Flora stiffened as she wakened. What had disturbed her sleep? Had she called out from another dream? Or had someone rattled the door? She strained into the silent darkness to hear the sound repeated.
“The wind has gone down,” she whispered.
Kade’s voice came from the other room. “The storm is over but it’s several hours until light. Go back to sleep.”
“Yes, sir.”
Her briskness earned her a chuckle and she grinned as she turned over. She wakened some time later to the sound of wood being put into the stove. It was still dark though she detected a grayness at the window that indicated dawn.
Kade lit a lamp and Flora hurried to the stove to get warm.
“It’s clear out.” He smiled down at her.
“I’ll be able to get back home today.” It wasn’t unbridled joy that filled her. “Today I will face Pa and have to explain where I spent the last two days.” They looked at each other, silently acknowledging their lives were about to change drastically if she couldn’t make her father believe something other than that she had spent two nights with a man she wasn’t married to.
With a mixture of sober thought and joyful anticipation, she pulled a saucepan from the cupboard. “You want oatmeal porridge for breakfast?”
“I’m having chocolate cake.” He took the pot from her and returned it to the cupboard. “And so are you.”
She grinned at him. “I fear I have been a bad influence on you.”
He gave a playful jab of his fist to her chin. “It’s been an unforgettable couple of days. First, a feisty redheaded woman bangs on my door. Then I beat her at checkers—”
She crossed her arms and pretended to be dismayed. “Don’t rub it in.”
“Then a crazy man barges into the house.”
A shudder crossed her shoulders. “He called himself Eagle Pete and said he could track anything.”
“Let’s hope he’s made tracks so far south we never hear from him again.” Kade caught her shoulder. “Please don’t give him an opportunity to catch you unawares.” His eyes were dark, full of concern, and she was almost ready to promise him anything he asked.
But he laughed. “And I learned to make a chocolate cake. I’d say it’s been a good two days.”
He said it with a hefty dose of approval that made Flora’s insides glow.
The coffee she’d put to brew boiled, and she grabbed it with her hand wrapped in a towel. She filled two cups as Kade served generous portions of cake, accompanied her to the table, and sat across from her.
“Breakfast is served.” The idea of this being breakfast struck her as so odd that she laughed.
He leaned back. “I have to say, cake and coffee make a fine breakfast.”
She quirked her eyebrows. “Even if unconventional?”
“Yup. And don’t point out how some rules—like cake isn’t for breakfast—are silly.”
Did he agree that many other man-made rules were unnecessary?
He must have read her mind, for he sat forward and tapped her fingers. “You’ve taught me a lot.”
She didn’t ask him to elaborate. It was enough that he’d learned from her.
Pink filled the window and they stood to watch the sunrise.
“The snow is deep,” Kade observed.
“I’ll take my time.” She might have to lead Dollar if his foot was still tender.
They lingered at the window a few more minutes and then turned their attention to cleaning the kitchen.
“I’ll take that,” he said, when she looked for a place to put the little bit of cake that was left. “I’ll have it with coffee later.”
“You’ll have your house back to yourself.” She wondered if he would miss her company.
“It will be quiet.” A beat of silence in which she tried to decide if he meant that was a good thing or not. “Too quiet.” His voice was so low she wondered if she imagined his words. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes.
At the way he studied her, she faced him full on. “You saying you’ll miss my company?”
“Guess I am.” He grinned. “I enjoyed playing checkers and talking.”
“Maybe I’ll visit again.” She meant to be teasing, but a huge part of her wished she could. Seeing the protest building in his eyes, she held up her hand. “I know. It wouldn’t be proper, and goodness knows, we should be proper.” She gave a little sniff. “Though I have to ask, how proper is it to eat cake for breakfast?”
When he laughed, she relaxed. No need for him to think she was serious about wanting to visit again.
The dishes were washed and put away. He pulled on his heavy outerwear. She did the same, stopping for one last look around the room before she stepped out into the snow and followed him as he shoveled a path to the barn.
