by Murray, Anna
Jed rolled his eyes skyward. “Seems angry and hardened to me.”
“Some folks in this town have experience with that,” Roy tossed his comment pointedly at Jed and rubbed his whiskers, “I expect he can take the bed in the kitchen, since you two sleep upstairs.”
Hannah’s gaze fell to the floor.
Jed looked away.
Roy grinned. “Good. I thought as much. It works fine. When the lad grows muscle you can send him out to work for Cal at the Mineral Creek.”
* * *
Damn Roy Easton. The meddling lawman had befriended Jake so he could get regular news on Jed’s domestic affairs. Jed cursed and wiped his brow as he assembled a straw pallet in the upstairs hall. Now he’d be camped out in the little space outside Hannah’s room, mere feet from hearing and smelling her every night. It would be pure hell.
If that wasn’t enough, Watkins was sending gew gaws to their house twice a week, and charging them against his account at the store! “Something to keep your new wife happy,” he’d say. Hannah was surprised and somewhat embarrassed by the gifts, and oddly Jed made a case study of her reactions. She told him to stop them, but of course he couldn’t, because Watkins was the one sending the ribbons, combs, bracelets, candy, and tins of oysters.
Hannah was down at the hotel, visiting her friend Nelda and playing with the baby. Jake was at school with Emily.
Jed shoved at the straw to spread it throughout the mattress. He could smell Hannah’s light lavender scent wafting from her bedroom. The door was open a crack, and against his better judgment he peaked in. Her sketchpad was lying askew on the bed, as if she’d been drawing and had lazily tossed it aside.
He punched down a lump under the canvas and wondered what she drew in her private time. It couldn’t hurt to take a look.
Jed rose and entered her sanctuary. Hannah’s nightclothes were hung neatly on the hooks close to the door. Her brush, mirror, and hairpins littered the top of the oak bureau. He edged closer to the bed to glance at the sketch she was working.
It was him. Jed’s throat tightened. His heart lurched. She’d drawn a remarkable likeness in his wedding day finery, in the church. He had a stern demeanor with the hint of a smile upon his lips. Jed studied the charcoal rendering and wondered, was this how she saw him?
He sat on the bed and flipped through pages. He saw himself in various positions – in the surgery, covering first base on the ball field, at his writing desk. All were dated and initialed; all had been drawn since his recovery.
His eyes swept the room, and he spied Hannah’s journal on a chair. His hand reached out for it, and he settled it on his lap, turned the leaves, and he paused on the page where she described their wedding day:
Jed was anxious to get on with the wedding for appearances sake, in spite of my not being a suitable wife. There was also the issue of keeping me in the town, and the marriage brought the load home, so to speak. In spite of it all, I’m pleased he is well . . . yet my fondness for him cannot extend beyond our friendship, which I pray will sustain me through the coming winter . . .
Jed slapped his forehead. She thought she was unsuitable? Didn’t she know how beautiful she was, and what he’d give to wake up to her warm body and soft voice every morning?
Jed couldn’t help himself. He flipped through the pages, reading snippets of her perfect cursive hand.
The prairie is lonely at first, but the people here are warm and caring and appreciative. There is plenty to be done here, from early morning till late night, but it is a fine life. I’ve found my new family . . .
Jed felt a stabbing guilt in his gut. He slammed the book shut and fled the room.
Chapter 23
When the Jake wasn’t making progress in his learning at school he was fetching water, gathering wood for the stove, holding a patient down or running medicine to families in town. His origins still a mystery, he took to calling Hannah his Ma, and insisting Jed, “Pa”, kiss her when he returned home from his rounds.
Hannah suspected Roy Easton was firmly planted behind the kissing idea, but she and Jed played along until it became a familiar routine. If it gave Jake a sense of family and security it was worth the effort, but she wished her heart didn’t race and her hands didn’t want to thread her fingers through his thick hair whenever Jed put his lips to her cheek.
