Two hours later, I knocked on the nurse’s door. No answer. Again, I gave several thumps and waited, trying to peek inside the curtained windows. Likely, she was off tending to sick folk. And when I checked over at Doc’s, I didn’t get an answer there either.
Resigned, I climbed atop Junia and hurried back to Retta. When I rode into the yard, I was surprised to see the cabin dark and the clay chimney smokeless.
After I put Junia in her stall, I rushed inside. The room was cold, and I called out for Retta as I lit a lantern and slipped out of my gloves and coat.
Retta rasped back, and I rushed over to her bed. “Retta,” I said, peering down at her, feeling her forehead and cheeks. She looked pale.
“Did you fetch the doc, child?” she asked weakly, pulling the covers closer to her chin.
“I couldn’t find anyone, but I will, Retta. First, I need to get you warm.” I put my coat back on, went out to the well, and pumped water into a bucket. Once I had it safely inside, I gathered kindling from the porch. Lighting the stove, I asked Retta if she’d had anything to eat. Her silence told me she hadn’t, and I looked for any dirty dishes that might’ve said otherwise. The sink was spotless.
I filled the kettle, then pulled out the cold bedpig from under her covers.
“I’ll have you warm in a minute, Retta,” I whispered. “I want you to drink some hot tea before I go. Then I’ll take the lantern to town and try to get hold of Doc, unless you want me to go for the granny woman, Emma McCain?”
“No, child,” she said tiredly. “These ol’ bones is needing more than the herbs and tonics, I fear.”
“I’ll go straight back out, Retta, as soon as I get you settled in.”
Pulling the chair across the room, I sat down and helped her with the cup. She took a sip and I urged her to drink more.
When I had her bedpig warmed, I slipped it back under the covers, then took the quilt from my bed and laid it atop of hers. “I’ll be back, Retta, as soon I can.” I kissed her cheek.
***
Junia seemed to sense the urgency and sped on the paths. The winds chafed my face as the lantern light danced across dark woods and any slinking night critters.
“Hurry,” I urged Junia. “Hurry!”
It took two hours to get to Doc’s. I tied Junia to the white picket fence outside the yard, extinguished my lantern, and raced up the wide porch steps. “Doc,” I called out banging on the door. “Doc, it’s me Honey Lovett.”
In a minute, the porch lights on his big house came on and the door swung open.
It was Millie, Doc’s second wife, and the Swedish woman looked none too pleased as she tied the belt on her fluffy robe.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I need Doc. Need him to tend to Loretta Ad—”
She shook her head. “Doc ?r inte h?r, han ?r i Natti.”
“I got money.” I pulled out the bills I was going to give the nurse.
She pushed my arm away. “Natti.”
“Natti?” I puzzled. “Natti what—？”
“Natti!” the woman shouted, and I jumped back. “G? och se gr?ns sk?terskorna som rider p? h?st. H?st!” She pointed beyond my head. “L?kare i Natti.”
“Natti?” I stretched my neck, looking past her, inside the house. “Doc,” I called out. “It’s me, Honey Lovett. Loretta Adams’s taken to the bed and—”
Millie snorted, then grabbed something off the table in the hall beside her. She stepped over the threshold and shoved a matchbook into my hand. “Natti.” She scowled.