“Linda, are you all right? What happened?”
“Peter, I’m sorry to be like this. Don’t worry, dear, I’m getting better.”
“I found out you were sick when we came alongside the Gem of the Sea at Boca Grande. Baxter said you were very ill and he was worried. Linda, he said you have yellow fever.”
Her voice was finding strength now, but the pain in her bones made her lay back down, still holding his hand tightly.
“Yes, it’s the fever. Had it for two weeks, but it’s leaving now. I’m better.”
His words were lost in his throat. He fought back the tears he felt welling up as he held her closely. “Linda, I love you. I need you. Don’t leave me.”
She managed a thin smile and stroked the scar on the side of his face. “I’ll be fine in a few days, Peter. I love you and I won’t die, dear.”
He winced when she said that word.
“Peter, I’m acclimated and young and strong. I’ve made it through and will recover my strength. It will all be better, dear.”
He lifted his head and looked into her green eyes. Nodding, Wake let out a sigh. “When I heard, it scared me, Linda. It scared me till I thought my heart would stop.”
At that she actually laughed. It was weak, but still a laugh. “Well, Peter Wake, I was a bit interested in the outcome myself!”
Shaking his head, he joined in her quiet laugh and sat up beside her. Linda eased herself onto a canvas pillow and pointed to the woman outside the doorway. “Sofira there was the one who nursed me back to relative health. She moved here a little while ago. Her husband’s fighting with the pro-Union militia with Captain Cornell. Sofira is a half-Seminole and knows things about healing. She gave me some teas and roots and things and stood by me when it was worst.”
Wake looked at the woman standing out in the sun and could see the strong Indian features in her face. A little toddler girl ran up to the woman and hugged her legs.
“She looks familiar to me, but I can’t place her.”
“You met her after the fight on Lacosta Island. She was one of the women who came with Mr. Newton to help you. She told me she had met you. Sofira said she could tell you were a good man by what you said and did that night.”
Linda slumped back on the pillow, exhausted. Her eyes were barely open and Wake realized that she had strained herself to look cheerful for his benefit.
“Linda, you need to rest. Get some rest, dear. I’ll come back later to be with you.”
Linda didn’t answer but nodded and fell into a wearied half-sleep as Wake kissed her forehead and rose from the cot. He stood up and looked at the girl he loved more than life and watched as she slid into a deep slumber. Walking outside, he spoke to the woman still standing there.
“Ma’am, I want to say thank you for all you did for my wife. I think you saved her life. Linda said your name is Sofira.”
The woman looked at her child and then at Wake. She had a quietness that was at once disconcerting and impressive. Her words came slowly and without inflection.
“Yes, Sofira Thomaston. Linda is strong and will be better. She knew the fever before and outlived it. It could not kill her now. It tried.”
Wake was taken aback by the bluntness. “Yes, she’s a strong person. I remember she told me that she did have a little bit of yellow fever before, when she was younger. Your Indian medicine must have helped her get through this, though, and I am very grateful.”
“It is not Indian medicine. I did not make it. It is there for everyone. The earth made it for us all.”
Wake considered her words, and took Sofira’s hand in his. “Well, whatever it was, I am grateful you helped her. Thank you, Sofira. Thank you so much.”
A smile came over her face and she looked into his eyes as her strong hands gently held his. “She loves you greatly, Peter. You and your love were the real medicine that made the fever fall away. She knew you were coming and had to live for you. You should go now and talk with Mr. Newton. Linda will be sleeping. Go and be with your friends here, Peter. Come back later when Linda is awake.”
The woman was mesmerizing. Her calm tone and intense dark eyes riveted him to the spot where he stood. She smiled again and walked inside the dwelling, leaving him standing there completely emptied of emotion as Mr. Newton puffed up the pathway and approached him. “Well, young man, I told you back on the beach she was getting better, now didn’t I?”
Taking a deep breath, Wake grasped the leathery hand thrust his way and chuckled. “Yes, sir. I believe you did say that, but I was in such a state that I guess I didn’t hear it. Thank you for all that everyone here did for Linda.”
“Well, son, the young lady hasn’t been here long, but it was long enough for us all to love her. Especially that Sofira Indian woman.”
“I’m appreciative to everyone here, Mr. Newton. I don’t think I could survive without Linda.”
Newton changed to a serious look and shook his head. “Hhhmm, well if you’re really appreciative then you’ll do me the favor of sitting down and telling this old man how the war on the coast north of here is goin’ on. And I’ll need ya to help me lighten a certain jug of bad Cuban rum that’s been a burden to me for a while. What say ya, Captain Wake?”
Wake laughed and held up both hands. “I know when to follow orders, Mr. Newton, and that sounded like an order to me! It would be my pleasure, and there is a lot to tell, sir.”
They