It gave her plenty of time to study her surroundings. The barn was medium-sized and solid red except for white trim at the windows and door. Several smaller buildings created a chain from the house to the barn. Like he said, he’d planned the layout for maximum safety and security through all sorts of weather.
She studied the opening between each building for fear Eagle Pete would jump out. She would have crowded closer to Kade’s back except she didn’t wish to have his elbow in her face as he scooped aside the snow.
They reached the barn and she hung back until Kade went inside.
He turned and saw her hesitation. “You think that man might have hung around?”
“I don’t aim to walk into him if I can avoid it.”
“I’m sure he’s gone, but I’ll have a good look if it will make you feel better.” He walked down the alleyway, looking into each pen, and returned. “Nothing here but you, me, and a couple of horses.”
“Good. I know I’m being unreasonably fearful, but that man was loathsome.”
“You’re wise to be careful where someone like him is concerned.”
She waited, expecting a lecture on the risks she’d taken that had led her to this situation. But he started saddling his horse without further comment. Nice of him.
“I can make it to town on my own,” she said, even though she welcomed his company. Eagle Pete would hesitate to accost her if Kade rode with her, but she didn’t want to put Kade out.
“I expect you could, but I don’t intend to leave you until we’re in sight of Glory. Then I’ll hang back so no one will see me and jump to the conclusion that we…well. You know.”
“Yeah. I know. Today will be reckoning day with Pa. I won’t lie, but he doesn’t need to know every detail.” She went to Dollar and checked his hoof, then led him up and down the alleyway. “His foot seems healed but I’ll have to take it easy.”
She retrieved the saddle blanket and saddle and got Dollar ready to ride while Kade did the same with his big mostly black horse.
“Nice strong-looking animal,” she said.
Kade pulled his horse toward her. “Flora, I’d like you to meet Blaze.”
She chuckled. “Could it be that you named him that because of the white blaze on his head?”
“A white blaze? You’re certain?” Kade pretended surprise and came round to stare at his horse. He grinned at Flora and they both laughed.
Leading their horses, they left the barn. Kade paused to close the doors then swung into the saddle.
She swung to Dollar’s back, sighed her pleasure, and looked around the place again. “Nice set of corrals,” she said, taking in the solid pen with the sturdy post in the center. “See you plan to train horses.”
He kept his attention on the snow-covered path. “I’ll break trail. It will be easier on your horse if you follow.” They set out. “Yes, I plan to break and sell horses.”
The snow near the buildings was piled into knee-deep drifts. But in a few minutes, they reached a windswept area that made riding easier. She edged her mount closer.
“I broke Dollar.” She patted her horse’s neck so Kade would understand who she meant. “Pa bought him from a farmer who had lost most everything. Called him a pity buy because he was unbroken and bad tempered. Pa meant to sell him again but no one wanted him. I started working with him. Gentle and slow. And now look at him. Pa sort of gave him to me.”
Kade turned. “Sort of?”
She grinned. “When he said he was selling him, I cried so hard that Pa said we’d keep him. Pa has his own horse, so mostly Dollar is mine.”
“Mostly yours, huh?”
“Yup.” With a satisfied smile she looked about. The sun was bright and brittle. The snow a thousand flashing pinpricks of light.
A house lay to her right, off the road enough she couldn’t see any signs of activity. “Who lives there?”
Kade had reined up to look at the place. “The widow Norwood. Her husband died a year or so ago and she’s been hanging on to the homestead. I guess she has no other place to go.”
Flora had heard about the unfortunate woman. Pa had ridden out with food and clothing on several occasions and expressed his concern for her situation.
“Doesn’t she have two little children?”
“She does. I check on her from time to time. I wonder how she fared through the storm.”
They continued to watch the place. Flora wasn’t comfortable thinking of the woman alone with her little ones. “There isn’t any sign of smoke. We better ride in on them.”
