by Bryn Donovan
. “I just want to learn. I’ve heard many good things about you.” The last part wasn’t a lie at least.
“So, you’re more than a midwife? Are you a nurse?” His tone softened and he turned slightly towards her, albeit with his hands still on his bag
.
“Let’s just say that my visit to Clinton has sparked a desire to learn more.”
“Oh…well…please come by anytime if you want to ask questions.” He smiled, his hands finally removed from the bag and his body pointed directly at her
.
“Yes, I certainly will.” Her face ached from the forced smile
.
The doorbell tinkled and Dr. Hughes sighed. “I really need to do house calls.”
Liam stuck his head in the room, his face registering shock to see Ellie talking to the doctor.
“Everything alright?”
“Everything is fine.” Dr. Hughes closed his bag
. “This delightful young woman came to see me.”
“Oh.” Liam cleared his throat
. “I see.”
“I’m off to do a few house calls. I’ll be back after lunch.”
Liam waited to hear the outer door shut before he spoke. “Did you really come to see him?”
“Yes, I did, but not for the reason I had to make up. I wanted to talk to him about the Smith family.”
Liam’s brows drew together. “What about them?”
“I think the original prognosis was what nearly killed them. Ordering them to bed was dangerous. It can’t happen again, Liam.”
Liam’s brought his hands together in a loud smack. He looked to the ceiling and yelled out, “Thank you!”
“You’re…welcome?” Ellie replied
.
He smiled broadly at her. “It was my very thought. I’m just glad to have a second confirming opinion.” His smile faded
. “I’ve been concerned about his growing incompetence for months now.”
“I’m not sure incompetence is the right term. He’s older. Nearly elderly, really. I did notice a tremor to his hands.”
Liam frowned. “Yes. He seems to have it when he’s overly tired. His limp is more prominent when he’s tired or has been on his feet for too long.”
“He shouldn’t push himself as hard as he does then.”
“I would like to teach you more medicine, Ellie. Good medicine. Not a bunch of old wives’ tales and passed down traditions that don’t really heal.” His face softened
. “I see potential in you.”
Ellie’s limbs tingled. She loved midwifing, but a chance to learn real medicine? It was a chance she’d thought she would never have
. She had convinced herself she didn’t want a chance like that. It was just too hard for women. Not impossible, but hard.
“I would like to learn more. I just can’t honestly commit to a time frame for how long I will remain once Eva has delivered.”
Liam swallowed his disappointment. “Then I will teach you as much as I can until you do make a decision.”
Ellie nodded. He respected her. Not just as a woman, but as a colleague. He didn’t look down on her gender, and he didn’t look down on her desire to learn something that had typically been only part of the man’s world. Maybe she could stay. For a little while.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Is she late or not?” Roy fumed as Ellie hung the wash on the same tree she had used the last time.
* * *
“Due dates aren’t precise, Roy. She is due, but it’s not up to us.” Ellie gave him a sympathetic shake of the head and reached forward to squeeze his upper arm
. “Just be patient.”
* * *
“I’m trying. I pray to the good Lord every night to please let her deliver.” He blew air through his nostrils in a hard whoosh that made a snorting sound
. “I don’t want to be selfish, but I need her help around here! Dennis isn’t going to keep working for food!”
* * *
“Then pay him in other ways too.”
* * *
“Like what?”
* * *
Ellie shrugged. “How about a new pair of pants, or a shirt? He’s a growing boy
. His clothes aren’t fitting him well.”
* * *
“I guess I could do that.”
* * *
“Talk to his mother about his needs,” Ellie said, and began walking back to the house.
* * *
“How long will you be gone? You were gone yesterday too.” The words sounded gruffer and more accusatory than Roy had intended.
* * *
Ellie hesitated before turning around. “Dr. Parsons is teaching me, Roy. This is a wonderful opportunity for me. Today I will only be gone an hour or so. We’re checking in on the Smith family. Mrs. Smith is having a hard time recovering.”
* * *
“Oh.” Color crept up Roy’s face
. “I’ll be praying for her,” he mumbled.
* * *
“Thanks. You do that.” The anger was irrational
. Ellie supposed it was more irritation than anger, yet she felt something that was completely out of place. She had been raised in the church. Her mother and father were both faithful Episcopalians. Roy and Eva went to a Methodist church. Since her stay here Roy had visited church alone, while Eva and Ellie were left to do devotions on their own.
