Merry Christmas, My Love

“Yeah, that’s right. I know it’s a bit out of your way, going the opposite direction from town and all, but I feel I can get better if I know my little girl is taken care of, and that way I won’t have to worry that she’ll catch this, too.”

“Ma, I don’t want to go to Aunt Suzie’s. I want to stay here and take care of you.” Emily wiped a tear from her face.

Priscilla stood and put her arm around the little girl. “Your mama is right, Emily. If you stay here you might catch what she has. Also, your mama is worried about taking care of you. You want her to get better fast, don’t you?”

Emily nodded.

“Mr. Beaumont and I will take care of her now, and your mama will start to feel better if she knows someone is looking after you.”

“What about school? I can’t walk to school from Aunt Suzie’s house.”

“I told the child not to walk to school by herself each day, but I know she’s been going.” Mrs. Beeker said before another fit of coughing took over.

“I’ll give you work to do while you’re at your aunt’s house, and I’ll stop in a few days from now and bring you more. You’ll catch up.”

Emily’s shoulders slumped. “Okay. I’ll go.”

Priscilla patted her on the head. “Good. Now go and pack a few things to take with you while I fix something for your mama.”

“Mrs. Beeker, I was down with influenza a few years ago. What I remember the most was the doctor told me to drink a lot of liquids. That’s the best thing you can do. But it should be nutritious things, like soup, broth, and tea with milk and sugar. If you feel up to it, you might have some toast.” Priscilla stood and removed her gloves, ready to go to work.

“I’ll check to see what you have and maybe I can put together a soup for you.” She turned to Mitch. “Can you check her firewood supply? Maybe chop some for her? We need to get this room warmer.”

With Emily packing and Mitch off to the woodpile, Priscilla made tea for Mrs. Beeker and forced her to drink almost the entire cup. She placed a glass of water by her side and ordered her to drink.

In the kitchen she found a soup bone in the icebox, along with some vegetables that she put into a pot of water to make a soup. Emily came into the kitchen and helped her make biscuits and cookies. Priscilla scrambled up some eggs for the child, which she devoured, along with the biscuits and cookies

Mitch came in a few times, filling up the firewood box by the door. Taking Priscilla aside, he said, “It’s looking more threatening out there every minute. We should probably finish up so we can get Emily to her aunt’s house and us back to town.”

“Emily is all packed, and I have soup on the stove and the biscuits and cookies are done. I think we can leave Mrs. Beeker now.”

“Good.”

Mrs. Beeker was sound asleep when they put on their coats. Emily went to her mother and kissed her on the cheek. “Bye, Ma. I hope you feel better soon.”

She opened her eyes and reached up to cup her daughter’s cheek. “You be good for Aunt Suzie. Tell her I’ll be by to fetch you when I’m feeling better.” She rose up on one elbow and looked at Mitch and Priscilla. “Thank you so much for doing this. I’m relieved to have Emily go to my sister’s.”

“We’re happy to do it. Just take care of yourself and drink a lot of water and eat a lot of that soup.” Priscilla wrapped her scarf around her neck, and checked Emily to make sure the girl was warm enough. “Come on, let’s go.”

The air had turned considerably colder while they’d been in the house. The first snowflakes fell as they entered the buggy and headed north toward the Milken farm. Emily was bundled up between her and Mitch, with the blanket wrapped around all three of them.

Mitch glanced again at the sky. The snow was falling harder, and he was beginning to worry about dropping Emily off and getting back to town. If the snow started to accumulate, it would be near impossible for the horses to pull the buggy. He sighed with relief when he saw smoke coming from Emily’s Aunt Suzie’s house close by.

“I’m just going to walk her in. We won’t have time to dawdle with the snow falling as fast as it is.” Mitch helped Emily down and grabbed her satchel. Hurrying her to the door, he knocked and was grateful when Suzie answered the door right away.

“My goodness, Mitch, what are you doing here with Emily in this weather?”

“I can’t stay. I have the new teacher, Miss Cochran, in the buggy. We have to get back to town. Martha is down with influenza, and she wanted me to bring Emily here so you can take care of her until she’s feeling better.”

“Oh, of course. Come on in, honey,” the woman said, wrapping her arm around Emily. She drew the child to her. “You best be on your way. It’s getting pretty bad out there.”

Mitch nodded and strode back to the buggy, his feet slipping out from under him. This wasn’t good. They still had a good forty-minute ride back to town, and that was without the snow. It would be better if he took another route that was shorter, opposite of the Beeker farm.

“Everything all right?” Priscilla asked as he settled in alongside her.

“As right as could be. For Emily, anyway. It’s going to be a tough ride for us.” He snapped the reins and the horses took off, the buggy already sliding as he continued down the road.

Within fifteen minutes he could not see the road, and the horses were having a hard time keeping the buggy moving forward. The snow fell so hard, he wasn’t even sure he was going in the right direction. “I think we’re in trouble here.”