more," Ines lied; Caroline could tell by the way she refused to meet her gaze.
"They're the only ones, just this woman and this child? They live alone? Here? In the jungle? I don't believe you, Ines. Tell her what I said."
"It doesn't matter, Senhora. Yes, there are others, but this boy, he is the sickest. Heal him and they will bother you no more."
"This child may be the sickest right now, but by tomorrow, this woman's body will be completely covered with the same red rash. If they don't get the proper treatment, others will develop pneumonia. Pneumonia almost always brings death."
"Senhora, I should not have brought you here. I can take you no longer."
Caroline sighed in exasperation. "I've had measles, so I'm immune. But you haven't, have you? I wonder how many people on the fazenda have had them."
"You cannot tell Master Jason. You gave your word."
"I know I gave my word, but this—this is something I didn't expect. If you'll tell me where these people came from and let me examine the others who have been exposed, I won't tell Jason. Adults rarely die of the disease, and there are few children on the fazenda. Besides, I'll be there to diagnose any outbreaks early; that's the key to treating measles. What do you say, Ines?"
Ines hesitated. Caroline could sense the battle raging inside the other woman, but even before she spoke, Caroline knew what decision Ines had reached. "It is for your own good, Senhora. It is better for you that you don't know. I cannot."
Caroline sighed in defeat. "Damn it, Ines."
"Will you help the boy?"
"I'll try, but he is very sick." Caroline retrieved a blanket from a stack in the corner and used it to cover the boy to the chin. Compassion swelled inside her because she knew what hell he had to face before morning. "Tell her to keep him covered no matter what."
Ines repeated Caroline's words in Portuguese, and Caroline watched the boy's mother to make sure she understood.
"When the fever breaks, he will sweat and his body will grow cool." Again Caroline waited while Ines translated, her own body shivering with the memory of her childhood bout with pneumonia, an experience that had nearly taken her life. "Does she understand?"
"Sim, Senhora."
"If the fever doesn't break by sunrise, she must come and get me. Tell her that, Ines, exactly as I said it. She must come and get me."
Ines hesitated, then translated.
"If the fever does break, he'll probably have chills, then fever again. The fever shouldn't last longer than half a day. If it does, she should come and get me."
Again Ines translated, then turned to Caroline, the hope and faith in her eyes causing a catch in Caroline's throat. Closing her eyes, Caroline made a silent appeal to God for the child's recovery. There was nothing more she could do.
"You will make well, sim, Senhora" Ines asked anxiously.
"I'm not sure I can," Caroline admitted, coming to her feet. "It's in God's hands now."
"Will you tell Master Jason?"
"I don't know. I should," Caroline said, remembering the night of the mud slide and Jason's concern for his workers. She felt as if she were betraying him by keeping Ines's secret. What would he say if he learned that she was endangering his men and their families? Still, Ines had trusted her too. There had to be a way to keep from betraying either of them, but she was too tired to think tonight. "Let me sleep on it. We'll talk about it in the morning."
"If Jason already knows about whatever it was that I saw last night," and Caroline wasn't at all sure what that was, "why must we keep it secret from him? Ouch! Be careful!"
"Why did you not put on the shoes?" Ines asked, gazing up at Caroline from where she knelt on the floor. Her skillful hands massaged the aches and pains from Caroline's swollen feet.
"Because, you said it was a matter of life and death." Caroline sat on a stool in her sitting room, her nightgown hiked up to her knees, her bare feet soaking in a large pan of hot, soapy water.
Ines took one of Caroline's sore feet from the water and patted it dry, then gently applied an evil- smelling ointment.
"Are you sure that stuff works?" Caroline asked dubiously.
"Sim," Ines replied.
"What did you say those nasty little creatures were?"
"Chigoes—fleas," Ines told her. "They burrow in the flesh. This will kill them."
Caroline shuddered, silently calling herself every kind of fool for