Promising Hearts

by Radclyffe

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Did I fall asleep?” Mae asked. She had no memory of having been asleep, only of being delightfully free of fear or worry. Her body felt warm, soft, loved. She rubbed her fingers lightly down the center of Vance’s chest, then kissed the base of her throat. “You’re quiet. Are you all right?”

  Vance nodded, her cheek brushing the top of Mae’s head. “Yes. Just thinking.”

  “I’m not sure that’s such a good thing at a time like this,” Mae said, laughing lightly. “I believe I’d prefer that your brain be too addled to be entertaining any heavy ideas.”

  “You needn’t worry. My head and body are nicely addled.” Vance kissed Mae and smiled. “I thought I knew what it was to be happy, until these moments with you. Now I understand that happiness is not merely the absence of sorrow, but the presence of joy.”

  The tears that Mae had been able to contain earlier escaped now. She closed her eyes and savored the comfort and security of Vance’s embrace.

  “Have I upset you?” Vance said worriedly, feeling the tears against her skin.

  “No,” Mae whispered. “You’ve made me very happy, and apparently, when that happens, I cry.”

  “Then it seems we are in similar circumstances.” Vance sighed. Judging from the light sifting through the spaces between the shutters on Mae’s window, it was close to dusk. “I need to find Caleb and make sure he doesn’t need me.”

  Frowning, Mae sat up. “I know you haven’t been to bed for more than a day. You can’t think of working tonight.”

  “I won’t unless it’s necessary, but,” Vance said hurriedly, “if it is, I’ll be fine. Believe me, this kind of work is nothing compared to weeks on end with no shelter, no food, and no hope.”

  “Why did you stay?” Mae asked quietly.

  “After a while, I wondered that myself,” Vance admitted. “But I’d made a promise to serve, and when I was able to think clearly, I knew that the cause was just. I didn’t leave because I was needed. And part of me needed to be there.”

  “Whatever comes of us in the future,” Mae said seriously, “I want you to stay only because you need to be here. Not because of what you think my needs—”

  Vance sat up, her eyes glittering sharply. “Have I loved you so poorly just now that you can’t feel my need for you?”

  Mae took a shuddering breath. “I never thought to be loved the way you do.” She pressed her hand to Vance’s heart. “But sometimes feelings change—”

  “Not mine. Not about you.” Vance circled Mae’s shoulders and pulled her roughly against her chest. She kissed her hard with a mixture of frustration and affection, and didn’t release her until she was breathless. “I can see that you do not trust my feelings as of yet. I’ll have to work harder to convince you.”

  “If you work any harder,” Mae whispered, pressing trembling fingers to Vance’s mouth, “I don’t know that I’ll survive.”

  “I’ll see that you do.” Vance smiled and was about to kiss her again when frantic knocking at Mae’s door interrupted her. She threw back the covers and leapt up, reaching for her holster, which she’d left on the floor with her clothes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mae pull on a robe and start toward the door. “Wait for me.”

  “Who is it?” Mae called without opening the door.

  “It’s me. Sissy.”

  Mae glanced back and saw that Vance had her pants on and was working her shirt over her shoulders. She pulled the door open several inches. “What’s the matter?”

  “It’s Lettie. She says the baby’s coming.”

  “Lord, it’s too soon.”

  “Only by a few weeks,” Vance said as she stepped up beside Mae. “Let me take a look at her.”

  Sissy stared from Mae to Vance, but made no remark about the fact that they had clearly shared a bed. “I’ll take you.”

  After Mae hastily threw on her dress, she followed. Vance leaned over Lettie, murmuring in a calming voice as she palpated the girl’s swollen abdomen. Lettie’s pale face was beaded with sweat and her eyes were wild with fear. Mae went to the head of the bed and stroked her hair. “Don’t worry, honey. Everything is going to be all right.”

  “It hurts and I’m so scared.”

  “I know you are. I know.” Mae looked at Vance over Lettie’s head and saw her nod sharply to confirm that the baby was indeed on its way. “You’re going to have this baby tonight, honey, and it’s going to be a beautiful baby. You’ll be just fine.”

