Chapter Six

Attack!

Gabrielle slowly woke up, drifting in and out of sleep. Each time she was a little more awake than the time before.  And the more conscious, and aware, she became, the more she realized something was different; wasn’t quite right. 

The first thing she noticed was that the cabin smelled differently. She couldn’t tell exactly why, but it did. Then she found she wasn’t cold anymore. In fact, she was almost too warm. And as she moved the covers, she realized she wasn’t on a pallet on the floor — she was in a bed.

Gabrielle opened her eyes to find a hazy-looking Xena smiling down at her. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and Xena’s face became sharp and clear.

“Where are we?” she asked, her voice sounding hoarse. “This isn’t the cabin.”

“We’re back at the Healer’s. He said we’ve been here for three days. I just woke up a little while ago, myself.”

“The Healer’s? How did we get here?”

“He found us while we were sleeping. He said we almost died.”

Gabrielle sat up with a little help from Xena, and put her legs over the side of the bed. She was still a bit woozy.

“Died? I don't understand. Did someone try to kill us in our sleep?”

“Not someone,” Gabrielle heard the Healer say, “But some THING.”

Gabrielle shook her head, still not completely cognizant.

“It was the smoldering fire,” he continued.  “The snowfall blocked off most of the chimney, and the smoke from the fire had filled up the cabin. Good thing you two were on the floor, most of the smoke was up near the roof. But another day or two and I’d ‘a been too late.”

“You found us?” Gabrielle was still trying to make sense of what was being said. “Why were you looking for us in the first place?”

“It was Argo.” Xena explained. “While she was out looking for food, she found her way back to this village.”

“Yup,” the Healer agreed. “And when we saw she was wandering around like that, we figured something must 'a happened, so me and my apprentice rode on out to your cabin. And there we found you two, sick as you could be, and almost suffocated. So we brought you back. I managed to get some medicine down your throats, and here you are.”