Page 61 of Wagon Train Promises
She sighed, but before she could voice her protest, he continued. “I’m thinking if I’m not sick by now, I’m not going to be. I can boil water and make tea. Whatever needs to be done.”
The fact that she remained limp in his arms said all he needed to know. He led her to her bedroll, which she’d used infrequently these past days, and eased her down, pulling a quilt around her shoulders. She was asleep before he stepped away, but he lingered, studying her. At rest, her face lost the worry she’d carried since Marnie got sick. It would be nice if she slept long enough for the dark shadows under her eyes to disappear.
Now, to take over her work. He stirred the coals, added another log, heated the broth Hazel made, and took some to the Woods sisters and Pa. He sank to the ground beside his pa.
“Good to see you feeling better.”
Pa swallowed his mouthful of broth. His gaze stayed with Marnie. “She’s not better.”
“Maybe she is. When was the last time she was gripped with cramps?”
A twitch ran across Pa’s shoulders. “Are you saying she’s over it?”
Cecil didn’t want to give Pa false hope when Marnie lay as still as a stone, her back to them.
“Marnie,” Pa whispered, reaching toward her but not touching her as if he was afraid of what he’d discover.
She gulped in a shuddering breath of air, then turned, painfully slow, to face Pa. A smile flitted across her face, and then she slept.
Surely that was a good sign. It meant she was getting better, or did it mean?—
He wouldn’t allow himself to finish the thought. Instead, he gathered up the now-empty cups from everyone and set them into the hot water to soak as he’d seen Louise do. After that, there was little to do, and not wanting to disturb Louise by making any noise, he sat on a log stool by the fire.
“Well?”
Walt’s voice jarred him from staring at the red coals.
“Well, what?”
“How is it you’re over there when Louise forbade any of us to cross the line.” He dragged the toe of his boot along an imaginary line.
“She needed rest. ’Ppears to me that everyone is over the worst.” Even Pa fell asleep after he finished his broth.
“Then I should be able to get Irene.”
Cecil shrugged. “It’s not up to me. When Louise wakens, you can ask her.”
Walt studied Louise, grunted, and stalked away.
Louise slept until past noon and woke with a startled cry as Hazel dropped a lid on a pot.
“Everything is fine,” Cecil soothed. And yes, those dark shadows under her eyes had faded.
She shook her head as if trying to rid herself of lingering sleep, then hurried to her patients. Irene and the other ladies sat up, visiting among themselves. Pa sat beside Marnie, who slept.
Louise knelt beside Marnie. “How is she?” she whispered to Pa.
“Better, I think. But so weak.”
“She’ll soon regain her strength.” Louise lifted her face to the sky and gave a soft laugh. “Thank You, God.”
“Can I see Irene?” Walt called, having moved close as soon as he heard Louise’s voice.
Louise looked toward the sisters, a thoughtful expression on her face. “If things continue to improve, everyone can go back to their usual places in the morning.”
Walt’s grunt didn’t sound thankful, but then Cecil could hardly blame him. Those days and hours of sitting by the fire with Hazel while Louise managed on her own were the hardest he could remember. Now that the danger seemed past, he would admit how fearful he was that Louise would succumb. That any of them should die.
But having crossed the line to join Louise’s camp, he had no intention of leaving again.
