The Sunday service at church was well attended and Paul Martin introduced his new associate to that many people as possible. Some of them had already heard about the new lady doctor, making that task rather easy.
When Ben, Hoss and Joe Cartwright arrived, Doc Martin drew Charlie careful in their direction and introduced her to Ben. "It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Cartwright and thank you so much for inviting a total stranger to your midst on a Sunday." "The pleasure is all ours Doctor Mathews, I can hardly think of a more interesting and charming guest and our old friends, the Martins, are always welcome at our table."
Before the conversation could be continued, Joe took Charlies arm: "Allow me to escort you!" and drew her away from his father and brother. He managed to direct her into their usual pew and placed himself directly besides her.
During the service Joe spent not too much attention to the sermon; he was lost in contemplations about the appearance of his neighbor. He was no expert when it came to women's dresses, he just knew what he liked and what he disliked, but regarding the dress of Doc Charlie he was sure that it was outstanding: The color of fresh green apples made a perfect contrast to her hair, which looked more red than blonde in the early spring s sunshine. However it looked not really like an intended hairstyle, but rather hastily fixed with some combs, that did not withhold all her hair. However Joe did not mind at all the frizzy curls slipping out all around her head, quite the contrary; they gave her a kind of halo, which in his mind perfectly matched her angelic appearance. On the dress there was some black embroidery and it had - a little to Joe's disappointment - a very high neckline, which made it probably suitable for church, as the good people of Virginia City might otherwise have considered the light green to be too cheerful for that purpose. He was positive that he had never laid eyes on a more elegant dress and a more elegant and distinctive woman. The other thing he noticed about his neighbor was her voice. When the chorales were sung during the service he noticed that she had quite a pleasant one, she could easily be picked out of the chorus of the congregation like usually Adam. Oh no! He would surely not spare any thought about elder brother while sitting beside such a charming and special lady!
After the service Joe guarded Charlie to the Doctors buggy. As Doc and Mrs. Martin would come along as well, he was not too disappointed that he had no chance yet to make a ride with her alone. He mounted Cochise and rode on Charlies side of the buggy along to the Ponderosa. When they arrived he lifted Charlie from the cart. "Welcome to our house Charlie, I very much hope that you like it here." He led her into the great room.
Charlie was genuinely impressed. No doubt this was a ranch house; it perfectly fitted into the rural area. A huge fireplace dominated the ground floor room and apparently there were quite a number of rooms at the upper floor. To Charlie it was clearly visible, that this house had no 'womens touch' at all, everything - the colors, the furniture - looked purely male, but in no way uncomfortable or inhospitable. "How could one not like this place, this is really an impressive house you live in. Solid, strong and generous, it apparently perfectly suits your family. One can see that this is much more than a building to you, it is a real home."
"Thank you very much Doctor Mathews! This is very kind of you to say." Ben was apparently flattered. "We have rebuilt and enlarged the place a couple of times, mostly as per the designs and plans of my son." Charlie sent an admiring glaze around: "I had no idea, you had architectural abilities, Joe or is it you Hoss? Your sons are really very impressive young men!" Ben explained "They surely are, all of them, but no, the architect in the family is Adam, my eldest son. He is currently on a trip to Reno." "Oh, I see, one more Mr. Cartwright, your family becomes more and more interesting." Joe did not feel the slightest need to draw elder brother into the conversation and lead Charlie to a chair beside his.
Lunch was served and everybody was full of praise for Hop Sings cooking. Coffee after the meal was served at the fireplace and Charlie went on looking around in the big room. Her eyes were caught by the books behind Ben's desk. "Oh Mr. Cartwright, this looks like a real library, I do envy you for it! To my regret I own just a rather small amount of books, as I traveled ... well ...rather light during the last years." "Oh, this is nothing! You should see the amount of book stuff, our brother has upstairs in his room! He wants to build up a public library at the school in Virginia City one day." Hoss sounded that proud, as if he was intending that himself. "Of course, he is rather peculiar about his own books and he prefers that poetry and Shakespeare stuff, no one really understands."
