Hannah Alexander (18 page)

“But they’re headed for the cave. Is he crazy?”

“Get inside. I’m sure he has a plan, and Gray must be in on it.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s a good plan.”

Joseph held the door and urged her forward.

The house greeted them with a silence so eerie Victoria nearly stepped back, wondering if this was the same building where thirty-five people had completed a meal together less than fifteen minutes ago. Joseph helped her up the stairs to what Francine affectionately called her “ballroom.” It was empty.

Someone had taken the time to clear out the food and eating utensils, obviously because they believed the house might be entered by the incoming attackers. The Africans had learned to become shadows over the winter.

“They must have heard the dogs,” Victoria said. She walked across the room to peer out the only window, which was curtained heavily. It was high in the wall, built for parties such as the one they’d enjoyed today, with no place for snoops to look inside and see who was there. She could imagine them entering this room on cold nights and settling onto comfortable pallets for the night.

Joseph put a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go. They’ll need our help.”

She allowed him to lead her out the door and toward the stairs, but she caught a sound that chilled her. A cry. A stifled whimper. Someone was in pain. What kind of trouble...?

“Victoria?” The feminine voice, muffled by the closed door to Francine and Buck’s room, held an edge of anxiety.

Victoria looked up at Joseph. “Something’s wrong.” No. This couldn’t be happening. But of course it was. Francine had nearly blurted the truth at breakfast this morning. How long had she been in labor?

Joseph placed an arm across her shoulders. “What is it?”

“I can’t leave right now. You go on and do what you have to.”

“I’m not leaving you here.”

“Francine needs me, and Buck’s with the others.”

Joseph frowned, then glanced toward the door of the bedroom as comprehension dawned. “Now?”

“You think she has a choice?”

She saw the struggle take place in his expression. They had to go. Lives were at stake, possibly their own, but she couldn’t leave Francine yet.

His dark eyes grew black. “Can she be moved?”

“Of course not, but you have to go, Joseph. Save those people. You know I can take care of myself.”

He didn’t seem to agree. “I’ll be back to get you as soon as they’re out of danger.”

Victoria followed him down the hallway to the stairwell, but he stopped at the second step.

He hesitated and turned back. “You’ll be careful?”

“You’re the one entering a danger zone, Joseph. I’m doing what I’ve done for years.”

“Buck knows how to take care of her.”

“I know, and as soon as he arrives I’ll be able to leave, but she obviously needs me now.”

He came back up the steps. “Victoria...”

She straightened to her full height. “Yes, Captain?”

Another cry reached them from behind the door where she stood. She started to turn, but Joseph took her gently by the arm and turned her back. “I can’t lose you.”

She felt his touch hum through her entire being. “Perhaps you should exercise some of that faith you seem to have in such abundant supply.”

“You won’t know where we’ll be.”

“How can I miss lanterns in the caverns or twenty-five covered wagons on the trail?”

“We won’t be in sight.”

“Then watch for me. Perhaps...perhaps my heart will find its way there.” She attempted to pull away, but he held onto her arm.

“You are the most stubborn woman—”

“And you’re the most bullheaded—”

He pulled her to him until he captured her lips with gentle pressure. His hand slid up to her shoulder and he drew her closer. His other hand caught her against him. He raised his head for but a second. “I’ve missed this,” he said before lowering his head once again.

She had, too. As the tingle of warmth spread through her, she realized how much she’d missed this.

The kiss was timeless as they held each other, but there was no time for them. Not now. Too many lives depended on them.

He pulled away with patent reluctance. “Do you remember what you told me when you were delirious with fever?”

“I’m supposed to remember what I did when I was out of my mind?” She reached up to draw his head down for one more kiss.

He evaded her grasp. “You promised.”

“Don’t hold me to it.”

“You seemed to think it was important enough to recall.”

She walked to a window to look for Buster up on the cliff. But he was gone. She had no doubt he’d disappeared down into that dangerous cave, because the dogs and men were gone and the horses were tethered to nearby trees.

“Would you be so gracious as to give me a hint?” she asked, suppressing a smile as she turned back to Joseph.

His shoulders slumped. “Only someone in love would remember such a statement.”

She bit her tongue. How could she be such a heartless tease at a time like this? And yet the tension was so thick she could cut it apart with her scalpel. “And someone with a gracious heart would understand delirium. That was a very difficult day, and I couldn’t tell whether I was thinking aloud or to myself. Whatever it was, I know how grateful I was for you.”

