Emma's Journey (13 page)

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning Davis was awakened by the sound of Emma again vomiting outside the wagon. After a few minutes of the sound of her swishing water in her mouth, then spitting it out, she crept back into the wagon.

“Darlin’, when do you plan to tell me?” Davis rolled over, propped himself up on one elbow, and looked at her pale face.

She placed both hands over her stomach and glanced nervously in his direction. “Um, what do you mean?”

“You’ve been taking these treks outside the wagon every morning for over a week. If you don’t know what that means, I’ll be glad to enlighten you.” He hauled her to his chest, inhaling deeply of her rose-scented hair.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed back to regard him. “Oh, look at you smiling like a strutting rooster.” Her face lit up. “I just couldn’t believe it. Dr. Bennett said I’ll probably give birth a few months after we reach Oregon. Since nothing had happened after my months with Peter, I thought maybe there was something wrong with me.”

He smoothed back the curls from her face. “Sometimes it’s the rooster and not the hen, you know.”

Emma grabbed the pillow and swatted him with it. “You and your rooster. Stop smiling like that.” She averted her eyes. “I was worried you might not be too happy. I have no idea how you feel about children.” Her troubled gaze met his.

“Sweetheart, children are the result of what we’ve been doing a whole lot of.” He grinned as a deep blush spread from her neck to her hairline. He was tempted to pull the nightgown out to see if the blush went all the way down to. . .

“I’m scared, though.” She reached for her dress. “I don’t know anything about Oregon, I don’t know any people there, and my parents are so far away.”

“You’ll be fine. Women have babies every day, and not all of them have their mamas with them.”

She knelt alongside him. “If I was back in Indiana, my mama. . .”

“You’re not in Indiana, Emma,” he snapped. “And I’m tired of discussing that place.” His stomach clenching, he jumped up, grabbed his pants, and struggled into them before stalking from the wagon.

Indiana.
He sluiced water over his face and mumbled to himself. The woman’s brain was stuck on that accursed place. How Peter Thorpe managed to drag her away from her parents to begin with baffled him. In many ways Emma was a capable, intelligent woman. In other ways she was a little girl. The letter she’d sent still troubled him. And why was Corporal Nathan Hale traveling with them? That was another thorn in his side. Not that he was jealous, he assured himself, just looking out for his own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next couple of weeks passed with monotonous regularity. Emma continued to visit the bushes in the morning, and found it necessary to take a nap every afternoon. She saw quite a bit of Nate, but their relationship was simply a nod and “good morning.” That was fine with her. She liked Nate, always had, but lately the looks he threw her made her decidedly uncomfortable. Also, Davis tensed up when she was around Nate, so keeping her distance was best.

She knew it couldn’t be jealousy because she and Davis didn’t have that kind of a relationship. She was fond of Davis, enjoyed his company, and no doubt could depend on him. But she still loved Peter.

With a jolt she realized she hadn’t thought of Peter in a while. What did that mean? Then again, she had other things to occupy her mind. Smiling, she put her hands over her stomach in the age-old way of expectant mothers. A baby! She couldn’t believe it.

“Help! Get the doctor.” The sound of running and shouting pulled Emma from her thoughts. Crowds of people gathered in a circle, staring down at something. She hurried over to where Nate lay on the ground, blood pouring from what appeared to be a gunshot wound in his side.

Strong hands jostled her aside as Dr. Bennett worked his way through the crowd. “Stand aside, everyone, give me room to work.” He quickly bent and examined the soldier. Sweat poured from his pale face as he gulped air. Emma hoped the bullet hadn’t punctured his lung.

“One of you women start heating water, and bring me all the clean cloths you can gather.” He glanced around and spotted Emma in the crowd.

“Miz Cooper, we need a place to work on Corporal Hale. Can we transport him to your wagon? It’s the closest.” Without waiting for confirmation, he moved to get up. “Some of you men carry him carefully into the Cooper wagon.”

