A Christmas Rose: A Dusk Gate Chronicles Novella (Book 4 1/2) (4 page)

William was right; the overnight snow didn’t have much impact on their travel. By mid-morning, the clouds had cleared completely, and the sunshine lit the cold, blue sky. The main roads they traveled were only muddy by the afternoon.

The third day, and their overnight stay with the family of William’s brother-in-law, Howard, went smoothly, and they started the fourth day even a little ahead of schedule.

But just after lunch on their fourth day of traveling, Quinn glanced out of the carriage window, and her eyes widened. A line of dark gray clouds dominated the western horizon. She’d seen clouds like that before.

Apparently, Marcus had, too. A few minutes later, he motioned with his hands, and the carriage drew to a stop.

Nathaniel moved to the side so that Marcus could climb in with them. “That,” he said, nodding to the clouds, “does not look good.”

“How long before it hits, do you think?” Quinn asked.

Nathaniel frowned, studying the looming storm. “Somewhere between six and twelve hours maybe.”

“That’s a pretty wide span,” she said.

“Maybe you should pull up a forecast on your phone, then.”

She giggled. “If I could, I don’t think I’d ever complain about them being inaccurate again.”

“I never understood people who did,” William said.

“Well, now I know why. How far are we from the castle, if we were to travel straight through?”

“Ten hours, probably. Maybe less if we were able to keep the pace we’ve been going. We were going to be stopping in about five.”

Quinn nodded. “How are the horses?”

“They’re good right now.”

“What do you think about trying to push through and make it – not stop for the night? We can send birds to the castle and Stephen’s brother.”

“I think we could possibly make it work. But if we don’t, it could be one very crowded night in the carriage.”

“We’d be warm at least,” Nathaniel said, chuckling.

“Are you worried about it?” She asked Marcus.

“I don’t like the look of it, Your Majesty. It’s very early in the season for snow, but sometimes that brings the biggest sudden storms. But I would rather get to the castle than be stuck somewhere else.”

“Then let’s try it. We have enough food for everyone for dinner, don’t we?”

“Yes, there are enough provisions for a few meals, and enough wood to keep the fire grate in here going. But I’m most concerned about keeping you out in the cold and traveling for so long.”

“I’ll be all right, Marcus. Let’s get home.”

*

For the rest of the day, they flew at a manic pace. The scenery outside the window was growing more and more familiar to William, even though the ominous-looking sky was casting strange shadows.

About an hour after sunset, William almost woke Quinn to show her the electric lights in the windows of Westmore, a town he and Nathaniel had spent many hours in building the clinic.

It was possible to make it from Westmore to the castle in under three hours – they’d gained quite a bit of time today.

When he peeked into the small loft that held the bed, though, and saw her soundly asleep, he couldn’t bring himself to wake her. She’d seemed more tired than usual today, and had been unsuccessful at her other attempts at napping. He thought the long days of traveling were wearing on her more than she wanted to admit.

Instead, he sat back down. “Maybe when we reach Bay Run,” he said to Nathaniel. “That will be more familiar to her.”

Nathaniel nodded. “Want to play another game of choice?”

Maybe it was because they had to concentrate to see what they were doing in the low light from the one small lantern and the glow of the embers in the grate, but somehow they managed to get so involved in the game that neither of them noticed when the first snowflakes began drifting down past the windows.

If the snow couldn’t catch their attention, though, the sudden burst of wind a little while later did. The first strong gust beat against the carriage, rocking it slightly to the side, causing William to lose his grip on his cards, sending them spilling to the floor.

“What was that?” Quinn’s voice, thick with sleep, was frightened.

A second gust, only a moment later, rocked the carriage even harder, and in one motion, William stood and pulled Quinn down from the bed to the bench next to him, holding onto her tightly.

“Are they okay out there?” Quinn asked, looking out the window.

Nathaniel blew out the lantern, so they could see out more easily, but now the snow was coming down so hard they couldn’t see anything.

“Why aren’t they stopping? They probably can’t even see the road.” Quinn’s voice rose in anxiety.

“Maybe Marcus is trying to get us to Bay Run,” Nathaniel said. “We’ve got to be getting close.”

“Bay Run…” Quinn said. “Is that where your cousin Robert has his clinic?”

William nodded. He was sure Quinn would remember the place – he’d taken her there once when she’d injured herself climbing into a tree to rescue a little boy.

“If Marcus ever stops, we can ask him to take us to Robert’s then. If we can get there.”

