Heaven Made (11 page)

"I’m sure I wrote that formula down here somewhere."
Ford went over to one of the many shelves in the room and started pulling down
jars filled with what looked like plants and mushrooms. And one with something
fuzzy in it, like mold.

He handed her one of the jars. "Here, hold that."
He then went over to the array of tubes and lit a flame under some liquid. "Can
you open these three jars and I’ll be right back."

Sabrina obeyed and watched as he went back to his desk and
found the piece of paper he was searching for. He looked it over once more then
handed it to her.

"Read from that list, exactly as I’ve written it. Don’t
skip anything or add anything. Do you understand?" He paused from
arranging tubes and bottles to look directly at her.

"Will this save Alice?" Sabrina couldn’t help
asking, neither could she prevent the tremor in her voice. He was scaring her with
all his rushing around.

Ford cursed under his breath and took one long stride toward
her, pulling her into his arms and crushing her in his embrace. He ran his
hands over her back, making soothing noises as he held her close.

"I’m sorry, Sabrina." He said the words low and
near her ear. His warm breath was as comforting as was the strength of his long
lean body close to hers. "I’ve never done this before. Treated a human, a
little girl. Bloody hell, I don’t even know if humans function the same way as
mice do. All the books say they do. Dr. Chan says he’s had great success with
mice. But no one’s ever tried this before."

Sabrina nodded into his shoulder, managing to hold in her
tears. But she couldn’t hide the trembling that had suddenly overtaken her. She
couldn’t lie to herself either and say it was strictly because she was worried
about Alice. No, this trembling was only part Alice, and a measure of it her
reaction to being in Ford Northcliffe’s strong and steady arms.

She pushed herself back, away from him, so that her hands
where resting on his broad chest. She lifted her chin to gaze up into those
golden eyes and she could see sympathy in the look he returned.

"I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about Alice. I was
going to, just as soon as—"

"Just as soon as the house was running seamlessly and I
couldn’t live without you," Ford said with that half grin that curled her
toes. "I understand. A woman with a child is much harder to employ. But
we’ll discuss your position later, after we figure out how to get little Alice
up and running down the halls again. You know, I thought she was my sister’s
ghost when I first saw her? Crazy, I know. I don’t even believe in that kind of
thing."

Ford released his hold on Sabrina and turned back to his
experiments.

"What is it with Alice and ghosts?" Sabrina
mumbled to herself, hoping Ford hadn’t heard her.

Thankfully, he was too busy gathering items from his vast
supplies and placing them on the workbench.

"I think that’s everything," he said, taking off
his coat and rubbing his hands together. "Let’s get started. No time to
waste. Remember, start at the top and leave nothing out."

Sabrina nodded and began reading from the list. There were
things on it she could barely pronounce. And once, when it just seemed like too
much for her, she nearly broke down.

"I know you would rather be upstairs with Alice,"
Ford said crumbling an exotic looking plant into the bubbling liquid. "But
I want you to know how to do this. Just in case I’m not around next time."

"Next time?" Sabrina asked, really panicking now. "Why
would there be a next time? And why wouldn’t you be here?"

Ford stopped and glanced at her. "I don’t know why I
said that. I had a strange feeling. It was almost as if I heard my mother’s
voice in my head saying that. Isn’t that odd? Since she died, I haven’t once
recalled her voice." He shrugged his shoulders and went back to work. "Must
have been something she said to me when Piper was sick and she was nursing her.
Why else would I think of it now?"

Sabrina nodded, accepting his explanation without question.
She’d had enough of spirits and spooks from Alice and Cassie these past few
weeks, and the last thing she needed was for her employer to start talking
nonsense too.

But still, she also felt compelled to follow the cryptic
instructions as she watched his every move and made a concentrated effort to
remember everything she saw. Just in case. She moved closer to Ford’s side and
leaned in to watch when he added something with a delicate touch. From time to
time their arms touched and their hands brushed against each other. All Sabrina
could think was how good it felt to be working next to him, how right. It was
comfortable and yet exciting too. She was completely at ease with him, but also
on edge. But it was the kind of edge that made her feel more alive and more
attractive and even desired. It was just a feeling though, and Sabrina had to
be careful not to let her emotions show. This was, after all, a job. And
although she was wondering what if would be like to kiss Ford, she couldn’t
actually allow that to happen. Besides, they were here trying to cure Alice,
not at a party flirting. Where had her head been?

