Chapter Seven
"If you have enough, try to find some yarn so I can make the girls' mittens," Caroline said quietly, standing by the wagon while Charles packed it with some necessities for his journey. "It doesn't matter what color. And check the post office for a letter."
He nodded. "I couldn't forget that."
"It would be the best gift imaginable. I'm trying not to get my hopes up."
Charles chuckled, and cupped her cheek affectionately. "Keep them up. It looks good on you."
She smiled, turning to quickly kiss his palm. "Be careful. Don't drink all the water too soon, and stop at a creek to fill up the pail."
"I will."
"Girls, come say goodbye to your Pa," Caroline called. Mary and Laura came out from the stables, where they had been caring for the foal.
"Will Sally be all right without Patty to feed her, Pa?"
"Sure she will, Half-Pint. She'll eat some grass and hay. Patty'll nurse her when we get back."
"Then you can't be gone too long," Laura said sternly, "or Sally will miss her milk."
Charles smiled. "I won't be gone long. Just a week."
"That's seven whole days," Mary said.
"You keep helping your mother with the chores, caring for Sally and the cows, and playing in the creek. It'll go by like that," he said, snapping his fingers. Laura copied him.
Charles lifted each girl in turn, kissed them on the cheek, and set them on their feet again. Returning to Caroline, he put both hands on her shoulders and looked at her seriously.
"Now I don't want you climbing ladders, getting water from the creek, or carrying the milk pail," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "Charles, I feel fine."
"Good. I want you to stay that way," he said, kissing her quickly. "Mr. Edwards will be along by tomorrow. He'll stay in the barn and help with anything that needs doing."
"He doesn't have to do that," Caroline said quickly.
"Do you think he'll just put his feet up for a week?"
"I'm sure he'd like to," she said wryly.
Charles chuckled, squeezed her shoulders, and climbed up into the wagon. "He's a good man, Caroline, even if he does have a big appetite. Let him help."
She sighed. "You better get on your way before the sun climbs too high."
"I intend to," he said, and winked. "Bye, all."
The three of them watched the wagon disappear over one of the hills, following the tracks made the last time he'd gone to Independence.
"How big is Independence, Ma?"
"I don't know, Laura, I've never been."
"I wish I could go with Pa," Laura said. "I want to see a city."
"And who would take care of Jack and Sally?" Caroline asked.
"I'd take Jack with me. And I could ride Sally. She's the perfect size for me."
Caroline laughed. "I think she's a little small just yet, Laura. Maybe in a year."
"A year?"
They went into the stables together, Mary carrying the milk pail.
"I'll go milk Betsy," she said, heading off.
"Thank you, Mary." Caroline held out a hand to the filly. "Hello there."
Sally came forward and flared her nostrils at Caroline's hand. Caroline wondered if the animal recognized her smell from the night in the stable. If she did, she didn't let on much. She touched her dark nose to Caroline's middle and moved on, back to munching hay.
"Ma, is the baby going to come like Sally did?" Laura asked, petting the foal gently.
"I suppose it's the same," Caroline said carefully. "The baby won't be able to walk for about a year, though."
"Will it be all wet like Sally was?"
"Yes. But we'll clean the baby up before you see it, just like Patty cleaned Sally up."
"I hope our baby's a girl," Laura said. "And I hope we can name her Charlotte, like my doll."
Caroline laughed. "We might have to think of a different name," she said, patting the left side of her belly where little feet were trying to push their way out. "Don't you think it could get a little confusing if there were two Charlottes in one house?"
"I guess so," Laura said. "I still hope it's a girl, though."
"I hope it's a boy!" Mary called from the other stall. "If it's a girl I'll still have to share my doll, but if it's a boy he'll have his own toy."
Caroline sighed. "Well, girls, we'll have to be patient and find out."
Laura noticed Caroline's fingers tapping the side of her belly. "Is the baby moving again, Ma?"
"Yes, Laura. But I don't think you can feel quite yet." That didn't stop Laura from placing a hand near Caroline's and looking intently at the floral fabric. She looked up.
"Is it still moving?" Once she had discovered her younger sibling could move before being born, Laura had been determined to feel for herself.
Caroline nodded, moving Laura's hand so she could feel where an elbow or shoulder pressed against Caroline's skin. Laura sighed.
"I still can't feel it."
