Edith and the Mysterious Stranger (13 page)

Edith was thrown against him repeatedly but she
said nothing as the wind rushed into her face and sifted through
her hair. She knew they had to hurry.

When she bumped into him once again, Joseph
turned to face her and said, “Edith, I’m sorry for such a bumpy
ride, but I’m worried about Sam.”

Seeing the concern on his face, she said,
“That’s all right, as long as we get there on time.”

As they traveled through town, Edith felt the
wind tugging at her hair. She put her hand on the side of her head
to hold it in place, but it was to no avail. She had arranged her
hair so quickly that she had not secured it well enough. The wind
did a dandy job on her hair and she regretted not wrapping a scarf
around her head before leaving.

When they pulled into Sam’s yard, Joseph climbed
down from the buggy and tied the horse to a hitching post. Edith
quickly tucked the loose strands of hair into place the best she
could, but she still felt frumpy.

As she blew a loose curl from her eyes, Joseph
looked up and smiled. “You look nice. Don’t worry so much.”

Then he took her bag and held his hand out to
help her down from the buggy. She gathered her skirts together in
her hand and carefully stepped down. As they approached the porch,
Sam’s wife opened the door and welcomed them inside.

With an unsteady and shaky voice, Judy said,
“Thanks for coming. Gilbert just arrived. He put Sam in the
bedroom. He’s still unconscious.”

Joseph took Judy into his arms and held her
tight. She burst into tears, sobbing on his shoulder, and letting
her fears out in the arms of a friend. Edith noticed his tenderness
toward Judy, and she was impressed with his gentle and caring
attitude.

Joseph spoke softly, “It’ll be all right, Judy.
He’s a stubborn man. He’ll get better. He has to.”

She nodded, and between sobs, she said, “Thank
you, Joseph. And thank you for coming.”

Judy calmed down enough to lead them into the
bedroom where Gilbert was standing beside the bed, watching over
Sam.

When Gilbert heard Edith enter, he turned to
her. “Thanks for coming so early in the morning. If there’s
anything I can do…” His voice cracked with emotion and his eyes
misted over as he looked at Sam.

Edith walked toward the bed and looked down at
her patient. His face was pale, with no color whatsoever. His shirt
and pants were ripped, and saturated with blood. She had taken care
of many wounds before and knew what to do, but none of them had
been life threatening like this.

With sympathy, Edith looked at Sam’s wife and
said, “I’ll do my very best to help your husband. First, I need
sterile water, some rags, and a clean sheet that can be ripped into
long strips, but go quickly because I have no time to waste. Every
minute counts.”

Judy immediately left the room and did as she
was told.

Gilbert inched closer and asked, “Can I do
something?”

Edith shook her head. “No. There’s nothing you
can do. Both you and Joseph may go home now, and I’ll take care of
Sam. Don’t worry. Right now the important thing is to work quickly
so infection doesn’t set in.”

Gilbert nodded and walked out of the room.
Joseph stayed, though, quietly watching and worrying, not saying a
word to distract her.

Edith calmly unbuttoned Sam’s bloody shirt. She
gasped. His abdomen was torn open and blood was oozing from the
gash. She knew she needed to work quickly. Edith met each crisis
with a calm, prayerful attitude, and as much courage as she could
muster. So, she took a deep breath, said a prayer in her heart, and
began working.

Looking at his shirt and pants, she realized
they would be impossible to take off without disturbing his wound,
so she took a pair of scissors from her bag and cut his sleeves and
pant legs open.

Joseph walked to the bed and said solemnly, “I’d
like to help.”

Edith looked up at him with surprise. “I thought
you’d gone with Gilbert.” Looking at her patient, she shook her
head. “Joseph, there’s nothing to do here. You’ll just worry and
get in the way. Besides, stomach wounds aren’t very easy to handle,
and you might get queasy. I’ve seen many tough men faint at smaller
injuries than this.”

“I can take it. Sam’s my friend and so is Judy.
I want to help.”

Edith was doubtful, but seeing his
determination, she decided to give him a chance, expecting him not
to last very long. “All right, then help me take off his shirt and
pants.”

