Shepherd Gosling's words were brave, but in one glance Gemma took in the ashen husband's stark terror.

"I need to work. Take the littles to the kitchen and give them some bread and butter. Have a cup of tea. I'll call you if I need you."

"I'll no' be leavin' my Jen!"

She leaned closer and whispered fiercely. "This is bad and you know it. Jennie wouldn't want them to see. Now go." She gave the giant sheep-herder a firm shove. It barely rocked him, but he swallowed hard, dropped a feather touch of his fingertips to his wife's pallid, sweating brow, and hauled his nervous brood off to the kitchen.

Bing rushed in, bleary-eyed in the dawn light now peeking through the draperies. Lysander lingered in the doorway. Gemma ushered him inside the room with a jerk of her head. Atalanta popped through the door with a pot of steaming water and, bless her wit, a cake of Gemma's lye soap.

"Bing, get some blocks of wood and put them under the head of the bed. I need to raise her upper body. Lysander, my case."

Lysander darted out and Bing lurched away, limping badly. Gemma wasn't worried. Lazy Mr. Bing could move like lightning when he wished. She scrubbed her hands well, ignoring the splashing of soapy water that ruined the delicate silk of the gown she wore.

Lysander returned with the medicine case and took his turn at washing in the painfully hot water without being asked. Gemma gazed at her open case with seeming calm but her mind raced. She selected some willow bark. "For thinning the blood and reducing swelling," she murmured to herself. She swiftly ground it into a runny paste with a few drops of laudanum, because she couldn’t bear Jennie's agony. After a moment, she added a very strong red raspberry leaf tincture because she feared the worst was yet to come.

She pried open Jennie's clenched jaw and poured the concoction down her throat. Jennie muttered and shuddered and tossed her head, pulling away from Gemma's touch.

Gemma looked at Lysander. "I need to induce labor. And I can't be delicate about it."

He nodded. "Tell me what to do."