by Leigh, Nerys
He reached the small barn and looked back at her and smiled and she melted. At least, that was what it felt like. She was a little surprised her legs were still holding her up. A sigh escaped her lips as he walked out of sight into the barn.
She had spent an inordinate amount of time sneaking covert glances at Daniel over breakfast, despite Will being at the table with them. Once or twice she’d even caught him looking back at her. Was this love, she wondered, this thrilling feeling of happiness and excitement? If it wasn’t, it had to be close.
She placed the wet cup onto the drainer, took the dishcloth from its hook, and picked up a plate.
She was still a little embarrassed about being caught touching his hair when he was asleep, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, if she was reading him correctly, he rather liked it. She laughed quietly at herself. Being married to a man she was still getting to know was a strange situation to be in. Not that she wasn’t thoroughly enjoying every moment.
A blast cracked the atmosphere. Black smoke spewed from the barn door.
The plate shattered on the kitchen floor.
Sara dropped the cloth and ran outside, almost stumbling down the porch steps in her haste, screaming Daniel’s name.
Bess stood in the middle of the yard, barking frantically.
Will burst from the bunkhouse and raced for the barn. He and Sara reached it together. He caught hold of her as she was about to run in, pushing her aside.
“Stay here,” he yelled, dashing into the building.
Smoke and heat billowed from the open door. Sara’s heart thundered in her chest as she blinked into the gloom inside. Please, Lord, please let him be all right.
Fifteen seconds that stretched into an eternity later, Will emerged from the door coughing, Daniel’s limp body slung over his shoulder. He carried him away from the barn and gently lowered him to the ground, leaving him to rush to the well pump.
Sara threw herself down beside Daniel. She rested a palm on his chest, desperately praying for movement. To her immense relief, she felt his chest rise and fall. His clothing and skin were blackened and she felt a lump on the back of his head. The skin on his face was an angry red.
“What do I do, Lord?” she whispered, blinking back tears. “Please, tell me what to do.”
A memory came to her of a neighbour being burned a few years before and the doctor placing his injured hand in cold water. She leaped up and ran inside, grabbing the cup and filling it with water.
Outside, Will was running buckets of water between the pump and the barn. Sara returned to Daniel’s side and pulled her apron off, dipped the edge into the water and gently dabbed across his face. She repeated the process three times before laying the material over his eyes and slowly trickling the water over to soak it.
Will emerged from the barn, dropped the bucket and leaned his hands on his thighs, coughing violently. He looked on the verge of collapse, but before Sara could go to him he straightened.
“Fire’s out,” he panted. “I’ll hitch up the wagon. We need to get him to the doctor.”
As Will went to fetch the horses, Daniel groaned, his head lolling to one side and dislodging the wet apron.
“Daniel?” She took hold of his hand. “Daniel, can you hear me?”
There was no response.
By the large barn, Will was hitching Ginger and River to the wagon. Smoke drifted from the door of the small barn. A blackbird sang somewhere. Sara wondered how it could make such a beautiful sound while Daniel lay hurt.
Placing her hand on his chest and closing her moisture-filled eyes, she did the only thing she could. “Father in heaven, please lay Your hands on Daniel and heal him. Whatever is happening in his body, take away the damage. Lord, please, make him wake up.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she ignored them. “Please don’t take him from me when we’ve only just found each other. Please, Lord. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.”
At the sound of the horses approaching she wiped her eyes and looked up. Will brought the wagon around, set the brake and jumped to the ground.
“It’s going to be a bumpy ride,” he said, crouching next to his brother and pushing one arm beneath his shoulders and the other beneath his knees.
Sara watched in amazement as Will, obviously straining, picked Daniel up from the ground and carried him to the wagon bed.
She shook herself into action. “I’ll get pillows.”
Inside the house, she grabbed his bedroll from the parlour floor and took all the pillows from her bed. She carried them out to the wagon then ran back inside for clean cloths and a canteen of water. It was the only way she knew to help his burns and she needed to help, somehow.
