Chapter 18

Hattie

Breakfast out of the way, Hattie got RoseAnn dressed and headed past the stagecoach depot, to the doctor’s office. The older man smiled when she came in. “You must be Miss Long.”

“Yes, sir. Were you expecting me?”

The older man nodded and pointed in the other room. “I knew I’d see you today. If you hadn’t come by with that child by lunchtime, I would have come to the Bride House. The sheriff told me about the baby. He asked that I check her out since her mother seemed to die of some kind of sickness. So, let’s see to how she is.”

“I’m calling her RoseAnn, Doctor. Since I don’t know how long she will be with me, I couldn’t keep calling her baby.”

“Very well, RoseAnn, she will be on my charts.”

Hattie watched as he put her on a small scale and then made a notation. He took out a ruler and measured her and made another notation. Then he pushed and pulled on her legs and arms. He watched her grasp his fingers and pulled. Then, he started prodding her chest, sides and belly causing her to giggle. The doctor snapped his finger beside her ears several times and then he grabbed a red handkerchief and waved it in front of her face from side to side and then up and down.

He removed her diaper and looked over her little butt and private area. He pinned the diaper up and handed her to Hattie. “Has she had adequate wet and dirty diapers?”

“Yes, I think so. I don’t know what a normal amount is.”

“She should have a wet diaper about once an hour or so and a dirty one a little while after each feeding.”

“Then yes, they are adequate.”

“Are the wet ones extremely strong smelling?”

“No, but the dirty ones are.”

The doctor nodded and laughed. As he put his finger in the little girl’s grip again. “That sounds right. Are the dirty ones black or reddish in color?”

“No, they are a kind of mustard colored. Is that bad?”

“No, that is as it should be. She had no tender spots on her chest or belly, and I couldn’t see a rash on her bottom. I would say that RoseAnn is a healthy five-month-old child. She is a bit undernourished, but that is to be expected if her mother was sick. What have you been feeding her?”

“Oh, Joshua, I mean Pastor Bryce, brought me some infant milk powder from the mercantile.”

“Good, I want you to keep feeding her that. For the next two weeks, feed her every two hours. That should help her recover from the malnourishment. If you still have her, I’d like to see her again in three months, just to check her progress. Bring her in earlier, if something is concerning you.”

“Thank you, Doctor. How much do I owe you?”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. I was told that the church was paying. You just keep loving her and taking as good a care of her as you have been.”

“Thank you, again.”

“You’re welcome.”

The doctor showed her out and Hattie, carrying RoseAnn, headed over to the diner to see about getting an empty lard bucket. She found Mrs. Jones in the kitchen and explained what she needed.

“Of course, Miss Long. I have one that I emptied yesterday you can have. I haven’t had time to wash it out yet. But it had lye soap and water in it overnight. If you can wait, I’ll dump it and then you’ll need to wash it before you use it.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jones, I appreciate it.”

“Oh honey, we women of Sanctuary have to stick together. Even with all you brides, there are still very few of us.”

“Well I’m sure the whole Bride House will thank you. RoseAnn’s already changing the fragrance of the house.”

The older woman laughed. “And such a little thing she is, too. Just you wait, it’ll get worse before it gets better.”

“Well then, your bucket is much appreciated.”

Hattie took the now empty bucket and started out through the dining room. Every few steps another member of Sanctuary stopped her, making over the little girl as she giggled and babbled at each one of them. She even grabbed hold of Mayor Lyman’s hair as he lifted her little gown and blew on her belly.

Hattie was so embarrassed and apologized repeatedly to the distinguished head deacon, who just laughed and waved her apology off. “No need to apologize, Miss Long, I got what I deserved putting such a temptation in her grasp. I wanted to say that, despite how my daughter has acted toward you, I am glad that you have made Sanctuary your home. I think our community, our congregation and our Pastor will greatly benefit from your presence.”

“Thank you, Deacon Lyman, I’m sorry for any strife my presence has caused in your household.”

“Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. Ernestine is an only child and we may have overindulged her a bit. She will soon realize she didn’t really want to be the pastor’s wife, anyway. The job is not as glamorous as she thinks it is. As you have already found out.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I like the parts I’ve had to fill so far. Taking care of this little one is a joy, and the brides aren’t as much trouble as one might think.”

“Well, just know that you have the support of the deacons. We’ve seen how fitted for the job you are and how complementary to Joshua’s strengths and weaknesses you are, as well. Where he is still somewhat blunt, like you’d expect a lawman to be, you have proven yourself to be merciful and tactful, willing to serve and be helpful, as shown by your treatment of this infant and the brides.

“However, I would like to offer you one piece of advice, where it concerns my daughter. You may need to continue to put her in her place until after your wedding, my dear. She is a bit hard-headed and more so when it comes to Joshua Bryce.”

“Thank you, Deacon. I wish we could put this animosity between us to rest. I think she would make a great addition to the group of friends I’m making with the brides and Helen. After all, she is around our age. We’d like to include her in our circle, but the brides have been resistant because of her treatment of me at the party.”

“Again, this shows why God chose you for our pastor. I pray you are successful.”

Just then, RoseAnn nuzzled at Hattie and started to cry. “I think that’s my cue to go home and fix a bottle. Good day, Deacon.”

“Yes, go feed that little angel. Good day to you as well, Miss Long.”

Hattie stuck her pinky in the little girl’s mouth, and she sucked on it. Hattie knew already that it wouldn’t hold her long, but maybe long enough to get back to the Bride House and fix a bottle.

Thankfully, Mrs. Williams had already shown her how to keep a kettle of water on the hearth of her fireplace, so the water would be warm but not hot for both feeding and cleaning RoseAnn, when needed. She was thinking of all this as she hurried down the boardwalk. Already in her parlor in her mind, getting RoseAnn fed, when suddenly she was blocked from moving forward by Ernestine Lyman.

“Whose baby is that?”

Hattie stepped around her and called back over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Miss Lyman, I’ll have to talk to you later. I need to get home and feed my baby.”

She didn’t give the encounter another thought as she rushed home to feed RoseAnn and put her down for a nap.

Joshua

Joshua had kept busy most of the day Saturday after talking to his uncle. He’d gone home and finished the notes for his sermon. He knew it would be the most unusual sermon of his entire life, but he felt like the Holy Spirit was leading him to do it. Then, once the sermon was put together, he decided he needed to clean the whole parsonage.

He had asked his aunt to chaperone him and Hattie tomorrow while he showed her the house, and they started making plans for getting it to be Hattie’s home. It wouldn’t do for her first look of the place to be seeing how dusty and cobweb filled it was.