Conner's Contrary Bride by Barbara Goss (accelerated reader books .txt) 📗

“Bertie!” he yelled. He picked Elsie up and turned to the father of the boy and said, “I’ll be right back,” and ran to the back door just as Bertie rushed out.

“Take her to bed, Bertie. She passed out and hit her head. I need to tend to my patient, and then I’ll come back to check on her.”

Bertie took Elsie from him, and Conner turned back to his patient. It would be hard to treat the boy and fetch every tool he needed at the same time. He should have kept Mrs. Walker on for a few more days.

Besides badly torn skin on the boy’s legs in several places, the bull had broken no bones. The father helped to hold the boy down while Conner stitched up his legs.

Conner wiped each wound with carbolic acid before placing a sterile cloth over them. Next, he tied a long strip of cloth over each wound. “He needs to take it easy for a few days,” Conner said. “Bring him back next week and I’ll remove the stitches.”

The father paid Conner and carried his son out to his wagon.

Conner rushed back to the house and went to Elsie’s room where Bertie was dabbing water on her face.

“Has she come around yet?” When Bertie shook her head, he asked, “Do we have any smelling salts?”

“I might have some.” She turned toward the door, but when she heard Elsie moan, she stopped and watched her open her eyes.

“W-what happened?”

Conner moved closer to the bed. “You passed out. Does your head hurt?”

Elsie reached up to feel her head and grimaced. “A bit in the back. There’s a slight bump there already.”

Conner helped her to roll over so he could check her head. “It doesn’t seem too serious.” He turned to Bertie. “Get me a candle or lamp—I need to check her eyes.”

“I can see just fine,” Elsie said.

“I need to check for a concussion,” Conner said. Her lovely smile stunned him. She was smiling, even at a time like this. He had to admit once again how beautiful her smile seemed to light up her entire face.

Bertie reached over, grabbed the oil lamp from the nightstand, removed the globe, turned up the wick, and lit it. She replaced the glass cover and handed the lamp to Conner, who held the lamp up to her eyes to peer into them. How clear and blue they were, he remarked to himself.

He handed the lamp back to Bertie, who blew out the flame. “She doesn’t have a concussion,” he said, “but I want her to stay in bed until dinnertime.”

Bertie sighed. “Well, I have a chicken in the oven, but if you need me in the clinic, call me.”

“I’ll clean up the mess from the last patient myself.”

They left the room and closed the door. In the hallway, Conner whispered to Bertie, “She fainted when she saw blood! What am I to do with her? She can’t work in the clinic.”

“Then she’ll do the housework,” Bertie said, “and I’ll help in the clinic.”

Conner pulled Bertie away from the bedroom door so Elsie wouldn’t hear them. “I’ll ask Mrs. Walker to help in the clinic tomorrow so you can take Elsie for some new clothes and shoes. Can you do that?”

“What about dinner?”

 “I’ll meet you and Elsie at Rusty’s at six, and we’ll eat there. Elsie has to have better clothes, especially for attending church.”

“I’ve seen the few things she brought with her, and I agree. I’ll take her tomorrow afternoon.”

When Elsie sat down to eat her breakfast, Conner was sipping his coffee. Bertie placed a plate of eggs and ham before Elsie, then took a seat herself.

“Elsie,” Conner began in his calmest voice, “from now on you’ll be keeping house, and Bertie will work in the clinic with me.”

“What?” Elsie’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Since you can’t stand the sight of blood, we thought it best,” Conner explained. “Bertie has agreed to spend the morning showing you exactly what she does each day. After lunch, Bertie Is taking you to the general store to buy you a few dresses and a pair of shoes. Oh, and anything else you’d like.”

Bertie nodded. “You’ll need a suitable dress for church on Sundays.”

“Church?” Elsie nearly choked on the tea she’d been sipping. “I don’t go to church.”

“What?” Bertie and Conner said in unison.

Elsie nodded. “I don’t believe in God.”

Conner and Bertie looked at each other, obviously speechless.

“Didn’t you fill out the questions the matchmaker sent?”

“Yes,” Elsie replied, “and I stated that I didn’t go to church or believe.”

Conner hit his head with his hand. “I don’t believe this.”

Bertie intervened. “Elsie, it wouldn’t look good to the community if you didn’t go to church with your husband. Couldn’t you just go and not pay attention? You could bow your head and think about something else while we pray.”

Conner sighed. “I’m a devout Christian man, Elsie. I can’t force my beliefs on you, but it would make me very upset if you didn’t at least go halfway on this with me. Like Bertie said, just go along with it. For me. Would you do that?”

Elsie gazed at Conner and then at Bertie. She didn’t smile when she said, “I suppose I could do that, but I won’t believe in a God who never cared about me.” She pushed away from the table and ran to her room.

“Oh, dear,” was all Bertie said.

Conner rubbed his forehead. “What have I done, Bertie?”

When Conner arrived at Rusty’s, he found Elsie and Bertie sitting at a table sipping tea.  He greeted them and looked up at the wall to read the menu. “Do you two know what you’ll have?”

Bertie replied first. “I’ll have the roast beef with mashed potatoes and whatever vegetable they’re serving today.”