“We need your help.”
“I’m sure you do,” she snapped.
“Ellen is seriously ill. She gave birth to her child but she isn’t recovering.”
Laura couldn’t believe that Donovan was standing in front of her and daring to lie to her. It was sickening. Hadn’t he gotten enough from her? What else could he possibly want to take? Her freedom? Ellen couldn’t have given birth because there were two children in her womb, not one. It was a ploy.
“You lie.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“You did about my father. You held him captive while I warmed your bed, unaware,” her voice sounding as disgusted as she felt.
“You never asked me if I had him.” He waved a hand in front of him as if to clear the air. “I do not lie. Here.” He opened a hand and tossed her a crumpled piece of parchment that landed softly on the floor at her feet. Curiosity got the better of her. “You move and I kill you.” She wasn’t sure she could keep that promise but her voice didn’t betray her. He moved both hands to the air showing her he wouldn’t move.
Slowly, she let the tension off the bow string and held the arrow and bow in one hand while she straightened out the parchment. She read the fine penmanship and then the chicken scratch below it. Her heart sunk. The parchment was wet with the snow outside and it was clear that it hadn’t traveled in a well protected pocket. It had traveled in haste. Laura swallowed the growing lump in her throat.
“We need your help,” he said softly. “Please, Laura. I know you hate me but please don’t take it out on Ellen. You are the only one who can help her.”
“Let the physician take care of it,” she said.
“He left. He left and we don’t know where he is.”
“He left her?”
“Yes.”
“My God.” The thought of a physician leaving an ill woman who has just given birth was foul. She hadn’t really met the man but she was sure that he was no gentleman. Their jobs were to help those in need, not to leave them. Why was Ellen so sick? There was no mention of what her actual ailments were other than not being lucid. Her illness could be due to any number of things. If she were hemorrhaging, she wouldn’t survive much longer, and there wouldn’t be much that Laura could do about it. Had that been the case though, she was sure Marcus would have mentioned blood in the letter.
The woman had been nice to her. Sure, she had been shaken when Laura told her about the twins. Twins… Had she not given birth to the second baby? Did she think that she was done? Could she think that? Her body would continue to tell her to push but if the physician said that there wasn’t another, she may fight it. If the second child had not come out, the placenta would still be intact and that could also pose many problems. She had to help her.
Laura stood, snatching the fur from the bed and collected a few more items, including the vial of wolfsbane. “If this is a ploy,” she snapped suspiciously, “I will never forgive you.”
He nodded once, “It’s not.”
Laura drove her feet into her boots, doused the fire, and ran out the door with her bow on her shoulder. She had spent the day before creating a few arrows and had managed to catch a rabbit for stew. Jack had eaten all day so he would be fine for a while. She looked over at Jack and wondered how she would keep up with Donovan.
“No. On my horse with me. I will bring you back when Ellen is better.”
“I don’t think that is a good idea,” the thought of his warm, loving body against hers made her weak in the knees, even though it has caused her so much inner turmoil.
