Lucinda (11 page)

“What if Jasper came in shooting?” Henry asked furiously.

“He didn’t.  And, I did not open the door for him.  And, it wouldn’t have made any difference if I’d told Gracie and Flo to go away… Jasper would still have come, and kicked in the door and I would have had to clobber him!”  She stomped her foot, her temper flaring.  “You are being ridiculous, Henry Zabarski, and I am going to bed!  You can clean up after yourself!”  She went to the bedroom and slammed the door loud enough to wake his patients.

Henry got to his feet and went to the infirmary.  The Sergeant was awake and looked at him consideringly.  “Everything okay, Doc?” he asked.

“Just fine,” Henry replied softly.  “Are you in pain?”

“Not too much,” the man answered, and then said, “Don’t be too hard on your lady, Doc.  She’s special.”

“She has a terrible temper,” Henry admitted sheepishly.  “I made her mad and she slammed the door.  I’m sorry she woke you.”

The other man chuckled.  “She told me you got married today… She’ll settle down some when you two get to know each other.  Now don’t sit out here with us.  We’re both doing okay.”

Henry nodded, and then checked on Flo.  She was still sleeping and so was Gracie.  He decided to go and deal with his wife.

Lucinda held her breath for a while after she slammed the bedroom door, positive Henry would come right after her and spank her for throwing a tantrum.  When he didn’t come right away, she calmed herself and was just starting to relax when Henry came through the door.  Before he could say a word, she took one look at the expression in his blue eyes and said, “I’m sorry I slammed the door.  I didn’t think about your patients…”

“I know you didn’t.”  The look in his blue eyes warned her she was still in trouble.  “You may finish getting ready for bed and then come to me and bring your hairbrush with you.  You’re going to get a spanking tonight after all,” he informed her.

“No, Henry!  You are being unfair.  I did what needed to be done… and this is our wedding night!  I don’t want you to ruin everything!”

“I didn’t ruin everything; you did when you disobeyed me.”

“Henry, if you spank me for helping Flo, I will be very angry with you!”

“I am going to spank you for disobeying me.  When you are told to keep a door locked, then you will keep that door locked.  What if someone was forcing Gracie to yell out?”

“Then she would have needed my help!”  Lucinda turned up her chin.  “You are just being ridiculous, Henry.  And, I swear, if you spank me tonight, there won’t be a wedding night for a good long while and you will be sleeping elsewhere!”

“Lucy, threatening me is a big mistake, and you just made the spanking I planned to give you that much worse.”

“And you just ensured that I won’t be your wife at all!” she announced.  “I am going to file for an annulment.  Get out of this room, Henry Zabarksi.  I wish I’d never met you!”  As soon as the words left her mouth, Lucinda knew she’d made a terrible mistake.  Henry shot up off the bed and crossed the room, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to his chest.

“You love to push, don’t you, Lucy?” he asked, trying to control his own temper.  “I gave you an order for your own safety.  There are so many strangers in town who wouldn’t ordinarily be here, young lady.  Keeping you safe is my responsibility, and I can’t do that if you won’t obey me.  You have gone out of your way today to earn a spanking, and I realize now that I made a huge mistake being so gentle with you earlier.  I should have walloped you soundly when I found you in the saloon!  Since then you’ve been in two fights, sneaked out of here, and then opened a door when you were told to keep it locked.  What you should have done was tell Gracie I was out on a call, and told her to take Flo home and I would come and treat her as soon as I got back.”

“And I suppose I should have convinced Jasper she was at her home so he could finish what he started?” Lucinda snapped.

“Of course not, and stop trying to confuse the issue,” he growled.

“Tell me, Henry, would you be so upset with me if Jasper hadn’t come here looking for trouble?  Is it the fact that I handled him myself that has you angry?”  Her angry green eyes dared him to be honest with her.

“What has me upset is that you opened the door when I told you to keep it locked and not let anyone inside, wife.  You didn’t know Gracie.”

“I know that you are a doctor, and that she came to you for help for Flo.  If I can handle the likes of Jasper, and those two men who shot Mr. Tune today, then I can certainly deal with one female!”  She was quite exasperated.  “Henry, you are wrong about this situation.  I did the right thing, and nothing is going to change that in my mind.  If you are determined to spank me, then go right ahead, but you’d best be sure you want to make me furious with you.  I didn’t do anything wrong tonight.”

