Kansas Courtship (16 page)

As he left with Bess, Will lifted Missy and raced up the steps with Emmeline and Mikey behind him. Nora brought up the rear, praying for God’s mercy for them all. Missy’s life was on the line. In a way, so was Nora’s. If the child died, no one would trust her. It wouldn’t be her fault, but people would consider her a failure. She had no control over the final outcome. Only God could give and take life, and she knew Missy’s symptoms were dire.

“It’s in your hands, Lord,” she said out loud. With the prayer still alive on her lips, Nora walked into the exam room to perform the surgery.

Z
eb lowered Bess to the divan, then looked around for help. Nora and Carolina were with Missy, the more seriously ill of the two patients. Emmeline had followed Will into the surgery, leaving Zeb alone with the unconscious girl.

He felt as helpless as a babe.

Nora would know what to do. From the moment he’d seen her running to the commotion, he’d been aware of her confidence. Emmeline had been trembling with fear. Nora had stayed steady, though he wondered if she’d get the shakes when the crisis ended. That happened to him sometimes. It had happened three days ago when he’d kissed her. He’d been matter-of-fact about her attitude until he’d put his head on his pillow, then he’d realized what he’d done. He’d opened a floodgate of feelings. He didn’t want them. Neither could he stop them.

Right now, he didn’t have time for such thoughts. He needed help with Bess. As he considered what to do, the curtain blocking the exam room fluttered open. Emmeline emerged holding Mikey’s hand. Alex came next, with Will bringing up the rear. Zeb hadn’t seen his friend this grim since the tornado.

“How’s Missy?” he asked.

No one answered.

Emmeline, still clinging to Mikey, dropped to her knees at Bess’s side. The girl looked at peace, as if she were sleeping. Emmeline turned to Alex. “Would you get a damp towel for me?”

“Sure,” he answered.

“Take Mikey with you,” she said, sounding calm.

As soon as the boys left, Zeb looked to Will for news about Missy. After two months of searching, finding the twins should have filled them all with joy. The thought of losing Missy now felt like a slap in the face. Zeb had thought a lot about God since last Sunday. He saw God in the big things like rivers and storms, but he had to wonder if he cared about the small things like a man’s broken heart and one sick child.

Will planted his feet and crossed his arms. To Zeb’s surprise, his friend gave him the hardest look they’d ever shared. “I’m sure glad we have a
doctor
in town.”

Zeb said nothing.

Will’s voice went deep and low. “Missy wouldn’t have a chance without Dr. Nora. If you’d chased her off, the little girl would already be
dead.
”

Emmeline looked up from Bess. “Stop it, Will.”

“No!”

“This isn’t the time.” The words hissed off her tongue. “We have to pray—”

“Yes, we do,” he said calmly. “But Zeb needs to hear the facts. That
woman
—” he aimed his thumb at the curtain “—is doing something
you
can’t do, something
I
can’t do. When are you going to wise up and give her a little help?”

If he trusted Nora as a doctor, he’d have no reason left to keep her at a distance. He’d start to love her. He’d worry about her leaving High Plains and taking his heart with her. The
thought chilled his blood. Questioning her medical skills kept a wall between them. It also saved his pride. Zeb didn’t like eating crow. That’s why he still had the splinter in his thumb.

Alex and Mikey came back with a damp rag. As Alex handed it to Emmeline, Mikey looked at Bess. “Is she dead?”

“She’s just sleeping.” Emmeline looked over her shoulder at Will. “I’ll stay with Bess. Take the boys outside, okay?”

Will glared at Zeb, daring him to continue the talk out of the children’s earshot. Zeb had no desire to fight with his friend, but he knew Will. The man was a dog with a bone when it came to right and wrong. Zeb motioned for the door. “Let’s go.”

As he turned the knob, Bess moaned. He froze in midstep. So did Will and Alex. Mikey ran to her side. “Bess!”

Her eyes fluttered open. The moment of truth had come. Bess would speak or return to her silent world. She looked at Mikey, blinked once, again, then gasped. “It’s really you!” Her voice sounded rusty, like an unused gate, but she’d spoken. She ran her hands over Mikey’s face and down his arms. She gripped his hands, squeezed, then playfully chucked him under the chin. “You’re alive,” she murmured. “I was so scared.”

“Me, too,” the boy said.

Bess looked around the room. Confusion clouded her eyes. “I saw Missy. She’s sick.”

Mikey nodded solemnly. “The lady doctor’s going to fix her.”

“Yes,” Bess answered. “She will. I know it.”

Zeb envied the girl’s trust in Nora. If he’d been able to share it, he wouldn’t still have a sore thumb.

