Chapter 19
A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.
Jacob winced at the pain that ricocheted through his chest as Dawn’s body collided with his, but he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her and relishing the feel of her body against his.
For he had thought he would never feel that sensation again.
Thank You, God, for allowing me to come back to her.
After a moment, he eased back. As much as he wanted to enjoy Dawn’s presence, Edmund’s care was more important. “You have no idea how glad I am to see your face again, but our reunion must be postponed.” He nodded to where several men had hauled Edmund from his horse and held him by all four limbs.
Dawn gasped. Her hand left Jacob’s body and flew to her mouth. “That is…” Her voice cracked.
“Yes. We need to get him inside now. It is bad, Dawn. It is a miracle he is still alive.” Jacob whispered the words for only his wife and the two women behind her to hear.
Mrs. Brooke gave Edmund a quick sweep of her eyes before she started issuing orders. “I need somewhere better than a bed to tend to this one. Elijah, how big is the table in your cabin?”
“Big enough. Come.” Elijah led the men carrying Edmund to his corner cabin, where Edmund was laid out upon the table. The man groaned when the arrow protruding from his back caught on the edge.
While the men still supported his left side, Mrs. Brooke pulled a sheathed knife from her pocket.
“Lamps. I need lamps,” she called out as she unsheathed the knife and began sawing at the arrow.
As soon as the back was removed, the men slid Edmund farther onto the table.
He groaned again. Each pained sound tore at Jacob, but at least they meant that Edmund was still alive.
“I need all the linens and bandages you can find, as much hot water as you can prepare, and I need a sewing kit. I will not have this man dying on my watch if I can help it.” Mrs. Brooke’s face was set in determination as she cut Edmund’s garments from his upper half.
Oil lamps had been brought into the room and set on the chairs and bench around them.
Still, there was only a low amount of light.
Jacob swallowed.
“Does he have any other injuries besides the arrow?” Mrs. Brooke turned her attention to him.
Jacob dipped his chin. “After taking the arrow, he fell from his horse and was trampled.”
Mrs. Brooke’s eyes widened before she swept her gaze over Edmund’s body again.
She whispered a string of words, likely a prayer.
Then she leaned against the table, gripping it in her fingers so that the knuckles turned white.
“How long ago?” Her voice was much quieter now than when she had barked orders.
“The battle happened early in the morning yesterday. Well before noon.”
Mrs. Brooke shook her head before she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “The arrow must be taken out first. Once that wound has been tended to, I will assess for other injuries.” She looked at Dawn and Mrs. Abbott, who both nodded before taking up positions on either side of her.
Jacob stared at Dawn as the lamplight gave her a soft glow.
She shared the same emotionally spent but determined expression as Mrs. Brooke.
She seemed prepared for whatever may come their way.
His precious wife must have been assisting with the injured soldiers as they returned to the fort.
How many times had she hoped the face before her would be his?
And how many times had she been disappointed?
Had she given up hope when dusk cloaked them in darkness? His chest ached.
Mrs. Brooke pulled the arrow from Edmund’s abdomen, and blood bubbled up from the wound.
Without instruction, Dawn pressed fabric to the wound to staunch the bleeding.
When Mrs. Brooke held her knife over her hands, she removed the fabric and pressure long enough for the other woman to widen the wound, then resumed her position.
Mrs. Abbott handed Mrs. Brooke a needle and thread, and only then did Dawn back away.
Mrs. Brooke slid her fingers inside Edmund’s rent flesh. First, she stitched the unseen wound inside, then she sewed his skin closed. When the task was complete and no bleeding remained, she stood up straight and took a deep breath.
After washing the blood from her hands, Mrs. Brooke examined the rest of his body for injuries.
“It does not appear that he has any broken bones that I can find. We may know more when he wakes. But for now, I have done all I can. We must watch for infection and pray that it does not set up.” She pulled a quilt over his body before she settled in the chair beside him. “I will take first watch.”
Mrs. Abbott washed her hands, then squeezed Mrs. Brooke’s shoulder. “Send Mrs. Craig for me if you need anything before I come to relieve you.”
Mrs. Brooke offered her a weary smile.
Mrs. Abbott came across the room and embraced him. “I am so thankful for your return.” She pulled back and gripped his shoulders. “Mary is at my cabin. You and Dawn may fetch her whenever you are ready, but she is welcome to stay as long as you need.”
Jacob inclined his head as the woman slipped out the door.
While Dawn washed the blood from her hands, he moved over to Edmund’s side.
God, You have shown me what is truly important in life.
People. Family. Not what one accomplishes.
Please allow this man the same opportunity.
Mrs. Brooke’s worried and weary, lined face, reminded him of Edmund’s comment about her beauty.
Perhaps if he were to pull through, he could find happiness with this widow who seemed to care more deeply about him than simply a nurse to a patient.
Dawn appeared at his side and took his hand. Silently, she inclined her head toward the door. Jacob followed her out into the night, where finally a cool breeze filtered through the fort.
Once outside, Dawn wrapped her arms around his middle and nestled her head into his chest. “I thought I had lost you,” she whispered.
“I thought I was lost to you as well.” Jacob held her close and laid his cheek upon her head. “I never should have left you and Mary. I am so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”
Dawn looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. “Forgive you? Of course. How could I ever be mad at you when you came back to me? I do not care what I may have said in the past—I love you, Jacob McFadin, and I hope to never see another day of this life without you in it.”
“Oh, Dawn. I love you too.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, a kiss filled with the promise of forever. A kiss that said this was only the beginning. Jacob pulled back from her and smiled. “I have a surprise for you.”
Her brows pulled together. “A surprise?”
“Edmund asked us to take Mary, to be her parents.”
