“I’m sorry.”
Caleb said nothing.
Doctor Avery turned toward Eliza.
“And you?”
She stared.
Mrs. Henderson answered.
“She lost a child.”
Doctor Avery seemed to understand the arrangement.
Frontier medicine left little room for social delicacy.
He simply said:
“Then right now, ma'am, you may be the reason this boy survives.”
Eliza looked down.
Caleb saw tears fall onto her hands.
The doctor continued.
“He needs several days before I’d call him stable.”
Eliza closed her eyes.
Several days.
Every hour felt like another hour away from finding her daughter.
Caleb asked:
“Can we travel tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
The answer was immediate.
“Two days?”
“Maybe.”
Eliza turned toward the window.
Caleb looked at Doctor Avery.
“What if someone stays with him?”
The doctor stared.
“Who?”
Caleb looked at Eliza.
She shook her head before he spoke.
“No.”
“Eliza.”
“No.”
“You need to go.”
“And let him starve?”
“We can find another wet nurse.”
Doctor Avery said carefully:
“Possibly.”
Eliza stood.
“Possibly?”
The doctor spread his hands.
“There are nursing mothers in town.”
“Will he take them?”
“I can't promise.”
Eliza looked at Caleb.
He saw the answer already.
“No.”
She whispered.
“I won't leave him.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened.
“Your daughter—”
“If she is alive, she has already been gone three weeks.”
Her voice broke.
“Another two days will not change that.”
Caleb looked at her.
“You don't know that.”
She flinched.
He regretted the words instantly.
Eliza turned away.
Caleb handed Samuel carefully to Mrs. Henderson.
Then followed Eliza into the hallway.
“Eliza.”
She kept walking.
He caught up beside a narrow staircase.
“I shouldn't have said that.”
“No.”
“You shouldn't.”
She wiped tears angrily.
Caleb stood several feet away.
He did not touch her.
“That boy will die if I leave before he's stronger.”
“You don't know that.”
Her eyes flashed.
“Neither do you.”
Caleb stopped.
Eliza continued.
“My daughter may be alive.”
“Yes.”
“I understand what that means.”
“Yes.”
“Then stop speaking as if I don't.”
Caleb lowered his head.
She breathed hard.
“I spent fourteen days holding my girl.”
“Two weeks.”
“I knew the sound she made before waking.”
“I knew exactly how her mouth moved when she was hungry.”
“I knew the tiny dark mark behind her left knee.”
She pressed both hands against her face.
“Then they told me she was dead.”
Caleb’s chest tightened.
Eliza looked up.
“If she is alive, I will find her.”
“But Samuel is here.”
“He needs me now.”
Her voice softened.
“So let me save the child I can touch while we search for the one I cannot.”
Caleb looked at her for a long time.
Then nodded.
“All right.”
Eliza’s shoulders dropped.
He continued.