  “Don’t go. Please don’t go.”

  Mae shook her head. “No, of course I won’t.” To Vance, she said, “How much time?”

  “Hard to tell. A few hours at least.” She smiled at Lettie. “You’re going to have some work to do, but I know that you’ll do a fine job. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” She stepped close to Mae. “I need to get my bag. Have the girls boil some water, bring fresh towels. You know what to do. I’ll be back shortly. Until then, just stay with her.”

  “You go on ahead. I’ll be here.”

  Vance smiled. “That’s good. I’m counting on that.”

  *

  When Kate arrived nearly three hours later, it was well after dark and Mae, Vance, and several of the girls were huddled on chairs around the bed. Mae held Lettie’s hand.

  “I got here as soon as I could. Thank you for sending word for me to come,” she said to Vance as she removed her bonnet and cloak.

  “You’ve arrived in plenty of time,” Vance said. “She’s doing a wonderful job, but we’ve got a ways to go yet.” She stood and led Kate to the bed. “Lettie, I’m going to show Kate how to tell what the baby’s doing. It won’t hurt you.”

  Panting, Lettie nodded, her face strained, but her eyes calm and trusting. “Okay.”

  After both Vance and Kate washed and dried their hands, Vance lifted the sheet and nodded to Mae to hold it up. “Thanks.” She took Kate’s hand and placed it on Lettie’s lower abdomen just above her pelvic bone. “You can feel the head here, as it descends into the pelvis and the birth canal.”

  Heart pounding, Kate pressed gently. The smooth, firm curve of the infant’s skull was easy to appreciate. She raised shining eyes to Vance’s. “Yes.”

  “Now, I’m going to show you how to judge the progression of labor by the amount the cervix is open.” She lifted the sheet to block what she and Kate were doing. “Mae, would you hold this, please.”

  “I have it,” Mae said, watching as Vance gently placed Kate’s hand between Lettie’s legs and instructed her on what to feel for as she examined her inside. Mae had seen Doc Melbourne deliver babies before, and she knew the basics. He’d always seemed to do a good job, but there was a tenderness about the way Vance did everything that was just…special.

  When Kate hesitated after slipping her fingers into the birth canal, Vance murmured, “You’ll not hurt her. The nerves are stretched by the baby’s head coming down, and not very sensitive right now.”

  “I feel something pounding,” Kate said anxiously.

  “Those are the uterine arteries, which are very large at this point because they’re supplying blood to the uterus as well as the baby.”

  For the first time, Kate realized that she recognized this rapid pulse that beat against her fingers. It was a powerful sign of life and she’d felt it before, under different but just as miraculous circumstances. Reverently, she nodded.

  “Now you’ll feel a thick ring and then the smooth crown of the baby’s head. That’s the cervix opening to allow the baby to exit the uterus. When that ring is open five inches, she’ll be very close to giving birth.”

  “It feels like it’s about halfway there,” Kate said, keeping her voice low.

  “Good,” Vance said. “You’re right.”

  Carefully, Kate withdrew her hand. “What do we do now?”

  Vance smiled. “We wait.”

  Four hours later they were still waiting. Lettie slept fitfully on and off, while Mae or Sissy sponged her hot, sweaty fac
e with cool water. Vance and Kate sat on opposite sides of the bed, watching and checking the time between the contractions.

  Mae squeezed Vance’s shoulder. “You should have something to eat. It’s closing in on midnight.”

  Vance smiled up at Mae. “I’m all right. Thanks. You can take a break, though. We might be in for a long night.”

  “It’s hard when they’re so young,” Mae said, glancing up to where Lettie lay with her eyes closed. “Hard anytime I guess, when you’re alone.”

  Vance caught Mae’s hand and clasped it gently. “She’s not alone. She has you and the others. She has more family than most.”

  Mae moved her hand to the back of Vance’s neck and caressed her softly for a few seconds. “I’d forgotten how much you understand.”

