Called her. Clara said it quietly so the others wouldn't hear it through the doorway. The doctor. I know. It's 10 mi.
I know. The road. I know. Clara. He said it as gently as he could while still moving, pulling the second blanket up around Maisie, feeling her forehead again as if the temperature might have changed in 30 seconds.
It hadn't. Wake Wesley. Wesley was already in the doorway. He had been awake and heard Clara's voice, and he was standing there with his hand on the frame and his face doing the thing it did when he was calculating problems, not panicked, just working. The doctor's on Milfield Road, he said, past the Creek crossing.
I know where he is. Creek's going to be up. I know the roads. Lee. Calder looked at him.
I need you to stay here with all of them. While I go. Wesley stared at him. I need someone reliable in this house. Calder said.
That's you. I can ride faster your leg in this rain on that road. Calder shook his head once. Not cruelty, just arithmetic. You know I'm right.
Wesley's jaw tightened. He did know. He knew it and hated it. And the hating of it was visible for a second before he put it away. All right, he said.
The others don't need to know how serious it is. Calder said. Keep it calm in here. Keep the fire up. Who's going to keep her temperature down?