Chapter Three
Shiloh had insisted going up the stairs on her own which irritated Adam no end. But he was not prepared to start a yelling match in front of his father, nor was he prepared to listen to Shiloh's loud objection if he lifted her from her feet despite her objections. So, he went up behind her ready to steady her if she wavered.
He stopped her at the closed bedroom door with a hand on her shoulder. "Before we go in, I want to talk to you."
She turned her head toward him without turning around.
"He's lost some weight. He's still a little pale, and he still looks...sick. If his feet are uncovered, they're..." Taking a deep breath, he looked into her eyes. "Sweetheart, have you ever seen burns?"
She faced forward and shook her head.
"His feet are very red...and raw...and seem disfigured because they're swollen. He's lost most of the skin on the bottoms of his feet and toes. I don't know if they're covered right now. Paul said it would be good for the air to get to the healing skin, but Hop Sing still puts salve on them a couple of times a day, and when he does, he wraps them." He took her arm and gently turned her to face him. "I want you to be prepared for what you see. We're lucky he's alive."
"I understand," she said softly, lowering her eyes.
Adam gave her a short nod and reached for the door handle. When the door was barely open, he asked loudly, "Do you feel like company?"
Micah was sitting up in bed, reading a book. "Yeah, come on in."
Adam pushed the door open for Shiloh to enter, and when Micah realized it was his sister at the door, he quickly pulled the covers over his feet. "Little Sister, I didn't think...you're standing."
Her smile was sweet, and she managed a lilt in her voice. "Of course I'm on my feet. It's impossible to keep a Whitney down for too long. You should know that." She tried not to show her pain, but it was obvious to both Micah and Adam. Adam had a chair pulled next to the bed before she got there.
"Micah, you look like you've been to hell and back."
He laid the book down at his side and smiled. "I could say the same about you, but actually, you look lovely. Except when you walk. You look like an old lady."
In that moment the look that passed between them, a look certainly of love, but also understanding, made Adam realize how much they favored each other. The way they each tilted their heads with two sets of bright blue eyes gazing each at the other, and the way they wore slight smiles...anyone who didn't know them might have thought them twins.
Shiloh glanced back over her shoulder to make sure Adam was right behind her. "We have something for you, but you have to come downstairs to see it."
"By it do you mean him?"
A wide smile appeared on Shiloh's face. "Well, that, too, but I really do mean it. We want you to move to the downstairs bedroom, so you have more to see...so you can be part of all that goes on here, and so you can spend some time on the porch enjoying the nice weather."
"And just how am I gonna do that? I've not been given permission to put my feet on the floor."
Shiloh leaned to one side and looked up over her shoulder at Adam.
"Ah," Adam started, raising his brows. Truthfully, he hadn't thought about how to get Micah down the stairs without Hoss. "I think...that maybe...Pa and I can get you down. You've lost some weight."
Furrows appeared in Micah's forehead. "And who's going to get me back up here at night?"
"You're not coming back up," said Shiloh, leaning forward to pat Micah's hand. "You're moving to the bedroom downstairs."
"It doesn't sound like I have a choice," said Micah, crossing his arms in front of him.
"Well, Abel is downstairs. If you'd like to see him, you'll have to come down." With that, Shiloh stood. "I'll go relieve Pa of his grandfather responsibilities so he and Adam can get you downstairs. If you still feel like it when you get settled, you can try out your uncle responsibilities." Micah had opened his mouth to object to her bossiness, but didn't have the chance. She left the room much faster than either he or Adam thought possible.
Looking annoyed at Adam, Micah harrumphed. "Who made her the boss?"
Chuckling, Adam replied, "She did. She's in pain, and she's short tempered at the moment. But if you want to risk life and limb, I'll go get her."
"You could just tell her."
"Oh no. I have to go home with her. No, you will be the one who takes his immediate well-being into his own hands," answered Adam with an impish grin.
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Hoss sat on a log in the bright sunshine just outside the teepee he shared with Annie. He'd spent several hours again in the dark, sweaty tent as he had been since he'd arrived at the Washoe encampment.
A illness was passing through the tribe, taking some of the very small and very old. Annie and Cheron had their hands full, moving from hut to hut to tend the sick and dying. Annie had no idea what the sickness was nor what might have started it, and Cheron had never seen anything like it. Others were sick, too, but most of the strong survived.
