From This Day Forward (33 page)

What if he had not been here? What would have happened then? Some of the people were recovering, and he had brought some comfort to others. This was the reason he had become a doctor in the first place.

When he entered John’s bedchamber, his brother-in-law lay sleeping. Nathan put the cup of tea on the table next to the bed. He started to leave, but John opened his eyes and stared at him, no recognition in his gaze at first.

“We cannot let Sarah know,” John said between hiccups. As they increased, he doubled over, holding his stomach.

Nathan dipped a cloth into a basin of water and wiped John’s face and neck. His rag came away with blood on it from his brother-in-law’s right ear. “Drink this.” He sat next to John and held the cup while his friend struggled to sit up enough to sip the liquid.

“She cannot be here.”

Nathan stared into John’s eyes, a faint yellowness in them. “I agree, and you need not worry about that. Concentrate on getting well.”

Another bout of hiccups attacked John. He collapsed back on the bed, having drunk half the tea mixture laced with laudanum. “I thought I was getting better.”

“That happens with yellow fever. You are not to get up until I say so. I want to make sure you are completely well. I have everything under control.”

John’s eyes fluttered closed. He murmured, “Thank you,” then went back to sleep.

Nathan pushed to his feet. Hanging his head, he peered at the floor. He finally trudged to the cot set up in the bedchamber for him and sank down on it.
Everything under control. Anything but that
. He missed Rachel and the children. Five workers had died so far, and twenty were recovering. He had to concentrate on the twenty that were better. If he did not, he would give in to despair.

“I feel so much better. I would like to help in your garden.” Sarah sat on the bed and put her boots on.

“I don’t know. I don’t want you to overdo.”

“It has been four weeks. I need to start doing some work so when I go back to Liberty Hall I can do my duties.” She sighed. “I want to go back now. Receiving a letter from John is not the same as seeing him.”

“At least Moses keeps us informed with what is going on there. I think the worst is over.” Rachel missed Nathan. Moses had told her he was holding up under all the work that had to be done. He also confided to her that John had recently recovered from having yellow fever. She had thought of telling Sarah but then realized her friend would charge over to Liberty Hall to see for herself. The action could endanger her, and Rachel would not be responsible for that.

“I don’t like being away from home this long.”

“It is hard to have loved ones in another place and not know what is going on.” Rachel continually thought of her family in England and wondered what was happening there. She missed them. “Later today Moses is driving me into Charleston to get some supplies we need.” She would also post the letter she had written to her mother. It was time for her to inform them about Faith and what was going on in her life. Her father might have disowned her, but she was sure her mother had not. Talk of home always brought thoughts of England. She scanned her bedchamber and wondered if she would ever consider this place her real home. “Do you need anything in Charleston?”

“No, I expect to be home soon.”

“Take your time coming outside to the garden. I am going to take Faith out with me.” Now that her daughter was getting bigger, Moses had fashioned Rachel a carrier for her back so that she could work and have her child with her.

Rachel strolled into the main room toward the cradle where Faith was. When she neared it, she smiled and said, “Are you ready…?” The rest of the sentence died on her lips as her gaze riveted to a long, slender, orange and reddish-brown snake lying next to Faith, who was still sleeping.

Paralyzed a few feet away, Rachel could not think what to do. The reptile was coiled around itself by Faith’s leg. Was it poisonous? She didn’t know. The ones she had encountered on the farm struck terror in her, but Nathan, Moses, or Ben had been there to take care of them. The long body hadn’t moved since she had appeared. Was it dead?

She took a step closer. It began to uncurl. Now or never. Rachel darted forward and snatched Faith from the cradle then jumped back. She shook so much she was afraid she would drop her baby.

“Sarah, help.” Her voice barely worked and only squeaked.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah came into the room and stopped next to Rachel.

“A snake in the cradle.” Rachel pointed a trembling hand toward it.

Sarah stiffened. “I don’t like snakes.”

“Neither do I. What do we do?”

“Leave and get someone to take care of it.”

“What if it hides somewhere else in here? I don’t think I would sleep at all. It was next to Faith. If she had awakened and tried to roll over…” A shudder rippled down Rachel’s length. “Can you tell if it is poisonous?”

Sarah inched closer, poised to run, and peeked into the cradle. Some of the tension siphoned from her. “ ’Tis a corn snake. I have seen them at Liberty Hall. They are great to keep the rats and mice population down.”

“Well, it can do that outside. Not in my house. Here.” Rachel gave Faith to Sarah then snagged the broom from against the wall.

She crept toward the snake, noticing it was totally uncoiled and its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth. She almost leaped back. This was her house. Her battle. Steeling herself with a deep breath, in one quick motion she flipped the wooden cradle on its side. The snake slithered away from it—toward her. Rachel took the broom and swept the snake outside. She slammed the door then collapsed to the floor, inhaling gulps of air.

