Chapter Twenty-Six
Garrett landed on his feet with a grunt, feeling pain travel up through the hard ground and into his bones. He ignored the pain and focused on getting to Louis.
“Hey, little man,” Garrett said, keeping his voice calm and steady as he knelt down beside Louis, “That was quite a fall, huh?”
Beside him, Louis sniffled. His little face was streaked with dirt and tears, his blue eyes shining with pain as he held his left arm.
“I should have listened to Hannah,” Louis sobbed, “She told me to wait. I didn’t see the hole.”
“That doesn’t matter now,” Garrett promised him, “What matters is we get you out of here and to a doctor. I’m going to touch your arm now, alright?”
Louis let out a shuddering breath as he nodded, and let go of his hurt arm so Garrett could take a look. They both winced as Garrett gently prodded the injury. He could feel where the bone had snapped in the boy’s upper arm, and he knew that Louis had to be in a great deal of pain.
“You must be the bravest little boy I ever met, you know that?” Garrett said as he reached for his handkerchief.
Even though he was still crying, Louis raised his brows.
“I am?” He asked.
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Garrett said, slowly fixing his kerchief into a sling around Louis’s injured arm, “I’ve seen full-grown men scream their heads off when they’d broken an arm, and you? Well, you’ve barely let out a sound. That tells me that you’re a darn tough little man.”
Louis let out a whimper as Garrett tightened the knot of the makeshift sling, but he didn’t yelp or holler.
“I didn’t want to scare Hannah. Or Rebecca or Maria,” Louis said through his sniffles.
“Well, that’s mighty nice of you to be thinking of them while you’re in this much pain,” Garrett replied, and managed to give the boy an encouraging smile.
Louis gave a weak smile in return, and reached his good arm to his face so he could wipe away his tears.
“I’m going to help you stand up now, alright?” Garrett asked, “Then I’m going to lift you up to Hannah and Isaac, and they’ll get you out of here right quick.”
Garrett’s heart broke for the little boy as Louis put on a brave face, which crumpled the moment Garrett helped lift him to his feet. It was too dark to check if Louis had any other injuries, but he made a mental note to do so once they were both out of the fissure.
“There’s a brave boy,” he praised, lifting Louis up by the waist so the boy could sit on his shoulders, “We’re almost done.”
“Alright, you two!” He called up to Hannah and Isaac, who were peering down at them, “Watch his arm now.”
With Garrett’s height, Louis’s head popped up above the precipice as he straightened his legs, and Hannah and Isaac were easily able to lift Louis up and bring him to solid ground above.
“He alright?” Garrett called up.
Isaac and Hannah’s face appeared over the fissure again, still looking a little worried, but mostly relieved.
“He’s safe!” Hannah called down.
“Your turn,” Isaac added, going down to his belly.
Garrett watched as the young man scooted a little farther over the opening in the ground, and then reached his arms down to Garrett.
A moment later Hannah followed. Garrett grasped both their hands tightly, and ignored the pain that lanced through his right arm as he braced his foot on one of the fissure’s walls and boosted himself up.
Hannah and Isaac both grunted, no doubt struggling with Garrett’s weight as they worked to get him out of the fissure. In seconds, Garrett had his forearms braced on the ground, and he finished pulling himself up as Hannah and Isaac sat back and caught their breath.
“Are you alright?” Hannah asked, lunging toward him as Garrett rolled onto his back and breathed through the pain in his shoulder.
He forced a smile, not wanting to worry her any more than she already was, and nodded.
“I’m just fine,” he lied as his shoulder began to throb. “But let’s get back to the house. We’ve got to get Louis to town. He needs to see Doc Fulton.”
***
From behind the curtained wall at Doc Fulton’s in-home office, Garrett could hear the older man calmly speaking with Louis.
The brave little boy had wanted to have the examination on his own to spare his big sister any more tears, but what Louis didn’t know was that even if she wasn’t seeing what was going on, Hannah was still anxiously trying to stifle her sobs.
As he leaned against the wall, Garrett turned his head, looking at Hannah with a regretful look.
Her blue eyes were rimmed red from her tears, and the tip of her nose was the same shade.
Her hand was shaking as she held a crumpled-up kerchief to her face, trying to mask both.
