by Zoe Matthews
“Oh, really? What am I afraid of?” he demanded.
“You are afraid of weakness.” She turned and left. She quickly looked around, but couldn’t see Jessica to say goodbye, so she headed home.
****
Austin stared at the closed door, then at the dinner dishes on the table. Fine. He didn’t need a fancy schoolteacher telling him what he should do with his house, his meals, his daughter, his life. He should have told Lizzie not to come back weeks ago.
“Pa, did Miss Carter leave?” Jessica was at his side looking up at him. “Is she mad again?”
Austin chose to not answer her questions. “Jess, you need to remember you can’t let fear rule your life. You have to face it, and then you can conquer it.
“I know, Pa.”
“Don’t let that dog see that you’re afraid. I’ll get you a big stick to take with you and it will help you look big. He’ll leave you alone.”
“Okay, Pa.”
“Please do the dishes while I finish up some chores.”
“I will, Pa.”
He went out to the wood pile and found a long branch. He quickly shaped it into a large bat. This will help Jessica see she is strong. She needed to believe in herself.
He went back into the house to find the dishes washed and put away. Jessica was sitting at the kitchen table doing her schoolwork. He gave her the stick.
“Take this with you. Wave it around when the dog comes. He’ll leave you alone.”
Jessica took the stick. “Thanks, Pa.” She stood up and started to wave the stick around.
“What are you doing?” he asked her.
“I’m practicing, so I can be ready.”
“That’s a good idea,” he told her with a smile.
Chapter 10
The next morning, Lizzie had started school and ten minutes later, Jessica still hadn’t shown up. Was something wrong? She hoped not and that Austin had just kept the child home for some reason. Then she saw Jessica slip into her seat.
“Good morning, Jessica. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jessica responded, but she wouldn’t look at Lizzie. Lizzie wanted to keep asking questions but decided to back off. Maybe she was just embarrassed about being late to school.
At recess, she dismissed the children and then sat at her desk. Jessica had been very quiet all morning and had not looked at her once. She hadn’t been able to answer Lizzie’s questions about a math problem. Lizzie hoped everything was okay at her house. It seemed obvious to her that Austin had driven a wedge between her and Jessica.
Well, I did what I could for her, she whispered to herself. That will have to be enough. She went outside to make sure the children were okay when Helen, one of the oldest girls, came up to her.
“Miss Carter, you need to look at Jessica’s leg,” the girl whispered to her.
Lizzie instantly felt concern. She looked around and saw Jessica sitting on a log away from the other children. Usually Jessica was in the thick of things during recess, running around and not stopping for a second.
She headed towards Jessica, but the child saw and instantly went into the outhouse. Lizzie could see she was slightly limping. What was going on? She called Helen back to her.
“Please ring the bell and get all the children started on their spelling words. I need to take care of something and will be back in a moment.” She knew Helen would be able to handle things if she needed to be gone for a while. Helen had expressed her desire to be a teacher when she graduated next spring and so Lizzie had been giving her opportunities to teach small lessons to the other children.
Helen nodded her understanding and went to ring the bell. Lizzie waited by the outhouse. She knew Jessica would come out soon, especially if she thought everyone had gone into the schoolhouse, including Lizzie.
When Jessica opened the door to the outhouse, she froze when she saw Lizzie, who looked down at the leg Jessica seemed to be favoring. She could see her overall pants were torn and she could see some blood.
“Oh, Jessica,” Lizzie breathed as she moved closer to the child. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Jessica tried to move away, but Lizzie caught her arm.
“Let me see your leg. It looks like you hurt it.” Lizzie waited until Jessica finally nodded her assent. Lizzie lifted her pant leg and saw a flap of ragged skin that gaped open, and quite a bit of blood was running down her leg into her shoe, although some of it had dried.
Lizzie tried to not look too alarmed, but the wound looked quite bad. “Let’s get this cleaned up.”
Jessica whimpered but followed her willingly into the schoolroom. Lizzie had Jessica sit in the small room where the coats and lunch boxes were held and she did her best to clean the wound, but she knew it needed more attention than she could give it at that time.
“What happened?” she asked Jessica.
Jessica shook her head and kept her head down.
“You need to tell me, Jessica.”
“I can’t tell you. It’s all my fault. I wasn’t tough enough.”
Lizzie gazed at Jessica for a moment, then made another instant decision. She let the children know that she was leaving Helen in charge while she took care of a problem. She then got a clean handkerchief and water and went back to Jessica who she had left sitting on the floor in the coat room.
“Jessica, did the dog do this to you?”
The child remained silent and Lizzie started to feel frustrated. “Jessica, this is a serious wound. We need to get this cleaned up and get you home.”