Occasionally Hannah’s thoughts ran to wondering about what it would be like to be Jed’s real wife, not just in name. It was like a gash which should have healed by now. She knew she shouldn’t have these feelings, indeed she couldn’t have these feelings. The urge to talk about her needs preyed on her, but there wasn’t anyone to talk to, not even her friend Nelda Rose. She wouldn’t serve up her worries for others to chew on.
Hannah’s skills and practice grew with each passing day, and she met new and interesting people as their clinic reputation grew. Soon patients were coming from great distances to obtain advice and treatment.
Indeed, on this day Mr. and Mrs. Kelpin arrived, after a two day journey.
Hannah slipped her fingers into her skirt pocket and pulled out her stethoscope. Settling the instrument around her neck, she led the young couple into the surgery. Mrs. Kelpin was hobbling and leaning the bulk of her small frame against a willow walking stick. Hannah beckoned them to sit in chairs behind the curtain.
“You must be tired from your trip.”
The girl smoothed her dress, and the man used a shirtsleeve to wipe a bead of sweat from his forehead.
“I’m Doctor Hannah.” She extended a hand, and looked into the face of the pretty girl, who she judged to be about fourteen. Hannah gazed intently to print an image of the patient in her mind.
“I’m Adella.” Her smile revealed perfect white teeth.
“I’m Pete.” The husband, a tall gangly man, pushed close to the wife and held her hand.
“You’ve hurt your foot?”
Adella pursed her lips, leaned forward, and presented a linen-wrapped appendage. “It’s been this way since I was born. I can’t wear a proper shoe,” she explained.
“How old are you, Adella?”
“Sixteen.”
Hannah leaned forward to take a look, and upon carefully unwrapping the limb she quickly lowered her head and held back a gasp. The congenital defect explained the woman’s poor gait. She had to be walking on the side of her foot, thought Hannah. She examined the thick callouses and severe bend of Adella’s ankle.
Then Hannah rose, cupped a hand over her brow, and looked out the window. She heard the thwack of a neighbor splitting wood, and the bray of a donkey, but there was no sign of Jed. “A-Adella, I’d like my partner to take a look-see. Sometimes two heads are better than one. He should be back from the store with Jake any minute.”
She managed a tight smile, and Pete leaned over and kissed his wife on the top of her thick curly mop of hair. “We appreciate that.”
Hannah anxiously looked out the window again, and this time she saw Jed striding up the path, with Jake’s curly dark head bobbing behind him. “Ah, here they come now.”
Jake was gesturing excitedly and waving his arms.
As soon as Jed entered Hannah scurried to meet him. “I need you for a consult. I’ve never seen a club foot before,” she whispered.
Jed’s eyes widened. “It’s not usual. Haven’t seen but two myself.”
Jake, meanwhile, looked like he was about to burst. He tugged at Jed’s sleeve.
“Tell Doctor Hannah, I mean Ma, what I did while you were in the store!”
Jed grinned. “Jake and Emily Anders met up in front of Watkins. It seems they were the welcoming committee for the medicine show wagon.”
Jake’s eyes were wide and his cheeks were ablaze. “Ma, we ran the quackery man off!”
A smile lit up Hannah’s face. “You don’t say. Oh my. You chased away the medicine show man?”
“Yes, ma’am! We told them we have real doctors in this town! Their elixir is watered down whiskey!” Jake puffed up and sto
od with his legs spread apart just the way he’d seen Jed do on countless occasions.
Hannah doubled over with laughter, and when she came up for air she hugged Jake. Most surprising, he accepted the embrace.
“Jake, would you bring in more wood? Doctor Jed and I have a patient waiting in the surgery.”
“You bet!” Jake turned and ran out the back door.
Jed and Hannah exchanged an amused look as entered the room together. Jed introduced himself and shook hands with Adella and Pete. Then he scooted over to a stool, which he placed in front of the woman. He took her foot into his lap and examined the deformity. “Does this hurt?” He rotated her foot slightly.
“It’s stiff.”
“Have you had treatment in the past?”
“Yep, a metal rod.”
Jed winced visibly. “The Thomas wrench?”
“Yep, that was it. It hurt too much. I couldn’t abide by it.” A look of guilt crossed her face, and her eyes misted. “I tried. Truly. I did.”