  “I know what you mean to them. To all of us.” Vance stood and stretched, then said, “Let’s see how she’s doing.” When she pulled back the covers once again, she frowned. A trickle of blood pooled between Lettie’s thighs. “Kate.”

  Kate jumped up and followed Vance’s gaze. She caught her lip between her teeth but made no sound, merely looked into Vance’s face questioningly.

  “Feel her abdomen and tell me if anything has changed.”

  With a trembling hand, Kate probed gently the way she had been shown. She moved quickly, but carefully. “I don’t feel the head where it was before,” she said in a low whisper.

  Vance repeated the examination and nodded, her face expressionless now. She looked over her shoulder to Mae. “I need my instruments and the basin with carbolic nearby. Will you lay them out for me like you did when Jed was injured?”

  “Yes,” Mae said. “What’s happening?”

  “I’ll tell you in just a moment.” Once again, Vance sat on the edge of the bed and carefully inserted her hand into the birth canal. She closed her eyes to focus her attention completely on the details she could discern with her fingertips, then withdrew her hand and stood. “The baby’s shifted position. It’s breech. I can feel an arm at the very top of the birth canal.”

  Mae’s face went white. She glanced quickly up at Lettie, who did not appear to be listening, or, if she was, did not understand what was happening. Mae did, however. She’d seen women die trying to deliver a baby that was coming feet first or with just a hand or shoulder without the head preceding it. She’d never seen the baby delivered alive. “Oh Lord.”

  “The instruments, Mae,” Vance said gently.

  Wordlessly, Mae complied as Vance motioned Kate to step away from the bed.

  “The baby’s head is no longer in the birth canal, and if we can’t change that, the baby or the mother will die.”

  “What can we do?” Kate asked through a dry, tight throat. The wonder and excitement of birth had changed in a heartbeat to a terrifying tableau of fear and desperation. She understood that there would be times when it was up to her to change that balance, and she was determined that she would not fail mother or child for lack of knowledge or courage. She looked to Vance for the answers and was reassured by the steady certainty of her gaze.

  “Most often, to save the mother, the child would be sacrificed.” Vance glanced at the bed where a young girl lay, weak and exhausted from the long hours of labor, having entrusted her life to Vance. “I’m not going to let that happen if I can help it.”

  Vance walked to the side table where Mae had arranged her instruments. “Would you help me with my sleeve, please?”

  “Tell me what else I can do,” Mae said, swiftly rolling Vance’s cuff higher.

  “You can reassure her, because this is going to be painful.” Vance met Mae’s worried eyes. “Give her your strength, as you do me.”

  Mae nodded. “We all trust you.”

  Vance dipped her hand into the carbolic and shook the excess liquid free. Sometimes, especially in the last two years of the war, the trust of others had felt like a burden, but not now. She felt an inner steadiness that had been gone since she’d learned of Victor’s death. For the first time in months, she felt whole.

  Vance turned, and with a clear head and certain mind, said to Mae and Sissy, “Put some pillows under her hips so that the uterus tilts back into the abdomen.”

  When that was done, she eased her hand into the birth canal and pushed upward until she felt the tiny arm between her fingers. She pushed farther until she encountered the thorax lying wedged across the uterine opening. Pressing her fingers together to form a funnel, she moved them alongside the small body until she reached the hips. Her hand was nearly inside the uterus now. She felt a contraction and the muscles closed down around her wrist. She held still, waiting for it to pass. She blocked out Lettie’s screams, knowing that the girl would not die from the pain, and mercifully, that she would not remember it if she lived through the delivery. She looked at Kate, who was following her every movement with intense concentration, her eyes huge but clear.

  “I’m going to try to move the baby ninety degrees inside the uterus. That’s called a version.” She took a breath and smiled slightly. “That should align the head again so that this baby can get out.”

  Kate didn’t need to ask what would happen if Vance failed. She knew how small the opening was inside and that the only way the child was coming out was head first. She didn’t quite know what they would do if this maneuver failed, so she simply prayed that it would not.

  “Mae, hold Lettie tightly,” Vance said gently.

