Chapter 8
February 14th, 1898, Eagle Creek, Montana
Finally, it seemed that the numbers of people in Eagle Creek with influenza were starting to drop. It was the first time that the tiny ward at the clinic wasn’t completely full since the outbreak had begun in December. Rachel was weary, but proud that she had been a part of the team that had worked so hard to ensure that the town lost as few people as possible. And the snow was clearing, just a little. There had been a week without further snowfall, glorious sunshine and blue skies, and so her drive up the mountain to check on Aidan O’Shaunessy was a real delight.
When she arrived, there were a lot of people in the yard. She climbed down and climbed up on the porch, where Meredith O’Shaunessy was standing watching a game of catch between her eldest children and their ranch hands. “They seem as happy that the weather seems to be turning as I am,” Rachel said.
“They’ve been cooped up inside for days. The snow up here is always so much worse than in the valley below,” Meredith explained. “They’ve been driving us all crazy.”
“How is Aidan?”
“Bored,” she said. “I’m not sure who has been harder to live with, him or the children.”
“I’m sorry, but it will all be worth it. Matthew said he’s very happy with the way the bone is mending.”
“Yes, he gave Aidan a good prodding and poking yesterday, I could hear the yowls of pain from up in the bedroom across the yard in the barn.” Meredith chuckled. “They’re like little babies when they’re unwell or hurt, aren’t they, men? They make out that they’re so tough that they can bear anything, but the tiniest bit of pain and they don’t stop moaning. It is as well the Good Lord saw fit to make women bear children, I doubt there is a man alive who could get through it.”
“You’re probably right,” Rachel agreed. “But you love him, don’t you? It is clear as daylight how much he loves you.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t swap him for all the money in the world, but I need to have a little moan every now and again, just to get it off my chest.” She laughed. “Hopefully he’ll cheer up a little when the letters start to arrive, so he will have something to do.”
“Letters?”
Meredith clapped a hand to her mouth and shook her head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Can you pretend that I didn’t?”
“I’m afraid that you’ve made it even more intriguing now,” Rachel said. “You’ll have to tell me. I promise I’ll not tell a soul, cross my heart and hope to die.”
They both laughed at her use of the childish expression. “It’s not really my place to say, but I’m not sure I can keep it to myself. It made me so angry when I learned of it.”
“It sounds positively fascinating. Perhaps I can be of assistance, if nothing else so you can vent your frustrations?”
With a heavy sigh, Meredith told her. “Aidan is overseeing a bet, between Matthew and Tom. Matthew was fascinated by how many of us here met because of advertisements in the newspaper, and so Tom bet him that if he placed an advertisement, that Matthew would find love, too, within a year.”
“My goodness, that sounds rather cruel.” Rachel was surprised that Meredith could talk of something like that so calmly. Love was not something to be trifled with. People could get hurt because of this, including Matthew.
“That’s what I said,” Meredith said shaking her head. “The poor women at the end of his letters won’t know that it is all just because of a bet. And what if Matthew does find someone he loves? It will only make him feel terrible for lying to her, and no doubt she’ll be hurt if she ever finds out. And if he loses, Tom doesn’t have that kind of money to give away. Don’t tell them that I told you, they’d be so ashamed if everyone knew, but they lost half their herd to sickness over the winter. If they don’t have a successful calving in the spring, they will be in the most terrible trouble. The thought of losing fifty dollars on top of all that, Elise is worried out of her mind.”
“Given all of that, it is hardly surprising,” Rachel said, shocked that things could be so bad. “Perhaps we could do something to help Tom win the bet, at least?”
“I don’t see what we could possibly do?” Meredith said with a shrug. “I mean, I could possibly run interference with which letters Aidan decides Matthew should reply to, but I can’t do much to influence whether Matthew will like them or not.”
Suddenly an idea came to Rachel. It would be a little risky, but it might work, if they did it right. “We could write to him,” she said cautiously. “You and me and pretend to be women interested in becoming his wife. He need not ever know. Hopefully, he will tell Aidan the sorts of things he wants a woman to like, the traits she should possess and so forth. We can display those things in our letters.”