Joseph took her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it. “You told me you loved me.”

Buck and Francine’s bedroom door opened, and Heidi Ladue stuck her head out. Her glance immediately went to Victoria’s raised hand. “Um, excuse me, Doctor. Mrs. Frasier’s...well, Buck went down with the others into the cave, and I never done this before.” Another low moan reached them through the door.

“Tell her I’m coming.” As Heidi vanished behind the door, blushing furiously, Victoria withdrew her hand from Joseph’s and touched his cheek, loving the feel of the soft beard against her fingertips and for some reason recalling Heidi’s comparison of love to mashed goose liver. Whoever had told her that was wrong. This was so much more substantial than goose liver. “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to recall what I said when the time is right.”

Chapter Seventeen

V
ictoria’s gentle voice followed Joseph down the stairs and into the back parlor. He couldn’t bear to leave her unprotected in the house, but he knew where the hunters had gone. Time to take care of them. Later they could prepare for others who might be coming.

He slid aside a beautifully carved wooden chest that sat against the back wall. Had he not known, he would have never guessed the wood plank floor rested against a trapdoor. He pushed inward at the corner and the wall gave way just enough for him to get a grip on the edge of the floor and pull upward.

Only then did he pause long enough to light one of his torches. He lowered himself down the solid ladder Buck had built and landed in a second springhouse, where sides of venison and beef hung from the ceiling. Barrels of brine held fish, fermented cabbage and cucumber pickles, and dried fruits lined the shelving. This was the room where the Frasiers kept stores for their friends, so visitors wouldn’t wonder why a married couple with no children would need so much food.

The shelves holding the dried fruit were nailed to a backboard that slid to the left, and Joseph stepped through to the other side where he caught the immediate scent of smoking lantern oil. It smelled new and thick, as he would expect it to smell with more than thirty people finding their way around columns and formations along uneven walkways and crawl spaces.

Deep inside the cavern, the scent grew stronger, and he held his torch high. There were no footprints, as this part of the cavern was pure rock. He followed the scent of lantern smoke across the width of the cavern and downhill on the other side. Several lights moved upward ahead of him through the darkness like stars floating toward the sky; the floor of the cavern extended into a gentle grade after he reached the lowest part of the cavern floor. Buster and Gray had, of course, spent a great deal of time down here when they didn’t have chores, especially after the building of the flat-bottom boats had ended for the day. Joseph always seemed to have too many other things on his mind to pay much attention to their activities. He still did.

Victoria. The imprint of her hand had burned itself so truly into his flesh that he’d begun to wonder if his beard had been scorched. He grinned at the thought and reached up to feel his face. No scorching, no blisters. He couldn’t get her out of his thoughts. But that was nothing new to him. She’d been burned into his heart since he’d first met her eleven years ago. He had to keep her safe for her sake, but also for his, because if anything happened to her now he would be destroyed, as well.

The echo of a baying hound arrested his attention. He stopped to listen along the length of the cavern. More hounds joined the first until the echoes became disorienting. He knew Gray had planned to go with the Africans toward the hidden entrance at the far western part of the cavern about two miles away in the direction where the lights floated upward.

If Buster led Duncan and his dogs a different way, the Africans would be safe, but what about Buster? Had he even given thought to his own safety? And what was in that sack he carried? Was it powerful enough to continue luring the dogs from the prey they’d been trained to hunt?

The sound of more than two-dozen whispers echoed against the stalagmites and stalactites, mingling with the splash of a waterfall nearby. The baying grew louder, and Joseph passed the intersection where the shorter arms of the cave crossed the system of caverns that was said to reach Plymouth. What did Buster plan to do, lead his pursuers all the way to Plymouth?

Otto Duncan and his men were vastly outnumbered. Either the hunter had more people coming behind him, or he was simply a madman.

Who but a mad killer would force his slaves out onto the land they worked and then force them to run from his dogs and his weapon? A madman. What those poor people must have suffered, knowing death could claim them at any moment. But not today.

The whispers grew louder when Joseph reached the top of a slippery wet slope. He found Gray and their thirty friends waiting for him, four men and Gray aiming pistols and rifles on him.

Joseph smiled. “You’re prepared.”

Gray heaved a sigh of relief as he and the others lowered their weapons.

“What’s Buster up to?” Joseph asked.

