The Midwife's Dilemma (13 page)

M
artha was elated to have gotten a letter from Thomas, but with so many people now living in the household, privacy was truly a precious commodity.

Anxious to read his letter alone before sharing any news with the others, she left the confectionery ten minutes later. With Bird tucked safely in his basket and her letter stored in her reticule, she started off to the clearing above the falls, where she would have the privacy she craved.

Main Street was the usual beehive of activity, with wagon traffic clogging the roadway and pedestrians shopping along the planked sidewalk, sandwiched in between the noisy canal workers at one end of town and mill workers at the other. She started across the covered bridge to reach the path that would wind through the woods and end up at the clearing, but she paused just inside the far end of the covered bridge to take a good look up and down East Main Street. With no sight of anyone walking about to her left, she looked right and found
no sign of anyone seeking treatment at Dr. McMillan's home, either.

Too excited to wait any longer to read her letter, she decided that right there, within the shelter of the covered bridge, would be private enough.

She set the basket down on the ground and took a step beyond it so she could be as close to the light as possible while keeping the basket in the shade. Her hands were shaking as she broke the seal and unfolded the single piece of paper, and her heart raced a little bit faster as she read his short but tender message dated a week ago:

My dearest Martha,

Although I'm desperate to return to you, my beloved, I must remain in Clarion for another week and possibly longer. I pray you're finding more success in your search for someone to assume your duties as a midwife than I am having here trying to convince Micah's father to end their estrangement. I delivered your letter to Mrs. Benson and had a rather lengthy visit with her. Instead of writing back to you, she asked me to reassure you that, while she had no one she could recommend as a new midwife, she would keep your request in mind.

I miss you more and more each day. Once we're together again, I intend to shower you with kisses until you agree we should marry and travel to New York together.

Ever faithful,
Thomas

Disappointed by Naomi's response, she shook her head. Persistent man. Only mildly annoyed that he was still trying to get her to go to New York with him as his wife, she intended to
remind him when he returned that he needed to be a little more patient. Thankfully, she would not have to wait long to do so.

In the meantime, before she attempted to walk to the falls she needed to have better control of her heart, which had started racing the moment she began to read his letter and had not stopped. Just the thought of the kisses he promised her made her vow to double her efforts to find a new midwife for Trinity.

“This is a rather odd place to be reading your correspondence.”

Startled, Martha slapped the letter to her chest before she tipped her chin up to find Thomas standing only a few feet away, directly in front of her, holding the reins to his horse in one hand and his hat in the other. “Mercy, you frightened me half to death!”

“I'm sorry. I thought you'd heard me coming toward you and were ignoring me.”

She huffed. “I wasn't ignoring you. I didn't even hear you approaching. And for that matter, I didn't even know you were back from Clarion.”

“I came back late last night, but it was too late to let you know,” he offered. When he leaned forward to get a peek at the letter she still had pressed against her chest, she hastily folded it up and shoved it into her reticule. He chuckled. “If that's my letter, then that accounts for it.”

She tilted up her chin. “Accounts for what?”

His gaze smoldered. “With your absolute inability to be aware of anything other than how much affection you have for me when you're reading my words, which happens to be exactly how I feel about you when I'm penning them to you.”

When he took a step closer, as if he were ready to shower her with those kisses he had promised, she put up her hand. “In all truth, I was more troubled by your lack of patience.
Persistence isn't always an admirable quality, either, particularly when it comes to repeatedly asking a woman to change her mind about when she would marry you, when you've already accepted her answer.”

“And I might argue that a man who loves a woman as much as I love you is apt to do most anything to change her mind, although one of your kisses might convince me I should apologize.”

When he took yet another step closer, she took two steps back, tripped over Bird's basket, and cried out as her skirts twisted about her legs. With her arms flailing and the bird squawking and attempting to get out of the basket, she fought to stay on her feet.

She would have ended up falling if Thomas had not dropped the reins he had been holding and caught her by both arms. The next thing she knew, his horse charged past them, and Thomas went running after it. She watched in horrified fascination until they both turned north toward the confectionery, with any further view blocked by a pair of farm wagons headed down the street and the side of the covered bridge.

“What a disaster,” she grumbled. She righted the basket and lifted the lid to check on Bird. He was shaking in a corner. “Poor little thing. You're so scared, I haven't a feather of a hope that I'll get you to fly very much today.”

Carrying the basket close to her with both hands, she hurried off to find Thomas, only to find him tethering his mount to the post on the sidewalk right in front of the confectionery.

“I'm sorry to have caused such a ruckus, but at least you found your horse before it got too far,” she said.

He gave her a hard look. “I wouldn't have had to go charging after my horse if you hadn't been carrying that confounded bird of yours about town. I thought you'd set it free by now.”

Martha stiffened her back. “It's not like I haven't tried. His wing is healed and he can fly pretty well now, but I don't think he's strong enough to fly off and fend for himself in the wild quite yet.”

“It's a bird, Martha. Try as I might, I simply can't comprehend why you still have that creature. If you'll just set it free, it'll manage to survive because that's what birds do. They fly. They eat. They survive. And they'll peck at your flesh and draw blood if you get in their way,” he snapped, clearly vexed and still troubled by his childhood encounter with some jays that had left him with a few scars on his scalp and an aversion to birds of any kind.

