Chapter 23

"This is not how it should be!" Lola groaned. "The baby comes too soon."

"Don't worry about that now and concentrate on your breathing!" Kenna wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at her friend concerned.

For hours, Lola had been in labor, but there was still no progress. Kenna was with her alone, because Greer had to take care of her girls and the infected customer. While Kenna was clutching Lola's Hand, she rememberd Daniel's birth...

"It is too early. The baby is not due for several more weeks!"

"I fear your baby doesn't know that." the midwife said compassionately.

"I can't bear it no longer. I'm going to die!"

"No, no. Calm down! This is what all expectant mothers say to me. You have more strength than you think. Do you have a name?"

"Ella... if it's a girl and Daniel for a boy."

"Beautiful names. Ah, I see the baby's head. A little push and then it's there."

And she had pushed, as firmly, as if her life would depend on it. And then she had heard it, a soft whimper.

"It's a boy!" the midwife exclaimed.

"Daniel..."

"And such a splendid little boy! I clean him up, and then you can hold him."

"Does he have red hair?"

"Why do you ask?"

"His father had red hair."

"Oh, no. What I can see already, his hair is dark like yours." She examined the baby and shook her head slightly. "I've seen many premature births. This is not one. This little boy is fully developed."

"What do you mean?"

"I am convinced that you were already much longer pregnant as you thought."

"This is... not possible."

"I am usually not mistaken about these things. It is based on experiences."

"May I see him?"

"Surely." The midwife wrapped the baby in a blanket and laid it in Kenna's arms. "Congratulations on your son!" she said smiling.

And then she had seen her son for the first time and had immediately recognized the resemblance between him and Bash. Tears had streamed down her cheeks, for joy, that she had a healthy son, but also for grief, because his father wasn't with her.

"Please, don't cry! It's over. Everything is all right." The midwife stroked gently Kenna's hair. „I quickly examine the afterbirth. Then you can rest."

"Kenna?"

She was rudely awakened of her daydream.

"Can... I get something to drink?" Lola asked.

"Certainly." Kenna brought a carafe and poured some water in a cup. "You are very brave." she said. "I think it's over soon." She helped Lola to sit up and gave her something to drink.

"If I should die..." Lola clutched Kenna's hand. "Please promise me, that you take care of John and the baby!"

Kenna felt queasy, all of a sudden. All the time, she hadn't thought about the possibility, that something bad could happen to Lola. But every birth was a risk.

"You won't die!" she replied emphatically. "I won't let you! You can do this and you will be a wonderful mother for your children!"

"Kenna?"

"What?"

"Why are you crying?"

Hastily, Kenna wiped away her tears. She had not even noticed that she was crying. But the emotional tension was too much for her. "Do you have a name for the baby?"

Lola nodded. "Aylee for a girl and Robert for a boy."

"Aylee..." muttered Kenna." She would be very happy about your decision."

Lola nodded. "I thought so, too. And so she can always be with us... oh no... not again!" She started to breathe rapidly. "I can't bear it!"

"You will bear it as long as it takes." Kenna grabbed Lola's hand and squeezed it. "You're stronger than you think!" she repeated the words of her old midwife. "Push with the next contraction!"

It took another two hours until the baby, a little girl, finally came into the world. But no cry accompanied her arrival.

"Is she healthy?"

Helplessly, Kenna stared at the lifeless bundle, whose skin color was more grey than rosy. She felt tears in her eyes again. Little Aylee had lost the fight of life and death. "She is..." Kenna whispered faintly, while she was looking at Lola through a blur of tears. "She's dead."

Bash reined his horse and stopped it altogether. The ravine opened up before him. He dismounted and looked down. The ravine was not very deep, however, there were steep slopes, rocks, trees and water underneath.

Only a suicidal person would try to get down there, thought Bash. Or a very desperate, he added silently.

He looked at his horse and frowned. No chance to cross the ravine on horseback. He would have to leave it here. The thought that Kenna, Daniel and her friends would have to take the same route back, let him hesitate briefly. Would they manage to climb the steep rocky slope? They just had to try it. There was no other way. From a distance, he had seen the barriers. There was no getting through them. The ravine was their only way out.

Bash tied his horse to a thick branch and stroked his nostrils. "Don't worry, my boy! I'm coming back to get you." He hesitated just a moment before he descended into the ravine.