The Secrets of Midwives by Hepworth Sally

Author:Hepworth, Sally [Hepworth, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Literary, Retail, Suspense, Fiction
ISBN: 9781250051899
Publisher: ilSt. Martin's
Published: 2015-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

15

Floss

The hospital was quiet, apart from the usual noises. The beep and hum of lifesaving machinery. The squeak of rubber shoes. I could practically taste the disinfectant that hovered in the air. Lil was in the corner, repositioning herself every few minutes to get comfortable on the hospital chair.

Drugged up to the gills, I hovered on the brink of sleep. The edges of my mind rippled like the shallows of a pebbly stream, but in the middle, it was still and crystal clear. When I looked into it, it was Elizabeth’s reflection I was seeing. But not the smiling, rosy-cheeked Elizabeth. It was the other Elizabeth. Bill’s Elizabeth.

A month after my dinner at Bill and Elizabeth’s house, we got the call. Elizabeth was in labor.

Evie checked the delivery bag while I got the bikes from the shed. I was accustomed to getting bikes out in the dark—women tended to go into labor at night—but navigating two bikes on the cobbled lane was a little challenging, and I dropped one out the front. It fell to the ground with an almighty clatter.

“Shhh!” Evie said, appearing on the steps with the delivery bag. “Are you trying to wake up the neighborhood?”

“Sorry.” I was anxious to get there, and it showed in my shaking hands. I picked up Evie’s bike and leaned it against the fence, then straddled my own. “So tell me, what did Bill say? Was she very far along?”

“It wasn’t Bill.” Evie’s lips formed a thin, straight line as she loaded the delivery bag into the basket. “It was Elizabeth.”

“On the phone? But the nearest telephone is two miles away. She couldn’t have—”

“She biked it.” Evie mounted her own bike. “Bill’s at the pub, wetting the baby’s head.”

Evie sounded as though she had her own set of reservations about Bill—it was unexpected. In that split second, I considered telling Evie everything—my concerns about Elizabeth, about Bill, about what I’d seen on Elizabeth’s stomach. But I didn’t. If Elizabeth was in trouble, Evie would see for herself soon enough. And if she wasn’t, I wouldn’t have to betray Elizabeth’s confidence.

We cycled, fast, into the night. It was a three quarters of an hour’s ride to Elizabeth’s place, and although we weren’t in danger of missing the birth, I just wanted to get there.

The last stretch of the ride was paddocks. In the dark, it was downright creepy. The only lights were from the little headlights on our bikes and, when we got close enough, the flickering light shining from Elizabeth’s bedroom window. When we reached her front fence, I leapt off my bicycle and raced down the path, leaving Evie to follow with the delivery bag.

“Elizabeth?” I called, stepping through the front door.

“In here.”

I dashed through the kitchen, past the tiny living room into the even tinier bedroom. It took me a minute to locate Elizabeth in the dark, but I eventually did. She was bent over at the end of the bed. “There you are!”

Elizabeth unfurled into a standing position, allowing me to see her properly by the light of the fire.

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