* * *
Ellie closed her eyes and tilted her head to the early morning sun. I just don’t know if I believe. The thought made her feel guilty and she looked from side to side as if someone might be near enough to hear her thoughts. She couldn’t voice her opinion to anyone that she knew. She had once, at the tender age of thirteen, tried to express to her mother that she might not believe. She had wanted to tell her mother about a scientist named Charles Darwin and a theory he had concerning the evolution of man. It was a new and exciting theory. Her mother had promptly slapped her face and told her she was speaking blasphemy. Ellie never spoke of it again. The memory burned behind her eyes, making them water. She was grateful to hear horse hoof beats and see Liam enter the front yard. Her memories could be pushed back with distraction. To her surprise, he was in a two-seat carriage.
* * *
“Hey, Ellie!” he called out as he jumped from the seat.
* * *
Ellie hurried to him. “Good morning, Liam. This is lovely!” she exclaimed, admiring the carriage. His mare snorted over her shoulder at Ellie as if to greet her too. “Did you purchase or borrow it?”
* * *
Liam tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know yet. Mrs. Baxter made me a nice offer on it. I thought it might be helpful with the practice, especially now that I have a student.” His smile was bright and hopeful.
* * *
Ellie simply nodded without offering commentary. “I’ll be ready in a moment.”
* * *
Liam would have liked to check in on Eva, but he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries. He wanted Ellie to feel that he trusted her capabilities. She had already proven herself an adaptive and intelligent student. He didn’t anticipate any problems with Eva’s delivery. The swelling and dizzy spells were at a minimum, and from what Ellie had told him she was in good spirits.
* * *
Ellie exited the house and allowed Liam to help her step onto the buggy. She liked that it was a simple black design and had a foldable hood to protect from the elements.
* * *
“You should purchase this,” Ellie remarked as they began the trip to the Smith farm. “Student or no student.”
* * *
“You think so?” he smirked, the reins held loosely in his hands.
* * *
“Yes. It makes you look more doctorly.”
* * *
Liam laughed out loud. “Doctorly. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before.”
* * *
They rode in silence for a several
minutes before Ellie spoke up. “Do you attend church?”
* * *
“I do,” Liam replied.
* * *
“Which one?”
* * *
“The Methodist church.”
* * *
Ellie frowned. Roy hadn’t mentioned it. “Have you ever considered that…well…that there might…”
* * *
“Not be a God?” Liam finished for her.
* * *
Ellie swallowed and nodded. “Yes.”
* * *
“I have a few times.” His tone was gentle
. Understanding.
* * *
“And how did you reconcile it? How did you choose faith that He exists?”
* * *
Liam thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I suppose it’s all this.” He moved the reins to one hand and spread his other arm wide.
* * *
“The woods?”
* * *
“The woods. The mighty Mississippi. The ocean. The stars. That squirrel over there.”
* * *
Ellie turned her face to the tree he indicated in time to see a squirrel regard them with liquid black eyes before scurrying up the oak it was clinging to.
* * *
“So, the creation, so to speak?”
* * *
Liam nodded slowly. “Yes, the creation. More importantly medicine.”
* * *
“What do you mean? We do the medicine
. Not God.”
* * *
“Take Mr. Smith, for instance. He made it to my home in the dark, with a burning fever and hardly any breath left in his lungs. Practicality demands he should have died, but he didn’t. That’s a miracle.”
* * *
“Or just good luck,” Ellie retorted, pushing hair back behind her ear.
* * *
“I don’t believe in luck. I believe in God’s grace and mercy.”
* * *
Ellie didn’t reply.
* * *
Liam cast her a sideways glance but didn’t push any further. He had given her enough to chew on.
Eva was pacing her bedroom, slightly bent at the waist with one hand placed firmly on her lower back when Ellie returned home.
* * *
“What’s wrong? Has your water broken?” Ellie asked, her heart thundering in her chest
.
* * *
Eva shook her head. “Not yet.”
* * *
“How long have you been in pain?”
* * *
“Maybe only an hour. I started having mild pains this morning.”
* * *
“Oh, Eva! Why didn’t you tell me? I would have stayed here with you!”
* * *
“What you’re doing with Dr. Parsons is important. Besides…” she began as Ellie helped lower her onto the bed. “You said Mrs. Smith wasn’t doing so well.”
