Chapter Fifteen – The Promise of Spring
"I want to know what Jeremy's news is," he kept saying to his mother as they got ready for the trip to Jefferson City.
"Well, Darling, we can only hope that Mr. Connors will be able to tell us," his mother said. "We're leaving as early as we can tomorrow."
"Tomorrow!" Benny cried. "Doc Daniel said he was supposed to meet Dan today!"
"'Let patience have her perfect work in you,' Master Richardson," Doc Daniel laughed as he put a bag into Uncle Tom's farm wagon. Uncle Tom and Aunt Caroline were going with them too. "Dan's letter had been waiting for me awhile when I got home. I just couldn't get turned around that fast. Dan'll wait, and Jeremy's news has kept this long, whatever it is, and it'll wait. Besides, I have an appointment first thing in the morning, and I can't leave until I get back from Doctor Shepherd's in Osage."
"Why are you going to the doctor? Are you sick?" Benny asked.
"No, I'm not sick," chuckled Doc Daniel. "Have you ever in your life known me to be sick? Doctor Shepherd is, though. He's a very sick man. Frankly, I expect him to tell me he's going to retire from practice soon. Should've done it long ago."
"But that will leave Osage without a doctor," Benny's mother said uneasily. There's no one but you in this whole area if he closes his practice."
"That's a stretch indeed to say I'm in this area, Ma'am," Doc Daniel snorted. "But Shepherd can't hang on much longer. I say that as his doctor, and his friend. He never was strong, and he's given these people everything he had to give."
"I'm taking you with me to Shepherd's, Ben," Doc Daniel announced the next morning over breakfast. "Your mother's frettin' about all the work she still has to do to get ready, and you're frettin' about Jeremy, and I'm sure you'll drive her to distraction if you hang around here. Come on."
They set off for the doctor's house. "Look, Ben, there's Caleb Sutter – I mean Caleb Prentice." They had reached the outskirts of town now, and Doc Daniel saw the tall boy sitting on a small stool in front of the dry goods store with a pad of paper, concentrating on a drawing.
"Can that be the town bully? I can't believe it," Doc Daniel exclaimed. "What's happened to him?"
"Since Mr. Prentice the schoolmaster and his wife adopted him he's been a lot different," Benny said. "I heard he'll be going east to school in a few weeks."
"That so? An up and coming young man. Never would have believed it," Doc Daniel smiled. "What do you think, Ben?"
"I hope he goes far," Benny muttered. Far from Osage, and far from me, he added to himself.
"Tell me more," Doc Daniel ordered. "I swear I'd never have known him. He must have changed some."
"Caleb hasn't changed at all," Benny spat. "He's just figured out a way to get what he wants."
"This is the fellow who knocked the stuffing out of you, isn't it?" Doc Daniel inquired mildly.
"And he'd just love to do it again," Benny replied. "Only it doesn't fit into his plans right now. He wants to be a cartographer or a surveyor. He wants to make maps of the west."
"That's an ambitious goal. Think he can really do it?"
"Yes, I'm sure he could," Benny nodded. "That is, if somebody doesn't get him so mad he forgets everything else and kills him."
"Ben, this is really fretting you. What is it between you and Caleb?"
"I don't know, Sir. I know he hates me, but I'm not sure why." Benny thought back to the day that Caleb had confessed his dreams. "Maybe it's because I brought up his past to him when he wants everyone to forget it. He's so afraid of turning out like his father that he wants to erase the memory that anybody like that ever existed."
At Doctor Shepherd's, the gaunt, bent old man ushered them in to his study.
"You know Benjamin Richardson, I think," Doc Daniel said. "I hope you don't mind my bringing him along. Underfoot at home."
"Welcome, Benjamin." Doctor Shepherd lowered himself into a chair. "It just isn't fair, Daniel," he complained good-naturedly. "You must be ten years older than me if you're a day. Can't you share some of that youth and vigor that's bursting out of you?"
"If I could, you'd have it, my friend," Doc Daniel said gently. "Don't you think it's time to rest, Jonas?" Doc Daniel asked.
"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Dr. Shepherd said. "I wish I had a choice. You're sure you wouldn't consider – "
"I live more than twenty miles away, Jonas," Doc Daniel reminded him. "I can barely get here to fill the pulpit every month or six weeks, I've got so many other things going on. But I wanted to share an idea I had. If I found you a young fellow who wants to be a doctor and has had a little training but needs a little more, would you be willing to take him on as an apprentice?"
