Heather, in her chemise, was terribly embarrassed. “It isn’t right for a lady like you to be acting as a seamstress for the likes of me!” she protested.
Tape measure in her hands, Joy said, “But I really enjoy doing this!” And she was. The dress magically took shape, and she was pleased with its pale blue color.
When the first reading session of the autumn arrived she insisted that Heather wear this new dress. She also spent hours restyling her hair and placing some oil on it. The light oil served its purpose well, giving Heather’s normally brown hair a new sheen.
Joy stood back and surveyed her handiwork, and was pleased. The blushing girl who sat before her bore only a faint resemblance to the plain Heather she had first met. She exclaimed, “Heather! I declare you’re beautiful!”
“Don’t make fun of me, ma’am,” the girl begged.
“You are,” she insisted. “If you don’t take my word let us see what the doctor says when he comes home.”
John returned in time for dinner, and when he saw Heather he stared at her in awe. He said, “I have two lovely ladies living under my roof!”
The meeting was held at the modest home of the Reverend Robin Miles. He welcomed them, and noticing the change in Heather he exclaimed, “What a transformation!”
They read Shakespeare’s
Taming of the Shrew
, with John doing the male role, and Heather reading the part of the shrew. She was excellent in her reading, and schoolmaster Jack Taggart openly neglected the simpering Rose and stared with amazement at the new Heather. Jock Monroe read the part of the father, and also seemed stunned to see Heather looking so lovely. At the end of the meeting several of the young men offered to see Heather home, but she politely declined, saying she was with Dr. Hastings and his wife.
When they returned to the cottage Joy told the girl, “You must wear your hair like that from now on. And we must make you other becoming dresses. And don’t refuse the young men when they wish to see you home.”
Heather blushed, “You’ve made a Cinderella out of me, ma’am.”
John laughed. “But there’s no midnight for this Cinderella. You’re going to continue looking lovely.”
It was the start of a new life for Heather. Within a week one of the young fishermen invited her to the village dance. She accepted, and on her return related to Joy the good time she’d had.
Joy said, “You’ve missed the fun of life too long. Now you must catch up.”
Heather removed her bonnet with a small frown. “Jock was there with that silly Rose.”
“He’s given her a ring. I’m surprised they haven’t married yet,” Joy said.
“Rose keeps delaying the wedding,” Heather replied with annoyance. “She’s still playing with the idea of leaving Jock for that school teacher.”
“I wish Jack Taggart would run off with her,” Joy said. “Those two deserve each other.”
“Tonight she spent much of the time with Jack, making Jock stand by, looking silly.”
“You like Jock?”
“I can’t bear to see him make himself look so simple! Mooning after a girl without a brain in her head!”
“You’re angry because you’re fond of him and he’s in danger of wasting his life on that girl. I’ve told him so, as well.”
Heather said, “Please talk to him again. He likes you. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
“I’ll try,” she agreed. “It’s not an easy matter.”
Heather gave a sigh. “He’ll be going to the woods soon, so he will be away from her for a while.”
Joy said, “Why don’t you set your cap for him, Heather?”
“He’d never look at me!”
“You’re wrong! I’ve watched him and he’s given you many admiring glances since you’ve changed your hair style and your way of dressing. You have more real beauty than Rose.”
Heather shook her head. “He can do better than me.”
Joy was discouraged. She had changed the girl’s appearance, but there was something wrong with her thoughts. Heather badly needed confidence. But how give it to her?
Winter arrived suddenly. Joy tried to ignore the cruel cold, and the biting winds which blew in from the Loch. There was a new fall of snow each day. Getting about the village became difficult, and the weekly mail was often delayed. Sometimes weeks went by without any word from outside.
The holidays arrived, and with them a wave of bad colds which kept John busy. They did find time to attend the midnight service at the kirk. Reverend Robin Miles read about the Three Wise Men, and Mary and the Holy Child. Then they made their ways to their sleighs, and drove home over the snowy roads.
