LeClerc 01 - Autumn Ecstasy (27 page)

“Bear, can’t I go too?”

He stood at the door, and Linsey could see an impatient Wolf waiting for him. “No. I don’t know what’s going on. You go to bed, and I’ll try to make it back before morning.”

He closed the door and was gone. Linsey slowly fitted the heavy bar in place and returned to the table. As she washed his plate and again banked the fire for the night, her thoughts were in a whirl. What could be wrong at the village? Everything had seemed normal when she was there earlier. True, her mind had not been on the activities around her, but still she would have sensed something wrong.

She undressed, climbing nude into the bed. Any kind of clothing was a waste of time when Bear was around; … he quickly dispensed with it! She yawned and snuggled under the fur. The baby demanded that she sleep more than usual, and she fell asleep, waiting for Bear to return.

Linsey was almost startled to open her eyes and discover that morning had come and Bear had not returned. Throwing back the fur, she hastily pulled on her flannel shirt and walked to the fire. As she knelt to add kindling, she wondered what had kept Bear away all night. When she stood, the room whirled away from her, and she had to clutch the table until everything righted itself. The feeling quickly passed but left behind the nausea that was becoming familiar each morning.

Linsey spent part of the morning trying to find ways to stay occupied, but her thoughts turned constantly to the village. She looked at the shirt she was sewing and tossed it on the table. There was no reason she couldn’t go and find out what was happening.

Following the now familiar trail, Linsey discovered that the day was warmer than yesterday, and she quickly regretted her choice of the heavy coat. She considered returning to the cabin for her wool cape but decided against it. The village was not much farther anyway.

The scene that greeted her at the entrance of the village could only be described as chaos. People ran from lodge to lodge, and the sounds of moans floated on the warm breeze. Most strangely of all, Linsey could hear the cries of babies and young children. The Shawnee rarely allowed their children to cry, and with so many people sharing living quarters, there was almost always someone to console them.

Linsey saw several people she knew, but no one stopped to talk with her as she walked to Wolf’s lodge.

“Morning Moon?” she called from the door.

The flap was raised, and Morning Moon, looking exhausted, stood in the doorway. “You should not be here, Lin Zee,” she said, her voice thick, her eyes swollen and watering badly.

“What’s going on? Where’s Bear?”

“I do not know the answer to your questions.” At the sound of a moan behind her, Morning Moon motioned for Linsey to enter a6 she hurried to the sleeping platform.

Linsey’s eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom, and she recognized the form of Spring Flower huddled beneath several blankets. Chattering Squirrel ran to her, but his happy squeal was absent. His huge dark eyes asked for reassurance, and Linsey picked up the child, nuzzling his soft cheek as she watched Morning Moon try to sooth Spring Flower’s restlessness.

Readjusting the toddler to her hip, Linsey crossed the room. “Morning Moon, what’s wrong with Spring Flower?”

“I do not know, Lin Zee,” the Indian woman replied with a tired sigh. A hard, dry cough rattled through her, and she had to grab the sleeping platform for support until it passed.

“You should be in bed!” Linsey cried with alarm.

The Shawnee woman shook her head. “I must tend my child.”

“Where is Wolf?”

“Again, I do not know. He and Bear left early to check on others of the village.”

Linsey grabbed a blanket and drew it around Chattering Squirrel’s square body. “Let’s go find your daddy,” she murmured to the child. “He needs to know your mama is sick.”

Without another word to Morning Moon, Linsey left. She walked down the roads, realizing that something was drastically wrong. The usual visiting back and forth between lodges was missing, as were the happy sounds of children at play. The few people she passed hurried about their business, stopping only when the racking cough forced them to grab something for support. From nearly every lodge, she could hear the same cough and the fussy cry of infants. In some, the sounds of groans accompanied the coughs, telling her that many adults were also affected.

