XVIII- The Anxious

Anne quietly sat in her chair, knitting a small blanket. She sipped her tea, enjoying the quiet of her home. A sharp knock interrupted the silence at the infirmary, and Anne rose to answer the door. A nervous Samuel Reed stood on the other side with his hat in his hand. She noticed he looked worried, his suspenders were twisted, and his hair was more untamed than usual.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Hawthorne, may I come inside?" Samuel looked at the ground as he spoke.

"Of course, dear. Please come in and make yourself comfortable. Come into the sitting area, try to keep your voice low. Teresa is asleep in the infirmary." Anne moved aside to let the miller into the cottage, reaching out to fix his twisted suspender strap as he passed.

Samuel sat, looking a little downcast. Anne prepared a fresh tea and entered the infirmary room to bring out Teresa's sleeping infant daughter. Knowing Samuel and Teresa were close, Anne knew Teresa would want Samuel to meet the child. She poured Samuel a cup, placed it before the miller, and sat in her chair, rocking the minor child.

"You seem troubled, Mr. Reed. What is on your mind, child?" Anne spoke low, not to wake her patient or her sleeping infant. Anne gently ran her fingers along the child's eyebrows, encouraging the infant to yawn widely and settle into a deeper sleep.

"Is... is Ravenna here? She had me take Teresa's son to the Quills to be taken care of, and tear down her market stall while she brought Teresa here. I haven't heard from her since. She had promised to come by this morning to tell me how Teresa had done. We were supposed to meet in the Canden market, but she never came. I'm worried about her, Mrs Hawthorne. Ravenna has always been reliable." Samuel looked at his feet as if he wished his feet had answered his worries.

Worry crossed Anne's face as she rocked the small child. Teresa's daughter seemed to pick up on Samuel's distress and began to fuss. Anne soothed the infant and pressed her lips together, her frown deepening as she thought about the previous night. She had not put much thought into Ravenna excusing herself from Teresa's bedside when there was a knock at the door. There was always a reason that one of the Hawthorne women may be needed by another villager. Anne had assumed that Ravenna's assistance was required for a burn, a laceration, or to make a house visit to a home in Canden. Anne had concluded that whatever the knock that had taken Ravenna's attention was an emergency, and there was no time to mention where she was off to.

"I heard a knock at the door last night and Ravenna excused herself. I thought nothing of it, she's gone to patient homes before to help overnight with things while I've been busy. But she would have been available to at least tell you she was busy with a patient if she had gone to a Canden home..."

Samuel leaned forward, placing his forearms on his knees, his green eyes large with concern. "Do you think something bad has happened to her, Mrs Hawthorne?"

Anne's pale blue eyes showed the tiniest hint of watering before the older woman regained her customary stoicism. "Oh dear Ruler, I hope not. She's the only family I have left. She means the world to me..."

Anne's words were cut short by Teresa appearing in the doorway of the infirmary room. Anne quickly passed the swaddled infant to Samuel, who carefully took the child as if he was likely to break her. Teresa came to sit next to Samuel with Anne's assistance. Samuel gently passed Teresa, her daughter, while Anne prepared the young woman a teacup. Samuel seemed relieved to have given Teresa her child; Anne noticed he held the child stiffly and awkwardly.

"I hope we didn't wake you, my dear. You had a long labor yesterday and need your rest." Anne looked at Teresa, trying to decide if she and Samuel had woken her up.

"Oh no, I have slept enough, thank you Anne. Have you seen Ravenna? I can't wait for her to meet my daughter." Teresa smiled her motherly gaze on her sleeping child's face.

Samuel looked sorrowful, his eyes trained back on his feet. "We were just discussing that. She excused herself yesterday when there was a knock at the door, and nobody had seen her since. She had promised to meet me in the market center today and never came."

Teresa lost her color, looking up from her daughter. She glanced at Samuel and began to tell Anne what had happened on her trip from Canden with Ravenna. "Ravenna shouted at Peter Jones when he refused to help us get here when I was in labor. He had come up in his carriage, insisting she join him for dinner. She declined and told him that she was very obviously busy helping me, and if he could not be bothered to help her get me here, he should go away. We've all heard the rumors about what happened to Peter's first wife. Do you think that has anything to do with her disappearing?"

Samuel, Anne, and Teresa looked at each other, concerned for Ravenna's welfare and praying to the Ruler that Teresa's guess was very wrong.