Voices From Within (Book 2)

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Afternoon Visitors

It was Sheriff Davis. Reggie stood up and wiped his mustache and chin beard with his hands, then wiped them on his pants before shaking hands.

"I've been better," said Reggie, as he felt sick to his stomach.

Reggie looked over the Sheriff's shoulder and saw Clyde driving Ivan's team and buckboard into the yard. When he turned to check on Charlotte, he saw her pushed up on one arm, wiping her mouth.

"She's awake." Reggie said as he rushed to her side.

"Reggie. Where am I?"

"You're safe. We are at Ivan's," said Reggie as he wrapped his arms around her.

She reached up, felt her head, which was bandaged, and winced in pain. He knew the violent vomiting had put a strain on the stitches. He carried her into the cabin and laid her down on the bed. Placing two pillows behind her head, he propped her up in bed. Reggie covered her up and placed a bucket next to the bed.

Then he carried out the bowl of vomit and dumped into the snow. The putrid smell brought on gagging as Reggie washed the pan in the snow. When Sheriff Davis and Clyde Jamison entered the cabin, their eyes opened wide at the disarray and pans of bloody bandages.

"You look like you have your hands full," said Davis.

"My other patient is over there," said Reggie as he pointed to Kaiser.

Clyde knelt next to him, happy to see that Kaiser was still alive. When the man petted him, Kaiser growled and then sniffed the air. He recognized the scent and laid his head back down.

"Kaiser is in a lot of pain," said Reggie as he chewed on dry crackers, trying to get something in his stomach.

"Where did you find Miss Randolph?" asked Sheriff Davis.

Reggie finished a glass of water and told the men the story of how he found Charlotte, Kaiser's injury, and the laudanum.

"Check Mr. Albright's pistol handle for blood. I think that is what he used to knock her out."

While Reggie talked, Sheriff Davis took notes, and Clyde helped Reggie by cleaning up the kitchen. He started a pot of coffee on the stove. He placed the bloody bandages in a bucket of cold water and laid the supplies on the countertop.

"Here, let me show you," said Reggie.

He led the men to the root cellar. It amazed the sheriff when he saw the room. Then Reggie held up the candle and showed them the priest's hole where he found Charlotte. While they explored the area, Clyde gathered up potatoes, carrots, onions and tore off a bulb of garlic. He climbed the ladder and deposited the vegetables in the kitchen. He knew they would need some beef broth.

Clyde walked back into the pantry, past the laundry tubs to the built-in smoke house. He opened the door and brought out a brown wrapped package labeled beef roast. He grabbed some sausages and a wedge of cheese from a wheel that sat on the shelf. The groomsman started a soup pot. He ladled in water for potatoes. Clyde grabbed a cast-iron skillet and sprinkled salt in the pan. Then, using a grease rag, he wiped out the remains and set it on the warmest part of the stove to cure.

Then he remembered that his wife, Marge, had sent a lunch basket to Reggie, and he had left it on the buckboard. When Clyde reached the wagon bed, he also saw the big, heavy quilt in the back. He carried the items into the cabin. He set out the food items on the table as the men entered the kitchen, each carrying a load of wood. When Reggie saw the food on the table, he started eating. He cut a chunk of bread and a slice of cheese.