Time seemed to stop as they looked at each other. Without embarrassment, Jesse looked directly until she was sure that his features would be imprinted in her memory forever. Wade was a tall man. His face was almost on a level with hers, though she sat above the wagon wheel. A sudden smile formed on his lips and spread to his eyes.
“Well?” Jesse asked crossly, thinking he was laughing at her.
Instead of answering her question, he said, “I’m not the least bit disappointed.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m glad to hear it,” she snapped. “Now, I must be going.”
He seemed to sigh and his shoulders relaxed.
“I stopped you to ask you to look in on some sick kids— the Merfelds and the Gordons.”
“Of course. Where do they live?”
“Back up in the woods on Downy Creek. It’s about three miles to the Merfelds and two more to the Gordons.”
“All right. How do I get there?”
“I’ll take you.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Simmer. It’s kind of you to offer.”
“You’re willing to go off into the woods with me?”
“Do I have reason for fearing you?”
“Maybe.” He turned his head so she couldn’t see his face.
“Well, I’m not afraid of you. You go to Ike Spangler’s garage. He’s a friend of my little brother, Todd. I’m sure Ike wouldn’t have you around if you were dangerous.”
Wade continued to stare at her. “Your pa may be a fine doctor, but he hasn’t taught you anything about men.”
“I’ve got to be going, Mr. Simmer, if I’m going to get home before dark.”
“You won’t make it,” he said, placing his rifle on the buggy floor and climbing onto the seat. “But I’ll see you to your door.”
“Thank you, but no. I’m perfectly capable—”
He took the reins from her hands and gave them a shake. “Get goin’, boy—”
“—Girl,” Jesse said sternly. “Molly doesn’t like being called a boy. She’s very feminine and… sensitive.”
Wade saw the defiant look in her eyes, and he suddenly felt light as a cloud. Sweetheart, you’re sure as hell no disappointment.
Jesse didn’t understand herself at all. Here she was, miles from anywhere with a man most folk considered dangerous. Why hadn’t she refused to let him get into the buggy? Come to think of it, she had no choice. When he had first walked up to the buggy, there had been a question mark lurking in the back of his eyes. She wondered what he had been thinking. Had he expected her to scream or faint? The thought brought the question to her lips. She was unable to hold it back and turned her head to look at him.
“You thought I’d swoon when you popped out of the woods,” she said accusingly. “I’ve never swooned in my life and I’ve seen some grisly things.”
“More grisly than I am?”
“Much more.” She lifted her head proudly. She was determined not to let him think she was afraid of him.
Their heads turned simultaneously toward the trail ahead. For several minutes they were silent, both busy with their own thoughts and each too intensely aware of the other to note how wonderfully cool it was here in the woods. The air smelled sweet and fresh as they followed the trail cut between sloping, timbered hills.
“Tell me about the Gordon children,” Jesse said, breaking the silence.
“All I know is their pa came down to the mill yesterday and said a couple of them were real sick. He said the Merfeld and the Foster kids had come down with something too, and if we saw the Doc, to ask him to come over. He’d pay with a sack of corn.”
“Hmmm. Where does this other family live?”
“About a mile from the Gordons.”
“Where do these children go to school?”
“Coon Rapids.”
“Is that a town?”
“It’s an area.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“No reason to. Not much there.”
Wade could hardly believe he was sitting here talking to her about sick kids and schools. He wanted to look at her. The white thing that covered her dress brushed against the legs of his duck britches. She was as crisp and clean as a spring morning. He glanced at her hands in her lap. They were smooth and white, her fingers long, her nails clipped. He wondered how her hands would feel on his face. Disgusted with himself, he turned his face toward the side of the trail. In all his twenty-eight years he’d not ever been this interested in a woman. Why in hell did it have to be one that was so… unobtainable?