She was sitting on the green velvet couch as she stared straight forward at the curtain partition that kept her from seeing her youngest brother, barely blinking.
By her left side was Maria, pressing herself as close to Hannah as possible as she too stared anxiously at the white curtain.
Rebecca was curled up on Hannah’s other side, sucking her thumb with her head on her big sister’s lap.
Isaac was leaning against the opposite wall, but instead of staring at his siblings or at the curtain, he was intently watching Jacob, who was sitting in one of the two small brown cushioned chairs that also graced the makeshift waiting area; staring off into space with no hint of emotion whatsoever on his face.
Jacob had come running up to them just as they had gotten the buggy hitched up to take into town.
Isaac had demanded to know where he had been, but Jacob had refused to answer.
At any other time, Garrett might have not let such silence go too long, but they had needed to get Louis into town as quick as possible, and he wasn’t going to risk being distracted on the road.
He would talk to Jacob, though. Maybe he was not ready to tell Hannah about the ranch trouble yet, but he was ready to get to the bottom of Jacob’s troubles.
There was so much anger in the boy, and it was about time someone dug it out of him.
Otherwise it would keep spilling out onto others.
First Garrett had learned that it was Jacob who had been telling Louis scary stories about coyotes in the loft. Then the cows getting loose. Then the catastrophe at the church luncheon. Now today. Louis would have never found that fissure if he hadn’t taken off looking for Jacob.
The touch of a small hand on his brought Garrett from his thoughts.
He looked down and saw that Maria had stretched her free arm over the edge of the couch to grab his hand.
He squeezed her little hand gently as he did his best to give her a reassuring smile, and pushed off the wall to hunker down in front of the three sisters.
“Everything is going to be alright,” he promised, keeping Maria’s hand in his left, and reaching for Hannah’s with his right.
Finally, Hannah’s eyes drew away from the curtain to meet Garrett’s.
“What if it’s not?” She whispered. “What if it doesn’t heal right? What if he gets an infection and has to—”
Garrett cleared his throat just in time to stop Hannah from finishing her sentence. He knew what she was going to say. The awful thought had crossed his mind many times, but it was an awful thought the younger children didn’t need to have or hear.
“You know what I think we need right now?” Garrett asked, looking at each of their faces as he tried to keep a mask of calm over his own, “I think we need a prayer.”
Hannah’s brows flew up in surprise, then furrowed as she looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Right now?” She asked, glancing up at the partition. “Don’t you think it’s a little late for that? His arm is already broken.”
“It’s never too late for prayer in my experience,” Garrett replied. “What we have here is a problem, and personally, I’ve always felt better about what I’m going through after sharing those problems with God.”
Behind him, Jacob tsked his tongue.
“What’s God going to do?” The angry boy asked, “Magically heal Louis’s broken arm all of the sudden?”
“Probably not,” Garrett admitted, “But prayer isn’t just for healing. It’s to help us feel better too.”
A moment of silence hung in the air, then Isaac pushed himself off of the wall and kneeled by Garrett’s right side.
“I’ll pray with you, Garrett,” he said somberly, putting one hand on Hannah’s knee, the other on Rebecca’s head.
“Me too,” Maria agreed, snuggling closer into Hannah’s side.
Affection slowly ate away some of the anxiety in Hannah’s eyes, and as her hand twitched in his, she managed a small smile.
“Me too,” she said softly.
Garrett gave her a wink and a subtle nod, then looked up toward Jacob. The boy glowered at him for a moment. Then he rolled his eyes, shoved out of his chair, and walked to Isaac and put his hand on his big brother’s back.
“Alright everyone, let’s bow our heads and pray,” Garrett instructed.
He took a deep, steadying breath, opened his heart to the word of God, and let such words come to him.
“Heavenly Father, we come to You now in our time of fear in hopes of Your strength and guidance. We pray, Lord, for the quick healing of our little brother Louis’s arm.
For the fear in our hearts to be quieted.
For the doubt in our minds to be changed into hope.
We ask You, Lord, that You watch over all of us.
That You keep us safe in mind and body and spirit. ”
“Amen!” Louis’s voice boomed through the room.