As they carefully uncovered Sam’s wounds,
Edith winced. His intestines were protruding from his abdomen. She
had never taken care of anything like this before. She took a deep
breath and then looked up at Joseph, wondering if he was able to
handle it.

Noticing her inquiring eyes, he nodded,
giving her the message to proceed. Carefully, she and Joseph pulled
the soiled clothes loose and then laid them in the corner of the
room.

“Now, what do you want me to do, Edith?”

“I need boiling water, clean rags, a sheet,
and an extra pan. A small one will do. Would you mind checking on
Judy for me to see if she has it ready?”

Joseph nodded and immediately left the room.
While he was gone, she sterilized her hands with alcohol and
examined the gash in his abdomen. In no time, Joseph had the pan of
water and rags placed beside her.

She looked up at Joseph and smiled. “Thank
you.” She handed him the sheet. “Could you please rip small pieces
of cloth to use as a bandage? And then tear longer strips to wrap
around his hips and abdomen. It’ll keep the bandage in place.”

“How wide?”

“About six inches.”

Joseph nodded, sat down on a chair next to
the bed, and began ripping long strips.

Edith poured some water into the small pan, took out
a sterilized violin gut string from her bag, and dropped it into
the boiling water to soften. Next, she took a rag and dipped it
into the water, and began washing away the blood and germs from his
wounds and intestines. After she was sure that every inch was
clean, she very carefully relocated Sam’s protruding
intestines.

The violin string was ready, so she threaded it
through a sterilized needle and sewed up the tear. She looked up at
Joseph, who was standing beside her, watching intently. She noticed
he hadn’t turned blue, so she said nothing and sutured the wound
shut.

When she finished, Edith went to the kitchen and
fixed a liniment of arnica burrs steeped in alcohol. When the
mixture was ready, she saturated the smaller strips of cloth and
applied them to his wound.

As she worked, Joseph sat watching, feeling amazed
at her knowledge and perseverance. She had not taken any time to
rest, and she was still going. She looked weary, her hair was
mussed up with several curls hanging awry, and she had small
circles under her eyes. But to Joseph, she looked lovely.

They had been there for several hours and he had
picked her up in the wee hours of the morning. William had told him
that she even went to bed late that night because of staying over
at Melinda’s too long. She had such stamina. He never knew a woman
quite like her.

He had to grin when he remembered his “prima donna”
slip of the tongue. He didn’t realize she had so much spunk, but
then he should have known when she stormed off at the bunkhouse.
That night she had intrigued him to no end, and he wanted to know
more about her. Gilbert had told him that she didn’t give men a
second chance, and she was the pickiest woman he had ever known.
Joseph figured she wouldn’t give him a chance, either.

After she had finished, Joseph
helped her bind the long strips around Sam’s hips and abdomen,
securing the liniment
bandages next to the wounds. Then
together they changed the bedding with fresh dry linen, carefully
moving Sam’s body as they tucked the sheet under him.

Edith looked up at Joseph and smiled. “You did
good. And you didn’t even faint. Thank you, Joseph. Personally, I
didn’t expect you to last this long.”

Joseph grinned. “Oh, I’m a tough ol’ bird.”

“Well, if you wouldn’t have been here to help,
then I would have been much longer. Thank you, Joseph. I appreciate
it.”

Edith had been sitting for several hours taking
care of Sam without any rest. She could feel the tension in every
muscle of her body, not to mention her aching shoulders and back
while leaning over her patient. She stretched her sore muscles,
rubbing her neck and arching her back.

Joseph watched with interest. Through her
weariness, he could see the fortitude of a strong, determined
woman, a woman who cared for others and showed it in her actions.
He realized that she was an unusual person, thinking of others in
spite of aching muscles.

After taking one last look at Sam, Joseph
followed Edith out of the room where Judy awaited anxiously.

Edith announced, “He’ll be all right, I promise.
Twice a day I’ll come by and wash the wound with carbolic water and
apply fresh bandages and liniment. Don’t worry. His heart is
beating strong. He’ll make it.”

