The Brides of Chance Collection

by Kelly Eileen Hake,Cathy Marie Hake,Tracey V. Bateman

  “Daniel’s likely to throw another fit if you go out at night.” Delilah giggled. “He about pounded a hole in our door when he couldn’t find you.”

  “I have to agree with him,” Miriam defended. “It didn’t seem wise to go out on a moonless night.”

  “Dark is when the roots are strongest.” Lovejoy shrugged. “It’s jist a fact—like putting in the root vegetables for cold seasons and above-the-ground crops during summer. There’s still plenty of room in the loft for me to dry things. I’m trying to put by plenty for Tempy and for you folks as well as gather up stores for folks back home.”

  “Won’t the lady who’s filling in for you do that for the people in Salt Lick?” Alisa sat in the shade. The curls around Ginny Mae’s face danced in the breeze Alisa’s fan stirred up.

  “Widow Hendricks is nigh unto fifty. She’s got rickety bones and her back’s twistin’ like a gnarled tree.”

  “If you show us what you need, we can help gather,” Delilah offered.

  “Might be I’d take Miriam up on that offer, but you and Alisa cain’t go a-traipsin’. Reckon I could talk you folks into lettin’ me have one of them empty crates to fill up and take back with me?”

  “We’ll fill it up and send it back by train,” Alisa decided. “That way the Widow Hendricks can have whatever she needs on hand, and you won’t worry about leaving.” She swished the fan again and sighed. “How can I possibly be so tired? All I’ve done is sit around all day.”

  “That’s a sign you need to be abed.” Lovejoy got to her feet. “Like it or nay, that’s just the fact.” She walked over and eased Ginny Mae’s head onto the blanket they’d spread on the ground near the garden and reached down to help Alisa up. “I’ll go get Alisa situated. Miriam, think you could start lunch? ’Lilah cain keep an eye on these here lassies. I worry lest a snake slithers up on ’em whilst they sleep.”

  “She’s never seen you toss your knife, Delilah,” Alisa teased.

  “I’ll see to lunch.” Miriam headed toward the main house. “Alisa, you lolly-gag and dawdle.”

  “I can’t bear just lying around while you all work.”

  Miriam laughed. “You did the hard work and made me rest when I carried Caleb. Now the shoe’s on the other foot.”

  “What foot?” Alisa muttered.

  Delilah glanced down at Alisa’s hem. Her face went taut for a moment, then she shot Lovejoy a quick look. “Alisa, you’re not making this easy. We want Lovejoy to fuss over you instead of finding more to do. The woman never rests.”

  “Best you start a-prayin’ for forgiveness after telling that falsehood, Delilah.” Lovejoy waggled her finger. “I niver slept like I do here. Why, I’m like a queen in that fancy above-the-ground bed!”

  “If a bed makes a woman a queen, then why am I barefoot?” Alisa looked down then made a wry face. “I can’t see my feet.”

  A few minutes later Lovejoy set a basin down on the floor and guided Alisa’s feet into it. “Soakin’ in that water’ll cool you off and holp the swollin’ go down.”

  “That’s what Titus said last night. He’s taken to washing my feet at bedtime.” Alisa got teary-eyed. “He said Jesus served those He loved by doing the same thing.”

  “You got yourself a fine man. Loves you. That’s a blessing beyond words.”

  As Lovejoy lifted Alisa’s feet onto a towel in her lap, Alisa whispered thickly, “I’m worried.”

  Lovejoy looked up at her. “I niver saw the right in fibbin’ to reassure folks. I’m not pleased with how yore farin’, and that’s a fact. I aim to put you abed and keep you there.”

  “Will my baby be okay?”

  “God willin’.”

  “Titus left last night.”

  Daniel’s blood ran cold at Gideon’s so-called greeting when he and the girls arrived at breakfast.

  Miriam poured coffee in the mugs on the table. “Alisa’s no worse, but Titus couldn’t bear to wait till this morning to go.”

  Dan was so sure of his next statement, he didn’t even look around to confirm the fact. “Lovejoy’s with Alisa.”

  “I wanna go be with them. We played tea party on Auntie ’Lisa’s bed yesterday, Daddy.”

  Dan hunkered down and held Polly’s hands. “Aunt Alisa is sick, and Lovejoy needs to pay attention to her. No more visiting until the baby is born.”

