CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Josie's first week working with Dr. Martin was thrilling. Eventually he would take off the days she was in the clinic, but for the first few weeks they worked together to acclimate Josie to the way Dr. Martin ran his clinic and give the townspeople time to adjust to the idea of a woman doctor. It wasn't easy. Josie quickly grew accustomed to the looks of sheer disbelief and often disdain on the faces of the patients, and she pretended not to hear the comments they made when they thought she was out of earshot.
"Ain't natural."
"I don't want no woman stitching me up!"
"How can we even be sure she's really a doctor?"
But after the first week few weeks, when Josie was successfully riding alone to and from town, the comments began to change, particularly among Dr. Martin's female clientele. When Dr. Martin began taking his days off and leaving the clinic in Josie's hands, she found herself nearly inundated with female patients. They came with all sorts of questions and complaints they'd been too embarrassed to discuss with Dr. Martin. Josie was grateful for the extra classes she had taken in obstetrics and gynecology, and she reviewed her medical school textbooks frequently.
Poor Hoss had the embarrassment of his life one night when Josie was reading one of her textbooks on the settee. He glanced over her shoulder as he passed behind her on his way to the stairs and saw a diagram of the female reproductive system. Having no idea what he was looking at, he asked Josie was it was, and completely unabashed, she explained it to him thoroughly in very straightforward, clinical terms. Hoss flushed deep crimson from the top of his head all the way to his toes while Ben, who was sitting nearby in his burgundy armchair, choked on his brandy. Little Joe, who had been sitting on the settee next to Josie, scooted to the far side of the sofa as he attempted to pick his jaw up off the floor. Adam burst out laughing.
"Relax, gentlemen," he said. "It's just science."
Adam never grew comfortable with Josie riding to and from Virginia City alone—even if it was only two days a week—but even he couldn't help but be pleased with how fulfilling the work was for her. She always came home from the clinic smiling and excited. She was even taking a shine to The General, and she often slipped him an apple or a lump of sugar in the mornings before they rode off. All the Cartwright men were happy that she had a distraction from the war news.
The situation back east continued to worsen. Both Union and Confederate forces had been slowly amassing outside the Union capital, the Confederates even taking advantage of the rail lines that ran toward Washington in the first-ever instance of troops being moved into position by train. By mid-July, it was clear the forces would soon clash. Most northerners, however, remained optimistic that the Union army would crush the rebels in their first battle, thus ending the war before it had a chance to really begin.
That was not to be.
When Josie rode into town by herself for the first time on Tuesday, July 23, the townspeople were abuzz. It reminded her ominously of that terrible day in Philadelphia when she'd learned war had broken out. Rather than going directly to the clinic, she stopped at the telegraph office. The news was as she had feared. The Union and Confederate armies had struck each other only two days earlier in what was being called the Battle of Bull Run. More alarmingly, the battle had taken place near Manassas Junction, Virginia, only twenty-five miles from Washington, DC. The initial reports coming over the wire were sketchy, but the battle had been a clear Confederate victory, and there was concern the rebels would pursue the fleeing Union army all the way back to Washington and take the capital.
Dizzy, Josie clutched the telegraph office's counter for support, ignoring a snide remark from one of the townsmen about how perhaps she needed a doctor. Papa was at that battle. She knew her father was there. He'd joined the army forces in Washington, and if there was a battle that close to the city, he would have been part of it. She reminded herself he wouldn't have been in the thick of the fighting, but this brought little comfort. She wished she hadn't been so eager to start riding to town alone. She would have given anything to have her uncle or one of her cousins with her just then. It was her sense of duty that rescued her. Dr. Martin was waiting for her at the clinic, and she might have patients to attend to. Josie took a deep breath, smoothed the front of her skirt, and strode out of the telegraph office, her chin up.
