A soft moan came from the bed.
“Laura?” He knelt by the bed and didn’t like what he saw.
In the firelight’s soft glow she looked pale except for the flush on her cheeks. Gently he pushed the damp hair off her face.
Damn, she was on fire.
He pulled the buffalo robe off her body and swore again.
Her gown was soaked from her waist down. Her water must’ve broken sometime during her trip. Praying the baby still lived, he laid his hand over her swollen belly. Something kicked him—hard.
Tears welled in his eyes. Thank God.
“You happy to see me, little fella? Or just lodging a complaint to your mother about traveling all over God’s country?” He received another kick. Apparently he wasn’t the only one upset with his wife.
Laura’s belly tightened under his hand. He glanced back at Laura’s face. She groaned in her sleep. Her water broke and she’d gone into labor. He’d best get her out of these wet clothes and see to preparing for the birth of their child.
“Laura?” He caressed her face. “Can you open your eyes and look at me?”
Slowly she opened her eyes, but he doubted she actually saw him through the glazed look in them. He gently brushed the wet, sticky hair off her face, then unbuttoned her gown.
She moaned in protest and shivered against him.
“I need to get you out of this wet mess.” Despite his fear, his fingers worked quickly on the buttons. He pulled the gown off her body, then wrapped her in the quilt she’d draped over the bench. “I know how much you want to sleep, darlin’, but I’ve got to get the bed changed first.”
He spread the buffalo robe before the fire, then lifted her in his arms.
She snuggled up against him and opened her eyes again. “Nathan.”
“Yes, it’s me, darlin’.” He carried her over to the hearth and gently laid her down close to the fire. He covered her with her dry quilt. “You rest here while I dry out that bed some.”
Her eyes clenched closed and she curled into a ball beneath the quilt, moaning softly. He laid his hand on her tummy once more and felt it grow hard then soft again.
How long had the pains been coming? How long did he have before the baby came? Would either she or the baby survive it out here in the wilderness? Would he survive without her?
He ran his hand over his face and exhaled hard. Get a grip, Cantrell, this is no time to waste on what-ifs. He stripped the sheets from the bed, dragged the grass-stuffed mattress off the wood frame and propped it up against the table facing the fire. Before he could put her back in the bed, he’d have to get it, the sheets and the buffalo robe as dry as possible.
For a moment, he stood sucking in air after all the physical work. Somehow he needed to get her fever down. His mama used to wash him down with ice water when he had a fever as a child. In a quick search around the cabin he found two buckets in the corner near the pantry. He fetched them, then knelt to check on his wife. She appeared to be sleeping again.
Leaning over, he brushed a quick kiss on her hot forehead. “You rest right here. I’ll be right back.”
Leaving her like this tore at his gut, but the wind rattling against the door and hissing through the chinking between the log walls warned him he might not have another chance to check on the horses and bring in water. He buttoned his coat at the neck and turned his collar up, then grabbed both buckets and braved the cold storm outside.
With one shoulder braced against the wind, he stumbled his way around the cabin to the creek. Years of trapping and mining in the mountains during the winter with Micah gave him a working knowledge of this lower base camp. Now that knowledge paid off. He counted the steps from the house to the creek as fat flakes of snow whipped past his eyes. Fifty-eight.
As he neared the creek he slipped down the bank, dragging the buckets to slow his descent then squatting by the slowly moving water. If the temperature continued to drop, soon the whole stream would freeze over. One winter the creek froze so solid, he and Micah had to melt snow for water for nearly three months. He scooped first one bucket into the icy water, then the other. Finally he climbed back up the slope and dragged the buckets carefully up beside him.
This water ought to bring Laura’s temperature down quickly. Was there a problem with doing it too quick? He hoped not.
Back inside the house he set one bucket near the fire, the other he placed on the opposite side of Laura’s inert body.
Was she breathing?
“Laura?” He knelt and gently shook her.
Her head listed to the side.
“Laura?” Oh God, please don’t let her die.
He pulled the quilt down and watched her chest. There it was! Her breasts moved up and down as she breathed.
Thank God.
He shucked his coat then searched for something to use as a cloth for washing. Inside the pantry he found only foodstuffs, and Micah hadn’t left any old shirts lying around. Damn his partner for his excessive tidiness.
Laura’s old carpetbag lying on the table caught his eyes. Maybe she’d packed something in there he could use. He started pulling things out. The small bundle of baby clothes and birthing supplies lay on top.
He laid them aside and reached back in. His hand grasped something soft. He pulled out her nightgown. Every night she’d insisted on sleeping in the damn thing, even after they’d started sleeping together. He’d tried to talk her into sleeping nude, but she’d refused. The thing had been driving him crazy every night for the last nine months. She’d probably want to kill him, but it would make an excellent washrag.
Grasping the gown’s neck in both hands, he gave a firm tug. The sound of ripping material echoed in the cabin as he rent it in two pieces, then four, then eight.
Kneeling beside her once again, he dipped several cloth pieces into the cool water then wrung one out. Starting with her face, he systematically wiped the sweat from her body. As he eased the quilt off her, only exposing the area he needed to wash, he noticed she’d lost weight. Even though her belly had grown large with the baby, her arms and legs had become smaller and shapely. Strange, but he was a little disappointed there’d be less of her to hold after the baby came.
