Jubilee Trail (49 page)

“He called me a giggling harlot, dear. Quite refined in his language. I don’t believe he’s been around much.”

“Florinda, he—you—” A sob came up into Garnet’s throat and choked her words. It made her cough. A drop of blood crept down from the corner of her mouth. Florinda wiped it off with the damp towel.

“Don’t try to talk any more, Garnet. I don’t mind what Charles says.” Florinda’s voice was low and soothing. “Poor fellow, I’m kind of sorry for him. I don’t think he ever had any fun. Never had a girl sit on his knee and tell him how wonderful he was. Shut your eyes. Take a deep breath. You’ve got nothing to do but go to sleep. You can stay asleep as long as you want to. John’s here, and I’m here, and we’re not going to leave you.”

She talked on and on, in a voice as soft as drifting feathers. At last Garnet relaxed and went to sleep again. Florinda came over to where John sat on the wall-bench.

“Let’s give her a few minutes to get into really deep sleep,” she whispered.

They waited. There was no sound but the occasional stamping of a horse outside. After a while Florinda whispered, “That clock?”

“Here.” He handed her his watch.

“Put the lamp on the table so I can see the watch. Set up something between the light and her eyes.”

She sat by Garnet again. Very carefully, she dipped the spoon into the water, let the water drip off it, and stroked Garnet’s lips with the damp spoon. Garnet did not stir. Florinda watched the time for five minutes, then dampened the spoon again and drew it across Garnet’s dry lips. After the third time, she beckoned to John. He came close, and stooped so she could whisper into his ear.

“You see what I’m doing?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll have to keep doing this every five minutes, all night, all day tomorrow, all tomorrow night. Except when she’s awake. When she wakes up we’ll have to stop, so she won’t know we’re doing anything. But she’s so exhausted, she’ll sleep most of the time. We’ll keep her lips damp. After a while, she’ll swallow a drop of water without knowing it, and it will stay down. Her stomach has got such jerks that it won’t keep anything if she knows she’s getting it.”

John nodded. “Shall I take over?”

“No, I’d better do it first, because I know how. Have you got somewhere to sleep?”

“The next room, where they put our packs. But how about you?”

“I’ll stay here. When I can’t keep awake any longer, I’ll call you. We’ll take turns.”

John agreed. Florinda wet the spoon again and stroked Garnet’s lips. Garnet did not move.

John brought Florinda her packs, and told her she would be more comfortable if she put on some loose clothes. During the five-minute respites, Florinda put on a nightgown and a woolen robe she had brought with her. She took the pins out of her hair and shook it down. John found some blankets in the wardrobe and lay down to sleep on the floor of Garnet’s sitting-room next door.

The dawn was breaking when Florinda woke him up.

“John, my hand is getting shaky. You’d better take my place.”

He sat up. “How is she?”

“She woke up once. I talked to her and got her to sleep again. Come in and let me be sure you know how.”

John went into the bedroom with her, and began to dampen Garnet’s lips as he had seen Florinda do it.

“That’s fine,” she said when he had done it several times. “Every five minutes, no oftener.”

“Very well. Now get some sleep.”

Florinda went into the other room and lay down on the blankets he had left there.

Garnet kept having dreams. She dreamed about brooks, and ferns growing among the stones, beautiful ferns that dripped shining drops of water. She knelt down by the water to drink it, but it disappeared.

She dreamed about the desert. They were riding and the sun was hot. They came to a waterhole, but there was no water and the men had to dig. They waited and waited, and at last there was water, but when she held out her cup the water ran underground again and she was still thirsty. She was so thirsty that she woke up.

Waking up was harsh and painful. Her throat was fiery, her tongue was swollen, and her lips were cracked. As soon as she woke up she remembered the tragedy of Carmelita and the terrible way Oliver had died, and she remembered that she was going to have a baby. She felt a dazed panic as she wondered what was going to become of her.

She opened her eyes. John sat by her bed, dusty and unshaven as he had been on the trail. He had closed the shutters, but there was light enough to let her know it was daytime. She recalled then that he and Florinda had come to her in the middle of the night. It made her feel better to know they were there. Her lips felt slightly different too. It seemed to her that they were not as scaly as they had been. She tried to speak to him.