Charlie smiled about that verdict and inquired: "Yet another Mr. Cartwright?" Ben answered: "No there are just the three of them: Adam, Hoss and Little Joe." "And they all live and work here with you on the ranch?" Emanating a wave of pride and love that Charlie could feel nearly physically, Ben Cartwright answered: "Yes, they do! This makes me very, very happy, although, I must confess; I would not mind having a daughter in law or some grandchildren one day." "This could be helped rather easily Ben!" Jillian Martin contributed with a smile: "Let your boys off the leash a bit more and you will see, the three of them will be caught away in no time!" The expression that suddenly appeared on the face of the Ponderosa patriarch made everybody else laugh out loud. "Sorry Ben" Paul explained "we did not want to make fun of you, but that pure horror of yours about having your boys 'caught away' was absolutely priceless to see!"
Joe jumped up: "Well I think, we have embarrassed our guests sufficiently with our family affairs, I would like to take now Doc Charlie to a ride throughout the Ponderosa! Does anybody care to come with us?", whereby he shot glances at Hoss that made quite clear, he did not want to have any company except Charlie on the ride. Politely the others refused and Joe and Charlie went off. Charlie really enjoyed the rough and yet lovely landscape they crossed and due to the relaxed mood, she and her escort shared on this mild afternoon in spring, she dared to satisfy her curiosity about this family, Paul had described as being the 'local gentry'.
"Joe, please tell me if I become too nosy, but I have never seen two brothers who did resemble each other less than Hoss and you, and neither of you is looking like your father. I wonder how your third brother fits into that. If it is not too much of an imposition, please be that kind to enlighten me." "Of course, there is no secret about that, town gossip would have informed you anyway I assume. Pa was married three times. First to Adams mother back East, which died the very same day Adam was born. Then Pa moved out West with him and on their way they met Hoss' mother. She was from Sweden. They moved on and Hoss was born. When Hoss was just a baby, Adam had to watch how she was killed by Indians and so the three of them went on until they settled down here. They started building the ranch and after a couple of years Pa met my mother in New Orleans. She died in a riding accident when I was five."
"Oh my goodness, Joe, what a lot of tragedies you all had to face! Now I can see why your father might be a bit overprotective regarding his 'boys'." "If it was only Pa I could live with it, but there is also Hop Sing, who takes not only care for the household, but for our whole life as well. And of course there is Adam, who bosses me around just because he is so much older. One could say I have not one father but three of them! Can you imagine how arduous this is sometimes?" "And because of such occasional arduousness you cannot appreciate what a lucky young man you are, having three father figures or rule models, who try to protect you from any harm, to prepare you for life and to love and care for you? I am absolutely sure Joe, that the world would be a better place, if we had an abundance of such kind of things rather than the lack of it."
Joe harrumphed: "You might be right with that, but I'm not a child anymore, they should be able to realize that. Especially Adam should know better, he has probably never been treated that way, he has always done the job of an adult, here on the ranch and with raising Hoss and me." "Well, I do not know your brother, but wouldn't it be possible that this is just what he is doing - knowing better?" "What do you mean?" "Did it never occur to you, that being treated like an adult is not the funniest thing in the world for a little boy or an adolescent? What if he just wants to protect you from growing up too soon, bearing too much responsibility too early?"
"Oh no, not my brother Adam! When you have to meet him you will see that he is really obsessed by responsibilities and duties and such things. He was of course the perfect model student in school and at college and knows all that boring stuff with contracts and ledgers and of course he had been asked to become a city counsel and a school ward. I cannot remember having ever seen him only once without a book around. In his saddlebags he carries along at least one book and he even reads when he is riding, imagine that! Everywhere I go people say 'Adam did that at your age' or 'Does Adam approve of that' or something like that. Nobody of course compares to our 'perfect' elder brother."
"Does that bother you; I mean would you like to be more like him?" "Like Adam? Goodness, no! I mean, Pa takes all of us just as we are, that is the main thing, and honestly the last thing on earth I wanted to be was a Yankee granite head thinking all the time how to spoil the fun for everyone else! Besides this I have gained meanwhile a reputation of my own!" With these words he smiled beamingly at Charlie, who thought by herself: 'I do believe that, you charming little scamp!' and continued hearable: "Maybe your brother is just not that used to having fun like you are and the fact that you are much better used to it, you probably owe him, at least to some part. Just a thought, maybe you can consider it on occasion." When they went on, Charlie mused what kind of guy that third brother would be, probably a rather out of place figure within this rough territory, a probably humorless bookworm, scholar and the teachers pet, who could be lucky to have such a supportive family around to take care for him and protect him.