  Delilah put a dish of scrambled eggs on the table. “How about if you girls paint a picture with me today? We can have Uncle Titus hang your picture up in their cabin so Auntie ’Lisa knows you miss her.”

  “That’s a great idea.” Dan pasted on a smile. “You love to make pictures with Aunt Delilah.”

  “Auntie Miri-Em and Auntie ’Lisa don’t make pitchers; they sew.” Ginny Mae worked with her hand a moment and held up two chubby fingers. “Miss Lovejoy gots two new dresses tomorrow.”

  Delilah smiled. “We gave them to her yesterday. Just wait till you see her in them. She’s downright pretty.”

  “Pretty is as pretty does.” Polly singsonged the adage.

  “Then Lovejoy’s beautiful,” Miriam said.

  Daniel didn’t comment, but he had to agree. The woman had a heart of gold. He just hoped her skill would be sufficient for the task that lay ahead.

  With Titus gone, the brothers reassigned chores to cover for him. Knowing he needed to keep his hands busy to stay sane, Dan volunteered to do the hardest, dirtiest tasks. Miriam had packed lunches for the men as usual. He had to give her credit— whatever she packed was always tasty and filling. But today he didn’t have much appetite. He knew how Titus must be feeling—that sick dread in the pit of his stomach, knowing his wife and child’s lives hung in the balance.

  After dragging a stubborn calf out of a mud bog at the edge of the creek and wrestling another from a thicket of scrub oak, Dan’s patience had been tested to the limit. Logan was no better. He’d gotten thrown from his horse when it got skittish because a rabbit bolted from its warren. By the time they rode in for supper, Dan figured his clothes could stand up in the corner once he shucked them, and he’d best sluice off and change for supper. But first he needed to know how Alisa and Titus were.

  Dan caught sight of Titus standing outside his cabin.

  “He looks worse than the two of us put together,” Logan murmured.

  Dan halted Cooper and dismounted. Without saying a word, he stepped in front of Titus and yanked him into a tight embrace.

  “Doc’s in there with her,” Titus said as he squeezed back.

  “How long have you been home?” Logan asked.

  “About two minutes.”

  Dan finally eased his hold. He stepped back but kept his hands on Titus’s shoulders. Looking him up and down, he growled, “Let’s get you cleaned up. No use in your wife seeing you looking as bad as the road you’ve been on.”

  Titus didn’t want to leave the doorstep, but Dan and Logan dragged him off. None of the usual brotherly teasing filled the air. Five minutes later, with Titus washed up and wearing clothes he borrowed from one of his brothers, Dan walked him back to see what the doctor had to say.

  They’d barely made it back to the porch when the door opened. The doctor came out, and the look on his face made Dan’s heart drop to his knees.

  “We’d best speak in private,” the doctor told Titus.

  Titus shook his head.

  “I’m sorry. There’s no hope for me to save both of them. You have to decide who you want to save. I can perform a cesarean tonight and save your wife, but the child’s too small and won’t survive. Women with this syndrome can worsen in a matter of hours. If she grows worse, she won’t pull through. You can wait and…ahem…rescue the baby on the slim chance that your wife can last a few more weeks.”

  Chapter 17

  Lovejoy stepped outside and took in the situation in a single glance. The doctor’s bleak silence, Titus’s shocked pallor, and Dan’s face lined with determination and grime as he braced his brother’s arm.

  “Titus, Alisa sent me
out here. She knows the baby won’t survive if the doctor operates tonight. She won’t allow that.”

  “Doc,” Titus said, “there’s got to be another choice.”

  When the doc gave his head a single, decisive shake, Dan rasped, “He loves his wife. They can have other kids.”

  “Not necessarily.”

  Lovejoy wrapped her arms around herself and noticed how Daniel bristled at the doctor’s curt response. Clearly, he shared her horror at the man’s complete lack of compassion. She tried to fish for vital information. “Doc, I know each day makes a powerful difference. How much longer would Alisa have to carry the babe afore it’ll have a fighting chance?”

  He shrugged. “May as well be two years as two weeks. You don’t just need time; you need a miracle.”

