“Oh God,” he cried, “don’t make her suffer like that. Please help her deliver that baby.”
He prayed for long minutes, but his heart received no answer. He relived every cross word he’d ever said to her and begged God to forgive him and give him a chance to make her happy. Finally, exhausted, he rose from his knees, slumped in a chair, and pulled his watch from his pocket.
Six o’clock. According to what Victoria told him, she’d already been in labor twelve hours. How much longer could this last?
❧
Marcus’s question hadn’t been answered at midnight. Nothing had changed in Victoria’s condition according to Dr. Spencer.
He sat in the kitchen, his elbows on the table and his hands on either side of his head. Dante poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of him. “Drink this, Marcus.”
Across the table, Daniel nodded. “You need to eat something, too. Sally and Mamie fixed a good supper, but you hardly tasted anything.”
“I can’t eat,” he protested. “Not with Victoria up there dying.”
Dante slid into the chair next to him. “Dr. Spencer hasn’t said she’s dying.”
He straightened and looked from Dante to Daniel. “We’ve worked with animals all our lives. You know as well as I do what happens when one of our animals can’t give birth. They die, just like Victoria is going to.” He burst into tears and covered his eyes with his hands. “Why is God doing this to us? I thought you said when I became a believer, He’d take care of me.”
Daniel reached over and grasped Marcus’s shoulder. “I said God would be there with you even during the tough times. We don’t know what God’s plan is for Victoria. Right now we have to trust that He’s going to make things right in the end.”
Marcus jumped to his feet, and his chair clattered backward to the floor. “In the end? What does that mean? I don’t think God cares. I think He’s punishing me for all the years I ignored him, and now He’s going to take my wife and child to pay me back.”
Daniel and Dante both stood. Daniel shook his head. “God’s not in the business of paying people back for their mistakes. He wants to give them hope for the future. Victoria would be upset to hear you talking this way.”
“God’s here for you, Marcus. You just have to open your heart to His comfort,” Dante said.
Marcus shook his head. “Then where is He? I haven’t. . .” He paused and tilted his head to one side. “What’s that?”
Dante frowned. “What?”
“That singing. Don’t you hear it?”
The three of them stood silently for a moment before Marcus strode from the kitchen. “Somebody is singing in front of the house. Who is it?”
He rushed to the front door, threw it open, and stepped onto the front porch. He stumbled to a halt and stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of him. The Pembrook tenant farmers, their wives, and their children stood in the front yard, their faces lit by the lanterns they carried. James stood at the front of the group and strummed his new guitar as the people lifted their voices in song.
A haunting melody rose from the assembled crowd as they sang of a chariot that would come and take them home. The singers stared at the ground, and their bodies swayed in time to the music that seemed to flow from the depths of their souls. Marcus moved slowly down the steps until he stood by James, who played as if he were in his own world.
When the song ended, Ben Moses stepped forward, his hat in his hand. “We doan mean to be causin’ you no problem, Mistuh Mahcus, but we come ’cause we hear Miz Raines ain’t doin’ too well.”
“No, she isn’t, Ben.”
A low moan rippled through the crowd, and Marcus let his gaze travel over the group. Ben cleared his throat. “Miz Raines been mighty good to all of us ever since she come to Pembrook. My Sally might of died if’n she hadn’t taken her to the doctor.” He pointed to one of the men. “And Charlie there, his little girl been larning how to read ’cause Miz Raines been a-helpin’ her. And when Lester’s wife be sick, she done come day after day and brung them food to eat. And she’s done lots more. Too much to tell, I reckon. She been there for us when we needed her, and we jest wants her to know we’s here for her.”
Ben’s words stunned Marcus. Victoria had never told him all the things she’d done for his tenant farmers. Now as he stared at them in amazement, he realized how much they loved her. He remembered the day that she arrived in Willow Bend. As he’d ridden into town with James, he’d wished that he had a relationship with his tenant farmers like Dante had with his. Now he realized that God knew that day what he needed to do to make his wish come true, and He had sent the answer in the woman who arrived on the Alabama Maiden.
