Orphan Train Romance 1 - 5 (7 page)

The next day, the family went to church.  Amanda was glad that Craig took them and went into the church building with them.  She had always gone to church faithfully every week, but had never seen Craig there.  He seemed comfortable though, like he had been in church before.

Reverend Watson gave a great sermon on taking care of the orphans and the poor which Amanda felt was a fitting subject since quite a few of their town had taken children in.  After church, they lingered for a while and Amanda was able to talk to her friend, Lydia, and some of her other friends.

Amanda learned that Lydia and her husband, Clinton, had ended up taking two boys who were brothers, even though they had originally planned to adopt a baby or toddler.  When Amanda was introduced to the boys, she could tell that they were happy with their new parents.  Clinton was also happy with them, already acting like a proud father as he told a story of giving the boys their first horse riding lesson and how well they did.

Lydia expressed surprise at the sudden wedding, but then commented, “It’s about time.  You two are perfect for each other.  I was wondering how long you would keep rejecting Craig’s proposals.  He was sure patient with you,” she teased.

“It seems as if the entire town knew about his proposals, even though I tried to stop them,” Amanda commented with embarrassment.

While they were talking, Grace had stayed next to her side, but Amanda noticed that Jeremy was talking to one of Lydia’s boys, Joseph.  After questioning them, she learned they were friends in the orphanage and were the same age.  Amanda was glad to see Jeremy had a friend.  She and Lydia made plans to get the boys together soon. 

****

Monday morning was chaotic.  Grace, for the first time, showed reluctance to walk at all.  She wanted to be carried everywhere.  Amanda didn’t know if she was insisting to be carried because she knew someone would or if her leg hurt too bad.  Jeremy was not happy about having to go to the doctor and took off running when he was told of the plans.  Craig let him run, but when he could see the boy was running too far and getting close to the field with a large bull in it, he went after him on a horse.

Eventually, they were all in the wagon on their way to town.  Craig gave Jeremy a good talking to about running away and how dangerous that was on a farm where he was not familiar with places and animals he needed to avoid.  Amanda held Grace close as she whimpered all the way into town, responding to the tension from her brother.

When they finally arrived in front of the doctor’s office, Craig jumped down from the wagon and went inside to make sure the doctor was there and willing to see them.  He came back out with the doctor’s wife, Mrs. Pamela Collins. 

“Why don’t you and Grace come inside while the doctor spends time with Jeremy,” Mrs. Collins suggested to Amanda.  She thought it was a good idea, and after Craig helped her down from the wagon and placed Grace into her arms, she followed Pamela into her home.

“Would you like some milk and cookies?”  Mrs. Collins asked Grace who hid her face on Amanda’s shoulder, but nodded her agreement for the treat.  They went to the kitchen where an older girl sat at the table reading a book. 

“Deborah, we have company.”  Mrs. Collins spoke to the girl and introduced Amanda and Grace. 

Deborah smiled shyly at them and then said, “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.  Hello, Grace.”

“You must be one of the children from the orphan train,” Amanda said to Deborah.  “Welcome to Maple Grove.”

The adults talked for a while, including both girls in the conversation when they could.   Grace had just finished her milk and cookies when Craig walked in with a much calmer Jeremy. 

“The doctor can see Grace now,” Craig turned to Mrs. Collins.  “Could Jeremy stay here with you while Amanda and I take Grace to see Dr. Collins?”

“Of course,” Mrs. Collins replied.  “I’m sure he would like some milk and cookies.”

Craig picked up Grace and guided Amanda into the office Dr. Collins had on the side of their house. 

“Jeremy seems to be doing better,” Amanda remarked on the way.

“Yes,” Craig agreed.  “He discovered that Dr. Collins is much kinder than the other doctors he has been in contact with.”

When they entered the office, Dr. Collins greeted Amanda and then Grace.

“This is Dr. Collins, Grace.” Amanda explained to her.  ”We would like him to look at your leg.  Would you be able to let him do that?”

Grace nodded her head, but she climbed onto Amanda’s lap and wrapped her arms around Amanda’s neck.  Grace would not let go of her neck so she could set her down.

“I’ll just look at it while you sit on your mother’s lap, how’s that?” Dr. Collins asked Grace.

Amanda took off Grace’s shoe and stocking and watched as the doctor looked over her leg very thoroughly.  He pressed in certain areas and rubbed on others.  Grace was quiet through the examination until the doctor tried to straighten part of her leg.  Then she cried out in pain and tried to pull her leg away from the doctor.

Dr. Collins looked at Craig.  “You can take her back to Pamela now and she can watch both children.  I would like to talk to you both privately.”

When Craig returned, Dr. Collins sat down across from both of them.

“Let’s talk about Jeremy first.  He is as about as healthy as a child can be despite having spent the last few years in an orphanage.  He is a mite thin, but that will improve I’m sure, with good food and freedom outside.”

Craig looked relieved at this news.  “What about his scar on his forehead?”

The doctor nodded.  “I do agree that it probably should have been stitched, but there’s not much we can do about it now.  It doesn’t seem to bother him, and if he keeps his hair a little longer in the front, it shouldn’t be noticeable to others.”

“What about Grace’s leg, doctor?” Amanda asked.  “It seems to cause her pain and she will barely walk on it.”

The doctor looked at her with concern.  “Craig told me what happened to her leg.  It should have been set.  If it had been set properly, it wouldn’t even be bothering her now.”

“It is so hard for me to think a doctor would refuse to treat a child properly.” Amanda said with grief for her daughter.

