Chapter Thirty-Three − A Raging Storm
Lost in deep sleep, Madeline sensed the uproar more than she heard the agitated voices in the room next to hers.
As she had spent the past few days in constant alertness, worried about her husband, her mind quickly abandoned the sweet oblivion of sleep and jerked her wide awake within seconds.
Her eyes flew open, and she shot upright, trying to orient herself in the dark room.
Her family’s distressed voices drifted through the door, and Madeline’s heart stopped. Had her husband taken a turn for the worse?
As Madeline had not bothered to change when Derek had sent her to bed, she jumped to her feet and rushed to the door, yanking it open, her eyes immediately finding the man in the bed.
Startled, all eyes turned to her as she stepped into the room, her heart filling with relief when she saw Derek sitting in bed, his eyes narrowed as he spoke to his brother-in-law. He seemed fine, or at least as fine as could be expected under the circumstances.
“What’s going on?” Madeline asked, surprised to see not only Sean, but also Kara and Bessy standing around the bed. Then she looked closer and saw a small boy in front of Kara, a blanket wrapped around his slim shoulders.
However, the boy was not Collin.
Maybe a few years older than Madeline’s nephew, this boy had dark brown hair cut short and at present dripping wet. His eyes stood open wide, and he shivered all over, trying to pull the blanket closer around himself. Fear rested on his features as he fidgeted in Kara’s embrace.
Looking closer, Madeline finally recognised him. It was Daring Matt as Collin called him.
Matthew Dunning.
The widow’s son.
“What is going on?” Madeline repeated, her eyes shifting over her family’s concerned faces. “What’s wrong? Why is he here?”
Pulling the blanket from his legs, her husband made to stand up. “The roof of Meagan’s cottage−”
Another coughing fit seized him, and he almost doubled over.
Meagan? Madeline wondered as she rushed to his side, offering him the cup of tea once he was able to breathe again. “You’re not going anywhere!” she ordered, pushing him back onto the bed. Feeling his forehead, she was relieved to see the fever had not returned. Still, he was not fit to leave the bed.
Ready to object, Derek opened his mouth; however, before he got a single word out, Sean stepped forward. “Mrs. Dunning’s roof caved in,” he said, glancing at the little boy. “Matthew’s mother and sister are trapped inside so he came running over, asking for help.”
“I have to go!” Derek exclaimed, once more pulling back the blanket.
Exasperated, Madeline jabbed him in the chest, watching him fall back against the pillows with no small amount of satisfaction. “If you try to get up one more time, I swear I will tie you to the bed,” she snarled into his face. “Have I made myself clear?”
Her husband’s lips tightened as he stared up at her. “They need help!”
“And they will get help,” Madeline replied, a touch of menace in her voice, “but not from you.” Then she stood up straight and took a deep breath. Never had she found herself in such a situation where another’s life depended on what she would deci−
Madeline stopped. Yes, she had. When Collin had collapsed, she had taken matters into her own hands…and her decision to act had saved his life. There was no reason she could not do so again.
Swallowing, she turned to Sean. “Alert the nearest neighbours,” she instructed. “Tell them to come to the widow’s cottage right away. We’ll need their help.”
Before the last word had left her lips, Sean darted out of the room.
“Bessy.” Spinning around, Madeline looked to her mother-in-law. “You see to the children.”
“I will,” Bessy confirmed, a proud gleam in her eyes as she nodded to Madeline.
Glancing at her husband, Madeline added, “Even your own. He does not leave this bed, is that clear?”
As her husband’s jaw dropped open in outrage, Bessy chuckled. “As you wish, my lady.”
“Good. Kara, would you please get my boots and coat,” Madeline asked. “I’ll be down in a minute.” Ushering her family out the door, she turned to her husband, doing her best to ignore the anger burning in his eyes.
“You have no right to tell me what−”
“Yes, I do,” she interrupted, striding toward the bed. “You are in no shape to get up, and if you’re not willing to see that, then it is up to me to ensure that you do not endanger yourself. I’m your wife, and you will do as I say.”
