Receive Me Falling (29 page)

14

James
and Catherine separated in an attempt to find Cecil more efficiently.
 
They intended to meet one another at half
past the hour.
 
Catherine again left the
house, looked through the storehouse, checked the stables, and finally, went
down the path to the beach.
 
Catherine
did not think her father would be at the beach, but wanted to leave no area unchecked.
 
She looked in the cave, thinking back to the
time he had gone missing for hours and had been located in it, passed out and
nearly unconscious with an empty cask of rum on the ground beside him.
 
It had been Leah’s birthday, and Catherine
had made her a honey cake as a surprise.
 
She was just about to turn fourteen, herself, days later, and wanted to
share some of the uneaten cake with her father.
 
He had been found just before the tide came in.
 
He would have drowned.

Cecil was not there this time, however, so
Catherine climbed back up the path and to the lagoon.
 
A pair of small green eyes peered at
Catherine through the shadows of the rainforest. Phinneas curled himself around
a palm.
 
The creatures were silent around
him as he wove himself through the vegetation.
 
His desire for Catherine had been growing since his first meeting with
her.
 
He had seen her bathe in the lagoon
waters on several occasions, and was hoping to see her do so now, but she only
stood at the banks of the water staring into the waterfall.
 

Thomas suddenly exploded out of the path,
breathless and sweating.
 
Phinneas
recoiled into the shadows as Thomas ran to his mistress.
 
Something he said caused her to run with him
back to the Great House.

“Where
is he?” asked Catherine.

“Your father has taken him to the guest wing
upstairs,” said Esther.

Catherine ran up the stairs.
 
She hurried into the closest guest room and
found Cecil and Albert staring down at James as he shivered on the bed.
 

“When did this start?” asked Catherine.

“Only moments ago,” said Albert.
 
“He was overcome with a sudden outbreak of
chills.”

“Cover him.”

Catherine ran to the kitchen to find Esther.
 
Esther, who already knew of James’ symptoms,
produced a pot of boiling water and poured it into a pitcher for Catherine.
 
Catherine went to the herbal pantry and
located a container of quinine bark.
 
Working with haste she finely chopped the bark and placed it in a cup.
 
Catherine hurried back to the room where
James lay and poured the hot water over the bark.
 

“Once this cools a bit, I will help James to drink
it.”

“What is happening to him?” asked Albert.

“It looks like malaria.
 
The sudden onset of chills is characteristic
of the disease. The good news is he is getting help immediately, and he is
young and strong.”

“What will you make him drink?”

“The bark of the cinchona is very effective at
treating malaria,” said Catherine.
 
“It
has some unpleasant side effects, but it is a powerful way to treat the
illness.”

“We have both had malaria and recovered,” said Cecil.
 
“But James will be bedridden for weeks.
 
There is no way he will be able to travel to
the hotel.”

“Can he be transported once the fever breaks?”

“Absolutely not,” said Catherine.
 
“The fever returns over and over again over
the course of several weeks.
 
It would be
too much of a strain to force him to travel such a distance in his condition.”

“You and James will simply have to stay at Eden for the duration of your time on Nevis,”
said Cecil.
 
“It actually makes good
sense, since the plantations under your observation are all nearby.
 
I will send Thomas for your things
immediately.”

“This is entirely too much of an imposition,”
insisted Albert.

“Your son’s life is at stake,” said Catherine. “I
insist that you remain at Eden.”

Albert looked with concern from Cecil to Catherine
to James.

“I am sure I cannot express my gratitude
enough.
 
Your kindness will never be
forgotten.”

“Think nothing of it,” said Cecil.
 
“Now, I will take you immediately to Thomas
to retrieve your belongings from the Bath Hotel. Catherine, please stay with
James.
 
I will send Esther up soon to see
what assistance she can provide.”

Catherine nodded and sat at a chair near the head
of the bed.
 
When her father and Albert
departed, Catherine checked the patient.
  
James looked at her through wild, bloodshot eyes.
 
Sweat ran off of his face and drenched the
bedding.
 
He quaked so violently
Catherine worried he would fall off the edge of the bed.
 