"Oh, Daniel, it is the very thing I have prayed for. The very thing. Who is he? When can he start?"
"Not so fast," Doc Daniel protested. "It isn't that simple. First you have to know that right now he's serving a prison sentence for bank robbery."
Dr. Shepherd was quiet for a moment. "Anything else?" he asked.
"He was chewed up by a cougar and he's not pretty to look at," Doc Daniel said.
Dr. Shepherd studied Doc Daniel. "What training has he had?"
"He's helped the doctor in the prison infirmary for about six months. I have a letter here from the doctor I'd like you to read."
"To whom it may concern," Dr. Shepherd read aloud. "I am Gabriel I. Glynniss, Doctor of Surgical Medicine and attending physician to inmates at the Philadelphia State Penitentiary. I have had the honor to meet a young inmate here who has volunteered his help. He shows remarkable promise, and certainly has had study and training somewhere, though he says he was a bank teller. He is not so pleasant to look at, having been attacked by a cougar and bearing the scars of that encounter on his face and upper body. But he has a gigantic heart. He is strong, patient, gentle, and so very quick. He seems to know just what needs to be done. He saved my life when it was imperiled by another prisoner. I can most heartily recommend him to any physician or college willing to complete his training. He will make a fine doctor. He is a fine man."
"Are his skills really that good already?" Dr. Shepherd asked.
"I think you'll find him rough-handed, Jonas," Doc Daniel admitted, "and rather too soft-hearted. But he thinks like a doctor. He studies people. I gave him a little test. I wrote him and described a man of your physical appearance and condition of health and he told me you probably have an aortic aneurysm. Glyniss is a good man. He's taught him well."
"He does seem to show a lot of promise, Daniel," Dr. Shepherd said. He looked at the letter again. "But what is the use of hoping if the man is in prison? Will I be here when he gets out, do you think?"
"I didn't think the Lord would keep you going this long," Doc Daniel said bluntly. "He just keeps on surprising me. You take care now, Jonas."
"What's an aneurysm?" Benny asked as they headed back to Uncle Tom's house.
"A great balloon of blood crushing his heart," Doc Daniel said. "You saw how blue he is. It's strangling him to death, in a manner of speaking. A very long, a very painful time he's had it. And it cannot get better."
"Doc Daniel, I'm sure Jeremy will be excited to hear that Dr. Shepherd thinks he can really be a doctor," Benny said.
"I see you don't value my opinion much," Doc Daniel sniffed. "I knew by the way Jeremy described your symptoms, that time you were hurt, that he'd be a doctor. Him falling down, half-dead himself, but only thinking about helping you."
"But what difference does it make? Jeremy's got eight more years to be in prison. Why didn't you tell Doctor Shepherd that? Why did you get his hopes up?"
"‛Hope maketh not ashamed,'" Doc Daniel said. "It's never wrong to hope for miracles, Ben."
Finally they left Osage and set off for Jefferson City. The trip seemed to take forever to Benny but finally Uncle Tom's wagon pulled up in front of the house Dan Connors had rented when he had come to Jefferson City to defend Jeremy.
"Mr. Connors has taken his house agai
n?" Benny's mother asked. "Did Elizabeth come with him, then? Is he staying that long?"
"So many questions," laughed Doc Daniel. "All right, I didn't tell you everything that was in Dan's letter. They have a guest that they brought with them, and Dan and Lizzie wanted to give him some privacy. Too many prying eyes in that hotel."
"Prying eyes?" Benny repeated. "Doc Daniel – You don't mean – "
Benny flung himself off the wagon seat and flew up the stairs. He banged on the front door. A maid opened the door, and Dan Connors was right behind her.
"Why, Ben, hello," he said, looking very surprised. "You're late. We were about to come down to Osage looking for you."
Benny couldn't talk for a minute. He just pushed past Dan Connors and the maid. Dan laughed as he stood in the hall looking wildly around.
"In here," he said, opening the door to the room he had used as a study. Benny tiptoed in. Someone sat with his back to him, bent over the desk. Benny leaped on his back and gripped him in a stranglehold.
"Jeremy! Jeremy! I can't believe it's you!" Benny screamed.
