Mack looked around at the gossiping parishioners, his mouth gaping open with disbelief. They were ready to crucify her without even hearing Pansy’s side of the story.
He turned to Pansy, waiting for her to say more, but she just stood there, tears streaming down her face.
Mack jumped up the two steps to the stand in front of the altar.
“The children were dead when Doctor Walline arrived.”
“How would you know, Mack?” Tolbert sneered, loving to see the doctor put down.
“I went out to the Applegate’s ranch with her. The children were stiff and bloated when Doctor Walline carried them outside.”
A collective gasp rose to the church rafters.
“When she carried them outside? Why weren’t you helping if you were along?” Tolbert taunted.
Mack barely heard Pansy warn him not to say any more before he announced, “Because the family had cholera and she didn’t want me to be exposed to it.”
Suddenly people were pushing to get out of the pews. Mack’s announcement caused hysteria in the church.
“But Doctor Walline saved Mrs. Applegate and Rebecca,” he said. “They’re standing right there in the back of the church!”
People stopped in the aisle, staring first at Mack and then standing on tiptoes to see of the woman and child were standing in the back of the church like he’d said.
“People! People!” Mr. Taylor yelled as he walked to the altar and turned around to address the congregation. “The town council will have a meeting at two o’clock to discuss Doctor Walline’s service to our community. We’ll meet in the school house.”
“Do it now! We want her out of town!”
Mack looked around, positive it was someone other than Tolbert egging on the discord now.
Ma walked from her spot in the front pew to talk to Mack’s father. After a few quick words, Da raised his hands to quiet the crowd. “Please stay after the church service as the town council can hold their meeting immediately afterwards.
“Let’s do it now!” Mack knew that was Tolbert this time.
“Fine, we’ll have the meeting now, but after I say a prayer!” Da’s temper rose his voice to a booming level. The congregation hastily sat in unison like children being scolded. “Dear Heavenly Father,” he paused to jerk his shoulders and lower his voice to continue. “We pray you’ll guide our hearts and voices…as we discuss our need for a doctor in our community. Please make everyone listen to the facts presented without making any rash decisions. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”
Da slammed his Bible down on the altar. Mack had never seen his father mad in church before, and looking around the congregation, it seemed as though no one else had either.
“Councilman Taylor, you may now take over this meeting. “But may I remind you, and everyone else here, that God is listening. And I’m still in charge, because you’re interrupting my church service.”
Mr. Taylor timidly walked forward as Da moved to stand in front of the pulpit, his arms folded across his chest.
“Uh, thank you, Pastor Reagan. We’ll keep this meeting short, so you may continue your service.”
No one laughed at his comment.
“This meeting is now open for the discussion about Doctor Walline’s performance and if her contract should be terminated, or reviewed in regard to her current probation period. Who wants to speak first?”
Mack thought he’d get the first chance since he was in the front row, but his mother grabbed his arm to stop him.
Mary Jenkins deftly grabbed Tolbert’s arm and sweetly said, “Ladies first,” as she walked past him.
“My daughter, Burdette, still has her leg after her disastrous fall, thanks to Doctor Walline. I still cringe thinking what would have happened if she hadn’t been there.” Mary narrowed her eyes and stared daggers at Frank Tolbert as she passed him on her way back to her seat.
When Tolbert reached the front, he stuck his left hand out and touched his left thumb with his right index finger. “Miss Walline doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
He moved his index finger to his other index finger, apparently to keep track of his many points. “She isn’t around half the time because she’s out gossiping around town instead of being in her office.”
Tolbert touched his index finger to his middle finger. “Or she’s running mail out to the far reaches of the county.”
Index finger to his ring finger. “And she’s a woman!”
Index finger to his little finger. “Even though she’s nothing to look at, she’ll get married and we’ll be out of a doctor anyway.”
Murmurs whispered through the sanctuary as Tolbert marched back to his pew, either not knowing, or not caring, how badly his speech had hurt Pansy.
“Your turn,” Mack’s mother whispered to him. “Tell what you saw at Applegate’s.”
Mack stood, stepped up to the altar and turned to face the congregation.
"He won't tell the truth. He's sweet on Doctor!" someone called out.
Mack shifted his eyes to the speaker, then picked up the Bible on the altar, laying his right hand on top.
"I am in my Lord's house and my father's church, so I will tell the truth. Yes, I do like Doctor Walline for many reasons. She's kind and compassionate about her job, even though many in this community have put up blockades or spread lies about her, just because she chose medicine as her career.
"I rode out with Doctor Walline after Richard Kandt told the postmaster, my brother Cullen, that members of the family were sick. Mr. Applegate was away on a trip, so I thought there might be chores that needed to be done.
"Doctor Walline suggested I check the livestock, while she checked on the family. I found the horses hadn't been fed or watered for a while, and the milk cow was in severe pain because she hadn't been milked."
Mack looked for Applegate in the crowd and asked him, "Is your cow all right, or did it come down with mastitis? Please tell the truth because anyone can go to your barn and check the cow's udder."
Everyone turned to stare at Applegate and waited for his answer.
"She's sick," the man uttered.
