The Left Behind Bride

by Mahrie G. Reid

  He stood three feet from her, just looking. “No jail. Maybe a fine. We’ll charge them with supporting the local speakeasy by delivering individual bottles locally. We can’t charge them for taxiing men to and from the outlet. Taxi service is not illegal.”

  He ran a hand over his head. “I need to sit down.” He turned abruptly and headed for the kitchen.

  Maggie followed, noting the weariness that dropped on him like a cloak.

  He pointed to the other chair. “Please sit, Maggie.”

  She couldn’t help herself, and she sat.

  He leaned forward with his forearms resting on the table. “I trust I’ve scared them into never going back to the bootlegging or the rum running. I know Ivan went out on the Lucky Lucy and we know Captain Conrad is one of the boats running booze south. I’ve ordered Ivan to find a berth on a lumber boat or similar, or end up charged with much more.” He sighed. “Eugene wants to be a car mechanic so I’ll see if I can get him on at the local station. I think they’re both good boys. But the lure of money catches them all.”

  “Ivan did it because my father died and left us with a loan. We only had three months to pay off eight months’ worth.”

  “He didn’t mention that. But I’d picked up enough around here to suspect it was something like that. Can’t say I blame him for stepping up and helping out. And he could have tried to excuse what he did, but he didn’t. And there isn’t any other way to make any kind of money in a few months. Might have done the same for my grannie back in the day.” His familiar smile slid across his face, releasing the dimple. “No might have. I’d have given it a shot. I did a few other things that might compare.”

  Maggie listened. What he’d done for Ivan and Eugene did offset his lying to her. To a degree. She drew a breath. “I’m not happy about being lied to.”

  He looked guilty. “I didn’t tell you a lie,” he said. “I just didn’t tell you all the truth.” He raised a hand, stopping her words. “I know that is no excuse.” He sighed. “With that job, there are often times when the truth is withheld. The powers that be see it as an acceptable device to catch the bootleggers and rum runners. And I swore an oath to follow orders.”

  “Are you even a teacher?”

  “Yes. I’d decided to leave the prohibition service and applied for the job here. But when my boss found out my job is here in Riverport, he asked me to do one more takedown. We wanted to shut down that Halifax connection. It wasn’t about catching the local bootlegger.”

  Maggie’s spirits lifted. She wasn’t quite ready to forgive him, yet. But his situation delighted her. “Are you staying at the school here?”

  “I most certainly am. And I’m asking you to give me a second chance.” His smile widened and he came to stand in front of her. I am sorry.” He took her hands and pulled her to her feet. “I’d like to continue boarding with you.”

  “Second chance? Eh?” Second chances seemed to be the order of the day. He’d made it possible for Ivan to have a second chance. With the debt to the bank paid, she had a second chance to find her way as an independent woman. “I suppose I can do that,” she said, his touch warming her right to her toes.

  “Thank you,” JM said and lowering his head brought his lips close to hers, his gaze on hers.

  She let her eyes drift closed and welcomed the kiss. Soft, sweet, promising. Skinny dipping indeed.

  * * *

  “You are one lucky young man, Ivan,” said Maggie. “You need to thank JM for supporting you. Without his help, you’d be facing a fine or worse.” She gave him her best big-sister stare.

  Ivan met her gaze. “Yes, Sis, I know.” He turned to JM who had accompanied them to the hearing and held out his hand “Thanks, JM. I promise I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t,” JM said and shook the offered hand. “Now, let’s go home.”

  The trip from Bridgewater to Riverport passed in silence. Maggie hoped Ivan was considering a future on the right side of the law. She had no idea what might be going through JM’s mind. That is until he reached over and took her hand. Startled, she looked at him. He winked, squeezed her hand and went back to driving. Pleasure shot through Maggie and she smiled all the way home. I do want this man to stay in my life.

  “I’m off to the post office,” Maggie said when they arrived home. “I should have a letter from Violet.” She also needed a few minutes to herself. She stepped briskly past the three lots between her place and the post office and mounted the steps.

