Page 13 of Married By Midnight
Sarah’s hand recoiled as if she had been burned. “You just placed him in there like that?”
“Like the day he was born,” Dell said, putting a fresh bowl of water on the nightstand.
“Well then one of you will have to wash him.”
Dusty took his hat off and scrunched it in his hand. “I need to get back and check on that cow. I’ll be in the barn if you need me.” He turned tail and ran from the room.
“Are you okay to do this, Dell?”
“T’ain’t nothing. I’ll stitch him up if you want me to. Done it plenty of times for the boys. Won’t be as pretty as your stitching, but it should work.”
“Let me go find that liniment that Father had. I saw some bruising on his shoulder. I’m sure there is more over the rest of him.”
“He looks about the same size as Jacob. See if you can find a pair of his britches while you are rooting around.”
Sarah left to find the items Dell needed.
She hadn’t gone into her parent’s room since the accident. The pain was too fresh. She pushed open the door and peeked inside. The girls weren’t allowed in the bedroom, so it was as if Sarah was committing some terrible sin.
She pushed open the door and took in the dark furnishings of the stained wood furniture. The bed had four posts and a canopy on top. It sat several feet off the ground. She could see the steps Momma had next to the bed where she would climb on to the mattress.
There were two dressers and an armoire. She walked over to her father’s dresser and traced her finger over the top. Dust swirled into the air. Her mother would be beside herself. This room was always pristine and in a few short weeks everything had the lightest coating of dust on it.
The dresser was covered with her father’s personal belongings. Mementos of when she and Lacey were children. A rock they found at the creek. A tin type photograph which was darkening with age. A lock of Momma’s beautiful blonde hair in a frame. His comb. Some loose coins and a few receipts.
She lit a match and held it against the oil lamp. The wick crackled to life. She picked up the receipts and flipped through them. They were receipts for seeds. She placed them back on the dresser. She picked up her father’s comb. There was a lone hair wrapped between the teeth. She pulled it out and looked at it before releasing it to float into the dust.
She pulled open the drawers and rifled through the contents. She found a pair of socks and a clean pair of long breeches. She could give those to Dell for the unconscious man.
She looked through a few more drawers and found the bottle of liniment. Adding that to the growing pile, she took one more look around. There wasn’t anything of significance in the room. Just plenty of memories.
Sarah picked up the drawers, socks and liniment and headed back down to Lacey’s room. Dell was leaning over the man stitching his wound.
“I found these,” she said, placing the items on the bottom of the bed. “How is he?”
“He’s alive,” Dell said drawing the needle through the torn skin. “Looks like he fell into the creek and hit his head on a rock.”
“What was he doing by the creek?”
“You can ask him when he wakes up.”
“Coffee?”
Dell looked at her. “That would be nice.”
Sarah went back to her father’s study to get the tea tray. As she lifted the tray, she noticed that the papers that Mr. Mathews gave to her that morning were tucked underneath.How?
She patted her pocket, already knowing the papers weren’t there.Mrs. Pennyworth!
Angel or not, Mrs. Pennyworth had no business snooping through her private papers. She put the tray back down on the desk and pulled the papers from underneath it.
The pages were out of order. Sarah gave a silent groan and started scanning the pages to reorder them.
One point three. Seven point 6. Nine point zero.
Section nine. Didn’t Mr. Mathews say something about section nine? Her eyes quickly darted along the words pressed onto the page. Most of it was legal speak and Sarah didn’t understand what it meant.
Then her eyes fell upon Section 9.4. Didn’t Mr. Mathews tell her to have the attorney pay specific attention to that section? She started reading aloud.