The New Year was celebrated in typical Scottish style. John insisted they go to the town hall where the festivities included dancing and bagpipes. There was food for everyone and plenty to drink! The men from the woods and sea were home for the grand party. Heather was there, and once she danced with Jock. The big man was lively on his feet, and Heather’s face was flushed with happiness as she danced with him.
At midnight there were cheers and a general kissing. John took Joy in his arms and said, “The chimes will be ringing loud in Edinburgh at this moment!”
Whiskey had made the heads of most as light as their hearts, and amid the lilting rings of bagpipes in the background there was a confusion of kissing and wishing one another a Happy New Year! Joy found herself being kissed by such unlikely parties as the little Reverend Robin Miles and the old shepherd, Noddy. And she enjoyed it! She was happy and grateful to be there with the man she loved.
The Holidays ended all too quickly, and the winter seemed doubly harsh once the days of celebration were over. The weekly meetings of the reading club had to be cancelled, so Joy did much reading on her own. She spent a great deal of time studying the medical books which John had in his office.
One day in early February the long delayed mail arrived. There were many letters for her from London. She had received her mother’s Christmas card in an earlier mail, and now she had a brief note from Lady Susan expressing her annoyance at being alone for Christmas.
She wrote, “I’m finding no one wishes to bother with a lone widow. James and his family were only here on Boxing Day. But little Richard is a lovely child. Hilda is pregnant once again, and so by summer’s end I will have another grandchild. I trust your own Holiday season was pleasant; though I can’t think that you can have as much enjoyment in that primitive land of ignorant people as you might have in London. I have always disliked Scots and Scotland!”
Joy put the letter aside with a sigh and picked out the envelope with Hilda’s fine handwriting. The letter began wryly: “What a Christmas gift I’ve been given! I’m pregnant again! I must say I’m less than deliriously happy and do not look forward to the months of gradually loosening my stays and having the vapors! But James is pleased and I try to boost my own feelings by telling myself the new arrival with be a girl with your qualities.
“We spent Boxing Day with your mother, and I may say that Lady Susan was in her usual selfish mood. Rather than being grateful that I had bundled up little Richard and risked his catching cold to be with her, she did nothing but mourn her forlorn widowhood! However, I have become a dutiful daughter-in-law, and sat meekly and listened to her lamenting. Chiefly for the love of James who winked at me often behind her back. We had a good laugh about it on the way home!
“Another New Year! They say the Queen is blissfully happy with her new husband, Albert. I can only say my own happiness will match that of anyone. Though I will except you and John since I know you are especially devoted. Your husband, Sir George, attended one of the many dinner parties at which we were present. He is thin and looks unwell. He is still using a cane. Do write me soon. Your loving sister, Hilda.”
Joy put the letter aside with a sad smile. Hilda did not try to depress her, though the news of her husband was surely worrisome. There was no letter from Nancy so she guessed her friend was too busy with her new baby and Christmas to write. She hoped that Nancy’s poet husband was showing more interest in her.
A pneumonia patient moaned from the cottage’s hospital room. She was an elderly woman, whose deafness made her more difficult to treat. Heather spent a good deal of time with the old woman, who appeared to be making a recovery.
John was calling on those too ill to visit the cottage. He returned after four, just as it was getting blue and cold outside. When he joined Joy in the kitchen, she shared the letters with him.
They were discussing the letters when their conversation was cut short by the sound of voices from the front. This usually signified some emergency, so it was no surprise when there was a loud, urgent knocking on the door. She went to the door and opened it to a lumberman. There was a concerned look on his red, bearded face. He said, “There’s been a bad accident in the woods! We’ve brought the lad in!”
“I’ll get the doctor,” she said and went back to summon John.
When she returned, four men were bearing a litter with a blanket over it into the tiny bedroom. Only when the men lifted the accident victim from the litter did she see that it was Jock Monroe!
“Jock!” she gasped.
The big man could not hear her. He was unconscious. Midway between the knees and thighs of his legs, an area was crushed and bloodstained.
One of the men told John, “He was working alone. The tree must have fallen towards him. A giant one! He was pinned to the ground in that freezing temperature for hours before we found him. It’s a miracle he’s not dead!”
