"I won't regret my offer, Koda. I'll be here if you need me, for
anything." 

She walked him to the door, and slowly shut it behind him as he 
walked away. Her thoughts went back over the conversation they'd just 
had and she couldn't help but feel as if a huge weigh had been lifted 
off her shoulder. 

He didn't hate her!! 

How dearly that meant to her. And he wasn't even upset with her about 
the baby. But then she hadn't told him ...everything. Someday soon 
she'd have to explain about her childhood sickness and what it might 
mean in the long run. But for now... for now she was happy.

Koda wondered on down the hall to her bedroom and changed into her 
night gown suddenly feeling like she could sleep. She was about to 
crawl into bed when she heard someone pounding at her outer door and
grabbing her robe from behind her door, she donned it as she made her 
way back out into the living room and to the door. 

She opened it a couple of minutes later, blinking tiredly.  "Trey?"

"Get your clothes back on.  They've found Carie and are preparing a rescue.
We may need a healer.  Meet me in the kitchens."

Just then Ribbon relayed a message of her own, telling her rider that Fiera
asked that the healer be ready. Something was going to happen soon, and she
may be needed.

She nodded to Trey and headed back inside. Raced back down the hallway to
her bedroom and changed into a stout shirt and pants before grabbing her bag
and heading towards the dragon's ledge. 

Yasi called out her name as she past the girl's room. the sound of someone
pounding on their door had awoken her from her slumber. 

"What's happening?"

"They think they've found Carrie so I need to be there in case someone is
hurt when they try to rescue her."

"Hang on I'm going to!!"

"No!!" Koda said a little harder then she intended. "I know dear that you
want to help, but you're not a trained fighter even if you are a
dragonrider. Right now you going in there and looking around in the caves
would hamper the searchers more then help. They'd be to busy trying to keep
you safe and may miss something. I'm sorry."

Yasi turned her head and looked back into her room. Koda knew the girl was
thinking about arguing her points, but the she bowed her head, nodding in
agreement. 

"You're right this time," she agreed. "But I think it's about time I start
learning to defend myself.. and others."

"Talk to David about it later. It's a good idea," Koda agreed and reached
out to squeeze the girls arm. "I'll have Ribbon keep Star informed on what's
going on."

With that the healer turned and, once out side the main living area, she
mounted the Purple dragon for the short trip to the kitchens. 

Minutes later she was walking into the back rooms of the kitchen. 

She saw Trey look up and come towards her as soon as he saw her enter the
room. He came over grabbed her arm and steered her into the circle of men
standing there. He explained. "I think it would be good to have a healer
ready, behind us. But I want her guarded and guarded well.  We can't have
another healer injured, with C'tain down."  

His words were saying one thing, but she could see a totally different
message in the look he was giving her. One no one else in the room could
read. He was worried. She understood and nodded her head slowly.

David nodded and turned to the boy and some others.  "That's a good plan. Ye
all stay with Healer Lakoda. It's a good twenty minutes to the cavern where
Carie be, so she'll need to be close. 'Twould be easy for someone
tae sneak up upon ye, so be alert. Healer Lakoda, wait behind until Kaylin
tells Ribbon it's safe. D'ye understand?" 

She nodded. To used to dealing with men like this to let them know that she
was going to modify their little plans a bit. Oh she'd wait behind and let
herself be protected. But she wasn't going to wait that long. She'd give
them 5 minutes then give her *guards* a choice; follow her on inside the
caves, or wait behind.

She'd make sure they all stayed out of the way until she was called in. But
there was no telling how far they would have to travel and she wasn't about
to let any more time go by then she could help. If there was anyone injured,
then they would need medical help as soon as possible. 

"Is this all of us?" She heard Trey asked, and then stepped back out of the
searchers way.

David nodded. "And Tina and Talitha are on t'other side of the cavern, ready
to join the fray."

With that the armed riders entered the opening leading back into the caves
system, one bye one until only she and her guards were left. 

She counted slowly in her head to 400 then looked back at the nearest guard.
"Okay time for us to go."

"But Healer.. we was told to wait here," the boy moved as if to cut her off
from entering the opening. 

"Until my Ribbon said it was okay," she reminded him, leaving out that
Ribbon had yet to give her any message. "We'll just take it slow and I'll
stay in the middle between you all. That way you can keep a watch out in
front of us and behind us for anyone thinking to do us harm."

The boy looked back at his friends who were all nodding their heads. If the
healer said she'd been called.. who were they to tell her she couldn't go.
After all they'd been ordered to protect her.

She stayed out of the way just as she had promised she would, but sprang
forward towards the cave she had seen them enter as soon as the all clear
sound was given by Ribbon. 

She briefly took note of the dead bodies laying around the floor just long
enough to make sure none of them were friends then her eyes caught sight of
David kneeling next to Carrie who laid slumped against the far wall. 

"Don't move her!" She ordered, when she saw his hands reaching for her, and
hurried towards them. Past Trey who 
stepped out of the way to let her through, but not before she saw the blood
on his hip. 

"Someone see to Trey!!" she hollered as she knelt on the other side of Carie
and began to take a look at the wounds the girl had taken. 

