I am now returned from my two-week intermission! I hope I didn't worry any of you readers out there; the story shall continue!
On an overcast morning, Natalie Greenwater woke with a terrible stomachache. Her mouth was parched, and her head stung like fire. She tried to force herself to stand, but could barely push herself out of bed. John knocked on the bedroom door, and entered at her soft groan.
"Oh, Natalie, you look terrible."
She tried to hide her face and not look sick, but her body won over her vanity and she lay there as John put his hand on her forehead.
"You're burning up, my dear. You need to stay in bed. I'll go talk to the boys; they'll take care of all your chores until you feel better." He left, only to return a few minutes later with a glass of water, a cool rag for her forehead, and a small bucket, just in case she should need it.
Natalie took a small sip of water and returned the glass to the stand, then fell into a fitful slumber.
Outside, the boys received the news, and they didn't complain about taking on the extra load of work; they had grown quite fond of their female colleague. All of them, however, except Ted.
"What do you think's wrong with her?" Charlie asked Dick. "Nothing serious, I hope."
"Maybe just the flu, according to what Tunstall described," he answered. "And she's been going at such a fast pace lately; she's probably just worn out and needs rest."
"I hope it ain't contagious," said Steve.
"Well, I doubt it is." Dick turned to face the speaker, Ted, who wore his normal smirk.
"And why do you say that?" asked the foreman.
"Because," he said matter-of-factly, "it's probably a woman thing."
The Regulators looked at him skeptically. "A woman thing?" asked Doc.
"Sure, you know how women have all their little problems."
"Like what?" asked Chavez.
"You know, things!" Ted sighed. "I guess you young guys just don't know about women like I do. They're so much weaker and have their little feeblenesses and such…"
"Are you saying, sir, that Lee's weak?" inquired Billy, his voice rising slightly. "Because if you are…"
"Billy, calm down." Dick held out his arm to restrain the angry Regulator. He looked at Ted. "And I'll have to ask you to not insult any member of this ranch again."
Ted shrugged and walked off. Dick turned and faced Billy. "You can't get so offended when he talks like that, Billy. You're the most likely one to go off and do something bad around here."
"He insulted Lee!" he cried. "You're disrespecting her by just standing there and letting him do that!" He lunged for Dick, but found himself being restrained by Chavez and Doc. He quickly cooled down and shook the other men from him and stormed off in the opposite direction that Ted had gone.
The next day, Lee woke feeling a bit better. She had slept the entire day before, right up to eleven o'clock the next morning. Her stomach craved food, so she rose from her bed and walked to the kitchen.
After locating a nice slice of cornbread and some bacon, she ate her meal. Still feeling a bit chilly and shaky, she returned to her room and sat on her bed. She took the brush Billy had given her from the nightstand and combed her long reddish-brown hair, then plaited it into a single long braid. Though she had occupied this room for some time, she had never really studied it. The room was not just a storage space with a bed; someone had actually used it as a bedroom before her. The person had been female, from the looks of things. A pretty chest of drawers with a small mirror on top occupied the far wall; flowery wallpaper stretched around the whole room. Lee had never even looked in the room's closet. Now she stood and walked to the double doors and pulled them open.
Inside, Natalie found several dresses and a few large and several small boxes. She examined every dress closely. From remembering what the town ladies wore, she assumed these different dresses no longer stood in fashion. Opening the large boxes, she found gloves and hats and parasols. She kept a few of them out, hoping to pair them with her two dresses, and suddenly found herself wishing she had more than two. In the smaller boxes, she found small purses and lots of jewelry, smelling salts, and even a little rouge. She pulled the elegant gold necklaces and ruby bracelets out and tried them on, but stopped when she saw Tunstall standing in front of her. She quickly stood, but finding shaky legs supporting her, she sat back down on the bed.
"Oh, hello, Mr. Tunstall."
"Hello, Natalie. I see you found what lay in the closet." He picked up the boxes and replaced them to their former locations.
"Are you mad, Mr. Tunstall? I didn't mean to take anything."
"No, it's just…" He trailed off, then sniffed slightly and coughed. "Most of these things belonged to my wife and daughter. They sent some of their things with me when I came over here, to place in the house before they came. However, they both died of consumption before emigrating."
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Tunstall. I didn't know." Lee felt nauseous again and leaned back. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright." John coughed again. "Are you feeling better today, Natalie?"
"A bit, yeah."
"Good. Keep resting; I'm sure you'll feel much improvement soon."
Natalie lay down as John left the room. She opened her eyes, however, when he slowly returned.
"Natalie, you may wear anything in the closet if you wish. You do remind of my daughter so much, and I'm sure she's rather see her things on you rather than in a dusty closet."
Natalie closed her eyes and smiled. "Thank you."