Chapter 162 – Explaining to Becky

Wynn turned and pulled Becky closer to him.

"If I thought he needed the hospital." Wynn said. "I would take him there myself. You had a high fever and were becoming unresponsive to us. Mountie Jack doesn't have a fever. Do you understand?"

"Sort of." Becky said.

"May I?" Frank asked.

"Did the doctors explain why you were so sick?" Frank asked.

"They just said that I picked up something, probably from something I ate." Becky said.

"Yes." Frank said. "It is called a parasite. It was what was making you sick and because you had not had proper nutrition at the orphanage before, you got really sick. Most of the time when people pick up a parasite, they are sick for a few days or maybe a few weeks."

"Okay." Becky said. "So what is different with Mountie Jack?"

"Mountie Jack has something called pneumonia." Wynn said. "It affects his ability to breathe, especially when he tries to do something. There is no medicine that the doctors can give him. It will just be rest and time to determine how Mountie Jack recovers. Because of pneumonia which is kind of like having fluid in the lungs, it hurts to breathe. He also hurt his ribs when he was thrown from his horse and washed down the stream. He got sick because he probably inhaled some of the water and then was laying in the cold water. So he got water in his lungs and then got really cold by being out when he was wet."

"Okay." Becky said. "I understand better. What can we do to help him?"

"You can pray for him as he prayed for you when you were in the hospital." Frank said. "Right now, that is all pretty much anyone can do for Mountie Jack. There are things that Constable Jacobs and Wynn are doing to help him breathe better, but those are short term solutions to hopefully allow his body enough time to recover. He is going to need lots of rest and will not be working for some time."

"I will pray for him." Becky said. "I didn't know he prayed for me."

"Most everyone that lived here since Christmas has prayed for you." Frank said. "We included you in our prayers every Sunday."

"We prayed for you as well." Wynn said. "We might have been all the way in Hamilton or traveling, but we also prayed for you."

"Thank you." Becky said.

"That reminds me." Frank said. "Constable Jacobs told me that you didn't have a Bible. I brought one for you. Someone donated a case of them to the church for people who didn't have one of their own."

Frank stood up and went over to the side table and grabbed the Bible. He brought it back and handed it to Becky.

"I will give it back when I get my own." Becky said.

"Open the inside cover." Frank said.

Becky opened the cover and there in beautiful script writing was her name – Becky Hastings.

"This is yours to keep." Frank said. "Turn the page."

Becky turned the page and that was when she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She saw someone had filled out as much of her family tree as possible.

"Thank you." Becky said.

"If we learn anything more about your family." Wynn said. "We can add to it. But we thought you should at least have that much. Also if you decided to allow Mrs Stanton to adopt you, we can paste in a page with her family information. How about that?"

"Thank you both so much." Becky said. "I really want to stay here, but the worker at the hospital said he wouldn't approve it and would recommend to a judge that we go back to an orphanage because Mrs Stanton is a widow."

"Well." Wynn said. "My son-in-law is sending paperwork that says otherwise. We had someone else assigned to your case. We also explained that you and Cody both want to stay here and that Mrs Stanton not only has the support of the entire town, but has the support of my wife and I as well. Given what my position is, the new worker doesn't see why you can't stay here. It will just take some time to make things final. The first step will be filling out the paperwork that my son-in-law is sending."

"Really." Becky said, her eyes lighting up.

"Really." Abigail said coming over. "We just aren't saying anything to Cody until we have the paperwork in hand, because I don't know how long it is going to take."

"I won't say anything." Becky said.

"Speaking of Cody." Abigail said. "Where is he?"

"He is playing ball over by the school with a few other boys." Frank said. "Also, Mary Graves won't be able to help anymore. DeWitt told me that Faith put her on bedrest."

"Thank you for telling me." Abigail said. "Guess I will be over here more this week."

"We will help." Wynn said. "You have three Cadets that can do a lot of things."

"I will help as well." Frank said. "Hopefully after this week, you all have more answers and things slow down and we can all get into a routine."

"Yes, please." Abigail said.

Just as Abigail finished speaking the bell over the door rang. Everyone turned and looked. They saw Elizabeth, Elizabeth Rose and Patty walk in.

"Where are the guys?" Wynn asked.

"They took the trunk to the house." Elizabeth said. "They were also going to check something at the rowhouses. Jacobs said he would talk to me when he got back, but that Jack was resting."

"Yes." Wynn said. "He is not out of the woods, but doing better. We will explain everything later."

"Anyone want a snack?" Abigail asked. "I have the carrot or coconut cakes that Marsha made."