Sabrina flushed with guilt. How could she have forgotten,
even for a moment, what their purpose in all this was? She pushed away from the
table and moved to the other side to observe.

"Anything else?" Ford was asking her a question.

"What?" she asked, embarrassed she hadn’t been
paying attention.

"On the list? Is there anything else?"

She looked down at the paper, mostly to avoid eye contact.
Ford was a man who saw beyond the obvious.

"No, that’s the last item. Is it done?"

"Almost, it just needs to cook for an hour or so and
then it will need to cool down." He watched her as she put even more
distance between them. "Then we’ll mix it with some sugar."

"Sugar?" Sabrina asked, checking both sides of the
paper twice. "That’s not on the list."

"No," Ford said with a nervous laugh. "It
tastes awful though. Alice would just spit it out if we gave it to her like
this."

He is so kind and thoughtful, Sabrina thought, feeling her
heart melt a little that he was doing this for Alice, and her. She suddenly
realized how difficult this was for him. He had lost his own sister to this
terrible sickness, and it had been nearly paralyzing for him to think another
little girl might die, still might die, regardless of what he did.

Sabrina couldn’t hold her emotions in any longer and she let
out a sob. She would have fallen to the floor if Ford hadn’t quickly moved
around the table and caught her up in his arms. Gently, he set her down on a
sofa that was situated in the corner, presumably where he slept when he
couldn’t make it back to his own bed at night. He sat down with her and held
her close until her tears finally abated. It felt so good, leaning on someone
else, letting someone else take control of the situation. She had spent the
last five or six years being the one in charge. Running the household, doing
what she could to keep the business going while Edward had been preoccupied
with his drinking and gambling.

Giving over all the responsibility of being the adult in the
relationship felt wonderful. And being held in Ford’s arms, against his strong,
broad chest, felt wonderful too. More than that it felt safe. For the first
since Edward had died, nearly two years ago, Sabrina felt protected.

"Better?" Ford asked, his voice rumbling through
her comfortingly.

She nodded her head, bumping his chin as she did. "Yes,
thank you," she said, wiping her face with the handkerchief he slipped
into her hand.

"You go back upstairs and look after Alice. Try to get
her to drink some water, broth too. She mustn’t get dehydrated. Also, keep a
cool cloth on her forehead to help bring the fever down. Have Roland bring the
tub up and get Mrs. Dixon to get as much ice as she can find. If the fever
persists we’ll need to put her in an ice bath." Ford pulled her to her feet
and pushed her out the door. "We’re going to do everything we can. I
promise."

"Thank you," Sabrina said, stopping and turning
back to Ford. She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Whatever
happens, thank you."

She made her way back up the three flights of stairs and
found both Mrs. Dixon and Mr. Roland sitting by Alice’s bedside. Sabrina
quickly relayed to the two servants what Ford wanted them to do until his
elixir cooled and was ready for Alice to take.

They both hurried off immediately, eager to do what they
could for the young girl. Sabrina felt blessed to be in a household with such
kind people. She shuddered to think what might have happened if Alice had
gotten sick back at the boarding house. Not that their landlady had been
unkind, but she’d hardly had the means to help a widow and child with no source
of income.

"Papa, Papa," Alice moaned in her fever induced
sleep. "Mrs. Northcliffe, you can help too."

That was odd. It had sounded like Alice said Mrs., not Mr.
Northcliffe. What was the child dreaming of? And of course she was talking to
her father again. At least this time she wasn’t insisting he was a ghost. It
was perfectly normal for her to call out to him when she was delirious.

Sabrina held her daughter’s small, clammy hand and whispered
soothing words into her tiny, shell-like ear. She was so small in that huge
bed. So helpless. Sabrina prayed that Ford’s potion would do some good.