“This is the Merfelds’?” Jesse said, when they came in sight of a homestead that was so run down that it was a wonder the house was still standing. The yard around the house was littered with debris of every kind. The vegetable garden was almost overgrown with weeds, and a big sow rooted among the few scattered logs that served as a woodpile.
Molly stopped at the broken rail fence. Jesse straightened her cap and stepped down from the buggy before Wade came around to help her. She reached for the leather satchel and looked up to see him beside her.
“If Merfeld gives you any trouble, sing out.”
“Why would he… give me trouble?”
“He’s got a whiskey still up here and drinks most of what he makes.”
“Oh.”
By the time Jesse passed through the broken fence, a woman had come out onto the porch where the roof sagged so low it almost touched the top of her head. She was thin and weary-looking, and well along in her pregnancy. As Jesse approached, she combed strands of hair back from her face with her fingers.
“Mrs. Merfeld, I’m Nurse Forbes. Doctor Forbes is my father. I hear you have sick children.”
“Yeah, I got sick kids. Would you come look at ’em?”
“Of course. How long have they been sick?”
“My oldest boy got sick a week or two ago. He’s better, but now the younger ones come down with it and they’re sicker than Dude was.”
Jesse followed the woman into the house that smelled strongly of vomit and excrement. Three children lay on pallets on the floor. They were all naked except for what would pass as underwear on the two boys and a thin shift on a girl who was about eight or nine years old. Jesse knelt down beside her.
“Turn over, honey, so I can take a look at you.” The child was feverish and red as a strawberry. “Open your mouth, so I can look at your throat. Hmmm.… Mrs. Merfeld, did they vomit and run off at the bowels?”
“Yes’m, they did.”
Jesse looked at the other two children. “Did their brother break out like this?”
“Yes’m, but not so much.”
“Did all of them complain of their heads hurting?”
“Yes’m.”
“They’ve got scarlet fever, and I suspect they Caught it from their brother.”
“Do you have medicine for it? We’ll pay… somehow.”
“I don’t have any with me, but I’ll get some. Doctor Forbes has medicine that will drive the rash to the surface. When that happens, they’ll begin to feel better. Meanwhile give them milk and soup and as much water as they can drink. Put some soda in water and sponge them off from head to foot. Do you have anyone to help you, Mrs. Merfeld?”
“I got Dude. He’s hangin’ round out back. And Flora, she went to the Gordons ’cause we heard their kids was sick. We hoped Mrs. Gordon would know what to do.”
Jesse looked down at the woman’s worried face and her heart went out to her.
“When Flora gets back, keep her here at home and don’t let anyone outside the family in the house. Scarlet fever is catching and can be spread very easily. Pour boiling water over the children’s dishes and eating utensils. When they drink from the dipper don’t let them put it back in the water bucket until you scald it.”
“Will Flora get sick?”
“I’m not sure, but don’t worry. They’ll be all right if you can get the fever down. If you have sage, make a weak tea and for
ce them, if necessary, to drink as much as they can. Don’t forget, sponge them down with the soda water—no soap. Make them drink the tea or plain water. And get them to eat. I saw a chicken out back. Boil her and give the broth to the children. I’ll be back as soon as I can with some medicine.”
“Thank you, miss. Oh, thank you. I was worried sick.”
“We can’t have that. When is your baby due?”
“I don’t know. I kind of lost track. Should be pretty soon.”
“We’ll talk about it when I come back.”
“When, miss?” Mrs. Merfeld asked anxiously.
“Bright and early in the morning.”
Jesse hurried out to where Wade Simmer was rubbing Molly with a gunnysack to wipe the sweat away.
“Mr. Simmer, the children have scarlet fever. I need to get back to town and get medicine—but first, I’d better see about the other families. If they have scarlet fever, I must warn them of how contagious it is.”
“Then let’s go. The horse has been watered.”
“First, I must disinfect my hands.” She took a bottle from the satchel. “Pour some of this onto them. It’s alcohol.”
“The drinking kind?” he asked, as he watched her rub the liquid over her hands and wrists.
