He spun to face the men at the cookstove. The one with the overgrown beard and dirty clothes spoke again. "One of 'em was in the family way, just like you said."
Jericho's heart leaped. "Where did you pass them?"
The bearded man shrugged. "On the road from Helena. Somewhere around midday, I think. They were headed t'other way."
The other way? Had they turned around to go back to the ranch? Hope inched higher in his chest. Maybe Dinah had already changed her mind. They could work things out.
But…midday yesterday. With that timing, he should have passed them on the trail between the ranch and the Mullan Road.
A new thought settled in, one that flared panic like a spark taking hold of paper. Had they decided to go back to Virginia instead of coming to Missoula Mills? Had he ruined things so completely that Dinah wanted to go as far away from him as she could?
He was already striding toward the door. "Gil, Sean, Lilly. Let's go."
He had to catch Dinah before he lost her completely.
* * *
Dinah watched the departing wagon. Friendly old freighter, but he’d not stopped to talk. Was he going to Missoula Mills? Part of her wanted to catch up with him and follow along.
Her sister’s gasp made her spin forward again. Naomi held her reins with one hand and cradled her bulging belly with the other.
Dinah's own middle clenched as she took in the pallor of her sister's face. "What's wrong? Are you hurting?" They should rest again. There was no need to rush this journey. As uncomfortable as it was sleeping on the rocky ground beside the trail, when they reached Helena, there might be other hardships.
Naomi's mouth pinched. "I keep getting these pains. I can't tell if it's the baby moving around or the way I'm sitting in the saddle."
Her heart picked up speed. With less than two months left till the birth, Naomi would feel a number of pains, but if these were the real kind that produced contractions…
She turned to scan the side of the road ahead of them. They were plodding up a tree-covered slope, and several rotting trunks lay to the side of the path—likely trees that had been cut down when the road was built.
She guided her gelding off the trail between two parallel trunks. "Let's rest here." At a clear patch of ground, she dismounted and turned to help her sister down.
Naomi gripped the saddle with white knuckles as she leaned forward to dismount. When her boots sank onto the ground, she exhaled with a long, slow breath. "There. That's better."
Dinah moved to unfasten one of the blanket rolls. "I'll spread this out so you can lie down."
After Naomi was settled, she looked up with a weary smile. "Thank you. I'll be ready to ride again soon."
Dinah touched her arm. "This might be a good place to camp for the night." She would have preferred to move farther off the trail, where their campfire wouldn't be noticed by anyone passing. But stopping Naomi’s pains was more important than that. She still had two months before the baby should come, so surely these were only preparation pains. Or maybe the babe was moving around, objecting to so many hours in the saddle, as Naomi had said.
But as Dinah stood, her sister wrapped both hands around her belly and grimaced, then rolled onto her side.
Dinah dropped back to her knees and rubbed her back. "Breathe. Take long, slow breaths in, then count to five as you exhale."
She could feel the difference in Naomi’s tension with the first breath out, but her second exhale turned choppy. The weight pressing Dinah’s chest made her own breathing harder. "What are you feeling?"
Naomi blew the air out. "Pain. Here. It wraps all the way down." She moved her hand from the center of her navel down to the base of her abdomen.
"Does it keep steady or come and go?"
"It hurts for a bit, then eases. Maybe now it'll stop completely." Naomi gave her a hopeful look, but the weary lines under her eyes belied the expression.
Dinah reached for the water flask. "Take another drink." What her sister described could be false pains, or the real thing. Only time would tell for certain. But if this was real labor, by the time they knew for sure, it could be too far along to help. Even now that might be the case.
As far as she knew, no proven medical procedures could halt labor once it began in earnest, but she knew of a few homespun remedies she’d be more than willing to try.
Lord, take the pain away. Stop her body from pushing the baby out too soon. Safeguard them both, Lord.She wouldn't let herself think about what might happen if Goddidn'tprotect her sister.
If rest didn't help…if water didn't help…was there anything else she could do to stop labor from progressing? She needed to check her books to see if she'd forgotten anything.
