Free Rorey's Secret by Leisha Kelly Page B

I didn’t want to think about that, but there was no way I could help it. I sat beside him on the bed, trying hard not to cry, wiping away the one tear that defied my wishes by slipping slowly down my cheek.
    Why, Lord? I cried, staring out the window at the darkness. Why did this have to happen? Samuel’s been so good. And he’s gone through so much in his life. It doesn’t seem right. Samuel wouldn’t agree, I know he wouldn’t, but I would rather it have been me.
    The girls came back with a pile of cloth, a jar with the steeping herbs, and a glass of water, which Katie set on the nightstand that Samuel had made for us two winters before.
    “The fire will be out now, won’t it?” Sarah asked. “With all the rain?”
    “Let’s hope so.”
    “It should’ve rained sooner.”
    It surprised me, how much Sarah’s feelings mirrored my own. Perhaps I should have told her that there is a time for everything and that God is in control, even when things are far out of our hands. But I didn’t. I thought it might sound as hollow as I felt right then.
    I soaked one strip of cloth in the plantain and comfrey water and then folded it carefully over the wound on Samuel’s leg. Then I wrapped other strips over it and secured them as best I could. The longest strips went around his leg twice with room left to tie. I carefully bathed the rest of his leg with the herbed water and then covered him to the waist with a blanket.
    “I wish we had ice,” I said more to myself than to the girls. It would be good to set a piece of it against the back of Samuel’s head.
    “Do you think Mrs. Post might have some?” Katie asked me hopefully.
    “Honey, I don’t know.”
    “Do you want me to run over and see?”
    Her willingness surprised me. Over a mile and a half. With no horse or vehicle. Through driving rain. At night. “Oh, honey, it’s good of you to offer, but it would take you an awfully long time getting over there and back. If she did have some, it might melt before you got it here. Maybe we’d better just wait till Robert is back.”
    “Surely it’ll be soon,” Sarah added.
    I soaked another cloth in the herb water. “I’ll have to lift your head a little, Samuel,” I whispered. “To get another bandage on you.”
    I wanted him to stir. Especially when I was laying the cloth against the back of his head and wrapping it to stay on. But he didn’t open his eyes or make any sound at all.
    You’re scaring the girls, Samuel. I should’ve thought to send them out.
    “Is there something more we can do?” Katie asked so quietly. Sarah just stood beside her looking pale. They were both exhausted, I could tell.
    “No. It’s almost morning. You should try to get some rest while you can. I expect it’ll be a busy day coming on.”
    “But Robert’ll be back soon,” Sarah protested. “I want to wait.”
    “Help Delores get Berty settled somewhere. If Robert’s not here by then, you need to lie down for a while too, at least until you hear him come in.”
    “What about you, Mom?” Sarah asked.
    “I’ll stay right here with your father.”
    The girls went out reluctantly. I could hear them in the sitting room, smoothing what had been Robert’s bedding for Berty on the floor. Delores was there too, talking about my old woven laundry basket being the perfect bassinet for baby Rosemary. Thelma might not be very comfortable on the old davenport Herman Meyer had given us, but I was glad she was willing to go there for Samuel’s sake. After a while, things got quiet, and I knew the girls had obeyed me and gone upstairs.
    Alone with Samuel, I moved the oil lamp closer and carefully pulled off his shirt, hoping to check every inch of him to make sure there wasn’t something I’d missed.
    I went for clean water, warmer this time, and began to bathe him carefully.
    “Juli . . .”
    His eyes opened slowly and focused on me, and I felt relief like a weight lifted off my back. “Oh, Samuel. How do you