Klondike Medicine Woman

He reached them, and ignoring Teena, went directly to Jimmy’s side. “Let me examine this man.”

Jimmy stood still but did not lower his burden. “I’m taking him off the mountain.”

“Let me make sure he’s not in danger of bleeding to death.”

Jimmy and Teena exchanged amused looks. As if they would not attend to a wound before they moved the man. But Jimmy waited as Dr. Jacob lifted the man’s eyelids and felt his head, then checked the rest of his body for wounds. He found nothing. Teena could have told him he wouldn’t. She’d located only a lump on the back of the man’s head.

“Could you carry him down to the clinic?”

At least he hadn’t ordered Jimmy to do so. And Jimmy didn’t ask where this clinic was. They all knew Dr. Jacob spoke more from hope than fact.

Jimmy agreed.

Dr. Jacob turned to Teena. “Is this your man?”

Teena giggled. “He is my brother, Jimmy.”

Dr. Jacob nodded, somehow approving her answer, and reached out to shake hands with him.

Jimmy barely touched the man’s outstretched hand then resumed his journey. Teena followed at his heels, Dr. Jacob close behind. She felt him with every breath, every thought. Somehow she had to convince him to teach her. Perhaps this would be her opportunity.

She fell back so she could speak without raising her voice. “You will need someone to watch him. I could do so.” She allowed herself to meet his gaze briefly, before giving her attention back to the rocky path. But it was long enough to see a flash of possibility, and her heart swelled with hope.

“Would you promise not to use any native medicine?” He said the word in such a way she knew it must hurt him to say it.

“I have nothing to help a man who cannot wake up.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

She could not forsake the things she’d learned, the ways of nature that worked. He took her silence for what it was—refusal to agree to his conditions. “We can learn from each other.”

“It cannot be.” He clambered past her and followed on Jimmy’s heels as they picked their way downward and reached the packed level path beside the town. A few minutes later, they reached the crowded lot that had been empty just two days ago.

“Bring him in here.” Dr. Jacob lifted the tent flap. Jimmy ducked inside and lowered the injured man to the fur bedroll.

Teena followed and glanced around. Donald lay on a cot, his color good, his breathing easy. What did the doctor give for pain, if he wouldn’t use the plants and herbs nature provided?

Dr. Jacob knelt beside the man from the trail as Jimmy stepped back. He lifted the eyelids again and pressed his fingers to the man’s wrist.

Teena studied his every move, wondering why he did those things and wishing she dared ask. Perhaps if she remained quiet and motionless he would not notice her presence and give her another of those dismissive looks he’d given her earlier in the day.

Again, he pulled out the thing that fit into his ears and listened to the man’s chest. “He seems fine, except for his unconsciousness.”

Teena pressed back a desire to giggle. She could have told him all that. She sobered. Did he have a way to bring the man awake? All she knew to do was wait for nature to heal him or not.

“I’ll watch him and wait for him to regain consciousness.”

Teena swallowed back her disappointment. It seems the white man had no cure for this, either.

Dr. Jacob glanced at Donald, again pressed his fingers to the inside of the wrist, then he rose to his full height, brushing his head on the top of the tent and faced Jimmy. “Thanks for bringing him here.” His gaze slid past Jimmy to Teena, and his gratitude shifted to disapproval. He didn’t say a word, but his eyes signaled she wasn’t welcome.

Silently, she backed from the tent.

Jimmy followed. “Why are you afraid of him? I thought he was meant to teach you their ways.”

She met his hard gaze without flinching. “He does not know it yet.” But if God could answer her prayer by sending the doctor, God would surely make the man agree to teach her.

Jimmy shook his head and strode back up the trail to retrieve his pack.

The Tucker sisters—the two who had not yet married and had vowed to never do so—nailed together walls for the new clinic. Teena moved closer. “Thought you were supposed to be working on the church. Didn’t Mack decide it was time for a little room on top for a bell?”

Margie paused to answer Teena’s question. “Mack decided this here clinic was more important. He gave us permission to leave the church work for the doctor. We don’t care who pays us to work.”