Mr. Edwards arrived the next afternoon, smelling of sweat and chewing tobacco, some of which he spit out immediately after dismounting from his horse. Caroline didn't react other than wrinkling her nose a little, and greeted him politely outside, offering him some water kept cool inside the cabin.
"Thank you, ma'am. Nothin' like cold water on a hot day. In the south we'd call a day like today 'hotter 'n Satan's armpit'." Caroline tried to hide her disgust. Laura giggled. Mr. Edwards wiped his mouth on his shirt. "Well, what did your husband leave for me to do?"
"I can't think of anything really. The girls and I are mostly mending today. You're welcome to put your things in the cabin."
"Oh, I didn't bring nothin'," he said. "I travel light, see."
"What about nightclothes?"
"Laura," Caroline said, her tone indicating the conversation had come to a close, "go inside and fetch Mr. Edwards a pillow, please."
Edwards shrugged that off as well. "Oh, the straw in the stables'll suit just fine."
Frustrated she couldn't do more for her guest than cook meals, Caroline wiped her brow of sweat.
"You go on back inside, ma'am. I'll find somethin' needs fixin'."
"Can I show Sally to Mr. Edwards?"
Caroline nodded. "You may, but don't frighten her."
"We won't," Laura promised. "Come on, Mr. Edwards. Follow me!"
Four days passed peacefully. If Mr. Edwards had seen any Indians watching the house while he was outside doing work, he didn't say. Without being told, he decided to clean the whole of the stables, including washing the two stalls out while the animals grazed. Caroline was grateful that he seemed oblivious to her condition; his eyes never settled on her undeniably swollen abdomen, and he said nothing when he heard her milking Betsy each morning or saw her carrying the full pail back to the cabin instead of sending one of the girls.
"Does your husband have a scythe, Mrs. Ingalls?" he asked one evening over supper. Caroline's hyper-sensitive sense of smell could barely take sitting next to him, so she sat across and let Laura sit beside him.
"It should be in the stables. Why?"
He wiped his mouth on his sleeve again. "Those grasses are getting mighty long. Best cut 'em back. A fire would spread right up to the house with grasses long as those."
Caroline darted her eyes to the girls, trying to indicate it wasn't a suitable conversation for them. He took the hint.
"Uh, not that I've ever witnessed a prairie fire in these here parts. What with the water flowin', they tend to stick far away."
Mary fidgeted. "What would we do if there was a fire, Ma?"
"Put it out with water from the creek," she said. "It's lucky we have one so nearby. But there's no need to worry, Mary. Mr. Edwards will cut back the grass, and we'll be safe." She inhaled sharply when the baby kicked, growing increasingly dissatisfied with its small home.
"Is it the baby, Ma?" Mary asked, worried.
Caroline flushed. "Mr. Edwards, would you pass the salt, please?" she asked quickly, and he obliged as if nothing had been said.
While he was saying goodnight to the girls, which involved a promise of some game they could play together the next day, Caroline searched among Charles' things for a shirt large enough to fit him, along with a pair of work trousers. Once the girls were in bed, she took the clothes and carried them over to the stables.
She heard humming, it was Old Dan Tucker, coming from the stall Edwards was using to sleep in while the foal slept in the small paddock.
"Mr. Edwards?"
He stood as she approached.
"Here are some of Charles' things. If you'd like to leave yours in the wash basin, I can wash and mend them."
"Oh, ma'am, I don't-"
"Please, it's no trouble. Tomorrow's wash day, after all."
He tipped his head in gratitude. "Goodnight, Mrs. Ingalls."
"Goodnight, Mr. Edwards," she said, and went back to the cabin. Her bed was uncomfortable and felt large without Charles in it. She comforted herself in knowing he'd be back the day after tomorrow.
"Why is Mr. Edwards dressed in Pa's shirt?" Mary asked after bringing fresh rinse water from the creek. Caroline was outside, the sun beating down as she did the week's laundry. Leaning over the washboard was more difficult now, with her belly in the way, but the girls weren't quite strong enough yet to properly scrub. She left the rinsing and wringing out to them.
"I'm washing his shirt and trousers," Caroline said, holding up the red checkered shirt they were used to seeing him in. "And afterward I'm going to mend it. It'll look brand new when I'm done."
"I wish I could go feed Sally," Laura said.
"You may feed Sally after you've finished wringing those out. I can hang everything up today."
"I'll help, Ma," Mary said.
