Page 81 - Fever 1793

I looked up at the window. The shutter opened a bit wider and a handful of flowers drifted down. Something fell and crashed inside the house, then the shutter closed quickly.
“We should leave,” advised Eliza. “He has a knack for getting in trouble.”
I slowly helped Nell gather the flowers. I thought I saw a shadow move behind an unshuttered downstairs curtain. A tall, lean shadow.
My heart tripped over the thought of Nathaniel Benson, and I smiled in spite of myself. He was alive and still sending me flowers. If I hadn’t been carrying Nell, I think I could have skipped all the way back to Eliza’s.
There was no more talk of returning me to the coffeehouse or finding a different home for Nell. Joseph and Eliza agreed that I couldn’t live alone, not with the deserted streets as dangerous as the crowded sickrooms. We didn’t talk about what would happen after the fever. Eliza promised we would find my mother or learn her fate as soon as the epidemic was over. We didn’t talk about Nell, we just loved her.
Two days later, Mother Smith sent word that she had to help a family of eight that had just lost their mother.
“Eight? She’s going to take care of eight children?” I was stunned.
“If Mother Smith put her mind to it, she could take care of fifty, I’ve no doubt about that at all,” answered Joseph. He was sitting up to the table and making quick work of the fried eggs and corn bread Eliza set before him. His strength was returning along with his appetite.
I took the bread from my plate and broke it into three pieces which I handed to the twins and Nell. Every day more towns prohibited travel to or from Philadelphia. Even prices higher than any in memory couldn’t tempt farmers into the city with fresh food. I tried not to eat more than I absolutely had to. I tightened the drawstring of my skirts a bit more every morning.
“I was going to send the old lady home today if she had turned up,” Joseph continued. Robert climbed into his lap. “I’m strong enough to make my way around the house. Mother Smith doesn’t have to worry about us no more.”
“Do you want Mattie to stay with you?” Eliza asked as she wiped off William’s sticky fingers and held out the rag to her brother. Nell held up her hands for me to clean. I brushed them off on my skirt and stood up to clear away the dishes.
“There’s little enough business right now,” Joseph said as he took the rag to wipe jam off Robert’s face. “I think I can control this terrible trio for a bit. Folks out there need all the help they can get, even if it does come from a skinny white girl.”
I swallowed hard. Was I really that useless?
Joseph laughed at the expression on my face. “I’m teasing. You worry too much, Mattie. You’re a great help.”
It was nice to hear him say that.
Robert squirmed away from the rag, but his father caught him and cleaned off most of the mess before he set his son on the floor. Robert raced William into the bedchamber. Nell toddled behind them.
Eliza dusted the crumbs from the table into her hand. “If you don’t need her here, then yes, she can be of great help. We need every strong back we can get. She can come with me.”