Mountain Christmas Brides

by Mildred Colvin

  “Of course, we have several bedrooms. Actually, one is on the first floor. It would be easier to put him there. I’ll have Eliza start the fire.” Dorcas moved toward the door.

  “After he’s in bed, we need to make a tent out of a sheet and fill it with steam. You do have a teakettle on the stove, don’t you?” He helped Newbolt to stand.

  “Yes, I can get whatever you want.” Dorcas clasped her hands as if trying to keep them still. “Perhaps you could take Max down the hall and help him get into bed. There’s an old nightshirt of my brother’s in the top drawer of the bureau.”

  “I’ll do that, and Miss Bloom, please bring a glass of water and a spoon when you return.”

  The bedroom was easy to find, and very soon Thomas helped Newbolt get undressed and slip between the sheets on the bed. When he was settled, Thomas checked his pulse rate. The rapid staccato didn’t bode well. Thomas knew this night was going to be a long one. He’d heard of people dying from a severe allergic reaction, but that wouldn’t happen to Newbolt. At least, Thomas would pour every effort into preventing such an outcome.

  Chapter 3

  When the door opened, Thomas glanced up, surprised. Miss Bloom shouldn’t be back so soon.

  “Is Maximilian going to be all right?” Thalia’s brows knitted in concern. Thomas quickly stood. “Oh, it’s you, Thalia. I thought you were your aunt returning with the things I requested. Yes, I believe Maximilian will be all right.” At least I hope so.

  Thalia peered at Newbolt’s still form. “Is there any way I can help?”

  “I’ve been thinking about the best way to tent him for the steam.” Thomas studied the headboard of the bed. “Maybe you could get us a sheet. And bring a couple of towels and a bowl. Miss Bloom is bringing the teakettle and a glass of water.”

  “I think there’s an extra sheet in the bureau.” Thalia opened one of the drawers.

  Thomas once again checked his patient’s blood pressure, pulse, and respirations. No change. At least the man was resting right now. He’d even slipped into slumber.

  Thalia started toward the door then stopped. “I wonder if he’ll sleep through the night.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it, although I’ll make him as comfortable as I can.”

  After pulling a chair close to the bedside, Thomas sat down and pondered the situation. He hadn’t read about any recent developments that would assist him in treating an allergic reaction. Medical professionals actually didn’t know a lot about what to do with them. With all the modern advances, he wished one of them had been for situations like this one.

  A quick knock sounded, and the door opened again. Thomas turned to see both of the Bloom women carrying a number of items. He crossed to the door and relieved Miss Bloom of the tray she carried.

  Noting that it contained what he had asked for, he set it on the bedside table. Thalia still had a folded sheet across her arm. He reached for it. “Probably the best way to do this is to tuck this behind the headboard and drape it across Mr. Newbolt.”

  He leaned toward his patient and gently shook him. “I really hate to disturb you, but we need you to sit up in the bed.”

  Miss Bloom assisted Thomas as they arranged the pillows behind the patient’s back so he would be comfortable.

  When Thomas turned to call Thalia forward, he found her right behind him. He took the towels, folded them, and laid them across Newbolt’s lap, then placed the bowl on top of the towels.

  “Before we finish making the tent, I want to give him some bicarbonate of soda.” He took the glass and spooned the powder into the water. After stirring until it dissolved, he gave the elixir to the patient. “Drink this right down.”

  Newbolt took a tentative sip then made a wry face.

  “I know it doesn’t taste good, but it should help you. If you drink it fast, you won’t taste it very long.”

  After a brief hesitation, Newbolt chugged it down. When he was finished, he couldn’t contain a loud burp.

  “See.” Thomas had to force himself not to laugh. “It’s already helping some.”

  Newbolt glanced toward the two women, and his face turned crimson. “Pardon my faux pas.”

  Thalia smiled at him. “Think nothing of it.”

  Thomas picked up the teakettle and carefully poured the hot water into the bowl. Miss Bloom helped him drape the sheet over Newbolt and the headboard of the bed to form the tent to keep the steam inside.

