Vivid (11 page)

"Tell them I said they can benefit
more from eating the fruits on their trees and the vegetables in their
gardens."

Edna remained skeptical, so Vivid opened
her handbag and began searching inside for her coin purse. "How's this for
a solution? I will purchase your entire stock of calomel, that way you can tell
your customers you're out of it and it won't be a lie."

"They'll want me to order it the next
time the salesman comes through."

Vivid put the money atop the counter.
"I'll buy the next shipment also, and I'll talk to Mr. Grayson about my
concerns."

"Fine with me. If Nate says to stop
selling it, I will." Edna took the money and placed it in her cash box.

For the rest of the morning Vivid and Miss
Edna worked on Vivid's list of items. Miss Edna had to excuse herself a couple
of times to help other customers, but Vivid used the opportunity to introduce
herself to those willing to shake her hand. Some greeted her enthusiastically,
while others were a bit more reserved. A few of the farmers entered to buy
necessities, then sat around watching Vivid and drinking Miss Edna's coffee.

"You the new doc?" one of the
men asked.

Vivid walked over and introduced herself.
"Yes, sir, I am. I'm Viveca Lancaster, and you are?"

"I'm Abraham Patterson, this here is
my brother Aaron."

Vivid looked at the two middle-aged men
and realized they were mirror images of each other. "You're twins."

Abraham looked over to his brother and
said, "See, Aaron, told you she'd figure it out. She might be female, but
she ain't a blind female."

Vivid couldn't decide whether they were
pulling her leg. "Why didn't you think I'd be able to tell you were twins,
Mr. Patterson?"

"Females ain't known to be real
bright."

"I see," Vivid replied.
"Well, would you be amenable to me taking your histories?"

"Why?" asked the skeptical
Aaron.

"So I'll know what diseases you've
had, how much you weigh, how old you are—that sort of thing."

She waited. She could see Miss Edna
watching intently.

Aaron said, "Got nothing to say to a
female."

Vivid looked around at the seven or eight
other men in the store. "Is this how you all feel?"

Silence.

"I see," she said.

Miss Edna's voice broke the quiet.
"Every last one of you should be ashamed of yourself. This girl came here
to be your doctor when nobody else would, and you're all treating her like a
Democrat. Avery Jackson, you had to go clear to Battle Creek last year when you
fell off your roof. At the council meeting you were the one yelling the loudest
about Nate finding us a doctor. And Aaron Patterson, I have apple trees with
more sense than you. How dare you question her intelligence?''

Her comments were met with furious
mumbles, then someone in the back said, "I still say a woman's got no
right being a doctor."

"And you have mutton for brains,
Peter Templeton," Edna said.

Vivid did not want to start an argument.
"Please. I'm sorry that some of you feel the way you do. All I ask is that
you save judgment until you know me better."

Silence.

Vivid sighed. This was going to be harder
than she'd imagined.

She turned to go back to the counter but
stopped. Nate Grayson stood in the doorway watching, and she wondered how much
he'd heard.

"I'll be ready as soon as I take care
of my purchases."

He nodded.

He assumed the mountain of supplies
stacked beside her were her goods. He knew that fine chefs were paid top wages
in big cities, but it appeared she spent money easily. His ex-wife, Cecile, had
been that way. Accustomed to her minister father's pocketbook, she seemed bent
upon shopping her husband and his family into the poor house during the first
few months of their marriage, until he put a stop to it. But Lancaster seemed
to have purchased other items beside hats and scented soaps. She had rain
slickers and wide-brimmed hats, sturdy boots and cooking pots. He also spotted
candles, a washboard, and two pairs of denim trousers. Lord knew what else lay
beneath the mound on the counter, but it appeared she'd made sound use of her
funds.

Vivid watched Nate out of the corner of
her eye while she finished up with Miss Edna. She could see him evaluating her
goods and she couldn't help but notice how grudgingly impressed he appeared.
She supposed he'd assumed she'd come here to purchase hats or some other female
fripperies.

She wondered how long it would be before
he began judging her as a person and not against some antiquated notion of
female behavior? She thanked Miss Edna for her help.

Miss Edna replied kindly, "Don't let
those men rile you, Dr. Lancaster. Most of them have good hearts. We'll bring
then into the nineteenth century, whether they like it or not. Don't you
worry."

Vivid smiled, grateful for the support.

"Are you ready to go back or is there
something else you need to do while we're here?" Nate asked, coming up to
the counter.

"I believe I have everything. Miss
Edna will let me know when the other things I've ordered come in."

"Sure will," Edna promised.
"Treat her nice, Nate. She's one to keep."

Nate began carrying Vivid's goods out to
the wagon.

"So," Nate asked while he was
loading the wagon, "still believe it's going to be a hoedown getting folks
to accept you?"

"I told you yesterday at the depot, I
fully expect opposition, at first. They'll come around."

"Uh-huh," he replied
skeptically.

Once they both climbed onto the bench he
picked up the reins and said, "This is only the beginning."

As promised, Vernon had dropped off
Vivid's crates at the Grayson house. They were there waiting in front of her
cabin when she and Nate returned from Miss Edna's.

Nate helped her put everything inside.
When they were done, he left without even waiting for a thank you or a goodbye.
He got back atop his big wagon and rumbled away.

Vivid began to unpack, then realized she
had absolutely no place to put anything. She had no wardrobe to hang her
clothes in, no bureau with drawers, not even a shelf for her many books. At the
store today, she'd been so intent on ordering her stove and purchasing needed
supplies, her lack of furniture hadn't even crossed her mind. Where in the
world was she going to put all her possessions?

"Hello, Dr. Lancaster, may I come
in?"

