Kansas Courtship (15 page)

A
lex picked up a wooden horse and ran it across the blanket covering his legs. He made it whinny and rear, then galloped it toward Nora, who was cleaning a window. The toy had arrived yesterday along with a note addressed to Alex in Zeb’s handwriting.

Both had been delivered by Clint, who looked as worn out as he had a week ago. Apparently Zeb hadn’t taken her advice about safety at the mill. She’d counseled Clint to rest, but he’d shaken his head. She hadn’t liked his cough at all, but he’d refused to let her listen to his lungs. Instead, he’d pulled himself onto his horse and headed for the Circle-L. Nora let out a sigh. Would she ever gain the town’s respect? It didn’t seem like it.

As Alex galloped the horse over his knees, Nora thought again of Zeb. She’d never forget kissing him, though it seemed unlikely the moment would be repeated. He’d kept his distance and she’d kept hers. Unless something happened to turn the tide of public opinion, she’d be headed home to New York in a matter of weeks.

Alex stopped playing with the horse. “It stinks in here. I want to go outside.”

She didn’t blame him for being quarrelsome. He’d been in bed for ten long days. The rash had faded from red to brown, and light no longer bothered his eyes. He needed to be careful, but sunshine would do him good. She liked the idea of fresh air herself.

“Let’s go right now.” She draped the rag over the washbowl. “We can work in the garden.”

“I guess so.” He sounded forlorn.

Nora sat next to him on the bed. “Is something wrong?”

“I used to help my ma in the garden. I pulled weeds.”

“You miss your family.”

“A lot.”

Nora smoothed the boy’s hair. She’d come to love him the way she’d loved Ben. No matter what the future held, she hoped to adopt him and give him a good home. She hadn’t mentioned her hopes to Alex because she didn’t know where that home would be. She’d seen an appallingly small number of patients. In addition to Zeb’s eye and Clint’s cough, she’d treated four children, including Alex, for measles. One of the families had paid her, but the father of an ailing baby had ignored the obligation. He’d been well dressed and so had his wife. His failure to pay her had been blatant disrespect, but she’d visited the child again this morning.

If she didn’t earn the town’s confidence soon, she’d have to wire her father for money. She’d end up in New York married to a man who smelled like liniment. Every night she asked God for help. She’d visited several families again, but nothing had changed. Zeb’s mistrust had infected all of High Plains. If he wouldn’t let her remove a splinter, how could she gain respect from anyone else?

Frustrated but determined, she focused on Alex, the one person who believed in her. She tickled his cheek with her knuckle. “Instead of pulling weeds, how about we bake cookies?”

“Yeah!”

“I’ll have to get more sugar at the mercantile.” She had no desire to speak with Abigail or Mrs. Johnson, but she hadn’t heard from Cassandra since the committee meeting. She needed to know if she’d ended up with trash duty. She also wanted to check for mail. She expected to hear from Dr. Zeiss any day.

Alex picked up the horse and made it rear up. “I love cookies!”

“Me, too.” She stood, then lifted the bowl of vinegar water. “Go ahead and get dressed. I’ll be back soon.”

She took the bowl to the kitchen, removed her apron and went in search of Carolina. She found the nurse in the exam room dusting the books spread on the counter. Nora had perused them again last night in search of information on mutism.

As Carolina lowered the duster, Nora put on her brown felt hat. “I’m going to buy sugar for cookies. Do we need anything else?”

“Not a thing,” the nurse replied.

“Would you watch Alex?”

Carolina smiled. “The boy’s climbing the walls. Zeb did well to bring him that toy horse.”

Nora said nothing.

“It’s none of my business,” the nurse said, “but what happened between you two?”

“Nothing important.”

“It doesn’t look that way to me.” She flicked the duster over a shelf. “When it comes to Zeb, you’ve been as quiet as Bess.”

Nora decided to change the subject. “Maybe I’ll hear from Dr. Zeiss today.”

“I hope so,” Carolina replied. “That girl has me worried.”

“Me, too.” The longer Bess went without speaking, the deeper the mental scars. “No one really understands mutism, but Dr. Zeiss might have some insight.”

“It’s like her mind’s bruised,” Carolina said.

“Exactly.”

After they traded worried looks, the nurse put the books back on the shelf and Nora left for the mercantile. With a smile plastered to her face, she ambled down Main Street. Children were playing in the meadow by the schoolhouse, and she saw women talking as they strolled past newly opened shops. In the distance she heard hammers as men pounded nails at the town hall. She thought of Zeb and felt bleak.