As he stared at her with wide eyes, Madeline noticed a slight twitch in his upper lip as though he secretly delighted in the way she spoke to him.
Madeline swallowed, “I know it is not easy for you to relinquish control, but you need to trust me when I tell you that I will find a way to get them out. Believe me…she…will be fine.” Rising to her feet, Madeline turned to the door, unable to look at her husband any longer. Was he merely concerned for one of his tenants? Or was…Meagan…special to him?
“Be careful,” he called after her, his voice raw with emotion.
Looking back at him over her shoulder, Madeline swallowed seeing fear in his eyes. “I will.”
He nodded to her as though binding her to her words. “I cannot lose you.”
As hope surged to her heart, Madeline’s breath caught in her throat. “Me? Or her?” she asked and before he could answer slipped out of the room. Even if she needed to know, she did not need to know right then and there.
It would not serve her to break down sobbing because her husband had lost his heart to another woman. There were a mother and child in danger, and no matter who they were, they deserved to get help.
And she would make sure they received it.
Hastening down the stairs, Madeline found Collin and Matt in the kitchen, slurping Bessy’s stew, while Kara and her mother stood by the workbench talking.
“I am fine, Mother. I can go.”
“You should be careful in your condition,” Bessy objected, her gaze travelling to Kara’s swollen midsection. “Do you want to risk losing your child?”
“Of course not,” Kara stated. “But little Erin−”
“You’re not coming!” Madeline instructed as she sat down on a chair to pull on her boots.
“What? Why?” Staring at her, Kara shook her head while her mother nodded in approval. “If it were Collin−”
“You’re still not coming,” Madeline repeated, slipping into her warmest coat. “Your mother is right. If something were to happen to you or the baby, none of us would ever forgive ourselves.” Grasping Kara’s hands, she held her gaze. “Take care of Matt, and soon, we’ll bring back Erin and…her mother. And then we’ll be needing your help.”
Sighing, Kara nodded. “But you cannot go by yourself.”
Buttoning up her coat, Madeline stepped toward the door. “I will not be alone for long.” Then she slipped outside and sucked in a sharp breath as the cold night air hit her flushed cheeks. Instantly, her teeth began to chatter, and she glanced up at the sky, relieved that the rain had eased up. Still, the wind howled like a wild beast, sending shivers down her back.
Finding her way in the dark proved less difficult when the clouds moved, revealing a crescent moon hanging high in the sky. However, when the darkness engulfed her, Madeline could not see her hand before her eyes. More than once, she stumbled and went down onto her knees, her hands sinking into mud and wet grass.
Step by agonisingly slow step, she made her way up the small slope until she could see the cottage on the other side when the silvery moonlight reached down to the sodden ground.
A gasp of horror tore from her throat as she saw the smashed-in structure. The old oak tree that had been charred by lightning had become uprooted in the storm and fallen onto the side of the cottage, tearing down the wall and unhinging the roof.
Before she knew it Madeline was running down the small slope toward the trapped family, her eyes searching for openings into the house that had once been the family’s home, hoping for a way inside. “Mrs. Dunning!” she called as she approached, praying that they were still alive. “Mrs. Dunning! Erin!”
“We’re here!” came a quiet voice from within, barely audible over the howling of the wind. “We’re here!”
Coming to a stop just short of the collapsed cottage, Madeline glanced around. “Where are you? Are you hurt?”
“My daughter is not moving,” Mrs. Dunning called, terror clear in her voice. “I can’t get to her. My foot is stuck. Please help us!”
Still searching for a way in around the walls that remained standing, Madeline began to clear some fallen and splintered boards out of the way, trying to get closer. One of the window panes had been splintered by a fallen beam, and Madeline carefully grabbed the wooden frame with her hands, giving it a careful shake.
It did not move.
Did not even sway.
