Chapter 12
The next morning, Meg awoke to the sunlight filtering in through the windows, illuminating the dust particles that still clung to the air. She rolled over, half expecting her husband to be long gone out to chore, but surprisingly he was still there. His warmth a welcome presence in the bed now. She turned to him and snuggled against him listening to his heartbeat, her cheek pillowed by the fine hair on his chest, breathing in the masculine scent that was only him.
After what seemed like only a short while, Meg could feel Jack rubbing her shoulder and whispering in her ear words of endearment. Letting her know that she was loved and he would've loved to stay there longer, but he needed to see to chores on the farm, so he should better get up.
Reluctantly Meg got up as well, pulled a wrapper around her burgeoning frame, and went over to the stove to fix breakfast. Jack saw her efforts as he came in, still slightly damp from washing up at the pump outside. He came over, wrapped his arms around her and whispered to her "Thank you for making breakfast, you don't realize what you do means to me. How much you just being here means. I'll do what I can to help find your sister, but sometimes love takes patience. Be patient love and it will work out to God's plan."
Meg still found herself second guessing Jack's ideas about things being God's plan, especially when she wished more things in her life would go the way she wanted them to go. "Okay Jack I'll try to be patient, though it isn't easy. I understand how it is sometimes and I must admit patience isn't my strongest virtue but I'll try to be patient, and trust God...and of course you!" she said with tears in her eyes.
Time seemed to stand still as they held each other for just that moment longer, until the rest of the day and its responsibilities came crowding upon them once more.
Jack went out to work on some of the chores that needed done around the farm while Meg began cleaning up the dishes from breakfast, scrubbing the table, counters, sweeping the floor, seeing to Henry's needs, and so forth.
The morning was progressing fairly well, and after awhile Meg picked up the clothes and the washing equipment, then led Henry along as she decided to wash clothes outdoors in the sunshine. It had been a dry spring, and Meg knew that she'd have to be careful when setting up her laundry stew to boil out back of the cabin, as well as keeping an eye on Henry to make sure he didn't wander off too far.
She had just gotten to work scrubbing the stains out of Jack's pants, had set some of Henry's diapers to soak in a basin off to the side, and was letting her mind wander a bit contemplating how she was going to keep the flowers she'd transplanted outside the cabin watered, when she smelled the faint scent of smoke. She suddenly looked up and saw along the horizon a long set of clouds, which she at first thought were rainclouds. Then it suddenly dawned on her that it might be a fire, though she wondered how that could be, since she couldn't imagine one so big.
Meg picked up Henry then and started to collect the laundry, when Jack came running up to yelling "Meg get Henry and run down to the stream NOW! FIRE PRAIRIE FIRE!!!"
Meg was stunned speechless for the moment and just stood there staring at the line of fire in the distance, slowly creeping toward their farm. Suddenly she snapped out of her daze, picked Henry up, and ran down to the stream. The run was a bit cumbersome to do while pregnant, especially while trying to carry a crying toddler, but somehow she was able to get down to the stream.
Once there, Meg and Henry waded into the water to wait on what would come next. After what seemed like only a few minutes, a wagon pulled up to the stream and Meg realized it was the Mrs. Nilsson and several of her children. Even though in the past Mrs. Nilsson hadn't been one of Meg's favorite people, she was still glad to see anyone come by to the stream.
Mrs. Nilsson quickly saw Meg and approached her, bringing several of her children along. "Hello there girly how're ja faring up today? Glad to see ja made it to the stream safe and sound wit da baby an' all." Mrs. Nilsson said.
"I'm fine...we're fine though a little cold. Have you seen Jack at all?" Meg asked, slightly pleading.
"Och no, but my husband jest tol' me to hurry the chil'ren down 'ere as quick as I could, so into the wagon we went. Did ya bring a shawl? Need to keep close to da water so's when the fire comes it doesn't burn you and da kinder." Mrs. Nilsson said as she went on to scold her son.
"No I'm sorry, I guess I just grabbed Henry and ran too fast." Meg said slightly embarrassed, as she hugged Henry to her.
"Och it doesn't matter, hand me da boy and jest go up to the wagon and grab a blanket out of there, then head back down here." Mrs. Nilsson said a bit exasperatedly.
Meg complied, handing Henry over to Mrs. Nilsson, while she scrambled up the bank to the Nilsson's wagon. She was able to reach a blanket just in time, before a shower of sparks came blowing in the wind over the hill behind the wagon. Meg quickly grabbed the blanket and went down to the stream, where Mrs. Nilsson was waiting.
"Och good girl, jest take da blanket, soak it in da water, and put it around you and the boy, like this." Mrs. Nilsson said as she demonstrated that with her own blanket.
Meg grabbed Henry, dipped the blanket in the stream, and threw it around her shoulders as she held the baby. She then asked Mrs. Nilsson "Hey how did you know how to do this?"
"Och jest keep doing dat an' you'll be okay. Uh when I was younger, before I married Mr. Nilsson, I was caught in a fire dat burnt the whole village I lived in. Had to learn the hard way how to keep safe." Mrs. Nilsson said as she gathered her children around her.
Suddenly Meg looked up when she heard more sounds, realizing that people from the local Indian reservation, as well as another family, had also converged at this point in the stream. Mrs. Nilsson began mumbling something about the Indians, when suddenly the roar and heat of the fire came especially close.
