“Get into bed. I will go put water on to boil.”
Jo ignored the suggestion to get into bed. She would be better walking for now. That had helped when the twins had been born. Rick had held her hand right up until the midwife shooed him away. Rick. Why wasn’t he here? She gritted her teeth as another pain wracked her body.
Bridget had gone, she suspected she’d send Carrie for Tilly and Almanzo. But it was too late. The baby would be here before the midwife or doctor reached them from town. She panted again, trying to remember what she had done when giving birth to the twins. How she wished Della were here.
Just then the bedroom door opened and her ma walked in. Jo couldn’t believe her eyes.
“I had a funny feeling you would be needing me today. Thank goodness for the sixth sense or whatever your granny would have called it. Walk now girl, keep walking. How far apart are the pains?”
“About five minutes now and getting closer,” Jo managed to squeak. Her ma gave her some water to drink before turning down the bed covers. She then busied herself making up the bed with the old sheets Jo had set aside for this day.
“Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?”
“I don’t care, Ma so long as it’s healthy.
“I’m sure it will be. God knows you had enough to contend with this past year,” Della murmured.
Jo didn’t respond. The pains gripped her again and her body wanted to push. She let her ma help her onto the bed. Bridget arrived with some hot water and towels, but ran as soon as it looked like the baby was coming. Jo grimaced in pain but couldn’t stop herself exchanging a look with her ma.
“Good thing I came calling otherwise you would have been having this baby alone.”
“Bridget would have stayed. You here. Doesn’t have to.” Jo couldn’t complete her sentences but barked out bits between the pain. Her ma understood. Jo looked at Della with gratitude. Her ma could be scared stiff, but you would never tell from her face. She faced life every day in the same way come rain or shine, she was always smiling or at least trying to. And now she smiled down at Jo as she washed the sweat from her face.
“Thought of any names yet?”
Jo couldn’t answer. She had thought about names, but she wasn’t saying anything until the baby was in her arms. She wondered if it would be a boy. She knew Rick had wanted a son. Not that he didn’t love his daughters, of course he did, but all men wanted a boy to carry on their name. To keep their land in the family.
She gritted her teeth and pushed and pushed until the baby arrived. Why wasn’t it crying? She used her last remaining strength to push herself up in the bed. “Ma, what’s wrong?”
Her ma wasn’t smiling but stood staring at the bundle as if in shock.
“Ma, what’s wrong?” Jo cried out, unaware of how loud she was until Bridget came running. Her friend looked from Jo to Della and back at the baby. Without a word, she picked up the baby held it face down by the legs and gave it a resounding slap on the backside. Jo screamed at Bridget to leave her baby alone, but Bridget ignored her. She examined the baby quickly before giving it another slap and the baby cried in protest. Tears streaming down her face, Bridget handed the little one over to Jo.
“Seems your son is as stubborn as his ma.”
Jo examined the now screaming bundle in her arms. Her baby was perfect. A boy. Rick had a son. A hungry one too, if his open mouth jutting at her chest was anything to go by.
“Bridget where did you learn to do that?”
“I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. My ma had a baby just like yours. I saw an old woman do it, but I never tried it before myself.”
Jo didn’t care about her qualifications or experience. Bridget had saved her baby and she would never forget it. “Thank God you were here Bridget. Without you we would have lost him.’
“No, you would have done the same once you realized you didn’t have a choice. The woman in Ireland who came to help my mam give birth said the crying helped the baby breathe.” Bridget cooed at the baby before she went for some hot water for Jo’s bath. “Once you’re all clean and tidy I will get you a nice cup of tea.”
“You might get me something stronger,” Jo’s mom said.
“Now, Miss Della, don’t be having me on. I know you’re not one for the hard stuff.”
Jo giggled. She had never seen her ma with an alcoholic drink but, judging by the look on her face, she could have done with one today.
“He is beautiful, Jo.” Her ma beamed in approval.
“He’s a little angel.”
“What are you going to call him or should I guess?”