“If you want to go out like a light. It’s one hundred proof. Papa gets it from a distillery that makes medical supplies.”
Wade helped her into the buggy and set the satchel on the floor. He climbed in beside her just as Molly began to pull at the traces.
“Your father will be worried. You’d better write a note and tell him you’ll be late.”
“How’ll I get it to him?”
“Jody will take it. He’d rather run than eat.”
“Jody? Is he your son?”
“Some think so, but he isn’t. He’s a darkie who lives with me. You got any problem with that?”
She scowled and snapped. “Why should I? He isn’t living with me.”
“Don’t get your dander up. I only asked. Write the message. Jody’ll take it down to the doctor.”
“And bring the medicine back?”
“Just explain to the doctor what you want.”
“Another thing. Do you think Granny Lester would put me up for the night? If the boy brought back the medicine, I could be at the Merfelds’ by daybreak.”
“I’m sure Granny would be happy to oblige.”
Wade stopped the buggy, put two fingers in his mouth and whistled two short blasts then a long one.
“What in the world are you doing?” Jesse asked, as she fumbled in the bag for paper and pencil.
“Calling Jody. He’s around here somewhere. He’ll be wanting to know what’s going on—why I’m in your buggy. He’s just naturally curious about everything.” Wade whistled again.
Jesse shook her head and began to write.
“Jody,” Wade called. “Can you hear me?”
“Course, I hears ya. I’d have to be daid not to hear ya, the way ya beller.”
A tall thin boy in his early teens came out of the woods and leaned casually against a tree beside the trail. His skin was the color of coffee with a dab of cream added, and his hair was cut close to a well-shaped head.
“The lady has a message for the doctor. I don’t suppose you could take it down and bring back some medicine before dark. Naw,” Wade said with a shrug. “It’s too far. I guess I’ll have to do it.”
“What ya mean, white man? I can be in and outta that town ’fore sundown. I know’s the sun don’t set on no nigga in that town.”
“Oh, gracious me,” Jesse exclaimed. “I’d forgotten about that stupid law.”
“Ain’t no worry, lady.” Jody swaggered up beside the buggy.
“Do you know where the doctor lives?”
“Yes’m, I knows. I ain’t no dumb nigga.”
Jesse looked at him sharply and handed him the folded paper.
“I didn’t imply that you were, so don’t be lippy. It’s very important that I get the medicine as soon as possible. Tell Doctor Forbes not to worry about me. Oh, never mind. I told him in the message.”
Jody looked at the paper in his hand, then pushed it deeply into his pocket.
“Well, what’a ya say, slue-foot?” Wade dug into his pocket and pulled out a coin.
“What do ya think, bucket-bottom?”
“Betcha a nickel.”
“I ain’t runnin’ that cheap.”
“Dime, then.”
“—And the nickel.”
“You’re on, but you’ll not make it. You’ve already lost a half-mile standing here jawing. Lose and you’ll finish that wood pile by yourself.”
Jesse looked from one to the other, disbelieving what she was hearing. The relationship between this colored boy and the white man was amazing. Slue: foot? Bucket-bottom?
“Jist you watch my smoke, white boy.”
Jody crouched down, one foot out, the other behind him, his hands touching the ground. Jesse wasn’t prepared for Wade’s shrill whistle and was startled. Jody took off down the track, head up, shoulders back, his arms and legs pumping like pistons. Wade chuckled.
Jesse turned to look at him. Laughing, he was handsome as sin and dangerous as a coiled rattler!
“He’s showing off for you now. As soon as he’s out of sight he’ll slow down and set a pace.”
“He’s going to run to town and back? It’s ten miles and you goaded him into doing it.”
“Not as the crow flies. He’ll take shortcuts. I told you he’d rather run than eat, and he likes nothing better than to make me eat my words.”
“I hope he does,” she retorted with a toss of her head. “Bucket-bottom. I never heard the like.”