‘It’s ok, sweetheart,” her husband whispered and squeezed her hand gently.
Jed stood back and put a hand to his chin. His eyes moved to the left as he remembered the two cases he’d seen in Minnesota. “Pete, I’m going to show you some things you can do to move Adella’s foot. It will take some time to work.”
He asked Adella to lie down on the table, and he showed Pete how to hold the foot in the correct position to manipulate and stretch it. Hannah watched silently as Jed showed Pete the motions, and then he made Pete try it. “Do this three times a day to start, gently at first, and then work up to five times. Work harder as her range of motion improves.”
“That’s it?” Adella’s voice pitched higher, betraying her disbelief.
“Well, it’s not all of it. After you see some improvement we’ll consider using braces to move it further. You can wear the splints at night.”
“You’ll make those?”
He nodded. “We will. You’ll have to be patient. It’s a slow process that can take two years to move the foot to proper position, and you might have to go to Minnesota for a surgery. Are you willing to give it a try?”
“If Pete thinks so,” Adella said.
“Sweetheart, we can work together on it.” Pete squeezed his wife’s hand.
Jed smiled tenderly at Adella, and he turned to her husband. “OK. Pete, show me what I just taught you.”
Jed was suitably impressed with Pete’s technique, and as they left he praised them both for their dedication to the task. Hannah walked with them to the porch, and they watched the couple move away and back to the hotel, where they’d taken up residence. Adella leaned into her husband as he tenderly guided her down the street.
“He doesn’t see it,” Hannah mouthed with awe.
“See what?” Jed retorted.
“I’m surprised she’s married . . .”
“Maybe nobody ever told her she couldn’t get married.”
“Perhaps. My mother –“ Hannah clamped down on the thought and folded her slender arms under her breasts.
Jed leaned against the porch rail and looked into Hannah’s glazed eyes. “Would you tell Jake he can’t marry because of his injuries?”
“Of course not!”
Jed edged forward, grabbed her hand and pulled her into his shadow space. He brought her against him in one swift yank, and before Hannah could protest his lips bore down on hers, soft and probing and then urgently pleading.
She pulled away, breathless. “Doctor Rutherford!”
“I won’t apologize. There are times I battle myself to be a gentleman, and that’s a fact, Doctor Sutton.”
Chapter 24
A dog barked outside the surgery, and Hannah looked toward the window. She wanted to find a place to hide, as she was trapped in an awkward conversation. She was accustomed to patients asking all manner of questions, but this one was embarrassing and infuriating. Worst of all, it came from Nelda Rose, and it had the markings of a scheme behind it.
Oh, it started innocently enough, with the usual pleasantries.
“How are things at the hotel?” Hannah asked when she opened the door to her friend.
“Wonderful. Is the quick visit all right? Rose is napping.” The feather on Nelda’s new green, stylish hat bobbed. It seemed John Hawkins couldn’t stop showering his wife with gifts lately.
“Of course, of course.”
Nelda brightened. “We’re so busy and happy with the baby and all. Mrs. Cranston says I should let her cry. She says crying is good for babies.”
“Nelda, Rose cries because she’s unhappy. She needs a diaper change or burping.”
“That’s what I said, and I should tend to her, right?”
“That’s right,” Hannah reassured.
“Sometimes she wants to be held and rocked. She fusses when she’s tired.”
“That’s normal, and you can rock her. Your movements rocked her when she was inside you. Babies naturally find the motion comforting.”
She brightened. “I won’t spoil her by holding her, then?”
“No, not at all. Hold her and rock her. When you get tired use the rocking cradle.”
“There’s one other thing . . . but . . .” Nelda looked sheepishly at her hands.
“But what?”
“Doctor Hannah, since the baby came I’ve been busy and tired, and well . . . “ A blush began to creep up Nelda’s neck.
“I can imagine.”
Nelda took a deep breath. “Yes, and keeping John happy in the bedroom isn’t the same.”
“Give it time.” Hannah stifled a choke and tried to change the topic. “Would you like some tea?”
