The Soldier's Mail Order Deception (Iron Creek Brides 08) by Karla Gracey

Author:Karla Gracey [Gracey, Karla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beldene Publishing
Published: 2022-07-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

July 3, 1885, Iron Creek, Minnesota

The strange iron frame certainly looked sturdy, Andrew thought as he watched Alec set it up in the yard. It was made up of two parallel bars at his shoulder height in his chair, and a further two at what he assumed was about the same if he was standing. Alec had anchored the contraption securely into the ground with sturdy bolts. Andrew wheeled himself around it. “So, what exactly am I supposed to do with this?” he asked, running a hand over the smooth metal.

“Anna said that you need to improve the strength in your arms and back. She asked my advice on how to do that,” Alec explained. That made sense to Andrew. Alec was probably the strongest man in the village, but Andrew was hardly able to shape iron all day long.

“That does not explain why you’ve brought me this rather ugly thing.”

Alec grinned and moved between the two higher bars. He placed his hands around them, pushed up with his arms, and lifted his legs up off the ground. He held the position for a few moments, then raised and lowered his body, the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and back bulging at the effort. “Anna doesn’t expect you to be able to do this sort of thing,” he said as he lowered himself back down. “But she said that the best thing for you would be sturdy bars to pull yourself out of your chair and help you with your balance as you learn to walk with your crutches. This is a little crude, perhaps, but I hope it will help.”

Andrew drew his chair up inside the lower bars. He put a hand on each bar and tried to pull himself up. He strained, trying to push himself up with his good leg and pull himself up with his good arm, but he couldn’t do it. He sank back into his chair breathless, red-faced, and feeling defeated. Alec stepped forward and turned Andrew’s chair so that he was facing just one of the bars. “Try it that way to start with,” he said gently. “You know that you have one arm stronger than the other, so you need both arms on one bar.”

Andrew tried again. He took a couple of deep breaths, then using his good leg and good arm as much as possible, he pushed and pulled himself to his feet. It was incredibly hard, and even though he was barely using his bad arm, it still screamed with pain as the unused muscles tried to do their job. He leaned against the bar, panting at the effort but feeling proud that he had done it. It was a simple-seeming exercise, but Andrew could already tell that it would help him to build his strength, balance, and confidence – if he kept at it.

“This could change everything,” he said. “Though I’m not sure that Mam will be happy to have something so ugly in her yard.”

“She can grow

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