Her family’s distressed voices drifted through the door, and Madeline’s heart stopped. Had her husband taken a turn for the worse?
As Madeline had not bothered to change when Derek had sent her to bed, she jumped to her feet and rushed to the door, yanking it open, her eyes immediately finding the man in the bed.
Startled, all eyes turned to her as she stepped into the room, her heart filling with relief when she saw Derek sitting in bed, his eyes narrowed as he spoke to his brother-in-law. He seemed fine, or at least as fine as could be expected under the circumstances.
“What’s going on?” Madeline asked, surprised to see not only Sean, but also Kara and Bessy standing around the bed. Then she looked closer and saw a small boy in front of Kara, a blanket wrapped around his slim shoulders.
However, the boy was not Collin.
Maybe a few years older than Madeline’s nephew, this boy had dark brown hair cut short and at present dripping wet. His eyes stood open wide, and he shivered all over, trying to pull the blanket closer around himself. Fear rested on his features as he fidgeted in Kara’s embrace.
Looking closer, Madeline finally recognised him. It was Daring Matt as Collin called him.
Matthew Dunning.
The widow’s son.
“What is going on?” Madeline repeated, her eyes shifting over her family’s concerned faces. “What’s wrong? Why is he here?”
Pulling the blanket from his legs, her husband made to stand up. “The roof of Meagan’s cottage?”
Another coughing fit seized him, and he almost doubled over.
Meagan? Madeline wondered as she rushed to his side, offering him the cup of tea once he was able to breathe again. “You’re not going anywhere!” she ordered, pushing him back onto the bed. Feeling his forehead, she was relieved to see the fever had not returned. Still, he was not fit to leave the bed.
Ready to object, Derek opened his mouth; however, before he got a single word out, Sean stepped forward. “Mrs. Dunning’s roof caved in,” he said, glancing at the little boy. “Matthew’s mother and sister are trapped inside so he came running over, asking for help.”
“I have to go!” Derek exclaimed, once more pulling back the blanket.
Exasperated, Madeline jabbed him in the chest, watching him fall back against the pillows with no small amount of satisfaction. “If you try to get up one more time, I swear I will tie you to the bed,” she snarled into his face. “Have I made myself clear?”
Her husband’s lips tightened as he stared up at her. “They need help!”
“And they will get help,” Madeline replied, a touch of menace in her voice, “but not from you.” Then she stood up straight and took a deep breath. Never had she found herself in such a situation where another’s life depended on what she would deci?
Madeline stopped. Yes, she had. When Collin had collapsed, she had taken matters into her own hands…and her decision to act had saved his life. There was no reason she could not do so again.
Swallowing, she turned to Sean. “Alert the nearest neighbours,” she instructed. “Tell them to come to the widow’s cottage right away. We’ll need their help.”
Before the last word had left her lips, Sean darted out of the room.
“Bessy.” Spinning around, Madeline looked to her mother-in-law. “You see to the children.”
“I will,” Bessy confirmed, a proud gleam in her eyes as she nodded to Madeline.
Glancing at her husband, Madeline added, “Even your own. He does not leave this bed, is that clear?”
As her husband’s jaw dropped open in outrage, Bessy chuckled. “As you wish, my lady.”
“Good. Kara, would you please get my boots and coat,” Madeline asked. “I’ll be down in a minute.” Ushering her family out the door, she turned to her husband, doing her best to ignore the anger burning in his eyes.
“You have no right to tell me what?”
“Yes, I do,” she interrupted, striding toward the bed. “You are in no shape to get up, and if you’re not willing to see that, then it is up to me to ensure that you do not endanger yourself. I’m your wife, and you will do as I say.”
As he stared at her with wide eyes, Madeline noticed a slight twitch in his upper lip as though he secretly delighted in the way she spoke to him.
Madeline swallowed, “I know it is not easy for you to relinquish control, but you need to trust me when I tell you that I will find a way to get them out. Believe me…she…will be fine.” Rising to her feet, Madeline turned to the door, unable to look at her husband any longer. Was he merely concerned for one of his tenants? Or was…Meagan…special to him?
“Be careful,” he called after her, his voice raw with emotion.
Looking back at him over her shoulder, Madeline swallowed seeing fear in his eyes. “I will.”
He nodded to her as though binding her to her words. “I cannot lose you.”
As hope surged to her heart, Madeline’s breath caught in her throat. “Me? Or her?” she asked and before he could answer slipped out of the room. Even if she needed to know, she did not need to know right then and there.
It would not serve her to break down sobbing because her husband had lost his heart to another woman. There were a mother and child in danger, and no matter who they were, they deserved to get help.
And she would make sure they received it.
Hastening down the stairs, Madeline found Collin and Matt in the kitchen, slurping Bessy’s stew, while Kara and her mother stood by the workbench talking.
“I am fine, Mother. I can go.”
“You should be careful in your condition,” Bessy objected, her gaze travelling to Kara’s swollen midsection. “Do you want to risk losing your child?”
“Of course not,” Kara stated. “But little Erin?”
“You’re not coming!” Madeline instructed as she sat down on a chair to pull on her boots.
“What? Why?” Staring at her, Kara shook her head while her mother nodded in approval. “If it were Collin?”
“You’re still not coming,” Madeline repeated, slipping into her warmest coat. “Your mother is right. If something were to happen to you or the baby, none of us would ever forgive ourselves.” Grasping Kara’s hands, she held her gaze. “Take care of Matt, and soon, we’ll bring back Erin and…her mother. And then we’ll be needing your help.”
Sighing, Kara nodded. “But you cannot go by yourself.”
Buttoning up her coat, Madeline stepped toward the door. “I will not be alone for long.” Then she slipped outside and sucked in a sharp breath as the cold night air hit her flushed cheeks. Instantly, her teeth began to chatter, and she glanced up at the sky, relieved that the rain had eased up. Still, the wind howled like a wild beast, sending shivers down her back.
Finding her way in the dark proved less difficult when the clouds moved, revealing a crescent moon hanging high in the sky. However, when the darkness engulfed her, Madeline could not see her hand before her eyes. More than once, she stumbled and went down onto her knees, her hands sinking into mud and wet grass.
Step by agonisingly slow step, she made her way up the small slope until she could see the cottage on the other side when the silvery moonlight reached down to the sodden ground.
A gasp of horror tore from her throat as she saw the smashed-in structure. The old oak tree that had been charred by lightning had become uprooted in the storm and fallen onto the side of the cottage, tearing down the wall and unhinging the roof.
Before she knew it Madeline was running down the small slope toward the trapped family, her eyes searching for openings into the house that had once been the family’s home, hoping for a way inside. “Mrs. Dunning!” she called as she approached, praying that they were still alive. “Mrs. Dunning! Erin!”
“We’re here!” came a quiet voice from within, barely audible over the howling of the wind. “We’re here!”
Coming to a stop just short of the collapsed cottage, Madeline glanced around. “Where are you? Are you hurt?”