Frankie didn’t stop adjusting the board, readying it to nail into place. “The doctor’s young friend was helping, but he ran off two minutes after Jacob was out of sight. Ain’t seen him since.” She kicked the board into place. “About as bad as Lucy. Seems to me she runs off at the least little excuse.”

Margie made a noisy sound. “Gotta make a meal for my man.” The way she spoke told Teena she mimicked her sister.

Frankie kicked the board again unnecessarily. “You think the man could make himself a sandwich if he was hungry.”

The pair looked as unhappy as twin bears perched on a beehive.

An idea sprouted and blossomed in Teena’s busy brain. Dr. Jacob had ordered her to stay away from his patients, and he likely also meant the clinic. But the clinic was nothing more than an idea and hope right now. And if she assisted Margie and Frankie…well, surely he would see it was to his benefit. “I could help you.”

Both Frankie and Margie stopped and stood like twin rocks. They stared at her, then shifted and considered each other. Margie turned back to Teena. “You know anything about building?”

“I’ve helped my father.”

Again the sisters silently assessed each other, as if wondering what experience helping her father constituted.

Margie nodded. “I ’spect you can do as well as any man. We accept.”

“Thank you.” She looked about her. What did they want her to do?

Margie didn’t let her wait long to find out. “Grab that board and haul it over here, will you?”

Teena did as instructed, and in a few minutes was wielding a hammer and driving home nails. She giggled softly. Driving them home was perhaps a bit of exaggeration. She missed as often as she hit the nail.

Frankie let out a hearty laugh. “You’ll catch on soon enough. Ain’t nothing a woman can’t learn to do, so far as I can tell.”

Teena grabbed the hammer with both hands and aimed at the nail, giggling when she again missed.

Margie moved to her side. “Hold the hammer like so.” She pulled Teena’s hand lower on the handle. “Swing with your arm.”

Teena did as instructed and soon had the nail in place. “There.”

Margie chuckled. “You’ll do just fine.”

Teena felt Dr. Jacob’s presence, and without turning, knew he had stepped from the tent. All the while she banged on the nail she’d been acutely aware of him. Between blows to the wood, she heard his murmurs as he dealt with the two injured men. But she dared not tiptoe closer to listen.

“Margie,” he called, his voice soft but insistent. “May I speak to you?” He tipped his head toward the other side of the tent, indicating she should join him there.

Margie didn’t move. “Ain’t nothing you need to say in private.”

Dr. Jacob considered the three women, then nodded. “Very well.” He cleared his throat. “I’m a medical doctor—”

“Yeah. We know.”

He went on as if Margie hadn’t interrupted him. “I believe in science. Superstition is not only ignorant but harmful.”

Teena knew he meant her. Nevertheless, she stood her ground. Whether or not he liked it, and even if he denied it and fought against it, she was determined to learn his ways of healing. If that meant learning to hammer a nail and build a white man’s house, she would do that, too. But she would not give up.

Margie and Frankie now stood side by side. “Say what you mean, Doc.” It was obvious Margie spoke for both of them.

“I told you, I don’t want a shaman near my patients.”

Margie and Frankie dropped their tools and looked about ready to get mad.

Teena started to back away.

“You’re not leaving.” Margie’s words stopped Teena’s intended escape. Margie hadn’t shifted her gaze from Dr. Jacob. “Seems to me, if you’re interested in getting this here clinic built in a timely fashion, you can’t be so all-fired concerned about who does the work. So long as it’s getting done.” Although her voice was low, Teena knew it held a load of anger.

She didn’t dare breathe, feeling as if her life hung in the weight of Margie’s deceptively soft words. Neither Margie nor Frankie moved, awaiting Dr. Jacob’s decision. Teena knew the Tucker sisters well enough to know they would leave in the blink of an eye if Dr. Jacob pushed them the wrong way.

She watched the doctor as he assessed the sisters, knew he understood their silent ultimatum and was considering how to best deal with it.

When Jacob sucked in air like a drowning man rescued from the waters, she knew he realized his limited options. “I have no problem with her helping you.”

He gently emphasized the word you, making it clear she could help them but not him. His words clawed into the secret depths of her heart.

Ignoring the way her eyes stung, she picked up another nail and pounded it into place. When she finished and glanced to where Dr. Jacob had stood, he was gone, and Margie and Frankie were busy measuring a board.

