Forever Yours (Nebraska Series Book 9)

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “By the river.”

  Considering how much of their property ran along the river, it could take her quite a while to find him. “Do you remember exactly where he is by the river?”

  Isaac put his finger up to his lips and looked upward. Then he looked back at her and nodded. “He’s close to the tree where he put the swing.”

  Good. She knew where that was. “You need to watch Rachel while I’m gone.”

  “I will.”

  He followed her out of the room, and when she realized he was going to follow her up to the bedroom, she turned to face him. “I need to check on your brother. Go on and watch Rachel. She’s in the parlor.”

  Isaac hurried to the other room, and she rushed up the stairs to check on Adam. Fortunately, he was still asleep. While Isaac was responsible for an eight-year-old, she didn’t want to worry about him having to watch Rachel and Adam all by himself.

  When she returned downstairs, she told Isaac and Rachel to stay inside while she got their pa. Then she looked for Dave. The river wasn’t too far from their home, but at times like this, it felt like it took forever to finally get to the tree with the swing.

  She scanned the area and frowned. She didn’t see Dave anywhere. She called out to him and waited for a response.

  She thought she heard him over the tree branches that rustled in the wind, so she went in that direction. Still, she didn’t see him.

  She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out, “Dave?”

  “Over here!”

  This time he sounded closer, and, if she was right, he was in the river. She moved along the slope that led to the river and peered down to the east. It took her a moment, but then she found Dave holding onto a large trunk sticking up out of the river as the water swirled around him.

  Something was definitely wrong. It wasn’t like Dave to be in that section of the river. That section was deeper than the others. Even if he liked to swim in here from time to time, she couldn’t recall him going this far east.

  She made her way down the bank of the river and stepped into it.

  “Be careful,” he told her. “The current is strong where I am.”

  “Did you hurt yourself when you fell off the horse?” She couldn’t think of any other reason why he’d stay in this area if he didn’t have to.

  He nodded. “I tried to stand up, but I injured my right leg. I fell down the slope and into the river.”

  She took a good look at the current. Dave was stronger than she was, and if he was having trouble with the current, how was she supposed to bring him in?

  As if he could read her mind, he called out, “Go to the barn and get some rope. You can tie it around that tree.” He pointed to the tree closest to him. “I’ll pull myself out.”

  Deciding that was a good plan, she nodded and hurried back to the barn. By the time she returned, she noticed that Dave’s teeth were chattering.

  “How long have you been cold in there?” she asked as she wrapped the rope around the trunk of the tree.

  “Not long,” he replied.

  She glanced over at him and noticed that his skin color was normal. That was a promising sign. Turning back to the rope, she looped it into a tight knot. Then she threw the other end to Dave. He caught it and started to pull himself out of the river.

  As she watched him, an idea came to her. “I’ll be back with a horse.”

  She began to turn when he called out to her.

  “If you can’t walk out of the river, I don’t think you can walk to the house,” she explained before he could ask why she was getting a horse. “And I’m not strong enough to help you.”

  He hesitated as he considered her answer. “You’re right. Bring a horse. Make it Susannah. She’ll make things easier than the others will.”

  “That’s because she’s an old mare.”

  “Just because she’s old, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her uses. She’s a gentle mare.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  That was why he taught her how to ride on Susannah. Even when Susannah was young, she’d been tame. Sometimes it didn’t feel like she’d learned to ride Susannah ten years ago. When she thought of it, it’d seemed like she’d only married Dave and came out here to live with him yesterday. If she didn’t have the children to remind her of the passage of time, she would have sworn that time had stood still.

  She returned to the barn and led Susannah out of the stall. She quickly saddled the mare and then took her out of the barn. On her way back to the river, she noticed that Jack was by the fence that surrounded the pasture. He was eating grass as if nothing of importance had occurred. She hurried to put Jack in the pasture and then continued on her way to the river.

  She was glad to see that Dave had made it out of the water. He was still shivering, but at least he would be dry soon. She was careful as she led Susannah down the slope.

  “If you help me, I can get on her,” Dave said.

  She stopped Susannah in front of him. Since Susannah remained still, she did her best to help Dave to his feet. He had to lean partly on Susannah, but together, they managed to get him on the saddle, though he ended up lying, stomach down, on it. Mary suspected his leg was in too much pain for him to straddle the saddle. She decided not to comment, though.

  Instead, she asked, “Are you comfortable?”

  She thought she heard him grunt under his breath before he said, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  She walked Susannah up the slope and guided her to the house. She was about to ask Dave how he planned to get into the house when he slid off the saddle. He landed on his good foot then proceeded to hop his way to the porch steps.

  “I’ll watch the children,” he told her when he stopped at the bottom step. He grabbed the railing and looked over at her. “I need you to get Joel. I don’t know if my leg is broken, but the injury is more serious than I was hoping it’d be.”

  “Alright, but let me get Adam up from his nap first,” she replied. She knew Dave had to stay and watch the children, but she couldn’t help but worry what condition the house would be in when she returned. Even if Dave tried to do a good job of watching them, he missed things she didn’t.

  He nodded, so she hurried to take care of Adam.