Confusion reigned as several men tried to move Nate. The pool of blood left on the ground after the men picked him up turned Emma’s already sensitive stomach. Dr. Bennett had placed a cloth over the wound to absorb some of the blood as they walked. By the time Nate reached the wagon, he’d passed out.

Taking off his jacket, and rolling up his sleeves, the doctor turned to Emma. “Ma’am, do you have a pair of scissors handy?”

Emma reached into one of her boxes and fumbled around until she produced the scissors.

“You’re going to have to cut his jacket and shirt off, Emma, so I can get a good look at this.” The doctor returned his attention to the patient.

Emma’s vision blurred and she kept swallowing as her stomach rebelled at the sight of the blood and gaping hole in Nate’s side.

“Woman, get busy with those scissors, so I can work on this man!” Dr. Bennett shouted over his shoulder as he pulled things from his bag.

Emma shook her head, knelt, and began cutting. About halfway through, she gave out a small moan and passed out on top of an unconscious Nate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“For God’s sake, is there anyone here who can help me with this soldier?” Dr. Bennett shouted. “Get this woman out of here and get me someone who can stay on her feet.”

Davis strode up in time to see his wife collapse on top of Nate and hear the doctor’s words. He scooted into the wagon, picked her up and carried her outside. Abigail Preston joined Dr. Bennett in Emma’s place.

“What happened here?” Davis asked one of the bystanders.

“It looks like Corporal Hale got hisself shot. Dr. Bennett wanted Emma to help him, but she passed out. I guess all that blood got to her.”

Davis laid Emma down and began softly tapping her cheek. “Get me some water, somebody, please.” He opened the top buttons of her dress and continued trying to revive her. Emma’s lashes fluttered open, confusion clearly plain on her face.

“What happened? Why am I lying on the ground?” She struggled to get up.

“Here, darlin’, drink some of this water. You passed out.” He put his arm under her shoulders and lifted her up so she could drink. “It looks like Corporal Moron got himself shot up. I don’t know any more than that. But when Dr. Bennett asked you to help, you up and fainted dead away.” Grinning, he leaned down and said quietly in her ear, “I’m sure your ‘condition’ had something to do with that.”

“Shh.” Emma glanced around, going from pale white to bright red in seconds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometime later, Dr. Bennett climbed out of the wagon, rolling his sleeves back down. His gaze swept the area, then he strode over to Davis and Emma. “Are you feelin’ better, Miz Cooper?” Squatting down alongside her, he tilted her face up and looked in her eyes.

“Yes, I’m fine now, Dr. Bennett. I’m so sorry I passed out in there before.”

“No matter, ma’am, I’m sorry I was so rough on you, but the man was losing blood fast. I guess I should have asked someone not in a family way to help.” He chuckled and stood up, shrugging on his jacket. “Davis, I’m going to need to leave Corporal Hale in your wagon for a bit, will that be a problem?”

“As a matter of fact, Dr. Bennett, that indeed might be a problem. Why does he need to stay in my wagon?” He tried to hang onto his temper as he glared at the doctor.

“Because he can’t be moved just yet. And he’ll need a few days, or a week even, before he can sit a horse again. That hole needs to heal a bit.” He shook his head, mirth dancing in his eyes. “Some of these soldiers are their own worst enemy.”

“What happened back there?” Davis nodded in the direction of the soldier’s tent, still irritated over having to play host to his nemesis.

“Corporal Stevens was cleaning his gun and it went off, right into Corporal Hale’s chest. You’d think the army would have trained their soldiers better than that. Hale is damn lucky he didn’t get himself killed.” He glanced briefly at Emma. “Pardon my language, ma’am.”

Abigail came out of the wagon clutching Dr. Bennett’s medical bag. As she walked up to them, Dr. Bennett placed his hands on his hips and spoke to Davis. “So, what do you say, Cooper, can Hale stay with you for a few days?”

“I don’t like Emma having the extra work right now, but if he can’t be moved, then I guess we don’t have a choice, do we?”

