Saturday morning Miss Aileen gave Piper messages to take to the Hyden Hospital. “It’s only a few miles, Danny. A nice walk on a pleasant day like today. So no need bothering with a horse.”
“I don’t know how to get there.” Piper could imagine wandering around the hills all day, totally lost.
“Ask Marlie. She’ll tell you.” Miss Aileen waved Piper out the door and turned her attention back to the papers on her desk.
“She gave you the easy job.” Marlie came out of the barn and stuck her pitchfork in the dirt.
“I’ll switch. I know how to clean stalls. I don’t know how to get to the hospital.”
“No, no. You need to learn your way around, and it’s easy peasy getting there. Just over the swinging bridge and straight across to the hospital. Easy trail all the way. Nobody can get lost between here and there.” Marlie pointed the direction. “Walking will help you get a feel for the lay of the land before we head off to the centers next week. Later, you can copy some of my maps so you’ll know how to get places.”
Piper had seen one of those maps with squiggly lines, circles, and squares that meant nothing at all to her. But Marlie claimed it was plain as day. Creeks, boulders, trees, trails, and springs.
“It’s good to know where these springs are in case the creeks dry up and your horse needs a drink.” Marlie had pointed to wavy lines. “At least that’s what they told me. But right now there’s plenty of water in the creeks.”
Piper stared at the paper while Marlie explained the markings. Some of the little squares had names scribbled beside them. Houses, Marlie said. Piper couldn’t imagine finding anywhere by looking at those maps, but Marlie and Suze both claimed she’d figure it out in no time and find her way around with no problem.
“Honest. We’ve not lost a courier yet.” Suze had squeezed Piper’s shoulder. “And if you do go missing, we’ll send Ginger to track you down.”
Now, as Piper listened to Marlie repeat the directions, she did wish Ginger could go along. But the poor dog was too heavy with pups to go out on the trails. However, a beagle mix called Rusty came out of the barn and leaned against Piper’s leg.
“I think Rusty likes you,” Marlie said. “That’s the way it is around here. The dogs pick their favorites. Well, except for Ginger and everybody is her favorite, but especially whoever is sleeping in our room.”
“Do you think Rusty will go with me over to the hospital now?” Piper leaned down to scratch behind his ears.
“Possibly. He seems to want to be your buddy.” Marlie looked down at the spotted brown-and-white dog.
“So if I get confused about the trail, I can follow him.” Piper straightened up and stared toward the river.
“You won’t get confused about the trail.”
“Maybe not this one, but maybe another one sometime.” Rusty jumped up on Piper to get another head rub.
“Rusty knows where his food dish is.” Marlie smiled. “So he might get you home. Unless he sees a rabbit. Then he’d be gone to who knows where, and you might end up in the middle of a blackberry patch. Not a place you want to be. Trust me. You’d come out looking like you’d had a fight with a dozen mad cats.”
“Not to mention that snakes might be hiding out there.” Piper pushed Rusty down.
“Don’t talk about snakes.” Marlie shivered. “I hate them. Absolutely ‘Garden of Eden’ hate them. I don’t care what Suze says about how they are an integral part of nature’s plan by eating mice and such. They can participate in the plan somewhere far from me.”
“Have you seen any since you’ve been here?”
“Oh yeah. This time of the year, the creatures love to crawl out on a warm rock to soak up sunshine, or so Suze says. She’s a veritable walking encyclopedia about the mountain flora and fauna.” Marlie looked around as though worried a snake might be slithering up beside them right then.
“Where is Suze?” Piper peered past Marlie at the barn.
“While you helped clear away breakfast, Nurse Robbins came for her to go on a call. A man showed up to say his wife was punishing bad.”
“Punishing?” Piper frowned.
“That’s what the men say when their wives are in labor. The local people have plenty of odd sayings, but you get so you know what they mean. At least the nurses generally do. Even those from England. Come to think of it, you might have to listen to the nurses twice too, to get what they say. They put the prettiest lilt to their words. Well, you heard Nurse Robbins last night.” Marlie pulled some coins out of her pocket and handed them to Piper. “After you’re through at the hospital, go down to Hyden and buy some candy bars. Always good to have a snack when you’re out on rounds in case we miss a meal.”