  ***

  “Pa, do you know you’re wet?” Isaac asked after Mary left.

  If Dave hadn’t been in so much pain, he would have chuckled at the question. Leave it to a child to point out the obvious…and not know the adult was well aware of it.

  He settled back on the couch, careful not to irritate his leg. He was sure the injury was serious. It felt serious. He’d had his share of accidents, but none had been like what he’d just been through.

  “You need dry clothes,” Rachel told Dave.

  “I can get some,” Isaac volunteered.

  Before Dave could respond, he was already running up the stairs to go to the bedroom.

  Ignoring Adam as he climbed into a chair, Rachel picked up her doll and walked over to Dave. “How did you get wet?”

  “I fell in the river,” he replied.

  “Why did you do that?” she asked.

  “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

  “What’s a purpose?”

  “Doing something on purpose means you wanted to do it. I didn’t want to fall in the river. That was an accident.”

  “Like when you spill milk on a table?”

  “Yeah, kind of like that.”

  “I like milk,” Rachel said. “I had it this morning.”

  Dave was about to remind her that he’d had breakfast with her so he already knew this when Adam ran over to him and crashed right into his leg. Dave yelled and put his hands on the wounded part of his leg. He hadn’t even noticed Adam getting down from the chair. How was it possible a two-year-old could move so fast?

  “Adam, Pa is hurt,” Rachel said, pulling Adam away from him.

  Adam cried out and shoved her away.

  She grabbed him, and Adam fell back and land
ed on his bottom. He threw his head back and started crying.

  Dave jerked back in surprise. It hadn’t occurred to him that the children were going to start acting up around him. He didn’t know why he assumed they were all going to sit down and quietly play while they waited for Joel to arrive.

  Isaac bounded down the stairs with one of Dave’s older shirts that had a tear in it. The pants, at least, were in good condition. Isaac plopped the items on the couch next to Dave.

  Dave waited until Adam wasn’t crying so loud to ask Isaac, “Can you bring my socks and drawers down, too?”

  Isaac blanched. “I can’t touch your unmentionables.”

  Dave glanced at Rachel. “Do you know what socks and drawers are?”

  “She can’t do it, either,” Isaac argued. “Those are private.”

  Dave might have countered with his own argument if Adam wasn’t still crying. “Forget it,” he said.

  It wasn’t worth the hassle. Mary would be back soon enough, and he could put them on then. For the time being, he needed to get into dry clothes. The river was ice cold. If he wasn’t careful, he’d catch a cold.

  “You three need to go to another room,” Dave told them, his focus mainly on Isaac and Rachel since Adam was too young to understand him. “I have to change clothes.”

  As Rachel helped Adam out of the room, Isaac offered, “I can help.”

  Dave shot him a bewildered look. Isaac had to be kidding. He couldn’t get socks or underwear because those were too private, but he could help him change clothes? Dave shook his head. Never mind Isaac’s lack of logic. It didn’t matter. Dave had no intention of changing in front of any of the children anyway.

  “I’ll do it myself,” Dave said.

  Fortunately, Isaac didn’t argue with him. He did let out a disappointed sigh, but he followed his siblings. Once he was alone, Dave took off all of the wet clothes and dumped them on the floor. Then he slipped on the dry ones, though he had considerable difficulty with the pants. It didn’t matter how careful he tried to be with his injured leg. Pain shot through him every time he moved it. Even a slight movement caused him to grit his teeth. He didn’t dare cry out, though. If he did, Isaac would probably come back into the room in order to help him.

  When he finally managed to get the pants on, he put on his shirt, which proved to be much easier. Out of breath, he sat on the dry part of the couch and threw his head back. He never thought it’d be so hard to put clothes on. He’d really had taken this simple task for granted.

  After a few minutes, he heard something shatter on the kitchen floor.

  “I told you to watch Adam,” Rachel yelled.

  “I only looked away for a little bit,” Isaac snapped back. “I have a right to tie my shoe.”

  “Well, help me get him before he ruins all of the cookies,” Rachel said.

  Dave groaned and put his arm over his eyes. This wasn’t good. Mary was not going to be pleased when she returned. Dave forced himself to sit up straight and called for the kids to get back into the parlor where he could watch them.

  Chapter Three

  Mary had just finished cleaning up the last of the cookie crumbs off the kitchen floor when Joel entered the room. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and rinsed the washcloth in the soapy bucket.

  “How bad is his leg?” she asked as she put the bucket on the worktable.

  “He broke it,” Joel said. “I have some things at the office I can use to make a splint, and I have a crutch he can use.”

  “How long will Dave need to be in a splint?”

  “Anywhere from a month and a half to two months. It all depends on how good he is about staying still and letting his body heal. If he follows my instructions, he’ll heal sooner rather than later. He’s young and has good bones. That’s the good news.”

  Frowning, she asked, “Is there bad news in addition to the good?”

  He gave her a shrug and smiled. “I’ve heard quite a few married women say their husbands are impossible to deal with when they can’t work. I’m not sure how Dave will be for the next few weeks.”

  “The important thing is he’ll be alright.” Then, just to be sure, she asked, “Will he walk again?”