* * *
“She seemed a little better today. It’s taking her longer to recover, but she was the last one to get sick.” Ellie clucked her tongue
. “I’m enjoying learning, but you are the reason I took the trip out here, Eva.”
* * *
Eva nodded and allowed Ellie to prop her up against the headboard. “I’ll just rest a moment and then walk a little more. It might help.”
* * *
“Yes, it will definitely help,” Ellie confirmed. “Do you want me go tell Roy?”
* * *
Eva closed her eyes, her lips pressed thin, and shook her head. “No, he’s in the far field. He’s been complaining the work is behind. Don’t bother him unless you must. He’ll know soon enough.”
* * *
Ellie only let another hour pass before she grabbed her shawl and darted from the house. She hoped Roy would just meet her because he had made the decision to head home. Dark, thick clouds had quickly accumulated in the sky and the distant rumble of thunder was getting louder. The sudden drop of temperature was a sure sign that a storm was coming. It wouldn’t pass by this afternoon as it had on previous days.
* * *
A fat drop of rain smacked Ellie on her nose and she hastened her pace. Roy and Dennis were in view and they too were hurrying to load the wagon and start back. Dennis saw her first and threw up his skinny arm. He spoke to Roy, causing Roy’s head to turn in her direction. He dropped what was in his hands and ran towards her.
* * *
“What is it?” he puffed, pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket and running it over his forehead. “Is it the baby?”
* * *
“She’s in labor. It’s going to happen soon.”
* * *
Roy nodded, his mouth twitching in a comical way.
* * *
Ellie smiled and gathered her skirts in her hands, preparing to run as more fat drops of rain splattered around her. “It’s ok to smile, Roy. Your child is about to be born.”
* * *
He nodded and began to back away. Ellie giggled as she began to run, a whoop hoop reverberating through the rain drops.
* * *
“What else should I do?” Roy asked, his feet constantly moving in a nervous pace.
* * *
Ellie didn’t want to snap. She knew this was a stressful time for him too, but his constant pacing, and near constant barrage of ‘what can I do’ was distracting at the very least. Besides, every time he opened his mouth Eva’s eyes slid towards him in a menacing way, her irritation evident.
* * *
“Why don’t you go out and check on Dennis? Maybe even walk him home
. Maybe take him in the wagon.”
* * *
Roy stopped moving and raised an eyebrow. “Walk him home? Why? He always walks himself home.” His brow came down in a v shape
. “Have you looked outside?” As if to prove his point the darkened sky streaked with lightning, followed closely by a clap of thunder
. Eva cried out.
* * *
“Make sure fire is still going under the water pot.”
* * *
“I could fetch…I mean... you’re doing fine…”
* * *
“I do not need one of the doctors, Roy. I will let you know if and when I feel it’s necessary.”
* * *
Eva leaned back as the most recent contraction eased.
* * *
“However, if the presence of one of the doctors would make you feel better, then by all means go and fetch one.”
* * *
Roy caught the stony glare of his wife and swallowed. “No, I um…I’ll just go see about Dennis and that water.”
“I just can’t believe it’s a boy.” Eva said for the third time as she watched Eva swaddle him tightly
. Her eyes narrowed. “I also can’t believe Roy ran out of here to go tell the doctors!”
* * *
“It’s fine.” Ellie smiled and returned the baby to Eva’s arms
. “He’s excited. I’m sure by the time he gets back here at least a dozen people will know he has a baby boy. What will you name him?”
* * *
“I suppose Roy,” Eva sighed. “It is the first boy, but I really wanted to name him Jacob.”
* * *
“What had you picked had he been a girl?”
* * *
Eva lifted her head slowly. “Mariella.”
* * *
“Mariella…after our nanny.”
* * *
Eva didn’t respond right away, keeping her eyes on the baby. “She was so good to us. I still feel bad sometimes for the pranks we played on her.”
* * *
Ellie laughed lightly. “Yes, they were terrible, but she always forgave us. I wish the doctors could have found a treatment for her.”
* * *
“Me too,” Eva agreed. “She would probably be here with you now.” Eva lifted her hazel eyes
/>
. “You were her favorite.”
* * *
Ellie stood running her hands along the sides of her skirts. She didn’t trust her voice. Grief, even old grief, could sometimes steal the very breath from your lungs.