Chapter 8
Going home the long way around turned out to be a good plan.
Ethan was thankful when they met with nothing more challenging than some bad weather.
They drove through a little pocket of drizzle at one point, and it was enough to make things damp but not terribly wet.
The wind still tore through them though, and he began to wonder if winter would ever give up its tyrannical hold on the land.
Diane fussed over Matt, worrying that he needed to be kept warm, but he insisted that he was fine. Still, Ethan got the impression that the journey couldn’t end soon enough for her liking. She was a very attentive nurse.
When they arrived back in Unity, they found the place looking like a ghost town. No one was out on the streets, which was odd.
“Let’s get Matt up to bed and then find out what’s going on,” Diane suggested as they drove up to Mrs. Odenkirk’s boarding house. “Then I can start unpacking all of the supplies in the apothecary store while you find out where everyone is.”
“Sure,” Ethan said. “But what could have happened in two days?”
“We’ll find out,” Ben said as he helped Diane get Matt up the stairs to the front door. The trip back had taken a lot out of him, and he was looking pale and weak again.
Diane opened the front door, and Ethan followed her, Ben, and Matt inside. The place was eerily quiet. It was Sunday afternoon, and the Cartwrights were usually in the dining room, playing cards. Anders’s voice usually boomed through the whole house. It was unnerving to have everything so silent.
As Diane and the others went to take Matt to his room, Ethan hung back.
He walked through to the dining room and found it empty.
Then he tried the parlor and found Mildred Cartwright there, warming her hands by the fire.
The floorboards creaked as he stepped on them, and Mildred turned quickly to look at him, startled.
“Oh, you’re back!” she said brightly. “I’m so glad. Is Diane here?”
“Yes, she’s upstairs taking care of Matt,” Ethan said. “I’m sorry I startled you.”
“What happened to Matt?”
“He was shot. But he’s all right. Diane is taking good care of him.”
“Shot?” Mildred asked, looking shocked. “My goodness! Was it bandits again?”
Ethan nodded. “It was an ambush. Matt is all right though. Diane saved him. She took the slug out and sewed him up right there in the back of the buckboard.” He told the story with great pride.
“My heavens. Thank the Lord for His mercies and the angels He puts in our way. Well, I’m glad you’re all back,” Mildred said, sounding truly relieved.
“Mildred, did something happen here while we were gone? Where is everyone?” Ethan asked.
“Oh, you don’t know,” Mildred said, as though it had just occurred to her.
“It seems absolutely everyone has the flu. Well, not me or Sarah, but everyone else here does. Duncan is upstairs sick, and Mrs. Odenkirk is very ill. Sarah and I have been tending to her. Even my dear Anders has come down with it.” She looked sad.
“I came in here to have a few moments of peace before doing the sick rounds again. Andrew and Michael have asked everyone to stay home as much as possible. That avoids additional injuries due to the weather, which is the last thing Julie needs. She’s already so overwhelmed as is. ”
Ethan nodded. Diane had been worried about this. They would need that clinic now. It was a good thing she’d bought so many supplies.
There was the sound of Ben’s heavy tread on the stairs, and Ethan went out into the hallway. He waved for Diane and Ben to come to the parlor and told them what had happened in their absence.
“All in two days?” she said, looking mystified. “I’ll have to get to the apothecary store.”
“Yes, poor Julie and Antoinette have been run off their feet,” Mildred said.
Diane took her hand. “Keep up the good work. I’ll pop in and see the sick before I go.”
She headed off to Mrs. Odenkirk’s room on the ground floor. Ethan turned to Ben. “We should go to the store with her to help with the crates.”
Ben looked hopeful. “I can help make some dinner for everyone in the meantime.”
Mildred seemed pleased with the idea. “Sadly, I’m a terrible cook. Poor Sarah has been left to her own devices, and let’s just say, it’s been interesting.”
Chuckling, Ben left the room and headed to the kitchen.
There was nothing for Ethan to do but wait.
As he waited, he took out his notebook and began to work on how to lay out the new examination room in the offices next door to the apothecary store.
He wasn’t an architect, but he was good with space and making things fit.
When Diane reappeared, she looked worried. “Their fevers are high. I’ve given them willow bark to help bring them down, but Mildred, you’ll have to keep a close eye on things. And cut up onions. Put them in the patients’ socks. It should draw out the fever.”
