Chapter 15
It seemed to Will Brown that he had just gone to bed when he heard a woman’s voice and then a knock.
“Mr. Brown. A boy’s outside here wantin’ to see you. Should I tell him to go away? I got a letter here. He says it’s important.”
Will went to the door. The innkeeper’s wife handed him an envelope and he opened it. Dear Will—I need your help and advice. Please come immediately. I am not in danger. Marjorie
Will asked the woman to send up the messenger.
“Miss Marjorie said to wait and give you the letter,” the black man said, “and I was to bring you back with me.”
The man led Will to a buggy and drove him through the dim morning light to the house. She met him on the porch and rushed him into the house and up the stairs while explaining her urgency. “Remember the girl Jeffery Walker placed with me? She was pregnant when she got here and now she’s in a bad way with the baby. I don’t know what to do, Will.”
A pale girl lay on the bed under a bloody quilt. Winnie sat at her side holding her hand. “She’s feeling better now. I gave her some laudanum and she’s sleeping. But I’m afraid for her, Mr. Brown.”
“I can’t have her die here, Will,” Marjorie said. “I can’t have her die and I don’t know what to do. She’s not mine. She’s not my problem, and if she dies, there’ll be hell to pay. Can you do something? Do something for her, Will. Oh, Will.” Marjorie folded her arms and then hugged herself.
Winnie stood and took Marjorie’s elbow. “Honey, you sit with her for a while, and Mr. Brown and I will go downstairs and talk about it. We’ll find something, Marjorie. Just sit.”
The two walked down and sat in the parlor. “What Marjorie said is true, Mr. Brown. If she dies here we are in a world of trouble, not the least being Jeffery Walker himself.”
“Have you thought of a doctor? How long has she been down?”
“Two days now. I sent for a midwife after the first day and she came and looked and said the mother was awfully small and the baby was turned and she...”
Will held up a hand and looked down. “You’re saying she couldn’t help.”
“Yes. And she said a doctor couldn’t either, short of cutting the baby out and that would be…”
Will waved his hand. “I see, I see. Then the best thing to do is to take her home, take her back to her owner. Can you get me a buggy or a wagon? And the Walker place. I have no idea where anything is in this town.”
“We’ll get her there. I’ll get Rufus to bring the buggy around if you’ll go up and tell Marjorie to bundle her up. Tell her to get a clean nightgown on her.”
Winnie went to the porch and was at the bedside before Will could finish explaining the plan to Marjorie.
“Mr. Brown, if you will go down and wait in the parlor until we’re ready to go.”
Will met the three women at the bottom of the stairs and helped Rufus lift the girl into the buggy. The black man helped Winnie into the coach and Will walked to the other side. Winnie sat next to the woman wrapped in a blanket and held her.
“Now, Marjorie,” she said, “go in and lie down and rest. We’ll be back before you know it. Take us to the Walker mansion, Rufus,” said Winnie. The black man closed her door and climbed into the box.
As they rode, Winnie expressed her gratitude for Will’s help.
“You didn’t need me, Winnie. You knew what you had to do.”
“I’m sorry to have brought you here, Mr. Brown. Marjorie thought that you would be able...”
“No, no. That’s not what I meant. I’m happy to help. It’s just that you’re intelligent and strong and totally capable of taking care of things.”
“I’m pretty good for a negress. I handle myself pretty well. Is that what you mean?”
“No, that’s not it, not it at all. What I mean is that you could have done this.”
“No, Mr. Brown. Can you imagine Rufus and me taking a dying white girl to the Walker mansion in the wee small hours of a Sunday morning? You make us legitimate. No one will stop us because you are here.”
Quinn's War Page 16