As Emmeline stroked her sister’s hair, Will stepped behind his wife. “Hi, Bess.”

“Hi, Will.” She smiled timidly. “I’m glad you married my sister.”

“Me, too.”

It was the first time Will and Bess had exchanged words. How long had the girl wanted to voice her thoughts? How long had she fought the urge? Zeb thought of his reluctance to speak with Nora when she first arrived. Silence made a thick wall, but love could climb over it. The Logans had that kind of love for Bess, and Nora had it for her patients. Zeb didn’t want to think too much about love right now. He felt safer behind his wall.

Footsteps tapped behind the curtain and they all turned. Nora stepped into the parlor with a smile that lit up the room. “Missy’s going to be fine.”

Emmeline closed her eyes. “Thank You, Lord Jesus!”

Mikey hugged Nora’s knees.

Alex grinned.

Will clasped her hand and shook it hard. “Thank you, Dr. Nora. We’re in your debt.”

“Not at all.” Her gaze skipped Zeb and went to Bess.

The girl grinned. “Hi, Dr. Nora.”

“Bess!” Nora crossed the room and hugged the girl hard. “It’s so good to
hear
you!”

Tears welled in every eye in the room, including Zeb’s. Looking at Nora with Bess, he felt the tug he’d felt at the river and wondered how things might be between them. He didn’t wonder about kissing her. They were good together. He wondered about trusting her as his wife, the mother of his children. The thought terrified him.

Emmeline touched Nora’s shoulder. “Tell us about Missy.”

“She has quinsy.” The lady doctor described the throat infection in simple terms, then explained how she’d lanced and drained the pustule. “As soon as the swelling went down, she took a deep breath and her color came back.”

Mikey looked forlorn. “But she’s still sick, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is.” Nora spoke to the boy with the respect she’d
have given an adult. “She needs rest, nutritious food and lots of love. If we all help, I think she’ll be fine. She’s sleeping right now, but you can see her later, okay?”

“Okay.” Visibly relieved, Mikey sagged against Emmeline.

Will pulled up a chair. “So, young man, where have you two been?”

A mystery was about to be solved. Zeb took a seat on the outside of the circle. Alex sat on the floor at his feet.

Emmeline put her arm around Mikey’s shoulders. “Can you tell us what happened?”

The boy’s eyes filled with tears. “It was my fault.”

“What was?” Will asked.

“I made Missy come with me. She didn’t want to, but I said we could get away and now she’s sick.”

“Away from what?” Emmeline hugged his shoulders.

“We didn’t want to go with new families when we got to Oregon. We were going to run away, but then the tornado came and it picked us up.”

“I saw that,” Bess declared.

Mikey’s eyes rounded with fear. “I didn’t know where we were. I heard people calling, but I was afraid. If we went to new families, we couldn’t be together. Missy didn’t want to leave, but I talked her into it.”

Emmeline riffled his hair. “You must have been very scared.”

The boy raised his eyes to the ceiling as if he was considering a grave question, then he looked back at Emmeline. “I was, but just a little.”

Zeb knew bravado when he heard it. He used the same tone himself.

The boy kept his eyes on Emmeline. “We were walking back to the town we’d been in. The lady at the store didn’t like us, but we thought maybe someone would let us do chores for
food. Before we got there, some Indian children found us. They took us to their tribe, and we lived with them.”

Emmeline broke in. “The woman who brought you—”

“We called her Ni-Wako,” he said. “I don’t know what it means, but she was nice. She was
real
scared when Missy got sick. She tried to heal her, but the medicines didn’t work. Today Missy’s lips turned blue. That’s when the Indian lady brought us here.”

Bess reached for Mikey and hugged him. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Me, too.”

As he squeezed back, Emmeline rubbed Bess’s shoulder. “The storm hurt you, too.”

Bess let go of Mikey, sat up and looked at Nora. “I don’t know why I couldn’t talk. I tried, but nothing would come out. At first, I couldn’t even think.”

“You had a trauma,” Nora explained. “In a way, your mind went to sleep so it could heal.”

Emmeline shuddered. “The storm was terrible.”

Bess’s eyes misted. “Even before the tornado, I was scared all the time. Do you remember the Indians on the hill? I thought they’d eat us alive.”

Zeb understood the girl’s fear. Kansa warriors plucked their scalps bald except for a strip down the middle. With their stoic faces and unfamiliar clothing, they had a fearsome presence.

Bess took a breath. “I remember the noise from the tornado and looking for Mikey and Missy. The next thing I knew, we were at a cemetery burying Papa. I couldn’t think. I just knew I was afraid.”