Piper stuffed the coins in her pocket. “You’re sure I won’t get lost?”
“I’m sure. Over the bridge.” She pointed toward the river. “Then follow the path. Hyden is just down the mountain from the hospital. Mercers is a good place to buy things. If you get back in time, you can help me give the horses a bath down at the river. And then Miss A wants us to work up a row in the garden. Mrs. Miller is coming by later to plant more beans. You’ll like her. She’s full of mountain sayings.”
Marlie pulled the pitchfork out of the dirt and headed back to the barn. At the door she turned and pointed her finger at Piper. “Next time I get to go to town and you get to clean stalls.”
“Fine with me,” Piper said, but Marlie had already disappeared into the barn. She muttered the rest of her words. “I know horses. I don’t know hills.”
Yet. That was the key word. Yet. And the same as a person couldn’t learn to ride without getting on a horse, she wasn’t going to learn the hills without stepping out on their paths.
She reached down and fondled Rusty’s ears again. “You going with me? You might be good company if you don’t see a rabbit.”
She went by the Garden House to get some money of her own. If she was going to a store, she might as well look through their offerings. Marlie was right. A person could get hungry out on the trail. Piper did know that much.
Rusty lay down in the road as though not at all interested in wherever Piper was going. She didn’t know if she should call him, but a click of her tongue didn’t seem wrong. He lifted his head, stood up, and stretched. Then as though deciding he didn’t have anything better to do, the dog trotted after her.
“Good dog,” Piper said. Maybe the dog would scare away any snakes along the way.
Marlie was right. The path was plain, and by the time Piper got to the swinging bridge, her step was light. She wasn’t going to lose her way on her first solo assignment, and so far no snakes had slithered into sight. Rusty ran this way and that on the trail, sniffing bushes, clumps of grass, and sticks. She wondered what his nose was telling him about whatever had passed this way before them. Must not have been rabbits since he didn’t chase off through the bushes.
At the bridge, she wished for the camera back in her room. She had promised Della some pictures, but their cook wouldn’t expect a picture like this. The narrow plank walkway floated out in the air over the river. Cables attached to wooden post structures on opposite sides of the river held it up.
When Piper stepped gingerly out on the first planks, the bridge swayed as though she were standing in a swing. But with the sides fenced up to her waist, she couldn’t fall off. She moved farther out on the bridge and stopped, suspended in air. Definitely an adventure.
She thought of Jamie then. He wouldn’t be standing still. He’d be running across the bridge, shaking the cables to make her scream or maybe laugh.
Yes, laugh. Jamie could always make her laugh because he had a way of always seeing the fun in something. That might not be true anymore. His father’s death could have changed him. Must have changed him or he wouldn’t have stopped writing her. He would have found a way to come see her. Then maybe the other girl was what had changed him.
Ahead of her on the bridge, Rusty stopped and looked back. When she didn’t move, the dog barked as if to say, Come on. Not going to find any rabbits out here.
Piper shoved thoughts of Jamie aside. “I’m coming,” she called, as though the dog would understand.
Rusty turned and plodded on across the bridge. So maybe he did. Piper held on to the cables and stepped lightly, but the bridge still bounced and swayed under her feet. Not a bad feeling, and by the time she was halfway across, she had adjusted to the cadence of the bridge and walking was easy.
She had to write to someone about this bridge. But who? She had promised to write to Braxton Crandall, but she couldn’t imagine him being interested in how being on the bridge made her want to shout into the wind or throw a rock into the water below just to hear it splash. She had no idea what he might be interested in. A wife, he’d said. She certainly didn’t want to write to him about that. She might stick with rhododendrons or maybe the whippoorwill. He might like birds. Who didn’t like birds?
Jamie. That’s who she wanted to tell about the bridge. Maybe she’d forget about that pretty blonde holding his hands and write him anyway. They could surely still be friends. No wife talk with him either. Wasn’t her plan to completely forget thoughts of a future husband this summer and think horses and mountains? And dogs, she added when Rusty barked at her as though to hurry her up again.
When she stepped off the bridge, the ground felt too solid. Sometimes she had that same feeling after dismounting from a horse. Back to earth. But she wouldn’t stay forever tied to the ground. She’d be riding all over these hills this summer, and who knew how many times she might walk across this swinging bridge.
