Dawn on a Distant Shore
Page 186
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Hannah thought for a moment. "But maybe it would be a comfort to him, to know why she died."
Hakim Ibrahim closed his eyes briefly and opened them again. "He believes that his lack of faith in her was what brought about her death, and even if I were to find her body full of tumors, I could not convince him otherwise."
Hannah said, "Then he is in need of your help, too."
The Hakim had a very sad smile. "You have a generous and compassionate spirit, Hannah. But if you are to be a good physician one day you must learn to recognize when your skills are not what is needed."
""First do no harm,"" Hannah said, and now she understood this concept as she had not been able to understand it before. "But if you cannot help him, who can?"
"His God," said the Hakim. "And perhaps his priest. Now I have a question for you. Will you write to me, and tell me of your studies in medicine?"
"Yes," said Hannah. "I would like to do that."
"Then we will not say good-bye." The Hakim smiled. "For our discussions do not have to end."
She hesitated at the door, testing the weight of the surgical kit in her hands. "Do you really think I can be a physician one day?"
He bowed from the shoulders. "Of this, my friend, I am very sure."
32
The smell of the sea met them at Edinburgh, coming up suddenly as the coach started down a hill toward the city. Elizabeth sat up straighter, and even Hannah roused herself out of her daydreams.
"Headed home." Elizabeth said it aloud now and then, perhaps just to convince herself that it was really true. They would spend this evening with Aunt Merriweather and tomorrow they would board a ship. When they next stepped onto land it would be in New-York harbor.
Curiosity's thoughts were taking her in the same direction. She said, "Lord willing, we'll be in Paradise before summer's done. In time for the corn harvest, Hannah. Did you think of that?"
Hannah nodded. "In time for the festival at Trees-Standing-in-Water."
"Ain't even home yet and she ready to run off again," Curiosity said with a sigh. "Me, I ain't goin' any farther than Lake in the Clouds. Don' care if I never see another city. Or smell one, for that matter." And she sniffed at Edinburgh, ripe with waste in the summer sun.
They came into the High Street, the women and children in the coach while Hawkeye, Nathaniel, and Will rode, surrounded by Carryck's men. The earl would take no chances with their safety; it would soon be common knowledge that Daniel Bonner of New-York State had signed a document declaring himself the son of James Scott, and with that they would become targets of the Breadalbane Campbells. It did not matter that Hawkeye would keep his vow to leave Scotland and never come back again. It did not matter, because the grandson he had left behind in Canada had made no such vow.
Daniel played peacefully in Elizabeth's lap. Nathaniel's second-born son. She still had not come to a quiet place with this idea, but she would in time. Nathaniel had expected her to be angry, or hurt, or worried about her own children's claims, but thus far she had felt nothing but confusion and some vague curiosity. He was watching her now from horseback, looking for some sign of her discontent, waiting for her anger to swell up.
Someplace inside, Nathaniel still believed that she regretted the life she was leaving behind, and only time would convince him otherwise.
"I suppose that Merriweather aunt of yours will want us all to set down with her," Curiosity said, jerking Elizabeth out of her daydreams. "She'll want the whole story."
"I suppose she will," Elizabeth agreed.
"But the whole story hasn't happened, yet." Hannah looked up from the piece of ivory she had been studying.
"Then we will tell her as much as we know," said Elizabeth. "What is that in your hand, Squirrel?"
She held it up. Not ivory at all, but a tooth yellowed with age, long and curved.
"A bear fang," Curiosity said, leaning forward to get a better look at it, and catching Lily's hand away as she grabbed. "I didn't know there were bears around Carryck."
"There aren't," said Hannah, closing her fist around it. "Not anymore."
Curiosity was looking more closely at Hannah's face now, with concern and some disquiet. As Elizabeth was looking, seeing something new there in her familiar and beloved face, some equanimity that she had left behind her somewhere on this long journey and now found again. Robbie's sudden passing had moved her in ways Elizabeth had not quite imagined.
"Did it come from Jennet?" asked Curiosity.
"Jennet has one just like it," said Hannah. "She will wear it on a string around her neck."
"Elizabeth, my dear, we must see a milliner before you sail. To go about with no protection from the sun, have you forgotten all your training? Something must be done, for you are already as brown as a--as a--"
"As an Indian," supplied Hannah easily, looking at them over the rim of her teacup. She sent her father a sidelong glance, but Nathaniel kept his face impassive. He knew better than to get in the middle of one of Aunt Merriweather's discussions about hats.
"I admit I have not been thinking of my complexion these last few months," Elizabeth agreed, wiping biscuit crumbs from Lily's mouth. "But I promise to wear a hat on the journey home."
Aunt Merriweather had a way of rearing back with her head to look down the slope of her nose that always put Nathaniel in mind of a cross-eyed bird. She was doing it now, her mouth pursed into a little beak.
