Chapter 14 · Frontier Lord - Chapter 14: Something's in the Well

The kid wasn't breathing right.

Ava shoved through the crowd outside the supply tent, Rain already pulling her forward by the elbow. Two of the younger refugees—barely seven or eight—were laid out on grain sacks, their lips going blue. A woman Ava recognized from the lumber crew was sobbing, one hand on each child's chest.

"They drank from the well this morning," Rain said, voice flat. "Same one we cleared two days ago."

Ava dropped to her knees beside the first kid. His skin was cold. Too cold. She pressed two fingers under his jaw and felt a pulse, weak and uneven. The second kid was worse—her breathing came in shallow gasps, and a thin line of foam crusted at the corner of her mouth.

"Get Sera," Ava snapped. "And someone bring me water from the cistern. Not the well."

Rain didn't argue. He was gone before she finished the sentence.

The mother grabbed Ava's wrist. Her nails dug in hard enough to hurt. "Fix this. You said the water was safe."

Ava didn't pull away. "I'm going to."

She didn't know if that was true.

Sera arrived first, a leather satchel slung over one shoulder.