           
“It’s all right,” said Catherine.
 
“I am going to take care of you.”

           
Catherine replaced the drenched
blanket with another, and brought the hot liquid concoction to James’
lips.
 
Carefully lifting his head, she
supported him as he drained the cup.
 
She
eased him back down on the pillow and wiped his forehead with a damp
cloth.
 

           
“You will drink this bitter liquid
daily until you are healed.”

           
James nodded and closed his
eyes.
 

           
“You are not suited for this
climate,” she said.
 
“But I will see to
it that you are able to return to your home.”

The
golden rays of the setting sun illuminated James’ room.
 
Catherine watched him as he slept.
 
His chest rose and fell as he shivered in his
sleep.
 
Occasionally he cried out through
his fitful rest.
 
Cecil had again
disappeared, and Catherine reasoned that this was not the time to discuss what
she saw between Phinneas and Toby.
 
Albert returned after dinnertime that evening, and rushed up to see how
James was faring.

           
“This will be extremely tiresome and
difficult to work through for James, but I am very optimistic,” said
Catherine.
 
“It seems that early
treatment in such cases is the best way of fighting the illness.”

           
“I am sure any treatment at your
hands, Miss Dall, will restore my son.”

           
Catherine nodded and turned to
James.

           
“His fever appears to have broken
for now, but the fever tends to reoccur every few days with malaria.
 
He will need constant attention.”

           
Albert nodded and dropped himself
into a chair by the fireplace.
 
He buried
his head in his hands.

           
“I will never forgive myself if
something happens to James.
 
He didn’t
want to come here in the first place.”

           
“We are all called to places by
forces bigger than ourselves,” said Catherine.
 
“Your son would not have come if he was not destined to do so.
 
He will fight through this.”

           
“You are most reassuring,” said
Albert.
 
“Thank you for your kindness.”

           
“You must not forget to take care of
yourself, Mr. Silwell.
 
I will see to it
that your belongings are brought up to the room next to your son’s.
 
Leave the adjoining door open through the
night so you can monitor him.
 
If you
need me at all, no matter what time of night, I am just down the hall.”

           
Catherine left the room and returned
after a short time.

           
“Thomas has carried your belongings
to your room, Leah is unpacking for you, and Esther will come up shortly with a
tray of food for you both,” she said.
 
“We
will try to rouse James to eat before you go to sleep for the night.”

           
“Thank you.”

           
James’ eyes began to open.
 
He gazed around the room with some confusion,
until he realized where he was.
 
He
smiled feebly at Catherine and Albert.

           
“There are other ways of getting
yourself invited to stay with us,” teased Catherine. They all laughed as Esther
entered with food for Albert and James.
 

           
“You will need to leave the room for
awhile, Catherine,” said Esther.
  
“I am
going to assist Mr. Silwell in changing James’ clothing, bathing him, and
changing his bed linens.”

           
“Certainly, Mami,” said
Catherine.
 
“It’s actually quite
late.
 
Goodnight everyone.
 
I’ll be back first thing in the morning.
 
Don’t hesitate to call if you need
assistance.”

The
winds were brutal.
 
Catherine turned all
night in her bed, certain that she heard James calling to her.
 
When she would rush out into the hall with
her lit candle, she was met only with silence.
 
Catherine would then return to her bed for another bout of nightmares.

           
In Catherine’s first dream, James
called to her.
 
When she went to his room
he was gone.
 
A sound urged her to the
window, and upon opening the shutters she saw James stumbling across the back
lawn and disappearing into the night.
 
Her
second dream was more distressing.
 
She
quarreled with Leah, but could not make out what they were saying over the
howling winds.
 
Leah fell back as if she
were struck, and then ran away from Catherine into the dark, damp night.
 
Rain began falling as Catherine found herself
in a blinding storm.
 
Vines and leaves
lashed at her face preventing her from seeing.
 
She could hear a mournful wail on the winds of the storm, but was lost
and unable to find her way.
 
She finally
broke into a clearing where James looked at her and turned away.
 
She felt a hand at her shoulder and turned
around to face Phinneas with lightning crashing behind him.