  “We believe in the God of miracles.” Dan spoke the words with a certainty that took Lovejoy by complete surprise. “Titus, this is your call. I’ll support you in whatever you decide, but if I had things to do over again, I would have done a lot more praying.”

  Titus heaved a sigh. “How soon do you need an answer, Doc?”

  “Morning’s as long as we can wait.”

  “Dan’l, the doc’s gotta be hungry as a three-legged wolf. Think we could take him on over for supper? I’ll come along for the prayer and bring back a plate for Titus. That way he and his missus cain have a few minutes alone.”

  They went to the main house where Miriam and Delilah had a meal waiting. Gideon said a heartfelt prayer.

  The doctor piled food onto his plate and groused, “I don’t see any use in this woman using any of her herbal remedies. They haven’t cured the malady.”

  Lovejoy didn’t argue with the sour-faced stranger. To her surprise, Daniel did.

  “Alisa’s hanging on. That says plenty to me about how well Lovejoy’s treatment works.”

  “I can’t pull a miracle out of my medical bag. I don’t know why you bothered to come get me if you believe she can.” The doctor shoveled another bite into his mouth. “Then again, nothing’s going to make her condition any worse than it already is.”

  “Paul, there’s hawthorn by the mercantile. Cain I send you to town to fetch me some?” The uncertain look on his face forced a smile from Lovejoy. “I’ll show you a picture in that book you bought me. I cain tell you ’zactly where it is, so you don’t have to fret on whether you picked the right thing.”

  “Doc, you look like you could use some rest,” Logan said. Bryce nodded. “You can bunk down in our place.”

  Lovejoy couldn’t decide whether the Chance brothers truly believed she’d pull Alisa through this crisis or if they were just so angry at the doctor’s heartless attitude that they were banding together to keep him at bay.

  She brewed black haw bark that she had traded for back home to make a tea and handed the cup to Delilah. “You go pour this down her. I’m out to fetch dandelion leaves and valerian.”

  “Miriam, will you watch my girls?” Daniel stood up. “I’ll carry the lantern for Lovejoy.”

  “Oh, Lord, please holp us.”

  Daniel stood by Lovejoy and wondered what happened to the calm she had displayed until now. She’d knelt to dig up some dandelion and suddenly burst out with those words. She didn’t stop there, either. An intercessory prayer poured out of her.

  Daniel knelt, cupped her close, and sheltered her from the cold of night. He set down the lantern and reached to hold her hand. When her prayer ended, he haltingly added his own plea. “God, it’s been so long since I came to You. I’m asking a lot of You—to forgive me for being so headstrong and stubborn. And please heal Alisa. Lord, spare my brother the grief I’ve known. Protect their baby. Give Lovejoy the wisdom and stuff she needs to do Your work. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

  Lovejoy looked at him with tears glistening in her big eyes. “Guess since we asked the Almighty to do His part, we best get busy and do our share.”

  The next morning the doctor reassessed Alisa. “I don’t know what you gave her, but the herbs have helped Mrs. Chance to some degree. Her swelling’s gone down, but she’s still in poor condition. I can’t stay here while you dither. Either I operate or I leave.”

  Titus wavered about what to do. He spent a few moments in privacy with Alisa then came out. “Doc, Alisa won’t let you operate. I can’t betray her wishes any more than I can give up on either my wife or my child. Sacrificing one for the sake of the other—I can’t do that.”

  Doc left, muttering about how he didn’t know why they bothered him in the first place.

  Daniel wound his arm around Titus’s shoulders. “You’ve made the only decision you could. We have faith in the Lord, and Lovejoy’s been blessed with a healing touch. We’ll take it one day at a time.”

  Dabbing the pencil tip on her tongue, Lovejoy frowned at the paper. She struck out yet another line with the moistened pencil lead. Many of the herbs she needed didn’t grow here, or if they did, it was the wrong time to harvest them. White’s Mercantile didn’t carry a supply of compressed dried herbal cakes, so she was sending a telegram back home.

  At three dollars for ten words, she struggled to compose the briefest message possible. No matter how she tried, what she needed couldn’t be phrased in ten words. I never noticed how many herbs have two-word names. Red raspberry, black sampson, and lady slipper alone took up a total of six precious words. Was Virginia bugle-weed two words or three? She tapped the pencil on the page and sighed. Up to nine words at that point. Then came bethroot, false unicorn, peach bark, and yellow dock. Delilah has fennel growing in her garden. Blessed thistle, too. But I’ll need marshmallow. Cain’t use rye ergot on Alisa, but I might need it for Delilah….

