"You're hurt." He set down the bucket and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Your foot."

"I am?" She glanced down at her toes then lifted one foot to see the spot of blood on the floor beneath it. "Oh. That opened up again. It's just a little cut." For some reason, she didn't react so badly to blood when it was her own. 'Twas only that of others that made her queasy.

"Sit down and let me look at it."

She shrugged and slid into a chair. Caddoc poured water from ...