Tenderness

by Dorothy Garlock

  “I’ve never been around a Negro who talks to a white man the way he talks to you.”

  “No?” There was a coolness in Wade’s voice. “What’s wrong with the way he talks to me?”

  “Well, you know. Colored folk don’t usually—”

  “Speak to white folk as if they were equals?”

  “Something like that. I didn’t mean—”

  “—Yes, you did. You mean he’s a nigger so he should bow and scrape and be greatful for a kind word from the high-and-mighty white man. You, me, Jody, the Lesters and even the lofty Harpers are all equal in the eyes of our creator. We’re all human. We eat, breath, live and die. Jody’s got more intelligence in his little finger than that pea-brained Edsel Harper has in his whole mollycoddled, gutless body. If Jody had the opportunities Edsel’s had, he would amount to a hell of a lot more than being old Boyd’s flunky.” Quiet anger was in Wade’s voice and his stare was as cold as a wall of ice.

  “I’m sorry if I made you angry. You must admit your opinion is not a common or a popular one.”

  “Who the hell cares about popular opinions? I damn sure don’t. That’s a sore spot with me, lady. What I see is a lot of good potential brain power going to waste because the boy’s skin is dark.”

  Silence settled heavily between them, a silence Wade regretted. He knew their time together was short and didn’t want to waste a minute of it.

  “Why do you dislike Edsel Harper?” Jesse asked the first thing that came to her mind.

  Wade snorted with disgust. “I don’t dislike him. He isn’t important enough to me to bother to dislike.”

  “I’ve always felt kind of sorry for him because he’s so dominated by his parents.”

  “Are you going to marry him?”

  “Good heav… ens!” Jesse’s eyes registered shock and indignation. “Where did you get an idea like that?”

  “It’s common talk in town that the Harpers want you in the family.”

  “That doesn’t mean that I’d even consider—”

  “—Think of all that money.”

  “You’re… you’re being vulgar!”

  “Money isn’t vulgar. Some folk think it’s what makes the world go round.”

  “I didn’t say money was vulgar,” Jesse almost shouted. “I said you were.”

  “Then you’re not going to marry him?” His eyes had a teasing glint in them and the corners of his mouth twitched.

  “Absolutely, positively not! I’d not marry that namby-pamby mamma’s boy if he were the last man alive. You certainly don’t credit me with much intelligence, do you? I know what Roberta Harper is up to. Let me tell you another thing, Mr. Know-It-All Simmer, I may be just about as smart up here”—she tapped her temple with her forefinger—“as your Jody.”

  He looked at her from beneath furrowed brows, and for a moment their eyes locked and clashed.

  “Why are you so all-fired mad all of a sudden?”

  Her face sobered. She tilted her head to one side and placed a finger at the corner of her mouth.

  “I… don’t know.”

  The expression on her face changed with lightning speed. Laughter rumbled up and out of her sweetly curved mouth. Wade could only stare. Jesse Forbes was like no one he’d ever met before. She had a quick mind and a ready wit, and was as pretty as a covey of quail. He had heard more happy laughter during the past few hours than he had during the past few years. The attraction he felt for her was something he would never dare bring out in the open. Nevertheless, it was there, a power he was going to have to reckon with sooner or later.

  The Gordon homestead was tidy compared to the Merfelds’. The house was small, scarcely more than two or three rooms and set up from the ground on stumps so that beneath it the breeze could circulate and the chickens could move about freely. A wild rose vine planted beside the door followed thin wires to the roof. The vegetable garden was weeded and fenced. Two hogs were penned back from the house, but their stench still reached Jesse where Wade had stopped the buggy beneath a huge ash tree.

  A thin, gaunt-faced man in overalls hurried out to meet them.

  “Hello, Mr. Gordon,” Wade said. “I heard at the store that your children are sick. I’ve brought the nurse.”

  “Thank God you did. Come in, ma’am. Come in. Our littliest one is bad off. Took bad about noontime. Fever’s high. The others ain’t quite so bad.”

