Fated Memories Read Online Free PDF Page A

reason through the haze. A bond as strong as theirs couldn’t be destroyed because of one mistake. It just couldn’t!
    “ Oh God, help me!” Jessie moaned, pushing herself away from the pillows. “I don’t want to die!” The room tipped then swirled as she tried to bring her line of vision into focus. “Aunt Martha!” she called out, her voice little more than a whisper. “Help me!”
    She inched her legs off the side of the bed. But when she tried to stand, her useless limbs refused to support her and she toppled forward onto the cold floor.
    “ I have to get up. Oh, God! Why can’t I get up?”
    Struggling to reach the bed, she crawled to the side, but as she reached out to grasp the bedpost and pull herself up, she found all the strength had drained from her body. With a sob, she let her head drop back to the floor.
    For long moments Jessie lay there, trying to muddle through the fog of incoherent thoughts. Trying to hold fast to fleeting reason as she drifted in and out of reality.
    Why was it so difficult to stay awake? Why did she try, when it would be so much easier to close her eyes and allow the fog to wrap itself around her like one of Hattie’s handmade quilts? Of course! The thought flickered, tried to gain strength. That’s why she felt so relaxed and safe. Her daddy had come to take her home, back to her own room! To her own bed!
    Jessie stopped fighting and allowed the soft blanket to enfold her in its warmth. She smiled, for she knew he had kept his promise. No one could ever hurt her again. She was going home.
    ***
    Martha could hear the wind wailing throughout the early morning hour. Trying to ignore its mournful cry, she burrowed deeper into her pillows, but the howling became louder, more insistent. As the happenings of the night before came rushing back to her, she sat straight up in bed.
    “ Jessie’s baby! Why in the world is she letting the child cry instead of picking her up and tending to her?” She snatched up her red silk robe lying at the foot of the bed, to wrap it around her slim waist. Ignoring the warm slippers beside the bed, she padded barefoot down the hall toward Jessie’s room.
    “ I’m going to have a talk with that young lady about facing up to her responsibilities.” Then, recalling the hard time Jessie had had in giving birth, Martha felt ashamed of herself.
    Jessie’s door stood ajar, allowing the cries of the hungry child to filter out, even louder now, into the long hallway.
    “ Jessie,” Martha called, pushing the door open wide, “can’t you hear your baby crying?” Then she caught her breath as she spied Jessie’s small body lying beside the bed.
    Going to the still form, she dropped to her knees beside her.
    “ Oh no! Jessie! Wake up!” Martha shook her, drawing back in alarm at the coldness meeting her touch.
    Spying the opened bottle of Laudanum on the nightstand, she cried, “Jessie, what have you done?” She grasped the bedpost to pull herself upright, staring down at the beautiful girl lying so cold and unmoving before her.
    “ Oh God, nooooo!” She wrapped both arms around her trembling body, trying to shield herself from the awful truth that refused to be denied. Tia’s angry cries finally penetrated her fear-dazed mind, releasing her from the cold shock threatening to overpower her. Picking the sobbing baby up in her arms, she held her against her chest, crooning to her all the while.
    “ Don’t you worry, my darlin’ no one will ever hurt you as long as I’m alive to protect you.”
    Averting her frightened eyes from the still body on the floor, Martha grabbed some diapers and pins from the small dresser, then carried the crying baby downstairs. She stopped in the library long enough to rifle through the many baby books she had purchased from Doctor Hinley, all the while bouncing the crying baby in an attempt to quiet her. When she found the book containing a recipe on preparing a milk formula, she carried the fussing infant into