Together they turned aside. Flora fell back, letting Kade break a trail through the deeper snow. So he’d been visiting the Widow Norwood, had he? She tried to remember what Pa said about her. Seems she was fairly young. Perhaps Kade had an interest in her. She could provide him with a ready-made family. Just what he needed.
She pushed aside her thoughts as they approached the house and dismounted. “It doesn’t feel right to me. No one has been out since it stopped snowing.”
“Perhaps she laid in a good store.”
“You sound doubtful.”
“Or she could have moved into town like people have been telling her to.”
“One way to find out.” Flora took a step forward then hesitated. “Maybe you should go first. They’ll know you better.”
“Me? I’ve barely spoken to the woman. I only check to make sure she has a supply of wood on hand and the pump is working. You’re a woman, you go first.”
They stood side by side at the door. Flora knocked. And waited. They both bent an ear to the door and listened. Not a sound.
Flora straightened. “I guess it’s like you said. They’ve gone elsewhere.” But she couldn’t leave without checking. She tried the handle. It turned easily and the door opened. She shivered and hung back as a rancid smell greeted her. Soiled baby diapers or spilled slop pail. The house was cold.
Kade eased by her and she followed. “Oh no.” A cot had been pulled close to the stove though the fire had long ago gone out. On the cot lay a woman with two children clutched to her side. Their eyes were closed. “They look—”
She couldn’t finish but forced herself to draw closer. From years of helping Ma take care of the ill, injured, and deceased, she knew what to do. She touched each cheek. Cold. But then, the room was like the pit of winter. The widow’s eyelids fluttered.
“I prayed help would come.” Her whisper was barely audible. “My babies?” She tried to lift her head but lacked the strength.
Kade was at Flora’s side. “Keep them covered while I get the fire going.” He soon had the stove filled with blazing wood and hurried out to get water.
The little girl whimpered. The boy hadn’t stirred. She took them to be about three and five respectively. She shook the boy gently, relieved when he protested. Her eyes stung to see their condition but there was no time to dwell on it. They had to be cared for.
“We need lots of hot water,” she told Kade.
“I’ve got some heating already. What else?”
“Tea, something to make a broth with.”
He opened cupboards, sending her a shocked look at how bare they were.
“We’ll make do with what we can find.” She offered them water to drink, relieved that they all took some.
Next was tending to their bodies. She couldn’t manage all three at once. The little girl was likely the most vulnerable. She wrapped the boy in a blanket and Kade held him as she turned her attention to the younger child.
She took off the soiled clothing and tossed it into a corner to deal with later and gently sponged her clean. She had sores on her bottom that would heal with proper care.
Widow Norwood watched with eyes full of sorrow. “I did the best I could.”
“I know. How long have you been sick?”
“I don’t know.”
Flora knew from the odor that the woman had vomited. She guessed the children had suffered from the grippe too, and with no one to tend to them, they had grown weak and unable to help themselves.
The little one was clean. “I’m going to get something for her to wear.”
The widow’s gaze went to the door past the kitchen and Flora hurried to the small bedroom and searched the drawers. They had so little that it made Flora’s insides ache. She found a woolen dress for the little girl and recognized it as one Ma had sewn out of an old garment given to them. With stockings and a sweater, the child would be warm. She found clothing for the boy and the mother, and returned to the kitchen. She dressed the girl and then gave her to Kade to hold. The little one’s eyes widened at being plunked on this stranger’s knees.
Flora bent over. “He’s a good man. He won’t hurt you. Rest here while I take care of your brother and your mother.”
Flora looked into Kade’s eyes and saw the same determination she felt. They would do everything in their power to help this small family. He gave a little smile that went a long way to easing her concern.
The boy wasn’t as cooperative as his sister. He curled into a ball and resisted her as she removed his soiled clothing.
“Donny, let the lady help you,” the mother said in a voice so weak it might have been a summer wind passing through the house.
Donny whined and continued to fight her, but Flora gently washed him and dressed him, all the time talking. “You’re okay. You’re safe. We’re going to help you.” As she spoke, she realized she used the same words Ma had used to comfort her when she had come to the Kinsley family.