“Dr. Nora!”

She turned back to the mercantile and saw Will shouldering a sack of floor. He heaved it into a wagon, then tipped his hat to her. “It’s good to see you, Doc. How are you doing?”

“Fine, thank you.”

He indicated the door to the mercantile. “Emmeline’s inside. I’m sure she’d like to say hello.”

Nora welcomed the friendship. “I’d like that.”

Will lowered his voice. “We appreciate what you’re doing for Bess.”

Nora saw the girl frequently, but she hadn’t been out to the Circle-L since her first visit. “How is she at home?”

“She hasn’t spoken, but I think she wants to.” He told her about Bess moving her mouth in front of a mirror. “It looks strange, but it’s a start.”

“I hope so.” Nora didn’t mean to sound despondent, but she had a heavy heart today.

Will looked at her thoughtfully. “Stay strong, Doc. Before you arrived, Bess didn’t even
want
to speak. She’s going to talk again, and it’s because of you. You’re a good doctor. Don’t ever doubt it.”

“I wish others felt that way.” She thought of Zeb and the splinter.

Will kept his voice low. “Still no patients?”

“A few.” She tried to sound hopeful. “Alex is living with me now.”

“He’s a good kid.” The rancher’s expression turned grim. “Kids shouldn’t suffer. I wish we could find the twins.”

“Me, too.” Nora’s heart broke for Mikey and Missy. “Any sign of them?”

“Not a one.”

Their disappearance haunted everyone in High Plains but especially Bess. Finding the twins—even if it meant burying bones—would help the girl recover. Nora hadn’t seen her for a few days and wanted to say hello. “Is Bess with you?”

Will pointed down the street to a group of girls. Bess stood among them. “She just listens, but it’s something.”

The door to the mercantile opened and Emmeline came down the steps. “Dr. Nora! It’s nice to see you.” She walked forward and held out her hand.

Nora took it in both of hers. “I’m glad to see you, too. Your husband’s been telling me about Bess.”

Emmeline’s eyes clouded. “We’re doing what you said. We treat her as if everything’s perfectly normal. It’s just so—”

A scream cut off her next words.

Emmeline gasped. “That’s Bess!”

A second scream filled the air. Longer and more determined, it sent shivers down Nora’s spine. Some people ran from danger. Nora didn’t run from anything, especially not a cry of pain. As she hiked up her skirts to run, so did Emmeline. Will grabbed them both by their elbows. “Stay here,” he ordered. “It could be an Indian attack.”

“I can’t!” Nora insisted. “Someone could be hurt.”

Emmeline pulled from his grip. “That was Bess! I
know
it.”

Will knew better than to try to stop two determined women. “All right,” he said. “But stay behind me.”

He grabbed his shotgun from under the seat of the wagon. With the weapon loose and ready in his hand, he strode down the street with Nora and Emmeline following in a cloud of dust. Pete Benjamin emerged from between two buildings. He had a shotgun that matched Will’s and the look of a man who’d use it. The two men met in the middle of the street. Shoulder to shoulder, they neared the town hall where Zeb, holding a matching weapon, fell into line. Briefly his eyes clashed with hers, the first time since the kiss, and she knew he hadn’t forgotten.

As the men strode forward, Nora looked in the direction of Beth’s shrieking. The cries were panicky now, long and full and rich with terror. A crowd had gathered in a half circle. The armed men shouldered through the throng. Nora and Emmeline followed until they saw an Indian woman mounted on a buckskin mare. In her lap sat a little girl with blond hair, feverish cheeks and blue-tinged lips.

Behind the woman sat a boy with the same blond hair but healthy coloring. With his arms tight around the woman’s waist, he leaned to the side to look around. On the corner stood Bess, her hands pressed to her face as she screamed yet again.

“Mikey!” she wailed. “Missy!”

The shriek had turned to words. Hunching forward, she shook her head over and over as if she was reliving the tornado. As Nora ran to help her, Bess fainted. With Emmeline in her wake, Nora dropped to her knees at the girl’s side, checked her pulse and felt a steady heartbeat. Bess had fainted from shock. She’d be fine when she woke up, but would she speak again?

“Dr. Mitchell!”

Will had called out to her. As Nora stood, Rebecca pushed through the crowd and crouched next to Emmeline. “Go! It’s the twins! I’ll stay with Bess.”

