He ignored me and sat on the edge of the gently flowing water and cupped his hand in it. The next thing I knew, he was rubbing it onto my back. I cried out from the sting and tried to pull away, but it was like fighting against a band of steel that had been bent around my frame. Useless. Rowe cupped more water in his free hand and splashed it against my back. I clenched my jaw, squeezing my eyes shut as I did my best to bear the pain. It wasn’t until I heard soft, approaching footsteps that I opened my eyes to see the older woman moving towards us, the small bowl she’d been mashing that
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