“Marta, your mother is not feeling well.”
The girl jerked her head up. “Mama is ill?”
He nodded. “I helped her to Rosemary’s wagon. She’s lying down in the back. I thought maybe she shouldn’t be alone.”
“Of course.” She turned to Peter. “I will see you back at home. I cannot dance when Mama is ill.”
“You must go be with her.” He took her hand, despite Finn’s presence, and lifted it to his lips. “I will see you tomorrow.”
She nodded and sped away.
Finn raised his eyebrows at the lad. “What are your intentions toward her?”
Peter leveled a gaze at Finn, unflinching under his scrutiny. “I will marry her after we are both finished with school.”
“I thought you couldn’t go to school.”
He shrugged. “I will. Also I will work for Papa and Mama.”
“What about Rolf? He has his heart set on marrying Marta.”
Peter scowled. “Rolf is unkind to her. He does not love her. And Marta doesn’t love him.”
“But Rolf is your brother. Don’t you feel guilty about taking his girl?”
Peter gave him a solemn look as he considered the question, but then he shook his head. “I do not feel guilty. I love Marta and she loves me. There is no reason we should not be together.”
“I agree.” But something about the whole thing gnawed at Finn. Rolf wasn’t the kind of young man to step aside for anyone, even his brother. Finn remembered seeing him earlier that morning and wanted to warn Peter to be careful, to not accept that Rolf would simply hand Marta over because she was in love with Peter. But he didn’t want to step into a situation he wasn’t invited into. Instead, he changed the subject. “You going back to the field tonight to take over for Rolf?”
Peter shook his head. “My brother will keep watch this night.”
“Alone?” Peter might not be aware of the rules, but Rosemary wanted two of them watching together. Considering Bart Clayton and his threats, Finn believed her orders to be sound. “Miss Jackson has made it pretty clear that she doesn’t want just one of you watching overnight.”
Peter shook his head. “Ian did not want to come into town as I did.”
Ian. He’d forgotten about Rolf’s uncle. Again a hint of suspicion clenched his stomach. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt it so strongly, but he knew something wasn’t right. He had every intention of speaking to Rolf in the morning, without alarming Rosemary. Perhaps he could resolve the issue before it got out of hand. At the very least, he needed to assure himself that Rolf wasn’t working for Clayton.
Sarah grew restless against Finn’s shoulder. He patted her back and she settled down, but only for a minute before she began to whimper again. He wondered when Agnes had last fed her. As much as he hated to leave his position, where he had a good view of Rosemary and Sheriff Mayfield, he had to know.
He heard the moans before he reached the wagon and could tell Agnes was in a bad way.
Relief washed over Marta’s face when she saw him standing there. “Mama is very sick. I believe she should see a doctor.”
“No, Marta.” Agnes spoke up with such a thin voice that Finn immediately handed the baby to Marta.
“I’ll be back as soon as I find Doc Richards.”
“No, Herr Finn. I have no money to pay him.”
He patted her shin. “We’ll work it out, Agnes.”
It turned out, the doctor was one of the fiddlers at the grandstand. But as much as Finn hated to draw attention, he couldn’t let Agnes writhe in pain just for the sake of entertainment.
He walked up to the grandstand in front of the doctor and got his attention.
The other two fiddlers frowned but kept playing while the doctor bent down. “What wrong?”
“The woman who takes care of my baby has a terrible pain in her stomach. She’s lying down in the wagon, and it seems like it’s getting worse.”
“Meet me at my office,” he said. “I’ll be right there.”
“They aren’t letting any more wagons back through town until the grandstand is taken down,” Finn said. “She won’t be able to walk that far.”
“Finn?” He turned at the sound of Rosemary’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
His stomach clenched at the sight of the sheriff towering over her shoulder. “It’s Agnes. She’s having terrible pain in her stomach.” He glared at the sheriff. “Can you make yourself useful and escort the wagon through town to the doctor’s office?”
“Be happy to.”
Rosemary touched his arm. “Thank you, Sheriff.”
“My pleasure.”
