The Doctor's Wife

Chapter 7. Trained By the Best

Dan Scott rode along the rocky path to the mission. He was tired from his calls in Cataleechee, but he wanted to check in on two friends before he returned to his cabin--Mrs. Alice and Miss Hattie. In truth, the two were more like second mothers to him. Mrs. Alice was one of his father's oldest and best friends. It was Mrs. Alice who had brought him to the mission to apprentice under Dr. Neil MacNeill. But he had Miss Hattie to thank for convincing the stubborn doctor to teach him. And it was also Miss Hattie who was the first Cove resident to see him for who he was, rather than the color of his skin.

He turned around a bend and felt a cool breeze. There had been frost on the leaves—and even his boots—when he'd left Cataleechee. He had to warm the leather by the fire to soften them before pulling them on over his thick socks. The temperature was rising, though, and the sun poked through the trees overhead, melting the frost into tiny dew droplets that glistened.

He took a deep breath and smiled. There was a certain peace in being able to achieve one's dreams. And his dream had been particularly challenging--to become the first black doctor in the region. A college education, much less medical school, was out of reach for most folks in the area, regardless of their skin color. And his training, though unorthodox, had been top-notch. MacNeill was a good doctor--he'd wager even the best in the state on some things, but most especially for his ability to adapt modern medicine to the superstitions and deprivations of the impoverished Appalachian community he now called a second home.

Neil was so good in fact, that he'd been offered a research fellowship in Boston for his work on trachoma. He'd turned it down, unwilling to leave his people.

Unwilling to leave his wife, Dan smiled at the thought. Where Neil was proud and stubborn, Christy was his undoing. He enjoyed the many times he joined them for a meal and got to be entertained by their banter...or, Neil's scolding, usually deserved, from his wife. Positively domesticated, he was, to the surly doctor's chagrin.

But Neil MacNeill was not the only doctor around anymore. Dan Scott had passed his medical boards, now he, too, could call himself "Doctor." Dr. Dan Scott, trained by the best. Someday, he would like to pay it forward to another aspiring student.

I need to go home, first, he thought. And not Cutter Gap, but to the small black settlement his father had built. Someday, once he'd finished what he and Dr. MacNeill half-jokingly called "his residency," he'd move back to serve his friends and family there. Maybe then he could take on his own apprentice then.

He felt his chest tighten at the thought. He'd made so many friends in Cutter Gap. He would miss them when the time came to leave.

His horse snorted, shaking Dr. Scott from his reverie.

"First things first. I need to get to the Cove," he stated aloud.

Faint hoofbeats thundered in the distance. Whoever it was, he thought, they were riding like a bat out of hell.

He paused and wondered if he should go down a side path to avoid them. It was 1914. Not everyone was accepting to "coloreds."

No, I'm close enough to the mission. He continued on, though the hoofbeats were coming closer; the rider would be upon him soon.

The breeze rustled the leaves again and he looked up to see the horse and rider who was in such a hurry.

"Dr. Scott?! Is that you?!"

Someone who knew him? His heart began to race to match the rushed pace of the approaching hoofbeats. Someone must be hurt or ill.

The voice was familiar, but he couldn't put a name to it. "Yes, Dan Scott. Can I help you?" he shouted back.

The rider leaned back on his horse to slow its pace, his hat slipping backwards on his head. It was Jeb Spencer, widower of Fairlight.

Jeb rode up alongside Dan. He was out-of-breath.

"Praise the Lord, I found yeh, Dr. Scott. When you wasn't at your cabin or Miss Hattie's, I started for Cataleechee knowing you must still be on your way back," Jeb said, pausing to catch his breath.

"Is someone hurt?" asked Dan.

"It's the doctor. I mean--not you of course--the other doctor."

"MacNeill?"

Jeb nodded. "We have to hurry. He's hurt real bad, took a fall off a cliff."

Without a word, Dan clicked his tongue, his horse took off at a full speed down the road with Jeb following behind.