Wintering Well

by Lea Wait

  But there must be lots of boys in Wiscasset. Sam was here. He wished Sam were with him now.

  CHAPTER 13

  May 4

  We are really here, and settled in some! Alice has fixed a room especially for Will and me. It is on the second floor, which is difficult for Will, for he must take one step at a time, but I am here to ensure he doesn’t slip. Perhaps after he gets his new leg, he will find the stairs easier. Alice has already shown me where everything is located. She has been a married woman and living in Wiscasset for over a year now. She knows everyone and everything. And with a baby to prepare for, I am sure there will be much to do this summer. It is so good to have someone with whom I can share my thoughts! Alice does not have my impatience; she is content with her life, as she says I must learn to be with mine. I will try. Will keeps his feelings to himself but seems pleased to be here. Being in town is different from being on the farm. The buildings are so close to one another, and there are so many people! But there are bright dandelions everywhere, just as there are at home. And in Wiscasset I can help Will and learn from Alice and perhaps even find a new life, too.

  “I promised Dr. Theobold we would visit him first thing today,” said Alice the next morning. Aaron had left at dawn to open the store for early morning deliveries of wood, greens, and home-woven fabrics from local farmers. “The doctor needs to look at Will’s leg to see if it is healed enough to be fitted with a wooden one. And I saw Sam on Main Street yesterday and invited him to join us for supper tomorrow. I thought you would be glad to see a familiar face, and he is anxious to see you both.”

  “How far is it to Dr. Theobold’s home?” Cassie asked. “Will has been inside all winter and has not walked far with the crutch.”

  “I can do it, Cassie,” Will said.

  Alice hesitated a moment. “It is only a little over two blocks. If you tire, Will, we can stop and rest along the way. I have to learn what you can do.”

  Will stood up and glared at them both. “I will get to where I need to go. I don’t need two women worrying over me.” His crutch hit the floor hard as he walked from the kitchen into the sitting room. “I will wait for you on the steps.” The front door closed loudly.

  “Cassie, I’m sorry. Is Will strong enough to get there?”

  Cassie nodded. “I think so. Especially since he fears we might doubt him. His crutch is the problem. It rubs under his arm, and sometimes the arm blisters and bleeds.” She hesitated. “He is used to my knowing and to my helping. But I think he is embarrassed for you to know.”

  “I did not realize it was so hard for him to walk. And I did not intend for my concern to distress him.”

  “Let us hope Dr. Theobold can make a difference,” offered Cassie.

  “He is a good man and a good doctor. It is too bad his wife is not well. She has a cough that kept her to home most of the winter. She is very delicate. But perhaps this warm weather will improve her health.”

  They left the house and walked slowly, admiring the budding trees and views of the river between the houses as they went.

  The Theobold house was on a corner. As soon as they entered the yard, they were surrounded by what seemed an extraordinary number of barking dogs and running children. Will stood as squarely as he could, hoping none of the dogs would jump up and knock him over. Luckily none did, and after the doctor had come to the door and calmed down both dogs and children, it was clear there were only three dogs and two children. “This is Fred, who is eight, and Anne, who just turned four.” Anne suddenly became shy and peeked out at them from, behind her father’s wide legs. “And these are our dogs: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.”

  Cassie giggled as John Adams came up to sniff her. “Funny names for dogs!”

  “We are a patriotic family. But my dear wife forbade my naming our children after presidents, so I had to be content to honor our dogs in that way.” Dr. Theobold turned toward the house. “Now, come into my office and let me take a look at Will.”

  They followed the doctor toward the ell, the part of the house that connected the house to the barn. George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson followed a few paces behind, as did Anne and Fred. Anne couldn’t take her eyes off the place where Will’s left leg should have been. Finally she tugged at his arm, almost pulling him down. “Where did you put your leg?”

  Will looked down at her and smiled. It was the first time anyone had dared ask such a blunt question. And she was just Ethan’s age. “It was hurt bad, and your pa had to cut it off.”

