Blacktail Deer Plateau Poppied Up

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He had kept well clear of Pema and the girl on their return to the plateau, a silver shadow in the distance. He closed the gap just a little when they reached the border, and Pema called for Grayday and Dawn, but still remained many paces away from the duo. He watched the girl slump with exhaustion and from the intoxication of the poppies. He wished he'd taken some himself.

Pain, emotional torment, surged through him, making his body ache with the intensity of it all. He could hear his daughter's starved mewls, his wife's strangled cries, four of them, as each of their children had died. And layered above it all, the hazy stupor of poppies. He had given Lucy poppies, to ease her path into death.

Day appeared, looking quizzically at the scene. "I found her at the hot springs," Shale croaked, his voice barely audible above the wind. "She needs rest, and care. Pema treated her a bit." He fell silent, looking to Pema to say her own thoughts on the matter.