Nurse Freeman, the nurse midwife at the Wilder Ridge Center, came out on the porch with a big smile when Piper rode up.
“It’s your lucky day, Danny. We’ve got a whole list of things that need doing. I hope you brought a change of clothes.”
“I did.” Piper lifted the saddlebags off Bella.
“Come on inside and let me find the list before you tend to your horse.” The nurse kept talking as Piper followed her inside. “Things are so busy out here right now that it’s hard to keep up with everything.”
“What do you need?”
Piper and Marlie had stopped at this center when they made the rounds a few weeks ago. The front room was cozy, with a rag rug and rocking chairs around an iron stove. Two big windows gave a view of the hillside running down to a creek. Through a doorway, she glimpsed the clinic area as she trailed the woman into a kitchen with a cookstove, a white cabinet, and a table with three chairs.
“Plenty.” Nurse Freeman was shorter than Piper, with a tough leanness about her. She rummaged through some papers on the table. “Now where did Janet put that list? Janet—Nurse Hankins—is out on a call. Been gone all the day. I’m guessing Mrs. Jefferson’s baby is being a slow comer. Fact is, I could be called out tomorrow, but tonight should be peaceful if nobody shoots themselves in the foot, gets snakebit, or falls off a cliff. The way people can injure themselves around here, you just wouldn’t believe.”
She looked up at Piper. “How long did you say you’ve been here in the mountains?”
“I came the last of May.”
“So about a month. Have you had the privilege of being with one of us on a delivery?”
“I went with Nurse Robbins once and got to watch her deliver a little boy.”
“Ahh, Robbie. She’s a good one for sure. Been here for years. Loves the mountains.” She shuffled through another pile of papers. “Janet and I could use some better organization. Maybe you can do that while you’re here. But back to Robbie and the mountains. These hills do pull you in. Do you feel that, Danny?”
“I did as I rode down the mountain after the rain.”
“They are a sight to behold. I fancy the early morning with mist rising up out of the valleys. Of course, it’s not so nice when fog blankets the place, and you have the dreadful feeling that your horse might take a wrong step and you’ll end up in a hollow. Maybe with the both of you having a broken leg. At least they don’t shoot nurses who break their legs. Horses, poor things, are a different matter.”
“Bella didn’t have any problems.”
“I’ve ridden Bella. She’s a good one. Lady I have now is a fine mare but reluctant when the creeks run high. Then again, I’m reluctant when the creeks run high. Not that much rain today. Thank the heavens.”
“Yes.” Piper waited, not sure what she might be expected to do. She did hope it wasn’t cooking. She could clean out the barn. Weed the garden. Take the horses to the creek, but if it was cooking, they were all in trouble.
“Oh, I give up.” Nurse Freeman pushed the papers back into the semblance of a pile. “I remember the things we needed most, anyway. One of the boys came around the end of last week and took care of weeding the garden. And weeded around the center too. So that got done. Praise the saints. Weeds give snakes too good a place to hide to sneak out on our steps. Trust me, it is not pleasant to step on a snake as one is rushing out on a call.” The nurse peered over at Piper. “Are you afraid of snakes?”
“Not my favorite of God’s creatures.”
“Nor mine. But wait until you meet Nurse Hankins. She’s amazing. Not that she likes snakes, but she’s not afraid of them. She killed this big rattlesnake. Don’t ask me how. I intend to never get that close to one. But she did, and then skinned it to make a belt. Can you imagine?”
“I’d rather not.”
“Right. Just having that snakeskin around gave me the shivers.” The nurse gave a little shake.
“Does she have a snakeskin belt now?”
Nurse Freeman laughed. “That’s the thing. Her dog found it and chewed it up. Good boy, I say.”
Piper laughed too.
“But don’t tell her I said that. She was rather put out with Bandit.”
“Do you have a dog? I didn’t see one when I came in.”
“I had one, but poor girl got sick and died. So very sad. Miss her.” Nurse Freeman brushed away a tear. “Silly to weep over a dog, but she was great company, night or day.”
“I’m sorry. But if you decide you want another dog, Ginger had her pups at Wendover.”
A smile replaced the nurse’s tears. “I heard that. Do they look like Ginger?”
“They do. Round little balls of golden sunshine.”