Dawn’s mouth dropped open. But then her gaze slid toward the cabin door.
“Not because he was injured,” Jacob added. “He asked before we ever went into battle. He said he had been thinking on it for a while.”
“Really?” A smile crept onto her face.
Jacob nodded.
“Oh, Jacob. I would love nothing more.”
He took her hand into his. “There is one more matter which we need to resolve.” Jacob glanced about, then led Dawn a few feet away from the cabin where he was sure no one could overhear.
She watched him with her chin angled and brows raised.
“Dawn, I wish to make our marriage a true union in every sense of the word. Perhaps not tonight, for my head still aches from where I fell from Samson.”
Dawn gasped. “You fell? Are you injured?” She glanced him over, eyes wide in the darkness. Jacob chuckled and caught a knuckle under her chin, coaxing her lovely eyes back to his.
“Only a few aches and pains and a bump to the head. Nothing that will not heal in a day or two.”
His wife sighed, and her lips tipped up in a grin before she stepped closer. “Then I would be most glad to make this marriage a true one….when you are better.”
Jacob’s smile widened. “Then let us go get our girl.” Dawn leaned into him as they went to embrace the family God had blessed them with.
* * *
August 22, 1782
Dawn peered through the doorway early the next afternoon and grinned.
Jacob’s chin was settled on his chest above his crossed arms, and soft snores emanated from his body.
Meanwhile, Mary played quietly on the floor, pretending her small collection of pinecones was a family.
Jacob needed the rest nearly as much as Edmund did, after having ridden all night and day to bring the other man to help.
Dawn went to him and pulled a chair up beside him before she gently shook his arm.
Jacob blinked, then abruptly sat up. “I fell asleep.” His voice held an edge of panic.
Dawn chuckled. “All is well. Mary is playing safely in the floor. And Edmund is awake.”
“He is?”
Dawn nodded, a smile stretching her face.
Jacob wiped his hands on the front of his breeches and stood. “Can we see him?”
Dawn inclined her head again. “Mary, would you like to see your uncle?”
The child’s reaction was as quick and pleased as Jacob’s.
She popped from the ground and nodded before collecting her pinecones and depositing them in the basket in the corner.
Then she ran up to Jacob and raised her arms. Jacob winced as he lifted her but did not hesitate to do so. Dawn gave a slight shake of her head.
Together, the three of them walked to Elijah Craig’s cabin where Edmund was still stationed. Likely, it would be another day or two before it was safe for him to be moved. Though his waking was a positive sign, he had suffered great trauma, and moving him too soon could prove detrimental.
When they stepped into the room, they stopped, for Edmund appeared to be sleeping once more. Mrs. Brooke offered them a tired smile as she motioned them in. “He is in and out,” she whispered. “But you are free to visit.”
They approached and sat on the bench. Edmund’s face was pale, but his chest rose and fell gently, and no perspiration showed on his brow.
He must have heard their approach, for the turned his head to the side and smiled the smallest of smiles. “’Tis good to see your face without an arrow in my side,” Edmund managed to say. “Did you tell them?”
Jacob gave a tilt of his head. “I told Dawn, but not Mary. I wanted to make sure it was what you still wanted.”
“I told you.” Edmund swallowed. “It had nothing to do with the battle. ’Tis what is best.”
Jacob nodded, then turned to Mary. “Mary, dear, Mr. Fairfax, your uncle, he thinks that Dawn and I should be your ma and pa.”
Mary’s little mouth dropped open. She blinked at Edmund. Then she flashed a bright smile at Dawn and Jacob. “Yes!” She threw her arms around Dawn’s neck. After she squeezed her for several moments, she did the same to Jacob. Both he and Dawn chuckled.
Mary slipped from the bench and walked over beside Edmund’s head. “T’ank you, Uncle.”
“You are welcome, child.” Edmund closed his eyes as if he could no longer hold them open.
Dawn reached out and took Mary’s hand. “We should let him rest now.”
Together, they walked out into the sunshine. Mary skipped ahead of them.
“Want to visit Sarah and Abraham, Mary?” Jacob asked.
Dawn gave him a sideways glance. What did he have up his sleeve?
“Yes!”
“Good. I would like to take your ma for a walk.” He emphasized the word.
Dawn grinned and leaned into him. It did not matter how hot the day was or how the sun beat down on them, for they were together.
And they were family. She would gladly walk to the ends of the earth with them and for them.
Plus, perhaps her husband had more than a simple walk in mind, given their conversation the previous afternoon. Dare she to hope?
At Mrs. Abbott’s, they shared the good news of Edmund’s waking and dropped Mary off to play with the other young children. Then Jacob took Dawn’s hand and placed it in the crook of his arm as they began their turn about the fort.
“There is a matter I wanted to discuss with you.”
Dawn glanced up at Jacob. “What is that?”
“How do you feel about leaving the fort?”
“Leaving?” She considered the thought for a moment. “Where would we go? Just somewhere safer? To your family?”
Jacob gave her a guilty grin. “Yes. I thought we might join my family in the west. Only, I did not know how you would feel about leaving Mrs. Abbott or taking Mary away from Edmund.”
Dawn took a deep breath. “I…I had not considered such.”
“You do not have to reply right away. And I want you to feel no pressure to make your decision one way or another.”
Dawn nodded, but the question was already rolling around in her mind.
Leaving Mrs. Abbott would certainly be difficult as she had come to know the woman as family.
And though Edmund had entrusted them with Mary’s care, was it right to separate the family members?
She would certainly want to discuss the matter with him before they made their final decision.
But to leave this unrest and join Jacob’s family? It did sound tempting. After all, they would be gaining another family there. And Dawn had learned just how precious found family was.