“Perhaps you should have,” His fingers tightened, and Wolf forced himself to hold her at arm’s length. “But you didn’t, and now you are here. And we should leave while we still have some light.”
“Mary is acting strange.” Caroline’s eyes caught his, hoping he would understand.
“She has also been through a great deal.”
Caroline sighed. “I don’t know what to do. She’s worried about Logan.”
“My brother can take care of himself.”
“He should be here, with her,” Caroline argued.
“But he is not. And we are.” Wolf gave in to his desire and pulled her close to his body. She resisted at first, but then came against him. Wolf savored the feel of her.
“I’m worried about her,” Caroline said against his chest. He smelled of fresh air and pine, and security. Her arms wrapped about his lean waist. “It will be hard on her to travel.”
“I understand, but the best thing we can do for her is take her to safety.” It was also the best he could do for Caroline. He felt her nod and closed his hand over her curls. “You go down and get Mary, I’ll finish wrapping these sheets into a roll.”
“They’re for Mary when the baby comes.”
“I know. I should not have yelled at you.”
“And I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I understand why you don’t wish to be reminded of your blood link with Robert.”
“But you are right. He was my father.”
Their eyes held a moment longer then Caroline left the room. She was still thinking of Wolf when she entered the parlor.
Her heart skipped a beat.
“Mary! My God, Mary!” Caroline rushed across the room and fell to her knees beside Mary where she lay on the floor. She cradled her head, and wiped tendrils of hair from her face.
The carpet was stained as were Mary’s skirts, and Caroline had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach even before Mary opened her eyes.
They were glazed with pain, but she attempted a smile when she recognized Caroline. “My baby,” she whispered. “My baby is coming.” Then her face contorted in agony.
Twelve
“What the hell is going on?”
Caroline jerked her head around when she heard Wolf’s voice. She caught a glimpse of him frozen in surprise, looking much as she must have moments earlier. “’Tis the baby. Help me get her to a bed.”
Before she even finished her request, Wolf was across the room. He scooped Mary into his arms as Caroline pushed to her feet. She led the way into the room Robert MacQuaid used.
“Did I hurt you?” Wolf asked Mary, repeating the query to Caroline when Mary didn’t answer and only cried out in pain.
“’Tis not you.” Caroline clasped Mary’s hand. “’Tis the baby.” Glancing around, Caroline was surprised to see the bewildered expression on the usually stoic man. He swallowed, and she almost smiled at the way his Adam’s apple bobbed. She might have if not for the bite of Mary’s fingers around her own as another wave of tightness consumed her.
Caroline’s mind snapped back to the situation at hand. There’d be time enough later to wonder at Wolf’s transformation... she hoped. “Water,” she said twice before he tore his attention from Mary and looked at her. “Bring me some hot water.” She hesitated a moment to make certain he understood, then turned back to Mary. In the next instant she heard him leave.
“It hurts. Oh, Caroline.”
“I know it does, dear.” Patting Mary’s arm with one hand, Caroline used the other to unhook her gown. “Here, can you shift up a moment? You’ll be more comfortable with this bodice off.” At least Caroline hoped she would be. She couldn’t help wondering if anything would help, but she had to do something besides offer hollow words of reassurance.
By the time she’d removed Mary’s wet garments, tossing them into a pile in the corner, Caroline was exhausted. And she could barely imagine the discomfort Mary was in. But she did seem to rest better at those times when the pain loosened its grip on her. Caroline draped a fresh sheet over her distended body and brushed back the damp, brown hair. Then she could do nothing but stand by the bed, her hand in Mary’s and wait.
The minutes ticked off on the clock on the mantel. Time divided into moments of intense pain, when Mary cried out and Caroline soothed her, and movements when the pale woman collapsed onto the mattress, spent.
“She’s not...?”
Wolf’s voice startled Caroline. She’d been thinking not of Mary, but selfishly of herself, months from now in the same position, delivering her baby... Wolf’s baby. Hoping he couldn’t read her thought, she turned to him and shook her head.