The laundry was finished, and dried quickly in the blazing sun. By the time she had removed everything from the line it was so hot that Caroline put the ironing off to the next morning, when it would be cooler. As it was, she woke two or three times a night, and rose earlier than everyone else not to cook, but to walk around the cabin and settle the baby. Laura and Mary had moved and kicked inside her, but this one liked to roll and flip. The only time the baby kicked was when it was restless. The rest of the time Caroline had the feeling it was playing. She wasn't very large for the seventh month, but the internal gymnastics sometimes made her wonder if she was carrying twins.
It was one of these restless times, while she was in the middle of mending the red shirt, that Caroline felt the need to walk. She was just standing up when the door burst open and Mr. Edwards came inside, holding out a tanned hand to her.
"Fire." He took her roughly by the arm and jerked her outside.
The smell of smoke filled her nostrils, and Caroline's heart rate instantly doubled. She heard the fire before she saw it, a muted roar, and when she looked behind the house she saw the flames rapidly approaching, smoke blowing ahead, tinting the blue sky dark.
"My girls," she said, looking around wildly. "Where are-"
"Gettin' water from the creek," he said. "We have to to soak the cabin and the stables."
"But-"
"Ain't no way to stop a fire once it's comin'," he said quickly. "Get a bucket."
The fire was upon them in a matter of minutes, before they had even wet two walls of the house. Caroline's eyes burned from the smoke, and she couldn't stop coughing.
"More water!" she called over the roar of the flames almost as soon as she'd blindly thrown some over the house. Laura dashed off with the empty bucket.
Mr. Edwards was taking charge of the stables, with Mary fetching him bucket after bucket. Occasionally he would follow with the large washbasin, fill it as best he could, and run back. Caroline could hear the animals crying to be let out as fire licked the sides of their stall, but there wasn't time to pay attention to anything but the task at hand.
Flames began licking the woodpile, climbing to the roof of the house. The smoke was so thick Caroline could barely see, and her lungs burned, but she kept throwing water when Laura brought it. The fire was too high for her now, and climbing to the roof was out of the question. She turned in the direction of the stables.
"MR. EDWARDS!"
Laura brought more water, and Caroline aimed high, dousing some of the closest shingles in water, but it was of little use. She stood and watched her home burn while Laura went back to the creek.
"Mary, go for more water, and bring it here!" Mr. Edwards called roughly over the sound of the flames and the billowing smoke, running over from the stables to the cabin. He slapped at the woodpile with a soaked burlap sack.
"The roof!" Caroline cried, and he looked up.
"Damn it," he bit out, and thrust the sack into her hand. "Wet that good when Mary gets back, and toss it up here."
He climbed up to the roof quicker than Caroline could have thought possible, and she soaked the sack again the instant Laura returned.
"Here!"
He caught it easily and began beating the flames down. Caroline tossed water on the woodpile and, in a stroke of stupidity or genius, burst into the house, which was filled with black smoke, the floor slippery with water, and grabbed her mother's quilt off the girls' bed.
"Ma!" she heard someone cry from outside, and she rushed back out, her eyes streaming.
"I'm all right!" she called, sinking the quilt into the new bucket of water and beating back the flames like Edwards did.
"More water!" he called, throwing the sack down again. The heat of it burned Caroline's hands, but she dunked it anew, and threw it back to him.
"Be careful!"
The girls rushed off for more water.
The walls and woodpile were no longer burning, but the stable had completely gone up in flames. She watched Mr. Edwards work, coughing, her eyes burning, and was about to throw the quilt up to him, too, when she felt the droplets on her face.
At first she couldn't tell if the water was hot or cool, it felt like both cinders and ice at the same time. All she knew was that these weren't her own tears. It was raining. Maybe that was God, she thought, looking up at the thick cloud cover through the smoke. Maybe that was God weeping over his burning creation as it was ravaged by the elements.
She began to cry, her tears mixing with the rain, her lungs straining. The fire on the roof disappeared under the heavy downpour, and she saw Mr. Edwards put his face in his hands, his shoulders dropping.
"It's raining!" Laura announced, shouting over the noise. Sensing Caroline's distress, she put her arms around her and buried her face in her mother's skirts. Caroline managed to stop crying, and kneeled in the mud and burnt grass, embracing her girls, stroking their soft, unmarred cheeks and hands, reveling in their wet clothes that had saved them from being caught by the flames. She knew her own skirts hadn't fared as well.