“And we make him fall in love with us, and not one of them? It’s risky, but it might work,” Meredith agreed. “But if he does fall in love, then what do we do? I’m a married woman, and I’m not sure I want to confess to my husband that I’ve been writing to another man simply to stop him falling in love with anyone else.”
“Then it should perhaps just be me. I can let him down gently should the need arise. I’ve had plenty of experience of that. The wrong men always seem to be the ones most attracted to me, in my limited experience with men.”
“So, he’s the wrong man?” Meredith asked, giving Rachel a playful nudge. “Handsome doctor, intelligent, caring, fun? Whenever I’ve seen the two of you together I’ve thought there was a definite spark there.”
“Most definitely not my type,” Rachel said firmly. “He’s not the kind to settle down. He’s a loner, a drifter. He won’t settle here in Eagle Creek, or anywhere else. He’s not looking for someone to share his life.”
“I hear all of that, but I’m not sure I believe it. And even if your description of him is true, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t attracted to him anyway. Heaven knows I didn’t think I’d ever fall for a man like Aidan, but look at me now.” She grinned, clearly teasing, but her perceptive comments made Rachel feel a little awkward. There was some truth in what she said. Right from their first meeting, she’d thought that Matthew was a good looking man, and they got on extremely well. She’d put that down to having been thrown into such a difficult situation. They’d had to learn to work together really quickly. But unlike the comfortable camaraderie she felt with Maud and Andrew, there was definitely something unspoken between her and Matthew.
“It’s interesting,” she said after a moment’s pause. “I’ve learned so much about so many people here in Eagle Creek, though I’ve been here little more than a month, but he’s a closed book to me in many ways. I know he is a brilliant physician, a skilled surgeon, and that he served in the military as a doctor. But nothing else. Not where he came from, whether he has a family, what he enjoys doing away from his work. He truly is a complete mystery to me.”
“He sounds like he will be a hard nut to crack,” Meredith said thoughtfully. “But, as you said, hopefully he may confide at least a few things to Aidan about the kind of woman he would be happy to correspond with. I’ll do what I can to pass on all I can. Elise will be reassured, she is so worried about that fifty dollars.”
“If my doing this helps her feel better, then I have done my job – after all, she is one of my patients. Now, where will I find the devilish one that helped get me into this mess?”
“Don’t tell him. If he knows, he’ll tell them about it,” Meredith urged her.
“We’ll keep it between us,” Rachel assured her. “Nobody else needs to know.”
“Come inside. I’ll show you the newspaper advertisement. Aidan has a copy of it somewhere. I’ll find it while you check him over. Will you need anything?”
“Some hot water in a bowl would be nice, so I can clean the wound, please?”
Meredith nodded and the two women went inside. Meredith urged Rachel to go into the sunny front parlor, where Aidan was resting with his leg propped up on a small stool with a cushion on it. “How is the patient today?” she asked him brightly.
“Impatient to be up and about,” Aidan said, but he grinned at her. “Poor Merry’s had to do everything since my accident, and I can see it’s wearing her down.”
“She’s managing,” Rachel said as she knelt beside him and opened up her medical bag. “And she has help, I know that Tom and some of the other men in town have been offering some of their time to help her with some of the more difficult tasks.”
“Everyone has been very supportive,” Aidan agreed. “And now I feel like I owe every last one of them.”
Rachel took two clean towels from her bag. She laid one down on the floor beside her and placed some clean dressings, bandages, soft cotton cloths and some scissors on it. “From what I hear, nobody is thinking that way but you. They all seem glad to finally be able to do something for you, rather than you always helping them out.”