Mildred nodded. “I’ll go and do it now.” She hurried off, clearly happy to have instructions.
Ethan and Diane headed off to the apothecary store.
The store wasn’t usually open on a Sunday, but it was that day. The buckboard halted outside, and Ethan took in the long line of waiting patients. Kyle, Alice, Chrissie, and Jeff were all standing in it. They looked pale and unhappy, holding handkerchiefs to their noses, sneezing and coughing.
His friends smiled when they saw Diane and Ethan and the supplies.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Kyle said and coughed. It was a nasty, rasping sound.
“They’re running out of everything in there,” Alice said, sounding exhausted, as though even speech was too much for her.
Ethan patted Kyle on the back. “I’m sure things will get better now.
” It was a pointless platitude, but what else could he say?
The shock of seeing Kyle, who was always vibrant and energetic, looking so lethargic and unwell had been a shock.
That, more than anything really, brought home the magnitude of this illness to Ethan.
Grace met them at the door, and Emily looked up from behind the counter where she was filling prescriptions hastily scribbled on scraps of paper. It seemed that everyone who had ever volunteered or helped out in the past had been roped in to deal with the influx of the sick.
Ethan had never been happy around sick people.
He didn’t like coughing and sneezing, feeling that being in a place where folks were ill was just asking to get sick himself.
But he didn’t dare show his feelings now, not when Diane needed him to unpack the bottles and get things ready.
Not when his friends were out there expecting him to help.
So he stood behind the counter loading the new medicines onto the shelves while, around him, sick people coughed and wheezed.
An hour later, Ethan had unpacked everything, sorted it all properly as per Antoinette’s instruction, and stepped out into the windy, cold day.
Then he went to the offices next door and walked around, taking in the space.
With Ben’s help, he mused, they could get it set up in a matter of hours.
There was even a supply closet that had shelves for all of Diane’s tinctures.
Of course, she needed to weigh in on how she wanted things organized.
When he finally managed to flag Diane down, she didn’t have time to talk. As he explained what he wanted to do, she just looked at him, and he wasn’t even sure she was hearing.
“It sounds fine,” she said and hurried off with another sick person.
Ethan took that to mean he could go ahead, and he and Ben spent the afternoon working on it.
They had to improvise a few things and fetch some from the town storeroom, but by the time they were done, the new examination room and dispensary were all set to receive patients. At least Ethan thought they had covered everything.
Julie was the first of the two ladies to be available to inspect their work.
She walked through it with a bemused smile on her face.
“You did a good job,” she said. “This will work.”
Ethan smiled. “Is there anything else we can do to help?”
“There is one thing,” she said. “I know your ankle isn’t completely well, but could you help us get food and medicine to those who are sick and stuck in their homes? We have Anita and Kevin making food but no way to transport it since Kyle and Jason are both sick now.”
Ben grinned. “We’d be happy to. Wouldn’t we?”
Ethan nodded. “Sure, as soon as I can. I need to check in at the smelter.”
“Don’t bother,” Andrew said, coming up behind them. “I’m shutting down the mine for a few days. Too many sick men. They were dropping like flies down there. It took ages to get everyone out.” He sneezed and grabbed his handkerchief.
Julie narrowed her eyes and, moving close to Andrew, felt her husband’s face and neck and sighed. “You’re sick, my love. You need to go home and get in bed. I’ll send Ethan and Ben with food and medicine.”
“But—”
His wife glared at him. “Go! Now! I’ll be home soon to take care of you and Chris.”
“He’s at Andrea’s house,” Andrew said, sounding defeated. “I was too busy.”
Julie looked surprised. “What?”
“I didn’t know what else to do. I was taking care of things at the mine, and you’re here …” Andrew said, gesturing helplessly. “It seemed the most responsible thing to do. Anyway, Andrea is still healthy. She’s been avoiding people as much as possible.”
“Fine,” Julie said. “Just go home, okay?” Her tone softened, and she patted her husband’s cheek. “I’ll be by later.” She turned to Ethan. “Please help him.”
Ethan was happy to. It had been awkward listening to the couple’s conversation, but he hadn’t had anywhere to go to avoid listening.
The most disturbing thing was seeing Andrew, always so in control and vital, looking defeated.
What had this illness done to everyone? It felt as though, between the terrible weather and the flu, the people of Unity were losing their fighting spirit.
That couldn’t happen. Not with El Aguila’s constant threat against them.