Harp on the Willow

by BJ Hoff

  Daniel stood watching, a shadow of uneasiness passing over him as he thought about Stephen and Clay Holliday. Although Stephen could be a hard man and was openly disapproving of his son’s involvement with Elly Murphy, Daniel had a feeling that Stephen’s censure might be the least of Clay’s problems.

  Indeed, he would not want to be in the boy’s shoes should the man Murphy happen to share Stephen’s disapproval of the young couple’s attraction to each other.

  NINE

  AN UNEXPECTED OFFER

  I bind my soul this day

  To the brother far away,

  To the brother near at hand,

  In this town, and in this land.

  LAUCHLAN MACLEAN WATT

  October

  Summer rolled into fall like a long, mellow sigh after a good meal.

  It was such a gentle transition that Daniel almost failed to notice it, until he realized the fragrance of honeysuckle and sunbaked wildflowers had been replaced by the pungent odor of wood smoke and apple butter steaming in open-air cauldrons. Frost had taken the late-blooming roses, and the hills were already ablaze with scarlet and gold fire, while the roadsides now flourished with goldenrod and milkweed.

  There simply was no pageant like a mountain autumn, no event that could rival the Alleghenies in early October. If this season wasn’t one of the most spectacular displays of the Almighty’s creativity and power, Daniel couldn’t think what was.

  With a long breath, he turned away from the window in the pharmacy. On this particular Monday morning he didn’t have the luxury of spare time to soak up his colorful surroundings. The coming days promised to be at least as busy or even busier than those of the previous week.

  Within the past two weeks, scarlet fever, one of the diseases he hated most, had appeared among some of the hill folks as well as half a dozen families in town. He’d had his hands full, making home calls in addition to seeing patients in the office. He knew from experience that a full-blown epidemic could strike any time now.

  Indeed, before another day passed, he intended to get word to Esther to avoid coming to town. For that matter, she had best avoid people altogether until this latest outbreak passed. He had a number of other patients in the family way too, and he intended to issue the same caution to them. No sense taking chances.

  His own mother had nearly died from the vicious illness when he was a boy. And not long after his arrival in Mount Laurel, he had lost at least half a dozen patients during an outbreak. Little Mercy Seaton had been stricken deaf and mute during that same time, while her mother, Lenora, had nearly succumbed to a vicious kidney infection left in the wake of the fever.

  Now the menacing disease had returned, and the thought of another rampage struck dread in his heart. He had learned of very few cases in Owenduffy as yet, but even a few guaranteed there would be more.

  As he rolled up his shirtsleeves to wash his hands, the thought of Harley Bevins reminded him of little Molly Maureen Flynn and her brother, Rory. From time to time, he wondered how they were getting along. On his last visit, his young patient had been up and about, looking pleasingly fit with some color in her cheeks and even a glint of mischief in her eyes.

  And what about Addie Rose Murphy?

  Daniel’s head came up with a jerk. Again he stood staring out the window above the pharmacy sink as he dried his hands. This wasn’t the first time the memory of the Murphy girl had edged its way into his thoughts. For some reason, it unsettled him that he all too clearly remembered what she looked like and even the sound of her voice. Although the thought of Serena could temporarily crowd out the image of the somewhat younger Addie Rose, a memory of the fire-haired beauty lingered, like a soft light that never quite dimmed or went away.

  He jumped when the bell over the waiting room door jangled. At the same time, Sarge, who had been snoozing under the table, jolted to his feet with a growl, threatening to topple the table with his bulk.

  No doubt the big lug was simply irritated that his nap had been cut short. It wasn’t as if he could be startled by the bell—or much of anything else.

  Daniel tossed the towel onto the counter and crossed the room. Like Sarge, he was curious as to who might be making an appearance so early on a Monday morning, even before Audrey arrived to police the patients during office hours.

  In truth, his office hours were a joke. No one paid the sign on the entrance door any heed whatsoever. Apparently, folks simply took it for granted that he had no personal life outside the office. If they needed to see Doc, they simply showed up in the waiting room, regardless of the hour.

  As much as Daniel grumbled about the lack of consideration, he knew he could blame no one but himself. The reality was that he didn’t have much of a life outside the office, and he did indeed spend more time here than at home. He was easily found, and his patients knew it.

  The last person he would have expected to see in his waiting room at this time of day—or at any time of day—was Hugh Gormant. Daniel had met the mine boss only twice, and both brief meetings had merely served to reinforce the man’s reputation for being loudmouthed, contentious, and hardheaded. Simply put, Gormant came across as a bully. It wasn’t all that difficult to figure out why his workers were rumored to dislike him with a vengeance.

  Gormant stood in the middle of the room, his arms folded across his chest, legs apart in a stance that could only be described as belligerent. It was a harsh assessment, Daniel knew, but the fact was that the man looked like a thug, pure and simple. Gormant wasn’t tall, but there didn’t appear to be a soft ounce of flesh anywhere on that thickly muscled body. With his unkempt black hair, close-set eyes, and dark stubble of beard, he reminded Daniel of a number of disreputable gang members that had stalked the slums of New York City.