“It’s been months.” Nelda hesitated. “Doctor Hannah, what do you do to get your husband interested?” Her voice was brittle as fine china.
Hannah coughed. “Uh . . . I don’t know. It, uh, comes naturally.”
“But certainly there must be something you do he likes, and being a doctor and all, well, I expect you know more about such things. You know.” She threw her hands palm up in front of her.
“Nelda, excuse me. I left some water to boil on the stove. I hear it hissing now.”
Hannah fled the room, hoping Nelda would forget the line of their conversation, but Nelda doggedly pursued her into the kitchen. Hannah was pouring tea leaves into a cheesecloth.
“Thanks for the poultice for Rose’s diaper rash,” Nelda continued. “Please come by the hotel for dinner.”
Hannah’s hands shook and she kept her back to Nelda. Appearing to be busy was her best defensive tactic. “Will do, thank you,” she fired back over her shoulder.
Nelda took the hint. “All right. Thanks for the advice, Doctor Hannah. I have to get back. Rose will be waking from her nap. See you soon?”
“Oh, yes. Goodbye, Nelda.” Hannah turned and hugged her friend, and then she watched Nelda depart and hurry up the path.
Hannah dwelled on Nelda’s problem and what she knew about intimacy, which was darn little beyond basic knowledge about how the sex act was performed. As the day wore on, her lack of knowledge about intimacy nagged at her like an ill-fitting shoe. She’d help Nelda if she knew more, but knowing more required research, and with the only man she was allowed. It meant exposing her whole self to another person. It would take courage – the kind of courage Adella Kelpin had.
Chapter 25
Jed had been up most of the night considering his highway, this life with Hannah that brought him peace of mind, and then practicing the right words to convince her to consummate their marriage, and thinking about how to hide his disappointment when she said no.
When he came back from visiting Watkins at the general store he saw her sitting under the oak tree in the front yard, her back against the trunk, sketchpad on her lap. Her eyes were closed as if she were imagining a scene to draw.
As he passed by Hannah opened her eyes and smiled. “Afternoon, Jed.”
“Afternoon, Hannah.” He bent his knees to squat b
eside her, and he glanced at her latest creation and thought about how her head would come to his chest if he hugged her. “I like the path winding away into the horizon. I wonder where it’s going?”
She cocked her head to the one side. “It meanders to a creek lined with trees. Birds of every color and song live there,” she explained with a girlish, shy smile.
“That’s lovely. I’d like to know this place.”
“Speaking of lovely,” her voice wobbled, “Nelda’s trading medicine for supper at the hotel. Come with me, and we won’t have to cook tonight.”
Jed’s eyes held hers as he rose from the fragrant earth. “Don’t have to sell me on it, Doc. I’ll get cleaned up. What about Jake?”
“He went to work for Farrell after school, and they’re keeping him for supper. It seems the pay is better there than here.” She laughed.
“Ah.” His heart lightened, and he couldn’t keep the grin from his face. It would be just the two of them.
Jed went into the house and splashed hope onto his face at the kitchen washstand. Then he shaved and changed into his best pair of brown trousers. He sighed and thought about relaxing in the candlelight of Hawkins dining room as he chatted with Hannah about the day’s events and local news. Maybe he’d try out the new joke he’d heard at the store -- a story about a minister, a cowboy, and two unruly steers. If he were lucky she’d let him touch her hand or perhaps kiss her cheek. It wasn’t everything he wanted, but he wouldn’t give up on the possibility of more in their relationship, in time. He finally felt he was beginning to understand what made his sweet Hannah so hesitant to trust his affection.
Jed reached for the innocence of his youth when he went back outside to find Hannah for supper. He wanted to spend time, free of encumbrance from the past; he wanted to believe in dreams and finding them in the form of a beautiful, intelligent woman with capable hands and a creative mind. He wanted her to see the hero he could be.
Hannah had moved from under the tree to the porch, where she was rubbing charcoal onto her drawing. He knew this because a smudge had appeared across her soft ivory cheek. A chill descended with the setting sun.