  “Will you grow another one? Starfish grow new arms when one is hurt.”

  “No. But your pa is going to help me walk better without growing a new one.”

  Anne nodded, and her long brown braids bounced. “My pa is a good doctor. He will help you walk better.” She hopped three steps on one leg and then stopped. “But what happened to your leg? After Pa cut it off.”

  Will stopped. He had wondered the same thing, but had never dared ask.

  “Our pa buried it,” Cassie answered. “In our family’s graveyard.”

  Will felt a tremendous wave of relief. Pa had not just thrown his leg on the compost pile, as he had imagined. It was where it should be. It was dead and could be mourned, but the rest of him was right here.

  Anne smiled. “That was a good place.”

  Dr. Theobold leaned down to his daughter. “Young lady, I have to spend some time with these people now. You go with Fred and the dogs, or see if your mother could use some help with her roses.” He straightened up. “My dear wife has a weakness for roses and has planted them all around our house. This is the time of year to remove winter mulches and ensure new branches are ready for spring. It takes her many hours, as her strength is not great, but when you see our yard in a month or so, I think you will agree her work is worth it. Beauty is like strength; it must be cultivated over time.”

  The doctor’s office was a long, narrow room in the ell. Cassie walked over to the shelves that covered its walls and looked at the medical instruments, books, bottles of liquids and dried herbs, and tools like those Pa used for the animals or Will used to carve wood. The doctor’s desk was covered with papers and a large leather-bound ledger, which lay open. He indicated that Cassie and Alice should sit on two chairs in the corner, and Will should sit on a low table in the center of the room.

  Dr. Theobold spoke directly to Will, ignoring Cassie and Alice. “I’m glad you brought your sisters with you today, as after I examine you, we can share with them what we will be doing. But after this there should be no need for them to take the time to accompany you.”

  Cassie rose slightly, as if to speak, but Alice put out a hand to stop her.

  Will looked at Cassie and then at the doctor. “I can come by myself. A man should be able to live his own life. He should be able to choose his own future.”

  “He should,” agreed Dr. Theobold. “Although his choices may be directed by God, or by chance, or by whatever you might choose to call it. If you’re walking in the woods, you may feel you’re walking a straight line, but often the path you follow takes you left or right around trees, or even far in another direction to avoid a swamp or pond or bramble.”

  “True enough,” agreed Will.

  “Well, your path stopped at a large tree—perhaps even a large tree surrounded by a bramble. Now you will have to find a way around that tree. Or find another path altogether. Does that make sense to you?”

  “It does, sir,” Will said.

  “Then, let us take a look at the stump of your leg and see what we can do to get you finding that path.” He turned toward Cassie and Alice. “Ladies, perhaps you might enjoy talking to my wife about her roses while I examine Will.”

  Alice nodded and took Cassie’s hand.

  “But …” Cassie looked at Will. “I am here to take care of Will!”

  Alice pulled her gently toward the door. “The doctor wants Will to have some privacy. He is old enough not to have womenfolk with him wh
en a doctor is examining him. Come with me.”

  “But I’ve cared for Will all winter! He isn’t embarrassed with me!” Cassie followed Alice outside.

  “Then, perhaps Dr. Theobold is teaching Will that it is time for him to be so,” advised Alice. “A man shouldn’t be unclothed in the presence of someone not his wife.”

  Cassie looked at her sister in amazement.

  “It is different in town than it was on the farm, Cassie. You and Will must learn that.”

  Half an hour later, when Will and the doctor walked around the back of the Theobolds’ house, Cassie knew considerably more about roses and had established both Anne and Mrs. Theobold as new friends. She and Alice hardly heard Will calling to them.

  “Alice! Cassie! I’m finished!” Will seemed to have grown taller even in that short time. And, in fact, the doctor had attached a piece of wood to the end of his crutch, so he did stand taller and straighten “I’m to meet Dr. Theobold on Monday at the workshop of the cabinetmaker, Joshua Dann. He’s going to make a new leg for me!”

