Chapter 19

"It's okay Sal, it wasn't your fault," Lex whispered into the red-haired girl's ear as they sat alone in her room.

"But I-I couldn't stop them!" Salene cried, tearfully. "They just barged right in here. I-I screamed a-and Jay came running, but they just knocked him out and ran off with her!"

"That doesn't make it your fault! I was the one who took Alice and Morgaine out into the city leaving the mall with hardly anyone in it; if it's anyone's fault it's mine!"

"You couldn't have known."

"Neither could you. Come on Sal, I know how much you care about kids. If there was anything you could have done, you would have done it. In this case, there just wasn't anything you could do. Nobody blames you."

"Jack does."

"That's rubbish! The little geek is crazier than I thought if he thinks anything of the kind!"

****

"It wasn't her fault, Jack!" Alice yelled at the young father as she pinned his arms to his side. "Now calm down!"

"My daughter is missing! How can I calm down, Alice? What am I supposed to do? Sit down, take deep breaths and count to ten! I left my daughter with someone I thought she would be safe with and when I come back downstairs I find Hope is gone and Salene doesn't have a scratch on her. She can hardly have put up much of a fight!"

"She was unconscious when we got there!" Ellie cut in. "Just because you can't see any damage, doesn't mean there isn't any there!"

"We have to organise this calmly, Jack," Amber said, firmly, from across the room. "There aren't that many of us left now. If we're going to mount a search for Hope we have to know where everyone is and who's doing what. If you can't calm down for that, then I'll have Alice lock you in the cage until you do!"

"She's MY daughter!" Jack yelled.

"And you're no use to her like this!"

"I have to get out there and look for her Amber! I-I have to. I'm all she's got! I..."

Jack suddenly sunk to his knees, clutching his chest and gasping for air.

"What the...!" Alice cried, dropping to her knees to support Jack.

Morgaine rushed forward.

"What is it!" Ellie cried, hurrying up to her sister's side.

"Get back, don't crowd him," Morgaine ordered, her tone level and commanding.

"Jack?" Ebony's voice was quiet, almost timid, and the hubbub around her drowned out her words.

"Alice, support him. Give him air, everybody. It'll pass."

Morgaine's words echoed around in Ebony's head and the room became a blur. For a moment, she thought that she was going to pass out again, but then she felt a strong arm steadying her and looked round to see Pride holding her upright.

"You look as though you need to sit down," the Gaian said gently.

"What's wrong with him?" Ebony asked, dazedly, as Pride steered her to a nearby chair.

"I don't know," Pride replied. "But if you wait here, I'll go find out."

The crown around Jack had dispersed a little, but were still focussed on him and didn't notice Pride's arrival until the tall man made his way through the crowd and knelt down beside Morgaine.

"Do you know what is causing this?" Pride asked, ignoring the sudden lull in conversation and numerous pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Yes," Morgaine replied, her voice remaining level. "Our healer warned me that this might occur and gave me instructions in the event that it should do so."

"Do you need anything?"

"Only room to work and considerably fewer aggravations for the patient!"

"Okay."

The occupants of the cafe watched in silence as Pride stood up and turned to face them. He saw the mixture of emotions that played across their faces: shock, relief, distrust... hate. Taking in the mixture of people around him, and the situation as he had heard it from his place by the door, he decided on a course of action and immediately began deploying searchers.

"We work in pairs," he said, ignoring Jay's eyes boring into the side of his head. "Ryan, KC: you two take the sewers. See if you can pick up any trail there or on the outside. Luke, Jay: you two take north and east of the Mall. Alice and I will take south and west. In three hours we come back here and switch. Lex and Salene can be one pair, that leaves Amber, Ellie, Paul and Jack himself if he's recovered by then. The rest of you stay here and guard the mall. That way there will always be a decent number of us here in case they return or in case anyone comes back with news."

"Who made you sergeant-major?" Jay spat from beside Amber.

"Jay, leave it," Amber said, quickly putting a hand on her lover's arm. "Pride's right and he's only doing what I was trying to do earlier."

"Will you be okay here on your own?"

"Of course I'll be okay. And I'm not on my own, am I. I've got half the tribe around me!"

"Okay then."

Jay kissed Amber lightly on the forehead before shooting another glare at Pride and walking out of the cafe, followed swiftly by Luke. Ryan and KC headed out after them and Pride turned back to Alice.

"Shall we go?" Pride asked, extending a hand to Alice.

"Morgaine?" Alice queried, looking over Jack's head at the Amazon tending him.

"It's okay," Morgaine replied. "I'm sure Ellie here can take Jack's weight until the fit passes."

Alice nodded and let her sister take her place before taking Pride's hand and letting him help her to her feet.

"I believe I owe you a debt of gratitude," Pride said to her as they walked out of the mall.

"Oh?" Alice frowned. "What for?"

"Knocking me back to sanity!"

****

"There," Morgaine said, dabbing the wet cloth across Jack's forehead. "It's passing. You should feel better soon."

Jack just nodded, still a little breathless.

"What was that?" Amber asked from her seat at the same table as Ebony.

A glance passed between Jack and Morgaine. Morgaine raised an eyebrow. Jack shrugged.

"Just a minor seizure of sorts," Morgaine called over her shoulder. "Our healer told me to watch out for them. Apparently Jack here got some sort of fever from a snake bite some months ago. He was given the anti-venom in time to save him, but the effect of the fever has left some scars on him, albeit unseen ones. If he overdoes it too much, it makes it worse and, if he gets himself into the state he was just in, he has an attack. Every time it happens, it gets worse. That's why I was sent to try and keep him out of trouble."

Jack rolled his eyes and pulled a face.

"The worst damage is to his coronary muscles: his heart. These seizures are a bit like mini heart attacks or angina. They are usually unseen in anyone of our ages, but can be brought on by certain infections or poisons, including snakebite. Our healer believes that, if Jack had received a full dose of venom from the snake, rather than the mere scratch he actually got, he would have been dead from heart failure within minutes."

"But if he rests," Ebony cut in, her voice shaking. "It'll get better, right?"

Morgaine sighed and looked up at Jack for confirmation. With a resigned look, he nodded and looked down. Morgaine turned round to face Ebony and Amber.

"No," she said, solemnly. "I'm afraid it won't."