Mack continued, "I walked to the house to get the milk bucket and Doctor Walline met me outside, warning me I couldn't come in. The smell of sickness and death leaked out the door and windows that Doctor Walline had opened.
"She asked me to dig a grave in the backyard for two small children since they were dead when she checked in their bedroom. Mrs. Applegate was sick in bed in the other bedroom."
Mack watched the Applegate family for reaction. He was pale, and his wife was silently sobbing.
"Doctor Walline washed Mrs. Applegate and Rebecca’s bodies of their bodily fluids and carried them outside to the porch for fresh air. She also washed the dead bodies, prepared them for burial and placed them in the grave herself. I filled in the grave."
Everyone listened in fascination at his gruesome words, knowing it could have just as easily been their family’s destiny if disease had hit them instead of the Applegates.
"I rode to Kandt's well for fresh water because Doctor Walline concluded bad water from the creek gave the family cholera."
"Doctor Walline insisted I leave, so I rode back to Clear Creek for supplies, bedding and clothing—since they had to be burned—and medicine. Doctor Walline scrubbed the whole house to rid it of the...mess and disease, and stayed a week to take care of the family until Mr. Applegate came home from his trip."
Mack stood with his hand still on the Bible. "Any questions before I take my hand off the Bible?" He scanned the congregation, but no one raised their hand.
Mr. Taylor rose from the front pew and faced the congregation. "John, do you have any comments to add to Mack's?" Mack wasn't surprised when Applegate shook his head.
"Anyone have any questions for Mr. Applegate?"
Edna Clancy wobbled to her feet. "I do. John come up to the front, so I can hear you."
Murmurs worked through the crowd.
/> "Yes, Ma'am?" Mr. Applegate stood at the end of the second pew where Dan and Edna Clancy always sat.
"How were your wife and child when you arrived home?"
"Weak but able to get around on their own."
"What was the condition of the house?"
Mr. Applegate coughed.
"Do you need a drink of water, or your hand on the Bible?" Dan Clancy asked in his booming voice.
"Uh, it was very clean. Freshly scrubbed, even the windows, inside and out."
Edna continued. "Did your wife tell you what happened?"
"Yes, what she remembered, but she didn't remember saying the children could be buried on the ranch instead of in town."
"How much did you pay Doctor Walline for saving two of your family members, and staying with them a week so they were sure to recover? Did you also pay her the usual undertaker’s fee for burying two of our family members? Did you pay her for cleaning your filthy house?"
The women in the congregation started gossiping, especially when Edna Clancy asked the last question. Mack noticed his ma's smirk, although she didn't turn around in her pew to talk about it as the others did.
Applegate turned to point to Pansy. "She ate my food and her horse inhaled oats and hay, so I didn't pay her anything."
Edna stamped her husband’s cane on the hardwood floor. "Shame on you, Mr. Applegate! She went above and beyond the call of duty to take care of your family. Do you think a man doctor would have cleaned house besides stay and take care of the sick like that? No! We're lucky to have a fine woman doctor in Clear Creek". Then Edna plopped down, her legs finally giving out after standing so long.
Mr. Taylor raised his hands to quiet the crowd. "Doctor Walline, do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Mack nodded to Pansy, hoping she'd come forward to defend herself, but she shook her head until his ma leaned over to say something to her. Reluctantly Pansy walked to stand in front of the altar.
"I went to medical school because I wanted to help people who were in pain and suffering from disease and accidents. And because I figured...with my looks, I wouldn't be a wife and mother."
Pansy dropped her head and sniffed back tears. Mack wanted to rush up to comfort her in his arms, but he knew she had to do this on her own.
"At the end of my schooling, I took the oath to do my best for my patients and to do no harm. I believe I've done my best for the people I've been allowed to tend. And I've done most of the work without being paid for my care and time."
Pansy stood tall, walked back down to the pew and sat down. Mack was proud that she had stood up for herself.
Mr. Taylor stood back up. "Alright, I believe we've heard from all the witnesses of what happened at the Applegate’s and can conclude Doctor Walline did all she could for the family."
Tolbert rose from his pew. "Let's vote on whether or not to keep her. The town council can always look for another one."
Mack cringed at Tolbert's words. And guess who'd get the medical business until then—and demand money—even if Tolbert didn't know what he was doing most of the time?
Suddenly Pansy rose and bolted down the pew and out the door, avoiding everyone’s eyes. Mack followed her but Hilda Wilerson stood in his way and held out her hand to stop him.
"I bet she's going to ride Oats to clear her mind. Stay here and vote for her livelihood instead of chasing after her."
Mack turned and walked back to sit in his family pew. His parents and brothers were always there for each other, while Pansy was alone in this world. But he'd do his best to change that, after this meeting concluded and he rode after the love of his life.
Chapter 12
"I can't believe he interrupted church service after all I did for them! I saved his wife and child—took care of them even though I could have come down with cholera myself!"
Pansy stood out in the middle of the prairie, screaming, ranting and crying at the injustice and humiliation she’d just endured.
"And then he didn't pay me a dime to boot!" Pansy screamed at the top of her lungs.