  Alice went toward him. “I can direct you to Mr. Dann’s shop.”

  “And a harness maker is going to make a sort of bridle to hold the leg to my body. When it all fits well, then I can cover it with a trouser leg and a boot, and no one will see I have no leg!”

  Dr. Theobold put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “He will not be able to walk as he did before—a wooden leg, even one very well made, will not have a knee joint. The fitting, too, is difficult. The skin on his stump will have to thicken so it can bear the constant pressure of the padding between it and the leg. But I have no doubt that by autumn Will should be walking quite well.”

  “Autumn?” Will looked at him. “Will it take that long?”

  “All things take time. You will need to learn how to walk again, this time with your new leg.”

  Will looked at the ground. His shadow fell clearly on the sand and bricks of the path. “The important thing is,” Will said, pointing at his shadow, “that soon my shadow will again have two legs. I will not look like a gingerbread boy whose leg someone has nibbled.”

  Anne laughed. “You’re not a gingerbread boy, Will. You’re a man!”

  “That’s right,” Will answered, straightening up. “I am.”

  CHAPTER 14

  May 5

  Since Will spoke with Dr. Theobold yesterday he has insisted on doing everything for himself He struggled to pull on his trousers this morning and pin the extra leg up, and I am frustrated at not being permitted to assist him. Does he believe I was of such little use to him all winter, when every second sentence he uttered was one asking for my help? Despite his protests, I do not believe Will is finished needing people. But if he does not welcome my help, then I will find ways to assist Alice and, as she advised, let Will learn what he can and cannot do for himself. I am also beginning to see that I have much to learn from Alice and from Wiscasset about being a woman, much as Will is learning to be a man. It is a strange thought, since at home we were just a girl and a boy. But here the air seems full of possibilities.

  “When do you get your new leg?” Sam took a big bite of the corn bread Alice had made to go with the evening’s chowder. They were all sitting around the long pine table in the Deckers’ kitchen. Cassie poured beer for the men, and lemonade for Alice and herself.

  “I am to be measured for it early next week. But then it has to be made. I will not be running any races in the next week or so!” Will smiled. At home no one had mentioned his future or his lack of a leg except in terms of what he could not do. Here his lack of a leg was treated as a problem to be resolved, like a tooth that needed pulling.

  “What will you do while the leg is being made?”

  “I plan to look around Wiscasset. I have been here a few times before, but never long enough to really see it.” Will took a big spoonful of the chowder. “This is wicked good chowder, Alice! We don’t get fresh fish on the farm.”

  “Farm life depends on weather and time, and on the farmer’s strength and endurance. Here you will find life and opportunities are measured by tides,” said Aaron.

  Sam took another bite of corn bread. “Mr. Wright, the silversmith I’m apprenticed to, does much work for sea captains and mariners just in from long journeys. They have coins jingling in their pockets and want something special for their mothers or sweethearts, or for themselves.”

  “What do you do for Mr. Wright?” Will asked, spooning more chowder into his bowl from the tureen in the center of the table.

  “Last fall, when I first came here, I just swept up, helped build fires, and kept the silver and clocks dusted. Then he began teaching me to clean the clocks and do minor repairs. The work often has to be done with tiny tools under a magnifier.”

  Will grinned. “A little different from forking manure out of your pa’s barn, Sam!”

  “For sure. This work is quiet and exact, and each clock a little different, so jobs are never the same twice.”

  “And you enjoy the work?” Cassie asked.

  “I do. Someday I hope to build timepieces. Now that Maine is a state, more folks will be moving down east to live. I am hoping many will be needing clocks.”

  Aaron nodded. “Maine is just at the beginning of its prosperity. We’ve got land here, and our deep rivers give access not only to the seas, but to inland areas. It’s a time of new beginnings, for sure.”

  “Is the mercantile business strong at John Stacy’s store?” Sam asked Aaron.

