“Keep trying,” Cullen slapped his back. “You’re a good man, and she’ll soon realize it.”
Mack shook his head, wishing he had Cullen’s faith in himself, and Pansy.
“While you’re down off the building, you head toward that end of town and check with the businesses if they’ve seen Doc to give her the news about the Applegate family,” Cullen said. “I’ll head toward the other end, ending with the parsonage since I’m hungry for a handful of Ma’s molasses cookies.”
Mack nodded and quickly walked down the boardwalk. Doc Pansy’s mission was to help people, and there was a family who needed her right now. His courting could wait.
A few minutes later, Mack saw Pansy leaving the hotel. “Doc Pansy,” he yelled to get her attention and she hurried toward him. “Have you been out to the Applegate’s this week?”
“No, why? What’s wrong?” Pansy’s hand on his forearm made his skin tingle with excitement.
“Cullen heard from Richard Kandt that the children were sick, so he thought we should pass that on to you. Mr. Applegate is in Kansas City this week so Kandt went to check on the family and briefly talked to Mrs. Applegate,” Mack told her.
“Thank you for letting me know. I’ll get my medical bag and head out there now.”
Mack matched her long strides as she hurried toward her office.
“Did Kandt say what was wrong with them? Maybe they have food poisoning,” she said.
“When we were looking for you, Cullen mentioned the kids had sore throats, fever….and what was the other thing he mentioned?” Mack lightly hit his fist against his forehead. “Oh. Difficulty breathing.”
“Difficulty breathing could be a very bad cold or pneumonia. But it’s kind of unusual to get colds this time of year.” Pansy stopped short and stared at Mack. “Did Kandt mention mucus in the children’s throats?”
“He might have to Cullen, but I’m not sure. Why?”
“Pray there isn’t, because it could mean a diphtheria outbreak could be starting at the ranch.”
Mack watched in shock as Pansy pulled up her skirt with one hand and ran for her office. If it were diphtheria, then not only were children going to die, but Pansy could be exposed to the disease when treating them.
Mack bolted into action to get Oats and his own horse saddled for the trip. There was no way Doc Pansy was going without him to assist on this call.
Chapter 10
“I remember some classmates dying from something when I was about twelve, but we haven’t had an episode in town since then,” Mack said above the sound of his horse walking across the prairie. They’d loped through the prairie grass and were slowing down as they neared the Applegate ranch.
“How many children died from it?” Pansy asked.
“Two in one family and three in another. Saddest funerals I ever went to. Angus and Fergus had taken over digging the graves for old Mr. Benedict and I helped them since they had to dig five graves, even though they were for small caskets.
“I’ll never forget seeing Amelia Johnson’s swollen face through the glass window of her little casket.”
“Swollen?” Pansy asked, her mind considering the symptoms of different diseases.
“Yeah, her neck was enlarged. I remember Ma saying the children suffocated because of mucus clogging their throats.”
“They had diphtheria then. The first symptoms are sore throats and a mild fever. Then a gray mucus covers the throat and tonsils. If the child doesn’t recover within the first few days, the mucus will suffocate the patient or give them heart failure.”
Pansy watched as Mack rubbed his jaw with his free hand. She knew what he was thinking because she was worrying about the same thing. It was very possible Pansy was about to lose her first patients because a contagious disease was being passed around the family.
“Hello the house!” Mack called as they rode up to the house and dismounted.
“Mack, please stay here while I check on the family. I don’t want you exposed if I need to quarantine them.”
“But what about you?” Mack grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“It’s my job, Mack. That’s what I was hired to do. Diagnose, treat, and cure when I can.”
Pansy watched Mack fight his emotions, hoping he’d let her do her job.
“Besides, that way you’re free to go back to town for help if I need it.”
“Alright. I’ll water the horses and check on their livestock. No one’s coming to the door, so that might mean the family’s too sick to do their chores.”
Pansy was afraid his assumption was right when she knocked on the door and only received a hoarse “come in” from inside the house.
The stench of urine, diarrhea and vomit hit Pansy’s senses as soon as she opened the door. She left it open behind her to let in fresh air as she moved toward the back rooms. It was a small wooden house that had been added on to at least twice. Pansy walked through the front room and then the kitchen, noticing the pile of dirty dishes by the dry sink. A bucket which would have usually held well water was empty and tipped over.
Goodness, maybe the whole family was sick instead of a few of the children. What was she walking into?
“Hello? I’m Doctor Walline. Your neighbor, Mr. Kandt, came into town to say you might need help.”
“Thank, God,” a weak woman’s voice came from the bedroom on the right, so Pansy hurried toward it.
Pansy quickly placed her handkerchief over her nose. The stench in the room was horrendous. And it wasn’t just from the vomit and diarrhea covering the woman, but also from the bedding and floor beside the bed.
Pansy swallowed several times to keep her own stomach from emptying on the floor.
The first thing she needed to do was get the woman out of this room.
“The children…” Mrs. Applegate whispered, trying to point to the next room.
“I’ll go check on them,” Pansy assured the woman as she backed out of the bedroom.
