ROMANOV AUTUMN
Chapter Three
Jack remained very ill for
several days, lying in bed and occasionally crying out in feverish torment.
Olivia grew impatient with the situation, still adjusting to the new lifestyle with
Mrs. Williams. Oh, she liked the woman well enough, but while her elder sat by
her brother’s side day in and day out, she grew desperately bored.
"My dear, I am terribly
sorry you’ve nothing to do," Esther apologized as she came into the parlor
one particularly miserable afternoon. The child sat on a chair by the window,
gazing longingly down at the cobblestone street. "I’m so afraid to leave
your brother alone. When he recovers, I promise we will go and make sure to
find suitable playthings. Do you enjoy reading?" she added, hoping to
spark the child’s interest. Olivia shrugged, swinging her legs back and forth.
"I guess so."
"Well, I have some wonderful
books you may want to have a look at." She made her way to the set of
bookshelves by the far wall, and began searching through the various titles.
Olivia heard Jack coughing from
the bedroom, and wanted more than anything for him to be strong enough to play
with her again. "If you do not mind much," she broke in, and Esther
stopped in her search to glance over her shoulder. "I’d like to continue
playing on your lovely piano. I do adore making music." It was true…even
at home, she’d play on her mother’s small piano, and was even then considered
quite talented.
"Of course! Do feel free to
help yourself. But here are a couple of books you may enjoy as well. Jack seems
to be improving slightly…his fever has gone down considerably since last night,
so I do hope he’ll be up and about as soon as possible."
Olivia walked over to the coffee
table to inspect the texts--Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott and Hard
Times, by Charles Dickens. Also, a collection of poetry by William
Wordsworth sat there as well, and Olivia picked it up and began to flip through
the worn pages. Esther watched the child, very pleased. Jack’s next fit of
harsh coughing sent the woman back into the sick room, where she eased the
youth into a sitting position, rubbing his back. She fetched the basin from
beside her chair, holding it under his head, and frowned as he gagged and spit
a mouthful of phlegm into it. He sobbed, clinging to her. "It’s all right,
my dear. It’s all right." She brushed his sweat-soaked bangs away from his
eyes, kissing his forehead softly.
When she finally encouraged him
to settle down, she listened to the faint sound of music drifting through the
hallway. Olivia played Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata as though it were
second nature to her. Jack’s eyes opened again at the noise, and he tightened
his grip on the edge of the comforter. "I miss my sister," he
whispered, so faintly that Esther could scarcely hear him.
"What was that, dear?"
Esther smoothed his hot forehead, brushing his bangs back. Jack repeated his
statement, though speaking took a lot of strength from him. "Would you
like to have her sit with you for a while? I know she misses you
dreadfully."
Coughing, Jack nodded, and Esther
gave him a small kiss before walking into the parlor. "Olivia, your
brother wants you," she announced, and the child stopped playing the piano
in surprise.
"He does?" she asked,
and Esther nodded.
"Okay." Olivia hopped
down from the piano bench and went to her brother’s room, where he lay waiting
patiently for her. He managed a weak smile when she sat down next to him, and
she took his hand. "Would you like me to read to you?" she asked, wanting
to do anything to ease her brother’s discomfort.
"I would like that," he
croaked, and Esther went to fetch one of the books from the table.
"Here you are." She
handed the book to the girl, and Olivia thanked her.
"I’ll be resting on the
couch in the living room if you need me at all." When she left, Olivia
clambered onto the bed and lay down next to her brother. He turned his head so
he could face her.
"I will get better," he
insisted as she snuggled against him.
"Oh, Jack, Jack…you have to,
you have to!" she sobbed quietly. "Oh, Jack, I miss Mama and Papa so.
I miss the farm, and all the animals, and the flowers, and…" Tears fell
down her cheeks, dripping onto the sleeve of his nightshirt. "I’m so
lonely, and so bored here…Mrs. Esther is a nice lady, but I...oh, I want to go
home!"
