Chapter Sixteen
The rain was welcome to both man and beast alike.
Irrigation ditches swelled up, and the downpour provided respite from the dry heat that had blanketed Gunnison for weeks on end.
Cody was planning to ride out to check on the herd and ensure no cattle had gone astray.
The morning was still gray, with the promise of more rain hanging in the air when he rose.
He left his room and stepped into the hall, taking a deep breath of the clean air that wafted in through the open windows.
He was preparing to head down the stairs when the sound of coughing halted him.
Dread settled into his stomach like a lead weight.
He paused, ears straining to see if it was an isolated instance or the harbinger of something more serious.
There was another round of coughing, and in an instant, he was dashing down the hallway, his heart in his throat.
He threw open the door to Ruby’s room and found her abed, her face pale, a handkerchief to her mouth as she coughed again.
Her hair was loose on her pillow, and for a moment, all that Cody could see was his wife in their bed, her life slipping away.
“Hello, Pa,” Ruby said hoarsely. She managed a weak smile. “Seems I shouldn’t have walked home in the rain yesterday.”
Cody said nothing. His entire body was rigid with fear.
“Plenty of rest will see you right in a couple of days,” Amelia said. Until she spoke, Cody hadn’t even realized that she was there. She was sitting next to Ruby’s bed, pressing the inside of her wrist to Ruby’s forehead. “Would you care for any breakfast?”
“Some toast would be lovely,” Ruby croaked.
Amelia nodded. “I’ll bring you up some warm milk with honey, too. That will help soothe your throat. You just rest for now.”
Cody stared at the pair of them. It was like some grotesque pantomime with how casual they were being, as if they couldn’t sense the danger in it all.
Amelia was busy tucking the blankets around Ruby, promising to find her extra pillows so that she might sit up more comfortably, moving at no more than her usual speed.
“Oh! I’ve just remembered I dried some wild mint the other day. That will help your cough right enough,” Amelia said, her face brightening. “Pardon,” she said as she slipped past Cody and out into the hall.
He was still staring at Ruby for a moment, unable to form coherent words.
He couldn’t understand why Amelia was acting so casually.
It was like the house was afire, and he was the only one who could see it burning.
Without a thought in his head except Ruby, Cody spun on his heel and thundered down the stairs after Amelia.
He caught up to her when she was in the kitchen, preparing to rouse the range for the day. “What are you doing?” he demanded, finding his voice at last.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that she has breakfast,” Amelia said placatingly. “I’ll get the cow milked as soon as the range is going. Oh, ugh, can you believe the state of this plate?” She held a dish up for him to inspect. “Logan really needs to do better at scrubbing.”
Cody sputtered for a moment before finally snapping, “I don’t care about a plate! Ruby is sick, she’s clearly unwell, and all you can talk about is toast and plates!”
Startled, Amelia looked up at him, tilting her head quizzically. She slowly reached for her apron, slipping it over her shoulders and tying it about her waist. “Children get sick. She simply has a cold.”
“Who has a cold?” Logan asked, shuffling sleepily into the kitchen.
“Your sister,” Amelia said. She passed him the egg basket. “You see to your chores, and I’ll tend to Ruby. Oh, and I’ll need you to inform Miss Monroe that Ruby won’t be at school today.”
Logan nodded, his eyes half-opened, and made his way out to the chicken coop.
Cody felt like something was going to burst in his head. Their casualness bordered on the ghoulish, as far as he was concerned. “I’m going to fetch the doctor,” he announced.
Amelia, preparing a mixing bowl of dough, favored him with a confused look again. “Whatever for?”
“For Ruby!” he cried. “How can you just stand there? She’s sick! She needs medical attention!”
“There’s truly no need,” Amelia objected. “It’s just—”
But Cody wouldn’t hear of it. Just because no one else could see the danger didn’t mean that he had to be idle. Without another word, he was flying out the door and down to the stable.
***
Cody paced anxiously in the small space between Ruby’s bed and the door to her room as the doctor examined her.
He bent over her to feel her forehead, touching her throat and listening to her breathe.
The doctor, a man of prodigious girth and white muttonchops that persisted decades after they were in fashion, hummed as he examined Ruby.
He straightened and stuck his thumbs into the little pockets of his vest. “It’s a cold,” he pronounced.
“I understand the young lady was walking in the rain yesterday. Well, these things will happen. She’ll be fine in a day or two.
