He’d get Mrs. Wang first. Then he would figure a way to ride to his brothers. Enoch needed to be here with his wife, and someone had to ride for the doctor.
When he stepped into the house, Mrs. Wang was helping Mandie down the hallway toward the bedchamber she and Enoch shared. Good.
He hobbled that direction to see if they needed him to help with anything. If not, he’d ride for his brothers.
Mrs. Wang glanced back as he approached. “I’ll take care of her. Go fetch your brothers. Someone needs to get the doctor.”
He nodded, already turning back toward the door. But a final thought made him pause. “Is Rose in the kitchen?” She would want to know about Mandie. Would want to help.
The older woman’s voice drifted from Enoch and Mandie’s chamber. “No, dear. I heard her go upstairs a while ago.”
His chest tightened. She’d retreated to her room after their conversation in the barn—of course she had. He’d not said a thing, done anything but gape at her, and now she probably thought he blamed her.
He hobbled to the bottom of the stairs, gripping the newel post as he called up. “Rose! The baby’s coming—Mandie needs help. Can you come down?”
Quiet greeted him from the upstairs hallway.
Not the sound of her door opening, not footsteps on the floorboards above. Nothing.
She was probably too upset with him to answer. Too hurt to want to help, or maybe she simply hadn’t heard him.
He tried once more, louder this time. “Rose! Mrs. Wang needs you.”
He still didn’t hear her, but he couldn’t wait—Enoch had to know about his wife, and every second counted.
But the moment he arrived back with Enoch, he would find Rose. He would make her understand that he didn’t blame her, that nothing Vincent had done could ever change how he felt about her. He’d get down on his knees if he had to, broken leg and all.
He turned and started back to the door, determination settling into his bones alongside the worry. First Enoch. Then Rose.
He wouldn’t fail either of them.
CHAPTER 23
The cold air stung James’s face as he hobbled down the porch steps. The walking sticks bit into the packed snow, threatening to slip out from under him twice before he reached the pasture near the barn where his gelding stood, head lowered against the wind.
Too bad James couldn’t slip a bridle on the animal and go. But he’d have enough trouble riding in a saddle—bareback would be torture. Peanut was well-mannered enough to let James slip a halter on and lead him to the barn.
Getting the saddle onto the animal’s back proved more challenging than he’d anticipated. His injured leg refused to cooperate, and balancing on the walking sticks while hefting leather and wood took three attempts before he finally managed it.
Sweat dampened his shirt by the time he’d cinched the girth strap. His hands shook—whether from exertion or the panic still coursing through his veins, he couldn’t say. Every second that ticked past felt like an eternity. Was Mandie all right? How long would the pains last before the baby came?
Mrs. Wang helped neighbor women when their times came, but James had never been around during the delivery of a child. Not even Robert’s or Thomas’s.
Once saddle and bridle were secure, he led the gelding out of the barn to the pile of logs that needed to be split into pieces small enough for the cookstove.
Mounting proved even worse than saddling. By the time he’d finally hauled himself into the seat with his legs draped over each side of the horse, his entire leg burned, and his vision had gone blurry at the edges.
He just had to get to his brothers…
He gripped the reins and nudged Peanut forward with his good leg, each jarring step sending fresh waves of agony up his thigh. The splint dug into his flesh through his trousers, and he clenched his jaw against the urge to cry out.
The trail stretched ahead, winding around snow-heavy pines. His brothers had planned to ride out to check the stock in the far pastures, which meant they could be anywhere within a two-hour radius. But Enoch mentioned the high pasture, so that’s where he’d start.
James’s hands shook on the reins as he guided Peanut around a large boulder jutting from a slope on his right. The cold air burned in his lungs with each breath, mixing with the pain searing through his leg until he couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
Every few minutes, he called out Enoch’s name. He didn’t have the strength to yell for all his brothers. Surely if any of them heard his voice, they’d come riding to him.
Peanut’s hooves struck the frozen trail with jarring regularity, each impact sending fresh bolts of fire through the broken bone. The splint felt like it was cutting straight through skin now, though he couldn’t tell if that was real or just his body’s way of screaming at him to stop.