Everyone’s heads snapped up upon hearing his voice, and suddenly there was a rush of chatter and laughter as Hannah and her siblings rushed to their brother’s side.
Louis’s smile was wide as he used his good arm to pat everyone on the shoulder, not at all looking like the scared, hurt little boy he’d been when they’d first brought him in.
“You’re a miracle worker, doc,” Garrett praised, unable to keep his eyes off of Louis as he walked to Doctor Fulton’s side.
The man chuckled.
“Hardly,” Doctor Fulton murmured under his breath as he leaned toward Garrett, “But with children, it’s easier to give them laudanum if you follow it up with candy. He’s got a pocketful of horehound. You’ll want to let him have a piece after every dose. Takes away the bitter taste.”
Garrett chuckled and readily agreed as Hannah stood up and joined them. Garrett took one look at how tightly she had her arms wrapped anxiously around her middle, and tucked her under his arm. In an instant Hannah relaxed, leaning into him as she dropped her arms to her sides.
“Well, Doctor? What’s the news?” She asked timidly.
Doctor Fulton’s green eyes flicked toward Louis as he pushed his round spectacles up the bridge of his sharp, straight nose.
“As far as breaks go, that’s the cleanest I’ve ever seen,” Doctor Fulton replied. “He’s really lucky.”
Relief poured through Garrett, almost making him dizzy. Hannah sank even deeper into his side as she too let out a breath of relief.
“I’ve set it and bound it. During the examination I found no other injuries aside from a few scrapes on his palms and knees.
You’ll need to keep those clean as possible, but the air will be good for them, so try not to bandage them.
He’ll need to wear the sling for at least six weeks, then bring him back to me.
Do so earlier if he starts running a fever, has an upset stomach, or starts slurring his words,” Doctor Fulton calmly explained.
Garrett and Hannah both readily nodded, then Doctor Fulton focused his gaze on Garrett.
“Louis told me how you rescued him,” he said, giving him a nod of respect, “That was mighty heroic of you to jump in after him.”
Garrett was about to thank him for his kind words when he noticed the doctor focus in on his bad shoulder.
“He said that you might be hurt too. Mind if I take a look? Been quite a while since I patched you—”
Hannah’s head whipped as she looked up at him, that anxiety returning to those beautiful blue eyes he was starting to love so much, and Garrett cut the Doc Fulton off before he could talk about the incident.
“No,” Garrett quickly replied, “No, I’m alright, Doc, but thanks anyway.”
Hannah had been through enough stress; he didn’t want her worrying about anything else, especially because of him.
It wasn’t just that, though. Even though he had yet to be given the bill for Louis’s visit, he already knew it was one he could not afford.
At that moment, he couldn’t even afford to cover the tab at the grocers.
What little he’d had saved up was now gone, and until he would join the cattle drive, he wasn’t going to be able to make any more.
“Are you sure?” Doctor Fulton asked, still looking at Garrett’s left side.
“Garrett, are you hurt?” Hannah asked, worry lacing her voice as she pressed her hand to his chest.
“No, I swear I am right as rain,” he lied, giving her a quick, assuring smile before turning his focus back to the doctor.
“I really am alright, Doc.” He said in a polite but no-nonsense tone; a subtle hint from one man to another to drop the subject.
Doctor Fulton gave him a curt nod, and to Garrett’s relief, moved the conversation back to Louis.
“I’ll give you the bottle of laudanum. Just follow the instructions I wrote on the label.”
“And the bill?” Garrett asked, his anxiety spiking as he said the word.
“We’ll settle up another time,” Doctor Fulton replied.
“I’ll figure it out in the morning and then send you the bill.
For now, I think you should just get your family back home, Mr. Mercer.
That light, loopy feeling he’s experiencing right now is going to settle into sleepiness soon, and you’ll want to be careful when you put him to bed. ”
“Thanks, Doc,” Garrett replied, shaking the man’s hand.
A few minutes later, with Louis carefully situated between his brothers and sisters, Garrett drove his family back to Diamond W Ranch.
He was grateful to God that Louis was going to be alright, but even as he replayed Dr. Fulton’s positive results over and over again, his worries kept jumping back to the bill that he knew he could not pay.