This is the fourth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, and Part III before continuing.
“I never realized jerky could taste so good,” Carrie said, licking her fingers.
“That’s the beauty of making your own,” said Hailey.
“You can make your own jerky?”
“Of course. All you need is a sharp knife and a low fire to slowly dry out the meat.” Hailey made a negative sign to Ed. By the time Tommy looked over, Ed was looking disappointed as he put something in his bag, but Tommy couldn’t see what he was handling.
“You sure you don’t want any?” Carrie held a piece of jerky out to Tommy, but the pain in his foot was making him feel so nauseous he couldn’t imagine eating anything and keeping it down.
“I’m good,” he said, realizing as he did so that is voice sounded strained. He tried to make his voice sound more normal as he said, “What kind of meat is that, anyway?”
“It’s our special recipe,” said Hailey.
“Special recipe for making meat?”
Hailey didn’t answer, and that made Tommy nervous. The jerky definitely had a weird smell that was both foreign and oddly familiar. He couldn’t place it, but he also couldn’t be sure if his senses were playing tricks on him given the state he was in.
“You really should eat something,” said Carrie. “You need to keep your strength up.”
“I don’t think vomiting will help me keep my strength up.”
“You really feel that sick?”
Tommy nodded.
“There are some herbs on this part of the island that can help with that. Carrie, why don’t you come with me so I can show you what they look like? We can make a nice tea out of them and have your fiancé feeling right as rain in no time.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Carrie. Turning to Tommy, she said, “You gonna be OK while I’m gone?”
Tommy wanted to scream that, no, he was not going to be OK, and he needed her to stay with him, but he knew he couldn’t do that without sounding like a child. He wasn’t even sure where that impulse came from. It was probably just the pain in his foot making him want to feel coddled, so he pushed the feeling away and managed a nod.
Carrie rubbed his upper arm as she said, “I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Don’t worry,” said Hailey, as she rubbed his other arm. “I’ll bring her back safe and sound.” Tommy would have pulled his arm away if he had had the energy. As it was, he figured she was just one of those touchy-feely people. But that didn’t explain why she gently squeezed his arm in several places. It was like she was testing the size of his bicep, except he wasn’t flexing. So what was she feeling for?
Before he could ask, she let go, grabbed an ax from her tent, and headed down the path that led towards the beach.
It wasn’t until Hailey and Carrie had both disappeared before he had the wherewithal to ask, “Why does she need an ax to gather herbs?”
To be continued…