“One of you take the baby,” he said.
Sure hands came out and lifted Chloe from his grasp. Nate scooped Louise into his arms despite her protests and followed the colonel to the hospital.
Mrs. Noble and a man, whom Nate took to be her husband, met them at the door.
“Bring her in.” Mrs. Noble showed the way. “Put her there.”
Nate set Louise on the bed indicated, but he did not leave her side. Not that he could have. She had his hand in a grip he didn’t mean to test. He smoothed her hair. There were so many things he wanted to say. But this was not the time or the place. Nor could he force a word from his tight throat.
“You men wait outside while I examine her,” Doc Noble said.
Nate didn’t move. After all, this was his wife.
“Sir, if you please.” The doctor indicated the door.
Louise’s hand slowly uncurled. “I’m okay. Go see to Chloe.”
Mention of the baby enabled him to step back. But only Colonel Macleod’s hand on his back made him step toward the door.
Once the door closed behind him, someone put the baby in his arms and he kissed her tiny face. What would he do if anything took her or Louise from him?
“Let’s hear what happened,” Colonel Macleod said to the two Mounties who stood nearby.
“Sir, we were returning from our patrol and as we approached the gate, a man rode out. He had a woman on the horse in front of him. We noted it but didn’t give it much consideration.” The pair looked at each other. “We figured it was a homesteader come for mail or some supplies and on his way home. But then the woman—Mrs. Hawkins—seemed to leap from the horse.”
Nate gasped. “She might have been killed.” Would his heart ever stop stabbing him with every beat?
Not until he was certain Louise was okay and not going to disappear again.
The Mounties continued, “We, of course, turned aside to see if they needed assistance. The man saw us approach and rode away. That’s when we got suspicious that all was not right.” Colonel Macleod waited for the spokesman to continue.
“We went immediately to Mrs. Hawkins. She was struggling to get to her feet. Blood ran down her forehead. We offered assistance, which she accepted reluctantly. She was breathless, barely able to speak. When she could get her words out, she informed us the man who rode away had tried to kidnap her. Constable Brown rode after him, fired off two shots. He abandoned the chase because his horse was already spent.”
“Did the bullets meet their target?”
“I can’t say, sir.”
Colonel Macleod thanked the man and signaled to a Mountie standing at attention nearby. “Stewart, mount up and go after the man. Brown, give him a description. Be sure you take a sturdy horse. The trails will be clogged with snow.”
“Sir.” The men saluted and then trotted away to do their superior’s bidding.
“We’ll get him,” the colonel assured Nate.
“Very good.” But what was taking the doctor so long? Nate shuddered as he thought of Louise falling from a running horse.
She said she was okay, but Louise would say that if every bone in her body was broken and blood poured from each limb.
Nate looked at Chloe, sleeping in his arms.
If something happens to your mama, he silently promised, I will take care of you.
Chapter Seventeen
“You are a blessed young woman,” Dr. Noble said after checking Louise. “You could have been seriously hurt by that fall. As it is, you are going to be very sore for a few days. I’d like you to stay here overnight so I can keep an eye on you.”
“Thank you, Doctor, but I’m sure that’s not necessary. I must get to my baby. She’ll want to eat soon.” She tried to slip from the examining table gracefully, but as the doctor warned, she hurt all over. She managed to straighten without groaning, but when she took a step, her insides twisted and she bent over with a moan.
Mrs. Noble rushed forward. “You’re in no condition to be moving about.”
“I’m fine.”
The older woman tsked. “You know you aren’t.” She gently guided Louise toward a bed.
Louise wished she had the strength to resist, but it took every ounce of her willpower just to remain upright. Oh, please don’t let there be anything wrong. She couldn’t be responsible for another delay in their trip, though there was no reason she couldn’t let Nate go on ahead and make the rest of the journey on her own. No reason but her own reluctance.