“He has a deer hindquarter that he left out in the sun yesterday and today. Where’s the doc?”

“Bringing a child into the world.”

Gray’s face seemed to pale in the low light. “What? How?”

Joseph hid his amusement. “I don’t think that’s our problem right now. We have people to protect.”

“Heidi insisted on going to tell you and Victoria where we were. She said she’d be right back.”

“Change of plans,” Joseph said. “Believe me, it’s necessary.”

“But we’ve gotta get out of here, and we can’t leave Victoria and Heidi.”

“We can’t leave little baby Frasier, either.”

Gray’s widening eyes pressed his brows farther up on his forehead.

“Think past your nose, son,” Joseph growled. “Our situation isn’t the only one brewing right now, and if we’re careful, we can make sure this new development could impact the future of everyone we care for.”

“You mean—”

“Victoria knows where we are but she can’t leave her patient alone, and neither can Heidi. Where is Buck now?”

Gray recovered with admirable alacrity. His face flushed with excitement. “He was guarding the boats. Now he’s circled around to the open cave mouth to see if more hooligans are riding into town. But, Captain, we have to get the doc and Heidi out of the house before others come.”

“Then I suggest
you
be the one to go back to the house and tell Dr. Fenway she has to come with us.”

“What if Buck sees more men coming?” There was a definite whine in Gray’s voice now.

“Then he’ll need help. We’ll get the doctor and Heidi to safety, but I’d like to get the Frasiers out, too, if it’s possible. You need to learn patience.”

“I’ve lived with Buster for sixteen years. You think I don’t have patience?”

“I think you haven’t even begun to learn the meaning of the word, but you’re about to start.”

Gray let out a long expulsion of air that put to the test most men’s deep store of patience. Joseph, however, grinned in the darkness. “Aren’t you concerned about saving lives?”

Gray looked down and scuffed the toe of his boot against the cave floor. “Yessir.”

“Don’t you think it’s important to save all the lives we can?”

“Well, yeah, but the Frasiers have that house and all those furnishings. Why would they want to leave?”

“You left your father’s home and all the cattle and horses and furnishings. Are you sorry you left?”

Gray looked up and met Joseph’s gaze. “Sometimes. Would you want to take off into the unknown with Buster?”

“I think as soon as our doctor makes sure her patients are safely in Buck’s hands, she and Heidi will be right along. The Frasiers will have to decide for themselves if they can come or not.”

The baying of the hounds started up again, silencing everyone. Buster was swift footed, but he would likely slow his steps enough to give the animals a good whiff of the venison so they would keep following him.

When the baying reached the intersection, Joseph motioned for the others to duck behind stalagmites. Everyone moved silently, most with bare feet. No one spoke. When Buster’s noisy footsteps reached the intersection, their dark faces were bracketed by lantern light and outlined with fear, but a ridge blocked them all from sight.

Joseph didn’t realize he was clenching his jaw until the dogs and their masters passed the intersection and continued to follow their original quarry. So far, everyone appeared safe except Buster, but the kid would need help, and soon.

* * *

Victoria gritted her teeth at the sound of Francine’s shallow breathing. She was in extreme and constant pain. Something was terribly wrong.

A door opened and slammed shut downstairs. Heidi gasped, her face paling in the bright light coming in from the window. One set of footsteps echoed through the house.

“Those are Buck’s footsteps,” Francine said, her voice roughened by tension and pain.

Victoria nodded to Heidi. “You should go down and let him know he’s about to become a father, and be ready to skitter out of the way if he swoons.” She looked at Francine. “I can’t believe you didn’t even tell your husband you were in labor.”

Francine had another pain as Heidi slipped out the bedroom door. Victoria held her beloved friend’s hands as the grip nearly took her fingers off. The amount of pain frightened her. Even more so when the pain ended and Francine lost consciousness. Victoria took the opportunity to check the baby’s progress, and she went weak.

The baby had turned, and now a tiny foot jutted from the birth canal. One foot only. This was always dangerous.

Heavy footsteps came clomping up the stairway, followed by Heidi’s light, birdlike stride. There was a firm knock on the door.

Victoria was covering Francine with a sheet when she awakened from her faint and moaned again.

Another knock hit the door. “Francine? Dr. Fenway?”

“We’re here, Buck,” Victoria said. “We’re making way for your new baby to arrive.” She tried to instill cheer in her voice.