  “Sales always pick up in spring. More vessels are in and out of port, and people in the country are able to come to town for goods. Times are changing. Few women in town spin their own wool and weave their own cloth anymore; they buy calicoes and wools and muslins and even silks from us. And we also carry books and wines and glassware and fancy paper hangings for the walls of the big houses.”

  Will looked at Sam and Aaron. “I don’t want to sit at a table and work under a glass all day like you, Sam, and I couldn’t lift cartons and crates and climb ladders and fill wagons as you do, Aaron.”

  “So while we are looking around Wiscasset, we will also be looking for job possibilities for you,” said Cassie. “You have a good brain, Will, and you are willing to work hard. There must be many trades you could learn.”

  “Will may choose to look by himself, Cassie,” Alice said quietly. “There are many tasks we have to do inside the house.”

  “I don’t mind her going with me,” said Will. “Cassie hasn’t seen much off the farm either. But”—he looked at her—“I’ll be the one searching out a profession.”

  “There will always be more farmers than those in other occupations,” Aaron said. “People will always need food. But farming isn’t the only way to live. Here in the village there are people close by to be sociable with, a church you can walk to, and shops and doctors, banks and schools, within a few minutes’ stroll. What more could someone want?”

  Will didn’t know what the future held for him here in Wiscasset, but he was certain of one thing. He was not going back to the farm to have Pa tell him again that he was a useless cripple.

  CHAPTER 15

  May 8

  Will has gone to Mr. Dann’s shop to meet Dr. Theobold and be measured for his new leg. He did not wish me to go with him. Since he left I have been unable to concentrate on helping Alice piece the quilt she is making in honor of Maine’s statehood. I cannot calmly stitch vessels and pine trees while I am imagining Will falling in front of a horse’s hooves, or slipping on filth in the streets, or getting lost and not finding the cabinetmaker’s shop at all. If only I had gone with him! Perhaps I should have followed him without his knowing. But Alice bade me sit down and drink another cup of tea with her. Some mornings tea is all her stomach is able to settle, and I think she is glad of my company. But my mind is on Will, even as my hands are now on the piecing.

  Walking in Wiscasset streets was very different from pacing Ma’s kitchen floor. The dirt-and-stone road was slippery with m
anure from horses, dogs, oxen, and a small flock of sheep that a boy was heading back to the Green, where they should have been grazing. Will was not as steady on his crutch as he had bragged to Alice and Cassie, and he had to stop and rest every twenty steps or so.

  At the corner of Water Street, the street nearest the Sheepscot River, he hesitated. The cabinetmaker’s shop should be to his right. He turned into the river winds, which blew stronger than any he remembered on the farm, and braced himself for the final stretch. As he stepped out into the street, a large black dog raced toward him. Will tried to step aside, but the dog, dodging between wagons and tied horses, almost tripped him. Will was just regaining his sense of balance when he saw a boy running after the dog.

  “Roddy!” the boy yelled as he followed the dog’s course, weaving around oxen and horses and carts. “Roddy! Come back!”

  Will stood uncertainly in the middle of the chaos. The other boy suddenly spun around, looking behind himself, and then turned to resume his search. Suddenly, despite both of their movements to avoid collision, he knocked against Will. Will turned on his foot, lost his balance, and fell heavily, twisting his ankle and catching his shirt on his crutch. The shirt ripped as Will hit the ground.

  “I am ever so sorry! My dog’s escaped again, and my father will be furious. Roddy chases Mrs. Pickle’s sheep off the Green, and then Mrs. Pickle speaks harshly to my mum, and Mum cries, and Father said I’m to keep Roddy tied up, but he bit through the rope and …”

  Will looked up at the boy in consternation. The dog was long gone. Will was sitting in the middle of a pile of horse manure, and already his ankle was swelling. “Would you help me up, please?”

  “I didn’t mean to knock against you. I never did.” The boy reached down for Wills hand.

  “And could you reach my crutch?”

  “Oh, yes, of course.” The boy looked confused for a moment and then handed Will the crutch.