The River Girl's Christmas (Texas Women of Spirit Book 4) by Angela Castillo

Author:Angela Castillo [Castillo, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

8

Healing Plant

In the morning, a new resolution filled Soonie’s heart. I must go for help somehow. I will have to leave Lone Warrior here and trust God to care for him. He needs medicine, warmth, and better food.

Sitting up, she clutched the small of her back. Though she’d spent months sleeping in the wilderness with few blankets, it was never an enjoyable experience.

She stroked her husband’s chiseled face, usually strong and determined, now pale and drawn with pain. Why, why did I ask for us to come? How can I still deny the possibility of evil when it’s stared me in the face so many times?

Lone Warrior’s eyes fluttered open. “Oh, there you are.”

“I’m going out to get more water. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Giving a hint of a nod, he closed his eyes again.

Dawn had come. Blood-red clouds swarmed the sky, little pools of yellow peering down at her like accusing eyes. Water still dripped from sodden branches, and sparrows fluffed dowdy feathers on the rotted fence posts.

Soonie rushed down to the little stream and filled the bucket and her canteen. “God, give me wisdom!” she cried out, since Lone Warrior couldn’t hear her now. “I can’t lose him. I can’t! Please!” She sank down to her knees on a rock beside the stream, sobs filling her lungs and taking every bit of air.

“Trust me, Soonie. Trust me.”

She opened her eyes and looked up. God had spoken to her many times; she knew His voice well. “God, I don’t know what to do. Please show me something--something to give me hope.”

A flash of white a few yards away caught her eye. At first her mind dismissed it as a scrap of paper or a leftover bright fall leaf. A flower would be impossible this time of year. And yet . . . Could it be? A cluster of tiny flowers, with delicate, fern-like leaves.

“Yarrow,” she whispered. “Is it really a yarrow?”

With shaking hands, she plucked several stems from the plant. She bundled the fuzzy, spicy-scented leaves, picked up the water and hurried back into the cabin.

Lone Warrior smiled when she came in. “You are so beautiful,” he said.

“I’m filthy.” She pulled the packet from where she’d tucked it into her dress. “But wait until you see what I found.”

“Something to eat?” His voice was hopeful.

“Better.”

“How could anything be better than food?”

“Wait and see.”

An old skillet served to crush the leaves to a pulp. Soonie pulled back the bandage on Lone Warrior’s shoulder.

‘This is going to hurt,” she told him. “But it will help.”

“What you got there?” His eyes rolled towards the crushed leaves.

“This is yarrow. I’ve seen Molly use it in her clinic for small wounds and cuts. It should help draw out the poisons the bullet might have put in your blood. It will help the blisters on my hands too. And you can drink some in a tincture to help with pain and fever. I’ve seen flowers in the fall, but never this late in the winter.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.