"You owe me nothing. When you get the Scourge, it'll be my fault. That's much worse."
"But I don't have it yet, so until then, you're the better friend." His brows pressed together. "I know the warden never used the rod. But how are you feeling?"
It was hard to think of the right word to describe the pain inside me. It wasn't as severe as it had first been in the doctor's office, but overall, I could feel myself getting weaker. Thanks to Della, there was no way to make it better now.
My eyes darted to the right while I searched for what to say, and as it turned out, he didn't need an answer. Weevil reached into his pocket and pulled out a few more thrushweed leaves. "It's all I have left, but they'll spoil by tomorrow anyway."
I pushed them back at him. "You need them too. Besides, you already gave me some."
"You need more." He crouched closer to the cage. "Let me pay you back for the wheat. Let me be your friend, as much as you are mine."
I stared at him a moment before taking the leaves and putting them into my mouth. I still didn't like the taste, but there was a chance they might help with the pain.
While I chewed the leaves, Weevil withdrew the lock-picking needles that had been stuck in the fabric of his pants.
I shook my head. "They'll expect to find me here in the morning. If I escape, I doubt there's anywhere to hide on this island."
Because of the darkness, it took him several tries with the lock before he found the place to stick the first needle in.
"You can go back into the cage at dawn, but that's hours away. You need a better place to rest."
His second needle went into the lock, and within seconds, the shackle popped apart. I waited for him to safely scoot back along his branch before I opened the cage door, and then he held my hand to guide me onto the branch with him.
"Are we climbing down?" I asked.
"Actually, I thought we could go a little higher. It'll be hard to avoid the thorns below, and there won't be many higher up. Besides, there's a nice branch above us that looks comfortable enough. No hecklebird nests--I checked!"
I gave his hand a squeeze. "Let's go!"
Weevil led the way, carefully explaining where to put my hands and feet. I'd climbed plenty of trees in my life, though never in so much darkness or with the pains that still twisted my side into knots. I should've been more nervous, but I wasn't. Not with Weevil as a guide.
We didn't have far to climb before he announced we were there and asked me to sit. The branch was sturdy and didn't protest under our combined weight. It also formed a sort of hollow where it joined with the tree's trunk. Weevil settled into that hollow, and I sat beside him. When I did, he reached into a satchel around his side and pulled out a couple of bread rolls.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
I snatched the first one out of his hand and inhaled it without saying a word. I was two bites into the second before I mumbled a "thank you."
"Your manners have gotten terrible since leaving home," Weevil said in a fake stern voice. "I hope you won't turn out as bad as all the other River People."
"I intend to be worse," I said, finishing the roll. He then produced a sugar apple. It was small and a little soft, probably left over from last fall's harvest, but I didn't complain a bit. I ate the whole thing, core and all. River People never wasted anything.
With that, I told him I was full and suddenly sleepy.
"Rest against me," Weevil said. "If you fall asleep, I'll keep you in this tree."
I leaned against him, but more than feeling tired, I was relieved to have my friend back. No, not back. He'd never stopped being my friend. It was me who had stopped believing in him.
"Why did you come with me to the Colony?" I asked. "You were free."
Weevil pondered that a moment, then said, "When we're apart too long, everything starts to look sideways, as if the whole world has shifted. It hasn't, of course, but then I realize that I'm the one who's walking crooked. You balance me, Ani."
An ache poked at my side, as it had all night, but I smiled anyway. "Do you suppose Della Willoughby has any friends? Whenever I saw her today, she was alone."
He gave a low whistle. "We could balance her, I think."
"That's not why I was asking. I won't be her friend."
"Someone has to. I don't think she's as bad as she seems. I saw her earlier, bringing food to a few people too sick to get it for themselves. She's just scared, Ani. She needs a friend."