wrath of the Sea Queen (203 page)

A
lmost
fifteen minutes later, Salma returned to check on Pete and made the same observation
o
n
his improvement
.  He was hesitant to tell her about
the real magic of
C
a
eli's trick, but when he saw Salma glance over in that direction
as
C
a
eli twitched in her sleep
, Pete decided to t
ake the same risk that
Salma was taking
for
him. 

"It felt like she pour
ed
her ow
n strength and energy into me. 
That was no trick. 
It was real magic!  There's no other way to describe it," Pete insisted in a low voice.

"
Ah, that explains it then.  Let
'
s
agree
that she did work a little magic on you and leave it at that, shall we?  It would be best if you forget it; don't mention it again.
"
  Salma glanced over at the kitchen, hoping to imply that someone in there would be
highly
displeased if he
or Maku
continued to talk about it.  Coincidentally, Vin chose that moment to step into the doorway to check on C
a
eli, and the
two men
got the hint
.  Pete let the matter drop
, and Maku kept his speculations to himself
.

Salma next glanced over at C
a
eli
as she slept
on the sofa. 
Max st
ood
beside her, staring at her with a serious look on his face. 
What were they going to do with her?  She couldn't help herself.  Salma should have known
that C
a
eli was up to something
when
she
inquired about Pete's condition and then conveniently sent her out of the room.
  C
a
eli seemed
compelled to help
Pete.

C
a
eli appeared to be resting, but she was moving about fitfully.  Aside from her left arm, which was draped over the back of the seat, the rest of C
a
eli's body was twitching as if being hit with small electrical currents.  Salma walked over to the sofa, stood a step behind Max, and looked directly down at C
a
eli.

"What are you doing, Max?"  Salma asked softly.

"I'm keeping an eye on pretty C
a
eli.  Mr. Vin said that I
c
ould help him."

"Well, I don't think you need to do
it
from
this
close. 
Go
sit and color over at the table.  You will still be able to see her without disturbing her," Salma
suggested.

"
No, I need to see. 
Are you going to make pretty C
a
eli wake up?"  Max asked Salma.

"Why do you ask, Max?"

"Pretty C
a
eli needs to wake up.  The Sea Queen is trying to borrow her again.  I tried to
make her
wake up, but she would not wake up
for me
," Max replied.

"How do you know that
,
Max?  Maybe she is having a bad dream," Salma considered the possibility.  Was C
a
eli merely having another
nightmare
?  Salma did not see the tell-tale eye movement which would indicate such a state. 
However, w
hatever problem was causing
C
a
eli
such unrest needed to stop.

"
No.  P
retty C
a
eli needs to wake up and stay awake. 
I
have to
get Mr. Vin
,
" Max
stated
.

"Not yet.  Why don't
you let me see
if I can wake her?"

"Ok."  Max stepped away from the sofa and watched Salma from a few feet away.

"C
a
eli," Salma whispered her name and place
d
a hand on C
a
eli's right upper arm. 
It took two or three tries before C
a
eli responded.  She
finally
opened her eyes, and Salma gasped.

"No! 
No, y
ou go away!"  Max
hollered as he ran toward the kitchen.

"C
a
eli?"  Salma hesitantly spoke her name.
 

"Is something wrong, Doc?"  Maku asked from over her shoulder.  When he saw Max run off upset, Maku
hurried
over to offer his assistance.
  C
a
eli had already closed her eyes again.

"
T
hank you, Maku.  I can handle
it
.  However, I would appreciate it if you could occupy Max somewhere else for a little while," Vin said.  He had rushed
in from the kitchen, faster than Maku would have thought possible
,
and
over
hear
d
Maku's offer.  Max was only a few steps behind
Vin
, chattering the whole time about the Sea Queen and pretty C
a
eli.  Max moved around the sofa and t
ook
hold of one of C
a
eli's ankles.  Vin nodded to Maku to indicate that he needed to get Max away from C
a
eli.

"Sure.  Max, come with me.  I need you to entertain Pete until dinner is ready.  He is really bored."

Vin looked
down
and nodded at Salma, too.  She understood and stood up as well.

"While you're at it, Max, you can help me check on Pete's condition.  I need to see if he has improved any since the last time I checked on him," Salma said.

When everyone was gone, Vin sat on the edge of the wicker sofa facing C
a
eli.  She
opened her eyes briefly and
closed
them again
, but not before Vin saw why Max had come running into the kitchen to get him.

"C
a
eli, Honey, wake up," Vin called softly to her.

C
a
eli
opened her eyes a
third time a
nd
glanced briefly up at Vin as if through a haze, still trying to clear the fog of sleep from her mind.  Vin
saw
what she could not. 
C
a
eli's
eyes were blue
, and they were remaining blue
this time
.  How could that be? 
C
a
eli
had been
doing so well an hour earlier.  Since then, she
had been
resting
in the lounge
. 
If anything, she should have been improving. 
Then Vin remembered the magic trick
and
Max
's proudly displayed cookie
.  A quick glance at Pete confirmed exactly what C
a
eli
had done
to weaken herself
to such a vulnerable state
again
. 

Her
head slid to the side as she leaned back and closed her eyes
yet
again.  Vin quickly
performed
a m
ore
thorough
apprais
al.  C
a
eli's skin
was
cold and her left arm was draped over the back of the sofa.  When he gently pulled her arm forward, Vin was surprised to discover that her hand and forearm were wet.  He glanced behind the couch to
locate the source of the
water.

A
custom fish pond about three feet high and two feet wide
,
edged in stones
,
ran from the front of the lounge, along the wall, and out t
o t
he b
e
ac
h
.
The tank was filled with seawater.  As
Vin's
glance followed it around,
he
could see that Apela
had
rigged some sort of system to replenish
the water
directly from the tides outside.  Damn!  C
a
eli couldn't seem to catch a break.

"
C
a
eli, open your eyes
!
  Look at me,
"
Vin pleaded quietly so as not to d
raw the attention of the others
.  Vin s
hook her
lightly.  Using a nearby coverlet, Vin thoroughly dried her arm and hand.

"
Vin, what's the matter?
"
  C
a
eli looked up at him
with drowsy
brown eyes. 

"
Oh, t
hank goodness.  I wasn't sure
if
you
were going to wake up.
"