  “Breathe in as much as you can.” Thomas picked up the patient’s wrist and checked his pulse, which was still too rapid for his liking. “Try to relax, but don’t fall asleep. And if you get too hot inside there, let us know. We can raise one corner of the sheet so you can have some fresh air.” This had better work. If it didn’t, getting Newbolt to the hospital in this snowstorm could prove impossible.

  After spending more than an hour with the patient, Thomas stepped out for a break, leaving Thalia sitting with Newbolt. Her aunt came out with him.

  Miss Bloom looked at the parlor with only a couple of people in it. “Where are all the others?”

  Rose raised her head and stood. “Miss Dorcas, most of them tried to get home. I just hope they make it.”

  Thomas recognized the tremble in her voice. She sounded ready to cry. He walked toward her. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

  Her hazel eyes had darkened to brown, and tears wet her lashes. “I hope you’re right. I tried to tell them it wasn’t a good idea to leave, but I don’t think anyone heard me. Everyone was talking at once.”

  Thomas wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her. If only he had the right.

  Miss Bloom clapped her hands to get their attention. “No one else is going to leave tonight. We have plenty of bedrooms. Come with me, and I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

  Josiah followed her out of the room as if she were the Pied Piper, leaving Thomas with Rose.

  “Aren’t you going to see where you’ll be staying?” Rose smiled up at him, making his own heartbeat accelerate, but not as much as Newbolt’s.

  And Thomas’s wasn’t from an allergic reaction. Just the opposite. He’d better stop this line of thinking before it got him into trouble, encouraging him to do something that would make her shy away from him even more.

  “I’m not sure I’ll be sleeping tonight anyway. I have a patient to take care of. The first twenty-four hours are the most critical. If he pulls through that, he should be all right.” This wasn’t what he wanted to be talking to Rose about, but he couldn’t decide how to turn the conversation to the subject he did want to approach. Would she be offended if he asked her why she kept running from him at the party?

  Rose laid her hand on his arm, and he felt the heat clear to his heart. “I’m going to retire to my room, Thomas. It’s been a very long day.”

  Before he could answer, she was walking up the staircase. After a few steps, she stopped and turned around. “I’m so glad you were here. I don’t know what we would have done about Maximilian if you hadn’t been.” With a brief smile, she continued out of sight.

  He wanted her to be glad he was here for another reason—because she really wanted to see him again.

  When Rose awakened the next morning, the steam radiator had kept her room comfortable all night. Although she loved watching the flames in the fireplace, this was much better for a bedroom. Even the water she used for her ablutions wasn’t too cold. Sometimes at home in the winter, the water in the pitcher would have a thin film of ice on the surface.

  She arrived in the kitchen in time to help Thalia’s aunt Dorcas set the table for breakfast. Even though the Blooms had several servants, the two women often worked right beside them.

  Rose stood in the dining room, counting out silverware for the table settings. “Thomas, Maximilian, and Josiah stayed over. Do you think they’ll all come to breakfast?” She hoped Miss Dorcas could hear her question.

  “I know I’m hungry.” The deep baritone voice was hard to mistake, and it didn’t come fr
om the kitchen.

  Rose whirled toward the doorway. “Thomas, how is your patient?”

  Although he was fully dressed, his hair was disheveled. “Maximilian made it through the night. I’m hopeful for a full recovery.”

  “Did you sit up all night with him?” Rose started pulling linen napkins from the top drawer of the sideboard but turned at an angle so she could watch him.

  “No, Thalia helped me a lot.” His smile reached across the room to her heart. “I actually was able to get a few hours of sleep. Have you checked the weather this morning?”

  “I did peek outside. Nothing has changed. Will Maximilian join us for breakfast?” Rose wanted to be sure to set him a place if he did.

  “I don’t think so. He had a rough night. Perhaps he could have some broth. I think I’ll go ask if they have some in the kitchen.” He walked through the room and out the other door.