Pansy took a breath before entering the next room. Three young children, probably under the age of six, lay together in one bed. Two were stone cold, but the oldest, lying between the two bodies, was still breathing.
Where would be a clean blanket or cloth to pick up the child and get it out of the bed? Pansy retraced her steps to the other bedroom where there was a chest along the wall. Opening the lid, she pulled out the couple’s wedding quilt, but hated to use it. Underneath the quilt was a wool blanket and two bed sheets. The sheets would work to wrap around Mrs. Applegate and the child to get out of their beds without Pansy getting too contaminated. The wool blanket would work for a burial shroud.
“Mrs. Applegate, let’s get you outside so you can have some fresh air,” Pansy said in a light tone, so the woman wouldn’t be upset. “I know you’re dehydrated so you could use a big glass of…lemonade too. How does that sound, hmm?
“Let’s get you sitting on the edge of the bed for a minute, then we’ll go get some fresh air.” Pansy slowly helped the woman sit on the edge of the bed to get her bearings.
“How long have you been sick?” Pansy asked as she undid the front buttons on the woman’s nightgown. The woman weakly raised her arms so Pansy could pull it off.
“Not too many days,” the woman whispered. “It hit so fast.”
“Let’s get you outside first, then I’ll tend to the rest of the family. You need to recover so you can help the others. What are the names of your children?”
“Rebecca, Robert and Abby.”
Pansy pushed the woman’s left arm, then right arm into her night wrap and pulled it around her thin body. “Let me help you get outside,” Pansy said as she lifted the woman around her middle and practically dragged her out to the porch to sit in the rocker by the front door.
“What were your symptoms when you started getting sick?” Pansy asked as she felt the pulse in the woman’s wrist. It was rapid, even though the woman was weak.
“Throwing up and diarrhea, and then so thirst
y, even though I was too weak to get up to get a glass of water.”
“Do you think you ate bad meat? Has your well water smelled off?” Pansy was thinking about food poisoning, but then she wondered about their water supply.
“We don’t have a well. Get water from the creek past the barn.”
“Do you boil your water after you get it from the creek?’
“Depends on what we’re going to use it for, but I usually don’t boil it. Most of the time the water looks clear.”
Pansy dropped her head and let out a breath. Contaminated water. There was probably a dead, bloated animal upstream from where they dipped their bucket in the creek. And the woman and remaining child needed water to replenish their bodies.
Pickles, Pansy thought after a moment of thinking. She’d send Mack after some clean water but the two could drink pickle juice until then.
Pansy looked through the kitchen, looking on shelves for any glass jars of pickles. There might be several jars in the cellar, but she wanted one to open now. Finally finding one, she opened the jar and poured the liquid into a cup.
“Mrs. Applegate, please drink this pickle juice since you don’t have water available.” Pansy held the cup while the woman sipped the liquid. The water, salts and sugar in the juice should help rehydrate the woman, if she could keep it down.
“You rest while I attend to your children,” Pansy assured the woman, but then stopped when she saw Mack walking from the barn. Pansy walked out to meet him, but held up her hand for him to stop when he was about five feet away.
“How’s the family? Chores hadn’t been done for a few days. Livestock needed food and water. Cow’s in a lot of pain since she hasn’t been milked. I was coming up to the house to get a bucket, so I could milk her,” Mack reported.
“Mrs. Applegate is very weak, and two of the three children are dead.”
Mack rubbed his hand over his face, while shaking his head.
“I think they drank contaminated water from the creek because she said they usually don’t boil it.”
Mack looked up in shock. “You think they got cholera?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but I’ll say the younger children died from summer complaint.” Which was infantile cholera, but she wasn’t going to say the word cholera out loud to anyone for fear the area people would panic.
“What do you want me to do, after I milk the cow?”
“Dig a grave for the two young children. I…don’t think the bodies should go into town to the cemetery. We’ll burn their bedding and clothes in the hole first.”
Mack nodded, knowing what she wasn’t saying. Pansy was afraid what the children died from could be catching to other people.
“Let me get the milk bucket for you,” Pansy turned away from Mack, wishing she could lean against his body for support instead.
Pansy and Mack spent the next hours working separately to help the family. Pansy refused to let Mack touch the bedding or the bodies for fear he’d catch the disease. She sent him to fetch water from the neighbor’s well, while she burned the tainted bedding and clothes. The family would need more of each, but that was the least of their worries.
Mrs. Applegate became hysterical when seeing her two youngest children. Pansy explained why they needed to be buried nearby and the mother agreed. After cleaning the bodies and putting on their best clothing, Pansy lowered them into the grave hole. She tossed soil on the bodies, so they were covered, but then left the final filling for Mack to finish.
By the end of the day, after Pansy heated water, bathed the two survivors, and scrubbed the floors and furniture, she was exhausted. The mother and child were asleep together in the front bedroom and Pansy finally sat on the porch to catch her breath.
“Pansy? Wake up. I brought you food.”
“Hmm?” Pansy stretched, wondering if she’d been dreaming or Mack was back. She’d told him to leave hours ago. Pansy opened her eyes to near darkness. She’d fallen asleep on the porch.