“I’ll put in an order for one, although pups can be a trial the way they like to chew up things. Things besides rattlesnake skins. But back to business.” She pointed at a paint can on the floor. “The doors and woodwork here in the center need painting in the worst way. Have you ever done any painting?”
Piper gave the can a dubious look. “Nothing except a watercolor picture when I was a kid.”
“Not exactly the same.” The nurse looked amused as she shook her head. “Well, it’s not hard. You dip the brush in the can and smear it on. You’ll do fine. You can start in the morning. I’ve got an old shirt you can wear. Now you need to see to the horses.”
She handed Piper a basket. “Take that to get the eggs on the way back in. But watch out for the rooster. He’ll try to spur you in a second if you turn your back on him. I keep telling Janet we should have chicken soup. Anyway, you can find corn in a barrel out in the barn. The rascal behaves if you feed him. Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can find for us to eat. Might have to be eggs. Oh, and if I get called out tonight, you can go with me.”
Piper’s head was spinning as she picked up the basket and started outside.
“I don’t suppose you could milk the cow,” the nurse called after her.
Piper looked around at the nurse. “I have no idea how to milk a cow.”
“No time like the present to learn.” The woman must have noted Piper’s complete astonishment at the thought of milking a cow. She waved her hand at Piper. “Never mind. I’ll milk the old girl. I’m guessing you’ve never seen anybody milk a cow.”
“Actually, no.”
“I was the same way when I came to the mountains, but you learn pretty quickly how to do things around here. But me mentioning milking has you looking about ready to hightail it back to Wendover. Even in the dark. Night does fall fast here in the mountains, so hurry on about the chores.” She nodded toward the door. “I’ll be out to milk old Clara in a bit.”
Piper rubbed down Bella and then fed and watered her and the nurse’s mare. With a watchful eye on the rooster, she fed the chickens and went in the chicken house to hunt for eggs. The light was so dim she couldn’t see into the nests. She wished for her flashlight that was back at the Garden House. She cringed each time she reached into a dark nest. She was relieved to find some eggs while no unseen critter nipped her fingers.
When she came out of the chicken house, Nurse Freeman called to her from the barn. “Come on, Danny. I’ll give you a milking lesson. It’s something you can brag about when you go back home.”
Piper sighed. Nothing for it but to go back to the barn and get way closer to a cow than she’d ever expected to be. Nurse Freeman obviously wasn’t someone to be refused.
With her head secured in a wooden stanchion, the yellow-brown cow munched on feed. She swished her tail to brush away flies.
“She’s a gentle soul.” Nurse Freeman sat down on a short stool by the cow’s flank and washed her udder. “She might hit you with that tail, which isn’t pleasant, but she won’t kick you. At least she hasn’t me.” She grinned up at Piper. “I’m careful not to pinch her.”
She squeezed out a stream of milk from each teat into a small can and handed it to Piper. “Pour this in that pan over there for the cat. Jinx will be looking for it later.” She positioned the bucket under the cow’s udder and looked to be sure Piper was watching. “First you wrap your thumb and index finger around the top of the teat and squeeze it gently. Then slowly work your way down the teat by adding one finger at a time to make the milk squirt into the bucket.” Two streams of milk hit the metal bucket. She kept working her fingers until no more milk came out.
She eased up off the stool, holding the bucket. “Don’t want to spill the milk we have.” She motioned to Piper. “Now, you give it a try.”
Piper pulled in a breath. “You’re sure she won’t kick?”
“Not Clara.” The nurse patted the cow’s rump. “We ought to hire her out to people who want to learn to milk.”
Piper started to say she wasn’t one of those people, but instead she sat down on the stool and put the bucket Nurse Freeman handed her back under the cow. The odor of the milk and cow along with some hints of manure was earthy. Different from a horse’s smell, but not totally unpleasant.
“Don’t try both hands at once until you figure it out,” Nurse Freeman said. “Pick one of the teats I didn’t strip.”
Piper did as she said. Nothing happened. The cow shifted a little to the side as though to get away from Piper.
“Don’t be so tense. You’re making the poor girl wonder. Try again.” Nurse Freeman leaned down to watch Piper’s hand as she repeated the directions. “Don’t forget to point the teat toward the bucket.”
Piper took a breath and relaxed her shoulders as she positioned her thumb and index finger and gently squeezed the top of the cow’s teat that felt somehow both soft and firm in her hand. She squeezed her other fingers slowly one at a time along the teat. A stream of milk squirted out into the pail. A giggle tickled Piper’s throat as she repeated the squeeze again and more milk came out.
