Fight for Glory (My Wounded Soldier #1) Read Free Page A

the earth tonight if the missus will have it. Time that box is finished
have Seth drive it over here. He can do chores round here. You go to town and
fetch Jimmy. Tell him we got killin’ here and he should bring a box for this
drifter. Got all that?”
    He nodded. He was
so excited he’d run out of words for the first time in his life.
    “And Gaylin? Tell Ma we got a new baby here. Missus is wore out. Bring the teas, tell her
to come by herself for I need her quick. Real quick.”
    I thought he was
going to stop breathing.
    “Get on it, now. And
you keep your eyes clear. I don’t know if this one traveled alone. I don’t know
a thing.”
    He nodded, turned
to leave, remembered the boy. I walked toward Johnny who was already awake. I
picked him up, and he didn’t fight it. I carried him through and put him on the
seat next to Gaylin. “ You been a real good boy. Your
daddy would be so proud. Miss Allie will take care of you now. Your Ma is fine,
but she needs rest. And your baby sister is fine, too.”
    I put my hand on
his knee for a minute.
    “Mister Tom?” he
said, “I want to stay with you.”
    “You will,” I
told him. “I’ll be home real soon.”
    I looked after as
they pulled away. Now what made him say that? I was deeply touched, I don’t
deny, but it’s not what I ever wanted or imagined. I was going west before
snow. I couldn’t settle. Not since the war.
    When I got back
in the house I could smell the potatoes starting to boil. The woman was looking
at me. I hadn’t expected that either. I told her about Gaylin, and that Ma
would be here soon. I told her I’d sent the boy on. She swallowed hard.
    “There’s some
supper cooking,” I said.
    “I’m not hungry,”
she whispered. Then she lifted her little hand toward me.
    I wiped my hands
down my legs. “Missus,” I said, “I better check…the blood.”
    She looked at me,
those brown eyes so pure, so scared. Such a beauty this one, oh I didn’t like
the way she made me feel. I was going in the fall. My plans were set.
    So I pulled the
cover back, and there were the rags soaked red, and I caught a curse before I
let it out. I went for more rags, and came back. Her eyes on
me, shame, but past caring too. So without words I took those rags away
and God almighty there sat a clot of blood the size of an apple. I looked at
her, but she kept her eyes on me. I took away the blood, so carefully. When I
lifted her hips, more blood came, and I put the new rags on her best I could. Her
legs had the red smears, and I longed to wash this from her, but my real
concern was all she had lost and no let up. Ma would bring her teas. But it
would take another hour before she came.
    I pulled the
quilt over her once she was wrapped.
    “What’s wrong?”
she said.
    “Do you have the
tea…for the bleeding…from Shepherds Purse? Ma uses it…sometimes.”
    She shook her
head. “It’s too early,” she said.
    I nodded. “ Where’s the baby’s ….”
    She pointed to a
lady’s round box that set in the corner near the basket where I’d found her
rags. In there I saw the diapers, one pin threaded in the cloth and two small
gowns. I took the baby out of the drawer and laid her on the bed. I put the
diaper between her curly legs, and pinned it in front. But putting the gown on
was far worse, yet I managed it with sweat and determination. Missus laughed a
little, and did not protest when I put the child back in the makeshift bed.
    I looked at her,
and she appeared to have fallen asleep again, so I pulled back the cover. She
was soaking through again, and I had enough rags for one more go. I hated to
move her to change the rags, so I just added these, and she did not protest
when I moved her hips to put them beneath.
    So my ma found me
kneeling at the bedside holding Miss Addie’s hand. I had been staring at her
pale face. If God let her go in the earth this day, I would ride out tonight,
harvest be damned. I hadn’t wanted to come back here,
but Pa had come