Chapter Fourteen

Georgia sat on the edge of Jarrod's bed and sighed, as she laid one of the few rags the James' had given her when they left their home. She had spent a good portion of the night either helping Jarrod roll onto his side as he coughed up mucus, or doing what she could to bring his fever back down. As hard as she'd prayed, he had still developed pneumonia. She might have complained only with the miracles they'd already been blessed with, Georgia figured she'd best just be grateful for the herbs the one gentleman had left them. Though, she had to fight the somewhat guilty feeing that plagued her for the lying she'd had to do to get the man and his friend to leave.

"I'm sorry to be such a burden." Jarrod said as he opened his eyes and looked up at Georgia. He didn't know what he'd ever done to deserve the blessing of having someone was compassionate as Georgia find him and come to his aide. He just hated what helping him was costing her.

Georgia smiled kindly and shook her head as she sat up straight. "Ya would only be a burden if you were ornery and rude. Ya are neither. Yer parents raised ya right."

Jarrod felt a slight twinge of pain in his heart as she mentioned his parents. He missed them like he'd never missed them before. "Yes, for any mistakes they have made, they are wonderful parents." He coughed again and then said, "My brothers and sister aren't so bad either. You'd like them." Jarrod couldn't help but smile a little as he thought on Nick, Eugene and Audra. He missed them just as much as he did his parents.

When he coughed again, Georgia urged him not to bother talking and excused herself. As she left Georgia told him, "Ya need some liquid down ya. I'll be right back."

Had he not been feeling so bad and thinking about his family, Jarrod might have stopped to wonder where she was getting the herbal drink she had given him a few times now. As it was, the only thing he did when Georgia came back in was to accept the drink she offered him, close his eyes and rested, hoping for more sleep to come.

While Jarrod slowly fell alseep, Georgia walked over to the window and peeked through the corner of it. When a deer wandered through some trees a good hundred yards from the house, Georgia couldn't stop her mind from going back in time, back to a time just before her mother fell ill and died.

"Look at the deer, mama!" Georgia stood inside her parents' home looking out the window, as more than one deer passed through their yard. Mrs. Marshall, who had been in the kitchen working, had walked next to her daughter and joined her. "Aren't they beautiful?"

Mrs. Marshall did her best to smile, as she didn't want to pass on any troubled feelings she had on to her young daughter. "Very beautiful,"

As much as her mother might have wished for Georgia not to see through her, she still did. "What's wrong, mama? Everythin's so peaceful; how come ya and daddy said many would die someday soon?" Her parents had been talking that morning of the trouble between the north and the south. It had served to both confuse and trouble the young Georgia Marshall. Confusion and a trouble mind was Georgia could do without.

Mrs. Marshall's only answer was to smile sadly, tell her not to worry about anything as there was nothing any of them could do when it came to other people's choices. "Let's just enjoy the beauty around us for now, my dear." Mrs. Marshall said and then changed subjects.

"What would ya think mama?" Georgia stepped away from the window and walked back over to the bed where Jarrod lay sleeping. "So many are dyin', some from mortal wounds, a good deal more from sickness." She fought back tears as she added as she ran her fingers down the side of Jarrod's face. "I couldn't just sit back and watch him die. I still can't. What would ya think of him, mama, and what I am doin'?" She asked the questions never expecting any sort of answer. Thus, when she felt an overwhelming sense of well being roll over her and heard her mother's speaking, Georgia was more than a bit startled. "Ain't nothin' wrong with carin' and helpin', just be careful with yer heart." Her mother's words rang in her ears at the same time the feeling passed through her. At that moment, in spite of turning her back on everything she'd ever known to help the good captain, Georgia felt comforted knowing her mother approved of the fact that she was helping Jarrod Barkley. Though, it did puzzle her when it came to the part about her heart. Sure, she'd admit Jarrod Barkley was one very handsome man, but they hardly knew each other. Why would she have to worry about her heart?

Georgia turned and walked into the living room. The fire she'd built was starting to die out. Georgia peeked out the door and then quickly retrieved some of the wood that sat against the outside wall and took it inside. She put the majority of it up against the living room wall. She put the rest of what she'd brought in into the fire. After making sure the fire kept going, Georgia returned to the bedroom where she had made a bed on the floor. She was tired and laid down, a thousand questions running through her mind. Questions like…what would Jarrod say when he found out that, due to the cornmeal the two men who ran with the Missouri Raiders had left them she hadn't had to worry about chance leaving the house except for water? What would he think when he found out the herbs that were fighting his sickness came from the same source? Most importantly, would he still want her help when he did find out? Due to those questions and the rest that ran through her mind it took Georgia a little while before she drifted off into some much needed rest.