“Good evening, is this the residence of Seth Carpenter?”
“It is. Is something wrong?”
“Are you his wife?”
Faith shook her head. “Nancy is.” She backed away from the door and toward the front room. “Nancy, you need to come here.”
Nancy appeared with Grace close beside her. Clementine followed. “What is it? What’s happened to Seth?”
“Are you Mrs. Carpenter?” the officer asked Nancy.
“I am. Is my husband all right?”
“No, ma’am. He’s been hurt pretty badly. He’s in the hospital, and they sent me to tell you he’s gravely injured.”
“I must go to him.” Nancy looked at her mother.
The policeman shook his head. “Ma’am, the visiting hours are done for the day. The doctor told me to tell you that if Mr. Carpenter lives through the night, you can visit him in the morning. They won’t be allowing anyone any sooner, because he’s unconscious.”
Nancy looked as though she might faint. Faith decided to pull rank. “I’m a physician. I’ll go to the hospital and learn what I can.” She looked at Grace, who nodded.
“You’re in no condition to go, Nancy,” her mother said. “Let Faith go. She’ll be able to tell you what’s going on.”
“But if he dies ...” Nancy’s voice broke, and she sobbed against her mother’s shoulder.
“Try not to worry.” Faith went to the coat tree and took up her jacket. “Officer, do you have a horse?”
“I do.”
“Might I ride double with you back to the hospital? That will save me some time.”
He looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry to have brought you such bad news.”
“We needed to know,” Grace replied, holding her daughter tight. “Faith, come back to us as soon as you can.”
Faith nodded. “I will.”
She followed the officer outside. He climbed atop his horse, then held his hand down for Faith. She hiked up her skirt and barely managed to place her foot in the stirrup. Thankfully the officer had a powerful arm and easily lifted her up, and she sat behind him.
“Hold on tight.”
The sound of the horse’s hooves against the brick echoed in Faith’s ears. “What happened to Seth?” she asked.
“He was beaten. We found him in the street. His injuries are the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’m surprised he’s still alive.Ifhe’s still alive.”
Faith swallowed hard. “Was most of the trauma to his head?”
“Yes. It’s like somebody laid into him with a club. They may have busted his arms too. They looked to be in pretty bad shape, and if he was trying to defend himself, they would have taken bad blows.”
Faith pictured Seth’s body in her mind. She tried to prepare herself for what she would see. When they reached the hospital, she slid off the side of the horse.
“Thank you. I can make my way from here.”
She entered the hospital through the same doors she had used when doing her training. This was where the nurses and doctors generally entered, and no one would pay much attention to her at this hour, since most of the doctors would be gone and the nurses would be on their rounds.
There was no one at the nurse’s desk, so Faith just acted asthough she belonged there. She looked through the various record files and found where they had taken Seth. Without even trying to hide her presence, Faith made her way to his room and walked in like she owned the place. There was no one else in the room.
The lamp offered her ample light to see that Seth was still breathing as she approached the bed. The patient lying in front of her looked nothing like her cousin’s husband. Had it not been for his blood-caked red hair, Faith might have questioned whether she had the right room.