Back at the main house Joe wanted to guard Charlie inside, but she hesitated: "Joe, please, could I have a look at the stable first? I spend a lot of time with horses when I was a child and missed that very much during the last years." "Of course, come with me!" He guided her over. When they entered the stable, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and a smile made her face even lovelier in Joes opinion. "Oh that special smell: a mixture of leather, straw and manure, how I missed that! Are these your horses?"
"Yes, the Pinto is mine, the Bay is Hoss' and that one belongs to Pa. The others are for our buggies or guests or if one of our regular horses cannot go." "Beautiful animals you have, and one can tell that you do take care for them." "Hoss is exceptionally gifted with animals, sometimes he really seems to be able to talk to them." Charlie looked at him: "Yes, I can imagine that, Hoss appears to be to be that gentle and kind, animals can feel such benignity."
Then she looked at Joe again: "Thanks a lot for showing me this, being in a stable again makes me really wishing I had a horse of my own!" "Oh that should be no problem, if you want to buy a horse let us know, we will surely find a suitable one for you!" Charlie looked at him a little lost in thoughts and replied smiling: "Yes, that would really be wonderful; I'll keep that in mind for sure!" When they had left the stable, Joe took care for the buggy and Charlie rushed into the big room.
She remembered having seen a big bowl with apples there and wanted to grab some for the kind mare, which had pulled their cart this afternoon. When she returned into the yard her eye was caught by a Chestnut, standing outside the stable. "Hello, where do you come from? Oh, look what a wonderful creature you are, and you know that perfectly well, you rascal, don't you? Here try this!" and slowly she reached out her hand towards him with one of the apples. The animal took it from her palm, just as the next one and allowed her to pat his neck. While doing so she went on talking to it. "In another life, many, many years ago I had a horse for myself. I called it Blaze, because it had one and was also rather fiery. You are of that sort as well, aren't you? My, what a beauty you are!" "I could not agree more!"
Charlie spun around, startled by the deep baritone voice that had interrupted her 'talk' with the beautiful animal. She had heard that voice once before and felt like chased by it, but now not only in her dreams, but also in reality. It was positively him! The black, impudent cowboy, the impersonation of Heathcliff was leaning to a pillar of the porch as if he belonged there and looked at her again with that annoying half-sided grin. "You? What are you doing here?"
"Well I do hope not to upset you again, but I could ask the same! I happen to live in this house, which you with all due respect cannot claim for yourself, at least not until last Wednesday, when I went off for Reno. Believe me, I would have noticed you and made sure, you would have taken note of me!" During his words he had strolled over towards her and stood now alarmingly close. He took her hand and placed a kiss on it. "My name is Adam Cartwright and I am really glad to be finally able to express my gratitude for your quick witted as well as professional help the other day, although you had been hurt yourself. This was admirable brave of you, thank you very much!" And again he kissed her hand.
Charlie's thoughts were spinning around in her head. This splendid specimen of maleness was the third Cartwright brother, the bookish one, who read poetry, loved paperwork and cared for school matters without having children of his own? And if this was not enough already, he seemed to be a rather prominent member of her new neighborhood. Oh no, this could have hardly turned out worse! She managed however somehow to gain her senses back and drew away her hand from him:
"Oh, this is really a surprise to see you again! How is your shoulder?" "Better, much better, but one can hardly be too careful, don't you agree? Shall we do another examination? Let me just take off my shirt although I would not refuse some affectionate assistance!" Charlie literally felt her blood boil with anger: "If you insist behaving like a ridiculous halfwit, go ahead! Should you however be looking for some serious medical advice, see me at the office starting from tomorrow at any time of your convenience!" Joe had finished meanwhile his chore with the buggy and rushed into their conversation: "I see you have met my much older brother already, this is Adam and this is the new doctor in town, Miss Charlotte Mathews! Allow me to take you inside Charlie; we do not want to keep elder brother from taking care for his horse, do we?"
Adam watched them leaving into the house while cursing himself for teasing her again. What was wrong with him? Instead of using the chance for a normal conversation with that apparently smart and interesting woman he just behaved childish by mocking her improperly. He felt like a first grader, who would pull the braids of his favorite girl because he was afraid of talking to her. Goodness, had he had to stop this and to act like the man he claimed to be.
