Dorothy Garlock Read Online Free PDF

vulture at the foot of the bed, her arms still folded across her flat chest.
    “How dare you let her lie in this . . . filth!”
    “What do you mean . . . filth? The oilcloth protects the bed from the mess of birthing.”
    “I don’t give a holy damn about the bed!” Ana shouted in a voice she had never used in her life.
    The woman drew in a quick, gasping breath. “Swearing! I’ll not have swearing in my house.”
    “You’ll get more than swearing, you mean old witch, if you don’t get clean bedding for my daughter.”
    “Well, I never! You’re wicked! Just like her.” She jerked her head toward the suffering girl.
    “You’re a stupid, ignorant woman!”
    “It’s God’s will that all women suffer during childbirth. It’s his punishment for Eve tempting Adam in the Garden of Eden,” she said with her mouth puckered like a prune.
    “Leave God out of this! You’re the one who’s wicked,” Ana shouted, almost beside herself with anger. “You’d let a child be born in this filth?”
    “Women have been having babies since the beginning of time. My mother had a child out in the potato patch all by herself and carried it to the house.”
    “You ignorant clod! You crazy, cruel-hearted woman! I’ll not argue with you now.” Ana ripped off the sheet covering Harriet and threw it on the floor. “Get me some clean bedding for my daughter, or . . . I swear I’ll . . . pull every hair out of your ugly head!”
    “My brother will throw you out of this house! You’re nothing but an intruder.”
    “Damn you, and damn your stupid clod of a brother to hell! Harriet needs clean bedclothes, and I’ll tear this place apart if she doesn’t get them.”
    The woman stood with her head up and her arms crossed, a defiant gleam in her dark eyes. Ana marched to the door and threw it open.
    “Owen!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Owen Jamison, get up here.”
    “No!” the woman screeched and exploded into action. “He’ll not come in here!” She tried to close the door, but Ana shoved her aside.
    “Owen!” The yell was accompanied by Harriet’s sudden scream. Ana ran to the bed and grabbed her daughter’s hands. Minutes passed while the tortuous pain rolled over Harriet.
    The woman closed the door and stood against it.
    There was a pounding on the door, then Owen pushed it open and came into the room. Ana almost didn’t recognize him without his hat. His hair was soft and wavy. He had an aura of hard vitality about him she hadn’t noticed before. His size overpowered everything else in the room. For a minute she could only stare at him helplessly. He turned to his sister who had grabbed his arm possessively.
    “Esther?”
    “Get out, Owen. It’s not fitting for you to be here.” She tried to push him back out the door.
    “Stay!” Ana commanded. “Why shouldn’t he be here? He’s the one responsible for her condition!” Ana was holding tightly to Harriet’s hands as pain rolled over her again. “My daughter needs a doctor.”
    “The nearest one is in Lansing. He couldn’t get here until tomorrow night. Esther and some of the women attend the birthings here in White Oak.”
    “Then I’m surprised if any of the women live! Look at this bed,” Ana demanded. “This stupid woman had her hands tied above her head and a gag in her mouth. If you’re any man at all, Owen Jamison, you’ll get clean bedding for your wife. Do you want your child to be born in this filth?”
    “What’s going on here, Esther?”
    Ana heard the puzzled tone in Owen’s voice. She looked up to see the look of dismay on his face as his eyes fastened on Harriet and the condition of the bed.
    “Don’t let her interfere. It’s God’s will that women suffer during childbirth.”
    “What is the matter with that crazy woman?” Ana demanded of Owen. “Your wife and your baby will die of fever if she delivers in this mess. I need clean pads to put under her. There isn’t even warm water here to wash her, or the