A Thousand Little Blessings Read Free Page B

into her basket of tools and walked down the hill toward the stable. The stallion galloped to the wooden fence and neighed loudly as she approached.
    “Papa?” she called as she entered the stable. The opened stall doors and the empty wheelbarrow meant her father was half-finished with his morning chores. “Papa?”
    The horses answered, but there was no response from her father.
    Etta passed through the stable, opened the gate that lead to the pasture, and closed it behind her.
    What was her father doing?
    Then Etta recognized a dark shape within the mares’ protective circle. “Papa!” The frigid hand of fear grasped her heart as she picked up her skirt and ran.
    The mares parted, allowing Etta access to her father. Panic gripped her throat as she dropped to the ground and turned him over.
    A deep moan came from his twisted face and his left arm swung wildly.
    “What’s happened, Papa? Did you fall?”
    Her father answered her question with an unintelligible grunt.
    “Can you stand, Papa? Or sit up?”
    His eyes were dazed and his body rocked from side to side.
    Etta slipped her arm beneath his back to help him to a sitting position, but he pushed her away with a wordless groan. She gasped for air as she fought her rising panic. She couldn’t leave him alone, but he needed help. The house was too far away for Rosa to hear her shouts. Etta removed a handkerchief from her father’s shirt pocket and wiped his face. “I’m going for help, Papa. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
    Against everything in her heart, she left him in the pasture, the morning sun beating down on him, and ran to the house. “Rosa!” she screamed. “Rosa! Call Dr. Russell!” Etta’s dry throat ached from exertion and panic. “Rosa!”
    The housekeeper opened the back door and shielded her eyes against the sun. “What’s wrong?”
    Etta bent at the waist, her hands on her knees, and struggled to catch her breath. “Papa…call Dr. Russell…Papa’s had some kind of accident.”
    Rosa’s dark eyes grew wide with alarm. She hustled into the kitchen, leaving Etta panting outside.
    Knowing she could count on Rosa to get in touch with the doctor, Etta ran back to where her father lay moaning on the dusty ground. With each step, she sent a desperate prayer heavenward. She couldn’t lose her father as well as her mother. No one could expect her to survive such a loss.
    The mares had reformed their protective circle, but upon hearing Etta’s approach they nickered and disbanded. Etta knelt at her father’s side and raised his head until it rested in her lap. His eyes were closed and his breathing labored.
    Rosa carried a crockery pitcher and a glass into the pasture and bent over him. “Oh my, Miss Etta. He looks bad. His face is all crooked.”
    Impatience flared in Etta’s chest. The last thing she needed was Rosa’s dire prognosis. “Give me some water.”
    Rosa followed the order, and Etta held the glass to her father’s lips. “Papa, here’s some water for you. Dr. Russell is on his way. Here, Papa. Drink some water.” She tipped the glass into his mouth, but the water ran down his chin. She reached for the handkerchief she’d used earlier, soaked it with cool water, and placed it in his mouth.
    Her father groaned and bit at the wet cloth.
    If only she could get him into the house. But if he’d broken a bone or suffered internal injuries, moving him might prove worse. “Stand over there,” she directed Rosa, “and block the sun.” How long would her father have to lie in the dirt before help arrived?
    Rosa moved to the location.
    The horses nickered nervously as Etta wiped her father’s face with the wet cloth and prayed. Not my father, too. No, Lord. Please.
     
    ****
     
    An hour later, Etta stood as still as an alarmed rabbit outside her father’s bedroom.
    Dr. Russell had finally arrived, given her father a cursory examination, and then returned to his car for a litter. It had taken all three of them to carry