After gently extracting her hand, she met him by the door. He carried an overflowing bucket of steaming water in each hand.
“She’s sleeping.”
“Then she isn’t going to have the baby now?”
His tone was hopeful, and Caroline hated to dash that hope, but she did. “Mary just rests between pains.”
“But it is too soon, is it not? I thought her child was due in December.”
“It was.” Mary started to fidget in her sleep and Caroline turned toward the bed, stopping when a wet hand clamped about her upper arm.
Wolf leaned forward till he nearly touched her hair with his chin. “Have you ever done this before?”
Slowly she shook her head. Then as if struck with inspiration, she twisted her head around. Their faces were very close, and she stared into his dark eyes. “Have you?”
“No.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen animals give birth.”
“’Tis not the same thing,” Caroline insisted, though she had no idea if it was or not. But the idea of him comparing her friend to a cow or horse, didn’t sit well.
“Sadayi knows what to do, I am certain.”
“But she’s not here,” Caroline pointed out more reasonably than she thought his words deserved.
“I could run and get her.”
“There isn’t time,” Caroline said as she twisted away. Mary was awake now, her body stiffening as another wave of agony hit her.
“But what should I do with all this water?” Wolf glanced down at the buckets that were spreading wet rings on the carpet.
Back at Mary’s bedside, Caroline wanted to tell him to pour both buckets over his head, but she knew her annoyance wasn’t so much with Wolf as with the situation, so she merely shrugged her shoulders and hoped he wouldn’t leave her.
He didn’t. Though he approached the bed with less ease than he would face a barrage of arrows, Wolf moved to Caroline’s side. She was bent over Mary, who was now awake and breathing hard as the pain subsided.
“Mary.” Caroline waited until her expression was calm.
Mary’s smile was weak. “You’re here.”
“Of course, I am. We are.” She stepped aside so her friend could see Wolf.
“Drink. May I have some water?”
Before Caroline could form the words to ask him, Wolf thrust a glass into her hands. Together they lifted Mary’s shoulders so she could take a sip.
“Is that better?” Caroline fluffed the pillow before they settled her back down. “Mary. You’re going to have to tell me what to do. Do you think you can do that?”
Mary’s voice was raspy but firm as she gave instructions. And to Caroline’s chagrin, it did sound much like birthing a foal. Mary stopped talking and her breathing quickened. Caroline’s gaze locked with Wolf’s. At least for now they were allies.
Three hours later everything was much the same. Wolf had built a fire in the hearth, and was hunched beside it poking at the blazing embers. It was a needless task but it gave him something to do. He glanced back at Caroline sitting by the bed, her head bent forward and pushed to his feet.
“Come, rest here a moment.” His arms around her shoulders, Wolf urged Caroline to stand, then guided her to the rocking chair by the fireplace.
“I should stay by her.” Caroline twisted her head to look back at her friend.
“She’s s
leeping now, and I’ll sit with her awhile.”
By late afternoon when Caroline jerked awake, Mary was still sleeping. “My goodness.” Brushing aside the quilt he’d spread over her lap, Caroline stood and rushed to the bedside. “How could you let me nap like that?” she scolded, more angry with herself than him.
But he ignored the bite in her voice, leveling her with his dark stare as he turned from the bedside. “You needed your rest as much as Mary did.”
His words made her pause as she reached for Mary’s hand. Did he suspect she was with child... his child? It was true that she grew weary more easily and slept at unlikely times. But he appeared to know little about the birthing process... even less than herself.
Besides, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t missed most of her sleep the previous night. Caroline leaned toward Mary to hide the color flooding her cheeks as vivid memories of lying in Wolf’s arms, their naked bodies entwined, filled her head.
Caroline reached for Mary’s hand. It looked pale in hers. She traced the network of spidery blue veins with her thumb before looking up at Wolf. “How long has she been like this?”