  “Two for you today,” said the postman and handed over one fat and one thin envelope.

  The fat one came from Violet. She must have a lot of news to share. The other was a letter from the VG School of Nursing. Maggie stopped on the step and held the envelopes between her hands with the thin one on top. Why is the School of Nursing sending me another letter? She chewed her lip, not sure she wanted to open it. She looked up, drew a deep breath and headed for home. She wanted to be sitting when she did.

  In the kitchen, she found JM had made the ubiquitous pot of tea.

  “You did get mail,” he said. “Is it from Violet?”

  “Yes. One is. The other is from the School of Nursing.” By this time, JM knew about her aspirations and the previous letter. “What can they want?”

  “Only one way to find out. “ He poured her a cup of tea and served it, settling his hand on her shoulder as he did so. “Go on then, open it. Whatever it says, you can handle it.”

  She tore open the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. Unfolding it, she laid it flat on the table and started reading.

  “Is it bad new?” JM asked. “Your frown is deep enough to hide a cat in.”

  “I’m not sure what it is.” Confusion washed over her. “Gloria from the Nursing School and the local doctor, Dr. Spenser, are coming to see me on Monday.” Thank goodness I picked up the mail today. I wouldn’t want an unexpected visit.

  “Does it say what they want?”

  She shook her head. “Oh dear. I don’t know whether to be excited or worried. How will I make it through the weekend? This is going to drive me to distraction.”

  JM took both her hands. He pulled her up and into a hug. She inhaled his scent, relaxed into his warmth and for long seconds the rest of the world disappeared. I could stay here forever.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, “cats may die of curiosity, but I’ve never heard of it killing a human.” He kissed her on the forehead. “We’ll keep you busy and you’ll be fine.”

  * * *

  Maggie woke early Monday morning and breakfasted with JM and Ivan. “I’m as jumpy as a cat on hot bricks,” she said to them. “I can’t imagine what they want.”

  Ivan hugged her. “You’ll be fine, Sis. I’m sure it’s all good.”

  “Listen to your brother,” JM said. “He’s right.” He hugged her and kissed her forehead. “Whatever they offer, whatever you need, if it’s what you want, Ivan and I will make sure you get it. Understand?”

  Tears welled in Maggie’s eyes. “Yes.” It was all she could manage. How had she ever lucked into having both these men in her life?

  She watched them walk down the lane and into the road. Ivan had agreed to go back to school once JM told him he could study in navigational work. My life is good. Do I want to make a major change? I can find cleaning jobs for extra money. That is if they offer a change.

  She paced to the front windows and peered out. No action outside. She wandered back to the kitchen and tidied an already tidy room. About to head back to the parlor, she heard whimpering. Daisy? Maggie tilted her head and listened. The sound came from the tub room. She looked in and saw nothing. “Daisy, where are you?” The whimper came again. Definitely in that room. She walked all the way in and bent and looked around the tub.

  “Daisy, what on earth?” Daisy had pulled a towel off the tub and now lay on her side in its bulk. She was busy licking a new puppy. “Oh my goodness. You’re having your babies.”

  Maggie knelt beside th
e new mother and massaged her belly. Before long two more babies had joined the first. “Hang on, girl. I’ll get you a box so they don’t wiggle away from you.”

  She ran to the summer kitchen and searched. No boxes. Her gaze fell on an old dresser used to keep rags and out of season footwear. A drawer. Perfect. She pulled out the top one and found it full of rags. Perfect. She hurried back to Daisy. Soon mother and pups were settled in the cloth lined drawer and the babies were busy learning how to nurse.

  She sat back and laughed. At least tending to Daisy made the time pass. And those puppies are darn cute. Two white ones and a brown spotted white one.

  The knock on the door pulled her away from her charges. She shot a look at the clock as she passed through the kitchen. Ten o’clock. Goodness, time certainly slipped by. She swung open the door to greet the two people standing on her step.

  “Look at you,” Gloria said and stepped into the hall. “You haven’t changed a bit.” She grabbed Maggie in a hug and stepped back to let the doctor enter. “I understand you two have never met,” she said. “Dr. Spenser, this is Maggie Conrad Benson.”