Another of the men staring in awe at the mangled legs spoke in a low tone, “Maybe better dead!”
John’s face was taut and white as he turned to her and asked, “Where’s Heather?”
“Here, Doctor,” Heather came beside him. When she saw the accident victim was Jock she went deathly pale.
John spoke crisply, “Everyone leave the room. We three will remain. I’ll cut away his trousers and see how badly off he is.”
Heather glanced at the lumbermen, who needed no urging to leave now that they had done their duty by their friend. Once Heather closed the door on them, she returned to be of what help she could. Joy removed the unconscious man’s upper clothing while John and Heather cut the trousers from the mangled legs. At last they undressed the big man.
John said sharply, “Bring a lamp over. I must make a thorough examination.”
Joy brought the lamp, and in a whisper asked, “How bad?”
“Bad!” he said grimly. “Hot water, Heather!”
Heather hurried out to the kitchen for the hot water. Joy stood at John’s side. “What can be done?”
He sighed. “The circulation has been cut off below the injury point. His lower legs are frozen. The complication is gangrene. Almost a sure sentence of death.”
She gazed at his tormented face. “Isn’t there any hope?”
John looked at her. “There’s one hope. I could try and I might even succeed. But he wouldn’t thank me and you won’t encourage the treatment.”
“What treatment?”
“I have a choice,” John said sternly. “I can let him die or I can amputate both legs above the damaged area!”
Tears flooded her eyes. “Oh, no!”
“I told you.”
“That is the only way?”
“Yes,” he said in a dull voice. He turned, and went to the window to gaze out at the early evening darkness.
She remained by the victim. His breathing was so faint it could barely be observed. She asked, “Can he survive such a major operation?”
John shrugged, his back to her. “I don’t know. His legs are numbed from being frozen. There wouldn’t be much pain. He is a strong man. I could inject opium at the nerve points before I operated. I can do the operation. But I don’t know how I’d face him if he recovered.”
Heather came in with a pitcher of hot water. “What now?”
John gazed at the girl. “You must know what has to be done.”
Heather bit her lower lip and nodded. In a hushed voice, she said, “I helped the old doctor once. That time it was a leg and arm on one side that had to be removed. The man died.”
John said, “Jock cannot live unless I amputate. And he may not survive the operation.”
Heather was crying. She said, “If it must be done.”
He said, “You know what I’ll need.” As Heather vanished he turned to Joy. “You’d best leave! You’ve never been through anything like this and you’re fond of Jock. Heather and I can manage.”
“You’re trying to save him?”
“Yes.”
“Then I must help. Let me do what I can!”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” she said in a taut voice. And thus the ordeal began. John worked with a swiftness and purpose she’d never seen before. The bones were badly crushed, but still needed to be sawed. That sound made Joy grit her teeth and pray she would not faint.
Heather looked ill as she used a napkin to remove the sweat which kept flowing from John’s temples. At last the long operation came to an end. The leg stumps were neatly bandaged. Heather and Joy took turns watching over the unfortunate Jock. Heather insisted on taking the first watch, and Joy went out the the kitchen where she found John seated with a whiskey bottle in one hand and a half filled glass in the other.
He gave her a look. “I’m going to get drunk.”
“Go ahead.”
He gulped down the liquor in the glass and coughed. Then he filled the glass again. “If I’m lucky I’ll sleep. Should there be a need for me, you’ll be able to wake me. And I’ll be able to do anything that is required. Though I don’t think he’ll live out the night.”
“I’m praying for him,” she said. A knock on the front door startled her.
John said, “If it’s the woodsmen tell them. Ask them to be quiet.”
“I will,” she said and went to answer the door.
Jock’s friends were gathered outside, and she told them the dreadful truth in a low voice. Horror showed on their faces. These were strong men who needed their strength to wrest a living from the forest and sea. For them a crippling mutilation was worse than death. Shaking their heads and muttering, they melted away.
The elderly Reverend Robin Miles came forward. He looked sad as he said, “I heard what you told them just now. May I come in. I’d like to help in any way I can.”