“Nathan?” She opened her eyes and stared at him.
“Yes, it’s me, darlin’.” Finished bathing her, he drew the quilt up over her. “Didn’t think I’d find you, did you?”
“Mustn’t stay.”
“Well, right now you can’t go anywhere. Here, sip this,” he said, bringing a glass of the cold water to her lips. “You’re burning up with fever, and if I’m not mistaken our baby has decided to make its entrance sometime soon.”
She obediently drank from the glass for a few gulps then pulled back to stare intently at him. “No, you mustn’t stay.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you, so just put those thoughts out of your mind. For once you’re going to lie still and let me do the worrying. When you’re better you’ll tell me what all this nonsense is about. Okay?”
“I have to protect you and Rachel.”
Typical. She didn’t agree with his orders. Stubborn as a mule. “Shh, Laura. Whatever the problem is it can wait a while. Rachel is safe with Sarah and Frank. I’m safe here with you. The only thing you have to worry about is resting. Now that’s an order.”
“Yes sir. I love you, Nathan.”
He smiled at her. “I know. You told me in your letter.”
“I know you think I’m silly, but I mean it,” she said as she slowly drifted off to sleep again.
“I don’t think you’re silly at all,” he whispered softly and kissed her sleep-parted lips.
For a moment he watched her, his eyes burning with the wonder her words brought to his soul. She loved him—unquestioningly, unselfishly. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve her, but by God, he planned on hearing her say those words the rest of his life.
He stroked her face. She felt cooler and she hadn’t had another pain while he bathed her—at least ten m
inutes or so. If he hurried, he could check on the animals, haul in firewood for the night and make them both something to eat. He grabbed his coat and strode across the room. At the door he hesitated. Now that he’d found her, he hated leaving her alone, even for a few minutes. No matter what it took, he swore he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.
* * * * *
The pain in her belly returned. It felt as if someone was trying to pull her insides out by twisting them hard. She curled herself into a tight ball and rocked back and forth. Then the pain shifted. It rolled from her back across her hips and pushed down low in her belly. As the pain built in intensity, she let out a moan. Then it started to go away. She’d thought the slow torture had finished, but now it was back, waking her from her dream.
It was a sweet dream. Nathan had come for her, fussing at her while he gave her a cool bath. The water had felt nice, but his gruff, low voice felt even better when it slowly rumbled over her.
“He has such a nice voice.”
“Who does?” the voice asked.
“You do.”
“Yes, I do. Now I want you to open your eyes and look at me,” the voice demanded.
“Can’t see you.” She tried to make it understand.
“If you try, you’ll see me.”
She shook her head. “No. If I open them the dream will go away.”
“What dream?”
“The one with Nathan in it.”
“Laura, open your eyes. It’s me. This isn’t a dream.”
“Nathan,” she sighed, opening her eyes slowly. “My dreams are too real.”
“Darlin’, will you get it through your stubborn head that I’m right here? Drink some of this tea. That will prove it’s not a dream.”
She gulped the warm tea down, then shook her head. “No, Nathan and Rachel are safe at home. Blackwood doesn’t know they belong to me.”
“Who is Blackwood?”
“He’s a killer.”
“Who did he kill?”
“Mustn’t tell,” she said, closing her eyes. “Would put Nathan and Rachel in danger.”
She drifted into darkness again.
Frustrated, Nathan laid her back on the quilted pallet and smoothed the hair off her forehead again. He set her tea on the table and reached over to the Dutch oven hanging over the edge of the fire to stir the buffalo stew he’d made out of her provisions and the cured meat Micah had left behind.
Between Laura’s fear, fever and labor pains, her mind couldn’t grasp the idea that he’d followed her up the mountain. He’d gotten the fever under some control. Her labor was taking its own sweet time, but he knew at some point it would come to an end. Her fear was another matter. He didn’t have any idea how to take it away.
She moaned and curled into a ball again.
He glanced at the watch.
Only three minutes since the last pain. He’d never been at a human birthing, but he knew most animals’ contractions grew closer together and regular when the baby’s birth neared. Not knowing how long he had to prepare for the baby’s arrival, he checked the mattress and found it had dried sufficiently. He put it back on the bedframe and pulled the sheets and buffalo robe on top. Once Laura finished birthing the baby he’d have a dry, comfortable place for her to rest.
On his last trip to check on the horses he’d carried in dry hay and made a pallet for her to lie on during the birthing. God willing they’d have one hell of a story to tell their child years from now.
Laura moaned again.
Kneeling beside her, he stroked her back and shoulders, his heart clenching at the low, keening sound coming from her.
Please God, let her survive this.
Cold water ran over her skin. It felt heavenly. Laura opened her eyes. The man leaned over her with something long and flat, his face hidden by shadows. She struggled to see who he was.
“It’s me, Laura.”
The voice sounded like Nathan, but she couldn’t see his face.
“I’ve come for you.” He leaned closer.
She saw his eyes and screamed. “Nigel!”
