While she worked, she should find out the extent of the epidemic. "How long has it been since the first person here showed signs of sickness?"
Two Stones looked at his father. "It was after I left to find the donkey. A moon maybe? Or not quite that."
The older man grunted. A yes, perhaps.
So not quite a month. "And how many in the camp are ill?" She would check the others once she'd done what she could for these two.
Two Stones tore chunks of meat into the pot of water. "I did not count. When I returned from taking donkey to Jericho, I find the sickness here."
She pulled the clean blankets over Running Woman and moved to her head to help her drink. "When you finish that, I need to know how many in the village are healthy and how many have felt any sign of the sickness." She met his gaze. "Not just sores. Fever, upset in the belly. Anything. Once you know that, gather every person not sick and bring them to me. We have to do what we can so they don't get the worst of the disease."
She hated exposing healthy people to puss from those who were sick, but that was the only way to keep them from succumbing to Smallpox in earnest. They would feel sick after she placed the infected liquid in their nose, but the nausea and fever would fade quickly, and they wouldn't contract the full disease. She could stop this epidemic.
She refocused on the frail woman before her. Running Woman had groaned as Dinah cleaned her, and now her eyes were open in slits.
Dinah offered a smile. "Hello. I have water for you to drink. I'm going to lift your head a little to help you." She slipped her hand behind the woman's head, keeping her touch as light as she could in case there were more sores back there.
She poured a small amount through her open lips, then paused as Running Woman tried to swallow. Her face squeezed with pain, probably from postules down her throat.Lord, grant her peace. Heal this woman and ease her pain.
When Running Woman drank everything she could manage, Dinah eased her head down again and adjusted the covers. "I'm going to help your husband now. I'll be back when the broth is ready. You'll both feel better soon."Please, Lord.
Only God could keep these precious lives from being lost.
CHAPTER14
Thirty-one in the village were in some stage of sickness. Twelve healthy that she'd exposed to puss so they could develop immunity to the disease.
And two dead. One of them only a child.
Dinah stared at the family lying in the dim lodge before her. The young girl who'd passed had been their daughter, and the mother now curled around herself, grieving even as she slept. Both parents would recover, she was fairly certain. Their postules had already scabbed over, and their strength hadn't waned enough to worry her. As long as grief didn't drain them too much more.
The remaining child, a boy about Sean's age named Kicks the Stone, was the one she worried about. He was weak from vomiting for days and just now entering the hardest part of the disease. But his mother said he'd been strong before taking ill, so that would help him.
If he died though...she could well imagine his mother's grief. It would be her undoing.
Dinah simply couldn't let him die.
She turned to the opening in the hide wall and stepped out into the cooling dusk.
Jericho was walking toward her. He'd been helping some of the other healthy men bury the dead.
When he reached her, the sad weariness that lined his face made her want to step into his arms. To take the pain of what he'd just had to bear.
"We need to get home." His voice rasped with exhaustion.
"I'll stay the night here. Go make sure all is well there." Poor Lillian would have to continue as woman of the house, but with her uncles helping, they would manage.
Much better than the hurting people here.
He shook his head. "You need to come too. You need rest. We can return tomorrow."
She raised her brows. "Ride two hours in the dark tonight, just to turn around and ride two more hours back in the morning?" She shook her head. "I'll stay, thank you. Besides, I'm needed here." There were some who might reach a turning point tonight, and her help could make the difference.
"Dinah." He stepped closer. He didn't touch her, but she had the strong sense that he wanted to. His words came out in a growl. "I'm not leaving without you."
She squared her shoulders and met his gaze. "Then I guess we're both staying, because I'm not leaving my patients until I'm sure they'll be alive when I return."
The hardness in his eyes dimmed. The pain of what he'd just done slipped back into his gaze, and part of her wished she'd not been the one to put it there.