“I'm sorry. If I had expected to meet you or anyone else on the street, I wouldn't have had Bird with me. In point of fact, I was actually on my way up to the clearing above the falls with him to see if he's really strong enough to fly away,” she explained, grateful that her apology had eased his frown, although not quite into a smile. “Were you on your way out of town when you found me?” she asked, curious to know if he had intended to stop to tell her he was home before he left again.

“I'm not quite certain where I was headed,” he offered and paused for a moment before he continued. “You may as well know. Apparently Bella ran off again the day before yesterday. Since I couldn't find her when I walked around town this morning, I was heading out to see if I could locate her somewhere beyond Trinity before she caused any more trouble. But as it turns out, I don't have to bother now. I know exactly where she is,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

He took the basket out of her arms and set it on the planked sidewalk. Taking hold of her hand, he marched her straight to the entrance of the alley.

To her surprise, she saw Bella standing at the back door to
the confectionery where she was licking at one of the half-dozen pans that customers had returned there. “Bella may not particularly like you, but she's smart enough to remember where to find the sweets she apparently craves as much as you do,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Wait here and stay very still while I walk down to get her. She won't be likely to bolt as long as she doesn't hear you and you aren't anywhere near her.”

Unfortunately, when he was only a few feet away from the horse, Ivy opened the back door, yelped when she saw the horse there, and slammed the door. Just as startled, Bella reared her head and knocked all of the pans off the step. When they clattered every which way, Bella charged down the alley, headed straight for them.

Thomas raced back and pulled Martha into his arms and out of harm's way barely in time to avoid the petrified horse, which had kept running and finally disappeared. Pressed between the side of the building and Thomas's chest, Martha could feel her heart pounding against his and held on tight.

Breathing hard to catch his breath, he made no attempt to let her go. Instead, he bent down to whisper in her ear, “If keeping that horse around gives me the opportunity now and again to hold you this close, I may just let you give that mare to me like you offered to do, remember?”

“I remember no such thing,” she countered and wriggled out of his embrace.

“I've got a sweet little mare in my stable that you can ride if you'd care to come with me now and help me to look for Bella.”

“I can't. I should pick up all those pans and finish the work I have to do in the confectionery,” she replied.

“Then promise I can see you later today or tonight, perhaps. I've got those remedies you asked me to get for you in Clarion
and matters we still need to discuss. What time would suit you best?”

“Tomorrow would probably be better,” she suggested, without letting him know that tonight she had something very difficult to do. She had to say good-bye to Aunt Hilda.

The next morning, while the rest of the household was still fast asleep and darkness blanketed the entire town, Martha slipped out of the confectionery carrying a lantern to light her way. Even though they had said their farewells the night before, Martha could not let Aunt Hilda leave today without one last hug.

She reached Aunt Hilda's home just in time to help pack the last few boxes into the small covered wagon that was now a traveling home for the elderly couple. The interior of the wagon was as homey as Aunt Hilda could make it. Crates loaded with supplies and the few personal belongings Aunt Hilda had wanted to take with them had been tied into place on either side of a makeshift bed that was covered with one of the quilts made by Martha's late mother. A thick pad protected by a layer of oilcloth on top covered the front seat, and Martha hoped her idea to add the pad might help to cushion the ride for the two septuagenarians who were both beaming with anticipation and anxious to depart.

Martha could not imagine setting off for the unknown at any age, but she could not deny Aunt Hilda the right to follow her heart and join her husband on a grand adventure that would surely unleash a storm of gossip once everyone in town discovered what they had done.

Finally, when a glorious sunrise blessed the earth with both warmth and light, they shared one last hug. “Be safe,” Martha
murmured, unable to say more because she had a lump in her throat and was struggling to keep tears at bay.

“I love you, sweet girl. And remember. There are only three things you need to do in this life: Follow God, follow your heart, and follow your dreams. And if you ever have any doubt about what to do, just trust that He'll guide you to the life He means for you to have,” Hilda whispered and squeezed Martha tight before she joined her husband on the wagon seat, where he was waiting for her with reins in hand.

“We both thank you for your help,” Uncle Richard said and nodded toward the house. “Since we didn't expect to see you this morning, Hilda left a little note for you on the kitchen table, and we finally found the key to the house,” he added with a chuckle. “We never used it, but we sure don't have any need for it now. We left that on the table, too,” he offered, then tipped his hat in a final farewell and clicked the reins.

Martha watched through tear-filled eyes until the wagon disappeared from sight. With a heavy heart and spirit, she returned to the little cottage and took some solace from the fact that if they ever wanted to return, their home would be right here waiting for them. To that end, she vowed to keep the cottage locked up safe for them.

She walked into the kitchen and straight to the note that had been left for her on the table next to the key, which was strung on a rather long length of jute with the ends tied together. Martha smiled. Apparently, Aunt Hilda had written her note on the back of a piece of brown wrapping paper she had rescued from something she had purchased at the general store.

She left the key lying on the table and carried the note over to the window for a bit more light so she could see it more clearly and read aloud: “‘Dearest Martha, With all of our children gone before us to Glory, we've decided to transfer ownership of our
home and property to you. Since Thomas was away, we relied on his son-in-law, Micah, to help us. We've already signed the necessary document, and he assures us that it merely awaits your signature before he files it with the proper authorities. Please don't find fault with us for not telling you about our plans in person. We were afraid you'd try to make us change our minds. We pray you'll accept our gift as a token of our love and gratitude for all you have done for us and for so many others in Trinity, and we trust that you'll know how best to use our gift. With love and affection, Aunt Hilda.'”