Chapter Three

Jacob strode toward the waterfront, as if he needed to put out a fire. Anger burned through his veins. He fought for control. He did not want a shaman hanging about his clinic. If his brother had received real medical help he would likely be alive still.

Jacob had tried to convince Aaron not to go north seeking gold, but once Aaron made up his mind to do something he refused to listen to reason. He’d been the same since he was a child.

He searched through the crowds. Where was Burns? He’d agreed to help with the construction of the clinic, though it wasn’t the building he was concerned about as much as Burns’s safety.

He went as far as the beginning of the trail without a sign of Burns. Surely the boy wouldn’t head up there on his own.

Jacob sighed. The boy would do anything that entered his mind, without regard for the consequences. If only Jacob could instill a little sense of responsibility in him before he made a foolish decision. He realized his desire sprang not only out of concern about Burns, but also from a wish that he could have prevented Aaron from a choice that lead ultimately to his death.

He spun on his heel and took a slightly different route, hoping to locate Burns among the throng, but he passed the place he’d started without any sign of the boy. He pressed onward. Again he reached the end of the beach, and saw a trail leading through the trees and followed it. A few hundred yards later, the path opened to a clearing with several wooden structures, each with a narrow, low door but no windows. Smoke drifted from one building.

The place was quiet. Peaceful. No gold seekers here. A movement caught his attention. A man sat in the sunshine, a basketlike hat on his head. The man was an elderly native. Was this where Teena’s family lived? It suited her. He could imagine her quiet and serene in this setting. Nothing seemed to ruffle her. Not even his rudeness. He considered himself a gentle, refined man, and yet something about her brought from him harsh, unkind words. It didn’t make sense.

Suddenly, he realized his patients were alone while he stared at an old man rocking in the sunshine. He turned and rushed back through the crowds, seeing nothing of Burns as he trotted to the clinic. Already the walls began to take shape. The three women worked side by side. Margie turned to Teena and laughed.

He slowed momentarily, wishing he knew what Teena said. Then he dismissed such foolishness and hurried on.

He didn’t notice Burns until he reached the boardwalk. The boy sat cross-legged on the ground, playing with a pup. When he saw Jacob he jumped up, clutching the pup in his arms.

“Look what I got.”

Jacob jerked to a stop. “A dog?”

“Some man gave it to me. Said he didn’t want to drag around a useless pup. Isn’t he sweet?” Burns scrubbed the animal’s ears and gave Jacob pleading eyes.

Aaron had once dragged home a sorry-looking pup and begged to keep it. He’d spent hours with the animal, but it wasn’t healthy, and died despite everyone’s efforts. Aaron had cried. He’d cursed God when Mother and Father couldn’t hear him. Said it was unfair. Jacob had been powerless to help either the sick pup or his heartbroken brother.

“He looks like he’d grow to the size of a horse. I think you’d better take him back.” His words, fueled by a thousand regrets and a lifetime of sorrow over his brother, were harsher than he intended.

Burns drew back. The three women stopped work to watch the proceedings.

“I aim to keep him. I’ll move to the beach if you won’t have him here.”

Jacob could not imagine how the boy would survive out there. In about two days he would be starving, and if anything like Aaron, too proud to admit his mistake. “Who will feed him? And you?”

Burns’s expression revealed his worry about food. After all, food, and plenty of it, were essential for growing boys and…Jacob sighed…and growing dogs. He didn’t want to do anything he’d live to regret, and he knew if he allowed Burns to stalk off in anger, he would regret it in the depths of his soul. He examined the pup. He’d at least make sure it was healthy before he gave his verdict. The pup’s fur was silky and thick. It glistened, indicating he’d been fed a good diet. Jacob lifted the pup’s lips and examined his mouth. The pup wriggled eagerly and tried to lick his hands. “He seems in good health.” The last thing he wanted was to watch another young man put through the pain of losing a pet. “I’ll make you a deal.” This was an opportunity to help the boy learn a little responsibility.

Burns brightened.

“I’ll let you keep the dog here on one condition.”

“I’ll do anything. Just name it.”

