****
Without warning, Eva came running into the kitchen door whining that she couldn’t stop itching. I looked her over and felt horrified at the deep welts and blisters that were on her torso and arms. Simon, who’d been sitting at the table waiting for his breakfast spoke up.
“I’m itchy too. Have been all morning,” he said.
“Did you find a patch of poison ivy?” I asked the whining boy.
“No, Mam, but I can’t stop itching. We ain’t got any poison ivy in the yard, and we ain’t been in the woods today, honest, Mam,” he tried hard to convince me.
I knew it didn’t look much like any poison ivy I had ever seen, so I yelled for Eli to go up to his grandparent’s house to call the old Dr. Beiler. Immediately, he began to argue with me.
“Mam, while you were gone, Dr. Beiler retired and they put a new doctor in his place. Even though he’s younger than Dr. Beiler, he walks with a cane. He ain’t Amish either, and the folks around here have been wondering if he might not care to make house calls, even though some of the kids up the road told me that he sometimes uses a buggy,” he said to me.
He tried to argue further, but I urged him to do my bidding.
“It doesn’t matter at this point, we need a doctor. If he’ll agree to come out here, then ask him to come quick. Otherwise, you might go by the Beiler farm and see if you can convince Dr. Beiler to come outta retirement for just one day,” I begged him.
I tried using tea bags on the wounds to soothe the itch, but Eva continued to complain and cry. The food on the stove was beginning to burn, so Abigail took over, while I attempted to pin the front of my hair back off of my face. I’d been so preoccupied with preparing a big breakfast for my children that I’d neglected to pull my hair back. I threw the bulk of my long curly hair over my shoulder to keep it from interfering with my attempt at calming my two affected children.
I glanced at the grandfather clock in the hall to mark the time, so I wouldn’t lose track of Eli’s anticipated return. I felt a little miffed that after several years of debating, Dr. Beiler had chosen such a time as this to retire.
Eva gained no relief from the tea bag, so I grabbed a homemade herbal poultice from the pantry, poured the hot water from my teakettle on it, and pressed most of the water out of it so I could apply it to the blisters. This brought a smile to the wiggling child, and caused Simon to beg for the same treatment.
Elijah’s mother had shown me how to gather the herbs in the summer to relieve Eli’s poison ivy when he was four years old. I’d taken him into the wooded area to collect wild raspberries one spring morning and we’d come home with more than berries that day. Most of the home remedies that we used had been handed down from one generation to another and had benefited my family in present day.
Suddenly, the screen door swung open and Eli came in alone and out-of-breath.
“Where’s the doctor?” I asked with concern.
“He should be here soon. He told me his horse was a fast one!” Eli said. “I’ll go back out and wait on him to show up.”
When the child came back in the kitchen a few minutes later, I asked him again where the doctor was.
“He’s tying up his horse; he’ll be in when he’s done.” He said breathlessly.
A light knock came at the door, and the fair-haired doctor entered without waiting for an invitation. One look into his blue eyes, and I noticed a familiarity about the man, but I tried to ignore it for the time being.
With a tip of his hat, he introduced himself in a curious manner that I’d seen before.
“Ma’am. I’m Dr. Davis,” he began in a slow, southern drawl. “Your son Eli told me he has siblings with poison ivy. Let’s take a look, shall we?”
He laid his walking cane against the counter and left it there.
I said nothing in response to his introduction—I merely stared into the face of the familiar stranger.
Davis. Where do I know that name from? And that southern drawl? Could this stranger be Bradley Davis? He looks like him, and even talks the way I remember him talking. But it can’t be—I’m sure it isn’t him.
I felt as though I were in a state of shock as he spoke, wondering if this doctor could be my childhood friend. We looked deep into each other’s eyes, and I looked for some sort of clue, while the children tried to get my attention.
“Mam, will you answer me?” Simon was asking, while Eva tugged on my sleeve for my attention.
“I’m sorry. What is it?” I asked the whining child, feeling a little embarrassed.
“It’s getting worse! Look!” he complained as he lifted his shirt.
The doctor crossed the room to him, and inspected his blisters. He said nothing, then knelt down beside Eva and lifted her shirt to get a closer look. All the while, he kept the same look on his face. When he struggled to get to his feet, I noticed the metal braces on his legs.
This is no coincidence. Surely there isn’t more than one man with the last name of Davis that has the same metal braces on his legs. He even looks like Bradley!
He dug through his medical bag as he spoke in his familiar tone. I listened hopefully, while staring intently at him.
“I’m afraid you’re gonna have a whole house full of the same thing before too long,” he said, chuckling.