When she got back outside Will had finished placing Daniel onto the bedroll in the back of the wagon. He reached down to help her in. She batted his hand away.
“I can do it. Just get going.”
She didn’t mean to be short with him, but he seemed to understand as he nodded and headed to the seat up front. Bess jumped into the wagon and Sara followed her up. As Will got the horses moving she arranged the pillows around Daniel to cushion him from the ride. He’d need it.
Once round to the front of the house, Will shouted “Yah!” and snapped the reins and Ginger and River leaped into a gallop.
Sara grabbed the side of the wagon as it lurched into motion, bouncing along the uneven dirt road towards the town. She settled herself more securely and pushed the pillows in tighter around Daniel, trying to protect him from the worst of the wagon’s movement.
Bess seemed to be coping better than Sara was. She lay beside her master, resting her head on his arm and staring at his face.
Since his groan back in the yard he hadn’t made another sound. Checking for breathing was impossible with the wagon jostling them around so Sara took his wrist and felt for a pulse. When she found it she breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, “Thank You.”
The previous times Sara had travelled between the town and the farm it had taken twenty minutes. This time it took less than ten but seemed like fifty. She spent the entire time keeping Daniel’s burned eyes damp, trying to stay upright in the jouncing wagon, and praying. Always praying.
“We’re almost there,” Will shouted over the pounding of the horses’ hooves. “How is he?”
She wished she had a different answer. “The same.”
They slowed as they reached the main street and Will steered them straight to the doctor’s office, bringing them to a halt at the front of the two storey wooden building that served as the doctor’s surgery downstairs and his living quarters above.
She helped Will move Daniel to the back of the wagon where he again picked up his brother’s limp form.
“Are you all right?” Sara said, watching him stagger under the weight.
He nodded. “Just get the door, please. Bess, stay.”
She ran ahead and pushed open the door without knocking. “Doctor?” she shouted when all she found was an empty room filled with chairs and a desk. “Doctor, we need help!”
A door in the back wall opened and a man stepped through. He wore eyeglasses and had greying brown hair and a neatly clipped moustache and beard. “What...”
“There was an accident,” Sara said, rushing up to him. “My husband’s been hurt and he’s unconscious. Please help him.”
When he saw Will standing beyond her with Daniel he stepped back into the room. “Bring him through, Will.”
A man was sitting on a chair, half an unwound bandage hanging from his hand. The doctor beckoned Will to an examining table in the centre of the room.
“Mr. Prescott, would you mind if we finish up later?” he said as he and Will positioned Daniel on his back on the table.
“Ah, no, doc. I’ll get Peg to do this. Hope he’s all right.” He nodded to Sara and, looking slightly queasy, made a quick exit.
Daniel groaned, the first sound he’d made since the farm. Sara rushed to his side and took his hand. “Daniel?”
> “What happened?” the doctor said.
“Some kind of explosion in the barn, Doc Wilson,” Will said. “Smelled like kerosene in there. When I got inside Dan was on the floor like this.” He paced short lengths back and forth across the small room, his eyes never leaving Daniel’s face. One hand ran through his hair. Now he’d got Daniel to the doctor, he didn’t seem to know what to do.
“Did he bang his head?”
“There’s a lump,” Sara said, “at the back.”
Doctor Wilson lifted his head just enough to feel underneath. Daniel moaned again. “Has he been conscious at all?”
“No.”
He studied his face. “What did you do to his skin?”
Sara swallowed, afraid she’d made a mistake. “I kept it wet. I saw a doctor do that once with a burn. Was that wrong?”
“No, you did exactly the right thing.” He gave her a small smile and went back to his examination.
She breathed out. At least she hadn’t made it worse.
Daniel moaned again and his fingers tightened around hers. “Sara?” he slurred.
She wrapped both hands around his, almost bursting into tears at the sound of his voice. “I’m right here.”