Tears filled his eyes, and he reached out his hand to Ben. The man stared at it for a moment before he grasped it. “Thank you, Ben, for telling me what my wife means to all of you.”
“You welcome, Mistuh Mahcus.”
Marcus faced the crowd. “I want to thank all of you for coming tonight. This means more to me than you’ll ever know. I hope to show you in the days ahead how much I appreciate this and all you’ve done at Pembrook. Without you, it wouldn’t be the great plantation it is. Now take your children home and get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ben shook his head. “Nah, suh, I ’spects we be stayin’ right here ’til we know ’bout Miz Raines.”
“But that could be all night.”
“That’s all right,” Ben said. “We gonna sit right here and pray for Miz Raines. You can come out and tell us when she out of danger.”
“B–but it’s cool, and there are children here. If you want to stay, come in the house where it’s warm.”
“Nah, suh. We be all right out here.”
Marcus glanced around and saw the determination on the faces of everyone. “Very well. Thank you for your prayers. I’ll come outside as soon as I know anything.”
He walked back onto the porch where Dante and Daniel waited. “I just realized that God has been here all along. I just haven’t been able to see Him.”
Entering the house, he saw Sally and Mamie waiting in the hallway. “Sally,” he said, “please round up every quilt and blanket you can find and take them to the people outside. I don’t want them to be cold. And make sure that everyone has plenty of food and water as long as they are here.”
A slow smile spread across Sally’s face. “Yas, suh, Mistuh Mahcus. Doan you worry. Sally gonna take care of ev’rythin’.”
He didn’t know what was going to happen, but he did know one thing. God hadn’t deserted him, and whatever happened, He would be there with him.
Fourteen
The clock in the hallway chimed six o’clock, and Marcus jerked awake. Daniel snored on the parlor sofa, and Dante lay on the floor. Marcus had no idea how long he’d slept, but it couldn’t have been more than a few hours. He’d looked out the window at three o’clock, and the yard was still filled with people.
He stood up and tiptoed to the window. A look outside told him that no one had left. He rubbed the back of his neck and sniffed. The smell of coffee drifted into the room. He followed the tantalizing aroma to the kitchen, where Sally and Mamie appeared hard at work preparing breakfast for everyone.
Sally looked up from rolling out biscuit dough when he walked in. “Mistuh Mahcus, kin I gits you somethin’?”
“No thanks, Sally. I smelled the coffee and thought I’d get a cup.”
She turned to walk across the kitchen. “I’ll wash my hands and git it.”
He held up a hand to stop her. “There’s no need to stop what you’re doing. I can get it.”
Sally cast a surprised glance at Mamie and returned to her work. When he’d poured the coffee, he walked back to the hallway but stopped at the sight of Dr. Spencer coming downstairs. He set the coffee cup on a table and met him at the bottom of the steps. “What is it? Has something happened?”
Dr. Spencer shook his head. “No, but I need to talk with you, Marcus. I think we have to do so
mething.”
Marcus grasped the end of the bannister to support his shaking body. “What?”
Dr. Spencer motioned him into the parlor. As they entered, Daniel and Dante both opened their eyes. Daniel sat up on the couch, and Dante jumped to his feet. “Is something wrong?” Daniel asked.
Dr. Spencer shook his head. “I need to talk to Marcus. Maybe you two should leave.”
Daniel stood up, and both turned to leave. Marcus held out his hand. “No, don’t go. You’ve been with me through this ordeal, and I want you to hear what Dr. Spencer has to say.”
Dr. Spencer took a deep breath. “Very well. I’ve tried and tried to turn the baby, but it won’t move. Every time I do, it weakens Victoria. I don’t think she can stand much more of this. She’s been in labor for twenty-four hours now, and she’s almost to the point of wanting to give up. This concerns me.”