“Did you disobey me?” he asked softly.

“Not in spirit, Henry.  I heard someone who truly needed help and I responded to the fear in Gracie’s voice.  I made the choice to help.  I didn’t say, ‘Oh, I am going to disobey Henry!’”

“And if two men were standing there?” he asked.

“If I heard the same note of concern and desperation in his voice, then I would have tried to help, Henry,” she replied truthfully.  “I would rather trust people than get known for turning folks away because you aren’t here.  I want to be a help to you, if you allow me to learn.  There is so much I don’t know,” she confessed.  “You need to tell me how to handle things so I don’t do something wrong and hurt someone before you can help them.  I truly didn’t know whether or not to give Flo laudanum, and she was in so much pain!”

Henry’s anger melted when he saw the genuine tears of frustration in Lucy’s pretty green eyes.  “You did the right thing, honey,” he said softly.  “You should never give someone medication of any sort unless I tell you to.  You cleaned her wounds and you did everything you could do for Flo.  She thinks you are an Angel,” he admitted with a smile for her.  “Gracie thinks you’re too good for me,” he said with a grin.

“I don’t want to be too good for you, Henry,” Lucy said quietly.  “I want to love you, and I want you to love me.  I don’t want to keep angering you all the time, but I can’t change what I feel is right and what I feel is wrong.  Henry, I would never be able to live with myself if I turned Gracie and Flo away tonight.  I’m not a hypocrite, and I would no more turn my skirts from them than I would give preferential treatment to Miss McCrae if she needed help.  Do you understand, Henry?  I am not like my father.  I think every human being deserves the right to be respected.  I am sorry you were frightened when you came back from delivering that little baby, but I think Mac colored your first impressions before you had all of the facts.  He doesn’t much like me,” she said regretfully.

“You scared Mac, too,” Henry released her wrist and pulled her close to hug her tightly.  “He likes you, probably a bit too much,” Henry informed her.

“Ohhhh!” Lucy exclaimed, surprised.  “I didn’t know,” she whispered.

“I know, and don’t worry about it.  Mac was angry that you had to deal with Jasper.  He’s seen first hand how mean Jasper is when he drinks.  It’s not the first time he’s beat on a woman, and Mac was afraid Jasper would come to and hurt you before he got here to help.”

“Are you still planning to spank me, Henry?” Lucinda asked softly.

“I probably should, but I’d rather make love to you,” he confessed, and then swept her off her feet and carried her to bed.

* * *

The Indian situation didn’t improve for the next several weeks.  Both the Sergeant and the young soldier improved and Doc Z released them to return to their unit.  The Apache finally moved away from the area and the people in town were able to return to their homes, provided their homes were still standing and hadn’t been burned out by the Indians.  Life settled down, and the telegraph lines were repaired and the stage lines were once again in operation.

Lucy finished sprucing up her kitchen, and was proud as could be when Henry praised her work and told her it felt more like ‘home’ now.  Lucy also spent as much time as possible at Henry’s side in the Infirmary, learning what she could from him about treating illnesses and injuries.  She also met a lot of people, most of whom she liked very much, and most of them treated her well.  There were a few women who seemed to dislike her before they even met her, and Lucy shrugged it off as best she could.  She was smart enough to know that it was mostly jealousy from them, or their Mama’s, because she was the one Henry married, instead of one of them!

Lucy was also pleased to learn that she loved sharing her husband’s bed.  Making love to him was as natural as breathing, and Henry made her feel truly beautiful when she gave herself to him.  Marriage was turning out to be wonderful, and Lucinda was truly happy with her life, for the most part.  The part of her marriage that she didn’t much like was the fact that Henry believed in spanking, and when she lost her temper without a darn good reason, he was quick to turn her bottom up for a good spanking.  He wasn’t harsh with her, but he was very firm, and Lucy found that she was learning to control her temper somewhat as a result.

Lucinda was content with her new life and when there was a knock on the waiting room door, she wiped her hands on her apron and went to see who needed help.  Henry was out delivering another baby, so it would be up to her to deal with the situation until he returned.