“What’re you talking about?” I asked abruptly.
“Your children have the chicken pox. It’s usually nothing more serious than itchy spots, but I'll give you some lotion to put on them to relieve the itch so they don’t scar.”
When he finished his declaration, he bent back down toward Eva who was in my arms, and looked up into my face. The closeness of his face made me feel uncomfortable, but he remained there, staring with a slight grin.
“Miss Jane, you grew up to be lovelier than I imagined you would,” he said matter-of-factly.
My face flushed slightly, until the full impact of what he said entered my recollection of the childhood friend I hadn’t seen for so many years.
“Bradley?” I asked with a hesitant delight.
“Yes! It’s me, but I can’t believe I’ve finally found you!”
“You’ve been looking for me?” I asked, confused by his statement.
“No, not exactly. But I have thought about you over the years and wondered what had become of you,” he admitted.
“I’ve thought a lot of you too. I always wondered if your legs were better, and if you could walk.”
I held my hands up to my face.
“Wow. I just can’t believe it’s really you! I’ve prayed so much for you over the years,” I said, anxiously.
“I’ve prayed for you too. I see you’ve been blessed with a beautiful family. Your husband must be awfully proud of this brood,” he said as he looked around at the children that crowded the room.
“Yes, he was—but my husband passed away some time ago now,” I said in a lowered tone.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay—really,” I interrupted him. “I went through a rough mourning period, but things are looking up now,” I assured him.
He smiled and I managed a weak smile in return.
“What about you?” I asked. “Do you have any children?”
“Me? No! I’ve been too busy being a doctor to worry about getting myself a family. Maybe I used my career as an excuse to avoid the possibility of rejection,” he confided, lifting his pant leg slightly, revealing the metal braces on his legs.
“But you're a handsome man, Bradley—you were when we were kids, too. Surely some woman might have overlooked the braces on your legs and seen that you were a kind and good person—just as I had.”
“But Jane, you were always the exception to the rule. You had a mighty big heart. That’s why I loved you so when we were kids,” he declared.
My children had been listening intently to our entire conversation up until that point. His comments made my face flush, causing them to notice the change as well.
�
�Is this the same Bradley you’ve told us about, Mam?” Eli inquired.
“Yes, it is,” I answered him.
I then turned to Bradley and introduced him to each of my children. The older two said a quick “hello”, then, went back to their chores. Elizabeth slipped through the screen door and took her usual spot on the tire swing that hung from the oak tree just outside the kitchen window, while Jakob scattered off to terrorize the chickens—his usual choice of play. Simon and Eva remained behind so I could apply some of the lotion to their blisters. Bradley assisted me by making certain Simon was covered, then, the two children ran off to resume their play.
“What made you decide to come here to be a doctor in our community?” I asked after all the children had left.
“I got to a point where I no longer enjoyed doctoring the city folk. They were always in such a hurry. I wanted a change and thought it might be nice to be in a position to go back to the old way of doing things. So, I picked a spot where I could make house calls. I’d heard tell that the Amish folk in this area had a doctor that was due to retire, so I applied at the clinic to replace him,” he explained.
“What an answer to prayer, that God should put you in the same town with me. I had prayed lately that God would let me know firsthand how you were, and He up and decides to bring you right to me. This is wonderful,” I said with enthusiasm.
“Indeed it is,” the doctor agreed.
“Would you like some lemonade, Bradley? Or should I call you Dr. Davis?” I asked with a slightly girlish giggle.
He took my hand in his, and gave me a serious look.
“Underneath the fancy title, I’m still the Bradley you knew so many years ago—the same person you kissed on top of that old doghouse,” he teased.
“Stop it,” I begged.
“If I recall, you married me first,” he continued to tease me.
His comment took me by surprise—almost to the point of worrying over what he meant by the comment, but I tried not to let it show. I recalled the day we said our vows in front of one of the neighbor kids. I could have gotten lost in thought. Instead, I changed the subject.
“I went back there recently—to my childhood home. Just went back, as a matter of fact. That old doghouse is now in a state of decayed rubble that rests in a rotted pile at the back of the property. Only the shingles and some painted boards were recognizable to me. I found Penelope, too—by accident, really. I even stayed at my childhood home for a week,” I explained.
“That sounds like quite an adventure,” he said.
“I’ll tell you all about it another time. The whole story is quite lengthy.”
“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” he asked hesitantly.
I shook my head as I poured lemonade into several glasses, then ushered the children back outside one by one, as they each took a glass. He patiently waited for me to serve the children before he spoke.
“How did you end up Amish?”