Marcus’s heart felt like ice. “Give up? You think she wants to die?”
“I’m afraid so if something doesn’t happen soon.”
“What else can you do?” Marcus asked.
Dr. Spencer hesitated before he spoke. “I haven’t mentioned my last option yet, and I’m not sure I even want to use it. But it may be the only way to save at least one of them. If something doesn’t change, we’re going to lose Victoria and the baby.”
Marcus heard the words, but he couldn’t move. Lose Victoria and his child? Please, God, don’t let that happen, he prayed. He took a deep breath. “Then what’s our last option?”
Dr. Spencer chewed on his lip before he spoke. “I recently read about an operation that a doctor in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, performed about a year and a half ago. The woman couldn’t give birth, and the doctor made a length-wise incision in her stomach downward from her naval. Then he made another incision in the uterus and delivered the baby that way. I won’t go into all the details, but I feel this is the only way to save Victoria and the baby.”
Marcus tried to still his trembling hands. “How dangerous is it?”
Dr. Spencer pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I won’t lie to you, Marcus. I’ve never done this operation before. I don’t think either the outside or inside incision will be hard to make, and I think we’ll be able to get the baby out safely. I don’t know about Victoria, however.”
“You think she might die?” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“I don’t know. Once I have the baby out, I will need to sew up both incisions. I don’t know how long it will take me or how much blood she’ll lose. But I do know this is the only option left to us.”
Marcus sat still for a moment. He didn’t want to think about having a baby without Victoria. But she was going to die if they didn’t attempt the operation. He took a deep breath.
“Very well. I want you to do the operation.”
Dr. Spencer nodded and pushed to his feet. “Do you want to talk to Victoria before I sedate her?”
Marcus jumped to his feet. “Yes.”
He followed Dr. Spencer up the stairs and into the room once more. When he approached the bed, his heart lurched at her pale face. Her dark hair, matted from perspiration, fanned across the pillow. He knelt beside her, and Dr. Spencer stood on the other side of the bed.
“Victoria, can you wake up a moment?” he asked.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and she turned her head to stare at the doctor. “Yes.”
He smiled and patted her arm. “It won’t be long before your pain will be over. I’ve talked to Marcus, and we’ve decided you need an operation to deliver your baby. I’m going to put you to sleep so you won’t feel anything. When you wake up, you’ll have your baby. How does that sound?”
She licked her lips. “That makes me happy.”
“I’ve also brought you a visitor. Marcus is here,” he said.
She turned toward him and frowned. “Marcus? Is it you?”
“Yes, I’m here. Don’t try to talk. Just rest. This is all going to be over soon.”
She reached her hand up, and he grasped it. Her eyes blinked as if she had trouble focusing. “Is my mother here yet?”
“No, not yet. She’ll be here soon, though, and she can hold her first grandchild.”
She squeezed his hand tighter. “Tell her for me. . . .”
“What is it you want me to tell her?”
“That I love her. That I’ve always loved her.”
A tear trickled from his eye. “You can tell her yourself when she gets here.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “One more thing. Promise me.”
“What? I’ll promise you anything.”
Pain flickered in her eyes as she looked up at him. “If I die, take care of our son. Don’t teach him the things your father taught you. Listen to Dante and Daniel, and teach our child about God. Teach him to love all people. Will you do that?”
His chest felt as if his heart had shattered into pieces. “Don’t talk like that, Victoria. We’re going to raise our son together.”
“No.” She tried to push up in the bed, but he put his hand on her shoulders to restrain her. She lay back against the pillow and gasped. “Promise me you won’t do to him what your father did to you. Promise me.”
“I promise, Victoria. I promise.” Tears ran down his cheeks.
She smiled and closed her eyes. “I love you, Marcus.”
“I love you, too.”
He pushed up from the bed and stumbled from the room. At the bottom of the steps, he spied the front door. He opened it and walked to the porch. As he walked toward them, the people rose from the quilts where they’d sat all night.
