Garden of the Moon by Elizabeth Sinclair Page A

sick Sara was?
    Leaning down, she whispered in Sara’s ear. “Don’t you dare die on me, Sara Wade. You hear me? You can’t die.”
    Then she heard laughter, delighted laughter. But when she looked around, no one was there.

 
     
    Chapter 8
     
     
    Dr. Norris, a portly, older man dressed all in black and sporting a snowy beard to mid chest, entered the sitting room where Julie and Raina had been awaiting word of Sara’s condition. His expression looked grim. Julie’s heart sank.
    Please let her be all right , she prayed.
    Julie stood on shaky legs and faced the doctor. “How is she?”
    He set his small, black satchel on the table and shook his head. “She’s a very sick young woman. I’ve given her a dose of laudanum, and she should sleep for a good while.” Relief that her friend was at least still alive weakened Julie’s knees. She sank into the closest chair and motioned for him to take a seat. He took the offered chair, set his satchel beside his feet and looked from Raina to Julie. “When was the last time she ate?”
    Julie looked to Raina. The black woman shrugged. Had it been so long that neither of them could recall? Julie knew that Sara had been picking at her food for the last week, but she had assumed she’d consumed some of it.
    “I’m not sure. Perhaps, a couple of days ago. She’s been…upset and hasn’t been hungry.” Raina nodded her agreement.
    For a moment, he seemed absorbed in his thoughts. Stroking his beard, he stared out the window. Finally, he looked at Julie. “I’d say she’s showing very early signs of malnutrition.” Julie gasped. He held up his hand. “No need to panic. We caught it in time. It can be reversed with sleep and food. When she wakes up, give her a light broth. No solid food for a while. For now, she’s to have just liquids: broths, tea, fruit juice. Her system has to be acclimated to accepting solid food again.” He opened his satchel and withdrew a small bottle labeled laudanum . “Give her a little of this in the evening and afternoon. It’ll help her get some rest. It’s been mixed with sweet cider to kill the bitterness. You should decrease the dosage each day, otherwise there’s a risk of addiction.” He stood and retrieved his satchel. “It’s going to take a few days, but she should be good as new very soon. Call me if you need me. I’ll check back with her in a couple of days.” He started to leave, and then turned back to Julie. “Any idea what brought this on?”
    Taken aback by his question, Julie searched for a reasonable explanation. She couldn’t very well tell him Sara was pining away for a ghost. “I think opening the house was a bit too much for her.”
    His arched eyebrow told her he had doubts that simply opening a house could cause this degree of illness, but he gave her no argument.
    While Raina showed the doctor to the door, Julie tucked the medicine bottle in her pocket, and then collapsed on the settee. Relief surged through her. Sara would be all right. Slowly, her nerves unwound from the tight ball they’d formed when she’d found Sara on the bedroom floor. Just as quickly, they coiled up again.
    Never in all the time she’d known Sara had Julie seen her so driven, so obsessed with anything as she was with this idea that she could go back in time. Was this just a short reprieve? When Sara awoke, would she go back to living as she had before she’d collapsed? Would she once more start searching for an answer to a puzzle that had no answers?
     
    ***
     
    The side of Sara’s bed dipped. Through the haze of sleep, she felt a strong hand cover hers and then squeeze it reassuringly. Peace, the first she’d felt in days, ebbed through her.
    Warm breath caressed her cheek, and then a deep, gentle voice whispered in her ear. “You must sleep, and get well, my love. I need you to come back to me.”
    She tried to open her eyes, but they felt like lead weights rested on them. Her voice wouldn’t work. Frustrated tears