Encouraged, she put more strength into it, trying to determine if it could be used as a way inside. Would the wall hold if she attempted to climb in through the window?
“Where are you?” Madeline called again. “Are you or Erin near the broken window? Can you see it from where you are?”
“I’m across the room, but I can see it,” Mrs. Dunning called. “My daughter is in-between. Something hit her on the head.” A sob escaped the terrified mother. “She’s not moving.”
Cursing under her breath, Madeline gritted her teeth and placed her hands on the window frame. She could not wait for their neighbours. She needed to do something now. “Is she breathing?”
“I don’t know. It’s too dark to see.”
Madeline took a deep breath and began to push herself up, slowly and carefully lifting herself onto the window frame, listening for the wood to give way under her weight.
However, it did not.
Encouraged, Madeline inched forward, gazing into the darkness inside the collapsed cottage. Without the moon, it was almost pitch black. Swinging her legs over, she began to lower herself toward the floor as her muscles strained to hold her. What if little Erin lay closer than her mother thought? What if she stepped on the girl in the dark?
Closing her eyes for a moment, Madeline drew in a deep breath before suddenly the muscles in her right arm began to quiver under the strain, and she slumped down abruptly.
A sharp pain cut into her arm, and Madeline cried out.
“Are you all right?” Mrs. Dunning called out. “What happened?”
Gritting her teeth, Madeline felt her arm, her fingers touching something cold, smooth, wet.
A piece of glass from the broken window.
As her teeth ground together to muffle her cry, Madeline pulled the shard from her flesh, feeling a warm wetness run down her arm and onto her dress.
Blood, her mind supplied matter-of-factly.
Drawing a handkerchief from one of her coat pockets, Madeline tied it around her arm, using her teeth to pull the knot tight. Then she turned to the darkened room.
Lowering herself onto her hands and knees, she carefully moved forward, occasionally reaching out a hand to determine if there was anything in her way. Slowly, she crawled onward until her hand brushed over something soft.
Fabric.
Moving closer, Madeline’s hand travelled from the girl’s skirts upward and found her warm body. “I found her,” she whispered, uncertain if the widow had heard her with the howling wind outside. Hope and fear tightened her chest as she moved her hand to the girl’s chest…and waited.
For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, nothing happened, and Madeline’s body grew cold with terror.
But then Erin’s chest rose…and fell…and rose again.
Exhaling loudly, Madeline almost slumped to the floor in relief. “She’s breathing!” she called into the darkness.
Relieved sobs came from the far corner of the room. “Thank you. She is hurt.”
Feeling the child’s head, Madeline found a wet stickiness on her left temple. “She has a cut on her forehead,” she told the worried mother, “but the bleeding seems to have stopped.”
“Good,” Mrs. Dunning mumbled. “Good. Can you get her out?”
“What about you?”
“Get her out,” Erin’s mother insisted. “I’ll be fine.”
“All right.” Pulling the girl into her arms, Madeline began dragging her toward the window where a few silvery rays shone in, showing her the way out. “Don’t worry, little Erin. We’re almost there.” As she reached the wall, Madeline pushed herself onto her feet and then pulled the girl off the floor, lifting her as best as she could.
Gritting her teeth, Madeline cursed under her breath, doing her best to ignore the painful throbbing of her injured flesh. Then she took a last step and looked out the window, watchful of broken shards that would harm the girl in her arms.
As her gaze travelled over the small slope in the distance, Madeline froze, squinting her eyes, wondering if she had truly seen a light or if she was beginning to see bright spots due to blood loss. Was someone coming? “Hello?” she called into the open. “Is someone there?”
Instantly, voices responded, but they were too far away for her to understand what they were saying.
Again, Madeline called out, hoping that their neighbours would find them quickly. It would be far safer for Erin if someone were to take her from Madeline than if she tried to climb through the window with the girl in her arms. “Hello? Who’s there?”
“Over there!” Sean’s voice called, and Madeline sighed in relief, her eyes focusing on the faint lights in the distance.