Judy wept with joy as Edith took her in her arms
and hugged her. “Now, if anything goes wrong, send someone for me.
All right?”

Joseph took Edith’s arm, gently led her to the
buggy, and helped her in.

After climbing beside her, he said, “You did
good in there.”

Edith slightly smiled, not saying a word.
She was too exhausted to think or make conversation. She was too
drained.

Joseph gave a gentle flick of the reins and
the horse trotted down the road at an easy gate. As they slowly
rode toward home, the buggy gently swayed back and forth. Joseph
was aware of Edith’s presence next to him.

He studied her for a few moments and finally
said, “I got you up early, didn’t I?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And you didn’t have breakfast or lunch, did
you?”

“Uh-uh.”

“You must be starving.”

When she didn’t answer, he looked at
her.

“You look tired, too.”

He felt her slightly lean against him.

“So, how long did it take to graduate from
nursing school?”

Joseph turned toward her and saw that her
eyes were closed and she was unsteady in her seat, swaying a bit.
Making sure to not lose his passenger, he put his arm around her
and gently pulled her head against his shoulder. She didn’t push
away but relaxed into a semi-conscious state, too exhausted to even
care.

Joseph noticed how he enjoyed the feel of her tucked
under his arm and instinctively squeezed her closer to him. His
attraction to her was gradually growing and he found that he was
thinking of her more often every day. Just the thought of her made
his heart beat more rapidly, and an inner joy that he had never
felt before was worming its way into his heart.

As he thought about it, even the sight of her made
him wish that he could take her in his arms and kiss all that
spunkiness away. This woman, of all women, was having an effect on
him, making him think of marriage, making him want to settle down.
But why? Why was such an independent, spunky woman creating these
thoughts within him?

Joseph watched her sleep against his shoulder and
wondered if she was aware of his presence. He grinned. Well, he was
well enough aware of hers, and he did not want this little journey
to end.

After he reined in the horse, he softly said, “Wake
up, sleepy head. We’re here.”

Edith straightened, blinked a couple times, and
tried to get her bearings. Joseph stepped down from the buggy,
walked around to Edith’s side, and held his hand out to help her
down. She looked unsteady on her feet as she gathered her skirts
together the best she could, and took his hand.

As Edith was stepping down, she lost her footing,
and tripped on her skirts. She fell right into Joseph’s arms. He
pulled her to her feet, but didn’t release her right away. His arms
lingered around her waist, his face next to hers. He smiled as he
felt the softness of her in his arms. But it didn’t last long.
Edith quickly pulled away, her face flushed, and her eyes wide.

When he realized that she was embarrassed, he
quickly joked, “Don’t worry, Edith. You didn’t hurt me one
bit.”

Noticing how gallant he was, she laughed. “That’s
what I get for sleeping on the job.”

Joseph grabbed her bag from the floor of the
buggy and handed it to her. “You’re quite a trooper, Edith.”

Then he turned on his heels and strode toward
his horse. He untied it from the hitching post, put his feet in the
stirrups, and settled into the saddle. He gave a kick to the flanks
and off he sped down the road, hoping his heart would stop
fluttering enough for him to think.

The Cozy J was all abuzz with the new ranch
hands preparing for the cattle drive tomorrow. Gilbert had cooked
up a large pot of stew and had just fed the men an early meal. Then
he showed them the bunkhouse where they would stay for the
night.

Uncle William and Gilbert were seated at the
kitchen table, talking about the cattle drive. Gilbert gave him an
envelope. “Thanks, William. I really appreciate it. Here’s the
train ticket and all the information. After the cattle are sold,
then you know what to do with the money. I’d go with you, but with
Melinda’s condition I don’t want to leave for that long. Her cramps
seem to be less frequent now, but I don’t want to take any chances
in case she needs me.”

William nodded and then stood, stuffing the
envelope in his pocket. “It’s no problem,” he said with a
smile.

“Thanks, William. It’s a day’s drive so
we’ll set up camp somewhere near Montpelier and then head the
steers to the train station the following day. The price for beef
has gone up this year so we should get a good deal.”