“I agree.  I have some bad news, but I also have some possible good news.  I can’t do anything for Grace.  I don’t have the skills or the equipment.  But, I do know of a doctor who is located in the city who might be able to help her.  It would mean surgery, possibly more than one, rebreaking the bone and casting it to heal properly.  It would also mean some intense therapy afterward.  He might not be able to make the leg like new, but he should be able to fix it enough that she will only walk with a slight limp with little or no pain.”

“That’s great news.  When do you think we can have this done?” Amanda asked.

“I will give you a letter you can take to the doctor.  You can go to the city for an initial appointment whenever you are ready.”

“I am so relieved,” Amanda turned to Craig with joy in her eyes.  “I was so worried she would never be able to walk without pain.”   She did not recognize that Craig was not showing as much as joy as she was.  “We should make plans to go as soon as possible.”

“What do we do in the meantime, doctor?”   Craig asked.  “Should we be making her walk?”

“I wouldn’t advise that,” the doctor shook his head.  “If she is forced to walk on it, it could make things worse.  I would let her walk when she feels she can.  Children are resilient and I doubt she will refuse to walk just because she doesn’t want to.  If she is refusing, it is probably because she is in pain.”

“She was refusing to walk this morning,” Amanda commented, “yet she walked quite a bit yesterday.”

“If she was walked a lot yesterday, she might have over done it and is sore today.” The doctor nodded.  “I am glad you want to take care of this soon.  If you are willing to wait for a few minutes, I will write out that letter so you can go whenever you choose.”

After the doctor left the room, Amanda continued to talk about how excited she was that there was something that could be done for Grace.  After a few minutes, she realized Craig did not seem as excited.

“Is something wrong?” Amanda asked him. 

“This is going to cost quite a bit.  I won’t have the money to pay for it until after the crops are in this fall.”

“Oh, money isn’t a problem.”  Amanda waved her hand as if she was brushing the concern away.  “I have more than enough to pay for it.”

Craig became very silent.  “What do you mean, you have enough?”

“My late husband inherited some money which became mine when he died,” Amanda explained, not understanding why he was upset.  “I have hardly used any of it.  I am so glad I didn’t because now I can use it to help Grace.”

“How much do you have?”  Craig asked.  Amanda named an amount.

“You have enough that you didn’t need to work.  I thought you had to work and that’s why you had your sewing shop.”

“I started my dress shop because I needed something to keep me busy and I enjoyed it,” Amanda said.

“Well, I consider that money yours.  We are married now and it is my responsibility to take care of this family and earn the money for any expenses.  I don’t want to use any of your money.”

“I don’t understand,” Amanda said with confusion in her eyes.  “We are married, which means we share everything.  My money is now our money and can be used for things the children needs or for anything else for that matter.”

“It is the man’s job to provide for his family and that is what I will do,” Craig said firmly.  “I should have enough money by fall to pay for the operation.  We will need to wait until then.”

“Do you mean that even though we have this opportunity and the means to fix Grace’s leg, you want her to wait for several months because you are insisting on paying for it?”  Amanda questioned him.  “You are willing to make Grace keep dealing with her pain?  That doesn’t seem quite right.”

“It is what will happen.  I don’t appreciate you hiding the fact that you have money.”  Craig said, as he stood up started to walk out of the office.  “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.  I am going to get the kids and we will wait for you in the wagon.   You go ahead and wait for the letter.”

Amanda sat in her chair stunned at what had just happened.  It just did not make sense to her.  Why would he make Grace live with pain for three or four more months because he wanted to pay for it?  It never occurred to her to tell Craig about her money.  She was not trying to hide it from him.  The money really did not matter to her.  She was glad she now had a chance to use it for some good.  The doctor soon came in and gave her the letter.  Amanda left as soon as she could, after promising Dr. Collins that they would keep him up to date.  She did not say anything to him about her argument with Craig and she let him continue to believe they were going to take Grace to the city as soon as possible.

There were lot of adjustments in the next few weeks, but Jeremy and Grace surprisingly did very well considering all the major changes in their lives.

Jeremy followed his new dad around like a little puppy.  Wherever Craig went, Jeremy was not far behind.  He learned how to care for the horses and Craig told Amanda one day during the evening meal that Jeremy had a gift with horses. 

“Even Apache who is known to kick for no reason is calm around Jeremy,” Craig bragged.  “In fact, I have an idea.”  He looked at Jeremy as he pushed his empty plate away.

“If you help with the crops and around the farm doing odd jobs, in the fall I will give you Apache for your very own.”

“Do you mean it?”  Jeremy’s eyes lit up with excitement, but then he lowered them.  “I don’t know much about tending to the crops.”

“I realize that and I will teach you.  That’s my job, and if I am doing something else, John can help teach you.”

“Alright!”  Jeremy exclaimed, looking like he was about ready to jump out of his seat in excitement. 

Another time Amanda was sitting in one of the porch chairs sewing a new shirt for Jeremy.  Grace was sitting on the stairs nearby playing with her doll.  Craig walked up to Grace with a wrapped cloth bundle in his arms.  He bent down and sat near Grace.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said and put the bundle in her lap.

Grace carefully unwrapped it and a little kitten’s head poked through the brown cloth.

“Oh,” Grace breathed as she looked at the kitten.  “For my very own?” she asked as she could hardly believe her good fortune.

“Yes, she’s yours.  The barn cat had kittens and they’re old enough to leave their mother and find new homes.”