"Mama is right here," she said, over and over
again until Alice settled back down. Her breathing was strained though, and
Sabrina felt her own desperation and the strain of the moment seep into her
bones.

Mrs. Dixon entered the room carrying a tray that held cool
water, clean cloths and steaming broth, along with a plate of fruit, cheese,
bread and some cold chicken.

"You have to eat something to keep up your strength,"
Delores said, giving Sabrina a look that brooked no arguments. "You can’t
help Miss Alice if you’re falling down from starvation."

Sabrina smiled weakly and promised to eat a bite. But first
she wanted to get Alice cooled down.

"She’s so little and defenseless, Delores."
Sabrina stroked the cool water over Alice’s face and chest. "And I don’t
know how to help her."

"Mr. Northcliffe is going to cure your little girl. You
wait and see. He hasn’t spent the last ten years in that laboratory with all
those potions and books without having learned a thing or two about medicine."
Mrs. Dixon was confident in her appraisal of her employer. "He’s worked
hard, he has. And even if the other doctors and such think his methods aren’t
modern enough, I know that whenever I’ve had an ache or complaint about me
stomach, he’s always had some potion or powder that seemed to do the trick.
You’ll see, Mrs. Tremaine, he’ll come through for you and little Alice."

Sabrina was stunned by the reassurances of Mrs. Dixon. She’d
had no idea that Ford was having success with other remedies. No wonder he had
gained confidence as he began mixing ingredients and explaining each one. The
man was truly gifted. He just didn’t have the respect of his peers. That must
be why he had seemed so unsure of his skills at first. How frustrating it must
be for him to know that his tonic worked and yet because people where so narrow
minded, he was unable to help more than a handful of them.

Then suddenly he was there, standing on the threshold to the
bedroom. In his hand was a jar containing the medicine that Alice needed. He
looked unsure as to whether his presence was going to be welcomed.

"Please, Mr. Northcliffe, come in." Sabrina choked
out the words. She held out her hand in an open invitation. "We need you."

That seemed to do the trick. He visibly stood a little
taller and approached the bed. Setting the jar down on the side table, he moved
closer to Alice.

"May I?" he asked, indicating her tiny form.

He was of course asking permission to touch Alice and check
her fever. Sabrina nodded her acquiescence and moved to the other side of the
bed to give him better access.

Gently, as if she were his own daughter, Ford touched
Alice’s small forehead with a hand that seemed huge in comparison. Then he
pulled out his stopwatch and checked the girl’s pulse. A frown creased his brow
as he pulled out a strange looking device from his pants pocket. It was a tube
of sorts, with a cone-like object at both ends. He put one end on Alice’s chest
and the other up to his ear, listening with an intensity that made Sabrina hold
her breath. Nodding he hung the listening contraption around his neck.

"Her breathing is shallow, but her lungs sound clear.
No mucus or rattling. Would you like to listen?" he asked.

"No. I…please, Mr. Northcliffe…please save my daughter,"
Sabrina begged just before she slumped to the floor, fainting dead away.

Chapter Eight

"Roland," Ford called out as he rounded the bed
and lifted Sabrina into his arms.

The butler appeared with unusual speed, considering that
whenever Ford had shouted for the man in the past, an echo was his only reply.

"Yes, Mr. Northcliffe. Oh dear," Mr. Roland said,
stepping into the room. The man looked as concerned as Ford felt.

Holding a soft and compliant Sabrina in his arms he wondered
what he should do with her. His first inclination was to take her to his
bedroom and tuck her into his big four poster bed. But under the circumstances,
that would be completely improper. Still, the inappropriate thought lingered in
his overworked brain. Reluctantly, he forced himself back to the present
moment, and looking at his surroundings, decided that the divan in the other
room would have to do for now.

Ford headed for her sitting room, taking great pains to
gently lay Sabrina down on the sofa. But then he realized she would be in a
panic if she came to and couldn’t find her daughter. This simply wouldn’t do.