Saddle the Wind Read Online Free PDF Page B

to the infant, she tied the cord, cut it, and with warm water washed the little body clean of the signs of its ordeal. It was such a tiny creature, but for all its lack of size it seemed healthy. Quickly, tenderly she wrapped it in a sheet and shawl and placed it in Florence’s waiting arms.
    Mrs Savill, watching intently, gave a sigh, a sound full of heartfelt relief and satisfaction and half-turned her head to glance towards the door, beyond which her husband waited for news. Sarah nodded to Emmie. ‘Go and tell Mr Savill he’s got a fine daughter. And tell him not to worry about Mrs Savill. We’ll do all we can to make her comfortable till the doctor gets here.’
    As Emmie hurried from the room Sarah turned her attention back to Mrs Savill. She looked so much better now, she thought. For a while there she had been very worried. She had the feeling now, though, that everything would be all right. And anyway, soon the doctor would be here and he would take charge of the situation.
    In a bowl of warm water on the table at her side she wrung out a flannel cloth and then moved to Mrs Savill. ‘How are you feeling, ma’am?’ she asked.
    The young woman gave a faint nod. ‘I shall be all right now,’ she murmured. Her face and body were bathed in sweat and she looked exhausted. Gently Sarah began to clean her, wiping away the blood, and as she did so Mrs Savill reached out a hand and laid it on her arm. ‘Thank you for what you’ve done,’ she said. There were tears in her eyes.
    Sarah shook her head. ‘You’ve no need to thank me, ma’am. I’ve done very little.’
    For brief moments the two women faced one another,sisters in their shared relief, and then Sarah turned back to the bowl to rinse and wring out the flannel again. As she did so she was aware of Emmie slipping quietly back into the room. The baby had stopped crying now and lay sleeping in Florence’s arms. Glancing at the servants Sarah saw their faces reflecting her own feeling of growing calm. The worst was over now; they all felt it. Turning back to Mrs Savill a moment later she saw the same look of peace on the woman’s face as she looked fondly towards the sleeping babe.
    No one was prepared for what happened next. One moment Mrs Savill was smiling her happiness and the next moment her face had become suddenly distorted in agony while her mouth opened in an ear-piercing scream. At the same moment a great spurt of blood shot out from between her spread thighs, spraying Sarah’s breast and shoulder crimson and spattering the chest of drawers behind her. Momentarily shocked into immobility by the sudden horror, Sarah watched open-mouthed as the woman screamed and clutched her hands to her lower belly, her eyes wide in fear. At the same time the blood kept coming, pumping out in a steady pulsing action that threatened in no time at all to drain the woman’s body of every drop within it – already it was saturating the sheets. Mrs Savill, seeming to grow paler before Sarah’s eyes, continued to cry out, while Dora and Emmie moaned and Florence turned away, the child, squalling again, clutched in her arms.
    ‘
Oh, God, help us
.’ The muttered words came from Sarah’s drawn lips as she hovered, and then a moment later she was quickly stepping forward, and while the pulsing blood drenched her arm she made her left hand into a fist and thrust it up into the woman’s body. There up inside she could feel the ruptured artery as it pumped hot against her knuckles. Then, quickly bringing herother hand to the outside of the woman’s belly, over the same spot, she pressed down.
    The bleeding, or most of it, was at once stemmed. Sarah felt she could have wept with relief. Raising her head she said sharply to Dora, ‘Go and see if Dr Kelsey’s coming.’ Then, her voice breaking, she added, ‘He’s got to get here soon. He’s
got
to.’
    Dora, her face ashen, turned and dashed out of the room, and as Sarah remained bent awkwardly over the bed she