Page 6 of The Women of Wild Hill
Kayleigh took a small sip. The taste was delightful, so she risked another. The coldness slipped down her throat and pooled in her belly. Her stomach began to churn in earnest, preparing to launch its contents back out and onto the floor. She felt her abdominal muscles clench and then—miraculously—relax. For the first time in hours, she couldn’t feel her organs or taste vomit at the back of her throat. She lifted the glass a third time.
“Think maybe you want to stick around for a little while?”
Kayleigh set the glass down on the bar and wiped her mouth with the napkin that Phoebe held out to her. “Yes,” she said.
“Finish up. I’ll be back in a minute.”
PHOEBE FILLED A DOG BOWLwith water and another with vegetable scraps. She took them both out to the pig, who showed no interest in eating.
“You going on a hunger strike is not going to make me change my mind about Brigid,” Phoebe told the sow. “Eat your fill and feed your babies, then get on home. Your work here is done.”
Phoebe walked around the house and into the old stable that now served as her workshop. She laid a plain white cloth out on her table.In the center, she shook out a teaspoon of herbs from a jar on the shelf. She added a sprinkle from another jar and a handful from a third. Finally, when the mixture looked like alien potpourri, she gathered the four corners of the cloth and tied them into a poultice for her latest client’s black eye.
When she finished, Phoebe opened the safe she kept hidden behind hay bales and took out two small manila envelopes. With these in one hand and the poultice in the other, she returned to the kitchen and set the envelopes down in front of Kayleigh.
Phoebe pointed to envelope one. “Inside is a mifepristone pill. It will stop the embryo inside you from growing.” She slid her finger to envelope two. “This is misoprostol. It will make your uterus empty. The entire process should take around five hours. It will look and feel like a heavy period. No one will be able to tell the difference.”
“These are abortion pills?”
“Yes. They’re safe and effective. You are more likely to overdose on Tylenol than experience complications with these drugs.”
“So that’s it?” Kayleigh looked relieved. “I thought maybe you’d be giving me herbs.”
“Oh, there are plenty of herbs that will end a pregnancy, but none work as well as these pills. But I did make an herbal remedy for you.” Phoebe slid an object across the table—the poultice she’d crafted. “This is for your eye. If you’d like, I can make something special for the man who hit you.”
It took Kayleigh a beat to grasp Phoebe’s meaning. “Oh no!” she cried when it became clear to her. “I could never harm my husband. I’m a Christian woman.”
“I’m sure the next woman he beats up will be as well,” Phoebe replied.
Kayleigh didn’t appear to be breathing. “The next woman?”
Phoebe had never been the sort to mince words. “Your husbandhas a fatal disease. But it won’t kill him. It’s going to kill you. Then, when you’re gone, he’ll move on to the next woman. And he’ll pass his disease down to your sons.”
Kayleigh’s hand flew to her heart, as though she needed to keep it from bursting out through her chest. “How do you know about my boys? Are you some kind of witch?”
“I’ve been called worse,” Phoebe said. “But the truth is, I had a long chat with your sister when she called.”
“What did she tell you?”
“She said your husband beats you and that your latest pregnancy is the result of rape.”
Kayleigh began to cry. “I can’t believe she told you that.”
“You’re ashamed,” Phoebe observed. “Why? You’ve done nothing wrong. Do you know how many women I meet who are just like you? Painting over bruises and pretending they fell down the stairs. Trying their best to keep up appearances when their worlds have crumbled.”
“There’s nothing I can do. There’s no way out,” Kayleigh insisted. “I’ve thought it through a thousand times. My parents will blame me if I leave my husband. They won’t take me in. I haven’t had a job in years. I can’t afford to support my sons on my own. Even if I did leave Curtis, he’d just come right after me. He’s not a man who takes no for an answer. The best thing for me and my boys is to keep my head down and do whatever he wants.”
Phoebe reached out and took Kayleigh’s hand. “And yet, here you are. You know what that tells me? It tells me part of you knows there are other lives you could be living.” Phoebe’s eyes closed and she nodded. “I can see them, too.”
Outside, a vehicle was approaching the house. It came to a stop and the engine turned off.
“Kayleigh!” a man’s voice shouted.
Kayleigh recoiled, jerking her hand out of Phoebe’s. A door slammed.
Phoebe opened her eyes and glanced toward the front door. “I’m guessing that’s your husband?”
“Yes, that’s Curtis.” Kayleigh ripped open the envelope that contained mifepristone and dry swallowed the little white pill.
