Chapter 24
"No! She cannot be dead! Kenna, please, do something! Save her!" Lola begged with tears in her eyes.
Kenna tore her eyes away from the little girl and reached for Lola's hand. "She's dead, Lola! It's too late! I cannot help her. Do you understand?"
"Please... !" Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I cannot lose her. I've already lost everything..."
Tears welled in her eyes, as Kenna took the lifeless bundle in her arms and carried it to the window, to get a better view. She didn't know what she was looking for, but when a sunray fell on the lifeless body, she noticed something. An almost unnoticeable rising and lowering movement of the chest. She blinked twice. Was it possible that little Aylee was still alive?
She grabbed a blanket and wrapped the baby in it before she laid it on the table. She opened the little girl's mouth and looked at if anything had blocked the respiratory airway. And in fact, she found lots of mucus and fluid in it. Gently, she put one finger in Aylee's mouth and took it out. Then she turned her over and gave her a slight tap on the back. Startled, she flinched, when she heard a gurgling noise and then a faint whimper.
She turned to Lola. "She is alive! Oh my God! It's a miracle! She is alive!"
Exhausted, Lola sank back into her pillow and smiled. "I knew you would save her."
Kenna watched, as the skin color changed from grey to pink, as the little girl started to breathe normally. She took a basin and began to clean her up. The baby was completely covered in blood and mucus.
"Can I hold her?" Lola asked from the bed.
"In an instant. I just want to clean her up." Kenna wrapped the baby girl in a clean blanket and brought her to the bed. "Welcome into the world, Aylee!" she said and laid her in Lola's arms.
"She's so beautiful!" Lola had tears in her eyes as she looked at her daughter.
Kenna nodded. "She is. Although fragile and small, she has an incredible will to live."
Lola reached for Kenna's arm. "I cannot thank you enough!" she said in a husky voice. "If it weren't for you, my sweet baby girl would be dead by now."
"What are friends for?" Kenna took Lola's hand. "And now get some rest. I will look at you later."
"Can you find John and tell him that he has a little sister?"
"I'll tell him. Shall I bring him to you?"
Lola shook her head. "Not now. I would like to have a little more time with her alone." She smiled. "If you have two children, you must learn to give love in equal shares."
Two children! Kenna sank into melancholy. How much she longed for another baby! A baby that would grow up with father and mother in a loving home. Suddenly, she was absorbed in thoughts about the future. Bash and her, surrounded by a bunch of children. She would teach her daughters the practical things and would prepare them for a life at court. And Bash would give his sons advice in the use of bow-hunting and would teach them how to battle and ride a horse.
"Kenna?"
Again, she was awakened of her daydream.
"I'm sorry! I was with my thoughts miles away."
"I noticed." Lola grinned. "You had such a transfigured facial expression. What were you thinking about?"
Kenna sighed. "That I would like to have another baby, too. And this time under the right conditions."
Lola nodded. "No problem at all! Go to Bash and tell him how you feel. I mean, if the plague is over." she added. "You know now that Mary is no obstacle. And what you had told us, it's obvious that he is still quite crazy about you, too."
Kenna smiled. "You were always the wisest among us lady-friends."
Lola shook her head. "Not wise just experience of life. I also have eyes and ears. And I know things that you don't know."
"What are you talking about?" Kenna looked at her curiously.
"I can't tell you, I promised Mary." Lola grinned mischievously.
"You heard it from Mary?" Kenna pressed further.
Lola nodded.
"Something about Bash?"
"Well, I'm telling you, but you have to promise me not to tell Mary."
Kenna crossed her fingers. "I promise."
Lola leaned forward. "By the time Bash and Mary had shared a bed together, he had called for you in his sleep."
Kenna was too perplexed to say something.
"It is true. Take it from me."
"Mary told you that?" Kenna asked incredulously.
Lola shrugged. "We have no secrets. We tell each other everything.
Kenna didn't understand why her heart started to throb wildly, all of a sudden. She should sympathize with Mary. But the thought, that Bash had missed her all the time, just like her, made her happy. Perhaps it was not too late for them. Perhaps her daydream would come true.
She turned to the door. "I'm going now and share the good news about Aylee's birth with all the others." She took a deep breath. „Thank you, Lola!"
"For what?" Lola asked frowning.
"For your faith." Kenna smiled at her and left the room.