Robin Lee Hatcher by Promised to Me

swayed from side to side, looking as pale as a sheet.
    Tightening her grasp on Laura’s arm, Karola steered her toward a nearby chair. “Sit down.”
    Laura obeyed the gentle command.
    Maeve came to stare at her. “What’s wrong?”
    Ignoring the girl’s question, Karola slid her hand from Laura’s arm to her shoulder. “Lean forward. Breathe deeply. Not too fast. That is better.”
    Laura groaned, the sound nearly inaudible. Then her eyes rolled back in their sockets an instant before her lids closed. She pitched forward.
    Karola caught her before she could fall off the chair. “Maeve! Run get your father. Quick!”
    Out of the corner of her eye, Karola saw Maeve thrust the plates into her brother’s arms before she raced away. One of the plates slid to the floor and shattered.
    Moments later, Jakob and Tulley rushed in from the dining room, and at the same time, Ian Gaffney entered through the back door. All three men spoke at the same time.
    “What happened?”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Laura!”
    Ian took his wife into his arms and eased her to the floor while Karola went to moisten a cloth in the sink. When she returned, she knelt beside Laura and offered the cool cloth to Ian.
    He leaned over Laura and spoke softly as he placed the cloth on her forehead. “Come ’round, love. Hear me? Open your eyes, me darlin’ girl.”
    Laura’s eyelids fluttered, and she moaned.
    “That’s right,” her husband said. “Open your eyes now.”
    Slowly, she did.
    Ian smiled his relief. “You’ve given us quite a scare, love.”
    “What happened?”
    Karola said, “You fainted.”
    “Fainted?” Laura rolled her head toward Karola. “Don’t be silly. I never faint.”
    Ian released a humorless chuckle. “Then you’ll be tellin’ us, please, what it is you’re doin’ here, lyin’ on your back on the kitchen floor.”
    She hesitated before answering. “I haven’t the foggiest notion, Ian Gaffney.” She frowned as she drew a deep breath. “But I didn’t faint. Now, help me up. Our dinner’s growing cold.”
    “The dinner can wait.” Still kneeling, Ian lifted Laura into his arms, then stood. “You’ll be stayin’ in bed until the doctor has a look at you.” He glanced toward Tulley. “Da, will you go for Doc Cooper?”
    “Aye, I’m already on me way.”
    Laura began to protest. “Ian—”
    “’Tis no use arguing with me, darlin’. You’ll not be movin’ until the doctor says you may.” With those words, he carried her from the kitchen.
    Karola felt a hand cup her elbow, and she looked up into Jakob’s worried gaze. As he helped her stand, she answered his unspoken question with a slight shake of her head. Then she heard a sob and glanced toward the sound.
    There stood Bernard, tears streaming down his face, still balancing the rest of the plates in his arms, shattered pieces of the one he had dropped surrounding him on the floor.
    She hurried to him. “Do not be frightened, Bernard. Your cousin will be feeling herself very soon.” She hoped she was telling the truth. Please, God, let my words be true.
    “I didn’t mean to break it,” he choked out in a pitifully small voice. “It … it slipped.”
    Her heart caught in her chest as she took the stack of plates, set them on the table, then knelt amid the shards and gathered the boy into a close embrace. “The plate can be replaced, Bernard. We know it was an accident. It does not matter that it is broken. Do not cry.” She kissed his cheek. “Do not cry.”
    “Da?” Maeve sounded near tears herself. “Is Miss Karola right? Will Cousin Laura be okay?”
    “Yes, she will be.”
    Karola could only hope Jakob’s response sounded far more confident in their ears than it did in hers.

Chapter Thirteen

    A s it happened, both Jakob and Karola were right in what they told the children. Laura was perfectly healthy, according to Dr. Cooper.
    By the time the Hirsch carriage headed back to the farm, the joyous news was spreading