Broken Buggy to Freedom

Chapter 1

Jarrod gave the reins an extra slap when the horse began to slow down too much for his liking. "I think we're going to have to give old Gladys here a rest before too long," he told his mother beside him.

They were traveling together, home from the town of Palermo via a short cut Nick had recommended. Neither Jarrod nor Victoria had ever been on this road before, so they did not know what to expect. Victoria said, "We've been going steadily for a couple hours. I could stand to stretch my legs."

"I'll find a good spot," Jarrod said. "I don't know about this short cut of Nick's though. It doesn't seem very short to me."

"We'll find out if we get home much earlier than we otherwise would."

"You haven't said much about how your visit with Mary Peoples went."

Victoria sighed. "You know how it is when you're sick and alone, Jarrod. Fear dominates, especially with a woman Mary's age. I hope she'll let Reverend Morell see her more often. I think a bit of a spiritual lift will do her a lot of good. And by the way, you haven't said much about how that deposition of yours went."

"It went very well," Jarrod said. "I think the case against my client is weakening pretty quickly. With any luck, the charges will be dropped in the next few days."

"I hope so. I know you haven't – "

She didn't finish the sentence. Suddenly, the wheel on the driver's side of the buggy began to buckle, and as Jarrod tried to halt the buggy, the wheel came off. The horse reared and ripped the reins out of his hands as the buggy slid to a stop. Jarrod tried to keep a grip, but the horse broke loose, and Jarrod went flying off onto the side of the road.

Victoria tried to hold on, but it was a mistake. The buggy overturned, threw her into the road and landed on top of her. In less than ten seconds, the horse was gone, the buggy lay smashed on top of Victoria in the road, and Jarrod was crawling to his feet off to the side. Jarrod got up to his hands and knees and saw the wreckage. Their luggage was broken in the road, and his mother was broken under the carriage.

He scrambled to his feet, lunging and stumbling until he got to Victoria. Steady enough now to take care of things, he carefully lifted the buggy and moved it aside so he could get to his mother.

"Mother? Mother, are you all right?"

Victoria lay still, her leg twisted awkwardly, blood running down the side of her face.

Jarrod grabbed a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood away. There was a bad scrape he had to keep dabbing away and he finally kept pressure on it to get the bleeding to stop. "Mother? Mother? Come on, talk to me. Come on."

Victoria finally heard his voice and opened her eyes. Jarrod was leaning over her, blood on his own forehead, worry in his eyes. She reached for him. "Jarrod – what happened?"

"A wheel came off," Jarrod said. "The buggy crashed and I went flying. You got caught under it."

Victoria tried to sit up.

"No, no," Jarrod said. "Don't move. You may have some nasty injuries."

"Are you all right?" Victoria asked and reached for her head.

Jarrod gently took hold of her arm and lowered it. "Just bumps and bruises. I was thrown clear. I've moved the buggy off you, but from the looks of it you have a bump on your head and you may have a broken leg. You've been unconscious for a couple minutes. I don't want you to move just yet."

"Where's the horse?"

"Gone, I'm afraid. After I see to you, I'm going to find the wheel and put it back on the axle. I'll rig up something so I can put you back in the buggy and pull us to some help, if no one comes along."

"I want to sit up."

"I'd rather you – Mother! You shouldn't – "

Victoria was sitting up before Jarrod could stop her. He supported her by putting one knee up behind her back and holding onto her shoulders. She held her head. Jarrod didn't see any fresh bleeding, but she seemed to have a headache.

"Now, listen to me," Jarrod said and looked her straight in the eyes. "You must stay still. I'm going to have to splint your leg and then I'll carry you off to the side of the road. There's a rock you can sit against, but you must not move anymore, do you hear me? You have a broken leg and maybe a concussion. You let me move you when it's time to move."

Victoria saw blood running down the side of his face. "You're hurt."

"Not much. Just a cut on my forehead and some scrapes and bruises. I'm going to splint your leg now. Then I'll put the wheel back on the buggy and rig up some way I can pull it. Then I'm going to put you back in it and we'll find help, but you are to stay perfectly still until I come for you. You got that?"