  Sarge gave another growl, and Daniel ordered him back to the examining room.

  “Mr. Gormant,” Daniel said with a short nod.

  Gormant’s sour look never wavered. “The company’s needing a doc. You want the job?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Bevins is gone. Fired. He couldn’t stay sober long enough to do any doctorin’. I’ve been authorized to hire someone in his place. No one else around here except you. You want the job?”

  No beating around the bush here.

  “No, actually. I don’t.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t take on any more patients. I don’t have time.”

  The man smirked. “You had time to come sneakin’ over the bridge a couple of months back to do some doctorin’ without being asked. I figure the good Christian people on this side of the river must not take sick all that much.”

  His tone of voice made the word “Christian” sound like a label of contempt.

  “A big city doc like yourself can’t handle some miners in addition to your own kind?”

  Daniel bit down on the first acid reply that came to mind. “I’m afraid not. You’ll need to find someone else.”

  Gormant’s mouth pulled down even more as he stood glaring at Daniel. Clearly, he wasn’t accustomed to being refused. After another second or two, he dropped his hands to his sides and clenched them. “We got the scarlet fever going around. We need a doctor now.”

  Daniel’s mind raced. He didn’t want this. More to the point, he honestly didn’t see how he could possibly handle any more patients. He hadn’t overstated his time problem. Maybe if the scarlet fever hadn’t started up when it did he might have worked something out…

  The disease could decimate a town like Owenduffy in weeks. No reliable sanitation system. Too many immigrants who knew little if anything about even the most basic health care. Too many houses and workers crowded together.

  Daniel thought of the wispy little Molly Maureen Flynn and her earnest-faced, hard-working brother. And Addie Rose Murphy. And all the children. There were so many children in Owenduffy.

  He drew a long breath. “I might be able to give you one day a week,” he said on impulse, brushing aside hi
s misgivings. “I don’t see how I could do anything more and still take care of my patients here.”

  The mine boss looked as if he were about to spit. “One day a week won’t be enough, and you know it.”

  “I do know it, but that’s the best I can do.”

  Gormant regarded him with disgust but said nothing.

  “Look, I would do more if I could, but there’s just no way I can.”

  Finally, the other gave a shrug and curled his lip even more. “I expect we’ll take what we can get then. But just so you know, you’d have a steadier income with the company than you do with this bunch of farmers over here. You might want to keep that in mind.”

  With that, he turned and stalked out, leaving Daniel to stand knotting his fists in frustration.

  He was still in the waiting room when Audrey walked in a moment later.

  “What did he want?” she demanded, loosening the ribbons of her bonnet as she passed briskly by Daniel on her way to the counter.

  Daniel looked at her. “He came to offer me a job.”

  Audrey whipped around, her mouth tightening. “He what?”

  “It seems the company fired Harley Bevins.”

  “Took them long enough,” she said, her tone dry.

  “Maybe so, but now they’re in need of a doctor. He thought I might be interested.”

  Audrey’s sharp little chin lifted a good inch. “I hope you put him in his place.”

  Daniel shrugged. “I told him I’d help them out as much as I can.”

  She stared at him. “You didn’t.”

  “Well, I’m not planning to move over there, Audrey. I made it clear that I can’t spare more than one day a week.”

  “That’s one day a week you’re going to be needed right here in our town. See here, Daniel—”

  Daniel had long ago accepted that he’d never be “Dr. Kavanagh” or even “Doctor” to Audrey. Even if both of them were around for another twenty years, in her eyes he’d still be a boy, never a full-fledged physician. He also knew that her terse “See here, Daniel” always preceded an unsolicited—and usually undesirable—piece of advice. He braced himself.

  “What are you thinking, taking time away from all your regular patients right here in town to go over there with…those people? And with this awful scarlet fever bearing down on us now.”

  Patience, he told himself. She means well. Audrey always means well.

  “They have scarlet fever in Owenduffy too, Audrey. That’s why I need to help as much as I can. Don’t worry. I know my limit, and I made it clear to Gormant. One day a week, and no more.”

  She lifted her chin a tad higher with a sniff that only Audrey could effect. “If truth were told, the fever probably came from that place over there to begin with. Folks aren’t going to take to the idea of your going back and forth, Daniel, knowing what you might be carrying in to our own people. They aren’t going to like it one bit.”

  He drew a long breath. “I can’t base how I practice medicine on what people like or don’t like, Audrey. Any more than Dr. Franklin did.”

  If he’d hoped that the mention of his predecessor, whom Audrey had plainly revered as a veritable saint for more than two decades, might give her pause, he’d misjudged her. There would be no chance to escape the rest of her reprimand now.

  “Dr. Franklin,” she said, righteous indignation lacing her very breath, “was uncompromisingly dedicated to his own patients. He would never have risked their well-being for that bunch of… foreigners across the river.”

  Daniel rubbed the back of his neck to keep from cracking his knuckles, which he knew Audrey intensely disliked. He also knew that when she began to use words such as “uncompromisingly,” she would brook no argument from him. He might just as well get this over with. Pulling rank wasn’t something he liked to do with his starchy secretary, but he was the doctor and he did pay her wage.