  “He will, and he’ll be able to do it without any help. In the meantime, he’ll need to use a crutch, but he has to be careful how much he uses it. The less he aggravates his leg, the better. I’ll go more into what you two can do when I return. I want to get that splint on him. I should be back in an hour.”

  She nodded. What a relief. At least it wasn’t serious. She didn’t know what Dave would do if he could never walk again. His whole life was about working on the farm. He loved it out here. She didn’t think he could be happy spending the rest of his life indoors all the time.

  Joel left the room, and Mary hurried to empty the bucket of soapy water outside. Then she put the crumpled-up cookies in the pig’s slop. When she returned to the kitchen, she was happy to note that Isaac and Rachel were quiet. Earlier, Isaac and Rachel had been arguing over who was to blame for the mess in the kitchen. She would have told Dave he just needed to send Isaac outside to the porch to get them to stop fighting, but he’d looked so overwhelmed she decided not to bother him about it. Instead, she insisted the children be quiet while their uncle looked at Dave’s leg before she went to the kitchen.

  Now, as she came into the parlor, she saw that Adam had fallen asleep next to Dave. She hurried over to him. He was going to stay up late tonight for sure. She took Adam in her arms and encouraged him to wake up.

  “Is Pa really broken?” Rachel asked her.

  Mary felt a chuckle rise up in her throat. “No, sweetie. He’ll be fine. It’s just his leg that’s broken.” She glanced at Dave. “Did Joel tell you how long you need to stay off of it?”

  Dave grimaced. “Six to eight weeks.”

  “The time will go fast,” Mary assured him. “We should get some books from Rick or Joel. Between them, they have a lot of them.”

  “I don’t know if I’m up to reading,” Dave said as he studied his leg, which was propped up on the table in front of him.

  A pillow had been tucked under it, and Dave’s pants had been cut so that she could see the discoloration below his knee. She could barely make out where the bone had broken, though.

  “I can’t believe I fell off a horse,” Dave muttered.

  “It was an accident,” Mary said. “It could have happened to anyone. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a skilled rider.”

  He shot her a pointed look. “If memory serves, you were afraid Adam was going to fall off the horse the other day when I took him for a ride.”

  “Adam’s only two. A fall would be much worse for him.” Since Adam was waking up, she set him down and took him by the hands and encouraged him to walk.

  “Who’s going to take care of the crops?” he asked.

  “I can check the crops. They really don’t take much work this time of year. All they need is time to grow. The real work is at harvest.”

  Dave considered her words and seemed to feel better after hearing them.

  “Everything will be fine,” she added. “Think of this as a break from all the work you do around here.”

  “Yeah, I suppose that’s the best way to think of it.”

  Noting the reluctance in his tone, she smiled. “Joel said the more rest you get, the sooner you’ll be able to get back out to the fields.”

  He nodded in a way that let her know he would take it easy while his leg healed. Sometimes Dave could be stubborn, so she was glad he was taking Joel’s instructions seriously. She knew it was hard for Dave to sit and do nothing. Ever since she’d married him, he’d been the kind of man who liked to keep busy. With any luck, he would be well in six weeks. Then he wouldn’t have to wait the full two months.

  “Can I go outside and play with Jasper?” Isaac asked.

  “Yes,” Mary said, “but keep him in the fence. The hens are still scared of him.” They’d only
gotten the hens a couple of weeks ago, and the hens still didn’t know what to think of the large dog. Sure, he was friendly, but they didn’t know that yet.

  “Can I play with him, too?” Rachel asked.

  “Yes, you can play, too,” she told her daughter.

  It might be better if the children were out for a while so Dave could get some rest. She would put Adam in a highchair and give him a toy to play with while she made supper. She got ready to take Adam up to change his cloth diaper when Dave called out to her. She turned to face him.

  “Can you bring me a pair of drawers?” Her eyebrows furrowed in surprise, but he added, “Don’t ask. It’s a long story.”

  With a shrug, she told him she’d do as he wished and took Adam upstairs.

  ***

  Dave stared at the splint that prevented him from moving the lower half of his leg. Six to eight weeks. It was going to take six to eight weeks before he could walk without that thing on him.

  With a sigh, he looked up from the ottoman his leg was resting on and stared at the front yard. He’d tried to stay inside, but after a couple of hours of sitting in the parlor and trying to read a couple of books and dime novels Joel had let him borrow, he had to get outside. But even sitting on the porch wasn’t helping to ease his boredom.

  Mary came out onto the porch, a glass of lemonade in her hand.

  “What time is it?” Dave asked.

  “It’s 11:20,” she replied as she put the glass on the small table next to him.

  “It’s only 11:20?” He threw his head back. How was it possible for time to pass at such an agonizingly slow pace?

  “We’ll have something light to eat for lunch in a half hour,” Mary said.

  “It feels like it should be time for supper.”

  She gave him a sympathetic smile. “This is only your first day with the splint. I’m sure the other days won’t go so slowly for you.”

  “They better go faster.”

  “Why don’t you try reading a book? There was one about a man going to Canada to become a Mountie that looked interesting.”