The wood and ground hissed as all the fire was put out, and Mr. Edwards jumped from the roof. Laura escaped her mother's fierce hold and went to him.
"Mr. Edwards!"
"Everyone all right?" he asked.
Caroline looked up at him. His face was blackened with smoke, and his hands trembled, she supposed from burns. She nodded, a smile crossing over her face. Mr. Edwards smiled back, his shoulders dropping in relief.
The four of them simply sat right where they were, as the rain turned the ground to mud and the smoke cleared. Caroline held onto her daughters, and Edwards opened the door so the smoke could escape. The rain lasted a good hour, and when they finally brought themselves to their feet, the world around was ravaged, the prairie blackened and steaming. When Caroline looked across the creek the brittle yellow grasses still swung lightly in the breeze. Mr. Edwards' own cabin was probably untouched.
"Ma, are Pa and Mr. Edwards going to have to build a brand new cabin for us?" Mary asked.
Caroline stepped away to poke her head inside their cabin. The smell of smoke clung to the wood, and there was water on the floor, but everything seemed relatively untouched.
"I don't think so. It needs a good washing. I'll see to that." Her voice came out crackly and tired, but Caroline felt full of energy, the relief of knowing her house was still intact flowing through her. "I'll fetch some dry rags and soap, and we'll go wash up in the creek and put fresh clothes on. I have some clean things in the trunks. Mr. Edwards-"
"I'll see to the stock, ma'am, and clean myself up when you're back."
She coughed a little and nodded. "Mr. Edwards, I…we…" She didn't know how to properly thank him without crying again.
He tipped his head. No words were needed.
Caroline and the girls trudged downstream, away from any eyes that could unintentionally follow, and stripped off their smoke-stained clothing. In her underthings, Caroline used rags to scrub off all the smoke and debris from the girls' bodies, leaving them pink and squeaky clean. She washed their hair and faces, and when she was content with her work let them dry off and dress in their spring dresses, which were now too small, but did the job. She could only do so much about her own appearance without a mirror, but tried to be as thorough as she'd been with the girls. Laura and Mary caught where she'd missed a spot, and they laughed together when Caroline discovered a singed piece of hair.
There had been nothing in the trunk besides her Christmas dress, which could never fit her now. Caroline dressed in one of Charles' shirts and a pair of his trousers, but had the foresight to tie an apron over the ensemble. She'd never worn men's clothing before, and found it surprisingly freeing as they walked back to the cabin together.
Mr. Edwards said nothing about Caroline's appearance when she returned. After being embarrassed at him seeing her pregnant to begin with, most modesty was now gone, and with her apron on they could both pretend it was a day like any other. Caroline set the girls on wash duty; everything was already cleaned and only coated with the scent of smoke, and the job was manageable. Mr. Edwards helped ring the clothing and bed covers out, and Mary directed where they were to be hung. Using a scrub brush and hot, soapy water Caroline scrubbed the floor of the cabin, and any furniture was moved outside in the fresh air. It was an exhausting day, but when it was finally over they all felt cleansed, as if one period of life had passed and the other had just begun.
With the door left open to allow for more clean air to filter in, they all crossed the creek the next day and followed its winding path to where the wild blackberries grew. There were hardly any left, and too few to gather, but they ate the ones they could find, and reveled in the novelty of being away from home for the morning.
On their way back, though, they were all tired out and ready to take the nap Caroline had promised after the taxing day they'd all had. Mr. Edwards led the walk back, telling them stories in a gravelly voice, making the girls laugh.
"What's that?" Mary asked suddenly.
"Sounds like somebody screamin' their lungs out."
"Maybe it's an Indian!" Laura said excitedly.
"Laura, don't even say such a thing," Caroline chided. "We don't need any more excitement."
"CAROLINE?!"
"Oh, no." She put a hand with its light burns over her mouth. "It's Charles. He doesn't know where we are."
Still wearing her husband's clothing, while her other skirts waited to be ironed, Caroline lifted her apron and rushed ahead of them, running along the banks of the creek, hearing her name being called repeatedly.
"I'm coming!" she tried to shout back, but it only made her stop and cough.
"Mrs. Ingalls, slow down!" she heard Edwards calling from behind her, but she rallied her strength and hurried on. When she turned the bend, she saw Charles kicking the charred woodpile, cursing at the top of his lungs. Pat and Patty neighed in distress.
"Charles!" she called, but he didn't notice. He pulled clothes from the line angrily.
