Page 66 of Sutherland's Secret
“Are you ill?” Eleanor asked hopefully.
The woman shook her head and gasped, then moaned low.
“Is the babe coming?”
The woman nodded and Eleanor cursed silently. This was not a good time for birthing a baby. Not to mention that she had no idea how to birth a baby, and she was certain Brice’s man didn’t know, either.
The woman straightened, closed her eyes, and breathed in and out of clenched teeth as her hand made circling motions on her belly.
“What do you need me to do?” Eleanor asked.
“Help me walk,” the woman said. She took Eleanor’s arm and they walked away from the horse and the man.
“I have no idea how to help you,” Eleanor finally admitted.
The woman’s smile was more of a grimace. “No’ much to it. The babe comes on its own.”
“How many have you had?” Eleanor asked in surprise.
“Four. One that lived.” She suddenly bent over and moaned low.
Helpless, Eleanor could only watch until the pain ended. She knew so little about birthing. Next to nothing. Actually she knew nothing other than the very basics.
The poor woman. She’d birthed four babies, and only one had lived. How terrifying.
The woman straightened and drew in a deep breath. “That one was powerful. Won’t be much time.” She turned stricken eyes to Eleanor. “I thought we could make it to Canada before the babe arrived. I had hoped. But it’s early.” Tears shimmered in her eyes, and Eleanor could read her thoughts plainly on her face. What if this one didn’t make it?
“My name is Eleanor,” Eleanor said, trying to take the woman’s mind off her problems, although she knew that might be a tall task.
“Morna is my name. I thank ye.”
Eleanor waved her hand in the air as if it were just another day delivering a baby. The thought had her insides quivering. She looked back at Brice’s man, who had taken a blanket off the back of the horse and was shaking it out.
“I’ll be right back, Morna. Don’t wander far.”
The woman chuckled, which had been Eleanor’s hope. Eleanor approached the man. “She’s going to have this baby now.”
“Here?” He looked around the forest as if hoping a hut would suddenly appear or, better yet, a midwife. Eleanor wished for the midwife as well.
“Yes, here. I need you to find a soft place to lay that blanket.”
“On the forest floor?” he asked.
“Yes,” Eleanor snapped. “She’s having this baby here, on the forest floor. It’s not as if we can tell the little one to wait for a more opportune moment.”
He swallowed and nodded, then set off to find a comfortable spot for a woman to birth a baby.
Morna was bent over again, her hand clutching her belly, her other hand clutching a tree limb that appeared to be the only thing holding her up. “It’s time,” she gasped between pains. A keening sound erupted from her, and she bit it off quickly.
“Well, then. Let’s have a baby,” Eleanor said with false cheer.
—
Brice’s blood had turned cold with fear. He couldn’t find Eleanor anywhere. As per his instructions, his men had disappeared into the nearby trees when they’d been warned that English soldiers were approaching. However, Eleanor had not been behind him like he’d thought, and now he couldn’t find her.
He wanted to call out her name, to scream for her. But he knew that was not possible. The soldiers were not that far away, and who knew if another retinue was nearby. He rode through the forest, but that was fruitless. He could be riding in circles looking for her. He had no idea where she had gone.
He’d found most of his men and the father and son they were transporting, but no Eleanor and not the mother, either. He did a quick head count. He was also missing Oliver, one of his younger men. He prayed they were together and that nothing bad had befallen them. With the mother, heavy with child, they would be moving slowly. Pray God the soldiers had not spotted them as easy prey. He knew his Eleanor enough to know she would fight like hell for that mother.
