Red Dead Revelation I: A Good Thing (ArthurXEliza)

Chapter Fifteen: Isaac

November. Any day now. Eliza looks like a round pumpkin--and feels like one. In her small frame, she wobbles side to side everywhere she goes.

Because of her impending delivery, the hotel owner, Mr. Gibbs, told her to remain home. She could come back to work when she was able. Even though they both knew that was hardly likely, he didn't want to fire her, and she didn't want to quit.

Every week, Eliza has paid a visit to Dr. Tate so that he may evaluate her progress. Near the end of October, he told her that for the next few weeks leading to her delivery, he would travel the hour to see her at her cabin. She wasn't excited about it for many reasons. One was the inconvenience for him to travel so far, she was embarrassed by her humble home despite all the work she and Arthur had done, and she didn't want to deal with the possibility that he would be there if Arthur should show up. How would she explain that?

Arthur hasn't been back since the summer, and since Eliza hasn't been working at the hotel, she spends her days at home. She works steadily at keeping up with the little homestead. She successfully bought a dairy cow, which she named Little Maid, though little she was not. It was work to keep her fed, but thankfully there is an unattended wheat field that had sprouted from last year's seed, and Little Maid and Farm Boy both had been grazing out there before the weather started to change. Eliza was glad that Farm Boy had a friend, as they remain close to one another when they were not working.

Upon Dr. Tate's cautionary advice, Eliza has made it a point to take it easy. She worked slowly to harvest the last vegetables and spent a lot of time canning indoors.

Now that it is getting colder, she tries to keep the place warm. However, she hasn't been able to chop wood by herself, so she has resorted to using fallen branches and dead bushes that she stumbles upon outside. She hopes that she will be able to get her strength back when her baby comes. She knows she will be busier than ever, but at least she won't be at risk of injuring herself.

By the way that people have been talking in town, winter can also come at any time. The fall season is short-lived here. In preparation, Eliza has canned almost all of the vegetables she has grown this year, hoping that it will be enough.

Eliza has also been invited to several Thanksgiving dinners. The Reverend Robert Ford and his wife are a middle-aged couple who seem to have taken a great interest in her. While she wants to believe their interest is genuine, she can't help but wonder if they, including the rest of the town, would still treat her the same if they knew that she really wasn't a widow, but an unmarried woman. Regardless, she declined each invitation politely. She hated the idea of going into labor with other people around. She was learning that she did not like attention--positive or negative.

As she now draws closer to her time, she longs for Arthur. She wonders if he will make it in time. If only he could be here now and stay longer, he wouldn't miss it.

She doesn't know all that could happen during labor, but she knows that it will be a painful experience. What else could it be? All she knew was that she didn't want to be alone when it happened.

She's spending her Thanksgiving alone. She made herself a small meal of boiled eggs, roast chicken, and an apple pie. It is humble but it is enough to feed her and her baby inside her.

As she sits at the table, she listens to the silence of the night. It is still and there is snow in the wind. There is only one week left of November and the baby still hasn't come. She has noticed that her belly looks different and feels different, so perhaps that means it will be soon.

Not soon enough, for the snow will also frost the ground before too long.

***

Six days go by and Eliza wakes up with her face cold. She can see her breath fill the room. Panicking, she pulls away the covers and as her feet touch the floor, she screeches. The floor is like ice.