“An hour, maybe a bit more.” He motioned Caroline toward the door to the hall. There was no fire burning in the parlor, and Caroline felt the chill as soon as she stepped from the bedroom. She wrapped her arms about her waist. The shiver that ran down her spine when she noticed Wolf carrying the long rifle had naught to do with the lack of heat. She’d almost forgotten that the birth of Mary’s baby wasn’t their only problem. Apparently Wolf hadn’t. His next words proved it.
“I hesitate to go.”
“You’re leaving us?” Caroline’s voice rose with each word.
“Only to get help.” Wolf leaned the rifle against the chair railing. With his hands free, he cupped Caroline’s shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “Mary grows weaker, and I don’t know what to do.”
Caroline swallowed the tears in her throat, ashamed of the selfishness that made her wish to beg him to stay. She lowered her lashes. “I don’t, either.”
“I can run to Kawuyi in less than an hour.”
“Do you think Sadayi will come?” Caroline’s gaze met his.
“She will come,” he said, and Caroline believed from his tone that he would throw the older lady over his shoulder and carry her back if need be. “I do not like leaving you here alone.”
“I can take care of Mary,” Caroline told him with more assurance than she felt. But when he pulled the pistol from the leather belt around his waist, she knew that wasn’t his only concern. She followed as he led the way to the window where the slanting rays of late afternoon streamed through the mullioned panes.
Slowly, carefully, he showed her how to load the pistol. When he retrieved his rifle, he’d scooped up a powderhorn as well. Now he pulled the plug with his teeth and poured a small amount down the barrel.
Caroline wiped her damp hands down the panels of her flower sprigged overskirt and watched. “You don’t believe they will attack us again, do you?” Anxiety made her voice tense.
“No.” He tapped the powder and wadding down, then handed the pistol to Caroline. “The Headman has given his word.”
“Then what?” True the forest was filled with wild animals, mountain lions and bears, but they rarely roamed close to the house. His concern as he focused her attention on the gun seemed to go beyond protecting herself from four-legged predators. “Tal-tsuska,” she said on a surge of comprehension. “You think Tal-tsuska will return.”
He didn’t glance up, but the skin across his cheekbones tightened enough for Caroline to realize that was exactly what he feared. “But I thought he meant only to show you his displeasure before. You said he could have killed you if that was his choice.”
“It is true he could have shot me as we crossed the river.”
“But then you wouldn’t have known.” His dark eyes raised to meet hers. “That’s it, isn’t it? He wanted you to know how angry he was... and to be wary.”
“I’m always wary,” Wolf said with a slight shrug.
“Do not play word games with me.” Caroline forced her attention to the pistol when he pulled the hammer back.
“You aim the barrel at the chest and hold yourself steady as you pull the trigger. I do not play games, Caroline.”
He handed the gun to her, and Caroline wrapped her hand around the butt. The pistol was heavier than she thought, and she steadied her hand to keep her arm from drooping. But she didn’t allow him to distract her from discovering the truth behind his insistence that she learn how to load a gun. “Why are you so worried about Tal-tsuska? ’Tis Tal-tsuska who concerns you, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
His ready reply surprised Caroline.
“But if he...?”
“It is not me he wants, Caroline.”
“But who?” Her lips were still forming the question when she realized the answer. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was suddenly too dry. “Why?” The word was little more than a croak.
Wolf shrugged, but it was more to ease the tension in his shoulders than for any other reason. “Perhaps he is fond of your hair the color of moonlight. Perhaps your eyes appeal to him. Or your mouth.” Wolf realized he was listing some of the things he found attractive about the woman before him and stopped. As lovely as she was, Wolf didn’t think his cousin’s intention toward Caroline had anything to do with her appearance.
“Tal-tsuska’s wife and son died of smallpox. He survived, but bears the scars of his illness.”
“I’m sorry.” Caroline shook her head in confusion. “But I don’t understand what that has to do with me.”
“He blames the English for bringing the disease.” He hesitated, his eyes growing darker as he stared at her. “Smallpox is but one pestilence the white man has introduced to the land.”
