Page 188 of Lady of Ashes

“Have you ever met the High Healer?” he asked Tava.

She shook her head. “No. Messengers always delivered Scarlett’s tonics. When we would go to the poor neighborhoods, Scarlett always had what we needed. When she was gone, the High Healer reached out to me, and it became what it is now.”

“The High Healer reached out to you? Why?”

She shrugged against his chest. “She must have known I often helped Scarlett, I suppose.”

Neither of them spoke again until after they had retrieved the two small bags of supplies that Sloan and Finn now had attached to their saddles. He had so much he wanted to say to her. He didn’t want her to think her compassion was a fault. He didn’t want her to think he was upset that she wanted to help these people. She was right. It should be him demanding this. It should be him wanting to know why his father didn’t do more. And he certainly did not want her to feel as if she didn’t matter.

When they were a few blocks from the slums, they left the horses with Finn. Callan and Sloan each had a bag looped over an arm, Tava walking between them. All was quiet when they turned onto the street. Much quieter than it had been when they had come here last time. They made their way to Helen’s shack ?rst, and Tava quickly made her way up the walk and through the decrepit door.

“Helen?” she called out.

“Tava?” came the old woman’s raspy voice.

Tava quickly lit a candle before moving to the woman’s side.She was in the same corner she’d been sitting in last time, huddled under scraps of fabric.

“What are you doing here, Child?” Helen asked, her eyes seeming to widen some.

“I brought you tonics and blankets,” Tava answered, motioning Callan to come forward with the bag he carried. “I am sorry I could not come sooner.”

“You wasn’t suppose to come,” the woman said, her head shaking slightly.

“What do you mean?” Tava asked, digging through the bag until she found the vials she was looking for.

The old woman looked up at Callan like she could see his face beneath the hood.

“They will be waiting for her when you leave this house,” she rasped. Tava stilled, her ?ngers on the cork of the vial.

“Who will be?” Sloan demanded, stepping forward.

Helen stiffened. “What you keep bringing strangers here for, Tava? He was not with you last time.”

“They are helping me,” Tava said. “Who will be waiting for me, Helen?”

“You wasn’t suppose to come,” Helen said again, reaching a shaky hand out to take the vial Tava was extending to her.

“We need to go,” Sloan said, and Callan saw his hands shift beneath his cloak, reaching for weapons.

“Give me some blankets,” Tava said instead, pointing at the bag Sloan still had on his shoulder.

Sloan swore under his breath, but passed the bag to Callan. He pulled two small, wool blankets from the bag, handing them to Tava, who tucked them carefully around Helen.

“Can I get you anything else before we leave?” she asked the old woman.

“You need to get outta here,” the woman said, grasping Tava’s hands between her own. “You get outta here and go where it’s safe. Don’t come back.”

Tava pulled a hand free and patted Helen’s arm. “Do not worry about me, Helen. That is why I brought them with me,” she said with a wink and nod at Callan and Sloan.

“They won’t matter, Child. They wants you,” the woman said somberly as Tava pushed to her feet. Callan immediately reached a hand out to help her up.

“I think we should go, Tava,” Callan said while they made their way back to the front door. Tava had left three more vials of the tonic on the small table beside the candle and was pulling on her gloves. He reached over and pulled her hood up for her.

“We are going,” Sloan cut in, his tone daring either of them to argue with him.

“Let’s just take the rest of these things to Mary Ellen and—”

She stopped speaking as they stepped out the door and found a group of twenty men standing before them. Some held torches, illuminating the space. Others held pipes. Clubs. Knives.

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