“Thank you—for coming back, John. Where’s Florinda?”

“Don’t try to talk,” said John. “I’ll turn you over, then I’ll get Florinda.”

He put his arms under her and lifted her, and turned her on her side to ease her cramped muscles. When he had drawn the blankets over her shoulders again he went into the next room, and a moment later Florinda came in. She was smothering a yawn.

“Were you—asleep?” asked Garnet. “I’m—sorry.” It was hard to talk.

“Oh, I feel fine,” said Florinda. She pulled the woolen robe around her, and pushing her hair back she fixed it in place with a pair of combs. “Now I’ll get the bed straight.”

She drew the covers down and rubbed Garnet all over with a cool damp cloth. She was deft and brisk, but very gentle. Garnet wished she could say how grateful she was.

After a while she went to sleep again. She woke up, and again she went to sleep. This happened several times. When she woke up Florinda or John was always there, but they did not bother her at all. The Mexican women had kept trying to give her spoonfuls of broth, which she could not keep down. John and Florinda did not make her swallow anything, but gradually her mouth began to feel less parched, and the cracks in her lips began to heal.

It was three o’clock in the morning. John was in the outer room, finishing a meal of beef and cold tortillas. They never brought any food into the bedroom lest the odor make Garnet sick again. He pushed back the plate and went in to tell Florinda he would take care of Garnet now.

In the lamplight Florinda’s face was lined and tired, but as he came in she beckoned to him excitedly.

“John!” she whispered, and he bent over to hear her. “John, it’s happening!”

“What’s happening? Is she better?”

“Yes. Look.”

She drained the spoon and passed it over Garnet’s lips. As she did so, Garnet unconsciously moved her lips and passed her tongue over them to get the dampness.

“She’s done that two or three times,” Florinda said softly. “Now we can go on. We’ve got to be careful. Oh John, it’s got to work! It’s
got
to work.”

She put out her left hand and he closed his own over it. They both held tight. The five minutes dragged. At last Florinda brought up the spoon again. This time she did not quite drain it. Tensely, holding her breath, she let a drop of water stay on Garnet’s lower lip. Still asleep, Garnet put out her tongue and tasted it. John felt a shiver of suspense. His eyes met Florinda’s.

“This is where it hurts,” said Florinda. “You want to hurry. You
can’t
hurry.”

John knelt down and put his arm around her waist. Florinda rested her elbow on his shoulder. They watched, silently. Every five minutes, Florinda put another drop of water on Garnet’s lips.

After a while John saw that her hand was trembling with fatigue. He took the spoon from her.

She yielded reluctantly. “Just a drop at a time,” she whispered. “A tiny drop, Johnny.”

She went into the other room and fell asleep. When she woke up John brought her beef and tortillas hot from the kitchen. Florinda had kept her bargain with Charles; she had not left the two rooms. John brought her water for washing, and she set the slop-jars outside the door so the servant girls could carry them away.

While Florinda was eating her breakfast John went to sit by Garnet. She opened her eyes.

Florinda had told him what to do when Garnet awoke, so now John leaned over the bed. “Garnet, you’re a lot better. Do you understand me?”

She nodded, and looked at him questioningly.

“Now we want you to try something,” said John. “You’re very thirsty, aren’t you?”

She nodded again.

“Florinda is going to give you a few drops of water. Just a tiny bit. Swallow it and keep very quiet.”

With a frightened look, Garnet shook her head. “John, I can’t!”

“Try, won’t you?” he asked gently.

Garnet made an effort to smile at him. “All right. I’ll try.”

“Good.” He heard the door open. “Here’s Florinda now.”

He put his arm under the pillow and raised her head. Florinda smiled down at Garnet, and put the spoon to her lips. Garnet swallowed. John laid her down again.

“Don’t move, Garnet,” said Florinda. “Take deep breaths. Very deep breaths.”

Garnet obeyed, closing her eyes. Florinda held the watch in her hand.

This time she waited fifteen minutes.

“Now we’ll try again, Garnet.”

Garnet swallowed another teaspoonful of water. Again Florinda waited fifteen minutes. The water did not come back. Florinda said,

“Get yourself a nap, Johnny. I’m going to need you later.”

When he woke up, that afternoon, Florinda told him triumphantly that Garnet had not gagged once. If she could take water she could take milk.