Still, Hoss watched as another small body was taken from one of the teepees, held in its mother's arms until they reached the pyre kept burning throughout the day and night. The elders of the tribe as well as the one who talked to the Great Spirit stood vigil over the spirits rising with smoke and embers to the sky. This child made eighteen that he'd counted.
He wanted to do more to help, but taking care of the ill was women's work in this tribe. And taking care of the dead was something a white man would never be allowed to do.
He began to weave the leather of the headstall he was making for Chu'o again, but stopped when Annie came from the teepee from which the child had been taken. She carried a wooden bowl filled with cloth and looked out toward the pyre. Cheron stepped out behind her carrying several deerskin pouches, looking in the same direction. Moving her hand to Annie's shoulder, she waited for Annie to turn to look at her, then nodded in the direction of the wiki-up where the medicinal herbs were hung to dry.
Tying the last knot in the headstall, Hoss hung it from a pole just inside the flap of their tent, then stood and met them at the door of the medicine hut. Annie's face spoke volumes of her feelings of helplessness, especially for the children lost. Hoss moved his arms around her and held her tight. "Annie, you cain't let it get to you like this. You know there's always gonna be some sickness or other that takes lives...'specially the little 'uns 'cause they're just too small and weak to fight." Still holding Annie, Hoss looked at Cheron, who had already gone inside the hut and left the flap open. "Cheron, have you and Annie had anything to eat."
"We have not had time, Hoss. And there are more of my people we must tend."
"If you don't eat to keep up your strength, you're gonna be joinin' 'em. How about I go ask Di'na to bring something over to the hut," he said, nodding toward the hut he and Annie shared. "You two can take a few minutes to eat and drink."
Annie hadn't tried to move away from Hoss. She leaned against him heavily, but remained still.
Coming out of the medicine tent, Cheron turned Annie's face to her. "Hoss is right. We must take time to eat."
Taking Annie by her arms, Hoss looked into her eyes. "I'll go find Di'na. I'll be right back. There's some fresh water already over there."
Annie turned in silence and followed Cheron to the hut. When Di'na appeared with several bowls, Hoss and the three women sat in a circle and ate.
"E'tsi, do you know what the sickness is?" asked Di'na, Cheron's daughter.
As Cheron explained what she and Annie had concluded, she picked at her food. "Those who have left us ate at the fire of Me'ma'to se three moons ago." She looked at Annie.
"Di'na, we found mushrooms in So'te's hut," explained Annie.
Di'na mouthed out the word slowly.
Smiling, Annie said the word again, "Mush...room. U'wa'se," bringing an understanding nod from Di'na.
"Some were those you find near the village," continued Annie. "But there were others that looked close to the same, but they were not. They are not good to eat. We believe they are what brought the sickness."
Cheron took her daughter's hand. "So'te is young. Me'ma'to se did not look at the u'wa'se before they were prepared. We must find where So'te found the u'wa'se and burn them. They are so close to the u'wa'se we have always eaten, others may do the same."
"I will take Do'a to help find them."
"Go to So'te's hut," said Cheron. "She can show you where she found them."
Standing straight up from a cross-legged position, Di'na ran to find her brother. As Hoss watched her leave, he asked, "Does everyone else know about these mushrooms?"
"Yes," replied Annie. "We just found them in So'te's hut a little while ago, and we have others spreading the word. That's what the women have been throwing in the center fire. I'm afraid they're throwing good mushrooms away, too, but they're scared."
"I don't understand. These mushrooms must have always been there," said Hoss.
"So'te is young", said Cheron. She has just taken a husband. She went much further to find u'wa'se because she had seen ones that were like those we find close to the village, but bigger. Our young women are taught to gather from the places we know. She thought the big u'wa'se would please Me'ma'to se, her mother. And Me'ma'to se did not look at So'te's basket when she returned. Our ways to teach were not followed."
Hoss took the last of the food from his bowl, and wiped his fingers on his trousers. "She must be feeling pretty awful."
Taking a deep breath, Cheron sat up straight and stretched her back. "So'te and Me'ma'to se will be punished." When both Annie and Hoss looked at each other in alarm, Cheron explained, "Many have died because our teachings were not followed. It is our teachings that keep us safe from such things."
"What will happen to them?" asked Annie.
Cheron closed her eyes. "I understand that you do not believe...an...accident...to be punishable. But you must understand that the lives of our people depend on those who provide for us." Her shoulders slumped as she lowered her head. "I would ask Chu'o to make the punishment less. But with so many who have died, I know he will not. They will be whipped." Looking sadly out over the village, she finished softly, "And I will tend their wounds once it is done."