A Sheltering Heart by Terri Reed

Author:Terri Reed
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2006-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Derek shifted again in the too-small, uncomfortable folding chair. A glance at his watch told him it was almost time to meet Tito for their morning run. Might as well bag trying to sleep. He rose and stretched his aching muscles.

Poor Grandpa James must have been beyond exhausted to find rest in the folding chair he slept in. The boy, Cam, lay on the examination table, a blanket drawn over him and his broken leg propped up. Derek moved to Cam’s side and lightly placed a hand on the boy’s forehead.

His skin was still warm but not burning the way it had been when Derek had first touched him. Derek knew enough about medicine and the human body to know it wasn’t good to sustain a high fever.

“Thank You, God, that we found him,” Derek whispered. He closed his eyes and continued. “Please heal this boy, Lord.”

He stood there for several moments with his eyes closed and his hand touching the child. He wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, some sign that God heard him, maybe.

Finally, he left the clinic and went in search of something to pry open the well. Near the kitchen house he found a flat metal bar that had been tossed in the woodpile. Before going to meet Tito, he grabbed two empty water jugs and a ball of twine he’d found in the medical supplies.

He met up with Tito as the youth came trotting from his cousin’s house.

He handed a jug to Tito. “We’re going to bring back some water and see if it’s usable.”

They set off, their pace moderate but slowly building speed as they went. Before long they reached the well. Using the metal bar, they pried the planks of wood from the top. Derek knotted one end of the twine around the handle of a jug and lowered the container.

He prayed that the bottom wouldn’t be too far below. The jug bobbled. Derek jiggled the string, hoping some water would fill the jug. He reeled the jug up and grimaced at the mud caking the outside and the barest amount of liquid sloshing inside.

“This isn’t going to work,” he grumbled.

“Maybe you should try this?” Tito held up a wooden bucket attached to a long, thick rope.

“Funny.” Derek grabbed the bucket from the grinning African teen.

With the bucket, he made short work of filling the jugs. He examined the murky water, never more grateful for the water filtration system back home.

“Yuck,” he said. He hoped Gwen and the others had some method for purifying the water. He didn’t think boiling would be enough.

“Let’s go see what the doctors can do with this.” Derek handed a full jug to Tito and they headed back toward the village.

The morning sun grew round in the sky, its golden rays touching the dewy drops of moisture on the blades of tall grass and oval-shaped leaves of the trees. A huge bird with an enormous wingspan landed off to Derek’s left on the top of a gnarled palm tree.

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