Page 48 of Hallows End

My eyes narrow. This is…different.It’s never happened before.

“What has happened?”

“She is giving birth this morn.”

I simply stare at the other man.

Rebecca has been pregnant for three hundred and thirty years.

And she’s never given birth before.

“Let us go,” I reply and immediately run behind the other man to their cottage on the other side of the village.

I can hear her screams of despair. Goddess, how I wish I could bring the advancements of medicine to these people.

“Jonas,” Rebecca breathes. “Help me.”

Rushing to the end of the bed, I do my best to bring everything I know about childbirth to the forefront of my mind.

“It has been so long,” I mutter and dig my fingers into the skin of my forehead.

“Elisabeth York had her baby just three months past,” Robert reminds me, and all I can do is nod.

That baby was born centuries ago for me. For them, it’s been mere months.

“Okay, Robert, please put a pot of water on the fire to boil. We also need clean cloths.”

He nods and, happy to be given a task, hurries off to complete it.

Rebecca writhes in pain on the bed, and I feel sweat dripping down the middle of my back.

Help me. Lucy, wake up and help me, please.

Rebecca cries out and reaches for my hand. Her stomach is rock-hard, and when I reach between her legs, I can feel the baby’s head.

Wake up, Lucy.

What’s happening? Where are you?

Hallows End. A baby is being born, and I need your help. Please, come.

I’m on my way.

I can feel Lucy running through her house to get dressed, and then she’s sprinting out her back door to the bridge.

“Robert, I have a friend visiting from a neighboring village. She is near my cabin. Please, go get her and bring her to help me here.”

He nods and runs away.

A man is coming to bring you to me.

I see him, is her reply.

“Rebecca, I need you to focus. Take a long, deep breath.”

“I cannot.”

“Yes, you can. With me, now.” I inhale deeply, keeping her pretty eyes on mine. “Come now. You can do this. I know you can.”

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