"Middle of da river! Moove to the middle!" Mrs. Nilsson shouted as she splashed closer to the center of the stream where it was deep enough to go under. Meg knew she could swim, had learned to as a child growing up in Ireland, but with being pregnant and with Henry in tow, it became a daunting task.
She grabbed Henry tighter to body, had him wrap his little arms around her and tried to speak soothing words to him, while she took a deep breath and plunged underwater for the first time.
The water was a bit murky with everyone splashing in it to take cover from the fire, but Meg kept plunging herself and Henry underwater two, three, four, five times. Over and over she and the others repeated this action as the sky around them glowed red, cinders and heat raining down on them.
By early evening the heat and cinders seemed to be slowing down quite a bit, but everyone was still concerned, so they continued to remain by the edge of the stream. Meg was beginning to feel waterlogged and Henry was getting tired, so she sat him down. Mrs. Nilsson saw Meg begin to wilt and quickly relieved her from holding Henry, leading her over to the bank to rest.
"Och I shoulda remembered, ja gonna have a wee 'un soon. Rest rest, gimme da boy and rest girl." Mrs. Nilsson chided.
"Oh I'm sorry Mrs. Nilsson..." Meg said obviously tired.
"Och call me Mara...an' Meg you're a goot girl, strong girl. Ja did goot but now's time to rest." Mara said more soothingly as she wrapped the blanket, which had then dried considerably in the hours since Meg had initially jumped in the stream to keep safe.
"Oh Mrs...Mara thank you! I'm so tired, but I'm also worried, worried about Jack!" Meg said obviously nearly spent.
"Oh child, it's okay to worry...but you need to have faith that the good Lord will see you through. Come let's pray for your husband, and my husband too...Dear Lord..." Mara said comfortingly to Meg, then began to pray aloud to the Lord, quoting various scripture of comfort along the way.
Meg just let herself be overcome by Mara's prayer, and leaned against her and little Henry as Mara and others around them broke into spontaneous prayers of deliverance.
Meg didn't realize she'd fallen asleep, until she felt Henry rub up against her shoulder. She heard voices around her and looked up, her eyes falling on a figure with his shirt off and a shock of hair falling over one eye. The setting sun was in her eyes, but when she heard him say "Hello Meg", she became charged with an energy she didn't know she possessed at that moment. Meg scrambled up from her spot and tackled Jack, nearly knocking him over from the spot where he crouched. She buried her face against his neck, gripping the feel of him, breathing in his scent which at hat moment was a mixture of woodsmoke, horse sweat, dust, and his own particle scent.
Meg let her tears flow as Jack just held her for a moment, stroking her hair and holding her close. He then pulled her back, held her face in his hands, and wiped a tear away with his thumb, then said "Hello Meg, did you miss me?"
Meg just nodded, with tears in her eyes, then closed her eyes as he stroked her cheek. Jack then just stared straight in her eyes, then brought her face to hers and their lips met in a kiss that just let out all of their built up emotions they'd held up until that point.
Soon they realized they'd had an audience, so Jack broke the kiss, chuckled, then took Meg by the shoulder, leading her to the side of the stream where they could have some privacy.
"So Meg, were you a bit worried about me?" Jack said his voice husky.
"Oh yes of course, Jack! I was more than just worried, I was downright scared!" Meg said, her voice wavering.
"Well I'm glad to know you care." he said, a slight tease to his voice.
"Oh Jack, I more than just care...I...I love you...though I didn't know how you felt about me when it took so long for you to come back...." Meg admitted, and would have gone on longer, but suddenly Jack got a look on his face and just grabbed her face toward his and brought his lips down on hers once more.
After few breathtaking moments, Jack pulled away, and looking into her eyes with a twinkle in his own eyes. Then he said to her, his voice husky, "Well what does that tell you about how I feel?"
Meg just smiled up at him and almost giggled, but then a serious look crossed her face and her demeanor changed to a serious note. She then said "Oh Jack I just remembered...how was it? How was the fire? What kept you so long?"
Jack pulled away from her then, rocking back on his heels. It was then Meg noticed that a scab had formed on his right temple, just above his eyebrow. She began to reach up to touch it, but he grabbed her hand and held it in his.
It was then he looked in her eyes, hesitatingly saying "Oh Meg...I'm sorry...but it was so bad...it's all gone now..." his voice breaking with sorrow.
"What do you mean all gone?" Meg asked, her voice wavering.
"Oh Meg, darling...the fire swept across the prairie too fast...the barn...crops,,,even the cabin...all gone!" he said his voice breaking slightly, although he held in his pure distress so well that he didn't let a tear fall.
Meg more than made up for his emotions, and just took him in her arms, comforting both her husband and herself in the same gesture. After a few moments, Jack held her away momentarily and wipes away one of his wife's tears, and "Oh Meg, I know when we married and they said 'For Better or Worse' I'd wished to spare you from this challenge, but I guess I couldn't. Still I'm glad we're here, we'll face this challenge, head on, together. We'll make it, together."
Meg just nodded in agreement, then repeated the word "Together..." letting then events of the day sink in and emotion wash over the both of them as they sat there holding each other in the sunset.
