“I like you, Rachel, even if you have strayed from the flock. And I’d like to help you, but my patients come first.” She climbed up into the buggy and reached for the reins.
“Wait,” Rachel said. “I’ll come with you.” She dashed back to the Jeep, tossed her keys under the seat, and dug her navy scarf out of a basket on the floor. She’d come to the midwife’s home in one of Mary Aaron’s dresses and coats. If she remembered correctly, Irma and her husband, Shadrack, were very conservative, but had always been friendly toward her.
Salome turned the buggy around. “Come if you like,” she called, pulling back on the reins to halt the mule. “But don’t blame me if we get snowed in. Smell the air. Weather’s coming in fast over the mountains. And even if it doesn’t snow, there’s no telling how long I’ll need to stay with Irma.”
Rachel glanced up at the dark clouds racing overhead as she hurried toward the buggy. Hulda, who’d come over to tend the office at Stone Mill House, had warned her of dropping temperatures and the possibility of four to six inches of snow. Rachel knew that the wisest course would be to return home, but she was determined to get some answers from Salome. “I’d be happy to drive you,” she offered. “My Jeep is good in snow.”
“I don’t like motor vehicles. Too bouncy. And I trust my mule and this buggy a lot more than I do your car. I’ve been traveling these roads in snow, rain, and heat for a lot of years, and I’m not ready to give it up yet.” She frowned. “You’d best not be in the way. My first duty is to the mother and the second to that babe. I’ve no time or patience for coddling you.”
Rachel smiled. “I won’t be in the way,” she promised the midwife. “Remember, I was there when my younger brothers and sisters were born. And, if I recall, I was more help than hindrance.”
“If you’re coming, climb up,” Salome said. “We’re wasting time jabbering.”
Rachel scrambled up into the buggy, not in the least offended by the midwife’s fussing. Usually jolly, Salome grew serious and tart when it came time to deliver a baby or to help a mother. The woman’s mouth tightened and she leaned forward, making clicking noises to the mule as she guided the animal out of the yard.
A short distance from the house, Salome turned the mule off the blacktopped road and onto a narrow wooded lane. “I don’t suppose you’ve forgotten how to drive,” she said.
“Don’t suppose I have,” Rachel said.
Salome passed the leathers to her. “You may as well do it then. My joints are aching today. Makes me certain this is snow coming. If I’d stayed home, I could have soaked them in warm apple cider vinegar. That helps, and of course, there are lots of other ways to reduce the pain. The best thing is to keep active.” She draped a section of a feather tick over Rachel’s lap and tucked her gloved hands into her wool-lined coat.
“Thank you,” Rachel said.
“Rest your feet on that rock. I keep them on the hearth to heat. Toasty feet will keep the rest of you from taking a chill.” Salome smiled at her. “Truth is, it’s nice to have company on a cold day. Keeps me from worrying about what I’ll find when I get to Irma’s.”
Rachel was surprised to hear the midwife express her fears. Salome was known from one end of the valley to the other for her steady hand and steadier character. They rode in silence for a while, and Rachel, who’d been on edge to question the older woman further about Mary Rose, was content to let the peace of the creak of harness and the rattle of buggy wheels over the frozen ground seep through her. She sensed that this wasn’t the time to ask. Instead, she rested her feet on the heated rock and snuggled inside the feather tick. Occasionally, birds flew up from the branches overhead, and once the mule and buggy disturbed a browsing doe that was nibbling on tree bark. All Rachel heard was the snort of the mule and the snap of branches as the deer bounded away into the forest. Snow and sleet began to spit and then to swirl on the gusts of air. Rachel was glad that Salome had thought to cover the mule’s back with a quilted blanket so that the animal wouldn’t suffer from the cold.
Soon, the wooded lane opened up into a rocky pasture. Ahead, Rachel saw the chimneys of the Coblentz house and the great gray stone barn. Barking dogs announced their arrival and two teenage boys came out to greet them and take the mule. “How’s your mother faring?” Salome called.
“Good, good,” answered the oldest of them. “Dat says to tell you to make haste, though, because the little one does.”
The midwife slid down out of the buggy and made to pick up her black leather satchel from behind the seat. “One of you lads take the suitcase,” she said. “Mind you don’t drop it.” She glanced at Rachel, who’d slipped the strap for the satchel over her own shoulder. “The suitcase has towels and linens and such. This small case is my blood pressure kit, my fetoscope, and my instruments. I’ve been meaning to get myself one of those suitcases on wheels, but so far, it’s just thinking and not doing. This is early yet for Irma’s time. It’s probably just a false alarm.”
A plump, red-cheeked teen daughter opened the kitchen door for them and waved them in. “Mam says she thinks this is for real,” she said. “Let me take your coats. It’s getting cold out there, isn’t it?”
Other girls of various ages held smaller children, one a toddler. Rachel tried to remember how many children Irma Coblentz and her husband had.
The kitchen was spotless and smelled of apples and spice.
