PART 3
The next morning, Sully
stayed home with the ailing Katie and Michaela took Mandy over to Matthew’s
place. Matthew Cooper had married a
young woman named Elizabeth about five years ago. Matthew and Elizabeth had a two-year-old son, Daniel Cooper. Elizabeth loved caring for the
children. She took in Katie and Mandy
as well as Charlotte and Charles while their parents were busy at work.
“Come on in, Michaela,”
Elizabeth let them into the house.
“Matthew’s already left for work.”
Mandy ran in to play with
her niece Charlotte who had been dropped off about 15 minutes prior. Michaela noticed that Daniel was sitting in
his baby chair at the table. Elizabeth
was feeding him breakfast.
“I was tempted to keep Mandy
at home. Don’t know if she’s been
exposed to the catarrh or not,” Michaela warned Elizabeth after telling her
Katie was sick.
“Well, that’s OK. If Mandy’s been exposed, all the other
children have been too,” Elizabeth guessed.
“That’s what I figured.”
“This must be Nat and Nan,”
she looked at the couple behind Michaela.
“Yes, Nat, Nan, this is my
daughter-in-law, Elizabeth,” Michaela introduced.
“Pleased to meet you two,”
she said politely. Nat and Nan greeted
her back.
“We best get going. We have a lot of people to meet in town.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * *
As the wagon headed into
Colorado Springs, the townspeople waved to the new, temporary members of the
community.
“This sure is a friendly
town,” Nat commented.
“Most of the time it is,”
Michaela told them, “and when it’s not, it’s pretty newsworthy.” She smiled
over at Nat. They were quiet as they
rode through the middle of town.
They reached the newspaper
office. “There it is,” Michaela pointed
toward the big sign above the door that said “Colorado Springs Gazette” on it.
Michaela stopped the wagon
in front of the building. An older
woman came out of the front door. “Oh,
thank goodness,” she said as she walked over to the trio, “I’m having a terrible
time with Brian gone.”
“Well, you’re in luck,
Dorothy. I brought your new helper.”
Dorothy turned to Nat. “You must be Nathaniel Blake. I’m Dorothy Jennings.”
Nat greeted her with a
friendly smile, “Hi, Dorothy. Just call
me Nat.”
“I’m so glad you could
come. Even with Brian it was tough with
just the two of us.”
“I’m ready to help. Just show me what to do.”
“Wonderful.”
“Oh, this is my wife, Dr.
Anthea Blake.” Nat introduced Nan.
“Yes, you’ve been the talk
of the town, Dr. Blake.” Dorothy shook Nan’s hand.
“So I’ve heard.” Nan smiled
back at her.
“You couldn’t be working
with a better doctor. Michaela is one
of the best.”
Michaela blushed at
Dorothy’s sincere compliment. Michaela
quickly pointed out, “Notice she said ‘one of the best’. Colleen and Andrew are the others.”
“Yes, Colorado Springs has
the best doctors.” Dorothy turned to Nat.
“You ready to start work?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I’m ready.” Nat told her, and followed her
inside.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
“Wow, this is a nice
clinic,” Nan told Michaela after she gave Nan the grand tour.
“I’ve gotten by with
it. It’s smaller than most clinics, but
I’ve done a lot of remodeling the past few years or so. Andrew and Colleen’s clinic is really nice. It’s just a couple miles from here. You’ll get to see it sometime.”
They both heard a knock on
the door. “You ready to begin?” Michaela asked Nan.
Nan was anxious. “Yes!”
Michaela opened the
door. “Jake, Theresa, come on in.”
Michaela said to them. Jake and Theresa
Slicker had their two children with them; eight-year-old Benjamin and his
four-year-old sister, Ruth.
“Dr. Mike, the kids woke up
this morning feeling poorly,” Theresa told them.
“Well, then. Why don’t you sit the children down on the
table over there.” The kids sat down side-by-side on the table.
“Jake, Theresa, this is Dr.
Blake.” Michaela introduced Nan to them.
“Nan, this is our long-time Colorado Springs mayor, Jake Slicker; his
wife, Theresa; and their two children Ben and Ruth.
“Ben and Ruth, huh?” Nan
went over to the youngsters. “So, you don’t feel well?”
Ben just nodded. His sister spoke up, “I feel itchy.”
“Itchy? Let’s take a closer look at you then, OK?”
Nan gently lifted the four-year-old’s face to hers. “Ah, yep. You probably do
itch. Do you itch too, Ben?”
“Yeah.” He said
quietly. Nan looked over Ben.
“Is it serious?” Theresa
asked.
“No, it’s not. Your children have chicken pox.” Nan told
them.
“Chicken pox? That’s it?
They were acting like they were dying.” Jake said, surprised at the
diagnosis.
“Chicken pox,” Dr. Mike
confirmed. “Dr. Blake is right.”
“Are we going to die?” Ben
asked.
“No, you are not, Ben.” Nan
assured him. “You’re going to itch for
a little while, but you’ll be fine,” she smiled at them.
After they were given some
salve for the itching, Jake and Theresa took the kids home.
“Well, Dr. Blake. Excellent diagnosis.” Michaela told her. “This is only the beginning.”