Finn swallowed a growl at the way the Sheriff Mayfield smiled at her. He looked like a bald pirate. He intended to speak with the mayor to find out if this Dennis Mayfield had been thoroughly investigated before they blindly swore him in and handed him a star-shaped key to the city of Paddington.
“The wagon is this way.” Finn forced a civil tone, though being civil was the last thing he wanted to do.
“I’ll meet you at the edge of town,” the sheriff said. “I’ll need to go to the livery and grab my horse.”
“She doesn’t have time for you to do that.”
Giving an amiable nod, the sheriff followed Finn. “I can escort you on foot just as easily as on horseback, I suppose. If anyone objects, I’ll explain that there’s a woman in pain in the back of the wagon.”
As much as Finn hated to admit it, Sheriff Mayfield was an agreeable sort of fella. But those were the ones who generally turned out to be the biggest liars and cheats.
He reached the wagon a moment later and glanced at Rosemary.
She nodded. “I’ll tell Agnes what we’re doing.” She turned to her friend. “Agnes, it’s Rosemary. Finn is taking you to the doctor.”
Finn helped Rosemary and Marta into the back of the wagon then climbed into the front seat. He flapped the reins and the horses moved forward. Agnes groaned as the wagon swayed.
* * * * *
Rosemary held tightly to Agnes’s ice-cold hand. “Hang on, my friend,” Rosemary said. “We’ll have you to Dr. Richards’s office in no time. Agnes gave her hand a weak squeeze.
“Rosemary,” Marta said, her lips trembling as she tried to comfort Sarah, “Mama says her baby has gone to heaven and that is why she is in so much pain.”
“What do you mean?”
“She only knew a baby was coming a week ago, maybe two.”
“Oh, Agnes,” Rosemary said, her eyes filling with tears. She pressed Agnes’s hand to her lips and kissed the dear work-roughened hands. “I’m so desperately sorry.”
There was no answer, and she realized Agnes had fainted. She had been miscarrying her own baby all day while nursing Sarah? Why hadn’t she told them? Rosemary felt the weight of guilt and sorrow deep inside her as she held her friend’s limp hand.
The wagon stopped and Finn hopped into the wagon bed. He gently stooped and slipped his arms under Agnes’s back. He lifted her with a grunt then frowned as her arm flopped out.
“She’s fainted,” Rosemary said. “Sh–she lost Heinrich’s last baby.” Her voice broke, and she let the tears fall. The loss had to be doubly painful knowing that the last of Heinrich’s children would never walk this earth.
Rosemary turned to Marta. “Go find the other children and bring them here to the doctor’s office. They shouldn’t be on their own this late.”
Sheriff Mayfield held out his arms for Agnes. “Hand the woman out to me. It will minimize having to jostle her too much if she’s hemorrhaging.”
Finn gave a curt nod and gently lowered her into the sheriff’s arms.
Once inside the office, the doctor hurried the sheriff into the exam room. Then Mayfield joined Finn and Rosemary in the waiting area. Within a few minutes, the doctor called Rosemary into his office. He confirmed that Agnes had indeed miscarried and that she had been three months along at least, so the bleeding was extensive. “We’ll try to stop the worst of it. B
ut if she is still hemorrhaging to this degree in the next half hour, I will have no choice but to perform surgery to stop it.”
Rosemary stared at the doctor. “What surgery?”
“I’ll have to remove her uterus.”
“What do you mean? Remove…”
“She’ll no longer bear children, but if all goes well and there are no complications, she’ll live to raise the ones she already has. And Miss Jackson, trust me, the alternative is not good. If we do nothing, she’ll bleed to death in an hour.”
“I understand. You have to do it, then.”
He stared intently into her eyes. “I have a request for you that will not be easy.”
“Of course. Anything you need me to do.” Rosemary swallowed hard.
“I need you to get Mrs. Fischer completely undressed. Be sure her stomach is clean. I have lye soap next to the washtub, which I have already filled with water for you. When she is clean, I’ll have you take the sprayer next to the bed and spray it over the bed, the floor, and the table next to the bed. But don’t spray her. It’s carbolic acid, and we use it to kill germs that can make her very ill. Hopefully that will keep her wound from becoming infected.