At the hospital, she left Rusty to chase his rabbits while she went inside to deliver Miss Aileen’s messages.
“You must be the new courier.” A nurse came up to Piper in the hallway. “Good. We can use some extra help.”
Piper held out the bundle of messages. “Miss Aileen wanted me to give these to Nurse Thompson.”
“That’s me.” She took the bundle and stuffed it into the generous pocket of her uniform without the first glance at them. Instead she peered at Piper’s shirtsleeve. “Where are your initials?”
Piper looked down at her arm. “Initials?”
“FNS. Didn’t you get patches to sew on your sleeve?”
“Oh. Yes, but I haven’t sewn them on yet.”
The nurse gave her a disapproving look. “I’m guessing you haven’t the first idea of how to thread a needle.” She sighed. “Tell Suze to help you. I showed her how to sew on her patches last year when she was here. I am amazed at the basic skills you girls come here not knowing. Everybody should know how to sew on a button. Or a patch.”
“I’ll sew it on tonight.”
“Yes, you will.” The woman tapped the spot on Piper’s sleeve below her shoulder. “And don’t go out in the hills without it. It’s pretty evident you’re an outlier. A pretty one at that, but you won’t have the first problem with any of the mountain men with that patch. They respect Mrs. Breckinridge’s people. And you, as one of her people, need to respect them.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Piper was ready to agree with anything this woman said.
The nurse turned and started down the hall. When Piper didn’t follow her, she frowned over her shoulder at her. “Well, don’t just stand there. We’ve got things to do.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Piper said again.
“What’s your name, anyway?”
“Piper Danson.” She didn’t see any reason to introduce herself as Danny.
“Right, Danny.” The woman smiled at Piper’s face. “We do have telephones. Aileen told me you were on the way over. And your nickname. The other nurses call me Tommy. I’m not so crazy about that either, but I put up with it. You’ll have to do the same, but keep in mind the couriers need to be more formal with the midwives. So Nurse Thompson to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Piper didn’t think anything else was safe to say.
“You do sound rather like a parrot.” Nurse Thompson peered over at Piper. “My fault, I suppose. I have been told I come on a bit strong. So forgive me for that. As for the name Danny, you’ll get used to it. Count your blessings. It could have been Pip.”
“Or Pippay,” Piper muttered as she hurried to keep up with the nurse.
The nurse actually laughed. “That has a bit of a French flair. Pip-pay.” Without slowing her steps, she made a flourish in the air with one hand. She looked over at Piper. “Do you like babies?”
“I . . .” Piper wasn’t sure what to answer. She had never been around babies. At least not since her brother was born and she was only six then. Maybe she should just stick with “yes, ma’am,” but Nurse Thompson didn’t wait for an answer.
“Who doesn’t like babies? And children too. They are so brave when they are sick or must get a shot. Poor little tykes.”
She started to push open a door, but then stopped. “I had thought to let you rock the babies, but maybe I’ll let you spend some time with Billy. The poor kid spilled lye water from his mother’s soap-making on his leg and arm. By the time his father brought him in, the burns were infected. Worried for a while he might lose his leg, but we got past that.”
“That sounds awful,” Piper said.
“You’ll see plenty of awful while you’re here.” Nurse Thompson’s voice was grim. “Billy’s mother can’t come down to stay with him. Not with two other children at home. Billy is six, hardly a baby, but he’s homesick.” She gave Piper another look and nodded. “You might be just what he needs to cheer him up.”
“What will I do?” Piper could work with horses. She could dig in gardens. She had no idea how to entertain a child.
“Whatever you want. Tell him stories. Read him a book. Draw pictures. Just don’t let him bother his bandages. I have the feeling he thinks if he can get rid of those pesky things, he can go home. Little rascal.”
“All right. I’ll give it a try.”
“Of course you will, but wash your hands first.” She pointed toward a restroom. “And do a proper job. Under the fingernails too. Cleanliness is vital in a hospital. I do hope you are aware of that, Danny.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Piper hurried to do as she was told. She could almost hear Nurse Thompson tapping her foot impatiently and counting to be sure Piper was taking enough time to scrub her hands properly.
When Piper went back out into the hallway, she resisted the urge to hold up her hands for the nurse’s inspection while at the same time half expecting the woman to demand she do so.