“I tried to wave the stick like Pa told me to, to make me look big and tough, but it just made the dog madder,” Jessica finally confessed as she broke out into sobs.
Lizzie gathered her into her arms. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. I will make sure something is done about that dog, I promise.”
“You can’t tell Pa,” she cried.
“Oh, honey, you can’t hide something like this from your Pa. He needs to know what happened.”
“I wasn’t tough like he wanted me to be. What if he sends me away?”
The words hit Lizzie in her heart. She had been sent away because she wasn’t good enough. Would Austin really do that? Lizzie immediately knew the answer. Austin loved his daughter. He wouldn’t ever send Jessica away.
“I don’t think he will sent you away,” Lizzie told her. “He loves you very much.”
But Austin must face some hard truths about expecting a small child to be strong and face a fierce dog who was almost as large as she was. She was definitely going to have another talk with Austin, even if it meant he would never allow her to spend time with Jessica ever again. Someone needed to stand up for the child and that someone was going to be her.
****
Lizzie remembered that Hannah had told her she was going to the general store that morning, and so Lizzie was able to meet her there. Hannah made arrangements with her husband, Chase, for Jessica to be taken home in their buggy. A woman who had also been in the general store offered to take over the school class for the rest of the day, which Lizzie accepted very gratefully, especially when she remembered that this woman had been a teacher before she married her husband.
When they arrived at Austin’s farm, she asked Chase to carry Jessica to her bed. After thanking Chase as he left to let the doctor know he needed to come, she helped Jessica remove her overalls. The wound looked very red and deep. She placed Jessica’s leg on a pillow, then went to boil some water. She knew the cleaning she had done at the schoolhouse had not been enough. It needed to be cleaned better immediately.
Austin burst into the kitchen. “What’s going on? I saw Chase come into the yard and then drive off.”
“We need to talk, Austin,” Lizzie told him firmly. “Sit down, please.”
He looked at her sharply, but sat down as requested.
“Jessica was late for school today. She wouldn’t talk to anyone and did hardly any schoolwork. I found out why at recess when I realized sh
e wasn’t playing with the other children like she usually does.”
“Why? What happened?” he demanded.
“She was bitten severely by the Fosters’ dog on the leg.”
“What? Are you sure? I told her all she needed to do was swing that big stick around and he wouldn’t touch her.”
“Of course I’m sure. I wouldn’t lie to you about this.” Lizzie couldn’t believe that he thought she was making this up.
“Where is she?”
“I am not finished,” Lizzie told him in her best schoolteacher’s voice.
“We can talk later. Where is she?” he stood up as if to look around for his daughter.
“We will talk now, Austin.” She waited until he looked at her and then sat down again.
“Okay, talk.” He looked resigned as if he had to sit there until she was done talking.
“No child should have to prove to her father that she is tough.”
“I guess I was wrong about the dog, but I never thought Jess had to prove anything to me.”
“Well, she obviously did. That dog is almost as big as she is. She is just a small child. It doesn’t mean she isn’t of value.”
Austin looked at her in shock. “I never have thought that. Never. Now, where is she?”
Lizzie sighed. She had let something slip about herself to him that had nothing to do with Jessica and her relationship to her father, but everything about herself and her own father. “She is in her room.”
She sighed again as Austin left the room. Once again she wasn’t able to get Austin to understand, and in the process she had allowed her past to get tangled up with the present. She followed Austin and saw him sit next to his daughter on her bed.
“I’m sorry, Pa. I tried to be tough, just like you wanted,” Jessica said to her father in a small voice.
“I’m the one who is sorry, Jess. I really didn’t think he’d bite.” He lifted the cloth Lizzie had covered the wound with and then turned away. He stood up quickly.
“I’m going to go get the doctor. And then I am going to have a talk with Mr. Foster. That dog will never bother you again,” he promised Jessica.
He turned to leave the room and saw Lizzie. “Can you watch her until I return?”
Lizzie nodded. “Chase has already gone for the doctor. I am sure he will be here soon.”
Austin nodded. “I will wait until the doctor gets here, then.”
Chapter 11
Austin turned away, unwilling to see the accusation on Lizzie’s face. What was wrong with him? It was his job to protect Jess as her father, and he had failed. He was so worried about making her strong and tough, he forgot that she was just a small child. He hadn’t protected her and he hadn’t tried to understand her fear of this dog when she had come to him. And she had come to him only because Lizzie had insisted. He knew that if she hadn’t, Jess wouldn’t have ever come to him with this problem.