“While you do these things, I’ll be placing my instruments in the carbolic-acid solution to disinfect them, as well.” He patted her on the arm. “Now, you know everything you need to know. Go in there, please, and get started. I’ll go speak with her daughter and Finn, and I’ll be right there.”
“D–doctor. What if she stops bleeding on her own?”
He shook his head. “It isn’t likely, and it’s best we get prepared for the surgery. But don’t worry. I’ve done this procedure before.”
“And did the woman…”
“Live?” He nodded. “I’m happy to say she did. As do most of my surgical patients since I’ve adopted Joseph Lister’s philosophy about unclean, unsterile environment and instruments causing infection. Some of my colleagues are not so ready to accept something they can’t see without a microscope.” He seemed to be talking to himself now, but he came quickly back to the present. “There now, run along and undress her. You may cover her with a sheet when she is ready.”
Dread filled Rosemary as she entered the room. Agnes remained unconscious the entire time Rosemary attended her. Her cheeks burned as she realized the doctor had set a pan under Agnes. She did as she was instructed, including spraying the room.
The doctor entered just as she completed the task. He inspected the pan underneath her hips, and sadness filled his eyes. “Yes, she is losing too much blood still. I’m afraid I have no choice but to proceed with the surgery.”
“M–may I leave now, Doctor?”
His head shot up. “You may not, young lady. I have no nurse here. I need someone to help.”
“B–but I’m not a nurse.”
“You’ll be fine. She’ll need someone to monitor the ether that will keep her asleep. And don’t mind the phenol. We have to breathe it to keep ourselves sterilized during the operation. It’s abrasive and will likely irritate your nose and throat, but the effects are mild and will go away by tomorrow.”
As if in a dream, Rosemary stood near Agnes’s head as the doctor performed the operation. Somehow she obeyed his commands, and when the operation was over, she rushed outside, dropped to her knees, and lost a day’s worth of food.
She heard the door open but couldn’t turn around. Her body shook with the horror of what she had witnessed. “I’m so proud of you, Rosemary,” Finn said. “The doctor told me you helped with the surgery. I don’t think I could have done that.”
Rosemary turned and buried her face in his chest. His arms encircled her with none of the passion of the morning, only tenderness. He stroked her hair and held her as she wept.
“I just kept thinking about Rachel,” she cried. “I know it wasn’t the same thing, but I just kept seeing her lying there on that table. It was horrible.”
The door opened again, and this time Rosemary glanced up. The doctor handed Finn a jar of some sort of powder and a baby feeder like the one they had used before Agnes came to live at the homestead. “This is a replacement for mother’s milk,” the doctor said, his voice weary. “I made some inquiries after I saw your baby a couple of months ago, and it seems this is having success. Fewer babies are experiencing the sort of difficulties associated with feeding them cow’s milk. Agnes won’t be able to feed the baby for a while, and she may dry up in the meantime, so I suggest using this formula.”
“How will she eat this?” Finn asked the same question Rosemary had been asking inwardly. How was this powdery substance going to feed Sarah?
“Mix it with six ounces of warm water. But not too warm. We don’t want to burn her. Then put it in the feeder like milk.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Finn said.
“I suggest getting all those children to a bed somewhere. They’re worn out. I’m sure Dottie will be happy to have you all.” He glanced at Finn. “Marta is a little girl. Go get your baby from her. She has enough to worry about with her mother ill like this. I imagine she’ll assume the responsibility of her brothers and sisters while Agnes is indisposed. She doesn’t need your baby too.”
Finn’s face fell, and Rosemary’s heart went out to him. “Finn, please go inside and get the children, and we can go.” She turned to the doctor. “Will Agnes sleep all night?” She couldn’t bear the thought that her friend might awaken and not understand why she was in a strange place and in pain.
He nodded. “I’ve got her pretty heavily sedated. Otherwise the pain will be difficult to manage. I’ll put a cot in her room so I can monitor her,” he said as though reading her thoughts. “There’s no need for you to stay here. You would be more useful taking her children to the boardinghouse and asking Dottie for a room or two.”