Her lungs were screaming with pain, but she hurried through the creek to the other side and managed to climb the hill. "Charles!" she called again, a hand on her throat.
He turned at the sound of her voice, and an expression crossed over his face that she'd never seen before. For an instant his eyes retained the horror and rage of discovering his home scorched and family gone, but they filled with tears at the sight of her. She stopped running, braced her hands on her knees for a moment, and breathed after the exertion. Footsteps told her Charles was coming to her, and suddenly she was being crushed in a fierce embrace.
"Are you all right? Are the girls all right?" he asked, out of breath himself
"We're all fi-," she managed, but he stopped her with a crushing kiss, making her laugh.
He was crying. He held her face, shaking her. "Do you know what it was like to get here and think- Don't you know how much I love you?"
"I'm sorry." He kissed her again. Her lips, her cheeks, her brow in quick succession.
"What are you wearing?"
"Your clothes. You don't mind-"
He laughed and embraced her again, lifting her from the ground for a moment. "Mind? Why would I mind, you silly woman?"
Laura's voice came from behind them. "Pa! You're home!"
Splashing told her the girls were also running through the creek, but Caroline closed her eyes, inhaling the sweaty smell of her husband. His hand brushed her abdomen briefly before he stepped away and his arms filled with his daughters. The same ritual was repeated. Hugs and kisses (and some tears) all around.
Edwards came more slowly. Caroline saw him struggling, and realized the smoke had affected him more than he'd let on. The mild hurrying looked painful, and he held his ribs.
"Ma and Mr. Edwards put out the fire, Pa!" Mary was saying. "The cabin was burning and they put it out together. And Mr. Edwards did the stables!"
Charles looked from his girls to the man making his way up the hill. He stood and, after a moment of awkwardness, embraced his friend like a brother.
"I can't thank you enough, Isaiah," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "You saved my family's lives."
"I don't know, Ingalls," he said, "this wife of yours sure can pull her own weight in a fire."
Charles looked at her proudly.
"Ma said you wouldn't mind her lifting heavy things if it meant saving the cabin," Laura said. Charles laughed, kissing Caroline again.
In bed, in their house that smelled fresh, with an undercurrent of soap and dried lavender, Caroline lay against her husband, with an arm and a leg draped over him. She flickered between sleep and consciousness. Charles ran his fingers over her bare arm again and again. Twice he picked up her hand and threaded his fingers through hers.
"I thought you would be tired," she said at last.
"I thought so, too, but I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I think you're not real." His chest vibrated with the sound of his voice.
"When it was all over I couldn't stop holding the girls," she said quietly as Laura and Mary slept soundly. "I wanted to feel their soft skin, their hair. I wanted to smell them and never let them go."
He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "Your voice. Does it hurt when you talk?"
"Yes, but it'll pass." She adjusted her position; the baby was pressed against her ribs. "If this baby would only turn over maybe I could get some sleep."
She felt his smile in the dark. "Didn't you say cool water helped wake him up?"
Caroline sat up a little, gently pressing the left side of her belly. "I don't want to wake her, I just want her to move." She looked down at Charles, smiling wryly. "I keep saying 'she', you keep saying 'he'."
"I'm keeping the odds even," he explained. "You really think it's a girl?"
Caroline shrugged. "Yes, but I could be wrong."
"I've been thinking…if it's a girl we should name her Caroline," he said quietly.
"I thought we said Martha, after my sister."
"I know, but what about if we called her after her beautiful, strong mother?"
"Well, if it's a boy we'll call him Charles," Caroline said, smirking. "That's my condition."
He chuckled. The baby turned over lazily, and Caroline sighed, the pressure finally relieved.
"I can sleep now," she said, and lay back, closing her eyes contentedly. Charles' hand worried lightly over her belly.
"I'm just glad I won't have to leave you again until after he's born," he said. "I'd never forgive myself if something like that happened again and I wasn't here. First the Indians, then the fire…I hate leaving you all."
She sighed, close to sleep. "Mmm…but we can't leave the cabin. We have the plot, but we'll need seeds for the spring."
"I know."
After muffling another cough with her hand, she draped her arm over his chest again. "Go to sleep, Charles. I'm real. We're all safe."
A/N: I thought it'd be interesting to have the fire take place while Charles was gone. It comes at a weird part in the movie, so I hope you don't mind that the story is a bit out of order. Please review if you have a minute!