“Richard, but Richie for short. There was only one Rick,” Jo said before dissolving into tears. “Oh Ma, it’s so unfair. He would have loved a son.”
“He loves his son as much as he loves you and the girls. He is holding you all close to his heart, Johanna. Never forget that. Just because you can’t see him doesn’t mean he isn’t here.”
Jo tried to control her sobs. She knew her ma meant well, but she really needed to see Rick. Just one more time.
“Now give me my new grandson and I will bath him and put a diaper on him while you have a bath. Then you need to go back to bed and rest.”
“I don’t want to give him up just yet Ma.”
“I know you don’t sweetheart, but we have to get you all clean and tidy before his sisters come in. You don’t want to frighten them do you?”
* * *
Sometime later, Jo sat nursing Richie as Carrie and Jo’s daughters arrived in.
“Oh ma, he came. The baby is here. What’s his name?” Nancy asked.
“Richard, but we can call him Richie.”
“Hello Richie. I’m your big sister. I will look after you when you are all grown up,” Lena promised.
“No, you won’t, I will. I am the oldest,” Nancy protested.
“Now girls, your ma doesn’t need this today. She’s tired and your brother is hungry,” Della said to her grandchildren. The twins looked from their gran to their ma and then back to the baby.
“That’s all babies do. Eat and poop. Come on, lets go outside and see if Scamp wants to play,” Nancy told Lena.
The girls ran off leaving the adults laughing behind them.
“Pa had the best idea when he got them that puppy. It sure helped them after...” Jo couldn’t finish the sentence. Her tears kept falling.
“It did darling. Now why don’t Carrie and I take little Richard downstairs and let you sleep.”
Jo gave up the baby reluctantly. She was tired, but she was also desperate to be near her baby. Her ma was right though. She needed some rest.
“Thanks Ma, for everything.”
“I love you, Jo. Sleep well darling.”
Jo closed her eyes but, before she fell asleep she said a quick prayer thanking God for letting Richie live. She prayed He would bring Sarah home soon to meet her little brother/cousin.
Chapter 28
Sarah nursed Bear as best she could. He slid in and out of consciousness as the hours passed. She racked her brain for everything she had seen Jo do for illness over the years. Bear regained consciousness long enough to tell her what she needed to make the salve. He warned her not to go outside, that it wasn’t safe. Sarah promised she wouldn’t go but crossed her fingers as she said it. She wasn’t a child. She knew the risks, but she also knew she had no chance of making it home without this man’s help. She would wait until he was sleeping before she would go look for them. But when he fell unconscious again and seemed to be developing a fever, she decided she had no choice. She needed to keep him alive. She kept telling herself it was because she needed his protection. She refused to consider there may be another reason. A better one.
She walked quickly and as quietly as she could, carrying Bear’s knife with her and telling herself she could throw it just like she had thrown the stones. She found most of what she was looking for and got to refill the water holder too. She also found a couple of ber
ries which would help assuage the hunger.
She was back in the cave without Bear realizing she had gone. Tala whimpered and wagged his tail. He seemed to be improving daily too, which was a miracle considering his injuries. She moved toward him to give him a cuddle before she checked on Bear. He appeared to be sleeping and his fever hadn’t worsened. Working with the herbs she had gathered, she prepared some bark tea and a salve.
She applied the salve as gently as she could, but her ministrations woke him.
“What are you doing?”
“I made a salve for your injury. I thought it would help it heal.”
He frowned, turning to look at her. “You left the cave.”
She didn’t respond. It was pointless trying to lie when the evidence was all over her hands. She remained silent, working the preparation into his skin. “I also made you some willow bark tea. It should help with the pain.”
“Thank you, Sarah.”
She looked up as he said her name. Their eyes met and in that moment, she forgot everything but him. She couldn’t tear away her gaze even when he moved slightly forward as if he meant to kiss her. But he stopped abruptly. “How’s Tala?” he asked, his tone tense.