A moment later, she could make out a group of shadows approaching the cottage in haste, two or three of them carrying a torch. Their long strides bringing them closer fast. As the clouds moved once more, Madeline spotted Sean as well as Mr. Thompson and several tenants she had come to know well over the past few weeks. Their faces were tense, their eyes wide, as they surveyed the damage.
“Take her,” Madeline said when Sean and Mr. Thompson reached the window. “Her mother is on the other side of the room. Her foot seems to be stuck.”
Mr. Thompson nodded, handing little Erin to Sean, who stepped back, cradling the little girl in his arms. “Step aside. I’ll come in.”
Madeline nodded, then turned around. Stretching out her hands, she took a careful step forward. And then another. “Mrs. Dunning, where are you?”
“I’m here,” the woman called out.
Following the widow’s voice, Madeline kept walking, slowly, step by step, Mr. Thompson following on her heels. When the voice seemed to come from directly in front of her, Madeline lowered herself to her knees and crawled onward, her hands reaching out.
A hand suddenly curled around her arm, and Madeline flinched, her heart hammering in her chest. “Is that you?”
“Yes! Please help me. My foot is stuck.”
Feeling her way in the darkness, Madeline followed the widow’s leg until she came upon a ceiling beam which had come down, trapping the woman’s foot. “Mr. Thompson, help me lift this,” she called, reaching out and then guiding his hands toward the rafter.
Together, they counted to three and then put their backs into it as they strained to lift the heavy board. Madeline’s arm ached under the strain, but the wooden beam slowly gave way.
The noise of someone shuffling on the floor reached Madeline’s ears. “I’m free!” the widow called.
Instantly, they released the beam and it crashed back down onto the floor, their breaths coming in strained gasps. As the strain fell from her, Madeline felt her arms begin to tremble and she was strangely reminded of the night Milly had foaled.
“Let’s get out of here,” Mr. Thompson urged them, “before more of the roof comes down.”
Assisting Mrs. Dunning, they made their way back to the window and handed the widow to the waiting neighbours outside. Then Madeline pulled herself up onto the windowsill, a smile coming to her face as her neighbours reached out to help her down. Again, Mr. Thompson followed on her heel.
“Thank you,” Madeline called against the howling wind, looking around the little group. “Thank you for coming.”
Mr. Thompson’s eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the handkerchief wrapped around her arm. “Are ye injured, my lady?”
Glancing at the blood-stained fabric, Madeline shrugged, “I cut myself when I climbed in the window. It’s not serious.” Then she turned to see Mrs. Dunning wrap her arms around her daughter, tears streaming down her face. “We should return to Huntington House to see to the family.”
“We can take care of them,” Mr. Thompson offered as he leaned closer so she would hear him, his eyes kind as he looked at her. “You’ve done enough for one night. Mr. Brewer will take ye home.” He glanced at Sean.
“You’re very kind, Mr. Thompson,” Madeline replied, touched by the support among their tenants, “and I thank you for your help in coming out in this storm. But I’m certain my husband would insist on it as must I. I promise they will be well-looked after at Huntington House.” Madeline hoped that Mr. Thompson would not resist further as she did not want to point out that despite everything Huntington House still had more means to take in a family of three. Their tenants were already forced to make due with very little, and yet, they were still willing to share it. Madeline did not wish to insult their generosity.
After a long moment, Mr. Thompson nodded, approval and respect in his eyes as he looked at her. “As ye wish, my lady.” Then he gestured to another man. “Will, help me carry Mrs. Dunning.”
With Erin still in Sean’s arms and Mr. Thompson as well as Mr. Tanner carrying Mrs. Dunning, the group slowly made their way back up the slope toward the manor. Leaning forward against the wind, Madeline swallowed, wondering what having Mrs. Dunning under the same roof would mean for her marriage.
And yet, she could not walk away. The family deserved their help.
Madeline could only hope that it would not end in a disaster.