Emmeline hugged her sister. Together they rocked and grieved until Bess sniffed and they broke apart. Will put one hand on his wife’s shoulder, then tugged at Bess’s braid with the other. He made a good big brother. “Hey, kid. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me, too,” she replied.

Zeb’s gaze went to Nora. She’d put an apron over her dress and looked relaxed. She could have been baking bread instead of saving a child’s life. He didn’t know what to think until he saw a scrape on her temple.

“What happened to you?” he said, almost growling.

“This?” She raised her hand to the lump. “I hit my head in the wagon. It’s nothing.”

Zeb’s thumb was nothing. A hit on the head could have been serious. What if she’d suffered a concussion? Who’d take care of
her?
Startled by his protectiveness, he looked back at the Logans and saw Will drilling him with his eyes. Zeb knew what his friend wanted. He expected Zeb to tell her she had the doctor job permanently, and he expected him to do it now. When Zeb stayed silent, Will blew out a disgusted breath.

Emmeline went to Nora and gripped both her hands. “I can’t thank you enough, Dr. Nora. I’m going to tell
everyone
that you saved Missy and Bess.”

“Thank you,” Nora replied. “But I don’t want to cause a stir. I just want to be a good doctor.”

Will gave Zeb a hard look. “It seems to me you
are
a good doctor. You’re the only doctor this town needs.”

Zeb couldn’t deny Nora’s skill, but he didn’t like being put on the spot. “She’s good with children,” he finally said. “Women, too. But don’t expect men to see her.”

“Mr. Garrison?”

He heard Nora’s voice, but he kept his eyes on Will. Will looked ready to punch him.

Nora waited with the patience of Job until Zeb gave up and faced her. “What is it?”

“I’m in the room,” she said mildly. “Rather than speaking
about
me to Will, please address me directly.”

Zeb didn’t like being corrected, but he had it coming. Neither did he like the scrape on her temple, or the memory of kissing her. Everything about this woman confused him, especially the gentle tone of her voice. It disarmed him. “You’re right,” he said sincerely. “I apologize.”

“Apology accepted,” she replied. “Now I have an offer for you.”

He dreaded hearing her plan. “What is it?”

“I’d be glad to serve the women and children of High Plains. When it’s convenient, we’ll negotiate a new salary. If a man falls ill or gets hurt, of course I’d help.”

Will grinned. “Trust me, Doc. It won’t be long before some tough guy stubs his toe and comes running.”

“It won’t be me,” Zeb argued. He’d let his thumb fall off before he asked Nora for help. He glanced at her. “We can talk about it.”

Someone rapped on the door. Zeb was closest, so he opened it. “Come in,” he said to Pete and Rebecca.

Rebecca’s eyes snapped to Bess. The girl grinned from ear to ear. “Hi, Rebecca!”

“Glory be!” Rebecca hurried to the sofa. Bess pushed to her feet, and the females hugged for a solid minute, rocking and crying like babies. Zeb snuck a peek at Nora and saw tears of joy in her eyes.

Carolina stepped out from behind the curtain. “Dr. Nora? Missy’s awake.”

“Thank you, Carolina.” Nora crossed the room to where Mikey was huddled against Emmeline. She crouched next to him and smiled. “Would you like to see your sister?”

He nodded.

She stood and held out her hand. As Mikey took it, Nora turned to Emmeline. “We’ll give them a few minutes, then you and Will can see her.”

“Me, too!” Bess said.

Zeb’s throat tightened with awe. Bess was speaking. The twins had been found. He’d witnessed two miracles today. He’d also just seen a side of Nora that rocked him to the core. Mikey was only eight years old, but she’d treated him with respect. The boy had been taking care of his sister, and he needed this time with her. Didn’t Nora deserve the same consideration—a chance to express herself without being judged?

As Nora and Mikey stepped behind the curtain, Carolina turned to Emmeline. “I’m going to heat some broth for Missy. Would you like to bring it to her?”

“Very much,” Emmeline answered.

As she went with Carolina, Rebecca sat with Bess on the divan. They were chattering like magpies, a welcome sound compared to silence. Alex looked up at Zeb. “I’m glad Mikey and Missy are back.” The children had been friends on the wagon train.

“Me, too.” High Plains had much for which to be grateful. Zeb thought of the town hall. He’d finish it in time for the jubilee or eat a bucket of sawdust.

Will slid his gaze to Pete. “Zeb’s come to his senses. Dr. Nora’s staying.”

Pete clapped him on the back. “It’s about time.”

“Hold on!” Zeb protested. “I said I’d talk to her, but we haven’t agreed on anything.”