The door opened and Buck strode in. His mouth dropped open when he saw Francine. He went to his wife’s other side and took her hand, turning pale at the sight of Francine’s agony. “What’s wrong here, Victoria?”

“It’s a breach. I’ll need to stay and help. Heidi, would you please go through my bag and find the laudanum Buck gave me? Bring it as quickly as you can.” She listened until Heidi’s footsteps skittered away. “Buck, you’re the town doctor. I know this would shock polite society, but you should be in here with us for the birthing.”

“I’m not leaving.”

Victoria stepped over to the washstand and scrubbed her hands while Buck murmured comforting words into his wife’s ear and dried her tears, mopping her forehead with a cloth. He kissed her cheek.

There was no missing the relief that spread through Francine seconds before her next contraction.

Heidi came running in with the laudanum and stopped at the threshold as if she’d rammed into the door, her eyes widening with distress, face reddening with obvious embarrassment.

“Heidi,” Victoria said quietly, “if you wish to become a doctor—”

“I do.”

Victoria smiled. “Then you should expect to find yourself in some very personal situations. You will need to separate yourself from the fancy rules of the social set and learn about caring for patients, with all the living blood and pain and beauty. In this room we have two patients who need us.”

Heidi closed the door behind her and crossed to the other side of the bed, obviously unable to look at Buck.

“Please give Mrs. Frasier a good dose of laudanum, Heidi. Is the birthing tea brewing?”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s steeped and ready.”

“Then place a cool, wet cloth over her forehead.”

Buck cleared his throat. “Honey,” he said softly to his wife, “when did you start having pains?”

“Last...night,” she said between breaths.

“Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“I knew it’d be a while.” Francine’s voice was weak. “Victoria once told me that first births often take longer.” She grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut. “That’s proved true with cows, so I figured I’d be the same.”

“Yes, but you didn’t need to endure the pain in silence,” Victoria told her. “I could have given you some tea to help you feel better. You’ve been in labor for more than fourteen hours, and you’ve been suffering without support.”

“But it hasn’t been too bad until now.”

“That’s because your body’s trying to give birth and the baby isn’t cooperating.”

Francine laid her head back into the pillow and closed her eyes. Tears dripped down the sides of her face and into the cloth beneath her. When she reached up to wipe them away, her hand was shaking. “Please don’t tell me my baby’s going to die. We’ve waited so long to have this little one.”

“I just know it’s a good thing I was still here. Buck has big hands. Mine are slender.” Victoria nodded to Heidi. “We’ll be turning the baby. Buck, you know what I’m talking about.”

“I’ve done it on cows, but I couldn’t bear to hurt Francine.”

“No, but you’ll need to watch and learn, because hurting them now will be a lot better than the pain they’ll endure if you don’t do this. Besides,” she said, indicating Francine’s glazing eyes as the laudanum took hold, “I don’t think this will be quite as traumatic as it could have been.”

“My hands are smaller than yours, Dr. Fenway,” Heidi said. “Maybe I should do it.”

“Someday I’ll teach you, but not on Francine. Not today. You need to help her cope when it hurts.”

“I’ll do that,” Buck said.

“I’ll bring the tea if you wish,” Heidi said.

“Please, but make it quick.”

As Heidi rose and went to the door, Francine caught Victoria’s hands in her own. “I know you can do this.”

“Yes, my friend, I can. And your baby has been active and kicking, so there’s no reason to worry. It’s just going to hurt more than usual. I’m so glad we had laudanum on hand.”

Heidi came back into the room holding the cup of tea she’d prepared. She sniffed it and wrinkled her nose. “What is this stuff?”

“Some herbs I’ve gathered and experimented with in the past. It has willow bark, which tends to make the blood too thin with something like this, so I use crushed kale that slows the blood loss, and valerian root, which calms. Some nice sugar makes it go down easily enough. Help her sip it, please.”

With Heidi on one side of Francine, helping her sip the brew, and Buck on the other side, not looking the least bit embarrassed by his presence in a place where women ruled, Francine had another pain.

“I’m praying for you, my friend,” Victoria said, surprising herself. And yet it was the truth. In her heart she was entreating the Lord to cover this family with peace and healing, that He would protect their friends in the cave and that she would be able to do what needed to be done.

She couldn’t have told when she’d begun speaking to the Lord again or why it had taken her so long to do so. She also couldn’t have predicted the peace that suddenly flowed over her with the reconnection she felt. She’d lost her dearest friend only to find Him again.