As Nora and Emmeline moved into the circle, the boy slid
off the horse’s rump. His sister lay limp in the Indian woman’s arms. Her eyes, glazed and unfocused, had rolled back in her head. Each breath rasped as the girl struggled to get enough air. Nora suspected an asthma attack, the disease that had killed Ben. Or maybe quinsy, a swelling of the tonsils that blocked the airway. Quinsy had killed a man as formidable as George Washington. Missy didn’t stand a chance without help.

The Indian woman searched the crowd. Even with shotguns aimed at her chest, she showed no fear. When her gaze landed on Emmeline, she said something in Kansa to Mikey.

“That’s her!” the boy cried. “That’s Emmeline!”

Emmeline raced to the horse’s side, her arms outstretched to take Missy. The Indian woman kissed the girl’s cheek, then handed her to Emmeline with a few soft words in the Kansa tongue.

Emmeline sagged beneath Missy’s weight, but she didn’t stumble. “Thank you,” she said in full voice. “Thank you for saving them.”

The woman said something to Emmeline, then eyed the men and their guns with a stoic expression. Will lowered his weapon first, then Zeb. Pete lowered his shotgun last. The woman looked at Mikey with a tender smile. When he reached up to hug her goodbye, she leaned down and kissed the top of his head. After a final nod, she turned her horse and rode out of town.

The crowd erupted in shouts of joy. Nora hurried to Emmeline’s side and touched Missy’s forehead. “She’s burning up.”

A terrible rasping came from Missy’s throat. Emmeline gasped. “She can hardly breathe!”

Nora opened the girl’s slack jaw with her fingers. In the back of her throat she saw a pustule the size of a walnut. “It’s quinsy.”

“She’ll die!” Emmeline wailed.

“Not if I can help it.” Nora sounded calmer than she felt. “We need to get her to my office. The abscess has to be lanced
now.
”

Emmeline turned and ran with the child in her arms. Will pushed out of the crowd. “Give her to me!”

Emmeline handed over Missy and they all ran to the wagon in front of the town hall. Zeb leaped up to the seat and lifted the reins. The women vaulted into the back with petticoats flashing and no thought of modesty. Will laid Missy in Emmeline’s lap, then climbed up next to her. Pete and Rebecca ran up behind Will. Pete was carrying Bess’s limp body in his arms, and Rebecca had Mikey by the hand. Will gripped Bess’s shoulders and hauled her into the wagon. Mikey jumped into the back on his own.

“Go!” Nora cried. “We don’t have much time!”

Zeb shouted “Ya!” and the horses bolted. The wagon jerked violently and Emmeline toppled into Nora. Nora hit her head on the side of the wagon. Ignoring the pain, she tore off her glove and felt Missy’s forehead. A feverish heat penetrated her palm. Missy opened her mouth wide to clear the airway, but it did no good. Each breath was weaker than the last.

Mikey started to sob. “She’s going to die and it’s my fault!”

Emmeline touched his cheek. “Don’t say that, Mikey. Dr. Nora will fix her. You’ll see.”

The boy turned to Nora. “Are you really a doctor?”

“I am.”

“But you’re a
lady.
”

Under less dire circumstances, Nora would have laughed at his baffled expression. Right now the boy needed reassurance. “I’ve been to school and everything.”

Wide-eyed, he stared at her. “Can you fix Missy?”

“I’ll do my best.”

She knew not to make promises only God could keep. She’d watched helplessly when Ben died of asthma. He’d turned blue just like Missy. Her father had summoned a physician in the middle of the night. The man had done his best, but he couldn’t save Ben.

To honor her brother, Nora had studied breathing ailments with particular interest. Most of the time, quinsy could be treated with rest, good food and herbal teas that helped the patient fight the infection. When those treatments failed and an abscess formed in the throat, the pustule had to be opened with a lancet and drained. The surgery itself posed little danger, but Missy had only minutes before her airway was blocked completely. When that happened, she’d be beyond help.

The wagon careened up the street to her house. Zeb reined the horses to a halt and jumped down from the seat. Carolina burst through the door. “What happened?”

“It’s Missy,” Nora shouted. “She has quinsy.”

“I’ll lay out your instruments!”

Carolina hurried inside, leaving the door open for them. Zeb raced to the back of the wagon and scooped up Bess. She was closest to the tailgate and blocking the way.

“Where do you want her?” he said to Nora.

“On the divan for now.” She had one examination table.