Last Bride, Last Man (Book Three of the Red River Valley Brides Series)

by Hestand, Rita

  "Oh Gabe…I love you so…take me…I'm all yours."

  "Promise?"

  "Promise."

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Nadine thought all their troubles were over, when the black community was hit hard by a fever. Since Nadine had nursed Gerty, she was the first one everyone came to for help.

  "Is it catching?" Gabe asked her.

  "Yes. But usually only to children and the elderly." She murmured, not looking directly at him.

  "Then I don't want you nursing them." Gabe declared.

  Nadine walked up to him, cupped his face in her hands, planted a sultry kiss on his lips and smiled into his eyes. "I have to go, Gabe. They need me. You know that."

  "But you could come down with it." He protested.

  She kissed him again. "You said it yourself, God protects us. Besides, it's the children that are in the real danger. I can't let them die, Gabe. That would be a sin, when I can help them. And they are gonna need it. If it's what I think it is, this could spread quickly and kill."

  Gabe frowned and nodded. "I know you can't let them die, but...."

  She whispered in his ear. "Don't worry. I love you. And I'll be back as soon as I can."

  She went with Mrs. Downy, for her son had taken sick and had suffered several days without any help. The woman was beside herself with worry. "I've rubbed him down with cool water to get the fever down, but it comes right back. I just don't know what to do."

  Nadine was pretty sure what it was, but she didn't want to voice it until she had spoken to the doc.

  The shack the Downey's lived in was not much better than an old lean-to, but it was a roof over their heads. Nadine saw where the rain came into the house in several places. The woman had placed pots out to catch it, but it had created a miserable place for the fever.

  "You must bath him all over with cool wet rags, it will bring the fever down, at least we hope it will." Nadine encouraged her. Put a little soda in the water.

  After several hours, she decided she needed to go into town and talk to the doc, but she was afraid she might carry whatever the child had into the white community too. So she had a neighboring farmer go fetch him to the edge of the yard so she could confer with him about the fever.

  The doc came about sun-down.

  Nadine met him just a half mile from the Downey house.

  "What are the symptoms?" The doctor wanted to know when she walked up to his buggy.

  "Fever, nausea, chills. A rash is developing along the face and shoulders. It's very red like a sunburn, with bumps." She reported.

  The doc's face became pale. "Sounds like Scarlet Fever. Did the child complain of a sore throat?"

  "Yes, and she gave him willow bark tea."

  "That's good. I've got some goose grease you can have to help with the chills. The only other thing other than no animal meats nor liquors and spices, is bloodletting. But I'm not fond of doing that. I've come to believe that does little good and can drain a person of their energy. I'll have to come in and do it, but you watch me so you can tend it if this spreads and it can wipe out a family of children within a week, so you must prepare them for the worst."

  "Old Doc, please don't tell me that."

  "I'm sorry, but we'll have to work quickly to keep it from spreading."

  Nadine nodded. "This could get bad, couldn't it doc?" the fear in her voice made the doc stare at her.

  "Yes, I'm afraid so. It usually does. You will need to quarantine the children, as this can spread throughout the community. It would help to find out where he's been the last few days."

  "Alright, doc…" She waited for him to move his buggy closer to the house. "I was afraid it was Scarlet Fever."

  "Have you dealt with it before?" He asked.

  "Not personally, but when I was young there was a family who lost all their children in three days. They were just gone, before anyone could do anything. My Ma used to call it the death fever."

  "That's what it is."

  He went inside, noting the vented roof and puddles throughout the house.

  "You'll need to repair your roof too, and soon." The doc instructed.

  The parents stood by while the doc took care of Samuel. But from his rash and weakness, he could tell it had gotten a strong hold on the boy. He gave him little hope of living and scolded them about the other children. The Downey's were shaking with fear before he left.

  "It is very important that you patch that roof and keep your children inside for a couple of weeks until you are sure they aren't going to come down with this. Being around others could make this spread. If the others come down with it, it will show up in them in a day or two, so watch for it. This is easily spread. Now where has your son been this week?"

  "To school and home mostly. But yesterday he took sick and I put him to bed." Mrs. Downey explained.

  "Did he have a sore throat when he went to school?" The Doc asked.

  "Well yeah, he did, but I doctored him for that."

  The doc looked at Nadine and whispered. "He may have already passed it to others. Let me know if this spreads. And burn everything you can live without in this house."

  "Burn it?" The parents shrieked.

  "That's right."

  They cried openly now. "Is he going to be alright? Will he make it?"

  The doc shook his head. "I don't think so. And you need to fix the roof, don't feed the kids animal meats, liquors or spices. They could all come down with this, and you could lose your children. All of them. Do you understand me? This disease is like that rash he has itself, it can spread and it will do a lot of damage before it's through. So burn everything."

  Nadine saw the fear and panic in their faces and wanted to console them, but what could she say with the doc laying it out for them. He was scaring them purposely so they would take care of the other children, but what he said held a lot of truth and they knew it.

  "Yes doc…" They cried. "We'll do as you say. And thank you for coming out."

  The old doc nodded, looked at Samuel and left.