“I married a wonderful Amish man when I was seventeen. His name was Elijah Zook,” I explained.
“I didn’t think they allowed marriage outside of the community,”
“Most Amish communities don’t, but these people have salvation!” I said excitedly.
“It sounds like you had yourself quite an amazing life so far,” he said enthusiastically.
“If I could just figure out what God has in store for my future, I might be able to get on with my life. Right now, I still feel slightly lost, but not as much as I did right after Elijah passed away,” I confided.
“Well, I hope that whatever is in store for you, it includes a friendship with me,” he said politely. “After all, it would be a shame if we lost contact again.”
“You’ll always be my friend—no matter what,” I said with a smile.
“Well right now, my friend, I better be getting back to my office,”
“How much do I owe you for fixing up my little ones?” I asked.
He held out a hand to me and I put my hand in his—the same way I had the first day he introduced himself to me so many years ago. And just like that first day, he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. I knew it was his way—he’d been that way when we were just children, but it still made me feel a little strange.
“If it isn’t too forward, I’d like an invite to dinner some time in the near future. I haven’t had a home cooked meal since the last time I visited home.”
“After church on Sunday, then,” I stated.
He nodded his acceptance and tipped his wide-brimmed hat.
I forced a nervous smile, and the smile he returned made me feel like a young girl again.
He waved to me as he stepped off the porch. Before walking toward the barn to get his horse, he turned, and I thought he might say something. When he merely smiled again, looking into my questioning eyes, I knew my life was about to change.
The following is a sneak peek of Book Three in the Little Wild Flower series…
THE TAMING OF A WILD FLOWER
BOOK THREE
Sneak Peek
ONE
A BIRD IN HAND
It was still early—too early for worrying over having second thoughts regarding my bold invitation to Bradley. Sunday was still several days away, but that didn’t stop the nerves from forming in the pit of my stomach. Although I was stunned by Bradley’s proposal of dinner, I had decided to just be neighborly and go through with it. If there was one thing Elijah had taught me well, it was how to be neighborly. Since the Beilers had invited Bradley to church, it seemed reasonable that he should come for dinner afterward. Besides, I knew my children would enjoy hearing some of the old stories Bradley and I could tell about our summers together when we were children.
With a final tip of his wide-brimmed, black hat, Bradley steered his horse toward the lane that led to the main road, and I knew at that point I was locked into having him as a dinner guest. His eager acceptance of the dinner invitation had left me feeling a bit uneasy, but I’d forced a smile, unwilling to let him see how nervous I really was. When he’d smiled a warm smile back at me, it had made me feel somewhat like a young girl again.
I shook off my uneasy thoughts, remembering that we had left our breakfast partially uneaten due to all the unexpected excitement of Simon’s and Eva’s chicken pox. Some of the children had eaten, but I knew Eva, Simon and I hadn’t. My stomach growled, but I was more interested in going to Nadine’s house than eating. I was too nervous, so I showered quickly while waiting for Eva to eat. When she was finished, I grabbed her and went down the lane to see Nadine. I couldn’t wait to tell her the news about Bradley.
When I reached the Lapp farm, Nadine was bidding goodbye to her daughters, Autumn and Asher, while she busied her hands with weeding the full flower bed that bordered her front porch. I skipped up to her, emotions bubbling, when I burst forth the news.
“Nadine, guess what?” I didn’t wait for her to answer, but continued talking excitedly. “Bradley Davis is our new town doctor!”
“Bradley Davis,” she repeated slowly with confusion showing on her face.
I twirled my hands in front of me in an upward motion, leading her to figure out what I was talking about.
“You mean the same Bradley that used to visit in the summer with his grandma who lived down the alley from our old house?” she asked with enthusiasm.
“The very same one! Can you believe it?” I asked.
I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face, and my cheeks were beginning to ache from it.
“How did that happen?” she asked with raised eyebrows.
“When Doc Beiler retired, he put the word out that there was an opening and Bradley got wind of it, so he took it.”
“That is so amazing that he ended up in the same town as you after all these years,” she said.
The reality of the whole thing suddenly hit me and I felt the need to sit down, so I sat beside my sister in the grass.
“That is a strange coincidence. You don�
��t suppose he knew I was here?”
“Are you sick, Jane?” she asked. “You look a little pale all of a sudden.”
“I’m fine, but Bradley is coming to dinner after church on Sunday. He practically invited himself! Is that improper?”
“Well, I don’t know. Is he married?” she asked.
“Nah. Said he hadn’t had the time or the guts. He still wears the leg braces that he had to start using when he got polio, so he was insecure about getting a wife.”
Little Wild Flower Book Two Page 15