“How do I know when I’m through?” Piper asked.
“You can tell. The teat will feel empty.”
Piper could tell and she stripped the milk out of the other teat too. She was feeling pretty good, with her forehead almost touching the cow’s belly.
“Watch out.” Nurse Freeman reached around her to grab the bucket away from under the cow just as Clara let loose a stream of urine.
Piper tried to jump back but tripped on the stool and fell on her backside. The cow’s pee hit the hard dirt and splattered on Piper.
Nurse Freeman was bent over laughing. Not exactly rolling-on-the-ground laughing. That was Piper. Rolling on the ground but not laughing.
The nurse caught her breath and gasped. “Better scramble up, Danny. The next thing she lets out could be worse.”
Piper didn’t have to be told twice.
With her laughter subsiding into chuckles, Nurse Freeman released the cow from the stanchion and smacked her on the rump to get her out of the barn and back into the field.
“I’m sorry about that, Danny. But when you’re milking, you’ve got to be ready for any eventuality.” She pulled in a breath. “I guess that’s true for about everything here in the mountains. We never know what to expect next. But you can be pretty sure when a cow lifts her tail, it’s time to scoot out of range.”
“Now you tell me.” Piper rubbed her face off on the underside of her shirttail.
“Come on, girl. There’s a teakettle on the stove. You can wash up and give your clothes a rinse too.” She gave Piper a pat on the shoulder. “But think of it. You milked your first cow. I like a game girl. Those kind do better here in the mountains.”
Piper picked up the basket of eggs and followed the nurse through the twilight to the house. She was the one who smelled earthy now, but that was okay. She had done things today she never dreamed of doing two months ago. She’d ridden through a storm with a young charge and discovered that the scariest-looking mountain man wasn’t necessarily all bad. She’d seen a mother welcome her son home and ridden through a rain-washed forest. And now she’d gathered eggs out of dark nests, managed to keep from being spurred by a belligerent rooster, and milked a cow. Tomorrow she would dip a brush in paint and spruce up the Wilder Ridge Center.
She had come to the mountains because she wanted to do something different, and for sure, she had. Very different. She could only imagine what Braxton Crandall would think of her now with her earthy smell. Actually, she couldn’t imagine. She didn’t know him well enough, but she could definitely imagine Jamie Russell leaning over, hands on his knees, laughing at her the way Nurse Freeman had. Then he would have helped her up and they could have laughed together.
It was funny. When Piper thought of how she must have looked sprawled on the barn floor, trying to scoot away from the cow’s splattering pee, a smile turned up her lips that turned into a laugh.
Nurse Freeman looked around at her. “What’s funny?”
“Everything.” Piper threw out her hand that wasn’t holding the basket of eggs. “Me. Old Clara. Pee splatters. Probably paint splatters tomorrow. Life.”
“That’s the attitude, Danny girl. Enjoy life. We all have some bumps and bruises along the way, but the old world keeps turning. Even in the darkest hour, a smile can bring some light.”
Nurse Freeman stopped and looked up at the sky where one lone star had appeared. “I sometimes imagine our Lord in the midst of his agony may have smiled when he looked down at his weeping mother at the foot of the cross and told her to count John her son from that time on.”
Piper looked up at the sky too. She didn’t know what she should say, so she stayed silent.
After a moment, the nurse went on. “And then come that Sunday morning when the grave couldn’t hold him, smiles burst out all around. What a wonder that must have been.”
“Are you religious?”
“Religious?” Nurse Freeman glanced over at Piper. “That’s an interesting word. Rather makes one think of nuns and priests, doesn’t it?” She looked back up at the sky. “I’m certainly not that. In fact, I rarely thought of such things back in England before I came here to the mountains. But there’s something about these hills. Something about being so close to the stars and helping babies come into the world. So I’m not sure I’m pious, but I do believe. How can one not believe here in this place?”
Silence fell around them then as more stars came into view. Piper’s heart seemed to soften as a thankful prayer rose within her that she was here on this hillside considering her blessings.
“Come, Danny. We’ve got to get this milk strained and you cleaned up. Then we can fry up some eggs for supper. We have some bread we can warm in the skillet and a jar of strawberry jam. Life is good.”