Hurt, and more than a little confused, she answered just as tersely. “He’s getting better.”
Tala barked and wagged his tail as if to confirm what she said, his gaze moving between them.
Bear tried to get up.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“We need food. I must go and get some.”
“You can’t go anywhere. Tell me what to get and I will go.” He was going to tell her not to go again. She could tell from the stubborn set of his chin. “Listen to me Bear. I need you to get better quickly so we can both get out of this cave. To do that, you must eat. So please tell me what to get or otherwise we’ll all be at risk of food poisoning. I would go and gather everything that looks edible. I could poison the both of us.”
Bear laughed but then immediately winced at the pain his movement caused.
“You are the most stubborn woman I have met.”
“You should meet my grandma, Della Thompson. Or Jo. Or Eva. But Becky, she is probably the worst.”
“I have heard of these women. Walking Tall is very fond of them. Especially Becky. She is married to He Who Runs. Yes,?”
Sarah nodded, sorry now she had brought up Becky. She loved her adoptive aunt but knew out of all of them, Becky was the one who disapproved of Sarah the most. She had heard Becky tell Jo often enough that she was spoiling her and someday Sarah would break her heart. Becky had been right about that.
Brushing at her eye, she returned her focus to their next meal. “So, what do I look for?”
Bear gave her a lesson in what to gather. She took his knife again and promised not to be long. It was getting rather late, so she hurried as she went about her task. She found quite a few things that looked edible but decided not to taste anything until Bear gave his approval.
Once back inside the cave, she showed him the fruits of her labors. He praised her hard work, but warned her against the brightest berries. “You eat these, your stomach will hurt for a long time.”
“Pity I didn’t know that before. I would have cooked them for Edwin’s dessert.” Immediately she regretted trying to make the joke. The smile left Bear’s face and his eyes became cold once more. Disappointed, she turned to prepare their food. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? Why did she have to mention him?
* * *
Bear stared at her as she worked. He couldn’t really believe how brave the woman beside him was. He had assumed she was selfish to the core, but she had risked her own safety not once, but twice to look after him. She had nursed him without consideration for her own feelings. He admired her in so many ways. She was brave, fierce, stubborn, pretty and…white.
Chapter 29
The next few days passed without incident. Sarah reheated some of the meat Bear had cooked before he was injured and made it into a soup. She helped Bear eat, then checked his wound. It looked ugly, but it seemed to be healing.
Bear wouldn’t let her leave the cave again for fear something would happen to her. So they passed the time telling stories about different people they knew. Bear had some stories about Almanzo and his time in the Indian camp while Sarah told him about Walking Tall and his father and their adventures along the Oregon Trail.
One evening as they sat at the fire, Sarah finally screwed up the courage to ask him, “Bear, what happened to your back?”
“Nothing.” His closed expression warned her not to probe but she wanted to know more.
“Please tell me. You already know so much about me.”
Bear looked at her and then into the flames. He told her how his mother, an Indian maiden, had fallen in love with a white soldier and her tribe disowned her. They had two children before the white man got married to a white woman who had come to the fort. Sarah noticed he didn’t call the white man “father”. Nor did he use his name. He simply referred to him as “the white man”. Bear went on to tell her of his mother’s broken heart and how she drowned, leaving him and his elder sister Snow Maiden alone. They had lived happily on the outskirts of the soldier’s camp for some time. He made her laugh telling her stories of his sister, who sounded like a lovely woman. He clearly loved her a lot.
“Where is she now? With Walking Tall and his tribe?”
She almost cried at the look of pain on his face as he turned to stare at her.
“She is dead. Her and her child. At the hands of a man like Morgan.”
“Oh Bear, I am so sorry.”
“He was a scout for the soldiers. He hated them, but his own people wouldn’t accept him either. Like me, he had a foot in both camps. Only his mother had been white. She had been a hostage and when rescued was found to be pregnant.”
Sarah swallowed hard. She could only imagine what the poor woman had been through. Nobody would care that she had more than likely been raped.
