. He spoke softly, imagining his beautiful Water Lilly by his side. His voice trembled slightly. He was troubled that no one saw River's value. He was always troubled by her blatant disobedience in always going to the lake, and now by the suddenness of her illness and the anger that came with it.

"I don't know what else I can do for her, Water Lilly," he whispered.

His head bowed and he balled his fists allowing the rest of his tears to fall. Then he left the hut to check on others around the village.

River rose while he was gone and prepared a stew. She was just finishing it when Wolf Head returned. She poured the stew into two soapstone bowls and gave one to her father. He accepted the bowl from her hand, but didn't start eating until River had finished hers. River rinsed out her dishes and put them away before picking up her bag and pouch and returning them to the basket where she kept them.

Wolf Head had missed their presence on the floor by her bed while he helped her overcome her fever. Was that all she had taken with her to the lake? What was in them? He finished his bowl of stew before he pulled them out of the basket. In the bag were bits of jerky. The pouch was empty, save for the smell of ash. Why ash? None of their rituals required ash.

"River?" he asked, but she was no longer in the hut.

He stepped outside to find her in her typical place, watching the sun disappear behind the distant mountains. Her stance was firm—her feet set shoulder width apart. Her arms were folded in front of her and her expression was stern.

"River?"

She acted like she didn't hear him.

He stood by her side and waited until the sun had disappeared from sight.

"I apologize, Father," River said. "I was out of line."

"You know I only want what's best for you."

"I understand."

The sky was darkening now that the sun was out of sight, but River made no move to go back inside. Her gaze remained on the mountains.

"River, what really happened at the lake today?"

"I had gone as I always do, taking a pouch of the previous night's ashes with me. Each time I go, I lay a circle of ash around the edge of the lake before sitting and listening to the silence. There was never any significance to the ash, or the circle, it was just something to do. But today… after I spread out the ashes, a wolf came to me. My eyes and chest felt heavy and I couldn't move. I couldn't get my eyes to open once they closed either. My breath turned shallow and I fell back into the snow, unable to do anything."

"Did the wolf leave then?" Wolf Head asked.

"No. It stayed. As I lay in the snow unable to do anything, the wolf's breath crossed over my face then its tongue passed over my eyes and forehead. The heaviness in my body remained until the wolf placed a paw on my chest. The weight left, my breathing deepened, I could open my eyes, and move once more. It was then I saw Mother."

"Did she do anything?"

"She smiled at me then left."

"And the wolf?"

"Left after Mother did and I returned home."

"Then that's when the fever came?" he asked.

"Fever?" River turned and looked at her father.

"Abihu brought you home, burning with fever. You started muttering about your mother. She was your age when the fever took her life."

"All I remember is waking to your hand running through my hair."

"Alright."

Wolf Head turned to go back inside, but River didn't follow.

"Goodnight," she said softly to the sun then turned to return to the warmth of the hut.