Jack managed to kiss her forehead
and squeeze her hand. "Well, it’s only been a week. I’m sure things will
become easier when I’m well, you know."
"Oh, Jack, do you think
she’ll make us go to an orphanage when you get better? Oh, I’d hate to live in
such a place!"
Jack shrugged. He hadn’t given
much thought to anything in the past couple of days. Well, the only thoughts
going through his mind were that he wanted to be out of bed. But that wasn’t
going to happen for a little while, he knew. Olivia sat up against the
headboard, cracking open Little Women. She was just about to start
reading when Jack sneezed violently twice, which suddenly caused a slight
nosebleed.
"Mrs. Esther!" Olivia
cried, grabbing a handkerchief and trying to stop the flow. Esther rushed into
the room and saw the blood dripping onto the comforter.
"Oh, Jack," she gasped,
and rushed over to the bedside. "Olivia, find as many handkerchiefs as you
can…go to the icebox and take out a piece…that may be able to stop this."
Jack held the handkerchief
against his nose, watching as his sister hurried from the room. Olivia searched
through the metal icebox, finding a large enough piece that was satisfactory.
She wrapped it in the extra cloth Esther had given her and got it back into the
room before too much dripped onto the carpet.
"It was not too bad of a
nosebleed," Esther told her, sighing with relief as she resorted to only
one hanky this time. "It just needed a bit of pressure. But here, let me
see if we can stop the last of it with ice. I do remember being taught
this." She very gently and carefully removed the bloody handkerchief and
put the smallest corner of ice against the spot. Jack yelped from the sudden
cold, and Esther soothed him with comforting words.
"You have quite the sneeze
for a boy your size," she teased lightly once his nose had been cleaned up
and he was lying down again.
"He always does."
Olivia giggled, and Jack stuck his tongue out.
"Be quiet," he snapped,
and Esther chuckled.
"All right, loves."
"Esther…" Olivia wet
her lips. "Um…will we be living with you for real after Jack is better, or
will you put us into an orphanage or something?"
Silence filled the room as both
children looked at her imploringly.
"Oh, my dears, I would never
do such a thing to you! However, I must ask…do you know of any relatives who
are still alive that may have any interest of taking you in? Lawfully, I am not
able to take you in unless all relatives are deceased or unwilling to do
so."
Olivia thought for a moment. She
knew that their grandparents on both sides were dead, and her mother had only
one brother, who did not want anything to do with them. Her father had been an
only child, so the Dawson family was very small. When she told Esther this, the
older woman smiled thoughtfully. "Well, before anything is decided, we
must speak with the court and make sure I will be considered an appropriate
guardian for you."
"I would like it very much
if we could live with you," she admitted.
"Oh, dear, I would love it as
well. But I would hate to be in any kind of legal trouble, you know."
The children nodded, and Esther
felt Jack’s forehead. "Your fever has gone down considerably since
yesterday. Would you like a bowl of broth, perhaps?"
Jack sniffled, rubbing his nose with
the back of his hand. "Maybe," he admitted, and she planted a kiss on
top of his head. "I’ll be back soon. Olivia, would you like something? A
sandwich, perhaps?"
"Yes, please," Olivia
replied, and Esther bustled off once again.
"I can’t really smell anything."
Jack sighed as he attempted to clear his nose with a fresh cloth. He wrapped
the quilt more tightly around his body, and his teeth chattered. "I’m
still so cold, too."
Olivia quickly took the book into
her hands and re-opened it. "I’ll read to you like I was going to,"
she offered, and Jack closed his eyes again.
Esther stood by the stove once
again in the kitchen, stirring the soup in the pot, and gazed into its depths
with a contemplative expression on her face. She remembered, when her husband
was still alive, how badly the two had wanted children. No matter how hard they
had tried, nothing came of it, and they were often disappointed. Finding these
two orphans was an answer to several years of prayer, Esther knew. She hummed
to herself as she put the different ingredients into the pot, and prepared
herself for when the time to speak to the lawyers arrived.