He pointed to Susanna. “And you have a roomful of patients waiting to hear about Professor Bhaer’s school for boys at Plumfield. Need an escort?”
“Do you have time tonight for more French verbs?” she asked as they walked to the hospital. Susanna took a deep breath and regretted it. “My stars, what is that odor?”
“That is the fragrance of spring at Fort Laramie. While you are reading to a roomful of eager listeners, I will be composing a stiffly worded memo to the effect that it is time for the garrison to turn out and police the grounds. Don’t let me offend you—”
“You couldn’t possibly. I have heard it all,” she murmured.
“I’ll be the judge of that. During this long, cold winter, everyone from private to major—I am the notable exception—has been tossing the contents of chamber pots out into the snow, knowing said contents will be covered by the next snowfall, and so on.”
“I know this for a fact,” Susanna said. “Pardon your blushes now!”
“It takes more than that to make me blush,” Joe retorted. “We are now at that moment of reckoning. Spring at Fort Laramie brings with it the bouquet of raw sewage. Welcome to my public health world. It’s even more fun than being a surgeon.”
“I had no idea your position was so exalted,” she joked. “Very well, you may write your memo. But there will be French verbs in your near future.”
Joe was still laboring over his memo when she finished reading, but there was Nick Martin to deposit her at the Reeses’ quarters, where Emily was still reading the Carlisle paper. Her eyes troubled, Emily gestured for her to come closer.
“What is it?” Susanna asked.
“Look.”
Susanna looked where Emily pointed, read it, and read it again. “Do you believe me now?” she asked finally.
Emily nodded. “I almost overlooked the article. It’s so small. ‘Frederick Hopkins of Hopkins Carriage Works has filed for bankruptcy,’” she read, taking the newspaper back. “There is such a list of creditors! But that is not the worst part.” She turned to another page and jabbed her finger. “Look at this letter from one of his creditors, blaming ‘the grain and the grape’ for his dereliction!”
“I was not wrong,” Susanna said quietly, but there was no victory, not with her son facing ruin, too, and her so far away. She pulled on her coat and grabbed the newspaper from Emily, running up the hill to the hospital to arrive at Joe’s office, out of breath and her hair tugged out of its pins by the wind.
Nick stopped sweeping. Startled, Joe looked up from his paperwork. He was out of his chair in a moment, his arm around her, as she calmed herself. She still couldn’t talk, but she handed him the Carlisle newspaper and pointed to the article. He read it, and then she turned to the editorial page with the condemning letter. They stared at each other over the paper.
“Is there anything I can do, do you think, to get my son back?” she asked.
“We need a lawyer.”
She stared at him, still out of breath and wondering if she had heard him correctly. He set down the paper and put his hands gently on her face.
“I know what I said. We need a lawyer.” He glanced at Nick, who stood there leaning on his broom, looking at the article. “Nick, could you see if there is any of my bad coffee left in the ward?”
Joe sat her down and took the chair opposite her. He made no other move to touch her, but his expression seemed to reach out and caress her heart.
“This … this isn’t your fight, Major Randolph,” she said tentatively and formally, so unsure of herself.
“I rather believe it is,” he replied.
She tried again; the man needed to be reasoned with. “Major Randolph, I’m the scapegoat and bad example of this entire garrison.”
“Not lately,” he countered. “The people who matter know better. I happen to be one of them.”
He looked up when Nick returned with coffee. “Thanks. You might as well retire now, my friend.”
Nick shook his head. “She’s in trouble? I don’t like that.”
“I don’t either, Nick,” Joe said, speaking carefully to the big man. “It’s her son who could be in trouble, back in Carlisle. Susanna is fine.”
No, I’m not, she thought, almost as a reflex, then let the matter work on her brain as a great feeling of relief covered her. And there was Nick, her champion, looking so concerned. “I am fine,” she