Wade heard a little giggle. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and something funny happened to his heart.
CHAPTER
* 3 *
The trail Wade followed could be called that only because there were faint wheel tracks on the thick sod and because it cut a narrow path through the woods. At times the trail became a mere thread clinging to the hillside, and the top of the buggy brushed overhanging bushes as it moved along. High above, a pair of hawks circled in amorous pursuit of each other, and from the underbrush beside the trail ahead, a fox, drawn by his irresistible curiosity to inspect the unfamiliar sound, scurried away as the buggy approached.
It seemed to Jesse that she and this man she had met just a few hours before were the only two people in the world. Yet she was surprised to discover that she was not afraid. Wade Simmer was at once strange and yet familiar.
“It’s so pretty here,” she said in an awed tone.
“You think so?” He turned slightly to face her more directly. A shaft of sunlight sifting through the trees shone on his deeply tanned face, so that his eyes seemed especially light. They reminded her of clear green glass. She realized this suddenly as if it were of great importance.
“Don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”
As he gazed at her, Jesse sensed something disturbing in the way he looked at her and felt uneasy in the region of her heart.
“Are you hungry?” She was grateful for the thought that gave her something to do, and she reached for the cloth-wrapped package on the buggy floor. “My sister Susan packed my lunch. No telling what’s in it.” Jesse, who rarely was made ill at ease by a man’s gaze, felt her cheeks grow warm under his bold scrutiny. “She eats like a field hand so there’ll be plenty.”
Jesse unfolded the cloth to find two slices of bread spread with butter, two hard-boiled eggs, four of the cookies she had baked the night before and a fried apple pie.
“See? She must have thought I was going to be gone a week.”
“I’ve seen your sister. She doesn’t look anything like you. Her hair is light.”
“Susan and Todd are my half-sister and half-brother. Oh, my. I haven’t thought of them in that way for a long time.” Jesse held out a thick slice of bread spread with butter a
nd one of the eggs. “My mother died shortly after I was born. I lived with various relatives while Papa was in medical school. He married again when I was five, and oh, it was wonderful to have a mother. I loved her so—” Her voice trailed.
Shut up the nervous chatter, Jesse Forbes. You’re babbling like a brook.
“Good light bread,” Wade said, after he had eaten the bread and the egg.
“Thank you. I make about six loaves a week. We all have hearty appetites. Ready for more?”
“I didn’t expect you to feed me.”
“You’re not getting a fancy meal. You eat the pie, I’ll eat the cookies. They’re my favorite. We call them cry babies.”
“I suppose because babies cry for more.”
“How did you guess?”
“I’m no dummy. I’ve been out of the woods a time or two.”
“Or three, or four,” she said drily.
He was fascinated. His eyes smiled into hers. He took the plump pie from her hand, being careful not to touch her fingers. She was everything he had imagined her to be and more. Much, much more. His adamant wish was for the day never to end because beyond this there could be nothing more between them.
He was what was commonly referred to as a hillbilly, and the son of a man hanged for murdering a Harper. She was the daughter of the town doctor. Well, hell, he had known that from the start. His curiosity had goaded him into stopping her buggy when the Lesters could have given her the message about the Merfelds and the Gordons and saved him the grief that was sure to come. Wade silently cursed himself for being a stupid son-of-a-bitch. He feared that what he had done today was going to make him miserable for the rest of his life.
“Tell me about Jody,” Jesse said, uneasy in the silence between them. Now that she was no longer uncomfortable with this strange man, she wanted to know more about him.
“What do you want to know?”
“Where did he come from? How did he come to be staying with you?”
“He came from Violet, the colored town over near the mountains. I don’t know where he was before that. I found him in a cave in the woods, hungry and sick.” Wade chuckled. “He spit and hissed like a cornered cat. I thought I’d have to throw a net over him to get him out of the cave. I got him home, fed him, and doctored him up. He’s been with me since.”
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