“I’m sure he’s going to try,” Nathaniel said. “It’s not safe to stay out here with this wind.”

As if to prove his point, the next blast shook the carriage so hard that they were all thrown to the side. Quinn landed against the wall, and William barely caught himself with his hands, lessening the impact when his body slammed into hers.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, letting him help her back up.

He put his hands on her belly. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. But a few minutes later, after he’d made her trade places with him, he caught a glimpse of her biting her lip, and he wasn’t sure how truthful she was being. His hands were already sore from where they’d hit the wall on either side of her.

Still, the carriage didn’t stop. They were all getting worried about the guards outside in this weather, but signaling out the window was doing nothing, and William and Nathaniel both refused to open the door, too worried about Quinn. Marcus would stop when he was ready.

There weren’t any more gusts as violent as the one that had thrown them, but as time went on, William grew more concerned about Quinn. When she suddenly exhaled sharply, and put her hands around her stomach, Nathaniel dropped to the floor in front of her.

“What’s going on Quinn?”

“I’m okay. I think the wind just shook the baby up a little.”

The next minute was almost a contest between William and Nathaniel over who could reach his medical bag first. William found his stethoscope while Nathaniel pulled out a blood pressure cuff.

Quinn rolled her eyes, but didn’t protest too much – or they didn’t listen if she did.

Everything seemed okay, but it happened again less than twenty minutes later. William had never wanted out of a carriage so badly in his life. He wanted her to get out, to change positions, for the wind to stop rocking her every few minutes.

Suddenly, lights appeared again. Relief flowed through him as the familiar buildings of Bay Run came into view through the windows, and the carriage slowed to a stop.

William did have to hand it to Marcus. They were right at the steps of the clinic in Bay Run. The clinic was one of the only buildings in town with a lighted porch – meant as a beacon for emergencies.

Though many clinics counted among William’s favorite buildings in this world, he’d never been so glad to see one in his entire life.

The carriage door didn’t open right away; in fact, Ben stood in front of it, while they watched Marcus climb the steps and bang on the door.

It was only when Robert answered, dressed in his pajamas, sleep-tousled hair, that William realized it must be the middle of the night.

Robert pulled it together quickly, though. He passed several dry blankets out the front door, and Marcus and the other guards used them to form a sort of cover over the door of the carriage before they opened it.

Inside, William and Nathaniel already had Quinn wrapped in several blankets, and they handed her down to Ben and Marcus who whisked her into the clinic under a canopy of cloaks and blankets held by the other guards.

“So sorry to barge in on you like this,” William said to Robert, once he was inside. “We were hoping the snow would hold off a little bit longer, but…”

“It’s no problem at all. You know my doors are always open to you. Mary’s already in the kitchen working on some warm drinks. What’s going on with her Majesty?” He nodded to where Nathaniel was insisting Quinn lie down on one of the cots.

“She’ll be happier if you just call her Quinn. You’re family. We had a little scare in the carriage a bit ago, and hopefully it’s just from the stress, but I think she’s had a few contractions.”

“How many weeks is she?”

“Somewhere between thirty-three and thirty-five. We weren’t keeping exact track of dates at the time.”

He nodded. “Still early, then. Do you want me or Mary to have a look? Mary’s good at stopping the early ones sometimes.”

“Can you have her brew some of the tea, and I’ll let you know?”

“Of course. It’s good to see you,
King
Will.” William rolled his eyes, but accepted his cousin’s big hug. “We’ll get you all taken care of tonight.”

“Thank you.”

Robert patted his shoulder. “I’m going to go get a room ready on our side. We can move the queen over there in a few minutes.”

Nathaniel already had the curtains pulled around Quinn’s cot; William kept them as closed as he could around her as he squeezed into the cubicle, both to give her privacy, and to protect her from the blasts of cold as the guards carried their belongings inside and went out to tend the carriage and the horses.

“Tell them to leave the trunks,” she said as he entered. “They have to be frozen through.”

“I heard Marcus asking them to go in shifts,” he told her. “They’re taking turns in front of the fire, and Robert’s wife, Mary is making warm drinks for everyone. She’s also a midwife – she’s going to brew you some tea that might help with the contractions.”

“I’m not…”

He looked at her sternly. “I think you are, Quinn.”

Her eyes widened, and her hands started trembling a little.

“I don’t think it’s serious yet, but you need to rest and let us get you checked out, okay?”