I don’t belong here. I don’t belong here
. Those words kept running through her mind.

Trembling, she clutched her arms to her. “It was next to Faith. What if it had been poisonous? What if it had bitten her? What if…” Anger that her baby had been in a dangerous situation mingled with fear that it would happen again. “How can you live here?”

Sarah knelt next to Rachel. “ ’Tis my home.”

“But not mine.” She could not still the quaking. These past few weeks she had gotten a taste of what it would be like when Nathan left to go back to his life. She did not know if the farm was the answer for her future. Could she sell it?

Two days later Rachel returned from Charleston with supplies needed and a letter for Nathan. Moses stopped the cart in front of the house, jumped down, and then assisted Rachel to the ground. She carried in the staples she needed in her basket while Moses took the other supplies to the barn.

She opened the door to the house and a blast of heat hit her in the face. Since the snake incident, she had insisted the door remain shut, which made it hot inside. The place was empty. Where had the children, Sarah, Maddy, and Bella gone? She had not seen them outside. Sometimes they would stay under the live oak, the babies taking a nap, especially if a breeze blew. But they were not there, either.

After putting the basket on the table, she started toward the door. It burst open and the children and women poured into the house, with Nathan and John behind them. Her stomach fluttered at the sight of Nathan after four weeks. He had lost weight. His eyes gleamed as they took her in, but behind the light in them she glimpsed the exhaustion.

When he approached her, her heartbeat raced and her mouth went dry. All she wanted to do was hold him. It was so good to see him again. The fact she had missed him so much scared her more than the snake had the other day. Tom had only died six months ago—not nearly enough time to get over his betrayal of her love. She could not afford to love another—not now, when she had set aside her pride in the letter she posted today and begged her mama to let her come home. She had to think of Faith above all else.

“The children have been filling me in on what has been happening here. Ben said something about a corn snake being in the cradle with Faith.” Nathan stopped a foot away.

So close Rachel could reach out and touch him—if she wanted. But she couldn’t. She needed to start putting up barriers between them. She needed to learn to live without Nathan. “It could have hurt Faith.”

“Probably not. ’Tis not poisonous.”

“I know that now, but at the time I didn’t.” Rachel quaked just thinking about the incident again. “Let’s talk about something nicer. Are you back for good?”

He nodded. “The last case in a week has recovered from the fever.”

“How many died?”

“Seven.”

“I see John is much better.”

Nathan’s eyes grew wide. “You knew?”

“Yes, but I did not tell Sarah. She was not strong enough to go back to the plantation and nurse John to health. Does she know now he was ill?”

“Yes. He told her when he first arrived. She was not pleased that we didn’t notify her.”

Rachel glanced at her friend, who stood next to John, her frown indicating all was not forgiven yet. “I can see.”

“The children had to show me the cow you bought from John. Emma wants to name it. Do you know all the piglets have names?”

“I think living on a farm is not going to agree with Emma. She loves the animals and does not understand some must be killed for food.”

“Then move into town.”

For the first time Rachel replied to the statement Nathan had said many times before, “Perhaps.”

“You are thinking of living in Charleston?”

“We are so close to the swamp. I don’t want a repeat of the snake in Faith’s cradle again. Next time it could be a poisonous one.”

“There are snakes in town too.”

“Not like here. I even talked with Mrs. Bridges about it today when I picked up more sewing.”

“We need to have a party,” Emma announced to the whole group.

“We can’t stay,” John said, trying to take Sarah’s hand. She kept hers folded in front of her. “I am taking Sarah, Sean, and Louise to Charleston. I have neglected my business in town long enough. Moses and Bella can pack up their belongings, and then we are leaving.”

Emma’s shoulders slumped and a pout formed on her mouth. “No party then?”

“We will have one this evening, and you can help me make a cake,” Maddy said to the little girl while Sarah and John retreated into Rachel’s bedchamber.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you.” Rachel rummaged in the basket and pulled the letter out then handed it to Nathan.

Nathan’s forehead scrunched as he broke the wax seal and started reading the note. A frown deepened the lines on his forehead. He wandered toward the front door and disappeared outside.

Who wrote him? Rachel started to follow him but Faith began wailing.

Nathan sat on the ground with his back against the elm tree. He reread his mother’s words for a third time, confirming what he had begun to think after his conversation with Bella at the birth of Louise. “Your father is Edward Worthington. I thought he had died in a skirmish with some Indians along the Canadian border before you were born. He didn’t, but by the time he had returned to Boston, he had heard of my marriage to James Stuart and didn’t seek me out in South Carolina. Jamie married me knowing I was with child. He loved me and wanted to raise you as his own. All was well until Edward wrote to me. I never loved the man who you thought was your father. I could never forget Edward. Jamie was good to me, and we had a good marriage, but my heart was with someone else. When Jamie died he knew that. He said something to his father on his deathbed in his delirium.”