Dances Naked by Dani Haviland Read Free Book Online Page A

I came face to face with her.
    Leah had been my recovery room nurse a week ago chronologically calculated , but 232 years into the future according to the calendars. Although I had no recall of, well, anything of my previous life in the 21 st century, I knew that I was her mother the moment I saw her, the obvious age discrepancy not even a consideration. I guess the maternal bond was stronger than the chemicals or whatever it was , that had erased my memory and made my body so much younger. And , Leah wasn’t under any such influences yet she knew who I was immediately, too, even though I looked to be her junior by at least five years. I mean really, the last time she had seen me I was nearly sixty-years- old. Last week I didn’t even look twenty. But , she still knew I was her ‘Mom.’
    Ever since I had come back home to 1781 from the hospital and the year 2013, I had been getting lightning bursts of memories of my Leah. They were short glimpses, like snapsh ots flashed in front of my face; of when she was a toddler, holding a dolly in one hand and her blanky in the other; when she was a frustrated teenager, crying about being dumped by a boyfriend ; or of the huge grin she sported when she graduated with honors from the nursing program. But , the one clear memory I could hold on to was the feel of her i nside of me when I was pregnant, her little feet underneath my right ribcage, pounding away at 3 a.m. every morning. I could have set a clock with her neonatal routine. Hopefully , Rachel had a similar memory she could keep with her forever. And , she really did need to name her.
    Rachel stroked the hair down over her daughter’s forehead, just like Wallace did with our daughter. “Since she’s with Jesus now, I think I’ll name her Mary, after His mother. But , I don’t want to give her the last name of MacLeod. She’s just Mary.” Rachel leaned over and kissed her little girl’s forehead. “Here, I think I’m ready to let her go. This is just the shell. She’s already in heaven. Can I go to sleep now? I’m real tired.”
    Sarah took the baby from her and said, “You did a great job, Mommy. Get your rest. When you wake up, I’m sure your son will be ready to nurse. That’s the one gift Mary was able to give her big brother: a fresh supply of milk.”
    Now I was the one who was crying. Yeah, right— crying and leaking. “Excuse me, Sarah. Somewhere out there is a baby in need of feeding.” I looked down at my wet blouse. “I’ll send in Jody with the casket. He and Wallace had it almost finished when I came in.”
    “Thanks. You did a good job, too. It’s hard to think of the right words to say at a time like this , but you did great.”

 
5 The Next Day
    August 13, 1781 Pomeroys
     
    I
    t had been an uncomfortably warm night and , even though we had all been splashed or soaked with some form of chaos the day before, we all slept soundly. Grant slept the hardest and longest , which I very much appreciated. Actually, I think we were all grateful for that blessing. He must have been more worn-out than he knew. The two pain pills I had slipped into his sandwich knocked him out for nearly 24 hours. Hey, it worked for me to have that obnoxious and nosy so and so sound asleep and not snooping around the premises, irritating family members with his bad manners. Evidently, no one missed him . I didn’t hear of even one person calling for or asking about him!
    When Mr. Personality finally awoke the next afternoon , Sarah told him that Rachel couldn’t leave for another day , at the earliest. He started to protest but stopped short when he felt a big, heavy hand on his shoulder, not squeezing it , but settling on it firmly. “Let the lass heal,” Jody said with authority. “The wee lad will get the attention he needs from the women here until the mother is up and about. Or did ye figure on takin’ on that responsibility yerself?” he added with a hint of sarcasm and a double eye blink, his version of