Victoria put her hand on his arm, smiling, trying to be comforting. She lay back down flat on the ground, unable to stay upright anymore. Jarrod kissed her on the forehead, and then he disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back, he was carrying two slats of wood and a ripped up shirt of his from their luggage that was lying in the road.

"The buggy is pretty well smashed, but I got this wood from it that ought to keep your leg immobile," Jarrod said. "The break seems to be just above your knee, but there's no bone showing. I'm gonna splint the whole leg. This is probably gonna hurt while I do it."

Victoria nodded. She bit her lip and said, "Just do it."

Jarrod felt the leg gingerly, trying not to hurt her. The bone seemed to be still lined up properly, a simple break and not a compound one, if there was a break at all. Jarrod placed the wood and splinted the leg as tightly as he could and hoped it would do until they reached help.

Victoria was perspiring, breathing hard. Jarrod ran his hand along her cheek and kissed her. "That's the hard part, Mother. You're doing well."

"I'm getting cold," she said.

Shock, Jarrod thought. "I'll get the blanket out of the buggy. I'll be right back."

Jarrod hurried back to the wrecked carriage and fetched the blanket they kept in it. He quickly brought it back over and spread it over her. "I'm going to move you over to that rock now."

"No," she said. "Just fix the buggy. We need to get out of here."

"All right. You stay just like this until I come for you. It'll take me a while to get that wheel back on and rig the buggy up for me to pull it."

"Are you sure you can pull me in the buggy?" Victoria asked.

Jarrod smiled and kissed her again. "Nick and Heath will be envious. Try not to fall asleep. I'll be as fast as I can."

Before he left, Jarrod took his suit coat off and placed it over his mother, to help the blanket keep her warm. He took off his cufflinks and pocketed them as he headed back to the buggy. Then he rolled up his sleeves, looking around.

He spotted the lost wheel down off the side of the road and fetched it. Back up the road, he saw the lug nut that had held it on, and he fetched it. It didn't look damaged. It might hold as long as they needed it to. He took it back to the buggy and then stood there, thinking, figuring, wondering how he was going to get the axle lifted far enough for him to get the wheel back on.

That rock he had spotted to lean Victoria against might do the trick. Jarrod lifted the buggy by the tongue and dragged it over to the rock. Then he lifted the axle and placed it on the rock so that he could get the wheel back on where it belonged. It wasn't long before he got it back together, but he could see now why the wheel came off. The lug nut did have a thin crack running through it.

Jarrod sighed. He was afraid the nut might not keep the wheel on very long, but he didn't have anything else to do the job. He used the tools in the back of the buggy to get the wheel back on, then he moved the buggy back away from the rock. It rolled all right, and the wheel stayed on, at least for now.

Sweating heavily, Jarrod ran his sleeve over his forehead and went back up the road to where the luggage had fallen out. He went through it, making a sling he padded with their clothing, and then rigged the sling through the tongue of the buggy and fastened it tight. He shoved the damaged bags out of the road, and retrieved the canteen that had fallen out and put it back into the buggy. Then he lifted the sling over his left shoulder and neck and walked a few steps. The buggy rolled just fine.

Heartened, Jarrod put the tongue down again and cleared much of the buggy roof away, leaving just a little to shade his mother. Then he rolled the rig back to where she lay.

"Mother?"

Victoria opened her eyes.

Heartened again, Jarrod smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

"Beyond ready," she said.

"All right. Here we go."

Jarrod lifted her and took her to the buggy. He had to find a way to lay her so that her leg was supported, but he finally worked it out so that she could keep it across the seat while leaning back against the right side of the seat arm. That done, Jarrod lifted the sling he'd rigged the tongue with and put it over his left shoulder and neck. He looked back. Victoria was all right so far.

"You may have to hold on," Jarrod said.

Victoria gripped the seat where she could. "I'm ready," she said.

Jarrod started walking, pulling, and praying.