After having taken care for his horse he also entered the great room, where a lively conversation was going on. "Adam, why didn't you tell us that you ve already met Doc Mathews during that coach accident?" "Well Pa, I had no idea the Doc was going to stay in Virginia City, so there was not much purpose. Now I would of course very much like to see Doctor Mathews in her practice for a final examination." 'Examination, my foot!' Joe had to suppress an angry snort. Elder brother was just trying to spend time with Charlie! Didn't the others see that?
"Of course, you are free to come at any time you find suitable, as it is my first week, there are not too many appointments made yet." Adam noticed amused that she could probably be quite sharp-tongued as well. Trying to calm her mood further he satisfied his genuine curiosity: "May I ask where you have practiced so far? There are not many women doctors out there, are they?"
"No, there aren't, and that became a real problem for me. I tried to rent rooms for a practice of my own not only in San Francisco but also at some other places, but nobody was ready to accept a woman as a tenant. I tried to work in hospitals, but usually only the least reputable of them were ready to accept me. But again I had never been treated as equal to the male doctors. Every mans word, might he be an incomparable imbecile or completely drunk and out of his mind was worth much more than mine. In the end I worked in San Francisco in a hospitals mortuary, where nobody could see me and I could not kill anybody. But please, do not take me wrong, my time there was a really interesting period; I learnt quite a lot down there. Luckily I saw some day Pauls advertisement for a partner; I thought it might be a happy omen to go to Virginia City as my middle name is Virginia. And I was right; Paul was willing to give me a chance, I am very grateful for that Paul, in case I did not mention it before."
The elder Doctor was visibly touched and smiled at her. "Actually I did hire you for Jillian." "I know dear, I begged you for ages to look for a partner." "No darling, I mean I have so often thought during all those years, you helped me in my office, what a fine doctor you had made yourself, and therefore I decided to hire the only woman that applied - apart from the fact, that her references had been the most promising!" Jillian was apparently stunned by this confession and deeply touched; she had to fight to hold back her tears.
Hoss ended the little silence: "You've been at a mortuary, I mean, that is the place where they keep the bodies, isn't it? Haven't this been frightening?" "Well of course I prefer to treat breathing patients and to keep them breathing, this is mainly why I came here, but what harm can a dead body do? None at all, quite the contrary the dead allows us physicians to study the human body or the effects of a disease thoroughly. Maybe death is horrible sometimes, but there is nothing gruesome about the dead, one has only to fear the living."
The last words came out rather heavily, followed by a little silence, which was ended by Adam: "I find this extremely admirable, I mean how you stuck to your dream and this has my highest respects Doctor Mathews." Charlie and Adam looked at each other and this time she could not help realizing - almost involuntarily - that he meant it.
On their way home Paul inquired: "Now, do you see what I meant about our country squires the Cartwrights? Owning the biggest ranch in the territory they do have a saying in nearly every matter here and as you had been lucky enough to make one of them your first patient, this will surely help you in gaining your professional acceptance here." "Yes, quite an interesting family. I doubt however that my treatment of that eldest son will do any good for me. He is an awfully arrogant guy; I wonder how that charming family could produce such a self-absorbed creep among them."
"Oh Charlie my dear, what made you come to such a quick and devastating verdict about our most eligible bachelor in the territory?" Jillian asked in amazement. Charlie blurted out with all the anger that she had been collecting about him since their first encounter: "He behaves like a smug jackass that much is for sure! Most eligible bachelor? How desperate can a woman be to let such an unkind, snooty person into her life?"
"Oh Charlie dear, there are quite a lot around here who cannot wait to do so! No, you certainly do him wrong with such a negative appraisal! Of course, sometimes he seems to be uppity and standoffish and his humor can be rather sharp, but I always figured this was just a rough exterior to protect a very soft and vulnerable core. You see that poor lad had lost not less than three mothers and had to take care for his brothers from a very early age on. He always worked just as hard as his father on the ranch and all this besides his own load at school. I can still see him when we all settled down here, that many years ago, the handsome little boy, always so polite and ways too serious for his age. He would tear himself into pieces for his family and not only for them. Besides this he is so well read and can be so charming! Haven't you seen that smile of his? Even such an old and happily married biddy like me can get week in the knees about that."
"Jillian, my dear, do I have to get jealous now in our old days?" Paul had always been very fond of Adam, but never figured, how fond his wife apparently was. "No, my dear, there is nothing to be afraid of. But like you guys can enjoy just the sight of a beautiful girl, a woman can just enjoy looking at pleasant young men!" And there was nothing to be added to that simple truth.
