Page 35 of At Love’s Command

“It might take a couple minutes for him to wake,” Josephine warned, not wanting the woman to be any more frightened than she was already. “Has this happened before?”

The boy’s mother shook her head. “Never.” Her eyes sought Josephine’s for answers. “Is he sick?”

“Convulsions can have many causes.” She placed the back of her hand against the boy’s forehead. “He doesn’t seem to have a fever. Sometimes high fever spikes can cause them.” Or an infection of the brain. “Has he been ill lately?”

The mother shook her head. “No. He’s been perfectly fine. He was running and playing at the station in San Antonio with some other children before we boarded. Well, until he fell off the railing.”

Josephine immediately moved her hands to the back of the boy’s head, her fingers searching for a lump beneath his hair. “Did he hit his head?”

“Maybe. He wouldn’t tell me, just brushed me off when I ran over to check on him. You know how boys are.”

That she did. Charlie always hated it when she tried to soothe his hurts in front of his peers.

There. Her fingers probed a large protrusion on the side of his head. “There’s a knot here. Feel it?” She moved the hair aside and invited the boy’s mother to find the swelling.

The woman nodded as her eyes widened. “Did he crack his skull?”

Josephine smiled reassuringly. “No. There’s no blood.” Though there might be swelling inside the skull as well as outside. “It could be the reason for the convulsions. You should take him to a doctor as soon as you get to your destination. Have him examined. Tell the physician about the convulsions.”

The boy stirred. His eyes fluttered open. “Mama?”

“Tommy!” She bent over and kissed her son’s forehead. “Oh, thank the Lord.”

A lingering tightness in Josephine’s chest relaxed as the boy looked around, his eyes losing their glassiness, his color improving.

“Why are we sitting on the floor?” he asked.

His mother laughed, a sound of abject relief as she recognized that the danger had passed.

“Here, ma’am.” Matthew extended a hand. “Let me help you up.”

Josephine had forgotten he was there. She blinked as she looked away from Tommy for the first time. Somehow the Horsemen had surrounded her. One in front, one in back in the aisle, and one on each side in the seating areas. Unconcerned with causing a scene or displacing passengers, they’d positioned themselves as her protectors.

Warmth radiated through her midsection.

“I got the boy,” Mr. Davenport said as he bent down and scooped Tommy up with more gentleness than she would have thought the big man capable of exerting.

With the crisis passed, chatter inflated through the car as the other passengers tried to process what they had witnessed.

Josephine reached for her doctor’s bag and stood, accepting Mr. Wallace’s assistance as he cupped his good hand around her elbow. She smiled her thanks, then propped the medical bag on the seat facing Tommy’s mother.

“Where are you traveling to?” she asked, smiling as if she were just making small talk. In truth, the answer mattered. Tommy needed quality medical care, and he’d be more likely to receive it back in San Antonio than in any of the small towns this train was headed to.

“We were going to Hondo to see my sister, but I think I’m going to turn around at the next stop and head home. We have a doctor there I trust.”

“I think that’s wise.” Josephine nodded, then reached into her bag and pulled out a small packet of white powder. “This is potassium bromide. Mix a small pinch of it in some water and give it to him to drink once you are on your way back. It’s a sedative that is helpful in preventing convulsions. It will make him sleepy, but it should ensure that he doesn’t have another episode during your journey home.”

The mother took the packet. “Thank you, Doctor . . . ?”

“Burkett.” Josephine smiled. “Of Purgatory Springs.”

“God’s blessings be upon you, Dr. Burkett.”

Josephine reached over and straightened a hank of hair that had fallen over Tommy’s forehead. Such a young lad to suffer such a frightening attack. She prayed the seizure was a single incident and that the damage from his fall had not created a permanent disability. Being epileptic was a hard road to walk for anyone, let alone one so young. “God’s blessings on you and your son as well.”

Josephine retrieved her doctor’s bag and made her way back to her seat, surprised when the Horsemen continued flanking her. Their coats tucked under Mr. Davenport’s left arm, they marched two in front of her and two behind. When they reached their seats, Mr. Brooks and Mr. Wallace slid onto the two benches behind her while Mr. Davenport opted for the rear-facing seat in front of hers, tossing the coats onto the seat between him and the window. Confusion knit her brow, and it only grew when Matthew relieved her of her medical bag and stowed it overhead. Then he clasped her hand and slid onto her bench, his hold on her bringing her down beside him. He slid over to the window, propped his boot on the edge of the seat in front of him by the coats, then tugged her into his side.

“Preach and the others will keep an eye out for trouble,” he murmured softly. “It’s time for you to rest.”