Luckily Oats stood beside her, not minding her ranting after she'd ridden him hard out to get away from town.
"What am I going to do, Oats? This was supposed to be my calling, my life's work. And now that I am a town doctor, what do people do? Go to the quack barber instead! And they pay him even if he does more harm than good!"
Pansy took a deep breath and arched her back to let the sun shine on her face. She had always loved to bask in the sun when she’d roamed the Wyoming prairie. It was warmer in Kansas than it had been there, but the sunshine still brought the same relief regardless of its location.
What advice would her father give her about today's impromptu meeting? He always treated her as a boy, instead of a girl, which meant her father would have told her to stand up for her rights.
But did she want to stay where she wasn't wanted? Mack's smile came to mind. The man always went out of his way to help her, to be by her side.
Should she give up medicine and become Mack's housewife? Or move back East where a woman doctor would be accepted?
Oats’ whiny caught Pansy off guard. She looked across the horizon and noticed a horse and rider coming her way.
Tension drained away in her shoulders when she saw it was Mack. But then she realized he may have come with bad news.
"Are you okay?" Mack asked as he dismounted his horse.
"Am I okay with how the town is treating me? Or okay about how I made a fool of myself by running out the church instead of stomping on some feet?"
"Certain people in town are pig-headed and afraid of a woman doctor."
"And what did people say when I stormed out?"
Mack twisted his mouth back and forth rather than answer her.
"Well?"
"Some men were glad you turned tail instead of standing up to them."
Pansy wiped her hands over her swollen eyes. She'd shed so many tears.
"The vote was to reevaluate your contract at the end of your three-month employment and decide if they want to extend it."
"Even though my contract was for five years! This is ludicrous. They wouldn't do this to a man doctor."
"I agree, but that was their vote."
"So, what do I do? Keep working for free so I at least have a roof over my head while I look for another job? That gives me five weeks before they kick me out."
"The council said people have to pay you for your services."
"So, then I'll have no one come to me," Pansy spat. Her temper rose, thinking of each time she'd helped a person and she hadn't gotten paid. Some people did, but most of them didn't.
"Don't let a few sour apples in town spoil everything. We can work it out," Mack said.
"How? And marriage isn't an option for me, so don't get down on bended knee, Mack Reagan."
Mack stepped back as if she'd physically slapped him. Pansy put her hand to her mouth. She hadn’t mean to hurt his feelings.
"I'm sorry, Mack. That came out the wrong way," Pansy pleaded.
"I think you made it clear. You said you won't marry, so I've been wasting my time, hoping you'd love me as I love you."
Pansy stood in shock as Mack mounted his horse and reined him to leave the way they came. He left without saying another word.
Mack loved her? No, he didn’t really mean that.
Pansy watched until she could no longer see horse and rider as they went over the hill. Her words might have hurt Mack now, but he’d eventually find the right woman to be his wife. He would be happy someday. And herself?
Pansy mounted Oats and rode back toward town. She had five weeks to find a new life. It seemed as though the hopes and dreams she’d had when she departed the train in Clear Creek weren’t going to happen here after all.
***
"You want to take this letter over to Doc Walline?" Cullen held the letter out for Mack to take from his hand.
"No. She can get her own mail. I came to see if I had any m
ail for me." He’d avoided the doctor for two weeks, walking on the other side of the street if he saw her, even skipped church and Sunday dinner at the parsonage.
He was on his ma’s “you’re in trouble, young man” list but he couldn’t face Pansy when his heart hurt so bad. Mack kept reliving their last conversation for the umpteen time.
Marriage isn't an option for me, so don't get down on bended knee, Mack Reagan.
"Who'd be writing you?" Cullen pulled Mack away from his thoughts. Cullen waited for Mack’s answer as his brother sorted the mail before stuffing the mail boxes in the wall beside the front window.
"A builder in Kansas City," Mack said as he stared at his brother, knowing Cullen was going to make another remark.
"Got a building question you need answered? Why? You've been watching construction going up in town since you were five years old. Helping carpenters since you were eight years old. You even had your own little tool box back then. People should be asking you questions instead of the other way around."
"I'm looking for work elsewhere." There, he said it. Mack hadn't told anyone in the family he was thinking about leaving Clear Creek. He didn't want to do it, but if Pansy was staying, he was leaving. It hurt too much to see her nearly every day and avoid her like the plague.
"You talk to Da or Ma about this?" Cullen asked, his voice softening.
"Nope. I'm a grown man and I can make my own decisions."
"True." Cullen went back to sorting mail into piles across the counter. “Though it might be a waste of time and effort to leave town since Doc Pansy's trying to do the same thing."
Mack's head snapped up from watching Cullen work.
"What do you mean?"
"She's sent correspondence to medical schools, hospitals, Mrs. Elison in Boston... Fourteen letters to be exact."
Mack stared at Cullen, trying to comprehend his words.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
Mack could throttle Cullen for not answering his question, since Cullen knew darn well what he was asking about.
“Why is Doctor Walline writing to places?”
“I didn’t ask the doctor and she didn’t offer any suggestions.”
Mack's Care (Grooms With Honor Book 4) Page 8
