Page 21 of A Secret Heart
“She went to the barn to try to ride out for help.” Rebekah panted out the words. “When she got there, the horses were sick too.”
Ed stilled. “The horses? It has to be?—”
“The well.”
They pumped water into the trough from the well, used buckets to carry drinking water inside.
Rebekah grabbed his arm as he turned to head out to the corral. “I already covered the trough and opened the gate to the pasture where the creek is.”
“Right. They’ll go there to get water.” He ran a hand through his hair, then paced to the door. At least they had an answer. But how?
Rebekah finished settling Jo, then moved to where he stood at the open door. “Want me to unsaddle Lightning and Mabel? Put them in the pasture too?”
Right now, this moment, was the first time he’d been thankful for her.
Ed scanned the sick family members behind them. How had this happened? “I’ll do it. I need to go see if I can figure out what happened to the well. You going to be all right in here if I do?”
Her head bobbed, a crinkle across her brow. “You think we’re doing the right things? I’ve never seen a sickness like this before.”
“We’re doing good. You are, at least.” He’d never seen her vulnerable like this. “It’ll be all right. Everyone will pull through.”
They have to.
Ed held her gaze, then moved through the open door onto the porch. The sun filled the sky as if all was right in the world, but something very wrong had happened here.
He rushed through caring for the horses before moving to the well.
A quick check of the well revealed a dead animal floating at the bottom. Something big.
He stood, shaking. Someone had to have done this on purpose.
Ed always double-checked to be sure the well was covered. So did Drew.
Anyone with a lick of sense knew that a dead animal in the well was akin to poisoning it. Who would do such a thing?
He had a guess. But his family needed him at this moment. There’d be time for answers and consequences later.
Ed winced at the tinge of pain in his stomach as he hauled a bucket in to the stove. At least being gone from the ranch had left him in better shape than the others. As he trudged across the living room floor, he spied Rebekah moving from Tillie to Kaitlyn.
He was still shaking with anger as he said, “It’s the well all right. We’ll have to boil the water from the creek until we can dig a new one.”
Her eyes went wide and fearful.
He passed Rebekah on his way back out to the creek to bring up another bucketful. She was wiping down Kaitlyn’s face and neck with a cool cloth, trying to get the fever down. The sight of everyone so weak knotted his stomach.
When he came back inside, he found Rebekah in front of the stove, fine hairs curling around her face from the heat. She’d already lit a fire. He reached over her to set the pot in place, then stepped back. “Guess we can use milk to quench their thirst for now. If they can keep it down.”
“I’ll help you get everyone a round of fresh cool cloths, then I’ll ride over to fetch Aunt Opal’s canning pot too. If it’s the well, we’re going to have to boil a lot of water. I’ll want to wash up the bed sheets and their soiled clothes for them as soon as possible. Not to mention the water I’ll need for cooking as they recover enough to begin eating.”
Leave it to Rebekah. To think he’d always thought her bossy. But tonight, he was thankful for her smarts. The two of them worked in tandem, placing clean cloths on feverish foreheads. As soon as they finished, Rebekah hurried off to get the other pot. While she was gone, Ed spent his time hauling the children out to the privy in his arms or helping the adults make the walk out there.
Rebekah whisked in the front door, out of breath, and set a couple of large pots in the kitchen, then kneeled where Ed sat next to Kaitlyn. “I’ll take over. You look tired.”
He gulped down the unbidden tears of weariness and worry. “Thank you for staying to help.”
She smiled tentatively, worry shining from her eyes. Ed wanted to rest for one moment in their shared concern, but David let out a moan.
Ed ran David out to the privy again. He had half a mind to fork out a mound of hay for everyone to lie on out there so they wouldn’t have to go so far, but the day had grown too hot. When he came back inside, Rebekah had stripped off soiled bedsheets and dipped out a pitcher of the water to cool after it’d boiled.
