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.She ran her finger behind Iris’s ear.“I want you to cut there, and only there.”“Yes,” said Father Lucien.With trembling hands he set the knife where he had been instructed.Faith took his hand.“Calm down and wait for me to tell you when.” She turned to Falcon.“I need you to hold her down.I can’t have her squirming.”Falcon set his hands on Iris’s shoulders and pressed down.Faith put her hand over Iris’s face and mumbled.The white emblem glowed with intensity as the dark lines around the girl’s eyes moved in a snake-like manner toward the ear.The fact that Iris didn’t even flinch told Falcon how close they were from losing her.His mouth went dry at the thought.“Now,” said Faith.Father Lucien pierced as Faith had told him.Dark blood gushed out of the cut.After a few seconds the blood turned a normal red.Iris opened her eyes.“What happened? Where am I?”“You’re fine now,” said Faith, as she covered the cut with a towel.“Lay down and rest.”Falcon Lucien stared at Faith with admiration.“You knew that you couldn’t pull the blood all the way.So you gathered it in one spot and took it out with an incision.Amazing.Simply amazing.”“It was nothing,” said Faith.“I’m just glad Iris is well.”Despite Faith’s humility, Falcon couldn’t help feeling proud of her.She was truly remarkable.Faith’s face turned red as her gaze met Falcon’s.“Why are you looking at me that way?”“Oh, sorry.” He shook his head.“Listen.You two look over Iris.I’m going to have a talk with the owner of the restaurant.He knows something, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”“Yes,” said Faith, “but you heard him.He said he didn’t have anyhing to do with the poisoning.”“Of course he said that.But who else could it have been? It has to be him.”“I’m not too sure,” Faith insisted.“I’m pretty good at telling when people are lying, and the man seemed truthful.”Falcon wasn’t convinced.“I guess we’ll find out, wont we?” As he reached for the handle, the door swung open.A boy stumbled in.“Help me!” He had the same dark lines around his eyes and mouth.He was pale and sweat dripped from his hair.“Please…” The boy collapsed.Falcon caught him before he fell to ground.With the help of Father Lucien, he set him on one of the empty beds.“What did you drink or eat?” asked Falcon.“He’s passed out,” said Father Lucien as he listened for the boy’s heartbeat.“It appears to be the same poison Iris had,” said Faith.“We have to remove it.”“Help me!”Falcon turned to the sight of a whimpering woman.In her hands she held an unconscious young girl.Her arms and legs dangled uselessly.Her lips and eyes were rimmed with darkness.“My baby!” yelled the hysterical woman.“Something is wrong with her.”“Set her down here,” ordered Faith, motioning to one of the empty beds.The woman did as instructed.Faith pulled out a clean knife from the bag and handed it to Father Lucien.“You know what to.”The healers went to work.Falcon faced the woman.“What did your daughter have to drink or eat this morning?”“Nothing to eat.All she had was a mug of water.But it couldn’t have been that.That water was fresh.”As Faith and the father finished working on the boy, another woman came in clutching a girl in her arms.Water? Falcon stood, lost in thought.That was the same thing the restaurant owner had told him.Which meant the man had been telling the truth.“I’ll be back,” said Falcon.“Where are you going?” asked Faith.“To warn everyone about the water.” As he headed for the city square, the same question raced through his head.If it wasn’t the owner who had poisoned the villagers, who had?~~~It was midday when Falcon marched into the inn.Faith sat on a red sofa with her face dug into her hands.“How are the children?” asked Falcon.Faith looked up.“Better.They’ll all be fine in a few days.”“That’s good.”“I would feel better if we knew who did this.What are we going to do?”“I’m afraid there is nothing we can do.We’ve done what we can by tending to the children and figuring out the source of the poison.But no, we must keep moving.The authorities from K’vitch will have to figure out who is behind this.”“I can’t abandon them,” said Faith.“They need my healing abilities.”Falcon rubbed his eyes, pondering what to do.He had to continue on with his mission.But, at the same time, he couldn’t leave Faith behind.What if one of those psychos came looking for her?All of a sudden, a guard rushed into the inn.“It happened again.”“What happened?” said Falcon.“Has someone else been poisoned?”“No,” said the guard, struggling to catch his breath.“Even worse.”Worse? What could possibly be worse than a poisoning?Faith stood [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]