“I can’t get the beam off him. He’s alive, though.”
I backed away as the men hoisted the broken beam and dragged it to the side as best they could. I knelt beside Rupert. He was in obvious pain, and one of his legs was bent in an unnatural position. “Broken leg. I wonder about internal bleeding,” I added, worried because the beam had landed on the lower part of his abdomen.
“Let me,” Sean said. “We need a flat board—like the door—to carry him with.”
I left the two of them there and went to look at the door, but it had been demolished by the giant’s fall. It was then that Isaw Brynn, leading Aisling and Magdala back to the front of the shed. Both looked to be in shock. I turned around, looking to tell someone that we needed blankets. Mavis was skittering back toward the house. I raced over to her.
“Mavis, we need blankets and something flat on which to carry Rupert.”
She nodded, motioning for me to follow her. I raced behind her, back to the house, where she pointed to a board on which they pressed clothes. Grabbing it up, I started for the door again as she began to plunder a closet full of bedding.
Once more outdoors, I carried the board toward the shed, looking up at the sky. It had started to snow again. The afternoon was deepening, and the cold was settling in. Taking a deep breath, I lifted the board again and headed back, hoping we could save Rupert’s life.
CHAPTER 65: LIFE AND DEATH
“Be careful as you move him,”I warned. Ray came running. He was the closet thing we had to a doctor.
“Stop!” Ray dropped to his knees. “Don’t move him until I look at him.”
Ray examined him. He had been a principal at a prep school, but he had required all staff members to know basic emergency protocols. “Can you move your toes? Your legs?”
Rupert groaned. “If you’re asking do I feel my legs, I most certainly do.” He looked queasy, which didn't surprise me. Intense pain often used nausea.
Ray grimaced as he looked at the bent leg, which was pointing in a direction that violated the rules of bodily physics. “I’m going to have to straighten this out, and it’s going to hurt like hell. Somebody give him a leather strap to bite on.”
Aisling whipped off his belt and handed it over. Ralph fitted it between Rupert’s teeth. Magdala scrunched up her scarf and stuck it in his right hand.
“Squeeze on that when you need to, child.” She brushed his hair back from his face and kissed his forehead.
Rupert steeled himself as Ray moved down to his side. Rupert’s leg was pointing to the side, the bone sticking throughhis trousers. I walked over to Magdala and took her hand in mine.
“Is there a healer in the village?” I asked.
Magdala nodded. “Gem, she lives about a quarter-mile from us.”
I turned back to Brynn. “Get one of the others to go with you and bring Gem back to the house. Go quickly.”
Brynn ran off, tagging Alina to go with her.
Ray took hold of the leg and cautiously bent it back into position. Rupert let out a scream that echoed through the air. Then, without another word, he fell unconscious.
“It's better that way,” Ray said. “He won’t feel the ride home. Sean, you and Aisling ease him onto the board, and I’ll hold his leg while you do.”
They managed to get Rupert onto the door, and Aisling, Ray, Sean, and Reggie carried him back to the house. Mavis cleared the table so they could set the board there. I sent her for blankets and asked Thornhold to start a kettle of water heating. No doubt we’d need it, whether to clean the wound or to make tea.
Magdala was beside herself. She stood behind one of the chairs, holding onto the back as she swayed back and forth.
“Are you hurt?” I asked her. “We should look you over to make sure.”
“Aisling and I had stepped out the side door just as the giant hit the roof. We’re a bit battered, but we’ll be fine,” she said, staring at her son as he rested pale against the door.
Mavis brought down blankets and we draped them over him.
“Crank up the fire,” I said. “We’ll need the heat for him.”
Reggie put more wood on the fire, then headed for the front door. “I’m going to cast a general protection spell over the area,” he said.
“Take someone with you,” I said. “Right now, we don’t know if there are any more ice giants in the area, and we don’t want to take any chances on being caught unawares.”