A bit of care in the meantime, and she’ll be tip-top before you know it. ”
“I’ve been giving her warm milk with mint and honey, and some ginger tea,” Amelia said. “I thought I might put a warm towel about her throat.” She glanced briefly at Cody. “I have some experience in tending the sick.”
The doctor nodded, smiling at Amelia. “That’s just the ticket,” the doctor said approvingly. “You’re in good hands, young lady,” he said to Ruby. “Now, you rest. Sleep as much as you like,” he instructed. He bent to retrieve his bag.
Cody stilled. It all seemed too simple, too easy. “Doctor—” he began, but Amelia was already ushering the doctor out of the room.
“I’m so sorry to have roused you so early,” she was saying. “Please, won’t you stay and have some breakfast?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Walker,” the doctor replied. “The missus will have my pork and beans waiting on me.”
“At least take a cup of coffee,” Amelia insisted, ushering him down the stairs. Cody trailed along behind them, confused and confounded.
“Well,” the doctor hedged. This was all the encouragement that Amelia needed. She had him sit in a chair in the sitting room, which he settled into with a sigh. The doctor caught Cody staring at him and offered him a gentle, patrician smile. “Sit, man,” he instructed.
Cody perched on the edge of a chair nearby, the heel of his boot drumming on the floor.
The doctor leaned back, lacing his fingers over his belly.
“She’s fine, I swear to it,” the doctor said quietly.
“It really is just a cold, the sort that children are always getting. I won’t criticize your anxiety after the awful time your wife had.
” The doctor’s face creased there, but he soldiered on, not noticing the way that Cody winced at the mention of Anne.
The doctor glanced toward the kitchen, where the sounds of Amelia bustling about could be heard.
“But you have a fine woman there—she knows what she’s doing. Let her attend to your daughter.”
Cody absorbed all of this. Slowly, his foot stopped its nervous tapping. He leaned forward to the doctor, looking him square in the eyes. “You swear to it that it’s nothing more serious? She’s really going to be fine?”
“She will be,” the doctor said. “She’ll be more harmed than helped by your anxiety. Ah, that smells divine,” the doctor said, inhaling deeply as Amelia appeared with a cup of coffee and a biscuit slathered with butter on a small plate.
“I know you said you had breakfast waiting, but I can’t abide the thought of you riding off on an empty stomach all the way home,” Amelia said as she passed the food over. “I do feel guilty about rousing you so early.” Amelia shot Cody a significant look.
The doctor tutted at Amelia. “Think nothing of it, ma’am. It’s always a fine day when I can deliver good news.”
The doctor having been seen to, Cody rose and quietly climbed the stairs back to Ruby’s room.
Not wishing to disturb her, he softly let his hand rest on the door latch and opened it as quietly as possible.
The door creaked slightly, which made him wince.
He peered into Ruby’s room, his eyes studying her face and watching her breathe.
She was resting easily, her hands relaxed atop her quilt. The window had been opened to let the gentle morning air waft in. She was propped up a bit in deference to her coughing, which seemed to have subsided with the aforementioned warm milk. Her face was peaceful, serene even.
“Are you all right?” Amelia asked.
Cody blinked, startled. He hadn’t heard her climb the stairs nor the doctor departing. “I’m fine,” he whispered. “I suppose I ought to feel a little foolish.”
To his surprise, Amelia shook her head and gave him a gentle smile. “I don’t think anyone can criticize a father for loving his daughter.” She paused. “Though, since you brought it up, yes, you were just a little foolish.”
Cody gave her an arch look, which just made her smile broaden. He bit the inside of his lip to keep from smiling in return. “Well. Be that as it may, I’ll be justly punished with an unnecessary doctor’s bill.”
Amelia shook her head again. “He refused payment,” she said. She peered around Cody to look at Ruby and was evidently satisfied by her condition. “I think the poor man feels terrible about your late wife still.”
Cody nodded, unable to say anything to that.
Ruby, meanwhile, stirred a little, her brow furrowing as she swallowed uncomfortably.
As she did so, the shawl that had been draped around her shoulders slipped a little.
Before Cody could react, Amelia was slipping past him to adjust it so deftly that Ruby didn’t wake.
He watched as Amelia fussed, making sure that Ruby was properly covered and warm enough.
I think she truly loves the children, he realized.
Anyone who cared for his children couldn’t really be all that bad.
Even so, the realization left him with a strange feeling that unsettled him for reasons he couldn’t understand.
If she loved the children, then why couldn’t he bring himself to care about her as more than a caretaker?