Monroe, Marla - Love Between the Hired Hands [The Men of Space Station One #4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

Chapter Eleven

It was two days before Phillip showed up at their door. They let him in, asking questions about Lacy and the baby.

“She’s fine. The baby’s fine,” Phillip finally managed to get out.

“Did you make it to town before she had it?” Elissa asked.

“Yes, but barely. The doctor almost didn’t get her in the delivery room fast enough.”

“How much did the baby weigh? Is it a girl or a boy?” Elissa wanted to know everything.

“It’s a little girl. She was a big baby, too. She weighed seven pounds and twelve ounces.”

“Good Lord! No wonder she was hurting so much.” Gray shook his head.

“So when does she get to come home?” Elissa asked.

“Tomorrow. I came back to make sure everything is ready for her and to see how things were going with the crops.”

“Everything is under control with the fields, don’t worry about them. We’ve got them handled,” Clint said.

“I really appreciate you taking over like this so soon. The doctor is amazed. She delivered almost two weeks early, and the baby was so big. He said she almost looked like she was past due.”

“Do you think eating some of the natural plants here like those funky-looking potatoes might have speeded things up some?” Elissa asked. She still thought the gardens were growing at a faster pace than they were supposed to.

“Elissa, I’m sure the doctor would have thought about that if it were something to worry about,” Gray said.

“I doubt he would have thought about it,” Phillip said. “I hadn’t thought about it, but all of our plants have grown faster than they did on Earth. I don’t know if it’s this rich red soil, or if it is the atmosphere.”

“Having two moons gives the night a lot of extra light,” Clint suggested.

“I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with the baby. Being early obviously didn’t bother it. She’s nursing like a champ. Lacy swears she’s got teeth.” Phillip chuckled.

Elissa decide to keep her fears to herself that the baby might grow faster like the plants. The more she studied about gardening, the more she had been worried about eating the natural plants, much less the ones they were growing.

Phillip talked with the men about the crops for another thirty minutes then left to get things ready for Lacy coming home. He had told her not to bother coming over the next day. He’d said they would stay with her the first day, but they would appreciate it if she could see about her the next one.

“I’ll be there to help. Don’t worry about her or the baby. Oh, what about her name? You did name her, right?” she teased.

“Julianne. We’ll call her Julie.”

They all told him what a pretty name it was and, once he’d left, talked about Elissa’s idea about the planet influencing Lacy’s pregnancy.

“I wouldn’t talk to her about it, Elissa. You might upset her,” Gray cautioned her.

“I won’t. But I am worried about how eating the vegetables is affecting us.”

“Let’s not borrow trouble. We’ve got enough of that already,” Clint said.

“How so?” she asked. It was the first time she had heard that they were having trouble.

“There’s a mole-like thing driving us crazy trying to catch it. Phillip and Cam have been having trouble with it for a long time.”

“Oh. I didn’t know about that.” She knew exactly what they were talking about. She’d read the reports of it in the journals from Phillip and Cam.

“Let’s get on out to work, Clint.” Gray headed for the kitchen door. “Be careful out in the garden, Elissa. Watch for that creature.”

She watched the men walk toward the fields through the window until they were out of eyesight. She missed them when they were gone. She hurried through cleaning up the breakfast dishes so she could get into the garden. She couldn’t wait to measure the plants and see the difference.

As it was, she found that they had grown a good two inches. The eggplant had grown nearly three inches. She recorded everything, including how deep green all the leaves seemed to be. Then she watered the entire garden. By the time she was finished, it was nearly noon. She knew the men would be back to eat sandwiches since she was there at the house. They seemed to want to check on her.

They walked in the back door almost an hour late, though with scowls on their faces.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“That animal took out half a row of wheat,” Clint fussed.

“Is there any way to trap it?”

“Phillip and Cam have tried and haven’t been able to. They said once the baby came and everything had settled down, we would stake out the fields at night and try to shoot it,” Gray told her.

“That sounds dangerous with all the creatures that are around here. I’ll worry about you while you’re gone.”

“We’ll be fine, Elissa. With several of us out there, we can watch out for each other,” Clint said. He pulled her in for a hug.

They ate lunch then hurried back out to the fields, leaving Elissa alone to deal with the dirt they’d tracked in. She didn’t mind, though. It was good to have them home in the middle of the day. They wouldn’t be able to do that once it got time to harvest. She’d be busy doing the same with the garden and putting up the vegetables, which reminded her to read up on how to can again.

Once she finished reading, she decided to walk around the yard for a little exercise before it was time to start dinner. She hadn’t needed to weed the garden today since she’d done it the day before. She needed the extra activity.

