Radclyffe - Promising Hearts

"Most often, to save the mother, the child would be sacrificed."

  Vance glanced at the bed where a young girl lay, weak and exhausted from the long hours of labor, having entrusted her life to Vance. "I'm not going to let that happen if I can help it."

  Vance walked to the side table where Mae had arranged her instruments. "Would you help me with my sleeve, please?"

  "Tell me what else I can do," Mae said, swiftly rolling Vance's cuff higher.

  "You can reassure her, because this is going to be painful." Vance met Mae's worried eyes. "Give her your strength, as you do me."

  Mae nodded. "We all trust you."

  Vance dipped her hand into the carbolic and shook the excess liquid free. Sometimes, especially in the last two years of the war, the trust of others had felt like a burden, but not now. She felt an inner steadiness that had been gone since she'd learned of Victor's death. For the first time in months, she felt whole.

  Vance turned, and with a clear head and certain mind, said to Mae and Sissy, "Put some pillows under her hips so that the uterus tilts back into the abdomen."

  When that was done, she eased her hand into the birth canal and pushed upward until she felt the tiny arm between her fingers. She pushed farther until she encountered the thorax lying wedged across the uterine opening. Pressing her fingers together to form a funnel, she moved them alongside the small body until she reached the hips. Her hand was nearly inside the uterus now. She felt a contraction and the muscles closed down around her wrist. She held still, waiting for it to pass. She blocked out Lettie's screams, knowing that the girl would not die from the pain, and mercifully, that she would not remember it if she lived through the delivery. She looked at Kate, who was following her every movement with intense concentration, her eyes huge but clear.

  "I'm going to try to move the baby ninety degrees inside the uterus. That's called a version." She took a breath and smiled slightly.

  "That should align the head again so that this baby can get out."

  Kate didn't need to ask what would happen if Vance failed. She knew how small the opening was inside and that the only way the child was coming out was head first. She didn't quite know what they would do if this maneuver failed, so she simply prayed that it would not.

  "Mae, hold Lettie tightly," Vance said gently.

  "We've got her," Mae said in a firm, steady voice. "You go on ahead now and do what needs to be done."

  Focusing all her attention on her hand and the small body cradled against her palm, she pushed steadily inward and upward, rotating the hips away from the cervical opening and drawing the head down. At first, nothing happened. Then it was as if the baby coiled in on itself and kicked away, as if swimming. When Vance felt the movement, she slid her hand out and guided the head down into the upper portion of the birth canal. She closed her eyes for a brief second, then grinned.

  "Shouldn't be long now."

  Within the hour, a lusty cry pierced the air and mingled with the joyous exclamations of the women crowded around the bed.

  "Honey, it's a boy. A big, loud, and beautiful boy," Mae exclaimed.

  "Let me see him," Lettie said, smiling weakly.

  "Kate, go ahead and deliver the placenta," Vance said as she walked away from the bed. Her hair and shirt were soaked with sweat, and the nerves she had not felt earlier snaked around in her belly now, making her queasy. After rinsing her hand and arm, she leaned against the window frame facing the street and closed her eyes.

  "Here," Mae said quietly, handing her a glass of whiskey. "You look like you could use this."

  Vance turned and set her back against the wall. She took the glass and drained it gratefully. "Thanks."

  "I've never seen anyone do that before," Mae said.

  "It's not a common technique, and it doesn't usually work."

  Vance glanced across the room at Lettie, who was holding her child and rapidly regaining her strength. "But she is young and strong, and they deserved a chance."

  Mae put her hand to the center of Vance's chest. Everyone else in the room was focused on the mother and baby. She stepped close. "You seem to have a knack for doing that for everyone."

  Vance covered Mae's hand with hers and looked into her eyes.

  "We'll be each other's chance."

  "Yes." Mae kissed her softly. "We will."

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  As the sun set, Jessie stood on the front porch of the ranch house with a cup of coffee, watching with a wry smile as Vance climbed down from the buggy. "You missed dinner."