Hakim Ibrahim closed his eyes briefly and opened them again. "He believes that his lack of faith in her was what brought about her death, and even if I were to find her body full of tumors, I could not convince him otherwise."
Hannah said, "Then he is in need of your help, too."
The Hakim had a very sad smile. "You have a generous and compassionate spirit, Hannah. But if you are to be a good physician one day you must learn to recognize when your skills are not what is needed."
""First do no harm,"" Hannah said, and now she understood this concept as she had not been able to understand it before. "But if you cannot help him, who can?"
"His God," said the Hakim. "And perhaps his priest. Now I have a question for you. Will you write to me, and tell me of your studies in medicine?"
"Yes," said Hannah. "I would like to do that."
"Then we will not say good-bye." The Hakim smiled. "For our discussions do not have to end."
She hesitated at the door, testing the weight of the surgical kit in her hands. "Do you really think I can be a physician one day?"
He bowed from the shoulders. "Of this, my friend, I am very sure."
32
The smell of the sea met them at Edinburgh, coming up suddenly as the coach started down a hill toward the city. Elizabeth sat up straighter, and even Hannah roused herself out of her daydreams.
"Headed home." Elizabeth said it aloud now and then, perhaps just to convince herself that it was really true. They would spend this evening with Aunt Merriweather and tomorrow they would board a ship. When they next stepped onto land it would be in New-York harbor.
Curiosity's thoughts were taking her in the same direction. She said, "Lord willing, we'll be in Paradise before summer's done. In time for the corn harvest, Hannah. Did you think of that?"
Hannah nodded. "In time for the festival at Trees-Standing-in-Water."
"Ain't even home yet and she ready to run off again," Curiosity said with a sigh. "Me, I ain't goin' any farther than Lake in the Clouds. Don' care if I never see another city. Or smell one, for that matter." And she sniffed at Edinburgh, ripe with waste in the summer sun.
They came into the High Street, the women and children in the coach while Hawkeye, Nathaniel, and Will rode, surrounded by Carryck's men. The earl would take no chances with their safety; it would soon be common knowledge that Daniel Bonner of New-York State had signed a document declaring himself the son of James Scott, and with that they would become targets of the Breadalbane Campbells. It did not matter that Hawkeye would keep his vow to leave Scotland and never come back again. It did not matter, because the grandson he had left behind in Canada had made no such vow.
Daniel played peacefully in Elizabeth's lap. Nathaniel's second-born son. She still had not come to a quiet place with this idea, but she would in time. Nathaniel had expected her to be angry, or hurt, or worried about her own children's claims, but thus far she had felt nothing but confusion and some vague curiosity. He was watching her now from horseback, looking for some sign of her discontent, waiting for her anger to swell up.
Someplace inside, Nathaniel still believed that she regretted the life she was leaving behind, and only time would convince him otherwise.
"I suppose that Merriweather aunt of yours will want us all to set down with her," Curiosity said, jerking Elizabeth out of her daydreams. "She'll want the whole story."
"I suppose she will," Elizabeth agreed.
"But the whole story hasn't happened, yet." Hannah looked up from the piece of ivory she had been studying.
"Then we will tell her as much as we know," said Elizabeth. "What is that in your hand, Squirrel?"
She held it up. Not ivory at all, but a tooth yellowed with age, long and curved.
"A bear fang," Curiosity said, leaning forward to get a better look at it, and catching Lily's hand away as she grabbed. "I didn't know there were bears around Carryck."
"There aren't," said Hannah, closing her fist around it. "Not anymore."
Curiosity was looking more closely at Hannah's face now, with concern and some disquiet. As Elizabeth was looking, seeing something new there in her familiar and beloved face, some equanimity that she had left behind her somewhere on this long journey and now found again. Robbie's sudden passing had moved her in ways Elizabeth had not quite imagined.
"Did it come from Jennet?" asked Curiosity.
"Jennet has one just like it," said Hannah. "She will wear it on a string around her neck."
"Elizabeth, my dear, we must see a milliner before you sail. To go about with no protection from the sun, have you forgotten all your training? Something must be done, for you are already as brown as a--as a--"
"As an Indian," supplied Hannah easily, looking at them over the rim of her teacup. She sent her father a sidelong glance, but Nathaniel kept his face impassive. He knew better than to get in the middle of one of Aunt Merriweather's discussions about hats.
"I admit I have not been thinking of my complexion these last few months," Elizabeth agreed, wiping biscuit crumbs from Lily's mouth. "But I promise to wear a hat on the journey home."
Aunt Merriweather had a way of rearing back with her head to look down the slope of her nose that always put Nathaniel in mind of a cross-eyed bird. She was doing it now, her mouth pursed into a little beak.