Her alarm grew as she searched for Wolf and Bear, asking anyone she saw if they knew their whereabouts. She clutched Chattering Squirrel to her, relieved by his clear eyes and normal color. His unusual quietness told her that in the way of small children, he knew something was wrong.

She finally saw Bear, with Wolf and Kaleb, when they came out of a lodge some distance down the road. She hurried with Chattering Squirrel bouncing on her hip, trying to catch them before they moved on.

“Bear!”

The three men turned, and she saw their identical expressions of exhaustion, concern and bewilderment. Bear’s face grew stern as she approached.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said harshly.

“When you didn’t come home, I got worried,” she explained quickly. “What’s going on around here?” She looked at the three worried faces, waiting impatiently for one of them to answer.

“We do not know, Summer Eyes,” Wolf replied. Chattering Squirrel lifted his arms to his father, and Wolf took the child from her. He gently caressed the silken head that rested beneath his chin.

“Spring Flower is so sick, and Morning Moon is too weak to tend her; but she refuses to lie down.”

“I know.” Wolf turned and began walking toward his own lodge; his broad shoulders seemed to slump, as if he carried the weight of the world.

“Bear? … Kaleb?” She searched their faces for answers.

Kaleb shook his head and rubbed his hand over his creased forehead. “We jist don’t know, httle gal. I’ve seen som’in like this in the whites but never so bad. I jist don’t know if’n hits the same thin’ or not.”

“What?”

“Measles.”

“Measles?” Linsey shook her head in amazement. “Children have measles, but rarely are they as sick as this! Why, I had the measles, and I can remember running a fever for a few days; but once the spots broke out I felt fine. la fact I gave Betsy quite a bad time because she wouldn’t let me out of bed!”

“Hit jist ain’t the same with the Injuns, gal. This is a white man’s sickness, and they cain’t seem to fight hit off like we do.”

“Bear?” She turned pleading eyes to him.

He placed his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. “I don’t know, Autumn Fire. Since I got here last night, seven people have died.”

“Seven!”

“Four children, two old people and a young warrior.” His voice was thick with hopelessness. “Nearly every lodge has someone sick in it; children, old people, strong warriors, it travels to all of them.”

“Spring Flower and Morning Moon! They can’t die! They can’t!” She trembled, leaning against Bear, praying for him to deny the obvious.

Bear caressed the soft skin of her cheek, finding comfort for himself in the action. “We’ll do what we can. But it seems so damn useless.”

“When did it start? How did the measles come to the village?” Linsey felt Bear stiffen, his arms tightening painfully around her at her question.

“Small Dog!” He said the name as a curse.

“Small Dog? But he left the village months ago.”

“I should have killed him! Then he couldn’t have caused so much grief.” When he realized he was nearly crushing Linsey, Bear eased his hold but kept her in his arms.

“Small Dog returned almost two weeks ago. He came in the night and hid in the lodge of his mother. When Wolf found out the next morning, he went there ready to force Small Dog to leave, but he was too late. Small Dog was delirious and died by early afternoon.

“Four days ago the next person died, Small Dog’s mother. Her fever started that morning, and she was dead by that afternoon; but since she was fairly old, everyone just thought it was her time to die. Several people were showing signs of a cold: watery eyes, runny nose, sneezes. Two babies died two days later and five people yesterday, seven last night.”

“Fifteen people in four days?” Linsey asked in a horrified whisper.

“There will be more before it’s over.”

“Oh, dear God, what can we do?”

“Whatever we do, hit won’t be ‘nough. Thar’s gonna be a lot a dyin’ afore hits done.” Kaleb turned away, walking slowly back toward Wolf’s lodge.

“You will go back to the cabin,” Bear ordered in a harsh voice.

“No.”

“Linsey, there will be no argument. You’ll go back and wait for me. I’ll send word when I can, and you’ll be safe there.”

“No, Luc, I won’t go.” She had no intention of arguing with him. “I’ve had the measles; so there’s no chance of me catching it, and there are things here that I can do.”