  "Is Kate angry?" Vance asked as she climbed the stairs.

  "She would have been most times, except she's done nothing but talk about Lettie's baby being born for the last three days." Jessie smiled. "So I think you've probably got another week's grace before she'll light into you about not getting back here in time for the evening meal."

  Vance grinned. "How about Mae?"

  "She'll probably fuss over you in between the scolding." Jessie looked past Vance, choosing her words carefully. "She looks good. I take it there hasn't been any more trouble?"

  "None that she's told me of." Vance unbuttoned her shirt collar and took a deep breath of the fragrant, warm night air. "I haven't seen anyone come around the Nugget, and if he's been there, he hasn't caused any trouble."

  "I've never seen a mark on Mae before." Jessie hooked her thumb over her gun belt. In the corral across the way, a colt fell asleep with his head resting against his mother's flank. "If I had, I would have done something about it."

  "You weren't in town that often, I imagine, and she wouldn't have wanted you to know."

  Jessie smiled faintly. "For all her gentle ways, she's strong in places I'm not sure I've got in me."

  "She is quite remarkable." Vance rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness of the day and the tension from the conversation.

  Every night when the sun went down and she wasn't in town where she could watch after Mae, the anger ate at her, burning in her gut. "But it's only a matter of time before something else happens. Men like him take what they want."

  "Whatever needs to be done to make her safe, you've got my help."

  "Whoever owns the Nugget has gone to a lot of trouble to keep his identity a secret, and men with secrets are vulnerable." Vance pushed away the surge of anger when she thought of Mae or any of the girls being abused. "I'll find him."

  "You still planning to follow Hanrahan when he reports in?"

  "Seems like the simplest way to go about it." Vance shrugged.

  "I'm sure he doesn't expect anyone to pay attention to his comings and goings. I'd hoped to be able to do something before now, but I've been out on calls almost every night. It seems that this is baby-birthing time."

  "I know. Kate's been right there with you most of the time."

  Vance searched for any hint of dissatisfaction in Jessie's voice, but found none. "It's demanding work."

  "Kate's strong and smart."

  Smiling, Vance nodded. "She is. I meant that it can be difficult when your..." She frowned and glanced at Jessie. "Well I don't quite know what word to use. How do you think of Kate, as she is to you?"

  "I think of her as my heart," Jessie said quietly.

  "Yes," Vance replied, feeling the rightness of that as she thought of Mae. "When your...beloved...makes a habit of leaving in the middle of the night for hours at a time, it can be disrupting."

  "I'm gone a lot, seeing to the stock and the men out on the line, and Kate never complains." Jessie chuckled. "Well, not much. More like worries."

  "I imagine you worry a bit about her, too."

  "If she weren't with you most of the time, I'd fret a lot more. But we've managed to get in some good practice the last few weeks, and she's getting to be handy with a revolver and a rifle."

  "Doing the work she's doing will endear her to everyone in the territory. People will watch out for her. She'll be fine," Vance said gently, hearing the concern beneath the pride.<
br />
  "It's what she wants to do." Jessie studied Vance. She didn't often speak to anyone other than Kate about her feelings. She and Vance were alike, she knew that without being able to put all the words to her knowledge. It wasn't just the way they dressed or the way they loved.

  It was something about how they worked inside, what was important to them. And what they feared. It made it easier to say what was in her heart knowing that she wouldn't have to explain or defend her feelings.

  "I figure that's part of loving, not getting in the way of what she needs to do."

  "I think you're right."

  "It can be a hard thing to do sometimes, just the same."

  Solemnly, Vance nodded. Harder than hard sometimes. The breeze carried the scent of new grass and rich earth as golden shadows slanted across the dusty yard. "Summer's about here. It's beautiful country."

  "It is." Jessie felt the calm in the center of her being that came from being on her land, being satisfied in her work, and being loved better than she had ever dreamed. "I've never been all the way back East, but I've been to the big cities a time or two. Enough to know there is no place for me there."