Rachel deftly maneuvered the other towel under Aidan’s leg. He winced a little, but didn’t moan or cry out, which was a great improvement from the last time she’d come, when she was sure he’d been biting back tears as she’d moved his stricken limb. Carefully she used the scissors to remove the old bandages, putting them and the splints Matthew had used to hold Aidan’s limb immobile to one side. She was pleased to see that almost no blood had seeped through the dressings from his wounds. “That’s looking hopeful,” she said as Meredith arrived with the bowl of water.
“Doc Inglis said he was pleased with my progress,” Aidan said as she began to moisten one of the cotton cloths then apply it to the dressing. Even though it didn’t look to be too encrusted with blood the dressing was easier to remove once damp and Rachel peeled it back slowly, ensuring there were no stitches catching against it.
Thankful that there were no issues, Rachel carefully bathed the wound with a new cloth, inspecting the stitches carefully, and noting the extent of the remaining bruising and swelling. “You’re doing really well. The wound is clean, the swelling is minimal and your bruising is fading fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Inglis wants to take out those stitches soon as the skin is knitting well.”
“Will that mean I can get up and about?”
“I doubt it,” Rachel said honestly. “You broke more than the skin, after all. While it seems that everything is healing well, leg bones are thick. They take some healing to really knit together again after a break like yours. I think Dr. Inglis would want you to keep your weight off it until he is absolutely sure that the bones are healed. A new break would simply set you back again meaning even longer to rest up.”
“So I have to be a patient patient,” Aidan quipped as she began to dress the wound and bandage the splints back in place.
“Something like that,” Rachel said and chuckled.
She packed up her things, and took the old bandages through to the kitchen where Meredith placed them in the trash. “I’ve left the newspaper on the table for you, there,” she said nodding over her shoulder towards it from the stove, where she was stirring a large iron pot full of stew. “I hope you don’t mind me not stopping doing this, but it sticks if I don’t stir it all the time.”
“Not at all. I’ll leave you be. He’s doing well, but I fear we have our work cut out trying to keep him from trying to do too much too soon.”
“He’s impatient, but he’s sensible enough to listen to you and the doc,” Meredith assured Rachel. “He knows that it’s better to rest up now, than have it get worse. He’ll bear it, even though he hates every minute of not being able to do his work, or play with his children.”
“I think we’d all be just as frustrated,” Rachel said. “I know I would.”
“Me too. I’d be like a bear with a sore head,” Meredith agreed.
Rachel picked up the newspaper and flicked through to the matrimonials page. She skimmed the many advertisements until she found the one that Tom had placed for Matthew.
Gentleman Doctor, currently residing in Montana, seeks a clever, warmhearted woman with a view to marriage. Should be prepared to travel and be interested in the world around her. Can offer good humor and a comfortable income. All replies to Box 43, The Montana Tribune
“They didn’t give a girl much to work from, did they?” Rachel said, shaking her head.
“You will still do it, though, won’t you?” Meredith asked, putting down her spoon and turning round to face Rachel.
“I said I would, and I will. I’ll not make any promises that I can gain his attentions, but I’ll do what I can, for Elise’ sake.
“I know she will be glad of it.”
The two women embraced and Rachel fetched the rest of her things, tucked the newspaper into her bag and walked back down the mountain, wondering what she had let herself in for. Matthew was a good man, she had no doubt of that. His care for his patients was exemplary. But he was so closed off about himself and his own life, that she wasn’t sure that there was anything she might say in a letter that would make him consider her over anyone else that might answer – and she knew that many would. A young doctor was one of the most attractive marriage prospects most women could think of.
She decided that the only thing she could do, was to be herself. Creating some character that did not exist would only tie her up in knots, trying to remember all she had previously said. She did not wish to lie to Matthew. Yet, she also had to ensure that he did not think she was the one writing to him. She could not bear the thought that he might think that she was the same as those other women who would not care one jot for his character, because all they wanted was a doctor for a husband. She did not wish to lose the respect he had for her and the skills and knowledge she had worked so hard to obtain. So, how could she be herself, yet not be herself at the same time? And what would his reaction be if he ever found out that she had written to him? She could only pray that he would understand that her motives had been honorable.