The children were cleaned and looking a little more alert.
“Now for mama,” Flora said.
“Please feed my babies first.”
Flora looked at Kade, silently begging him for a way to feed them.
“Cellar,” Widow Norwood said.
Flora looked around and saw the trap door by the table.
Kade saw it too. “I’ll go down.” He set the girl on the chair, wrapped her in a blanket.
They all watched as he lifted the door and disappeared under the house. A light flared and she guessed he’d found a candle down there. “Got a few things.” He reemerged and held up a pint of bottled meat, three limp carrots, and two small potatoes.
Flora almost cheered. “We’ll get some soup into all three of you soon, and before long you’ll be feeling better.”
While she poured the meat into a large pot and added water to create a thin broth, Kade peeled the potatoes and carrots.
“They should be shredded,” Flora said. But a search of the cupboards didn’t reveal a shredder of any sort.
“I’ll scrape them.” Kade took the sharp knife and did so.
The mixture came to a boil and she let it simmer. “Mrs. Norwood, I need to clean you up, but I can’t provide the privacy I know you will want.”
“I’ll fix that.” Kade arranged the chairs in a line and hung blankets over them. “I’ll keep the children over there.” He pointed to the far corner and took the last chair there. He sat with his back to the women, gently bouncing the children on his knees. Neither child had the energy to protest or struggle.
Flora smiled at the sweet picture the three of them made then turned her attention to the sick woman. She was all bones and loose flesh as if she’d been sick some time. Or perhaps she had starved herself so the children had enough to eat. Flora clamped her teeth together. Just as soon as the widow was strong enough to move, Flora would see she got into town and was properly looked after.
By the time she had the woman in a clean garment and fresh bedding on the bed, the soup was ready. She dipped off some of the broth and diluted it for the children. Kade returned to the kitchen area and the five of them clustered close to the stove.
Flora held the cup of broth for the little girl. “What’s her name?” she asked the mother.
“Blossom.”
That brought a smile to Flora’s lips. It was a perfect name for a child with golden blond hair and dark blue eyes.
Meanwhile, Kade held the cup for Donny and he drank the broth, his dark eyes guarded at these strangers taking over his home. The boy was like his mother with brown hair and brown eyes.
As soon as Blossom finished, Flora helped the mother lift her head and held a cup to her lips. She took three swallows, then fell back exhausted.
The children, too, were weary and climbed up beside their mama.
Flora covered them, then signaled Kade to follow her to the far corner. “They are very weak. I don’t know…” She shook her head.
Kade squeezed her shoulder. “We will do all we can to help and pray that God will see fit to bring them back to health and strength.”
She nodded, fighting an urge to lean against his chest. “I can’t help thinking this is so much like what I went through. I was older than Blossom but younger than Donny when my mother died in rather similar circumstances. I don’t remember it much, but Eve certainly does. She says our mama died and we were all alone, hungry and afraid until neighbors found us and took us to the Kinsleys’.” Shivers raced through her.
Kade caught her shoulders and turned her so he could look into her eyes. “Like your ma said, you’re safe now.”
She nodded. “I know, but sometimes I feel afraid and I don’t even know why.”
He dipped his head to touch her forehead.
She drank in the strength and comfort his presence offered. “I’m so glad you’re with me. I don’t know if I could handle this alone.”
“You could. I think you can handle whatever crosses your path.”
She gave a little laugh. “Maybe not an angry skunk.”
They both laughed, and stepped apart.
“What do we need to do?” he asked.
“Give them fluids and small amounts of weakened broth until we’re sure their stomachs can handle it.”
“Should we waken them?”
Flora tried to think how Ma would handle this situation. “Let them rest for an hour, then we’ll give them something.”
He pulled two chairs into the corner and they sat together, talking softly as the minutes passed. He didn’t suggest leaving, and she was grateful. She didn’t know where her fear came from; she only knew it wasn’t as gripping when he was near.