  Maggie held up her hands. “I’ve just helped a mother birth her triplets. I won’t try to shake hands.”

  “What? Triplets? Here?” Gloria stared at her. “So you’re still at it.” She turned to Dr. Spenser. “During the explosion in 1917, she delivered a baby on someone’s front lawn and got mother and child safely to the hospital.”

  “Impressive. Is the mother here okay?” asked Dr. Spenser. “And the babies?”

  “They’re fine and resting in a dresser drawer.” Maggie laughed. “They are four-legged critters.”

  Gloria and Dr. Spenser took a moment. When it dawned on them what she meant, they both laughed. They also demanded to see the new family. By the time they settled at the dining room table to talk, all formality and stiffness had fled. Nonetheless, Maggie’s heart thumped so loudly she was sure they could hear it.

  “First,” said Dr. Spenser, “can you tell me how many cases of chickenpox there were?”

  She got him the list of patients she’d recorded. “There were only the three families who caught it,” she said. “I visited those families several times, and in the family where five children caught it, I found an older woman to go in and help the mother. This family.” She pointed to the first name on the list. “The oldest boy is the one who brought the chickenpox to town.”

  “This is an excellent record,” the doctor said. “Miss Anderson has told me about the VAD work you both did. But do you have any community health training?”

  Maggie shook her head. “Only the on-the-job training in the VAD.”

  “She’s an ideal candidate for the program,” Gloria said. “She stays calm and handles things, as you’ve seen with this chickenpox outbreak. If it weren’t for her efforts, I’m sure there would have been many more cases.”

  The doctor sat forward. “Why didn’t you stay in nursing?”

  Maggie folded her hands together. She told him her story and how she’d come to be back in Riverport. “You could help me,” she said. “I’m thinking about applying to the Nursing Program at the Victoria General in Halifax. It seems I will need a medical.”

  “We have another proposition for you,” Gloria said. “I’ve been working on a program to expand the number of community health nurses in the province. And Dr. Spenser and I agree that you have the needed skills, or can acquire them.”

  Maggie stared at them. “You want me to be a community health nurse?”

  “Yes. There have always been women who helped care for the sick but in an informal way. Some were paid, some were volunteers. They had various levels of training from none to time with the VAD like you. Now we want them to have training and payment.”

  Excitement flooded Maggie. To be able to nurse, to help the community and to work with a doctor. It looked too good to be true.

  Maggie looked at Dr. Spenser. “Are you sure about this? You want me to be your community nurse? Is that what you are saying?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “If you are interested,” Gloria said. “There are some requirements. For the next six months, you would come to Halifax for one week a month. We’ll be training nine others besides you.”

  “And initially,” Dr. Spenser said, “you’d work directly with me to learn on-the-job skills. Depending on your progress, you’d be working on your own in about three to four months.”

  “Is this real? Pinch me, Gloria, I can hardly believe it.”

  Gloria laughed. “Maggie, it is real. What do you say?”

  “Yes, yes. I’d love to. I can’t believe this.” She sat straighter and reined in her excitement. The offer had everything she could hope for in a job. She grinned from ear to ear. A chance to nurse again, to be a respected and helpful member of the community and to make a difference.

  Dr. Spenser laughed. “Do you have any questions?”

  “I’ll need to talk to you about all that is expected, of course. But I have one question. Because I’ve seen it happen to other women, I need to ask. If I were to marry, not that I have any intentions in that area, would you take away the job?”

  “No, I would not. I plan for you to be well-trained and I am counting on you staying on the job for quite some time. And if you do leave, I’d expect you to help me train a replacement.”

  Maggie clasped her hands together and plunked them on the table. “In that case,” she said, “when do I start?”

  “The first week’s training starts a week from today,” Gloria said. “I have information for you on what you’ll need, and a place in the nurses’ residence for you to stay.”

  “And the week after that,” Dr. Spenser said, “you’ll start with me in my clinic. I saw a car in your yard. Do you drive?”

