Page 131 of The Enchanted Land

“Could you get me some milk for Adam? Maybe that will coat his throat and hurt less.”

Adam took very little of the milk, whimpering in pain when his mother tried to make him drink it. She gave in to his helpless pleas and set the glass aside. She moistened his lips with a few droplets of water. She bathed his body.

All night she sat by his bed, watching for any signs of change. There were none. In the morning, he began to moan and toss about on the bed. He began to sweat and the dreaded diarrhea started.

“Roselle, you’ll have to help me. We need to get fluids into him, or he’ll lose everything.”

Together, they tried to force him to drink the liquids, but they did not succeed. Most of it spilled down his front.

Roselle watched her mistress as she changed Adam’s gown. Her hair was a tangle of snarls, her dress was covered with stains from trying to feed Adam. There were bluish circles under her eyes.

They heard a horse outside the house and Morgan ran to see who it was. Her shoulders drooped when she saw Martin. Of course it couldn’t be Seth. He hadn’t had time to get back yet.

“Martin’s been to the bunkhouse to tell the men about Adam, and that Seth will be gone for a few days.”

Bunkhouse? Oh, yes, there was a ranch … but she cared nothing for it right now.

“Mama. Mama.” Adam’s head turned on the pillow. He was asleep, or seemed to be.

“I’m here, baby. Mama’s here.” His little palm was wet though she had just washed him.

Hours later, Roselle brought tea for Morgan. Adam’s body was hot again and he made feeble attempts to kick off the light quilt, but he had no strength. She tried again and again to feed him.

Roselle handed Morgan the cup and saucer and, automatically, she took it. The porcelain dishes rattled against one another as she held them in her shaking hands. She sipped the tea, finding it an effort to do so. Her whole body seemed to be trembling.

“You have to get some rest, now. Stretch out here and I’ll stay with him while you sleep.”

“Yes.” She was weary, but when she lay on the cot, her body remained tense.

“Mama.” She was at his side instantly. He was cold now, and even his teeth were chattering. Roselle ran for more blankets, and Morgan held her little son tightly in her arms. His body seemed to become more frail with each passing moment. She tried to get him to drink some hot milk, but his little throat was too sore.

In the late afternoon, Roselle got Morgan to drink some hot broth, and again tried to persuade her to sleep on the cot. She had Martin carry a loveseat from downstairs into the room. Morgan sank onto it and leaned back into the corner. Adam was still, sleeping peacefully again.

Morgan didn’t know when she fell asleep, but when she woke, there was a quilt over her and Roselle smiled at her from across Adam’s bed. She was grateful to the woman and said so. The sleep gave her new energy. She renewed her vigilance, this time trying to coax apple juice into the little body.

Seth rode hard all the way to Albuquerque. At the livery stable, he gasped out his reason for hurry and soon there was a fresh horse saddled and ready to go. In the middle of the night, he galloped to a stop at a homestead between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The owner of the adobe house understood about the hurry. He loaned Seth a horse and refused his offer of money.

“Your horse will be here when you return with the woman who will help your little boy. I will have another ready for her also. No, keep your money. Juan Ramón may need a friend someday. Then you can repay him.”

Seth rode the horse harder than he had ever driven an animal before. He reached his ranch in the late afternoon.

Lupita was standing in the middle of the chickens when she saw the lone rider coming toward them. Her first thought was for the horse. No one had a right to work a horse like that. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew it was her Seth. Something had to be very wrong for him to treat an animal so cruelly.

She dropped the basket of chicken feed, picked up her skirts, and began running. Jake, in the barn, dropped a bale of hay at the sight of the overweight woman running. He shouted for Paul and ran after Lupita. He knew that only Seth could cause her to lose her usual calm.

Seth pulled the horse to a stop and dropped to his feet beside Lupita. He looked awful—sunken, dirty—and his eyes were crazy, burning. “Adam. A fever. Some kind of tick,” he gasped out at her.

She needed no more explanation. “I’ll get my medicines.” She started running back to her little house, behind the main house. She passed Jake and started to give orders, but closed her mouth. The old man would be useless until he’d seen Seth.

Seth was running beside her, Jake following. “What’s he like?”

“There’s a high fever and a knot on his leg, swollen and red. The doctor said it was an insect bite, maybe a tick.”

“Adam! This is Adam you’re talkin’ about? I knew the little girl shouldn’ta taken him away. Now he’s sick.” He watched Seth. He had known the big man since he was a little boy and he knew Adam must be very sick to cause the terror he saw now in Seth’s face.

“Seth! It’s good to see you!”

Seth absently shook Paul’s hand. He watched impatiently for Lupita to come out of her house.

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