Rosemary nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. Thank you for everything, Doctor. I’ll settle the bill when I come back tomorrow.”
“Let’s just take one step at a time. Now go on and get those children out of my waiting room and into bed.”
Finn returned with Gerta in his arms, followed by Marta, carrying Sarah, and Elsa between the two boys, holding their hands. Finn turned to the doctor. “Gerta was too heavy for Marta, so I had no choice but to leave Sarah with her.” The children looked weary, somber, and worried.
Rosemary wanted to gather them all into her arms and reassure them that their mother would be just fine. Instead, she took the sleeping baby from Marta. Sarah’s tear-stained face nearly broke her heart. Rosemary still held the feeder and the jar of powder. She knew the baby was hungry. As Finn got the children into the wagon, Rosemary suddenly remembered what had happened in that wagon. “Finn. We can’t put them back there.”
He turned and placed his fingers to his lips. “Your sheriff came out and cleaned it up.”
Rosemary opened her mouth to deny that the sheriff was “hers,” but she had to admit, she had enjoyed his company. After this afternoon’s fiasco with Finn, Sheriff Mayfield’s attention had soothed her wounded pride. Not to mention, the man was handsome and could clearly be counted on in a crisis.
Rosemary went to the door alone when they arrived at the boardinghouse. There was no need to unload all the children if Dottie didn’t have rooms or simply didn’t want to offer rooms for children. But after a quick explanation, the elderly woman glanced out at the wagon. “For mercy’s sake, don’t leave those children out there. Get them in here so we can put them to bed.”
Rosemary motioned toward the wagon, and Finn and the children climbed down and came into the house. Finn held Sarah closely, as well as the feeder. The baby’s cries had grown louder during the ride over, and now she was so upset, there would be no consoling her without feeding her. Finn said, “May I heat some water to feed Sarah a powder the doctor gave me to try?”
Dottie looked at the powder with skepticism, but she nodded and pointed toward the kitchen. “Be my guest.”
Then she turned to Rosemary. “C
ome along upstairs.” She escorted the girls to the room Rosemary had occupied the night before she purchased her sheep. She pointed to the wall in the hallway. “You two gentleman, kindly wait right there. We’ll get you fixed up directly.” Dottie then walked to the wardrobe and pointed to the top shelf. “There are plenty of quilts to make the children pallets.”
Marta laid the sleeping Gerta on the bed. She and Rosemary worked together to make a thick pallet large enough for the three girls, including Marta, to share. “I’ll keep Sarah with me in the big bed,” Rosemary said. “You go ahead and lay down and try to sleep.” She put her arms around Marta and gave her a quick hug. “Don’t worry about your mama. The doctor said he’s done this surgery before with success. Trust the Lord to pull her through this ordeal.”
Marta nodded. “Will we see her tomorrow?”
“Of course we will.”
After kissing Elsa and Gerta good night, Rosemary accompanied Dottie to the next room, the boys trailing behind. “It’s not as pretty, but it’ll do for a couple of boys.” She ruffled Afonso’s unruly red hair. He rewarded her with a sleepy smile. “You boys climb into bed. You’re too sleepy to wash, I can see. But tomorrow you have to wash your hands and even behind your ears or no breakfast.”
Heinrich Jr. and Afonso grinned. “Yes, ma’am,” they chorused.
Rosemary couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to each messy head before shooing them off to bed. “Good night, boys.”
Dottie and Rosemary walked slowly down the stairs, Dottie holding tightly to the railing.
“I hear it rumored you’ve got Bart Clayton’s dander up,” Dottie said.
Word got around fast in a town the size of Paddington. But Rosemary didn’t really mind. She loved her sheep, and she wasn’t about to let him scare her off. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You look out for that Bart Clayton. He’s one dangerous man, and word is, he’s not happy about you bringing sheep in.”
“Well, I don’t much care what he thinks, and you and I both know it’s not the sheep that bother him. He wants my land, and he doesn’t like the fact that I’m not cowering to him.”
Dottie nodded. “You’re likely right about that.”
Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota Page 20