  When he was gone, Rose felt as if the morning had lost some of its brightness. She would have to stop reacting to Thomas every time he came near. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

  “Is something the matter, dear Rose?” Miss Dorcas came to her and patted her shoulder. “Didn’t you sleep well? Was your room too cold?”

  Rose smiled at the older woman. “Yes, I slept well, and the room was just right.”

  “I only hope we can keep it that way. If the snowstorm goes on too long, we might run out of coal for the boiler.” A frown marred Miss Dorcas’s appearance. “Of course, we have the fireplaces, but they aren’t as efficient as coal for keeping the house warm.”

  Leaving the silverware and napkins, Rose went to look out the front window. The snowstorm hadn’t let up one bit. This would be a second day of snow. How long would it last? Hopefully not long enough to cause too many problems.

  After breakfast, Josiah and Rose went into the parlor. She wondered what they should do today.

  Josiah turned from where he stood staring into the fire. “Why don’t we play charades?” Had he been reading her mind?

  “Do we have enough people?” Rose knew Thalia, Thomas, and Maximilian were in the house, but they hadn’t rested as well as she and Josiah evidently had.

  “There aren’t as many as last night, but we only need two or three on each team.” He started looking through the writing desk and took out pencils and paper.

  “I don’t think Maximilian is well enough to participate. And Thalia and Thomas took turns staying with him. They’re probably both too tired.” Rose didn’t want to close the damper on their fun, but the playing field had just been diminished.

  “Do you want to play checkers, Rose?” Josiah wasn’t going to give up. His pleading expression brought a smile to her face.

  “Okay, but I’m very good.” She taunted him. “I haven’t been defeated in a long time.”

  Josiah took up the gauntlet and started setting up the game on a table he pulled near the fireplace. “We’ll see about that.” He was much too serious about his games.

  Rose decided to make it fun. Soon the two of them were making almost as much noise as the party last night.

  “What’s all this racket?” Thomas stood in the doorway.

  Chagrin cloaked Rose as silence descended on the room. Why hadn’t she remembered there was a patient in the house? “We’re sorry, Thomas. Did we disturb Maximilian?”

  He strode across the Persian carpet and stopped right beside her. “He’s taking his first serving of broth. With the bedroom door closed, I doubt he even heard it. I just didn’t want to miss whatever is causing all the merriment.”

  Josiah groaned. “Rose thinks she can beat me at checkers. She’s telling a lot of funny stories. Probably hoping it’ll take my mind off of what I’m doing.”

  She giggled. “It’s working, isn’t it? Who has the most checkers left?”

  Josiah gave a loud groan. “I may be down, but the game isn’t over.” He picked up a checker and jumped one of hers, which took him into the last row on her side of the board. “King me!”

  “Good move, old man.” Thomas pulled up a chair and sat back to watch the rest of the game.

  For some reason, Rose couldn’t even remember the strategy she was using to win. In less than five minutes, Josiah held all her checkers.

  He jumped up with his fists pumping the air. “I won! … I won!”

  “So you did.” Rose couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “How about you playing checkers with me?” Thomas gave her an enticing smile.

  She rose from her chair and offered it to him. “Since Josiah was the winner, you should play him. I’m going to see if I can do anything to help Miss Dorcas.”

  Thomas liked this relaxed, fun-loving Rose much better than the reserved Rose of last night. He watched her leave the room as if she was fleeing something. Probably him. Were they back to her staying away from him as she did last night? He’d planned to let her win the first game so she would play a second with him. They could converse while they played. Maybe she would warm up to him being here.

  “Your move.” Josiah leaned back and smiled.

  Knowing he couldn’t gracefully get out of playing, Thomas decided to win as quickly as possible. Very soon, he realized that he’d underestimated the skill of his opponent. Even though he tried to keep his mind on the board, his thoughts often strayed to the auburn waves and hazel eyes that beguiled him. Now that he was a doctor, surely he was good enough for the boss’s daughter.