Abigail smiled at Emma, most likely guessing why he’d mentioned his reluctance for her to have extra work. Emma briefly touched her stomach.

“All right, then it’s settled. Miz Cooper, do you think you can nurse him without passing out on us again?” He patted her on the shoulder.

“Yes, Dr. Bennett, I can do that. It was just the heat, and all that blood, and, well, you know.” She finished lamely.

“Yes, ma’am, I know. I think you’ll be fine. Maybe if you need to, you can get one of the other women to change his bandages each day. Come walk with me and I’ll let you know what you need to do for Corporal Hale.”

Davis scowled as they both walked off. He glanced at his wagon, and shaking his head at fate, stalked off to get the animals to hitch up to the wagon for the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starting out later than usual due to the wounding of Corporal Hale, the wagons skipped the noon break and went straight through to five o’clock before they stopped for the day. Emma was hot and sweaty and more than ready to collapse. She spent the day crawling back and forth from the front seat of the wagon to where Nate fitfully slept. She put cold cloths on his head, and gave him sips of water. He had been feverish all day.

The wagons circled for the night, and darkness covered the group as they readied for bed. Campfires had burned down, and children tucked in. Emma hurried from the nearby bushes where she’d changed out of her dress and into her nightgown. Caring for Nate in her wagon was going to be a problem. When she had been nursing Davis, she had washed and dressed in Sarah’s wagon. It looked like she was going to have to return to that routine for a few days.

Davis knelt under the wagon, spreading their bedroll. Drops of water fell from his freshly washed hair. Emma scooted underneath, and after stepping away to remove his pants, Davis joined her. As soon as they settled in, he reached for her. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her deeply, moving his tongue teasingly over her lips until she opened her mouth. Emma was soon lost in the feelings running through her. Her heart beat faster, and she ran her hands over Davis’s back, her fingers kneading the ripple of strong muscles.

“Davis, no!” Emma suddenly shoved him away.

Dazed, he looked at her. “What−why?” He shook his head as if clearing it.

“Nate.” Emma motioned with her head toward the underside of the wagon.

“Nate, what?” Davis asked.

“Nate’s up there. He can hear everything we do.” She smoothed her hair back, and straightened her nightgown, like a frightened virginal schoolmarm.

“He can’t hear anything. We’re down here, he’s up there, and there’s a wooden floor between us. Now stop being silly and come back here.” He reached for her again.

Emma moved backwards, holding the neckline of her nightgown in a bunch. “I can’t. I feel too funny. Please?”

Davis groaned and lowered his head into his hands. “Emma, you’re killin’ me here.” He sighed and looked into her face, his expression softening. “Honey, you’re my wife. I won’t force myself on you.” He slanted her a look. “Can I try to change your mind?”

She shook her head.

He dragged his hand down his face. “All right, I can deal with it.”

Pulling her to him, they lay down, Davis on his back, with Emma cuddled in the space between his arm and shoulder.

”But that arrogant soldier better heal himself fast,” Davis said as he got comfortable. “He’s been sticking in my craw since I first set eyes on him in Fort Laramie.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t long before he felt the steady breathing of his sleeping wife, her warm soft breasts pushed up against his ribs. He inhaled the sweet scent of her body. That was a mistake. His manhood took notice and complained. Maybe he should take a walk and plunge himself into the cold creek. Or instead, get his gun and shoot Corporal Nathan Hale, this time where it counted, and be done with it.

His thoughts wandered to Emma’s condition. Her body already showed changes that he’d noticed. The weight of her breasts and the small swelling in her stomach warmed him. His plans were starting to fall into place. He had money in his pocket to start his horse ranch. He had a wife who satisfied him in all ways.

The one hitch in his intentions was his wife’s desire to return to Indiana. Even though she hadn’t mentioned it in a while, he didn’t fool himself into believing she’d given up. He sighed and glanced upward. The soldier lying above him would be only too happy to snatch her away from him.