  Jesse’s mind cleared of everything except the work at hand. She grabbed her satchel and hurried into the house after Mr. Gordon. In one of the two front rooms two children lay quietly in a double bed, and on a bunk attached to the wall beneath the window, a small girl, judging by the short curly hair, lay thrashing about beneath a heavy quilt. A pale, haggard-looking woman sat on the edge of the bunk fanning the child’s face with a piece of cardboard. She stood when Jesse came into the room.

  “Hello. I’m Nurse Forbes—”

  “Thank the good Lord! She’s bad, awful bad.”

  Jesse set her satchel on the floor and bent over the child on the bunk. Her little face was covered with a red rash. Jesse threw back the cover and saw that the same rash covered the child’s body, and her skin was fiery. Scarlet fever.

  “Get a bucket of fresh cool water, please, and hurry.” Jesse issued the order briskly. “I need a cloth to bathe her and an oilcloth if you have one to put on the bed beneath her. I’ll have to give her a cold enema and try to bring down the fever before she goes into convulsions.”

  Jesse worked over the child for an hour before she had the first hint that the fever had gone down and the child was breathing more easily. She examined the other two children and instructed Mrs. Gordon about sponging them down with soda water and forcing them to drink as much water as they could hold.

  “Fever takes moisture from their bodies,” Jesse explained. “It must be replaced. Sage tea is good for fever.”

  “I ain’t got one bit a sage on the place.”

  “I’ll bring some when I return.”

  “When will that be, miss?” Mrs. Gordon asked anxiously while Jesse carefully cleaned the pipe on the end of the syringe with alcohol.

  “I sent a note to Doctor Forbes. Medicine should be here shortly after sundown. If Mr. Simmer will show me the way”—she glanced at Wade leaning against the porch post and saw him nod—“I’ll be back tonight.”

  “Thank you. God bless you.”

  “Keep bathing Madaline with warm soda water. Don’t let her scratch herself. The medicine Doctor Forbes is sending will bring out more rash. That must all come out before she can get better. Cover her with a light cover until evening.

  “Scarlet fever is catching, but it’s unlikely you or Mr. Gordon will get it. Don’t let anyone else in the house. Scald all their eating utensils and when you empty the chamber pots, bury the waste or cover it with lime.” Jesse put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Jesse walked briskly to the buggy. Wade had been busy too. A fresh bucket of water sat at Molly’s head, and she was munching on a pile of cut grass. Jesse took out the bottle of alcohol and he poured some over Jesse’s hands without her having to ask him. While she was rubbing her hands, he recapped the bottle and put it back in the satchel.

  On the way to the Fosters’, Jesse asked, “How will Jody find us?”

  “He’ll go to my place. We’ll go there after we leave the Fosters’.”

  “I’d rather go directly to Granny Lester’s.”

  “You’re afraid I’ll get you to my place and have my way with you?” he asked almost angrily.

  “Of course not! But it’s not proper for me to go there when you are… are a single man.”

  “Maybe I’m married and have six kids.”

  She looked at him sharply and saw the teasing light in his eyes.

  “If you’re married, word hasn’t reached town yet.”

  “So you have heard of me.”

  “Who in Harpersville hasn’t?” she answered sh
arply.

  “Then you know my pa was hanged in the town square.”

  “I heard he was.”

  “—And I’m a chip off the old block.”

  “I haven’t gotten around to analyzing you yet, Mr. Simmer.”

  “But you will.”

  “If I’ve nothing better to do.”

  She heard him chuckle and it made her angry. If she didn’t need his help she would order him out of the buggy.

  They rode without talking until they reached the Foster homestead. The children were in the first stages of the fever and were not as sick as the Gordons. Jesse gave Mrs. Foster the same instructions that she had given the others.

  One of the Foster children had pinworms, which meant that the other two children who slept in the same bed would probably have them too. Jesse told Mrs. Foster about the pinworms and asked her if she had a syringe. The woman shook her head.