  What a thought! Maybe that was the problem. Rose still thought of him as the foreman’s son. Her father had never treated him as if he wasn’t equal to them. And Rose hadn’t when he had worked on the ranch. Maybe that boarding school back East had given her other ideas.

  Chapter 4

  Since Newbolt was no longer having trouble breathing and his rash was almost completely gone, Thomas spent the next night in his own room. He sorely needed the uninterrupted sleep. Arising before dawn, he stared out his window at the continuing snowfall, clearly visible against his window. Three days was fairly long for a storm to rage, and this one showed no signs of letting go of its fury. He should get back to the clinic in case Dr. Wetherby needed him, but traveling the streets in this mess would be next to impossible, and Thomas didn’t want to subject his horse to the torture and risk losing her. He hoped the snow would let up today so he could get home.

  When he descended the stairs, he realized the fire had gone out in the parlor. Already cold drafts of air were chasing the warmth from the room. He had noticed the firewood stacked on the back porch when he went out to retrieve his medical bag. After being in this house so long, he needed more exercise than climbing stairs.

  The back door was frozen shut, and he had to pull hard to dislodge it. While making his way the ten feet across the porch toward the stack of split logs, he wished he’d returned upstairs for his overcoat. The wind whipped and howled, blowing drifts across the expanse of porch as well as the yard. After loading his arms with icy logs, he hurried through the door to the back hallway. When he tried to close the door, he bumped it too hard with his hip, and the door slammed behind him.

  Oh, no. He hoped the noise wouldn’t awaken anyone else. The other people in the house needed sleep, too.

  He stacked the logs in the woodbox beside the fireplace in the parlor. He needed to get the fire started before he could put any of them in the grate. A bucket of kindling and newspaper sat on the opposite side from the firebox. Beside it rested a package of safety matches by the Diamond Match Company. All the other matches being made in the United States were poisonous because of the phosphorous. After treating various patients suffering the effects from breathing the fumes, Thomas always bought Diamond matches.

  Building a fire that would start quickly was an art he learned as a young boy. Soon all the kindling caught fire, so he placed pieces of split wood on top, careful not to inhibit the fire. When the flames finally leaped and danced, Thomas added more logs. He stood and turned to warm his back, clasping his hands behin
d him.

  “Good job, Stanton.” Josiah leaned nonchalantly against the door facing. “I’ll wager that’s not the first fire you’ve built.”

  Thomas grinned. “You’re right.”

  Josiah joined him beside the fireplace.

  “Couldn’t you sleep?”

  “I slept fine.” Josiah turned around so he could warm his back, too. “I hardly ever sleep longer than six hours.”

  “I was afraid the back door slamming woke you.”

  “No, I was already dressing by then.”

  Thomas stared into the flames. “This isn’t the only fireplace I’m worried about.”

  “I’ll help you bring in more wood to build the other fires. I’d enjoy having something productive to do.”

  The two men grabbed their coats and headed out to the woodpile. They soon had plenty of wood beside each fireplace in the main rooms downstairs. While they were at it, they built up the fire in the kitchen stove, which had been banked last night.

  After they finished the last fire, Thomas stood. “I’ve been wondering about the coal supply for the boiler. I’m sure the wagons won’t be making deliveries in this storm. I’m going to take a lantern down to the basement to see about it.”

  Josiah rubbed his hands together. “I’ll go with you, but I want to put on a coat first.”

  As Thomas feared, the coal bin was less than half full. “Do you know how much coal a boiler this size needs in a day?”

  Josiah stomped his feet, probably to keep them from getting too cold. “I’m not sure. The one at our house is smaller.”

  Thomas walked around to the other side of the huge furnace. “I’ve never seen one this big in a private home either.”

  He picked up the padded glove on the workbench and used it to open the metal door to the firebox. Josiah helped him load more coal into the boiler without dousing the fire. After they finished, they climbed back up the stairs.

  Rose was thankful that the fire in the kitchen stove was already burning. She started a pot of coffee so that soon the hot beverage could warm her insides, too.