  “We’ve got her,” Mae said in a firm, steady voice. “You go on ahead now and do what needs to be done.”

  Focusing all her attention on her hand and the small body cradled against her palm, she pushed steadily inward and upward, rotating the hips away from the cervical opening and drawing the head down. At first, nothing happened. Then it was as if the baby coiled in on itself and kicked away, as if swimming. When Vance felt the movement, she slid her hand out and guided the head down into the upper portion of the birth canal. She closed her eyes for a brief second, then grinned. “Shouldn’t be long now.”

  Within the hour, a lusty cry pierced the air and mingled with the joyous exclamations of the women crowded around the bed.

  “Honey, it’s a boy. A big, loud, and beautiful boy,” Mae exclaimed.

  “Let me see him,” Lettie said, smiling weakly.

  “Kate, go ahead and deliver the placenta,” Vance said as she walked away from the bed. Her hair and shirt were soaked with sweat, and the nerves she had not felt earlier snaked around in her belly now, making her queasy. After rinsing her hand and arm, she leaned against the window frame facing the street and closed her eyes.

  “Here,” Mae said quietly, handing her a glass of whiskey. “You look like you could use this.”

  Vance turned and set her back against the wall. She took the glass and drained it gratefully. “Thanks.”

  “I’ve never seen anyone do that before,” Mae said.

  “It’s not a common technique, and it doesn’t usually work.” Vance glanced across the room at Lettie, who was holding her child and rapidly regaining her strength. “But she is young and strong, and they deserved a chance.”

  Mae put her hand to the center of Vance’s chest. Everyone else in the room was focused on the mother and baby. She stepped close. “You seem to have a knack for doing that for everyone.”

  Vance covered Mae’s hand with hers and looked into her eyes. “We’ll be each other’s chance.”

  “Yes.” Mae kissed her softly. “We will.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  As the sun set, Jessie stood on the front porch of the ranch house with a cup of coffee, watching with a wry smile as Vance climbed down from the buggy. “You missed dinner.”

  “Is Kate angry?” Vance asked as she climbed the stairs.

  “She would have been most times, except she’s done nothing but talk about Lettie’s baby being born for the last three days.” Jessie smiled. “So I think you’ve probably got another week’s grace before she’ll light into you about not getting back he
re in time for the evening meal.”

  Vance grinned. “How about Mae?”

  “She’ll probably fuss over you in between the scolding.” Jessie looked past Vance, choosing her words carefully. “She looks good. I take it there hasn’t been any more trouble?”

  “None that she’s told me of.” Vance unbuttoned her shirt collar and took a deep breath of the fragrant, warm night air. “I haven’t seen anyone come around the Nugget, and if he’s been there, he hasn’t caused any trouble.”

  “I’ve never seen a mark on Mae before.” Jessie hooked her thumb over her gun belt. In the corral across the way, a colt fell asleep with his head resting against his mother’s flank. “If I had, I would have done something about it.”

  “You weren’t in town that often, I imagine, and she wouldn’t have wanted you to know.”

  Jessie smiled faintly. “For all her gentle ways, she’s strong in places I’m not sure I’ve got in me.”

  “She is quite remarkable.” Vance rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness of the day and the tension from the conversation. Every night when the sun went down and she wasn’t in town where she could watch after Mae, the anger ate at her, burning in her gut. “But it’s only a matter of time before something else happens. Men like him take what they want.”

  “Whatever needs to be done to make her safe, you’ve got my help.”

  “Whoever owns the Nugget has gone to a lot of trouble to keep his identity a secret, and men with secrets are vulnerable.” Vance pushed away the surge of anger when she thought of Mae or any of the girls being abused. “I’ll find him.”

  “You still planning to follow Hanrahan when he reports in?”

  “Seems like the simplest way to go about it.” Vance shrugged. “I’m sure he doesn’t expect anyone to pay attention to his comings and goings. I’d hoped to be able to do something before now, but I’ve been out on calls almost every night. It seems that this is baby-birthing time.”