Burns had already agreed to work on the clinic, but seemed to have forgotten. Perhaps this would add a needed incentive to get him more involved. “Work on the clinic as you agreed.”

Burns nodded. “Then he can stay?”

“I would expect you to work hard. Help build the clinic and give me a hand with the patients.”

Burns looked agreeable until Jacob mentioned the patients. “I ain’t never taken care of a sick person.” He sounded like he’d as soon starve to death.

“I will teach you.” He recalled Teena’s desire that he teach her. He tried not to glance at her, but couldn’t stop himself. Would she resent his offer to Burns? But she studied the ground and he couldn’t see her expression. For some reason, he wished things could be different. However, there was no way of changing the facts. What she wanted was impossible. She had no education. Likely couldn’t read. Trusted superstition rather than science for treatment, clung to her old ways. He forced his attention back to Burns. “Is it a deal?”

Burns nodded. “Deal.”

“Fine. Then tie the pup and come help me.”

Burns found a bit of rope and tied the pup to a stake. He spent considerable time patting the animal and reassuring it. If he gave Jacob’s patients half the attention he gave the dog, Jacob would have no cause for complaint.

He didn’t wait for Burns to finish with his pet, but ducked inside. Donald had rolled to his side, obviously feeling less pain. Good news there.

The other man breathed regularly but showed no sign of opening his eyes.

Jacob had finished his examination by the time Burns entered. As he explained what he expected from the boy, he heard the women talking as they worked. He couldn’t make out their words but recognized Teena’s musical, soft voice, a marked contrast to the heavier, heartier tones of the Tucker sisters.

He forced his mind back to the task of showing Burns how to check each man and care for any pressing personal needs.

Burns nodded, eager to earn the right to keep the dog, but shrinking back at the idea of touching either of the men.

Jacob tried to reassure him. “It’s only when I need to be away.” He would hang out a shingle today. People would realize they could come to him, but he would still have to tend to the sick and injured in their makeshift homes and on the trail.

“I’m going to name him Yukon. After the gold field.”

Jacob knew then and there that the dog would get more attention than any patients.

“I’m going to teach him all kinds of tricks.”

“Teach him to obey your commands. It’s the only way to keep him safe.”

Burns considered the suggestion. “Right. He will learn to sit, stay and follow. He’ll be a good dog.” He threw an arm across Jacob’s shoulders in an awkward hug. “You won’t be sorry. I promise.” The boy stepped back, embarrassed by his show of affection. “Can I go now?”

Jacob nodded. Burns dashed out. Jacob heard him talking to the dog and scrubbed at his chin. He was glad to be able to have a small part in bringing some happiness to the boy. From what Burns had told him, he knew the boy had lost his mother a number of years ago, and his father was cruel and neglectful. No wonder he was anxious to get to the gold fields. Jacob understood the hunt for gold was of minor importance to Burns. Escape was the foremost reason for the trip to Treasure Creek.

Teena’s soft voice reached him and Burns answered. He strained to hear what they said but couldn’t make it out. He tried to decide if he minded Burns and Teena striking up a friendship; he found he minded, but his reason didn’t make sense. He didn’t feel lonely. Didn’t wish he could enjoy a friendship with…

With a muttered sound of disgust he turned his attention back to his patients. He was here only to establish adequate medical care. Nothing more.

The next morning, he rose from his crowded quarters to the welcome noise of building. Somehow the pup had made it indoors and curled up beside Burns.

“Burns.”

The boy jerked to a sitting position, guilt flooding his gaze. “He was crying. He’s not used to being alone.” He wrapped a protective arm about the pup and received a generous licking.

Jacob struggled to contain his amusement at the eager affection between the two. But he must bear in mind his responsibility to his patients. “Nevertheless, this is a hospital for now, and animals aren’t allowed.”

Burns scrambled to his feet. “Come on, Yukon. Let’s go outside.”

Jacob wanted to call the pair back. Tell them to make themselves at home. Instead, he turned to the unconscious man, noted his eyes flickering. He tried to say something.

“Rest,” Jacob soothed. “You’re safe. I’m a doctor. I’ll take care of you.”

The man let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes.

