I didn't get four notes in before her eyes flew open. "What is that noise?"
"Singing!"
"Were you singing or choking to death?" She clutched at her stomach again. "Ow! Honestly, Ani, you made me hurt worse!"
"I warned you!"
I actually had tried to sing my best. If I sang the way I usually did, I could have brought her to tears. With only a little effort, I could have made her wish the Scourge would just take her before I reached the next note.
Then Della turned to me. "I know who you are now," she said. "My people talk about you. The priest even prayed for you once in church, that you'd be healed of whatever evil spirit curses your singing."
"He prayed for me?"
"He must not have prayed hard enough. You're the grub who sings in the town squares, refusing to stop singing until people pay you coins."
"Other people sing for coins too," I said. "It's an honest way to earn money."
"But they sing well. People pay coins to thank them." She scrunched up her nose. "You're paid to stop."
My smile beamed with pride. "Either way, they pay."
"What do grubs need money for anyway?" Della asked. "You eat bugs and build your homes from logs and clay, and steal from us whenever you need something."
"That's not true," I said. We didn't eat bugs ... very often. Only our nicest homes were made from logs and clay. And we didn't steal. However, like Weevil, some of our people were very good at borrowing. Some borrowed for longer than others. Rumor had it that sixty years ago, old Farmer Adderson even borrowed one of the pinchworm women to marry him, though she already loved him back, so she refused to be returned.
"It's so warm already," she said. "Can't you feel it?"
A warm day was coming, but nothing hot enough to cause the beads of sweat on her brow. The wardens had left us a fresh pitcher of water last night, but I'd already finished it. I regretted that now. Della's tongue was moving inside her mouth as if she was thirsty.
Della cried out and clutched at her stomach again. I wanted to cry too, but not because I felt any pain. It's only that we'd been in this same cell all night. Every contact I made with her increased my chances of getting the Scourge as well.
Della's eyes were closed, but she had calmed a bit and she whispered, "You should be feeling just as awful by now."
"I don't." Then hope flooded into me. "I'm not sick! I don't have the Scourge!" If Della hated me before, this wouldn't help things.
"Congratulations," she murmured, and a tear slipped beneath her lashes. "My father won't be able to get me out now. There's no chance of that."
My voice softened. "Everything will be all right." Though we both knew that was never the way the Scourge ended.
Suddenly, Della sat up, though her hand was still pressed against her side and her teeth were gritted. "Wait, I have an idea! Maybe I'm hurting, but there are no outward symptoms, right? No rash or fever or green dots all over my face."
For some reason, I thought about Weevil then. If the Scourge put green dots on a person's face, Weevil would probably try to get the disease. He'd find that entertaining.
Della grabbed my arm. "We can help each other."
"I don't need your help," I said, pulling away from her. "The drink didn't affect me. They'll let me go home."
Della shook her head. "You've been in this cell with me all night. You're goin
g to get the Scourge now too, sooner or later. But if we work together, we can both walk away from here."
"You can barely walk now. And I'm not sick."
"You'll have to do the talking, Ani. You have to, because when I talk, I sound like I'm in pain. Tell them we're both fine. I can nod and agree with you."
"Della, this is the Scourge, not some simple flu. You know what it does to people."
Her voice raised in pitch. "My father will take us both away from here. He can put me in seclusion, where I won't give the disease to anyone. And he'll help you get home, offer any reward you want to bring you home to your family." She hesitated. "Grubs do have families, right?"