Her vision swam, but she could make out his shape approaching. She tried to stand, failed, and instead clutched Tommy tighter as if sheer will could protect him from whatever was coming. "Please," she managed, "my son, he needs water. He's burning up. I don't I don't have any money, but I can work.
I'm a hard worker. I can clean, cook, anything. Please, just help him. Please. " Elias stopped a few feet away, looking down at them. Up close, he could see the woman was young, late 20s perhaps, though hardship had carved around her eyes and mouth.
Her dress was threadbare, her shoes held together with string. The boy in her arms couldn't have been more than four or five, his small face red with fever, his breathing rapid and shallow. "How long has he been sick? " Elias's voice was rough from disuse. He spoke so rarely these days that sometimes whole weeks passed without him saying more than a few words to the hands who worked his cattle. "Since yesterday. " Nora's words tumbled over each other.
"Maybe longer. I don't know. We've been walking and I couldn't I I didn't have When did he last drink? " "This morning. " "A little. " "From a stream. " "But it was muddy and I think" Her voice broke. "I think maybe that made it worse. " Elias's jaw tightened. Bad water on top of heat exhaustion and what looked like at least a week of malnutrition.
The boy needed help and fast. He made a decision. "Come inside. " He turned toward the house without waiting for a response. Nora blinked, certain she'd misheard. "What? " "Inside. " Elias climbed the porch steps and opened the door, holding it with one hand while he looked back at her.
"Bring the boy. I've got clean water and medicine. " For a heartbeat, Nora didn't move. She'd learned to be wary of men who offered help. There was almost always a price and it was rarely one she could afford to pay. But Tommy whimpered against her neck, his small body shaking with chills despite the heat, and she realized she was out of choices.
She struggled to her feet, her legs nearly giving out again. Elias watched her sway, then set his jaw and came back down the steps. Without a word, he bent and scooped Tommy out of her arms with surprising gentleness for such a large man. "Wait. " Nora's maternal instinct flared despite her exhaustion. "What are you" "Your boy needs water and medicine and you're about to collapse.
Unless you want both of you dead on my porch, move. " His tone was brusque but not unkind. Tommy didn't even stir at the transfer, his small body limp in Elias's arms. That more than anything convinced Nora to follow the stranger into his house. The interior was dim and blessedly cool after the inferno outside. Nora had a vague impression of simple furniture, everything clean but spartan, before Elias was moving through the front room toward what looked like a kitchen.
He shouldered through a door and Nora followed on shaking legs. The kitchen was large, dominated by a cast iron stove and a sturdy table. Elias laid Tommy on the table with careful precision, then moved to a pump at the sink. He worked the handle and after a few creaking protests, clear water gushed forth. He filled a tin cup and brought it back to the table.
"Hold his head. " He instructed Nora. She obeyed, cradling Tommy's skull gently while Elias brought the cup to the boy's cracked lips. Water dribbled into his mouth and for a terrible moment, Tommy didn't respond. Then his throat worked in a weak swallow and he made a small sound, almost a whimper of relief. "That's it. " Elias murmured, his voice dropping to something softer.
"Easy now. Not too fast. " He let the boy drink in small sips, patient and unhurried. Nora watched his hands, large, calloused, scarred from years of ranch work, handle her son with unexpected tenderness. When Tommy had drunk perhaps half the cup, Elias pulled it away despite the boy's weak protest. "Too much at once will make him sick. " He explained, setting the cup aside.
He placed a broad hand on Tommy's forehead and his mouth tightened. "He's burning up. " "You got a name? " "Nora. Nora Gray. " "And this is Thomas. " "Tommy. " Her voice shook. "Is he Will he" "Fever's high, but I've seen worse. " Elias moved to a cabinet and pulled out a brown bottle and a clean cloth. "We'll get some willow bark tea in him, cool him down with wet cloths.