"Whoa! Help!" Jeremy squawked, staggering up. "I should've known you'd hold a grudge, Ben. Just do it quick. Don't make me suffer!"
Then he yanked and ducked and Benny landed on the sofa, laughing. Jeremy wrapped his arms around Benny and squeezed until his bones cracked. "It's so grand to see you," he whispered in Benny's ear.
"Are you free? Are you really free?" Benny demanded. His mother and Doc Daniel followed Dan into the study and Jeremy pushed Benny aside. He shook Doc Daniel's hand like a pump handle.
"It's good to see you, Daniel," he said, beaming.
"Welcome home, Son," Doc Daniel smiled. "The Lord knows this was the hardest secret I ever had to keep."
"Yes, Ben, I'm really free. The governor of Pennsylvania gave me a pardon. That was my news. Dan offered to bring me here so we could surprise you. I guess you were surprised."
Benny hugged Jeremy again. Jeremy took a deep breath. "I missed you so much, my boy," he said in a low voice. "Oh, so much.
"Look at this, Ben," Jeremy picked up a big leather folder from Dan's desk. "This is the way west," he said, pulling some maps out and waving them under Benny's nose. "These are the newest surveys. Done just last fall. Here's my route."
Benny followed Jeremy's finger as he looked at the beautifully drawn map. Suddenly he saw the initials in the corner. C.S.P.
"Where'd you get this map, Jeremy?" he asked.
"Dan picked them up at the courthouse. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Caleb Sutter made this copy," Benny said. "I've seen his drawings before."
"It's first-rate," Doc Daniel said. "First rate."
"Fancy that," Jeremy said. "You told me his fortunes had changed a bit. This is a beautiful map. Maybe he will amount to something. Anyway, this map will be out of date in no time. They're exploring new territory every day."
"Jeremy, you're free!" Benny screamed. He started jumping and shouting and Jeremy and Doc Daniel and Dan joined in. They carried on like idiots. Only after they had run out of steam did Benny notice that his mother sat quietly in a chair by the door, looking down at her skirt. Jeremy and Doc Daniel and Dan noticed, too, and all of them got quiet and stared at her. She realized it after a moment and blushed.
"You're taking the news very calmly, ma'am," Doc Daniel observed.
"It's quite a surprise," Benny's mother said. "Of course, we all knew it would come, but it seemed so far away. Only think of it. How wonderful that you're free, Mr. Carlisle. Now you'll be on your way out west. And we probably won't see you again."
She gave the kind of choked little laugh that Benny knew meant she wasn't happy at all. Her words echoed in his mind.
We won't see you again. We won't see you again.
"Say, what happened to the celebration?" Uncle Tom asked as he and Aunt Caroline came in with Elizabeth Connors. "This sure was a surprise, Mr. Carlisle. Glad to see you out."
"Thank you, Sir," Jeremy said shyly. He saw that even though Uncle Tom and Caroline were trying hard to join in, they still had trouble finding something to look at besides Jeremy's face.
"Well, Tom, get my men to help you bring your bags in," Dan exclaimed. "You're all staying with us tonight. My wife has been preparing food for three days."
"That she has," smiled Jeremy. Uncle Tom and Aunt Caroline followed Elizabeth Connors out to see to the things in the wagon.
"Can I help?" Jeremy started to hurry out. Dan stopped him at the door.
"We can manage. Come on, Dad. Come on, Ben." He dragged Benny out into the hall. Benny saw Jeremy turn to Benny's mother. She looked very nervous and very pretty. Jeremy looked at her without saying anything, and then finally spoke.
"Men don't always go west by themselves, Ma'am," he said in a low voice. Benny's mother rose out of her seat. "We've – we've never had a chance to talk alone..." Jeremy looked up and saw Benny hanging in the doorway. He flushed. Dan grabbed Benny and pulled him toward the front door. He could just hear words coming faintly from the study.
"Ma'am, I'm ... I'm hoping to attend a wedding soon," Jeremy said.
"Oh, yes!" Benny's mother said, so quickly Benny saw Jeremy take a step back. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
"What wedding, Mother?" Benny asked. Doc Daniel and Dan Connors roared with laughter, grabbed Benny under each arm, and hustled him out the door.
Benny and the Bank Robber Page 16