Vivid turned to see Magic standing in the
doorway. “Why certainly, dear. Is school dismissed already?''

“Yes, on account of the bucket of hornets
Becky Carpenter's brother Simon hid beneath old man Phillips's desk."

“Hornets?'' Vivid asked, looking up from
one of the crates. "Was anyone stung?"

"Old man Phillips, but not too badly.
Becky says Simon's going to be stung too once her pa finds out."

"Do you think Mr. Phillips needs a
doctor?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Why in the world did he bring
hornets to school?"

"To upset old man Phillips."

Magic looked at all the crates piled up
everywhere, her eyes wide with amazement. "Goodness. Is all this stuff
yours, Dr. Lancaster?''

Vivid smiled, remembering that Nate had
said much the same thing. "Yes, it is. Only I'm afraid there isn't a place
for any of it."

There were so many crates and boxes
clogging the floor that it was necessary to turn sideways to walk through them.

"Maybe Aunt Gail will let you borrow
some of the old furniture in the attic."

"No, Magic. I don't want to impose
upon your family any more than I have already. Your aunt is feeding me; that's
burden enough."

For the next hour or so, Magic helped
Vivid unearth the items Vivid absolutely needed for her practice. She found her
microscope, which Magic oohed and ahhed over; bedding; bandages; and her
precious bottles of Mr. Lister's carbolic solution.

"What's this for?" Magic asked
as Vivid checked each of the bottles to make certain none had been cracked or
damaged during her long journey. “I use it to keep wounds, and dressings, and
my instruments clean."

"You can't just use water?"

"I could, but this makes everything
extra clean."

Vivid set the bottles against a wall and
when she looked back Magic was gone. Perplexed, Vivid called the girl, thinking
she might have gone into one of the back rooms for a moment, but no one
answered. She pondered the abrupt disappearance for a moment, then, shrugging,
went back to her inventory.

Around mid-afternoon, Vivid heard a wagon
pulling up outside and she stepped onto the porch. Atop the wagon sat Eli,
Abigail, and Magic, and behind them in the bed were large pieces of dark wood
furniture.

Vivid stepped down to meet them.
"Majestic Grayson, I thought I told you not to bother your family about my
needs."

Magic bowed her head and said, "I'm
sorry, Dr. Lancaster, I forgot."

Vivid didn't believe her for a minute, and
by the looks on the faces of Abigail and Eli, she guessed they didn't, either.

It took a while to get everything unloaded
and when they were done, Vivid's small bedroom sported a bed, vanity, bureau,
and wardrobe. The matching writing table wouldn't fit, so Vivid had Eli set it in
the front room.

Soon after, Abigail went back to the
house, while Magic and Eli remained to help Vivid unpack. Vivid discovered Eli
to be intelligent, witty, and very much a flirt. She was glad Magic was there
to keep him in line, but not even the young girl's presence could stop him from
flashing his flirtatious smile her way. By the time Abigail came back to
announce that the afternoon meal was ready, most of their tasks had been
completed. Magic had managed to fit a good portion of Vivid's clothing into the
drawers and the wardrobe, while Eli and Vivid had nailed up the slat shelves.
Her many books were now well displayed, and the instruments and supplies in the
surgery were all in place and ready for use.

"You got these two lazybones to
really work, didn't you, Viveca?" Abigail said, impressed. "It looks
like a home now, doesn't it, Eli?"

"I must say, it doesn't look like
Doc's place anymore," Eli confessed, smiling at Vivid. "Who did these
paintings?'' he asked, indicating the framed sketches and watercolors they'd
hung on the walls.

Vivid smiled. "My sister
Jessica."

"She's very talented," Abigail
replied.

"Pa paints sometimes," Magic
added.

Vivid found that surprising.

"Not as much as he did before the
war," Abigail noted with a bit of sadness in her tone. Then she turned to
her son and asked, "Are you going to eat lunch with us?"

He shook his head no. "It's Nate's
house, Mother. He and I would only argue."

Abigail shook her head, “Eli, the two of
you need to settle this."

"You need two people to settle a
disagreement. When's he willing to listen, I'm willing to talk," Eli
replied.

Eli then looked over at Vivid. "I'm
going up to Kalamazoo for a few days. Do you need me to purchase anything for
you?"

"No, Eli, thank you."

"Mother?"

"Yes, bring back to brains—one
for you and one for your cousin. Come, Magic, let's set the table."

The Grayson women exited, leaving Vivid
and Eli alone. "I should be going, Dr. Lancaster," he said, heading
to the door.

"Please call me Viveca."

He smiled. "Whatever you say, Viveca.
When I return, will you have dinner with me?"

"I can't."

"He said no, didn't he?"

Vivid nodded.

"I knew he would. My cousin may be
stubborn but he's not dumb." Seeing the confused look on Vivid's face, he
continued, "When the time comes, he's not going to want competition,
especially from me."

"Competition? For what?"

"You, my dear doctor."

Vivid stared at him a moment, then began
to laugh. “For me? You can't be serious. He'd rather boil me in oil."

"I'm not jesting, Viveca. You're a
very beautiful and spirited woman. If I may be frank, I find you very
attractive. ''

Vivid could feel her embarrassment
spreading on her face.

"And if I find you attractive, Nate
will, too, believe me. He and I are more alike than we care to admit, present
politics aside, of course."

Vivid shook her head. "Eli, you've
been in the sun too long. Your cousin and I spit like cats every time we come
near each other. He's opinionated, arrogant, and too accustomed to having his
own way, and this I've learned in less than twenty-four hours."

Eli grinned. "Well, don't say I
didn't warn you."