Too bad he couldn't come sit in the main room while they ate and sang, but this contraption Dinah had attached to his leg didn't look easy to arrange. "Tell you what. After we eat, we'll all pile up in here to sing hymns with you."
His mouth curved. "You do that."
A few minutes later, Jericho sat at the head of the long table. Instead of Dinah at the other end, her sister Naomi sat there. But it was almost like looking at Dinah, now that Naomi wasn't as swollen as when she'd first arrived. After Naomi had the baby, it might be hard to tell these two apart.
He would probably always know Dinah though. She had a spark in her gaze that Naomi didn't. That determination that showed even when she was exhausted from doctoring an entire village for three days straight.
As the others ate, he glanced at the closed door to the chamber the women shared. He'd not seen Dinah at all that morning. Hopefully she was sleeping. But was it more than that?
"She's just tired." Naomi must have read his thoughts. "She tried to get up at dawn, but I made her lie back down. She hasn't stirred since."
"She should be tired enough to sleep for two days." He'd like to do so himself.
The others were scarfing down the ham and cooked oats, but he didn't take any meat. Not with the way his belly roiled.
He took a bite of oats. They went down with a sour taste, then his belly threatened to send them back up. He had to get a few bites down. Then maybe he could climb up into the loft and sneak a few minutes' rest before they all gathered in Jonah's room to sing.
Two bites later, he'd had enough. He pushed his chair back and stood. Several faces looked up at him, so he motioned toward the dishes. "You boys help clean up. When you're done, we'll sing."
He didn't wait for responses, just started toward the ladder nailed to the wall. But halfway there, the oats surged back up into his throat. He spun and started toward the door. He didn't have long…
The moment he stumbled down the step, he lost his hold on the contents of his stomach. He heaved and retched, emptying the oats and whatever else was in his belly onto the dry grass outside. He doubled over, panting and gasping for air as the nausea rolled through him.
"You all right, Jer?"
He managed a weak wave in Sampson's direction as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Fine," he rasped out. "I guess the oats didn't sit right."
"You don't look good." Naomi stood behind him in the doorway. "I'll get Dinah."
Jericho shook his head. "Let her sleep."
He started toward the barn. "I'll lay down a minute, then be fine." If only it weren't so cold out here.
CHAPTER16
Dinah's chest tightened as she rested her fingers on Jericho's burning brow. "You're coming inside." She couldn't help brushing the hair back from his face. He needed a haircut, but she had more important things to help him with just now.
She pushed to her feet in the hay as Sampson helped his brother sit up. "I'll get a place ready for him."
But where? She couldn't let him be near Jonah. Naomi had been exposed to smallpox when she was a girl, as Dinah had, so she shouldn't be able to catch it. But could the disease somehow hurt the unborn babe? Not to her knowledge, but should she chance it?
Perhaps one of the smaller beds could be brought into the main room for Jonah, and Jericho could take over his chamber. That way she could shut the door and keep the others from being exposed—more than they already had been.
Jude met her in the yard, his expression concerned.
Before he could ask, she motioned him to follow her. "Come help me. We're moving Jericho to the house."
Miles and Gil were helping Lillian clear the table, but they all turned to look at her when she stepped inside. Sean stood in Jonah's room talking to his uncle.
"Gilead and Sean, please move the bed I've been sleeping on out here against that wall. Miles, move those crates to that corner." She still hadn't had a chance to find a place for it all.
"Your bed?" Naomi stepped from their chamber, shock marking her expression.
Dinah started toward Jonah's room. "It's for Jonah. Jericho needs a separate room."
The men jumped to work, and by the time Jericho trudged in with Sampson at his side, she was supervising Jude and Miles carrying Jonah on a blanket stretcher into the main room.
Jonah waved like a king riding in a chariot as he passed, but she couldn't find the humor in it.