  “Lovejoy?”

  She jumped and turned around. “Dan’l! Does Alisa need me?”

  “No, Titus is with her. I’ve never seen you scowl. What’s wrong?”

  “Miriam tole me to write up a telegram so’s I cain have Widow Hendricks send essentials. I’m parin’ it down best as I cain. White oak bark’s available here. So’s butcher’s broom, dandelion, and rose hips.”

  “Hold on.” He took the paper from her and joined her on the bench. Their arms brushed.

  Lovejoy didn’t want to scoot away. Since the day he’d found her crying and lent her his warmth and strength, she’d sensed a profound shift in him. He wasn’t so caught up in his sorrows that he was oblivious to anyone else. Papa never was one to pay any mind to a female’s feelings, and Vern—well, Vern never cared one bit how she was. Plenty of times she’d seen other men support their womenfolk; she wasn’t Daniel’s, but he’d cupped her head to his sturdy chest, and suddenly the burdens she’d been carrying didn’t feel half so heavy.

  And here he was again.

  He studied the paper, took the pencil, and circled all the things she’d struck out. “Stop fussing and order everything you need. Ask for plenty. With Delilah also in the family way, you ought to have a generous supply.”

  “This is already nineteen words!”

  He shrugged. “Make it forty—even sixty. I don’t care about the cost; I want my brothers’ wives well. Money in the bank’s no good without loved ones to share it with.” With that, he handed back the paper and smiled at her—smiled!

  He walked off, and Lovejoy was glad he did. She didn’t think she could hide her amazement. Why, Dan smilin’ is nigh unto bein’ a genuine miracle!

  In the end her telegram ended up being thirty words—a nine-dollar, thirty-word telegram. No one in Salt Lick would believe such extravagance. “Lord, if Thou art of a mind to bestow miracles, Dan’s perkin’ outta his sorrow is right fine. Might be Ye did that jist to keep from listenin’ to me yammer on ’bout him, but I been burdened for him. Whilst Thou art at that miracle business, if ’n Thou wouldst protect Alisa and her babe, that’d be wondrous fine.”

  God listened. They took things one day at a time. Things remained touch and go, but Alisa didn’t worsen. Casting a quick look back at Alisa as she napped, Lovejoy prayed the herbs would
arrive the next day. Widow Hendricks’ll either figure Alisa’s in grave condition or that I’ve gone ’round the bend, but either way, I hope it makes her shake a leg and send the stuff.

  Delilah quietly tacked Polly and Ginny Mae’s latest drawings up on the wall for Alisa to appreciate. “How much longer before the medicines come?”

  “Best I cain guess, the packet ought to arrive next day or so,” Lovejoy said in a low tone. “Train from back home to San Francisco took five days. Stage to here took another day.”

  “Paul sent the telegram the day you wrote it, so I guess it just depends on how long it takes your Widow Hendricks to gather up what’s needed.”

  Lovejoy nodded. She still couldn’t believe the telegram she’d sent. She drew closer to take a gander at the girls’ colorful pictures. “You got them having a right fine time with those fancy Farber colored pencils. Drawin’ alongside you is a dreadful treat for them.”

  “They miss you.” Delilah gave her shoulder a nudge. “I’ll stay here. You can go on outside for a while. You can play with them or go have a little time to yourself.”

  Stepping outside Alisa’s cabin, Lovejoy heard children’s laughter. Miriam was hanging clothes on the line, and the girls were chasing chickens about the yard. The instant they spied Lovejoy, they cried her name and ran to her.

  Nothing ever felt half as precious as the way Daniel’s daughters flung themselves into her arms as she knelt down.

  “Howdy, Daniel Chance.”

  “Mrs. MacPherson.” He nodded at Tempy. In hopes that the things Lovejoy ordered might have arrived, he’d mounted Cooper and was heading toward town.

  Her eyes lit at him calling her by her married name. Atop the sorrel mare he’d seen Lovejoy use, Tempy tilted her chin up the road toward Chance Ranch. “I aim to go pay a call on my sister.”