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eye Jed
saw two young men converging on Hannah. “Excuse me. I’ve got a business
interest to save.” He struck out in her direction.
       Roy guffawed. “You do that, Jed.”
He tugged his hat as dismissal. “You do that.”
       They parted, and Jed thought about
Roy’s words. Hannah was a woman who didn’t want marriage, or so it seemed from
her talk and actions, and although the woman had presented a puzzling case, it
suited him just fine.
       Jed had noted Hannah’s stiff gait in
the mornings. She kept their discussions confined to business or household
matters, and as a consequence they’d discussed everything about the practice,
from the use of dry and wet dressings to disinfectants and antiseptics like
carbolic acid and bromine. He’d been treated to a strange emotional outburst
when they discussed the use of ether and chloroform. She’d said ether scared
her, because it was flammable, and she made repeated mention of Squibb’s ether factory
explosion.
       Jed recalled her general store
purchase of a length of rope, to use in case of a house fire. Hannah had
indicated a preference for a first floor bedroom, but it wasn’t possible, unless
she slept in the surgery, so she’d settled on the rope solution, which she tied
to the bed frame so it was ready to use if she had to make a window escape.
       The conclusion was obvious: Hannah
Sutton was deathly afraid of fire. It was her only phobia, if one didn’t count men and marriage , Jed thought as he eyed her blushing
and edging away from the two young bucks chatting her up at this moment.
       As he hoofed his way to save
Hannah from the jawing, he caught her eye and motioned for her to come over. From
twenty paces he could see her heavy sigh of relief.
       Jed decided he needed to know more
of her, if only to better understand her philosophy and approach to handling
patients. At least that’s what he told himself.
       “Doctor Hannah, are you ready to
go home?”
       She smiled readily, with eyes to
undo a lesser man. “Oh yes, I’m ready to go. I didn’t finish rolling bandages
yesterday.”
       Once again, Jed offered his arm,
and they waved and shouted “goodbye” to the gregarious wedding party.
       In silence, they walked the too-narrow
path to the street. Jed edged into the grass to give Hannah room to move in her
full skirt. Their strides became more leisurely as they put more distance
between themselves and the joyous fracas. He caught her studying the clapboard
buildings and a posse of miners loitering outside the general store, the older
ones carrying hunched shoulders and bent backs from years of work inside the
earth. They doffed their hats respectfully and stared as Hannah walked by.
      “I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to
fending off the cowpunchers,” Jed murmured.
       “They were nice men, just not
accustomed to seeing many single women, I suppose.”
       “You let me know if any of them
give you trouble.” His voice was low and hoarse.
       She quickened her step. “Oh, I
don’t expect trouble.”
       “So . . . what made you decide to
become a doctor?” He threw the question out casually.
       She hesitated a moment, glaring at
a tree along the path as though he were asking a mule-foolish question. His
anticipation hung on the warm breeze, and he was on the verge of saying “never
mind” when she took a deep breath and shot out her response. “A doctor helped
my family, and I wanted to be like him. I wanted to help people, especially
sick and injured people. There’s nothing finer than curing illness.”
       “You had a great inspiration for
your aspiration,” he observed.
       “Yes, and it became my passion.”
There was a genuine glow about her face. “Seeing as you asked me, I think it’s
fair to turn the table. Why did you become a doctor, Jed?”
       “My father’s brother, my uncle,
was a doctor. I assisted him, starting when I was ten years old. He taught