Will rushed to her side. “We’re both here, Dan. We’re at the doc’s. You’re going to be OK.” He glanced at Doctor Wilson as if seeking reassurance.
“Daniel,” the doctor said, “can you speak to me?”
“Sara, are you all right?” His voice was stronger this time.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“I’m fine too, if you were wondering,” Will said, the humour sounding a little desperate.
Daniel smiled faintly and then winced in pain. Sara noticed he hadn’t made any attempt to open his eyes.
“Tell me where the pain is, Daniel,” Doctor Wilson said.
“The back of my head, my left elbow. The worst is my eyes.”
Sara rolled up his sleeve to check his elbow. A graze had opened the skin, but it looked superficial.
Doctor Wilson fetched a magnifying glass from a drawer and pushed Daniel’s hair back from his forehead. “Can you open them for me?”
She saw Daniel’s neck undulate as he swallowed and she tightened her hold on his hand, praying for strength for both of them.
His jaw clenched as he slowly forced his eyelids open. Sara stifled a gasp at the sight of the redness beneath. No wonder he was hurting.
“Good,” the doctor said. “That’s good.” He used the magnifying glass to study Daniel’s eyes. “Is the pain concentrated in one place or just a general ache?”
“General.”
“Well, I can’t see any foreign objects in the eyeballs so it must be the burning causing the discomfort. I’ll give you something for the pain and eye drops for the burns. Now, let’s have a look at that bump.”
His fingers tightened around Sara’s. “There’s something else.”
Doctor Wilson paused in the process of lifting Daniel’s head. “What is it?”
He stared at the ceiling, his eyes unmoving.
“I can’t see.”
Chapter 12
“Do you need anything else?”
“No, I don’t need anything else!” Daniel sighed when he heard Sara gasp in a breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He held out his hand and her soft fingers slipped around his. It helped to be able to touch her. “Forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive. I shouldn’t keep asking. I just...” She paused and he could feel her hand trembling. “I want to help and I don’t know what to do.”
He knew she was afraid for him, he didn’t need his eyes to tell him that. If their positions were reversed he would have been frantic with worry.
“You’re here. That’s all I need.” He imagined her smiling at his words and wished he could see it.
He was seated on the settee with his legs stretched out and a blanket over him. He didn’t need the blanket, but Sara had brought it for him and he didn’t have the heart to take it off. He’d taken a dose of the laudanum Doctor Wilson had given him, partly to make Sara feel better and partly because he was in a lot of pain, but his head was still throbbing where he’d hit it. And his eyes, they were on a whole other level. The laudanum blunted the worst of it, but he still wanted to rip the bandage off and press his hands to them for some kind of relief. He would have if the doctor hadn’t told him to not touch them and keep them covered. It felt like someone was branding his eyeballs.
His eyes.
The loss of sight could be temporary, Doctor Wilson had said. Daniel was holding onto that. God wouldn’t bring him all this way to simply leave him blind. The farm, Sara, all his dreams were coming to fruition. He knew his sight would return. He’d probably wake up tomorrow and see the sunshine and the mountains and Sara’s beautiful face. He could wait that long.
“Are you in much pain?” she said, not for the first time.
“It’s not bad.” Relatively speaking, it was probably true.
A door opened and closed somewhere, the back door from the direction, and the sound of footfalls entered the room. He’d spent enough time around his brother to know they were Will’s.
The clicking of Bess’ nails on the floorboards came with him. Daniel reached out his free hand and her nose nuzzled his palm.
“I found the remains of the lamp,” Will said, dropping into an armchair. “I just have no notion how it ended up lit during the day or why it exploded like that.”
Daniel could hear the armchair creaking. He’d never noticed how heavily Will sat down. He’d have to talk to him about it before he broke their only comfortable chairs with his tall, heavy body.
“How’s the barn?”