It took her a minute to figure out that not all of the blood covering the
Queen's riders was her own. But there was enough of her own coming from the
entry points where the two arrows had entered her body. 

"We've got to get her out of here and back to my surgery," she told David,
then looked around the cavern they were in. the place was big.. but would it
be big enough?

Her eyes caught sight of Trey off to one side, that newrider.. the one who'd
helped out in the camp, was kneeling beside him. she looked to have things
well enough in hand for the moment, so Koda turned her attentions back on
the woman in front of her. Something had to be done, and done soon. The
arrows had to be removed and the bleeding stopped. 

Again she looked around the cavern, then back at David.

"What do you think the chances would be for Ribbon to teleport inside here?"
she asked him.

The rider stopped what he had been doing and turned to take a look around.
"Aye, Ribbon could get in here, healer, but there's naught room for her tae
get air born tae teleport out. She'd be stuck here. We'll have to
move her by stretcher through the kitchens..."

"Well it was just a thought," she frowned. "Well we don't have time to wait
for anyone to get here with a stretcher, so I need you to look around and
find something we could use to keep her steady on the trip back."

David got up and went to look for something they could use, and Koda wanting
to check on Trey, called out to the nearest rider closest to her. 

"T'rend come watch Carrie for a minute for me," she told him and then got up
and wondered over to where Talitha was tending Trey. 

She knelt beside him and reached for his hand while watching Talitha dress
the wound on his hip. 

"You doing okay?" she asked him, her fingers finding his paulse point on his
wrist. She wanted to make sure he wasn't going into shock due to the blood
lost. 

"Been better," he tried to grin, but Talitha chose that moment to apply a
cloth to wipe away the warm blood oozing from the cut on his hips. 

Koda saw him fight to keep from showing the pain he was experiencing, but
she could feel it in the hand that tighten over hers. 

"You'll be fine Trey," she assured him. "I'm going to have a couple of your
boys take you back through the caves and get you to the med center."

"No!" he spoke sharply. "They stay with you until you leave here! Talitha
and Tina can help me back. But the boys stay here with you!"

She could tell the girl beside them was wondering about his reasons for
speaking so strongly to her, but she just patted his hand and agreed with
his wishes so as not to upset him any more. 

"All right Trey," she told him then turned to Talitha.
"You've done a good job taking care of his injury so far,
but he really needs to be taken to the med center where I can have a better
look at him. Can you see that he gets there? 

"Sure Healer."

[will they need help... is he able to get about any on his own with support
from someone else?]

David came back just then with a large flat board he'd found in another
tunnel, and with the help of several of the riders, Koda was able to moved
the injured Queenrider onto it and secure her. 

"Make sure her legs are slightly elevated," she told the man at the end, who
placed his riding jacket beneath the girls legs to give her legs some
support. Now on three we'll lift her slowly and carefully take her back
through the kitchen and then to Ribbon who's waiting outside."

When she would have moved to take a place beside the stretcher to help lift
it, T'rend stepped in front of her and took her spot. She happened to glance
back at Trey who was standing now with the support of Talitha on one side
and the strange girl Tina on the other. His eyes met hers and somehow she
knew he'd put T'rend up to it. 

"Okay.. let's hurry as fast as we can and still be careful with her," Koda
told them and began to lead the way out of the cavern.

................

"She's resting now," Koda told Waylene later, when she'd gone to the
Warrenlady's apartment to report to her. "It was touch and go for a little
while with one of the arrows hitting so close to a main vain. But I was able
to get it out with out causing any more damage, but she's going to be laid
up for some time while she heals. She's lucky to still be alive."

"Was anyone else hurt?" the Warrenlady asked her, while Trak sat silently
beside her listening to the healers report. 

"Trey took a bad cut on the hip, but he'll be fine, if not sore for a few
days," she told them. "a few others had minor cuts and bruise's, but
everyone of ours made it out alive. I'm sorry I can't say that about the
outlaws."

[[ Kris or Mike.. you can carry this on and ask her any questions you can
think of if either of you want. ]]

Koda went home after talking to Waylene and Trak to find Yasi still waiting
up for her. 

"I would have thought Ribbon told you that we found Carrie and got her out?"
she said wondering why the girl was still up.

"Well I know she told me," Yasi grinned as if caught raiding the cookie jar.
"But I wanted to see for myself that you were okay... I mean with the baby
and all..."

"Mother and baby are doing fine," Koda grinned and reached up to touch
Yasi's cheek. "We're just a little tired right now so I think I'll head on
to bed and try to get a few hours of sleep before I have to go back in the
morning. Night sweetie."

"Night Koda. I'm glad everything turned out and you got Carrie back... and
she's gonna be okay."

"Me too."

====================================== 

Well I don't know if anything more will come from her injuries.. Chris let
me know if you decide on any complications arising. 

Lyn.. you know this means Trey is off duty for a few days... if he'll listen
to his healers orders that is.... 

Kate.. Koda will be in the center come morning for Ailill's lesson. 

***Submitted by: ****

Healer Lakoda & Ribbon
Head of Marrid Warren Medical Center

aka
Barbara