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Authors: Mary Sharratt
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England at the first opportunity and there make use of a surgeon. In the meanwhile," he nodded to Hannah, "I understand there are two herb women aboard the ship. If you could fetch them, Mistress Powers, perhaps they might at least provide enough physick to dull Mr. Mearley's pain."
"Lucy Mackett and Cassie, you mean." Hannah ducked her head. "I will see if I can find them, sir."
***
Hannah joined Cassie and Lucy in the cooking house, where they measured out herbs for Mr. Mearley's remedy.
"Lucky for him, I had the witchgrass in my pouch," Lucy said.
Their tincture required young birch leaves, speedwell, and chicory. The last two they procured from Mrs. Mearley's store of dried kitchen herbs, but no new birch leaves would be found until spring.
"We must make do," said Lucy. "An incomplete remedy is better than none."
Cassie squatted at the hearth and poked the fire with a stick while waiting for the kettle to boil.
"If his stone is small, such a tincture might help him pass it," Hannah said. "But if the stone is large, only a surgeon can save him. Why can they not find a surgeon for him on this shore? The voyage to England might well kill him."
"My girl," said Lucy, "there
are
no surgeons on this shore."
"How can that be?"
"Who would trade a life of comfort in the mother country for this?" Lucy waved her hand around the cluttered cooking shack. "The patients are so far-flung, he would spend all his time traveling."
Cassie lifted her head from the hearth. "I hear in Anne Arundel Town there is a trained blacksmith. They could summon him to cut for the stone."
"A common blacksmith?" Hannah felt sick.
"Aye," Lucy said shortly. "Then he would die from the bleeding afterward."
"My father was a physician and surgeon." Hannah spoke rapidly so they wouldn't interrupt her. "Many times I assisted him. I saw him make the cuts. I have the instruments in my trunk. If the Mearleys would allow it, I could remove the stone."
Lucy laid her hand on Hannah's shoulder. She was struggling not to laugh. "You would offer to cut into a strange man's privy parts?"
Cassie guffawed.
Hannah's face burned. "But Iâ"
"No." Lucy spoke firmly. "A girl like you should not meddle in these things. Besides, the man is fifty. His sons are nearly grown. He has lived longer than most. God has not been unkind to him."
***
When the tincture was bottled and ready, Lucy and Cassie presented it to Mrs. Mearley.
"We are obliged," Mrs. Mearley said. She gave them a small cask of home-brewed ale as payment.
Back on deck, Hannah waved again at the children on the landing. She thought of Mrs. Mearley with her new oak table and chairs, of Mr. Mearley with his pinched gray face and his look of perpetual torment. What if she had been brave enough to present the scalpel and her book of anatomy? What if she had been courageous enough to tell them how she had successfully removed a kidney stone from Mr. Byrd back home?
They would never believe you.
She recalled the look Mrs. Mearley had given her.
They would call you a lying, deluded girl.
"Still feeling pity for Mr. Mearley?" Cassie approached with a traveler's tin cup of Mrs. Mearley's ale. "The brew is weak," she complained.
Hannah looked out over the ship rail. The Mearley house had already vanished from view.
Cassie grinned. "Did you not say your sister lives upriver from the Banham Plantation?"
"I did."
"Well, there he is," she said coyly. "There is your Mr. Banham." She pointed to the man in the leather doublet who had told Hannah about Mr. Mearley's kidney stone. He sauntered past, a shining sun surrounded by a coterie of lesser planters who were like moons reflecting his brilliance. They competed for his attention and hung on his every word.
"Are you certain?"
Cassie nodded. "I heard the captain introduce him to some other men."
"So he is my sister's nearest neighbor." Hannah remembered what the man with the rotten teeth in Anne Arundel Town had said.
Is your sister one of Banham's
"Lucy Mackett and Cassie, you mean." Hannah ducked her head. "I will see if I can find them, sir."
***
Hannah joined Cassie and Lucy in the cooking house, where they measured out herbs for Mr. Mearley's remedy.
"Lucky for him, I had the witchgrass in my pouch," Lucy said.
Their tincture required young birch leaves, speedwell, and chicory. The last two they procured from Mrs. Mearley's store of dried kitchen herbs, but no new birch leaves would be found until spring.
"We must make do," said Lucy. "An incomplete remedy is better than none."
Cassie squatted at the hearth and poked the fire with a stick while waiting for the kettle to boil.
"If his stone is small, such a tincture might help him pass it," Hannah said. "But if the stone is large, only a surgeon can save him. Why can they not find a surgeon for him on this shore? The voyage to England might well kill him."
"My girl," said Lucy, "there
are
no surgeons on this shore."
"How can that be?"
"Who would trade a life of comfort in the mother country for this?" Lucy waved her hand around the cluttered cooking shack. "The patients are so far-flung, he would spend all his time traveling."
Cassie lifted her head from the hearth. "I hear in Anne Arundel Town there is a trained blacksmith. They could summon him to cut for the stone."
"A common blacksmith?" Hannah felt sick.
"Aye," Lucy said shortly. "Then he would die from the bleeding afterward."
"My father was a physician and surgeon." Hannah spoke rapidly so they wouldn't interrupt her. "Many times I assisted him. I saw him make the cuts. I have the instruments in my trunk. If the Mearleys would allow it, I could remove the stone."
Lucy laid her hand on Hannah's shoulder. She was struggling not to laugh. "You would offer to cut into a strange man's privy parts?"
Cassie guffawed.
Hannah's face burned. "But Iâ"
"No." Lucy spoke firmly. "A girl like you should not meddle in these things. Besides, the man is fifty. His sons are nearly grown. He has lived longer than most. God has not been unkind to him."
***
When the tincture was bottled and ready, Lucy and Cassie presented it to Mrs. Mearley.
"We are obliged," Mrs. Mearley said. She gave them a small cask of home-brewed ale as payment.
Back on deck, Hannah waved again at the children on the landing. She thought of Mrs. Mearley with her new oak table and chairs, of Mr. Mearley with his pinched gray face and his look of perpetual torment. What if she had been brave enough to present the scalpel and her book of anatomy? What if she had been courageous enough to tell them how she had successfully removed a kidney stone from Mr. Byrd back home?
They would never believe you.
She recalled the look Mrs. Mearley had given her.
They would call you a lying, deluded girl.
"Still feeling pity for Mr. Mearley?" Cassie approached with a traveler's tin cup of Mrs. Mearley's ale. "The brew is weak," she complained.
Hannah looked out over the ship rail. The Mearley house had already vanished from view.
Cassie grinned. "Did you not say your sister lives upriver from the Banham Plantation?"
"I did."
"Well, there he is," she said coyly. "There is your Mr. Banham." She pointed to the man in the leather doublet who had told Hannah about Mr. Mearley's kidney stone. He sauntered past, a shining sun surrounded by a coterie of lesser planters who were like moons reflecting his brilliance. They competed for his attention and hung on his every word.
"Are you certain?"
Cassie nodded. "I heard the captain introduce him to some other men."
"So he is my sister's nearest neighbor." Hannah remembered what the man with the rotten teeth in Anne Arundel Town had said.
Is your sister one of Banham's
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