A look of fierce anger crossed his face, and Linsey rushed on before he could release it at her. “These people have become my friends. If I can do anything that might save only one life, it will be a way of repaying them for a disease that was brought to them by my people. I could no more leave now than I could willingly stick my hand in a fire.”

Her eyes pleaded for him to understand, but her squared shoulders and raised chin spoke of her determination. Bear saw that she would stay and do what she could; his anger was a wasted use of energy.

“You must promise me that you’ll rest when you get tired.”

“I will.”

Bear lowered his head, his warm lips meeting hers. He searched for some of her strength in that kiss. These people were her friends, but for years they had been his family. One of the old people that had died during the night had been his mother-in-law, Wolf’s mother. Now her husband was showing signs of the disease, and Bear feared for the old man’s life.

He raised his bead, and with his arm across her shoulders, they began walking toward Wolf’s lodge. With each step, as the sounds of suffering shadowed their path, his heart a lead weight in his chest, Bear wondered where it would end. And when it was finished, would there be anyone left to wail the death cries to help the departed spirits find Manitou.

They entered the lodge and found Morning Moon bending over Spring Flower, trying to encourage the delirious child to drink. Morning Moon’s hand trembled so badly that the liquid in the cup spilled onto the blankets covering her daughter.

“I will tend her while you rest,” Linsey took the cup from Morning Moon, her fingers brushing over the dry, hot skin of the copper hand. An icy chill of dread circled Linsey’s heart as she led Morning Moon to her sleeping shelf and helped her to lie down.

“Lin Zee?” Morning Moon whispered.

Linsey leaned down so that she could hear the soft voice of her friend. “Care for my children.”

She placed a blanket over the Indian woman, tucking it carefully around her shivering body. “As I would care for my own,” Linsey promised.

With an exhausted sigh, Morning Moon closed her dark, troubled eyes. Her hand outside the blanket caressed her swollen stomach for a few seconds, then slowly stopped, and from her light breathing, Linsey knew she slept.

Turning, Linsey found Bear holding Spring Flower upright against his own body, urging the child to drink. She must have heard his whispered Shawnee words, for she did try but choked when the cool liquid reached her closed throat.

Bear looked up, his gaze pleading with Linsey’s. “What do I do?” His massively large hand soothed back Spring Flower’s silky black hair. “She’s so sick, and I feel so helpless.”

“Can you get me several buckets of water?”

He nodded, laid the child down and covered her carefully. “There’s a branch of the river at the far end of the village. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

Before he could leave, Wolf entered the lodge, still carrying Chattering Squirrel. At first Linsey feared his red, swollen eyes indicated he was also ill, but she quickly realized it was a sign of his grief and exhaustion.

Linsey motioned Bear from the lodge and turned to the fierce warrior she had come to like and respect. Taking the toddler from his arms and placing him on a mat with a piece of dried meat to chew, she turned to Wolf.

“You must rest.”

“My people need me.”

“Yes, they do. But what good will you be for them if you’re too tired to even think much less act?” Without a thought for her actions, Linsey took his hand and led him toward a bed. “Sleep for a little while. I will wake you if you are needed.”

Almost against his will, Wolf lay down, his gaze staring at the thatched roof overhead. “And when I wake, Summer Eyes, how many more of my people will have left on their journey to Manitou?”

Their gazes met and held, both reflecting their worry and sense of hopelessness. “Sleep,” Linsey whispered, tears pooling in her emerald eyes. “Escape the horror for a time in dreams of happier moments.”

“A warrior does not run from an enemy, Summer Eyes. He fights until the battle is done.”

“This battle will not be over quickly, Wolf. You will have more strength to fight after you’ve rested.”

Liiisey checked on Morning Moon, who slept restlessly, her skin dry and hot. Turning back to Spring Flower, Linsey found the child muttering, her fever having risen to the point that touching her was unnecessary; the heat seemed to radiate from around her. “How’d ya git him ta sleep?”