Chapter Thirteen

Brydie sat on the side of the bed the Stevenson's had been letting her use. She felt was if she was in a fog filled with nothing but shock. She could hear the Stevenson talking to Johan Van Slcyk. The friendly Dutchman had, after talking with Jarrod, taken the take time to travel practically nonstop to the Stevenson home. That is, after he'd stopped at the local telegraph office and used the money Jarrod had given him to send a rather lengthy telegram to the Barkley family. She and Nick had been right about her husband, but the condition Heath was in was turning Brydie's world upside yet again.

"I can't just leave him. 'Tis not right; we be man and wife. We took vows for better and for worse, in sickness and in health." Bryide told herself even as fear did its best to get a solid hold on her heart. How would she truly communicate with her husband? What kind of marriage would they have? How long would he be in the state Mr. Van Slyck described? These and so many more questions ran through her mind. "Help me," she spoke only to herself, or so she thought until she heard Charity's voice; the young child was standing in the bedroom doorway.

"Who are you talking to?" Charity asked, concerned in her eyes as she stepped inside the room and looked around.

"Grownups are always talking to themselves when they think children aren't around." Thomas said matter-of-factly, as he walked in behind Charity. "We can leave if you want us to." He looked at his aunt. Though he didn't see why she would ask them to do such a thing when Mr. Stevenson had told them their Aunt Brydie needed to talk to them.

"No," Brydie gave the children a smile, though it was a weak one, and patted the spots bed. "We need to talk."

"It's about Uncle Heath, isn't it?" Thomas asked as he climbed up and sat on his aunt's right side while Charity climbed onto the bed and sat on the opposite side. "Father found him, didn't he?"

"How much did you wee ones hear?" Brydie wasn't going to assume anything anymore, not when it came to these particular children. The two were proving too smart for their own good; she couldn't help but wonder if their sister had lived if she'd be just as brilliant as Thomas and Charity were proving to be.

"Not much," Charity piped up, "I was busy trying to get Thomas away from the bedroom door." Charity said as she leaned forward and stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"You were only trying to get me to move so you could listen in!" Thomas barked back, unwilling to just stand by and let his sister make it seem as he was the only one trying to hear what was being said.

"STOP IT!" Brydie, who was already stressed to the fullest, startled her niece and nephew when she raised her voice, something she very seldom did.

"Sorry," both children said as they sat up straight and looked at her their aunt. "We just want to know what's going on." Fear and confusion were in their voices as they spoke; it broke Brydie's heart.

Brydie sighed and pulled the children close. Of course, they'd want some information. It was only natural. "You be right. Your Da sent Mr. Van Slcyk. The gentleman says he and his family, they be takin' care of ye Uncle Heath." She went on to tell the two children everything from the Borden family finding Heath to the same family taking him to the Van Slcyk home. Brydie then explained that, for now, the only way Heath had to communicate was by blinking his eyes. She and Thomas were both startled when Charity flew off the bed, started jumping up and down and clapping her hands while she squealed joyfully, her eyes dancing.

"How can you be happy?" Thomas folded his arms and spoke crossly. He hated the condition his aunt said his unce was in. Surely, his sister could not be excited about it.

"The way you were talking," Charity continued beaming as she turned her eyes towards Brydie, choosing to ignore her brother's question. "I thought all I would be able to do for Uncle Heath was to read to him, but now I can do something else for him!"

Byrdie's eyes filled with confusion, as did Thomas. However, unlike Thomas, she wanted to know more. If whatever her niece had in mind made her that happy, Brydie sure hoped the child's idea was one that was actually doable. "And what would that be?"

*"I can play Twenty Questions with him!" The young child paused and then crinkled her nose as she added, "I just hope he don't mind doing all the picking and I do all the guessing."

Thomas, who hated the idea of listening to his sister asking their uncle questions non-stop, groaned. "How stupid! The next thing you'll tell us is that you want to use picture cards at the dinner table, so he can look at what foods he wants." He was shocked when Brydie let out a small gasp and started hugging him.

"Hey! What did I do?" He feigned horror, but inside he was actually more than pleased at his aunt's reaction…even if he didn't understand why.

Brydie smiled wide, filled with excitement. "Picture cards!" She stood up, gently pulled Thomas off the bed and then hugged both the children. "They might not be the answer to everything, but in between asking questions that can be answered yes or no and picture cards, there will be some communication for your uncle while he recovers!" She then let go of the children and told them that, under the circumstances, she was going to talk to Mr. Van Slyck. "He is heading home, and I want us to go with him." Brydie then walked out of the room.

Charity and Thomas watched their aunt leave and looked at each other. Charity was beaming, while Thomas simply rolled his eyes; though, if the truth was known, he was extremely happy he'd actually came up with a way to help his Uncle Heath—even if he hadn't realized that's what he was doing.

*A/N According to the internet the game 20 questions wasn't widely played until the 19 century. Only, for this story, we'll pretend it was used widely in the 1800's…. or that the Barkleys were among the few who played it.