  “I’ll leave mine for you to use until I return later with medicine to bring out the rash. Give each of the children an enema using a big spoonful of salt. Put them over the chamber pot, then take the pot to the woods to dump it. Let an hour go by and do the same thing again. By the way, be sure to grease the pipe on the end of the syringe with butter or lard and wash it well before you use it on the next child.”

  “Ma’am, Mrs. Preston was over this mornin’. She said her two was comin’ down with sore throat and couldn’t hold nothin’ on their stomachs. She was worried sick they was comin’ down with what my kids got.”

  Jesse’s eyes met Wade’s and he nodded.

  “We’ll stop by.”

  The Preston children were indeed coming down with scarlet fever. After leaving instructions on how to care for the children and promising to return, Jesse and Wade departed.

  It was the twilight time of day.

  “Jody should be at my place by the time we get there. We’ve made a half-circle. About three miles through the woods”—Wade pointed to his right—“is Grandpa Lester’s place.”

  “And where do you live?”

  “Three, four miles from here.”

  “It’ll be dark soon. I promised I’d be back with the medicine.”

  “Don’t worry, I know this country like the back of my hand.”

  “I appreciate your taking the time—”

  “Forget it. We can make that trip faster tonight on horseback. A horse can go places a buggy can’t.”

  “I don’t ride and even if I did I’m not dressed for it. Brrrr… it gets cold up here in the hills when the sun goes down.”

  Jesse was pleasantly surprised when they reached Wade’s home. Although it was almost dark, she could see that he was neat about the place. His barn and sheds were mended, his fences clean. The house that sat amid pines looked as permanent and peaceful as the timbered hills surrounding it. Made of heavy logs that fit snugly together, it not only seemed to belong there, but as if it could be depended on to be there forever. Light shone from one of the windows.

  “Jody’s here,” Wade said quietly after he stopped the horse. He had not looked at her, had not wanted to see her reaction to his home. “I’ll take you inside, then I’ll unharness Molly. She deserves a rest after what she’s been through today.”

  Jesse allowed him to help her down. With his hand firmly supporting her elbow, he guided her up onto a narrow porch and into a well-lighted kitchen. The instant she stepped through the door, the familiarity of home closed around her. The room was oblong with the great fireplace at one end and at the other a big cooking range, flanked by a kitchen cabinet, a wash bench, and a sink with a red iron handpump. A lamp hung over a huge round oak table, its top scrubbed down to the bare wood.

  This room, Jesse decided, is the heart of the house.

  Jody sat at the table hunched over a plate of food. He stared but made no move to stand.

  “Get to your feet when a lady comes into a room.” Wade spoke softly but firmly.

  Jody rose and stood scowling.

  “Hello, Jody. Did Papa send—” Jesse paused when she saw the carpetbag on the table. “Oh, my, what all did he send for goodness sake?”

  She opened the bag and found not only the medicine she had requested, but some sage, a dress, two nurse’s aprons, a nightgown, toilet articles and underwear that she quickly covered with the dress. There was also a letter. She scanned it quickly, then read it aloud.

  “Nurse Forbes, you have what appears to be an epidemic on your hands. Treat your patients sparingly with the extract of smartweed. I have more coming in on the train day after tomorrow. Have Wade Simmer take you to the schoolhouse. Tell the teacher to close school for at least three weeks. I will not be able to come help you. There are two cases of diphtheria in town, and I must administer vaccine to a child over near Allison who was bitten by a rabid skunk. Thank God for Louis Pasteur! Take heart, daughter. This is what you were trained to do. The people up there are good God-fearing people and they will listen to you. Wade Simmer will take care of you and find a family to give you a bed. Susan packed what she thought you would need. Don’t worry about her and Todd. Things are well in hand here. Your loving father. P.S. That boy of Wade’s runs like a deer. Susan said he thumbed his nose at Dusty Wright as he sped down Main. I had the best laugh I’ve had in a week. I’d give a nickel to have seen the look on Dusty’s face.”

  Jesse finished reading the letter.

  “He expects me to stay a while. Tomorrow is Saturday. I can’t see the teacher until Monday.”

  “I’ll take care of it for you.”

  “Have you met Papa when he’s come up here?”