It was a good sign. Relief filled Jacob’s lungs. He ducked outside, wishing he could share the good news about the patient with someone who understood. He saw Margie and Frankie and a third woman they introduced as their sister, Lucy—a gentler, softer version of the older two. But no Teena. “I thought Teena was going to help you.” He assured himself it wasn’t disappointment that made him sound so harsh and disapproving.

Margie and Frankie both considered him with dark, unreadable expressions, then Margie laughed. “Missing her, are you?”

He snorted. “It was just a comment.”

The pair roared with unexplainable laughter. Lucy looked baffled.

“Okay, Doc. If you say so. She’s gone up the trail to see if anyone needs her help.” Margie waved toward the Chilkoot. “Does it regular-like. Though I don’t understand why she should care about the people tearing up their land, and most of them rude to her on top of it.”

She’d gone up the trail again. Seems she was bent on practicing her form of medicine, even with a real medical doctor now available.

Concern for his fellow man was the only reason he hurried along the trail. Not a stupid desire to hear her soft voice, see her gentle smile, look into her bottom less eyes.

All that mattered was doing his job. Doing it well and living up to his expectations of himself.

Teena climbed until she reached the river. There she left the trail and found a place away from the clump of many booted feet. She sat down and watched the water sing past. She tried to sort out her thoughts, make sense of the strange feelings rolling through her.

Dr. Jacob was a hard man. A white man with no regard for anything but his own interests. Not that it mattered. All she wanted from him was a chance to learn what he knew about healing. Nothing more.

Yet she’d watched the way he was with Burns and the pup, and she had seen so much more than a white man with white man’s greed. She’d seen the flash of tenderness as he watched Burns, the gentleness in his hands as he examined the pup, the kind determination as he talked to the boy about caring for the animal, quietly teaching responsibility as her people did when children were much younger.

Afterwards, when Burns had come out to play with the dog, she told him about fishing for food for the animal. About teaching it to remain at home when ordered to do so. “Is Dr. Jacob your brother or father?” she asked.

Burns grinned. “Neither. Only met him on the boat on the way up here.” His expression grew dreamy. “I wish he was, though. He cares about me more than my father does. Ain’t got no brother.”

That one statement—I wish he was—sat like something warm and sweet in the secret corner of her heart. A man who won the respect of someone younger deserved admiration.

Even if he saved his kindness for the white man.

She sighed. Life used to be so simple. So straightforward. She knew what was expected of her—work hard to feed the family, respect her elders, marry the man of her father’s choosing, follow the events of each season. But things had changed.

She brought her attention back to the trail. This hungry search for gold had turned her life upside down, shifted her world sideways. Things would never be the same.

As if her thoughts had brought him toward her, Dr. Jacob climbed the path. He didn’t look her way. She wondered that the silent cry of her soul at seeing him didn’t draw his attention to her. Who was this man? Why should she feel such a stirring inside at the mere sight of him?

She didn’t move. Barely breathed. She wanted him to see her. But hoped he wouldn’t. She was not in a mood to deal with the way his eyes alternately flashed disapproval then darkened with some kind of interest. Or was it curiosity?

He passed out of sight.

She sat there a moment or two, waiting for her insides to calm, her reason to return. Then she pushed to her feet and headed down the trail to help with the clinic construction.

The three Tucker sisters were hard at work in the afternoon sun when she reached the clinic. Perhaps they no longer needed her help. She hung back to watch and wait.

“Burns,” Frankie called. “I could use a hand with this here board.” The boy hurriedly left his pup.

As Lucy waited for Burns to do Frankie’s bidding, she pulled out a pretty white hankie from her pocket and patted her brow. Both her sisters stared.

“What?” Lucy demanded.

“What good’s that little bit of cloth?” Frankie appointed herself spokeswoman. “Where’s your bandanna?”

“I gave it to Caleb.”

“Why?” Both her sisters looked her up and down like she had suddenly changed form before their eyes.

“Well, for goodness’ sake. Can’t a woman give her man a gift?” She jammed the hankie back in her pocket and picked up a hammer to drive a nail into a board with such fury that Teena flinched.

Burns stared wide-eyed. He glanced over his shoulder, as if wondering how to escape these rowdy women.