Josie removed her apron. “We wouldn’t like that, would we?”
“You have adjusted very well.”
Josie tiptoed down the hallway and opened the door to the children’s room. Lillian and Ivy were snuggled together while Jonas slept alone in his bed. With a soft smile, she approached the girls, carefully removing the covers from them.
“Time to wake up, sleepyheads,” she whispered, gently shaking them awake.
Ivy stretched and let out a big yawn, her arms reaching high above her head. Lillian, still half-asleep, rubbed her eyes with tiny fists. They both sat up in their flannel nightgowns and matching nightcaps, looking like two little angels in the soft morning light that filtered through the window.
“There’s porridge on the stove for you two.”
The girls spoke little in the morning, but Jonas, on the other hand, was always full of energy. The girls left out the door and Josie walked over to Jonas’s bed, where he laid sound asleep, the sunlight landing on his tousled hair. She carefully removed the covers.
“Jonas, time to get up. Breakfast is ready.”
Jonas didn’t respond, not even a stir. Josie placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him again. He groaned but still didn’t sit up. Josie’s pulse throbbed, each beat pounding in her throat.
“Jonas? Jonas, what’s wrong?” She placed her hand on his forehead and gasped. He was warm, too warm. “No,” Josie whispered.
She turned the boy on his side, noticing a red rash below his ear. She had seen the same rash before atBelle Vallée. Josie choked on a breath.It can’t be.If her inference was right, this was scarlet fever, the same illness that killed Mama and Susannah.
Memories of their moans of agony and Josie’s long nights nursing them flashed inside her mind. Doctors were scarce and Josie was on her own. She had a mild case and was over the illness fast, but the worst cases had taken over the bodies of her loved ones, and they were too weak to fight it. She couldn’t live through that again. Not when she made a promise to care for and protect them when she married Travis.
“Aunt Polly!” Josie screamed. She fought to hold back her sobs, knowing she needed to be strong. Her son’s life was at stake.
Aunt Polly came rushing in. “What is it, dear?”
Josie hurriedly showed Aunt Polly the rash spreading across Jonas’s skin, and a gasp slipped from her lips. She turned to seeLillian and Ivy at the doorway, their faces pale with confusion and fear.
“Girls, get away from here! Don’t come near Jonas!” Aunt Polly shouted as she bolted to the door, closing it behind her.
“Josie! Aunt Polly!” the girls screamed, beating on the door. In another situation, Josie would calmly open the door and comfort them, but she muffled them out, panicking for Jonas’s life.Not again, Lord. Don’t let this disease take everyone I love away for the second time.
Aunt Polly felt his temperature. “We haven’t had an outbreak in twenty-five years.”
“What do we do?” Josie asked, her voice trembling. Deep down, she knew what needed to be done, but the weight of her past failures loomed over her. How could she trust herself again with the children she had promised to protect?
“I’m going to get the doctor, Josie. Stay with him and make sure the children don’t go near that door.”
Josie sat on Jonas’s bed and ran her fingers through his brown curls. “Jonas, you must fight through this. Please, my darling boy.”
Aunt Polly left, and Josie turned to see the girls still standing at the doorway. Tears hung in their eyes as they embraced each other. Josie kept her distance, not going farther than the girls’ bed. Despite being immune, she couldn’t risk coming close.
“Girls, you must listen to me,” she said calmly. Josie swallowed the fear lumped in her throat. “Lillian, I need you to go to get a bucket of snow and melt it on the stove.”
Lillian wiped her tears with her sleeve. “Josie, is Jonas gonna die?”
Josie tried to erase every possibility in her mind. She blocked out the memory of digging her mother’s and sister’s grave in the pouring rain, the cold drops piercing her shivering skin. “No,Jonas is going to be fine. We just need to pray for him because he’s very sick. Only God can heal him.”
Lillian nodded, her folded hands under her chin. “I will pray for him now.”
Josie’s gaze shifted to Ivy’s, and her heart sank. Ivy was white as a sheet, her wide eyes reflecting the terror, as if she were staring at the angel of death again. “Ivy, I need you to get Gideon dressed and tend to Nathan. You are the woman of the house now, and I need you to be strong. Can you do that for me?”
“I-I’ll try,” Ivy whimpered.
Josie planted her hands on her hips. “Good. This is going to be a difficult day, but we must work together.”
Ivy went towards the master bedroom, and Lillian rushed outside to get a bucket of snow. Josie sat at Jonas’s bedside, feeling helpless as she watched him moan and squirm beneath the covers.Lord, I can’t do this again. I need you to give me strength and help me keep the promise I made to this family. Let your will be done, oh Lord. Only you can heal my son.
