“I can only hope, though the Indians have told me the signs point to another long, cold winter.”
“And the buffalo?” She’d heard several people discussing the lack of buffalo at the dance that evening.
“The Indians hunt them on the prairies and bring the meat to the fort to sell.” His voice was hard as he spoke. “They haven’t come yet, which is odd for this time of year, since the weather has just turned.”
“And what of our other supplies?”
“You dinna need to worry. ’Tis my job to see that everyone is fed.”
“Do you carry the responsibility alone?” It seemed like a large undertaking for one man.
He shook his head. “When Governor Semple is here, it will fall on both our shoulders. We have wheat and corn stored in the back of the main hall, and there are chickens, pigs, and milch cows in the barn. It might grow lean, if the buffalo do not return.I’ve warned you it won’t be easy, but we will do everything we can to keep the colonists alive.”
As they drew closer to the governor’s house, Eleanor noticed a light shining from within.
“Who might be awake?” she asked with a frown. It was late and she had thought everyone would be asleep.
They walked faster and when they were a few feet away, the sound of Miriam’s muffled cries could be heard.
Arran opened the door and held it for Eleanor to step into the house.
Nicolette stood with the baby near the fireplace, bouncing the crying child, while William stood farther back, near the foot of the ladder that led to the upstairs. He was in his shirtsleeves and trousers, his hair tousled from sleep.
“What’s wrong?” Eleanor asked as she rushed across the room, not bothering to remove her shawl or bonnet.
“She’s ill,” Nicolette said in her broken English. “I cannot know why.”
Eleanor took the baby and held her close, feeling her forehead. “She’s burning with fever.”
Miriam’s pitiful cries split the air. Her cheeks were aflame with color, and she tensed her body as if in pain. Eleanor could feel a low rumble in her chest as she breathed, and when she coughed, it sounded tight.
“You poor girl,” Eleanor whispered, trying desperately to keep calm and not give in to fear.
“I will send for one of the doctors,” Arran said as he left the house.
Eleanor was surprised that William had not thought to do so already. One of the doctors had been an early settler and the other one had come over with the latest group of colonists. Both were well respected, and if anyone knew what to do, it would be them.
But in the meantime, Eleanor would do what she could. She turned to Nicolette. “Please set a kettle of water to warm over the fire.” She would make ginger tea to help lower the fever, though it would be hard to get the baby to drink it, since she was not yet weaned.
Nicolette began to do as she was asked.
Eleanor turned her attention to William. “We’ll also need cloths and cool water to bathe her skin.”
William stood, almost like a statue, immobile as he stared at Miriam. “Will she die?”
“I pray to God that she will not.” Eleanor put the baby up to her shoulder and lightly bounced as she patted her back, speaking over the baby’s cries. “We’ll do everything we can to save her.” She wanted to be patient with William, but her forbearance was growing thin. “But we will need all the help we can get.”
With a brittle nod, William did as she asked.
It felt like an hour before Arran returned with Dr. Stewart, though Eleanor guessed it to be twenty minutes. Dr. Stewart was the Scottish doctor who had been an early settler to the colony. He was an older gentleman with a thick, white mustache, and an equally thick brogue.
Eleanor had managed to calm Miriam and get her to drink a few teaspoonfuls of sweetened ginger tea. With great patience, she had used the cool water to bathe her forehead and arms, and the baby was now whimpering from exhaustion, though her cries were no longer tearing Eleanor’s heart apart.
Gently, Dr. Stewart took Miriam out of Eleanor’s arms and sat on a chair near the fireplace. “How long has she been ill?” he asked.
Eleanor looked at Nicolette, who was standing in the corner.
“She woke, four or five hours,” Nicolette said.