  "I had to leave to understand that," Vance said, recognizing the absence of the restless unease that had always been part of her consciousness, even when Victor had been alive and she had been happy. Or what she had taken to be happiness. "It seems that we've come from different directions to the same place."

  "I reckon that says something about us." Jessie grinned at Vance.

  "Good thing we're not of a mind to fit in."

  Vance glanced behind her at the sound of the door opening. Mae stood in a shaft of lamplight, her face partially in shadows, her hair a golden halo framing the pale oval of her face. She wore a dress that resembled the blue of the Union uniforms when the troops had been young and fresh, before months of deprivation and death had changed them all. It was deceptively simple in design, the bodice and waist subtly accentuating her curvaceous body. It wasn't what she had been wearing when Vance had last seen her that morning. It occurred to Vance that she still wore the dusty, rumpled clothes she'd been in all day, and she wished for a bath.

  "You two," Mae said, "don't need to worry about fitting in, because you're just where you belong. Vance, there's a bit of supper left, and if you don't have some soon, Kate's likely to take after you with a knife."

  "I just need to get washed up," Vance said, wishing she could kiss her, but wanting to be fresher before she did.

  Mae solved her dilemma by crossing the porch, curling an arm around Vance's neck, and kissing her soundly on the mouth.

  Jessie looked hastily away and sidled toward the door. "I'll just...

  ah...be going. Help Kate...do something."

  "Jed's been fussing about getting back to work," Mae called after Jessie, her arms still around Vance's neck. "If you tell him to stay in bed, he might just mind."

  "How is he doing?" Vance decided that if Mae didn't mind the way she smelled, she might as well enjoy herself, so she leaned back against the post rail and snugged Mae into the curve of her body.

  "We couldn't get even the smallest bit of cloth into that hole in his back today," Mae said with satisfaction. "I think he's healed."

  "You've both done an excellent job with him." Vance sighed with contentment and rested her chin lightly on Mae's shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm so late."

  "You make it hard for me to fuss at you when I'm so glad to see you," Mae murmured. She kissed Vance's neck. "And when you feel so good."

  "With any luck, there won't be any calls waiting for me and I can stay the night with you."

  "I don't care if there're a dozen calls, you're going to bed tonight."

  Mae frowned. "You'll not do anyone any good if you run yourself into the ground."

  Vance laughed. "I'm fine. I've been known to take a nap beneath a tree while waiting for a baby to be born."

  Mae smiled. "I bet that's a sight. But I still want you in bed with me tonight. Come by around one."

  "Mae," Vance said carefully. "You told me once that you don't need to entertain very often because there are only a few customers you still see. How did that come about?"

  "I think it would be better if we didn't speak of these things," Mae said quietly, her cheek against Vance's shoulder. "If it doesn't touch us, it can't drive us apar--"

  "Nothing is going to come between us, my dearest Mae," Vance said. "Certainly not this."

  Mae sighed. "Is it important?"

  "I think so, yes."

  "After I'd been here a few months, a gentleman from town told me one evening that he'd made an arrangement so that I would be available to him whenever he wanted."

  "And you agreed?"

  Mae laughed. "It's not a question of agreeing or not. He was polite, didn't come around very often, and made it clear that he would be generous with his money. He also made it clear that I was not to speak of our arrangement. He always uses the back entrance."

  Vance remained perfectly still while Mae explained the arrangements, allowing none of her growing jealousy to show. "So he's the only one?"

  "On occasion there are others, friends of his. Not very often."

  "Who is he?"

  "Oh, Vance, if you have a face, a name, to think about, I'm afraid that it will work on you. I don't want you to look at me and see him touching me, when he's nothin--"

  "I love you," Vance said firmly. "I love to look at you, I love to touch you. I love it when you touch me. Nothing will ever change that."

  Tenderly, Vance skimmed her fingers over Mae's face and down her neck. She cupped her chin and kissed her softly. "When I look at you, I see my greatest fortune. I see my deepest hopes. All my dreams rest in your eyes." She pressed her cheek to Mae's and held her tightly.

