Her father had his arms around her and was trying to coax her away from the body. She looked back. He had a face now, a real human face, and hands; the hands reached out toward her and the face could not utter a sound as the mouth gaped in agony. The eyes—strange eyes, full of many different colors, like the mother-of-pearl shell she'd dropped somewhere—stared right at her. Madi's tender heart twisted inside her. She felt herself push away from her father as he pelted her with questions.
"Are you all right, Madi? Did the monster hurt you? This is what comes of going too close to the water, as I warned you about!" He shuddered at the memory of nearly losing his daughter. "Good god, how can such a hideous creature exist?"
Madi stumbled a little at her father's clumsy shepherding conflicting with her desire to turn and help the stranger in the sand.
"Dad, I'm all right," she blurted urgently, and Ash relaxed.
"Have you got your bucket?" He asked. "We really should be going."
Madi remained rooted to the spot, her eyes fixed on the gasping man on the beach.
"Look, Dad!" She pointed, calling his attention to the prone form.
Ash stepped aside to turn and look, giving Madi the opportunity to step a little closer.
"Wait!" He tried to snatch her back, but just then, he froze too, as instead of a large, bizarre, tentacled thing, he saw a thin, wounded man half-covered by the surf. Had he imagined the terrible thing? Grove could only watch in stunned silence as the strange man let out a whimper and reached out a beseeching hand.
Madi shrugged his hand off. "Dad," she murmured, staring at the terrifying wound, "he's hurt!"
Grove took one look at the mutilated flesh, and his physician instincts took over. The smoothness of the edges suggested a very sharp knife had made the cut, and it was a miracle nothing had so much as nicked the internal organs. But what sort of person would take a knife to another person to wound him in this manner? Ash shook his head; was he really thinking of this—this thing as a person now? He had no idea what sort of being this was; he could understand why an unsuspecting person would be inclined to wound such a terrible thing as the mammoth creature he'd seen... And yet...
The victim turned his eyes on the doctor. The swirling colors seemed to speak for him, telling Ash of the intense pain and begging him to help. Dr. Grove responded immediately; whatever this stranger had been before, he was only a weak, innocent man right now, and badly in need of a doctor.
"Madi," he whispered, not taking his eyes off the man, "run back and get the blanket I brought."
Madi finally blinked and turned to look at her father. "Are we going to help him?" She asked.
Ash nodded. "That's what the blanket is for. Go quickly, Mads."
Madi needed no second bidding. She scurried across the sand.
Left alone with the stranger, Ash became acutely aware of his labored breathing. He knelt by the man and began unburying his legs while the stranger whimpered and grunted like a lame dog. He even snarled when Ash brushed too near the thick wound.
Ash immediately brought up his hands. "Sorry!" He cried. "Sorry."
The man's bony fingers dug into the sand. Even completely unburied, he seemed powerless to move of his own volition.
Grove saw Madi returning, but he had just enough time to communicate with the stranger one last thing. He leaned close to the panting man.
"Can you speak?" He whispered.
The man watched him, working his mouth in perfect imitation of the question, but no sound above a whimper came.
"All right, you seem to understand speech anyway. Listen closely: I don't know what you are, and you did sort of threaten my daughter, so I have every right to just leave you here, but you are hurt and I am a doctor, so I will do what I can to help you, as long as you do not hurt us. Understand?"
The stranger held his gaze without wavering, and slowly nodded his head.
Running footsteps heralded Madi's approach. She thrust the blanket toward her father. "Here," she panted.
The stranger turned his gaze on her, and Ash saw a hint of a smile tickling the corners of his mouth. Ash draped the blanket over the man's naked body as the stranger climbed up to all fours.
"That's it," Ash coaxed, "nice and easy."
The sun had already touched the horizon by the time Dr. Grove helped the stranger stand, with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. The lower edge hung down to his knees. His long legs quivered, and Dr. Grove had to support him on one side, with Madi standing at his elbow on the other, since the man stood head and shoulders over the tallest man Ash had ever seen, likely over seven feet tall.
They had just reached the edge of the paved walk leading to the cottages when the tall stranger stumbled, nearly crushing Madi. Grove had to dart in front of him, catching the man's weight on his back to save his daughter. The stranger didn't bother to regain his footing, but slumped heavier onto Grove's back. The head lolled over Grove's shoulder, and the doctor realized the man had fainted. He struggled under the weight of the long body as they traversed the path up to the cottage. Madi opened the door, and Gove dragged the body into the front room, laying it out on the rug. The wool blanket only had one red stain from the gash. Grove managed to keep the man's legs covered as he exposed the gash.
"We've got to take care of the wound," he muttered.
"What can I do?" Madi asked earnestly.
Grove considered for a moment. "Go and boil water," he ordered. "Get me clean towels, and my kit."
Madi brought her father everything he asked