“The poor woman.”
Bear didn’t appear to hear her. “John Redskin was his name. Not his real name, but that is what they called him. His mother died, he grew up in the camp alone. He started scouting at an early age. Maybe his experiences turned his heart to stone.”
“How did your sister fall in love with such a man?”
Sarah immediately regretted asking as Bear responded, “The same way as you fell for Morgan. She couldn’t see the real man. He fooled her.”
Sarah bit her lip. She couldn’t really protest. Edwin Morgan did have her fooled. Or had she just been desperate to prove to her family she could make her own decisions? She didn’t want to think about the answer.
“Did he ever love her?”
“I do not think he was capable. But at first, they seemed happy. He was away a lot. She used to sing and laugh all the time. Then he came back. He drank. Sometimes he was nice, but mostly he was mean. He was convinced Snow Maiden would leave him, too.”
“Oh, the poor girl.”
“She had a chance to leave but she wouldn’t go. A white man fell in love with her. He would have taken her away to safety. But she said she could not break her promise to John. Even after he beat her, kicked her and did other horrible things. Still she would not leave.”
“You tried to protect her?”
“Yes. But it was useless. I was too weak, too small. One night he was beating her, I stood in his way. He used his belt on my back. She tried to fight him off, but he shoved her away. She fell and hit her head on something. I didn’t know she was dead until the next morning. Walking Tall had visited the fort, I do not know why. Then John picked a fight with one of his braves. Walking Tall tried to stop it from becoming serious as that could land all Indians in trouble with the soldiers. He took John home and then found me and Snow Maiden. He killed John, buried Snow Maiden and her child and took me back to his tribe. I have been there since.”
“Oh Bear, what a horrible story. I am so sorry for
you and your sister and the baby. Why is life so cruel?”
“There are bad people. White or Indian.”
“That is why you said you owe Walking Tall a debt.”
“Yes, he saved my life. He would have saved Snow Maiden if he could. As it was he gave her an honorable burial. She is with my mother now. She is happy.”
Sarah hoped that was true, but she wasn’t sure if she believed it. She had never given much thought to what happened when a person died. They just weren’t there anymore. She cried as she thought of Bear’s sister and her baby which lead her to thoughts of her own ma and baby brother.
“My pa ran off on us too. That’s why my ma was on her own on the Oregon Trail. She was hoping to find my pa and settle down on a farm. She and my baby brother died of fever. My older brother died too. It was only me and my sister Carrie left. Rick, my uncle, was going to have us adopted but then he married Jo and they became my parents.”
“You are lucky you had family.”
Sarah couldn’t argue with that. But she had never seen how lucky she was. She had thrown their love back in their faces.
“I was such a fool.”
“What?” Bear asked.
“Nothing. I’m tired. I think I will sleep now. Thank you for sharing your story with me.”
“Goodnight Sarah.”
She lay down on the furs and tried to sleep. She closed her eyes, but her brain wouldn’t shut down. Bear had nobody to protect him when he was younger whereas she had lots of people. She had been too selfish to see it. If only she could turn back time and tell her family how grateful she was. How sorry she was and how much she loved them. But that wasn’t possible.
Chapter 30
Bear sat at the fire for some time after Sarah lay down. He hadn’t spoken of Snow Maiden for years. The pain of loss was still there, but it was not as agonizing as before. He believed she was with their mother in the spirit world.
He wondered what Sarah had been thinking by the end of their conversation. Several different emotions had played over her face. Sorrow, pity, understanding and…something that looked like guilt. Had she realized how lucky she had been to have a family who loved her and protected her? He wondered if this was why the Great Spirit had sent Morgan to meet Sarah. Was it his plan to show her what a wonderful life she had given up? Bear closed his eyes as a wave of pain hit his body. He needed to lie down and get more rest. He wouldn’t be able to protect himself or Sarah if the wound on his shoulder didn’t continue to heal.
Oregon Disaster: Trail of Hearts book 5 Page 9