“OK. A bit of scorching here and there, but I got the fire out quick enough. I just wish I could work out what happened. If we have one faulty lamp, we could have more. I should speak to Lamb about it.” Frustration tainted his voice. “We only bought those from the store in December. You could have been-” He stopped abruptly.
Daniel knew what he’d been about to say – he could have been killed. He wasn’t even sure how he hadn’t been. He didn’t remember much about the explosion, just walking into the barn, wondering why it was so light inside, and then waking up in Doc Wilson’s office. God had undoubtedly been looking after him today. His injuries could easily have been much more serious. Even worse, it could have been Sara or Will who’d gone into the barn instead of him.
If only his eyes hadn’t taken the brunt of the damage. Without his eyes...
But they would heal, he was sure they would. God would heal him.
“Anyway,” Will was saying, “if you’ll be OK without me, I’ll get started on planting the rest of the corn. I want to finish that by tomorrow so I can get to the cherries soon.”
And without me it’ll take far longer. Daniel started to push back the blanket. “I could come and...”
“Oh no,” Sara said, placing one hand against his shoulder to stop him from rising. “The doctor said you may have a concussion and you should keep still. You’re staying right here and I’m going to spoil you rotten.”
Despite his frustration at being confined to the house when there was work to do, Daniel couldn’t help but smile at her bossy tone. “But...”
“No buts. Doctor’s orders. And wife’s orders.”
“I’d add brother’s orders, but we both know that would mean nothing.” The armchair creaked again as Will rose and a few seconds later Daniel’s hair was ruffled.
He blindly batted at his brother’s hand in good natured annoyance.
“Besides,” Will said, “we both know I do ninety percent of the work around here anyway. Admit it, you’re pretty much dead weight even when you can see. You just get healing while the bigger, stronger, better looking Raine brother does the work.”
Daniel would have rolled his eyes if they weren’t so painful. “Are you sure you weren’t hit on the head too? You seem to be suffering from delusi
ons.”
Will patted his shoulder. “Just enjoy your day off. You know, I should tell Ma and Pa...”
“No,” he said immediately. “I’ve got you and Sara to fuss over me, I don’t need them too. I’ll be better tomorrow.”
Will huffed out a breath. “Fine, I’ll wait. But if they find out anyway, you take all the blame for not telling them straight off.”
Daniel listened to his footsteps cross the room and the door open and close.
“Promise me you won’t try to do anything that could hurt you more,” Sara said, her voice filled with worry. “I’ve heard that injuries to the head can be bad.”
He squeezed the soft hand still in his. “I promise. But my head is fine, it barely hurts anymore.” Compared to his eyes.
There were a few seconds of silence before she said, “I was really scared.”
The vulnerability he heard in her voice pierced his heart. “But you were brave. Will told me how you looked after me, how strong you were. I’m so proud of you.”
She sniffed, but when she spoke, he heard a smile in her voice. “Us frontier wives, we have to be strong. It’s in the contract.”
He grinned and employed his broadest accent. “Then ah reckon ah’ve got me a fine frontier wife in this here wild west frontier town.”
She dissolved into giggles, to his delight. “Can I get you... sorry. Oh, would you like me to read to you? Or would you rather sleep? I can leave you alone.”
He couldn’t deny her eagerness to help him felt good. After almost five years of more or less having to look after himself whenever he was hurt or ill, it was nice to have someone care for him. Much as he hated being laid up like this.
“I wouldn’t mind being read to.”
Maybe a day off wouldn’t be so bad. He’d listen to Sara’s soothing voice as she read to him, they would spend time together, he’d have a legitimate reason to hold her hand. Maybe she’d even make another lemon pie, if he asked.
He’d get back to work tomorrow, when he could see again.
Chapter 13
Daniel woke in pain.
The night hadn’t gone well. Sara had wanted him to take the bed, but he refused. If giving her the best place in the house to sleep was all he could do for her now, he would do it. Will had brought in a spare cot from the bunkhouse, so he wasn’t uncomfortable. But sleep had still been difficult to find.