  “A time or two.” He shrugged and turned to Jody. “Why did you thumb your nose at the marshal?”

  “Jist hankered to, that’s why.”

  “Dusty been ridin’ you about something?”

  “Not yet. He ain’t had no chance.”

  “Better put a rein on those hankerings. We have enough trouble without going out and looking for more.” Wade looked at him with an unmistakable but silent threat. “Heat up the ham and beans for the lady. And make her a cup of tea. I’ll tend to Molly.” He paused beside the open door.

  Jesse could feel his gaze upon her, studying her. She was unable to meet his eyes, afraid that he would see the uncertainty in hers. The responsibility of being in this man’s house and handling the epidemic alone was weighing on her.

  “I’ll light the lantern and set it out by the convenience to guide you.”

  “Thank you.”

  As soon as the door closed behind Wade, Jesse removed the starched cap and set it on the table. She would have loved to unpin her hair and scrape her scalp with her hairbrush. Since that was impossible now, she combed into her hair with her fingers.

  “Why you wearin’ that silly thin’ on your head, lady? Don’t keep off no sun.” Jody stood beside the cookstove shoving kindling into the firebox.

  “It’s part of a nurse’s uniform. The uniform serves as a means of identification.”

  “Can’t ya jist tell people you doctor-folks?”

  “Yes, I could, but when I’m wearing a uniform they can tell at a glance that I’m a nurse. A uniform says a man is a soldier or a train conductor even if people don’t know them. Can you read, Jody?”

  “Course, I can read,” he said belligerently. “I ain’t no dumb nigga. I done read all the books Wade’s got.” After giving her a scornful glance, he carried the teakettle to the pump and filled it.

  Jesse went quietly out the door and stood for a moment on the step. She had relieved her bladder only one time since noon and she badly needed to use the “convenience.” A glow of light led her to the small building. She picked up the lantern and went inside. The privy was spacious and clean. Half of a Sears Roebuck catalog lay on the seat, ready for her to use its pages. Liberal use of lime had kept the stench to a minimum. Again, Jesse was pleasantly surprised.

  Wade was waiting beside the stoop when she returned to the house. He took the lantern, raised the globe and blew out t
he flame. In the kitchen he hung his hat on the peg beside the door, filled the washpan with water from the teakettle and set it in the sink.

  “Wash up and we’ll eat,” he said. “It’s been a long day and it’s going to be longer.” He took a towel from the drawer of a chiffonier and hung it on the pump handle.

  “Thank you.” Jesse soaped and rinsed her hands, then splashed water on her face. The cloth she dried with was edged with tatted lace—a company towel. “Beautiful lace,” she said, folding the towel. “It’s almost too pretty to use.”

  “They need to be used once in a while,” he said while pumping water into the pan to wash.

  “Did your mother make the lace?”

  “Humpt!” he snorted, his hands splashing water on his face. It was a noncommittal sound. Finally, as he was drying his face, he said, “My granny.”

  Jesse stood behind the ladder-backed cane-bottomed chair. Wade was acutely aware that she was watching him. It was a diabolical combination of pleasure and agony having her here in his home. All the beauty that he had ever suspected life held was summed up in her. She was indeed a paradox: strong, resourceful, quick-witted, with a sparkling sense of humor, not beautiful, but still alluringly feminine. He had known women more beautiful, but none had stirred him like this one.

  Usually he went to women for the gratification of very elemental needs. That he would want more from a woman had not often occurred to him. Jesse had impressed him the moment he had seen her face in his field glasses. She had won his esteem by her actions today. Now, he was eager that she regard him in a favorable light.

  He couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. Her face was calm, but the fingers gripping the back of the chair told him that she was nervous. Surely she wasn’t worried for her safety. It could be that she feared she would have to sit at the table with Jody. Wade knew a moment of panic. Was she all he had thought her to be or a bigot like the rest of the folk in Harpersville?

  Wade dragged his eyes away from her, cursing himself and this sudden attack of self-consciousness. He felt like a gawky kid instead of a man who had been around the world and seen everything he considered worth seeing.