She opened the door to the waiting room, a smile on her face which suddenly turned into a frown when she saw who the visitor was.  “Father, what are you doing here?”

Chapter Eight

Lucinda couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw her father standing in the waiting room of Henry’s office.  “Father…?  Why are you here?  Is Mother well?” she asked in genuine concern for the timid woman who raised her.

“Your Mother is well,” he stated, clearly frustrated.  “It should be obvious why I am here, Lucinda.  I have come to take you back to Boston where you belong.”

“I belong here with my husband, Father,” Lucinda said firmly.  “I am sorry you made the trip for nothing.  I will not be returning with you.”

“You are my daughter and you will do as I say, even if I have to thrash you with a cane to make you see reason.”

Lucy felt her temper soar, but she did her best to remain civil as she replied, “I may have been born to you, but I am of legal age and I will do as I please.  If you even attempt to thrash me with a cane, I promise I will take it from you and hand it back in tiny pieces.  If you have said all you came to say, please leave.  I am busy fixing dinner for my husband.”

“Husband?  You have no husband.  I did not give my consent to this so called marriage,” Calvin Jacobs declared.  “Unless you come along right now, I will see this man arrested and thrown in jail for rape.”

Lucinda looked at him in shocked disbelief.  “Have you finally lost your mind, Father?  I was of legal age when I married Henry.  There is nothing you can do to change that.”  She suddenly laughed.  “You actually have no idea whatsoever of my age, do you?  Send Mother a telegram and ask her if you don’t believe me.  Your threats are useless.”

“I can disinherit you,” he threatened angrily.

“Please do.  I have no need of you or of anything you own.  Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do.”  Just as she turned to walk away she heard gunshots in the street, and seconds later there were pounding footsteps on the stairs outside the door before the door was thrust open.

“Sheriff’s been shot, Mrs. Z.  Where’s Doc?”

“He’s delivering a baby, Sam.  Can you get Mac up here to the treatment room?”

“They’re bringin’ him now.”

Lucy forgot all about her Father standing there, and in fact, she shoved him aside so that the men carrying the unconscious Mac could get through and put the man on the examining table in the next room.  She calmly assessed Mac’s injuries and quickly realized the head wound was the most serious.  Fortunately the bullet merely grazed his temple, but Mac was unconscious as a result.  She cleansed the wound and realized that stitches wouldn’t help.  All she could do was apply an ointment she’d seen Henry use and bandage the wound.  Once she finished with that, she turned to the wound on his upper arm.  That one she could stitch, and she did, quickly and with confidence, and was ready to bandage his arm when Henry came rushing through the door.

“How bad is it, Lucy?” he demanded, the concern on his face evident.

“Mac is unconscious, but the wounds don’t seem serious, Henry.  I’ve done the best I can do.”  She watched as her husband unwound the bandage on Mac’s head and asked her questions.  He nodded in satisfaction, and carefully re-bandaged the wound.  He then helped her bandage Mac’s arm, and once that was done he pulled her close and hugged her tightly.

“You did well, Lucy.  I’m proud of you.”

“Do you know who shot Mac?” she asked.

“Some drunken cowboy in off a trail drive.  We could have trouble, Lucy, and I don’t want you out on the street alone right now.”

“What kind of trouble?” she wanted to know.

“The kid has been bragging that the drovers will storm the town and get him out of jail.  I’ve met the trail boss before, and the kid might be right.  Personally, I think the herd would be better off without his hothead, but Razz Fencil might think different.”  He gave her a quick kiss and said, “I’d better see to the dude out in the waiting room.  We’ve kept him waiting a good while already.”

“Oh… He’s not a patient,” Lucy said, but Henry was already on his way out the door.  She took a deep breath and followed, not a bit sure how her husband was going to deal with her father.

Calvin Jacobs was scowling and Lucinda had no trouble discerning his displeasure when Henry apologized for making him wait so long to be seen.  “I certainly am not ill, and if I was, I certainly would not permit a horse doctor in a small town such as this to treat me!”

Henry’s temper flared and his blue eyes were chips of ice as he looked at the older man.  “Then why are you here?” he demanded.