Standing in the trampled snow, shifting nervously from foot to foot, cap in hand, he said, 'Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Dewhurst, but it's my daughter. She's with child, and she's in a bad way.' It was snowing heavily, making the roads dangerous, if not impassable. The man had walked almost three miles through rough country, wearing clothing that looked hopelessly inadequate. For the first time since Pamela had known her, Mrs. Dewhurst appeared very upset.
'How bad, Glen? Is it the weather, or has she fallen-?'
'I don't know,' he said helplessly. 'The way she's going, we're going to lose both her and the baby.'
Mrs. Dewhurst sat down, looking shaken. To Pamela's astonishment, there was helplessness in those eyes she had come to think of as dauntless. Mrs. Dewhurst looked to her son, who had just entered the room, and said, as though astonished and outraged at her own uselessness, 'Bloody hell, Theo, I don't know what to do! I can't wade through that snow all the way to the Cross cottage!'
'I'll go.' It wasn't until all eyes were upon her that Pamela realized she had spoken. Finding her voice once more, she said, 'I'll do it. I've looked after people that were- I've helped deliver babies a couple of times before.'
There was a long moment's silence. Finally, it was broken by Theo.
'That's it, then. I'm coming with you.'
It was a brutal three miles, wading through the snow and dense bush. It may as well have been thirty for all the headway they were making, stumbling blindly into the stinging bite of the wind. Theo caught her when she stumbled, which was often, but her mind was focused on what had to be done.
'How far gone is she?' Pamela asked as they pulled themselves over a fallen tree.
'How what?'
'How far into her pregnancy is your daughter, Mr. Cross?'
'Oh,' he replied uncomfortably. 'Well, I'm not sure. If you mean, "How long has it been since she got herself pregnant," then I can't tell you, because I wasn't there. You'll have to ask her yourself.'
Wonderful! Pamela ran over and over in her mind what little she had learned about birthing babies from the midwives and paramedics she had watched. They had all been difficult births, and by assisting she had learned far more than she wanted to know. Yet it seemed that now, when she needed to know, it wasn't enough!
Thankfully, when she fell and Theo caught her, he seemed as preoccupied as she, doing only what was necessary, his attention on getting them safely to the Cross cottage without mishap.