“Here’s food and clean water to drink. Iris packed clean clothes for you too. Daisy sent medicine to help with the diarrhea if it’s still going on with the Applegate’s…or if you need it.”
Mack set the wooden crate of items on the edge of the porch.
“Mack, I told you not to come back. It might not be safe to—,” Pansy started to argue.
“I know it, but you need to keep up your strength to save them and stay well yourself.”
Pansy couldn’t argue with that.
“I’ll come back tomorrow to do the chores and check on you. Kandt said John Applegate should be back in a few days’ time, and can take over his wife’s and child’s care.”
Pansy hoped Mr. Applegate’s arrival was sooner rather than later, but hated to think of the horrifying situation he was coming home to.
“My father will meet the train every day watching for Applegate’s arrival home. Then he’ll travel out to the ranch with him to perform a service for the children.”
“Thank you, Mack. I couldn’t have done this without you,” Pansy confessed, so close to spilling tears.
“Yes, you could have because you’re a strong, caring doctor.” Mack took a deep breath, expelled it, then looked away for a long moment before returning to stare at her. “But I wish you weren’t putting yourself in danger. I want to take you somewhere safe, wrap you up in a blanket, and hold you forever.”
Pansy laid her right hand on her chest. “Mack, don’t mention wrapping me up in a blanket after today. Not after burying those children.”
Mack’s chuckle turned into a cough. “Sorry, Pansy. That didn’t make a romantic picture did it.”
Romantic? That was the furthest thing from her mind. But then she thought of the sorrow the Applegate couple would go through together as they grieved for their two children. It would be nice to share love, and the trials of life, with someone.
Pansy stared at Mack’s face in the evening light. He was strong, loyal, and deep down, Pansy knew he was serious about wanting a future with her. And if she’d admit it, Pansy was falling in love with Mack too.
Before arriving at Clear Creek, Pansy thought no one would ever love her because she was big and plain looking. Then Mack had come into her life, giving her confidence and hope. When she felt unsure about things, he seemed sure enough for both of them. It was a great comfort to have someone to rely on like that, if she would only let herself...
But what about her job? Pansy strongly felt that healing others was her destiny. She didn’t want to give it up. And besides, she was under contract.
“Picture my arms around you as we dance in the moonlight then,” Mack bowed like a gentleman asking a woman to dance.
“That’s a better picture,” Pansy sighed, thinking of swaying to a waltz in the circle of Mack’s arms.
Mack reluctantly stepped back toward his horse. “Okay, I’ll leave you for tonight. Say your prayers and get some sleep.”
“Oh, I’ll be praying long and hard tonight. I’m not sure yet if the two will survive.”
“Their fate is in the Lord’s hands, no matter what you do. But I know you’ll do everything you can. And I have a good feeling about their chances.”
“Thank you, Mack. That gives me comfort.”
Mack nodded, then pointed to the food basket. “Eat before you fall asleep again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Pansy waved until Mack and his horse were covered by the darkness and she couldn’t see them anymore. She wrapped her arms around her middle, once again wishing that Mack’s arms were around her instead.
Chapter 11
Mack sent God a silent prayer of thanks this morning when Pansy sat down beside him at church. She was back from the Applegate’s ranch, and apparently healthy. John Applegate had arrived home on Thursday to the devastating news about his family. Mack’s father took the man out to his ranch and conducted a service for the couple’s children.
Applegate insisted Pansy leave that day, so she did, but had spent the last three
days in her office or apartment. Apparently, she now felt she wasn’t going to come down with anything and was ready to venture out in public again.
“Good morning,” Mack murmured when he leaned toward Pansy’s direction. “I missed seeing your pretty smile every day.”
Mack felt a jab in his opposite side. He turned to stare at Cullen.
“Don’t you dare make a crack or snide remark,” he hissed at his brother.
“I’m just passing the jab down from Ma. Straighten up and pay attention.”
Mack faced the front and noticed his father was watching him.
“Good morning,” his da addressed the congregation. “We’re ready to start the service.”
Before his father could say another word, the doors burst open and slammed against the back walls.
“I want her run out of town!” John Applegate roared as he looked around the room.
“John, please,” was all Da could say before Applegate rushed up to stand by the altar where he could see the congregation from the front.
In two steps the man was reaching for Pansy, hands ready to wrap around her neck. The fury in his eyes showed he wanted to squeeze Pansy’s neck until she was dead.
Mack, Cullen, and Seth quickly stepped in front of Pansy to protect her from the manic man.
“Marshal Wilerson!” Mack’s mother yelled in panic.
“I’m here,” the marshal said as he quickly stepped up the aisle. “Applegate, let’s take this outside.”
“This so-called doctor killed my son and daughter!” Applegate yelled as he slapped away the marshal’s hand.
Everyone gasped in unison, then started talking at once.
“I did not!” Pansy defended herself as she pushed between him and Seth. “That’s not true.”
“Then she even threw them in a hole in the back yard afterwards instead of bringing them into town. She didn’t bother to be sure they got a proper church service and burial in the cemetery,” Appleton barked as Marshal Wilerson physically dragged the man down the aisle.
Grooms with Honor Series, Books 4-6 Page 7