  “Yes, I do,” she said. “I’m sure my tenant will let me use his car to get started.” JM had said he’d support her any way he could.

  “While you two talk,” Gloria said, “I’ll make some tea.” She pointed to the kitchen door. “Through there?” Maggie nodded. She should make tea for guests, but she’d known Gloria long enough to let her do it.

  Dr. Spenser continued. “Do you have a phone?”

  “No, no phone. But I can get one. I’ll talk to them this afternoon about putting it in.” JM had already asked her about having a phone and had offered to pay for half of the costs.

  “Good. I need to be able to reach you day and night. And as more folks get phones, they will call you directly.” He paused. “You mentioned looking up information about the chickenpox in your books. What books do you have?”

  Maggie brought her four texts from the shelf.

  He examined the books. “These are older editions, but they have the basics. Continue reviewing. You’ll get more information when you go up to Halifax.”

  Over the next hour, the three of them sipped tea and discussed the program and the job. Maggie and Gloria slipped in some stories from the past and the good doctor laughed in the right places. Finally, it was time for them to leave.

  At the door, Gloria hugged Maggie once more. “I’ll see you next week.”

  Dr. Spenser shook Maggie’s hand. “Welcome to my practice, Mrs. Benson. I anticipate you’ll be a welcome addition.”

  Laugher bubbled inside her, spreading energy through every inch of her body. “Call me Maggie,” she said. “All the best people do.”

  She closed the door behind them and stood there, her hand on the doorknob and her forehead against the cool wood. I’ve done it. Paid the loan. Found an ideal job. She spun away and twirled twice. And I have the support of the two men in my life. Maggie Benson, you’ve arrived.

  The End

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  PUBLICATIONS

  Carter, Joan, Tears, Trials, and Triumphs: a History of the Victoria General Hospital School of Nursing, 1891-1995, Tantallon, NS, Glen Margaret Pub. 2005

  Choyce, Lesley, Nova Scotia, Shaped by the Sea, Toronto, Penguin Books Canada
Limited, 1996 (ISBN 01402513240)

  Conrad, Margaret; Laidlow, Toni; Smyth, Donna, No Place Like Home, Diaries and Letters of Nova Scotia Women, 1771-1938 (p 243-245)Halifax, Formac Publishing Company Limited, 1988 (ISBN 0887800661)

  Hennigar, Ted R., The Rum Running Years, Hantsport, Lancelot Press, 1981, (ISBN 088999160X)

  Mossman, David, Oceans of Rum, The Nova Scotia Banana Fleet in Rum-Running Heaven, East Lawrence Town, Pottersfield Press, 2016 (ISBN 9781897426760)

  Oickle, Vernon, Busted, Nova Scotia’s War on Drugs, Halifax, Nimbus Publishing, 1997 (ISBN 1551092271)

  Reid, John, Nova Scotia, A Pocket History, Halifax and Winnipeg, Fernwood Publishing, 2009 (ISBN 9781552663257)

  Stong-Boag, Veronica, The New Day Recalled, Lives of Girls and Women in English Canada 1919-1939, Markum, Penguin Books Canada Limited, 1988, (ISBN 0140108386)

  WEBSITE SOURCES

  Heave to in the King’s name, http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/recalling-cops-and-rum-runners-in-prohibition (Interview with” Machine-Gun Kelly” recorded in 1962)

  Maritime Run Running https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maritime-drug-smuggling-and-rum-running/ and http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/

  LaHave Islands History, https://museum.novascotia.ca/collections-research/

  Canadian History, https://www.historicacanada.ca/

  Fisheries Museum, August Gales, History of Fishing, https://fisheriesmuseum.novascotia.ca/educational-resources/august-gales, and http://www.lahaveislandsmarinemuseum.ca/index.html

  Shellshock, http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/life-at-the-front/trench-conditions/shellshock/

  Mosher, Jean, History of Riverport, http://nsgenealogy.ca/en/other-notable-items/history-of-riverport/ (circa 1985)