Scamper barked at her, drawing her attention. Her brows pulled together as she attempted to focus. She forced herself forward, after the dog and past the panic that squeezed her chest. Thunder clapped overhead, and she ducked at the noise. The roar in her ears grew the farther she and the dog went.
Finally, they moved past a towering pine whose needles blew wildly about in the wind, and Keturah’s eyes widened as she took in the source of the sound. What had once been a quiet, babbling creek now raged beyond its borders. The muddy waters rolled and churned, with tree branches and other debris captured in its hungry depths. Scamper ventured precariously close to the monstrous beast. She took a step toward him, calling his name, then froze.
Draped over a boulder at the water’s edge was her husband, soaked to the bone.
“Daniel,” she screamed and dashed forward.
Keturah dropped to her knees in the mud while the water roared past, still tumbling over Daniel’s bottom half. Blood, mixed with mud and debris, coated the back of his head, and when she brushed his hair back, his face was disturbingly pale with his lips a deep purple.
Oh, Lord, please nay. Please dinnae let him be gone from me.
Tears flowed as she gently placed her shaking hand on the back of his head. Carefully, she attempted to assess the extent of his wounds, but to no avail. She would need to wash away the mess to see properly. But none of that mattered if there was not life within his body.
Hooking her hands under his arms, Keturah pushed against the rock with her foot to slowly pull his water-logged body from the torrent one slow inch at a time.Then she rolled him onto his back and leaned close, listening for a breath. No air stirred her cheek. Through the unrelenting rain, she watched his chest with bated breath, but she saw not even the slightest rise and fall.
“Nay. Daniel, ye cannae leave me like this,” she cried out.
Keturah shoved hard against his lifeless chest, half in an effort to expel water from his lungs and half out of grief and anger. “Nay,” she whispered again as she sat back on her heels and tangled her fingers in her rain-soaked curls.
What was she to do? Daniel was the one person who truly loved her. How could she not have seen that before? How could she have been blind to the fact that all his attempts and failures, all that he had done over the past month, had been for her? He showed her nothing but love and devotion, and how had she repaid him?
Now, because of her selfishness and anger, he had drowned.Please, Lord.Please bring him back to me.Sobs tore from her body, and tears streamed down her face.
Suddenly, Daniel began to cough, his chest heaving with his body’s effort to rid itself of water.
Keturah scrambled closer, leaning over him once more. “Daniel?”
Her husband rolled onto his side as he spewed water, and Keturah placed her hand against his back, as if she could lend him some of her strength. When hefinally ceased coughing, and with some effort, he rose into a sitting position. He propped his arms on his knees as he hung his head and focused on breathing for a moment.
Keturah ran her hand through his dripping hair and earned a lopsided smile in the process.
“I was trying to get back to you,” Daniel whispered. His voice was hoarse and raw, and she barely heard him above the din.
Her heart swelled, and her tears changed to ones of joy and relief. She wrapped her arms around him and nestled her head against his. “I know. I know.” She nodded as she cried into his shoulder. Despite how cold he was, Keturah was grateful to hold him once more. Never again would she take the presence of her husband for granted.
Thank Ye, Lord. Thank Ye.
Scamper yipped suddenly from behind her and bounced around them, reminding them of his company. A broken laugh escaped her as Keturah pulled back and glanced his direction. “Scamper…led me…to ye.” Her words came out between the laughter and tears.
“Good boy.” Daniel scrubbed the dog’s wet ears.
Scamper tilted his head. His tongue hung out as he opened his mouth in what looked strangely close to a smile.
As the rain slackened, Keturah glanced from Scamper to Daniel. Then she gave her husband anotherhug. Though they may not have been blessed with a child yet, they still had a family. Her, Daniel, and Scamper. And the good Lord above had not left them once. He had been there all along, guiding her and reuniting her with Daniel. Answering her prayers, right from the start. Before He ever brought Keturah and Daniel together, He had been working in their lives. How could she not have seen the extent of His hand in her marriage all these months? And though she may never know why He saw fit to call their baby home, she could be grateful on this day. Grateful for all He had done.
Daniel ran a thumb along her jaw. “Should we head home?”
Keturah smiled up at her husband. “Aye. Aye, we should.” Home, with its blackened wall and all, suddenly seemed like the grandest place on earth. And she needed to check her husband’s wound. She touched the back of his head.
As her hand lightly rested on a sticky patch of matted hair, Daniel winced. “I am fine,” he reassured her. But his voice sounded tired.
“We still need to get ye home an’ cleaned up.” Keturah forced a smile and stood before reaching a hand down to help Daniel to his feet.
With another grimace, he slowly rose. He wavered for a moment, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders and, without her providing direction, turned toward home.
A small smile stretched Keturah’s lips as she nestledin, slipping her own arm around his middle, before they started the trek home. Limping and slowly, they covered the distance…together.
Keturah dabbed a damp cloth at the edge of the wound one last time before she breathed a sigh of relief. The injury was not near as bad as she had feared, maybe the same width as a walnut. She moved around in front of Daniel and looked him in the face. “How do ye feel?”
