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Ice had to be chipped so the stock could water. Wood had to be chopped to keep it warm.
The boys had moved into the bunkhouse and made it theirs. Snow Bird only went inside to get their laundry, and they had strung a line to dry the clothes on in the barn so that they could dry. While they worked in the barn feeding their horses, cleaning the stalls and milking the cow, they bought two pot-bellied stoves in the barn during the winter and the clothes dried well. It meant a lot of wood had to be chopped but it was worth it, when they worked inside it was warm.
Snow Bird managed to keep the stoves burning in both the house and the bunkhouse, so that no matter where the boys were, they were comfortable.
She wanted them happy, so they would never leave. She began thinking of them as her family, and it warmed her.
"When will the baby come?" Coon asked one day when he was rocking little Matt.
"May or June." She smiled.
Coon nodded, "This old rocking chair will get lots of miles on it, then."
"I hope so."
Little Matt was old enough to sit on a blanket and play now, he was sitting up and attempting to crawl too. Snow Bird and Coon had a time keeping up with him
The family made a trip to Waxahachie as the weather warmed up. But to their surprise there had been a big measles outbreak.
Snow Bird wasn't familiar with the disease but when they told her it was dangerous to women who were pregnant, she wanted to go home quickly.
It wasn't quick enough and Little Matt had all the symptoms, running nose, fever, and cough, and then a rash.
But worse still, Snow Bird got them, as she had never been around the disease and was more susceptible to it.
Matt was worried sick. Coon took care of the baby and Snow Bird, the others tried to stay away from it as much as they could. Coon would doctor the baby and give him baths with oatmeal as his mother had said it was one of the things that soothed. Matt helped Snow Bird bath in oatmeal water too.
Snow Bird was better, but days later, the baby aborted, and she laid crying.
"Snow Bird, what is it. How can I help?"
"I have lost the baby…." She cried uncontrollably.
"Are you sure…"
"I am sure…." She cried, "I am so sorry. Can you still love me?"
Matt's face wrinkled, "Love you, of course I love you. We can have another baby."
She had wrapped it in a small blanket and gave it to Matt to bury. "It was a little girl." She cried.
Matt teared up but tried to hide it from Snow Bird.
All the boys gathered around, and they buried the baby on the property. Ferg made a wooden cross for it and it was a sad day for them all.
Snow Bird was thankful that Little Mat had survived. She never cried again for the baby. Being Indian she knew that life was not promised and that she had to be strong and go on.
Matt did his best not the mention the baby either.
The boys were fixing the leave and Matt, Snow Bird, Little Mat and Coon all stood around to tell them goodbye.
"We'll be back before winter sets in." Ferg promised.
"Be safe," Snow Bird told them.
"Say, you gonna stop off and see Margaret?" Matt asked.
"Thought I would." He smiled at him.