  Nadine wished he would have been a little nicer to them but he was disgusted with the house for one thing and alarmed that the child had been going to school all this time too. The black school. He could have infected most of the children there. And there was nothing anyone could do about it now.

  He gave Nadine all the instructions on what to do. He told her she would need to stay with them, because it came swiftly and death could happen any time.

  Nadine sighed and went back into the house. She was weary with the burden of knowing the child wouldn't make it. So while she worked with him, she prayed. If Doc couldn't fix them, maybe God could.

  The husband got busy trying to patch the roof from all the leaks the next day. The mother sat crying mostly, fearing for her other children as well.

  Nadine was afraid to go home. She knew the child was weak and feared his death was near. She needed to stay with them. She asked if someone could go tell her husband what was happening. Mr. Downey nodded. "I'll send my brother."

  "Thank you."

  "Will he get better?" Mrs. Downey asked her.

  Nadine looked at her with sad eyes, and shook her head. "I'd like to tell you yes, but I fear not."

  The night passed in tears and by morning the boy was dead. All the children stared at the body with wide eyes and fear spread across their innocent faces. It was plain none of them had seen death this close.

  Nadine kept repeating her instructions on keeping the others safe.

  Neighbors stayed away once they heard the news, afraid they might carry the disease to their own children. The funeral was a quiet ceremony in their yard. Only family and Nadine were there.

  The Downey's had seven children.

  "What do we do now?" Mrs. Downey asked.

  "Burn everything you can. Fix that roof, and watch the others."

  "Will they get it too?" She asked her with fear plainly staring at her.

  "It's possible." Nadine acknowledged.
r />   "Ain't there nothin' we can do?" Mr. Downey asked. "I mean to stop it?"

  "Nothin' but what I've told you. And maybe a prayer or two."

  Sure enough little nineteen month old Jen came down with it the next afternoon. Nadine worked with her to control the chills, and fever. She bathed her constantly with cool waters, gave her the willow bark tea and goose grease. But the fever was rampant and all the children showed signs of coming down with it within days of each other. All but the oldest, but Nadine figured he didn't because he was outside helping his father most of the time.

  The Downey's were petrified.

  No one came to visit. No one came to help. The doc did drive by in his buggy several times to talk to Nadine.

  So far the colored community was the only one with a problem. He wanted to contain it, but he wasn't sure he could.

  The Downey hadn't been very lucky. All but one child died of the fever, he was the oldest son, Joe.

  When the baby died, Mrs. Downey cried out, raising her hands to the heavens. "I can't believe it. One day everyone is fine, then this happens, and my kids….my kids…" She couldn't go on. The tears came in buckets.

  Nadine cried herself seeing their grief. It was hard to bear, the dying of your child.

  Finally, Mr. Downey decided to burn the house down to be safe. They had one survivor, and the community held its breath for any more.

  Gabe worried about Nadine. It had been over a week since she'd been home and he wanted to go get her. But he knew she was the only one that brought any relief to the community, and he stayed himself. He prayed she'd be alright.

  Before the disease was over, it had wiped out thirteen children. Nadine couldn't save them, but she did administer to them and made the families more comfortable. Her own heart was heavy with the death's they witnessed. Six of the Downy kids, four of the Rollins children, and three of the Baker's family. The community was heartbroken and scared to death for their children. One old man he was nearly eighty years old caught it and died, and no one even knew he was sick. Nadine felt bad about him. He lived alone and died that way.

  When she returned home she hugged Gabe for a long time, unable to turn him lose.

  "Oh…" She held his head in her hands. "I've missed you. It was terrible not being able to do anything to help them." Her tears washed his cheeks. "I cried until I couldn't cry anymore. The Downey's lost six of their children in less than a week. The Rollins lost all four of theirs, and the Bakers…all gone in such a short time. Leaving the families to grieve. I had to come home, I couldn't face another death."

  He kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this…Don't think on it…"

  "I'm too tired to think any more…" She whispered.

  "How many…?" He finally asked her. "I mean altogether?

  "Thirteen. Well…no…I forgot about the poor ole man, Mr. Collins, you know the one I used to buy eggs from."

  "He's dead?"

  "Yes, no one even knew he had it. Someone found him out on the porch just sitting in his rocking chair, dead." Nadine cried aloud.

  "My God…is it over for now?"

  "We think so. There haven't been any more outbreaks in three days. That's a good sign. I came home because I was bone tired. And because my soul is weary from it all. You can only handle so much death at a time. Especially when they are children that are dying and you can't do anything to stop it. And you can't console the parents because it would just be a lie."

  Gabe took her in his arms and guided her to the bedroom.

  He smiled as he watched her lay down. He sat beside her on the bed. "I want you more than I can say, but it's not a good time for you, so I'll leave you alone and let you get some rest."

  "I really need to fix you something to eat. What have you been eating while I've been gone?" She reached to stroke his cheek with her fingertips.

  "I roasted a chicken one day. Boiled one the next. I've done fine. I got some stew on the stove now. You want some?"

  "No, I think I just need a nap." She smiled at him.

  He bent to kiss her and she held his hand. "I'm glad to be home."

  "And I’m glad you are home. I've missed you. Now you get some sleep." He covered her and left the room.