  Against her ear she murmured, "I don't want to spend a day of my life without you. Please let me help you be safe."

  "You make it hard to say no," Mae whispered. "Promise me you won't do anything foolish."

  "You have my word," Vance said immediately.

  "Wallace Fitzpatrick."

  "The lumberman?"

  "Yes."

  "And you think he owns the Nugget?"

  Mae shook her head. "I don't think so. But I think one of the others does. One of his friends."

  "Who are they?"

  Vance wasn't surprised when Mae named two of the men whom Jessie had suggested had the means to own the establishment. At least now she could concentrate her efforts on them. If she couldn't track Hanrahan, she could watch them. She kissed Mae again. "Thank you."

  "I can't seem to say no to you." Mae shook her head. "I'm not sure yet if that's a good thing."

  Vance laughed. "I should get inside before Kate comes searching for me. I can't have the two of you after me at once."

  "You needn't worry," Mae said, linking her arm through Vance's.

  "If anyone's going to be taking after you, it will be me."

  "Then I shall consider myself lucky."

  v "Mary Willows asked me to bring my camera with me the next time I visit," Kate said. She sat at the table finishing her tea while Vance ate the supper she had saved for her. "To photograph the baby."

  Vance smiled. "I have a feeling that's going to be a very frequent request."

  "You're going to need a bigger buggy," Jessie teased.

  "I love taking family pictures, but there are so many beautiful things about our life out here. I was wondering," Kate said shyly, watching Vance carefully, "if you would sit for me."

  "Me?" Vance colored and cast about for some excuse. "Why, I hardly think there's anything about me--"

  "I think that's a fine idea," Mae said firmly. "I'd like one of her, Kate."

  "Actually," Kate said, "I've seen sketches in newspapers done from photographs. I'd like to try that for my father's paper. You're a new doctor in the territory, and a woman, and that seems like something people would be interested in knowing about."

  Vance groaned. "I can't think w
hy, and even if they did, I--"

  "You might as well just agree, Vance," Jessie said. "Because you're going to sooner or later."

  Kate cast her lover a stern glance, but her laughing eyes betrayed her amusement.

  "I suppose it's the least I can do after all the nights you've fed me." Vance smiled at Kate. "Just tell me when you--"

  The clatter of hoofbeats and the sound of someone riding hard interrupted her, and everyone glanced toward the kitchen door. Vance rose quickly as both she and Jessie automatically gripped their revolvers, and then she stepped between Mae and the window. When Jessie edged open the door to look outside, Vance started toward her, saying to Mae, "Stay inside."

  Mae turned to Kate. "Where's the rifle?"

  "By the fireplace." Kate opened a drawer, withdrew a revolver, and cocked it. "It's probably nothing, but ever since Jed--"

  "I know," Mae said grimly, opening the door, the rifle resting in the crook of her arm. She could see shapes in the yard but not much else. She lifted the rifle as a figure approached, then lowered it again when she recognized Jessie's distinctive form. "What is it?"

  Jessie strode inside, followed a few seconds later by Vance.

  "Charlie's outside. He said there are strangers following one of the herds. He thinks they're getting ready to cut the young horses out." She glanced at Kate. "I have to go."

  "I want to come."

  Jessie shook her head. "You can't, Kate. We're going to be riding hard. Charlie thinks we can reach their location before dawn."

  "I'll need a horse and saddlebags for my equipment," Vance said.

  "I'll also need extra ammunition. I don't carry much when I'm out on calls."

  "I appreciate it," Jessie said to Vance, "but there's no need for you to come."

  "With Jed still down, you're short a gun." Vance grinned. "And I'm a good one."

  Jessie studied Vance's face, saw the steady sureness in her eyes.

  "Okay, then."

  Kate turned to Mae as Jessie and Vance hurried back outside.

  "Isn't there something we can do?"

  "If I could think of a reason that made sense for them not to go, I'd say so." Mae frowned and set the rifle on the table. "But they're doing what needs to be done, and though I hate to admit it, they're the ones to do it."