He started torturing her again, pulling on her belly and trying to take her baby out.
“No! No, don’t take my baby. He has to live with Nathan. Nathan needs this baby. He needs to love it. He can’t love me, but he can love this baby like he loves Rachel.”
“I’m going to take your baby because you lied to Nathan. You knew about me and didn’t tell him, so your baby belongs to me.”
“Please don’t take him. I won’t tell anyone about the murder. No one needs to know I saw you kill Senator Anderson. Just leave me my baby.”
“No, little girl. You’re fat and lazy.” Aunt Ellen joined forces with Blackwood. She pulled on her baby while Nigel pushed on her belly. “You don’t deserve to have happiness. You don’t deserve a family. You don’t deserve to have children. And you don’t deserve to love a man like Nathan.”
“No, Aunt Ellen, you’re wrong. I’m not lazy. I work all day long. I work as hard as I did for you. I bake bread just like you taught me. I clean and cook and take care of Rachel, I even helped the town when the measles came. I’m not lazy. My baby needs me. Please don’t take him away.”
“Your baby will live on the charity of others, just like you.” Now Clara taunted her too. “She’ll be an orphan. She won’t have nice parents to take care of her. She’ll just be a poor relation. She’ll turn into a bookworm and live to be a lonely old spinster too.”
The three of them pulled and pushed harder on her body.
Laura began to fight. She kicked and clawed. She twisted and turned. She growled low in her throat, trying to frighten them off.
No one would take her baby.
“Laura! Wake up, Laura. You’re going to hurt yourself or the baby.” Nathan gently shook her shoulders. “You’re dreaming. There’s no one here to take our baby away. The pain in your belly is the baby trying to be born.”
“Nathan?” Her eyes opened but remained glazed over with fear from her nightmare. “Where are they hiding? They’re trying to kill me. They want our baby…”
“No, darlin’. There isn’t anyone here but me. You have to try to wake up. I need your help with the baby.”
“Baby?”
“Our baby. He’s trying to come see us.”
“How did you get here?” Her eyes cleared and she appeared to become aware of her surroundings, then another pain tore through her. “The baby is coming, Nathan. It’s too soon.”
“I followed you here. Right now we have more important things to think about. I need to see if the baby is close to coming. Can you spread your legs?”
“Oh my Lord, Nathan. It’s hurting again.” She leaned back and screamed.
“Laura, quit screaming. It isn’t helping anything. That’s a girl,” he praised her as she began to breathe in a more controlled way. “I don’t know what to do next, darlin’.”
“You’re asking me? Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t know anything before we made this baby, dammit!” she snapped at him.
Whoa. In all the months they lived together, she never, ever cursed. He watched her go through another contraction. “What can I do to help you?” he asked a little more cautiously.
“I don’t know. I’m new at all this,” she said between clenched teeth, then sucked in a deep breath when the pain finished. “It feels like all my insides want to push the baby out of me.”
He thought for a moment while Laura panted through another pain. Every time she wanted to bear down, she pulled her legs up toward her chest. “Does holding your legs like that help?”
“It seems to relieve some of the pressure.”
“Maybe the next one, if you push down while you hold your legs up like that it might help the baby come out. What do you think?”
“Right now I’ll try anything,” she answered breathlessly.
With the next pain began, she drew her legs up and at the same time took in a deep breath. She held her breath and push
ed down and out on the baby, tilting her hips as she did so. She let the air out with a loud grunt.
“How did that feel?” he asked, mopping her hair off her face once more.
She gave him a weak smile. “Better. At least I’m doing something now.”
“That’s my girl.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Do it again with the next pain.”
“Do you have all the things I brought for the birth?”
He patted the baby blankets beside him with the scissors and string laid on top. “Right here, darlin’.”
“Don’t call me darlin’,” she ground out as the next pain hit her.
Nathan looked down and saw the baby’s dark hair come forth. “You’re doing it, Laura. Keep pushing!”
She pushed for several more minutes. He encouraged her with each contraction to bear down, and helped support the baby’s head as it started to emerge.
“That’s a girl. One more pain and our baby will be here.”
“I can’t.”
The weakness in her voice caught his attention. Her eyes closed, she lay panting and pale on the hay pallet he’d made for her.
“Yes, you can.”
“No, please don’t make me.”
“You’ve done so much so far, darlin’. Don’t give up now. You can do this. Just one more, please.”
Another contraction came.
She grabbed her legs and gave a push.
One minute he was holding the baby’s head and the next the baby squirted out into his hands. He looked up at his wife only to watch her collapse listlessly onto the pallet.
“Laura!”
Chapter Sixteen
“Laura! Laura, can you hear me? It’s a boy, darlin’. We have a son.”
From a distance Nathan’s voice penetrated the fog of Laura’s exhaustion. A baby’s lusty cry forced her to focus on her surroundings and she opened her eyes. Nathan held up a red-faced baby boy with black hair.
“He’s beautiful,” she whispered. “Wipe him off, Nathan. Don’t let him get too cold.”
Through the tears in her eyes, she watched him dry their son with one towel, then attempt to swaddle him in another. His efforts left a lot to be desired and she smiled at his frustration.
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