  When she finally got up, there were several people in the other room. She straightened her clothes and went out to greet them.

  "We just came to thank you for what you done. No one else would have helped out like that." Mrs. Downey said, her face pale and drawn. The pain she had suffered losing her children was written on her face and Nadine knew she looked ten years older than she was.

  "We're grateful to you…and we…love you."

  "I'm just sorry I couldn't do more…"

  "We understand…God has a plan for us all, we brought some food for you and your husband. They are in the hands of the Lord now. At least we still have Joe."

  "Thank you, very much."

  They left and Gabe took her into his arms. "I am so proud of what you done. We'll pray for them Nadine, they lost so much…God love them."

  "Someone had to go and helping like that comes easy to me. All but the death. The death of children is a burden."

  "Are you hungry?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

  "A little."

  "Well, there's plenty of food here. We had people stopping by all day. I was afraid they would wake you." Gabe made her a plate and brought it to the table. He sat down with her and they ate, talking over the last few days.

  "Poor Mrs. Downey, you know, I'm not sure I could be that brave. I mean…I lost one child and it devastated me. But to lose six in less than one week, that has to be hard to bear."

  "Let's hope it never comes this way again." Gabe comforted her.

  "Amen to that. It works so fast Gabe, it's scary. There's not a lot we can do when it hits. I wish medicine was more advanced."

  "Someday maybe it will be. Because of people like you Nadine."

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  After the scarlet fever scare was over, Nadine found that both the black and white community had gained a lot of respect for her. People she didn't know spoke to her when she went to town.

  "I don't even know them." Nadine nodded to the couple that had stopped to speak to her.

  "You deserve their respect. Not many would have done what you did. I'm proud of you, too." Gabe smiled helping her down from the wagon. "You going over to see the girls?"

  "I thought I might. Will you be long?"

  "An hour or so…"

  "Okay, if I'm not back, come get me, then." She headed off toward the boarding house.

  Ma and Jo Ella congratulated her for all her hard work.

  "I don't know how you have so much nerve to just pick up and go like that, when you know the dangers. It's heart-breaking for the parents to be so helpless. If only someone could find a cure for it. I've seen some families wiped out." Ma said shaking her head and looking at the two of them.

  "Mrs. Downey lost all but one of her seven. I couldn't save them, but I was able to give them some comfort. And they still have Joe, thank God." Nadine felt the tears she held in check.

  "Bless her heart. Well, everyone here in town sure appreciates you goin'." Ma laid a hand over hers.

  Trying not to dwell on the deaths, Nadine twisted about. "You know I've been to town several times and I haven't seen Maggie at all. What has she been up to?"

  Jo Ella laughed. "Maggie isn't here. Either Dakota took her, or she went of her own free will." Jo Ella laughed. "But everyone figures she's with the Indian."

  "Are you serious? Maggie?"

  "She said he was so handsome she couldn't resist him, she wanted to see if she could live…his way." Ma explained.

  Nadine covered her mouth, "You don't mean it."

  "Well, we don't know for sure, but she did make the remark. Either she left willingly, or he took her."

  "But I thought the Mayor was interested in her. I thought she was engaged to marry him?"

  "She wa
s, he sent a posse after her, but they couldn't find them. I just hope she has the good sense to come back, that is if she can come back." Jo Ella shook her head in disbelief.

  "Or wants to…" Ma eyed them both.

  Nadine shook her head, her eyes widening. "She can't live like an Indian. Not Maggie!"

  Jo Ella giggled. "That's what I thought, but the way she talked about him. I swear I think she was in love with him."

  "Well, I'll say one thing for her, she's got guts." Nadine smirked. "I thought Trish and I were the last to marry."

  "Not exactly. It's been over a month and she's not back and there's been no word of her. We don't even know if anything might have happened to her. Maggie has a wild streak, I've known that all along. That's the problem with her and the mayor…he's too boring I think. But I never thought she'd try to live like an Indian. Never." Jo Ella said. "It's not like her to run off and not let us know something."

  "Maybe she can't. Maybe he has her prisoner." Nadine offered with a worried frown.

  "Yeah…prisoner of her heart."

  Nadine giggled. "Surely we'll hear something soon."

  Jo Ella shrugged. "I don't know. I did get a letter from Trish."

  Nadine's eyes widened, "Where is she?"

  "The last letter came from Dallas. She's with some gambler."

  "I thought she married Chester?" Nadine's eyed her.

  "She did. But according to her letter, she's no longer with him. I'm worried about her too. I hope she's okay. The last thing I expected to hear from her was that she was with some gambler. You know how she used to talk about the gambler's at Al's. She had no use for them at all. Now she is living and moving around the countryside with this man. I sure wish we knew more about it, so we could put our own minds to rest."

  "So that means she might be working in a saloon again?"

  "She didn't say. It was a short letter."

  "I hope they both find what they are lookin' for. Sometimes it's not easy…It certainly wasn't for me."

  "You've done well with Gabe. He's a good man. I'm glad you have him. I don't worry about you. I know you love that man." Ma remarked, wiping the sweat from her brow. She'd been cooking over a hot stove all morning.