Tears ran down his face, but he didn’t care. He faced the people whom Victoria loved. “Dr. Spencer is going to perform an operation to see if he can deliver the baby. He’s never done this before. Please pray that God will be with him.”
Without speaking, the people sat back down on the ground in silence. He looked around the group for a moment before he sat down on the ground next to James.
“Play your music for Victoria, James. Let her know how much she’s loved.”
James began to play, and the tune pierced his heart. Blues, Victoria had called James’s music. It was first sung, she’d said, by the slaves as they reached out to God for deliverance. Now it filled his soul as he reached out to God and begged Him to spare his wife and child.
Thirty minutes later the front door opened, and Savannah ran onto the porch. “Marcus, come quick.”
His heart pounding in his ears, he jumped up from the ground and raced to the porch. “What is it? Is Victoria all right?”
She smiled and motioned him into the house. “Dr. Spencer is still working on Victoria, but there’s someone you need to meet. Your son.”
Sally stood at the bottom of the staircase, a blanket bundled in her arms. The blanket moved, and a shrill cry pierced the room. Marcus stumbled forward and stared down at the baby Sally held. He swallowed and looked up at her in disbelief. “Is this my son?”
She held the baby out to him. “Yas, suh. This heah yore baby. And he ’bout the purtiest one I ever seen.”
Marcus reached for the baby but then thought better of it. “I’ve never held a baby before.”
Dante and Daniel, who stood beside Sally, laughed. “You’d better get used to it,” Dante said.
He attempted to control his shaking arms as he reached out and took the child in his arms. A feeling like he’d never experienced washed over him as he stared down at his son. From now on this child would depend on him, and he had made a promise to Victoria. No matter what happened, he intended to keep that promise.
He blinked back tears and smiled. “I want to go show him to all the people outside. There’s a new life at Pembrook, and I want to share it with them.”
Marcus tucked the blanket around the baby and stepped onto the front porch. “Dr. Spencer is still working with Victoria. So keep praying for her, but I want you to meet my son. Please step up here and see him.”
The ten
ants looked from one to another as if they didn’t know what to do. Ben and James stepped forward, and then the others followed. As they each came to look at the baby, Marcus felt for the first time that Pembrook was really beginning to feel like a home. Now all he needed to make it perfect was Victoria.
❧
Two months later on a hot August day, Victoria and Sally stood in the middle of the empty bedroom that had once been occupied by Marcus’s father. Her mother had slept here during her visit, which had stretched from two weeks into two months. Now with her departure for Mobile, the time had come to convert the room into a nursery. Victoria glanced around the bare room. “Do you think we’ve missed anything, Sally?”
Sally propped her arm on the broom she held and shook her head. “No’m. I thinks it’s all gone, and I’m glad. You been working too hard a-cleanin’ this here room out. You still not well.”
Victoria laughed. “How many times are you going to say that? I’m perfectly healed. Dr. Spencer said so.”
“Well, he may be the doctor, but I doan knows that you needs to be doin’ all this liftin’ and cleanin’.”
“You’re beginning to sound like Marcus. The two of you would like to still have me in bed, but my son is now two months old. And I feel great.”
Sally smiled. “He a real sweet baby.”
Victoria nodded. “I think so, too. But I’m afraid Marcus is going to spoil him. He can’t stay away from him.”
“He gonna make a good daddy.” Sally pointed to the marble-topped dresser that sat against the wall. “Did we gets ev’rythin’ outta there?”
“I think so, but maybe we should check.”
Victoria walked over to the dresser and pulled each of the drawers out one at a time. When she pushed the bottom one back in, she frowned and glanced at the decorative carving that ran across the very bottom of the piece of furniture. It appeared to be loose at the top. She put her fingers on the bottom of the carving and pulled it toward her to see if it held. To her surprise, the long piece of wood pulled forward to reveal a hidden drawer.
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