Chapter 25: Onion and Cheese Soup
THE air on that snowy night was so cold it stung Olivia’s face and prickled her lungs whenever she took in a deep breath.
These three were in real danger. They would have frozen to death if we hadn’t found them.
That fox hated humans. Olivia wouldn’t even claim the fox trusted her though they’d had several conversations using their inner voices. It most likely only came to inform her about these humans who were in danger so it could get a present from Olivia. Maybe it was hungry after failing to catch prey for some time and could no longer bear it.
We need to warm these people up as soon as possible, but the restaurant will be freezing cold. I’ll start by making a fire.
She thought about the steps to take as she urged the horse on. She was surprised, though, to see the windows of Soup Forest lit up in the distance.
“Arthur! It looks like Colin’s up,” she said.
“I hope he warmed the place up for us.”
“Well, he’s up and got the light on. I’m sure he’s warmed it up for us, too.”
They got to Soup Forest and dismounted the horses. Olivia hurriedly helped the stumbling woman inside. Arthur helped the man, whose footing was a little steadier. The snow was shoveled away from the path that led from where people could stop their carriages up to the front door. Lara came bounding out before they even reached the door.
“You’re back! Are they ill?” she asked.
“These two are frozen solid. They were unconscious in the snow,” said Olivia.
“Oh no! Well, we’ve got the restaurant warmed up.”
They went inside where it was so warm it was a relief just to step in. Olivia found herself smiling as she said, “Oh, it’s so warm. Thank you, Lara and Colin. You’re a huge help.”
“It was nothing,” said Lara. “Those two are blue with cold. We have to warm them up right away.”
“Could I ask you to get them something warm to drink?” said Olivia as they led the woman and driver over to a seat in front of the fire.
Lara brought out cups of onion and cheese soup, while Colin poured warm water in basins and placed the woman’s and man’s feet in them.
“Your body’ll warm up faster if you warm your feet,” he said, smiling gently at the woman.
She lowered her pale face in a bow. “Thank you so much. My name is Bethany Darleys. I got word my husband’s illness had taken a turn for the worse, and I just couldn’t sit there doing nothing. We left my parents’ home because I insisted we go out in this snow. And look where it got us. I nearly killed Patricia and Charlie, too.”
Bethany’s teeth chattered as she thanked them, but Olivia was impressed at how strong-spirited this woman was even when her husband was in poor condition.
The baby started to cry. Arthur drew her out from his coat, and Bethany held out her arms to show she wanted to hold the baby. She then draped a shawl over her shoulder and chest because she wanted to feed the girl.
Olivia gave Lara directions on what to do. “Lara, could you boil me some water really quick? I want to put the baby in a warm bath.”
“We’ve already got a huge pot full of hot water!”
“Smart girl. You’re a lifesaver!”
Olivia poured cold water from the bucket of water from the well into the hot water in a basin to bring it to a moderate enough temperature for warming the baby. Lara waited for the baby to stop feeding, took her, undressed her, and then gave her over to Olivia.
The baby started to cry again once her clothes were off, but she went quiet in the warm water, where she started to get drowsy. Once fully warm, Olivia redressed her in clothes warmed by the fire and wrapped her in a blanket.
“Lara, put hot water in two jars and wrap them in towels, then put them inside Bethany and Charlie’s clothes,” instructed Olivia.
“All right.”
Bethany and her driver had finished eating their onion and cheese soup, along with some bread with honey. Color was finally coming back to their cheeks, but their expressions were still dark.
“How can I ever thank you?” said Bethany. “You’ve saved our lives.”
“Ma’am, please forgive me. It’s my fault the carriage overturned,” said Charlie.
“No, Charlie. Like I said, it’s my fault for insisting we go out into the snow at night. I couldn’t even wait for a guard. I’m just glad you’re all right.”
“I had no idea what to do when you lost consciousness,” he said. “If these two hadn’t come when they did, we surely would have…”
There was no way the one man could carry both the unconscious woman and her baby through the snow. But if he’d left the carriage to try and get help, Bethany and Patricia would probably have died before they could get back.
What would I have done in that situation? Olivia wondered.
There were tears in both Bethany’s and Charlie’s eyes as they comforted each other.
Bethany seemed to realize something all of a sudden. “How did you know where we were?” she asked, looking at Arthur with a questioning look.
Arthur glanced at Olivia, looking lost for what to say since he wasn’t very good at handling these kinds of questions. She smiled and calmly answered. “A few times each year, people get trapped there when the snow is piled high. It can get quite bad. I remembered that, and I just couldn’t stand not checking. I decided to go look, with my husband’s help.”
“It’s almost like a miracle,” said Bethany.
“It might be. I believe it was God that made me remember just then,” Olivia said.
“Oh. It must be. What a blessing.”
After that, Bethany closed her eyes and folded her hands over her chest as she gave thanks in prayer.
Arthur and Olivia went into the kitchen and had cups of tea for themselves. It was apple tea, heavy on the apple, and loaded with honey. They blew on the hot tea to cool it as they drank.
Arthur’s attention was partially on the restaurant as he asked Olivia, “Is it all right to explain things like that?”
“I think it is. People believe what they want to believe. All that matters is that explanation puts Bethany at ease. Telling her that a fox came to tell me about them will only cause more trouble.”
“That’s true, I guess.”
They told Lara everything was all right now and sent her back to her room. Colin offered the room he was using for Bethany and the baby, and he and Charlie slept on the floor in front of the restaurant’s fireplace, piling all the rugs and blankets they had in front of the warm hearth.
Arthur and Olivia went back to their room, too, but Arthur seemed to have something on his mind.
“What’s wrong, Arthur?” asked Olivia.
“Darleys. I’m pretty sure that’s a merchant company that hired me once when I was a mercenary. It’s a big company. They deal in construction. Pretty sure they had a lot of workers, too. If the head of the company is in bad condition, it’s not going to turn out good.”
“Oh…”
That’s where the conversation ended, though, and the two cuddled close and went to sleep.