"I will take some carrot." Frank said.

"Coconut for me." Wynn said.

"May I have a small slice of each?" Becky asked.

"That sounds good." Elizabeth said.

"We will help." Elizabeth Rose said.

Abigail, Elizabeth Rose and Patty headed to the kitchen to get cake for everyone. They also put on the kettle for some tea. They were as quiet as possible as they saw Jack resting. Abigail thought he looked pale, but she was going to keep her thoughts to herself. She wasn't the only one that thought that as Elizabeth Rose was thinking the same thing. She wondered if Jack didn't belong in the hospital. She knew that her niece wouldn't like him to be so far away, but she also didn't want anything to happen to Jack. They got a tray of plates ready and headed out.

While the group went to the kitchen to get cake, Elizabeth picked up the two checker boards. She figured that they were done playing for the day. She stacked the games on the table close to the kitchen and put Jack's near her coat. As she was picking up the games, she thought of something.

"Uncle Wynn." Elizabeth said.

"Yes, Beth." Wynn said.

"I was thinking." Elizabeth said. "I know it is going to be a bit before you go back to Hamilton, but I was wondering if there was a way for you to send Jack and I some games when you do go back. I just realized that we don't have any games in the house. I keep thinking of things that we need."

"Make a list." Wynn said. "We will see what we can order from here and what we can't, I will make sure that is sent to you."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "I just don't know how Jack is going to feel about me getting so many things."

"Elizabeth." Frank said. "You are setting up a household. As you think of things that you need to host guests or accommodate your growing family, you should be able to get them."

"I guess that you are right." Elizabeth said. "I guess I never realized how many things you take for granted living with other people. I am so grateful to the community for the things that we got for the wedding. I wouldn't have thought about the extra linens or towels. Not to mention the pans and kitchen utensils."

"That is okay." Wynn said. "Would suggest that as you look at the plans for the new house you take time and really think about the room. What you want in it. What you are going to need to make the room livable and functional for you and your family. Sophie was having a hard time and she moved into Andrew's house that he had inherited. Still there were several things that she realized he didn't have or things that she needed to make life easier."

"That is a good idea." Elizabeth said.

"What is a good idea?" Abigail asked, coming with a tray of cake pieces.

"Beth here was thinking about all the things that she needs for the house." Wynn said. "I told her to think about each room and what she would need to make it livable and functional for her. Sophie had a hard time with that and she moved into an established household when she married Andrew."

As Wynn was talking, Dee came back in.

"I understand." Abigail said. "I struggled with the same things when I married Noah. We were also much younger then Jack and Elizabeth when we married. It took a long time to get the things that we needed, but I always had a list of things that we should have. I think it was finally when we moved here and got the rowhouse that it finally was easier."

"Where were you living before the rowhouse?" Becky asked.

"When Noah, Peter and I first moved here." Abigail said. "Which was about eleven years ago. They were just building the row houses. They would three a year. Until we got one, we lived in an apartment just across the way. It was a small one bedroom as the woman who owned the building had divided it and lived on the other side. She ran her business out of the downstairs. Peter had a bed in the corner of our room. We didn't get a rowhouse until Noah was named superintendent."

"Wow." Becky said.

"What building was it?" Dee asked, pulling out his sketchbook. "Also what was downstairs?"

Abigail looked at the map that Dee had drawn.

"Here, the last one in the row across the street." Abigail said. "It was a laundry downstairs. I think the upstairs has since been turned back into a two bedroom. I don't even know who owns the building anymore. The woman passed away when we had a influenza outbreak in 1906."

"I will look into it." Dee said. "Don't you worry about it. You have enough going on."

"So do you." Abigail said with a knowing look.

"The difference is I have ten Cadets that can do the leg work for me." Dee said with a smirk.

"See why I keep him around." Wynn teased.

"You are going to have to let me be a real Mountie at some point and not just your assistant." Dee teased back.

"Boys enough." Elizabeth Rose said.

"Where is Jacobs?" Wynn asked.

"He is still out at the row house." Dee said. "He will be along shortly. So is there more cake or what?"

"What kind do you want?" Elizabeth Rose asked.

"Both, please." Dee said with a grin.

"Just a moment." Abigail said.

"Can I see that map?" Becky asked.

Dee handed it over to Becky.

"Do you have a pencil and ruler?" Becky asked.

Dee handed those over as well. He also placed the sharpener on the table.

"Do you mind?" Becky asked.

"Be my guest." Dee said. "I thought I did a pretty good job."

"It isn't bad." Becky said. "Just a little off on spacing and size."