  And a fairly generous one at that.

  “Audrey, I appreciate your feelings about this. Truly I do. But I’m sure you understand that I have to do what I believe is right when it comes to practicing medicine.”

  Winter seemed to blow through the room as she fixed her leaden, unblinking stare on him. “Of course, you have to do what you think is best,” she said, making it chillingly clear that Daniel obviously didn’t know what was best.

  “Thank you, Audrey,” he said, a little more meekly than he’d intended. “Well, we should get things set up. I expect we’ll have a busy morning.”

  Her only reply was to turn her back on him. Feeling a bit like a schoolboy who’d had his knuckles rapped, Daniel headed for the examining room, making a determined effort not to slink.

  It was going to be a long day.

  As it happened, the day turned out to be even longer than he’d feared. Late in the afternoon, a young girl from the hills, clearly little more than a child, came stumbling into the waiting room.

  She appeared to be uncertain, even a bit frightened, by her surroundings, but her mission was clear. Both her mother and a neighbor woman—the child’s aunt—needed “doctorin’.” Her description of their symptoms left little doubt that both had been stricken with scarlet fever.

  Even though his Mondays were usually so busy Daniel seldom left the office, he didn’t have the heart to deny the girl’s plea that they needed him “right now.” He followed her home and then on to her aunt’s house.

  Two hours later, he made his way to his own home, exhausted and once again discouraged by the all-too-obvious evidence he’d encountered of extreme poverty and lack of even the most basic knowledge in self health care.

  Too disheartened to do anything more than feed Sarge and kick off his shoes, he finally collapsed on the couch and slept through the night without waking to fix any supper for himself.

  TEN

  MIXED NEWS

  Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

  Till all our strivings cease…

  And let our ordered lives confess

  The beauty of Thy peace.

  JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

  Two weeks later, Audrey informed Daniel that she would be retiring at the end of the year.

  Her announcement came without warning and with very little explanation, other than the fact that she wasn’t as young as she used to be.

  Reeling from this unexpected—and highly unwelcome—news, Daniel tried to change her mind. “But, Audrey, I need you. Surely you can see that. You know how I depend on you, and with things as they are now, there’s no way I can manage without you.”

  “You’ll get by, Daniel. You’ll just have to. I’ve been coming to this office five days a week at eight o’clock every morning for more than twenty years, and frankly I’m tired of it. I want—I need—some time for myself.”

  Daniel studied her. “Are you feeling all right, Audrey? You’re not ill, are you?”

  Her mouth thinned as it always did when she thought he was being foolish. “I am perfectly fine. I expect it’s never occurred to you that I would like a life away from sick people every now and then.”

  “I can understand that.” Actually, he wasn’t sure he could. But then could someone who spent most of his life around illness really be expected to grasp why someone else might not want to? Still, it clearly wasn’t the time to say as much. “It’s just that this is a bad time—”

  “It will never be a good time,” she shot back, “what with you intending to trot back and forth between here and that mining camp, taking on everybody you meet with an ache or pain. My mind is made up. This is how it’s going to be. After the end of the year, I’m finished. You’d best start looking for someone else right away.”

  Daniel hesitated before replying. “Have I done something to offend you, Audrey? Is that it?”

  “No, that is not it. And if you’re thinking that this has anything to do with your treating those foreigners across the river, I’ll tell you right now it doesn’t. It’s true that I don’t approve—”

  “Audrey—” />
  “But that has nothing to do with my retiring.” She gave a long sigh as if she were dealing with a dull-witted child. “It’s just exactly what I’m trying to tell you. I’m simply tired of spending all my time around patients. I need to get away from this office and sick people and live a normal life.”

  Daniel didn’t believe for a moment that this unexpected announcement had nothing to do with his decision to give a few hours to the sick in Owenduffy. But he had seen that look in Audrey’s eyes before and knew there would be no changing her decision.

  Letting out a long breath, he groped for patience. “All right, then. I don’t like it, and I really don’t know how I’ll manage, but it seems there’s nothing I can do to change your mind.”

  She gave a sharp little nod and went around her desk, settling herself in her chair and scanning the daily log. “You’re taking Lonny Crawford’s cast off this morning. Brownie Teeter is coming in again because of his asthma. And Ruth Lieninger is bringing the baby in for you to see. Poor little thing has that bad rash again.”

  She went on, ticking off the patients he could expect to see today, although those who actually bothered to make appointments were few. Most simply showed up, assuming he would be available.

  “You’re going to be late making your home visits,” she pointed out.

  “I’ll get them done.”

  “Dr. Franklin never held much with this business of scheduling patients for office visits. He leaned more toward making home calls.”

  How many times had he heard this before? It had been a routine observation ever since he’d taken over the deceased Sidney Franklin’s practice.

  “Dr. Franklin didn’t see a third of the patients I do in a day’s time either.”

  As soon as the words were out, he regretted saying them. Even though he’d spoken only the truth.