Chapter 17
The Doc’s Visit and Pa’s Scare

The election was less than two weeks away.

The moment Franklin Royce disappeared down the road in his black buggy and we went back inside the house, a last-minute let-down seemed to come over Almeda.

There was nothing more to be done. She wasn’t going to give any more speeches or write any more flyers. And as far as visiting and talking with folks was concerned, she said everything had already been stirred up plenty. The people had more than enough to talk about for one year, she said, and Franklin Royce had enough fuel to keep his hatred burning for a long time. It was best just to wait for events to unfold.

Almost immediately, her whole system seemed to collapse. Even as they walked away from the conversation with Mr. Royce, her face was pale and her smile forced.

The minute they were inside, she sat down heavily and breathed out a long and weary sigh. Tiny beads of perspiration dotted her white forehead. Pa saw instantly that she wasn’t feeling well at all. She didn’t even argue when he took her hand, helped her back to her feet, and led her into the other room to their bed. She lay down, and Pa brought her a drink of water. He wiped her face for a minute with a cool, damp cloth, and before long she was sound asleep.

Almeda remained in bed the rest of that Friday and all day Saturday, only getting up to go to the outhouse. Pa tended her like a mother with a baby. When Katie or Emily or I would try to take Ma something or sit beside her or help her on one of her many walks outside, Pa would say, “No, she’s my wife. Nobody loves her as much as me, and nobody is gonna take care of her but me. Besides,” he added with a wink, “I got her into this here fix, so I oughta be the one who helps her through it!”

The rest of us fixed the meals and cleaned up the house, but Pa took care of Almeda. He even sat beside her while she was sleeping, held her hand when she got sick, and read to her now and then, either from a book or from the Bible. If the rest of the town could only have seen him, some of the men might have made fun of him for doting on her. But no woman would have thought it was anything short of wonderful to have a husband love and care for her so tenderly as Pa did Almeda.

In the midst of all the turmoil over the election and loans and money and rumors and legal questions about Pa’s claim and the future of Parrish Freight, it had been easy to forget that Almeda was in the family way. Except when she’d get sick for half an hour or hour every few days, she didn’t seem any different, and she wasn’t showing any plumpness around her middle.

But Pa started to get concerned about her condition on Saturday afternoon when she still lay in bed, looking pale and feeling terrible. He sent Zack and Tad off on their horses to fetch Doc Shoemaker.

When the Doc came an hour or so later, he went immediately into the sick room with Pa. After examining Almeda he shook his head, puzzled.

“Everything seems fine,” he said, “but she’s weak, and mighty sick. I don’t quite know how to account for it. Came on her sudden, you say?”

“Yep,” answered Pa. “She was fine and full of pep for a day or so after she got back, and then she started to tire out pretty bad.”

“Back from where?”

“Sacramento.”

“Sacramento? How’d she get there?”

“In her buggy, how else?”

“She bounced around on a buggy seat for that whole trip and back?”

“I reckon so,” said Pa reluctantly. By now he realized Doc Shoemaker was mighty upset.

“Drummond Hollister, you idiot! What in blazes did you let her do that for!”

“She didn’t exactly ask,” said Pa. “She just said she was going. I asked if she wanted me to go with her, and she said no, that I oughta stay here, and I didn’t think any more about it. She just went, that’s all.”

“This lady’s between three and four months pregnant! She can’t be doing things like that. I’m surprised she hasn’t already lost the child from the exertion of a journey like that. She still may.”

All the color drained from Pa’s face. I had never seen him so scared. “I—I didn’t think of all that,” he stammered. “She’s the kind of woman who’s used to doing what she likes, and I don’t usually stand in her way.”

“Well, you’re her husband and the father of the baby she’s carrying. So you’d just better start telling her to take it easy. If she doesn’t like it, then you put your foot down, do you hear me? Otherwise you might lose both a baby and a wife!”

“Is she really in danger, Doc?” Pa’s voice shook.

“I don’t know. I hope not. But she needs rest—and you make sure she gets it!”