Chapter Four
LUCAS LAY IN A PINE bough bed battling a raging fever, his wounds pussing and refusing to scab in spite of Jezebel’s poultice. He would not eat. He drank very little. He complained the pine branch splint chaffed him. He slept fitfully, awakening only to shout at the shadows in the cabin.
Jezebel had seen many warriors pass over this way with the fever-devil eating into their bones, gnawing at their spirit and swallowing their thoughts until nothing was left for Grandfather Death save a burnt-out husk. She had to break the fever or kill it. She and Cord built a sweat lodge out of pine boughs. It made her heart happy, watching her son work alongside her.
Duvall kept a vigilant watch.
Jezebel heated rocks in the fire. Cord carried them to the sweat lodge with a pair of makesh