“They also brought civilization.” Caroline had seen the towns, Charles Town, and the plantations. Certainly they hadn’t been there before. But his deepened scowl spoke volumes.
“We haven’t the time to debate the merits of the English civilization,” he said as he handed her the pistol. “’Tis primed and ready. I shall leave you a powder horn and shot.”
When Caroline hesitated to take the pistol, he pressed it firmly into her hand. His fingers lingered on hers. Slowly Caroline lifted her face to return his stare. He stood tall and straight, the one strong pillar in the chaos surrounding her. Caroline could barely resist leaning into him. Especially when his expression softened.
He was close enough for her to smell the outdoors and manly scent of him, to feel the heat that radiated from his large body. And she could not help the memories his assault on her senses evoked.
She wanted to throw herself in his strong arms and beg him to stay. To stay with her always. To tell him of their child.
Before she did something she would regret, Caroline turned away. His hands gripped her shoulders forcing her back to him. And his words showed he misinterpreted her actions as fear, which Caroline admitted to herself, should be her prime consideration.
“I shall return as quickly as possible.”
“I know you will.” His fingers tightened and her heart beat faster.
“You will be fine.”
Caroline detected the hint of a question in his words. She nodded because she didn’t trust her voice to answer. Subtly, surely, he drew her closer. Her hands hung by her sides, the pistol dangling from one. But each time she breathed, her breasts flirted with the homespun weave of his shirt. The touch, barely there, should have been imperceptible, but Caroline felt it down to her curled toes.
He wasted time. Wolf knew he should leave, for the sooner he did, the sooner he could return. But he seemed unable to release her. The alternative was to draw her closer. He meant to do it gently, but his arms didn’t follow his mind’s directive. She gasped as he pressed her against his body.
Her lips were warm and tasted of surrender. He couldn’t help drinking his fill. When he pulled aw
ay she moaned and swayed toward him. It was all he could do to step back.
Wolf slung his musket over his shoulder and glanced back toward Caroline. Her mouth was red and damp. Her golden hair mussed. She was his father’s widow, and he ached to take her there on the floor. Nearly groaning, he headed for the door. His hand gripped the latch, but was stilled when the cry sounded from the bedroom.
Caroline was down the hall ahead of him. She was leaning over Mary when he rushed through the doorway. Logan’s wife was pale as the sheet she lay on. When they left the room moments ago she was sleeping soundly and Wolf had thought there was time to seek help. Now he knew that hope was unfounded. Her eyes were still shut, but her breathing was heavy, rasping from her dry lips. Between gasps, she called for her husband in a weak strangled voice.
He’d always understood his brother’s reasons for leaving... neither of them could stand the man who sired them. But now Wolf wondered if Logan should have thought more about the wife he left behind.
“I think the babe is coining.” Caroline’s tone, surprisingly calm despite the pounding of her heart, gave her a little confidence. “Perhaps you should wait in the other room.” She guided Mary’s hands to the knotted rags she tied earlier around the bedposts. With a surge of energy, Mary grabbed hold.
Caroline flipped up the sheet, pausing only a moment as she caught sight of Wolf still standing in the doorway. He hadn’t moved; and if the situation wouldn’t have been as it was, she might have laughed at the expression on his face as he stared at Mary. He was nearly as pale as the woman about to deliver her child. Paler, for exertion now colored Mary’s features bright red. As she gritted her teeth and pushed, her skin grew damp with perspiration.
“Raff!” Caroline had to say it twice before his eyes met hers. “The water needs to be warmed.” It was all she could think of to get him moving, but it worked. Not seeming to care how much he spilled, Wolf scooped up the hemp-handled buckets and rushed from the room.
Shaking her head, Caroline focused her attention back to Mary. Earlier when Mary explained what needed to be done, Caroline was certain she’d never remember, let alone be able to handle any of it. Now she found herself working more on instinct than anything else.
My Savage Heart (The MacQuaid Brothers) Page 18