“Milk?” John repeated. He began to laugh. “In California?”

“Oh dear,” said Florinda, “I forgot.” She began to laugh too. There were thousands of cattle on the hills, but cattle in California meant beef and leather and tallow candles; few of the Californios ever used milk. “But can’t you get some milk, John?” Florinda asked anxiously.

“Yes, I’ll get it,” said John. “It’ll take a little time, that’s all.”

He went out. Acting on his orders, several of Charles’ cow-hands mounted and set out to rope some of the wild cows on the hills. They dragged in six cows before they found one that had any milk. With no notion of what was going to be done to her, the cow kicked and bellowed in panic, while her calf leaped after her, fighting too. Amid a great howling and racket the men rolled the cow over and tied her legs together, two and two, then a man held her up at each end while a third man forced milk out of her udder. The cow bawled. The serving-people quit work and ran over to watch.

The men’s efforts produced about a pint of milk. They untied the cow, and with yelps of relief she and her calf bounded back to the hills.

Florinda filled a cup with half milk and half water, and gave Garnet a spoonful every fifteen minutes. Garnet kept it down.

The next day she took the milk without any water to thin it, and in the afternoon Florinda said to John,

“She can try some meat broth now. You’ll have to fix it, since I’m not allowed in the kitchen.”

John obeyed her, and fed the broth to Garnet with a spoon. Garnet smiled at him as she finished it.

“John, I can’t say much yet. But you’ve been very good to me.”

He smiled back. “I’ve done nothing but take orders.”

“Getting dark, Johnny,” said Florinda. “Time for you to go to bed.”

“What about yourself?” he asked, for Florinda had been getting very little sleep lately.

She went to the door of the room where they rested by turns, and beckoned to him. With the door shut so Garnet would not hear, she said,

“Let me sit up with her a while, John. Yes, I’m dreadfully tired. But I’ve got to see how her stomach takes the meat broth.”

“You’ll wake me as soon as it’s safe to leave her?”

“Yes, and you can sit up the rest of the night.”

He agreed, and lay down on the blankets. Florinda went back to the bedroom. She sat by the bed, now and then giving Garnet a sip of water. After a while Garnet fell asleep.

When she awoke it was deep night. There was a lamp on the table, but it was burning low, and they had made a screen of two empty jugs with a shawl hung over them to keep the light out of her eyes. Florinda sat by the table, but she had fallen asleep, her head on her arm.

Garnet wondered how long Florinda and John had been here. She was still very weak, but she was not nauseated any more, and she was not having those hideous dreams. She wondered if she was really going to get well, and how she was going to take care of herself if she did.

She moved restlessly. Florinda raised her head, blinking vaguely at the light and pushing back her tumbled hair. Then, remembering where she was, she sprang up and came to the bed.

“I’m here, Garnet.”

“I’m all right,” Garnet said. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“I didn’t mean to go to sleep, either. How do you feel?”

“Very well.”

“No bumbles in the middle?”

Garnet shook her head.

“Fine. Here, take some milk. Drink it all, you need it.”

As she gave back the cup, Garnet saw how weary Florinda looked. She held out her hand, and Florinda knelt by her.

Florinda dropped her head on the pillow. She was so sleepy that her eyes were closing again. “You don’t look as if you’ve had any rest at all,” said Garnet. “How long have you been here?”

“Four or five days, I’m not sure. I’ve lost track. But it doesn’t matter.” Florinda rubbed her eyes. “You’re going to be all right, and you’ll have your baby.” She roused herself with an effort. “And I’ll tell you something else,” she added.

“Yes? What?”

“I can’t get you back home,” said Florinda, “but I can get you out of this house if you want to leave it. Would you like to come to Los Angeles with me?”

Garnet started. “You mean,” she gasped incredulously, “you’d let me live with you? I don’t have to stay here with Charles?”

“You’re damn right you don’t have to stay here. Do you want to come with me?”

“Do I want to! Oh, Florinda!”

“Then that’s settled?” Florinda asked.

“Florinda, I can’t tell you how I’ve wanted to get out of here. Oh, you are so good.”

“Why no I’m not. It’ll be fun having you there.”

Garnet sighed happily. Then a doubt struck her, and she demurred, “But Florinda.”