The doctor soon arrived and cleaned the wound the best he could. Even though the wound looked deep, he didn’t think it needed stitches. He gave instructions to Austin to watch for infection and to send for him if there were any concerns. The doctor gave Jess some medication so she could rest, and then left.
As soon as the doctor left, Austin jumped on his horse and rode down the dusty road to the Fosters’ farm, anger building in his chest with every gallop of his horse. When he rode into the Fosters’ yard, the large dog immediately ran towards him growling and snarling. The dog was larger than he remembered. He could see that Jess was only a bit taller. No wonder she was so scared.
“Mr. Foster!” he thundered, staying on the horse and hoping the dog would be smart enough to not come closer. The screen door to the house opened and the man stepped out.
“Yes, Austin?” he called out. “Is there a problem?”
“Your dog bit my little girl this morning while she was on her way to school.” He growled out to the heavy-set man. “Evidently he threatens her almost every day. If you don’t keep your dog tied up and if I ever see him loose again, I will shoot him.” Austin stared at the man for a moment to make sure he understood he was serious, then he turned his horse around and rode back to his daughter.
Austin insisted Lizzie leave after he returned, making sure she knew he could take care of his daughter. He could tell she wanted to argue, but then she nodded her assent and after smoothing his daughter’s hair from her face, she left to go back to the schoolhouse to finish the rest of the school day even though it was almost over.
He sat by Jess’s bedside for the rest of the day and during the night. Jess slept until the early morning hours when she started to toss and turn, moaning in her sleep. He did what he could, following the doctor’s instructions, but when morning came, he was starting to get scared. The leg did not look good.
****
When Lizzie woke up the next morning, she was relieved that it was Saturday and there was no school. Even though Austin had sent her away, she was determined to at least go and visit Jessica. She needed to make sure the child was doing all right.
She helped Hannah with some chores around the house, and then set out to Austin’s farm. When she arrived and knocked on the door, Austin answered it with relief written all over his face.
“I am so glad you are here,” he said as he pulled her inside. “I need to go for the doctor. Can you stay with Jessica?”
“Why? How is Jessica doing?” Lizzie stammered as she let him pull her into the house.
“She slept well enough until a few hours ago. She hasn’t woken up and has been moaning as if she is in pain. The leg looks very red and swollen. I am thinking it is infected. I need to go for the doctor.”
“Of course I can stay,” Lizzie told him and he quickly put on his hat and left the house. She soon heard him ride off on his horse towards town.
Lizzie immediately took off her wrap and hurried to Jessica’s room. What she saw scared her. Jessica appeared to be asleep but she was moving and moaning. Lizzie lifted the blanket that covered her and gasped when she saw the wound. It looked very red and swollen. She could see drainage coming from it.
“Oh, Jessica,” she murmured with tears in her eyes. What should she do? She had fallen in love with this child. She would do everything she could to help her get better.
She left the room and put on some water to boil. She knew the doctor would want some fresh water when he arrived. She then took an old sheet and tore it into strips for bandages. By the time she tore the last strip, she heard a horse ride into the yard and she sighed with relief.
The doctor spent the morning with Jessica, and by the time he left, she was doing much better. The doctor had needed to clean out the wound again and lance it, but when he left, he told Austin she would be fine. They would need to keep her quiet for a few days, but she should be her usual active self by the end of next week.
Jessica slept for a few hours and Lizzie sat near her bed while Austin did some chores that couldn’t wait. Jessica woke up later that afternoon and asked for some food. Lizzie had prepared a thin beef soup and gladly gave her some. It was good to see the child eating.
Austin came back into the house and smiled when he saw his daughter sitting in her bed eating the soup.
“I’m so glad you are doing better,” he placed a kiss on Jessica’s head. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you tried to tell me about the dog. If I had listened, you never would have gotten hurt.”
“I tried to be tough and strong, just like you said,” she told her father.
“You were very brave, Jess,” Austin took a nearby cloth and wiped some soup she had spilled on her chin. “But it is my job to protect you, especially from things that you can’t handle. I promise I will do better.”
“Okay, Pa,” Jessica grinned at her father. Lizzie admired the instant forgiveness the child gave her father. Watching them, she could see the strong bond between them.
“Promise me that if you ever feel scared of something in the future, you tell me, an
d I promise I will do everything to help you.”
Jessica threw her arms around Austin. “I promise, Pa.”
After Jessica finished her soup, she looked tired again and soon fell asleep. Lizzie had gone to the kitchen to start the dinner meal. She turned when she felt Austin’s presence behind her.
“You did a great job making her feel special,” Lizzie told him with a smile.
“She is very special to me. I hope she always knows that, even when I make mistakes, I will never put her in a position to be hurt again.”