The deep, rich grass felt like thick carpet under her shoes. She located the poisonous flowers and steered clear of them. It dawned on her that she hadn’t heard a single bird since she had been on the planet. Neither had she seen any. That must mean there were none. Why hadn’t she noticed it before then? Maybe that was one reason there were so many insects. At least there weren’t any mosquitoes. That was a blessing.

She had nearly made it around to the garden in the back, when a noise alerted her that something was coming through the weeds at the edge of the yard. She froze, too afraid to turn her back and head for the back door.

Sure enough, one of the weird animals from before emerged from the grasses across from her. It stopped, sitting up on its haunches studying her. For some reason, she didn’t think it was the same one from the other day. For one thing, it was smaller. It seemed more curious than anything.

She slowly began to back up after waiting for what seemed like hours to see if it would leave. It followed her at first. Then, as if knowing that she might get away if she entered the house, it picked up speed. Elissa turned around and ran for the door like before. This time, the creature managed to bite her leg before she made it in the house.

She managed to get loose and slammed the door on the thing’s paw before it got free, making a whining noise. She quickly locked the door then limped over to the kitchen sink to grab the towel so she could staunch the flow of blood from the wound. She hobbled over to the table and sat in one of the chairs where she continued to hold the towel to the back of her leg. The wound was on her calf, and it ached and stung more than it hurt.

She needed to call the men on the radios. She dreaded it. They would be so upset that she’d gotten hurt. She checked the wound and was glad to see the bleeding had stopped for the most part. She pulled out the radio and called up the men.

“What is it, baby?” Gray asked.

“Um, you need to come home. That creature was back.”

“Fuck! Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes, but it bit me.”

There was utter silence, and then Clint was on the radio.

“How bad is it, Elissa? We’re on our way home now.”

It sounded as if they were running to her.

“It’s stopped bleeding. I’m fine, guys. Don’t run. You’ll be out of breath when you get here.”

“We’ll be there in a minute. You keep talking to us. We can’t talk while we run.” Gray sounded winded already.

“I’m fine. Really. It’s not a bad bite. I’ve got the first-aid kit out so you can clean it for me.” She continued to talk until they raced in the kitchen door.

Sure enough, they were out of breath, but they immediately knelt and looked at the back of her calf. She wasn’t sure if it was good that she was wearing shorts or not. Had she been wearing jeans, would it have kept the creature from biting through to her skin? Probably not.

“Ah, hell, honey. I know that has to hurt,” Clint managed to get out.

“Really, it’s not that bad. It burns more than anything.”

“Let’s get you on the couch so you can lie down while we clean it.” Gray picked her up and carried her into the other room.

Clint followed them with the first-aid kit. She dreaded the antiseptic. Surely it would burn worse than the wound did. As it was, it wasn’t that bad. That worried her.

“How are you doing, baby?” Gray asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Clint, go next door and ask them to use the radio base station and ask the doctor if she needs to come in or not.”

The other man nodded and hurried out of the room. Elissa heard the back door slam.

“What happened, Elissa?”

She quickly told him about what happened and was glad he didn’t yell at her about being outside when she really didn’t need to be.

“And it was the same creature as before?” he asked.

“Yes and no. I think it was a smaller one than before.” She was almost sure of it.

“Okay, I’m going to carry you up to bed. Unless the doctor wants to see you, I want you in bed with that leg up.”

“Okay. I’m tired anyway. I don’t mind going to bed.”

Gray’s lips thinned into a straight line. He didn’t seem to like it that she was tired. Did that mean something? She couldn’t remember anything from the journals to know if it was some sign. She sure hoped not.

Once he had her settled in the bed, she quickly fell asleep.

* * * *

Clint knocked on the door, hoping he didn’t wake the baby if she was asleep. Cam answered the door. He seemed to know something was wrong. Clint guessed by the look on his face and the fact he was even there.

“What’s wrong?” He stood back for Clint to walk in.

“Elissa was attacked by some type of animal and bitten. I need to use your radio and talk to the doctor to see what to do.”

“Ah, hell, Clint. Sure come on. I’ll show you were it is, and put it on the right frequency for you.” Cam led him to the office and fiddled with the radio.

“There you go.” He handed the mike to Clint.

Clint pulled up town and waited while they got the doctor for him. A few minutes went by, and the doctor finally came on. He relayed what had happened and what the wound looked like.

“There is nothing I can do for it. Puncture wounds can’t be sewn up. As long as you cleaned it very well, you’ve done everything you can, for now. If it gets infected, then you will need to bring her in. Or, if she acts odd, bring her in.”

“What do you mean, odd?” Clint asked.

“Just odd. Not herself. I expect it is going to act as if she has a burn, so expect it to blister some.”

“You’ve dealt with this before, then.” Clint was relieved.