When Josie returned home that evening, Adam and Ben were waiting for her on the porch. Adam had wanted to ride out partway to meet her on her first solo ride home, but Ben had stopped him, reminding him that even if Josie forgot the way, The General would always find his way home to his stall and supper. As soon as Josie rode into sight, Adam could tell that something was wrong. His heart leapt into his throat as he launched out of his chair and bolted for his cousin. She slid off the horse, buried her face in his chest, and sobbed. Alarmed, Ben raced over.
"Josie!" Adam shouted, trying to pry her arms off him so he could look at her properly. "Josie, what happened?" His heart pounded, and he couldn't catch his breath. Ben helped pull Josie away from Adam, and the two men nearly knocked heads as they both checked her for injuries. Hoss and Little Joe heard Adam shouting and came running out of the house, hands on their revolvers.
"Battle!" Josie finally barked out between sobs. "Near Washington!" She dissolved into tears again.
"Oh, thank God!" Adam exclaimed. Four sets of startled eyes looked up at him in horror. "I just mean that Josie isn't hurt," he sputtered. He turned to his cousin. "I thought you'd been attacked."
She shook her head and hiccupped, tears still streaming down her face. Ben knew they'd get no more information out of her just then, so he put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the house, beckoning to Little Joe to take care of The General. His stomach churned as they crossed the porch and entered the house. A battle near Washington. Surely Jacob was there. But was he safe? The thought of his younger brother injured—or worse—on a battlefield made him nearly frantic, but he had to keep his composure for Josie's sake. He sat Josie on the settee and gestured to Hoss to pour her some brandy. Adam handed her a handkerchief, and Josie sat for a few moments between her uncle and Adam as she dabbed her eyes and sipped her brandy.
"There now," Ben said, laying his hand on her shoulder. "Tell us what happened."
She related what little she knew. There had been a battle on July 21 only twenty-five miles from Washington, and the Confederates won handily. Now there was concern that the rebels would seize Washington.
"That's all I know," she said, her voice steadier. "There wasn't any news yet about…" she took a shuddering breath, "about casualties." She took the last gulp of her brandy, and Hoss rose to pour her another. He brought it back along with brandies for himself, Ben, and Adam.
"He's all right, you know," Adam said to both Josie and Pa. "If the fighting was that close to Washington, I bet Uncle Jacob didn't even go all the way out to the battlefield. He's probably fixing up soldiers in his own clinic as we speak." Ben and Josie nodded. Neither of them truly believed Adam's words, but they desperately wanted to. In unison, all four Cartwrights lifted their brandies and drained them in a single draft.
As it turned out, Adam was nearly right. They agreed to wait until Josie returned to the clinic that Friday to try to get more news about the battle. Any word earlier than that would most likely be unreliable. The suspense was terrible. Late Thursday afternoon, however, they got some relief. Just as the Cartwright men were returning to the house after their day's work, Simon Croft galloped into the front yard.
"Mr. Cartwright!" he called as he swung off his palomino mare. "Mr. Cartwright!"
Ben hustled over to the young man. "What's wrong? Is there trouble over at the Lucky Star?" He and Simon's father, Peter, had helped each other often over the years with everything from digging wells to chasing off cattle rustlers, and he couldn't bear the thought of any harm coming to the Crofts or their ranch.
"Oh, no, sir. I was just in town, and Morris asked if I was coming back this way. He had a telegram for you. Said it seemed important." He thrust a small rectangle of blue paper toward Ben.
Ben took the telegram and read it. He nearly melted on the spot and grabbed Hoss's shoulder for support as he handed the telegram to Adam.
Adam read the telegram aloud. "I am safe STOP Tending to soldiers STOP Rebels not in Washington STOP Love Jacob." He grinned. "I have to take this inside to Josie!" Adam took two steps toward the house, then stopped. He turned back. "Simon, thank you for bringing this out here. You have no idea what a relief this is to our family." He extended his hand to the younger man.
Simon was surprised. While Little Joe and Hoss had been his friends for years, Adam had always been aloof toward him. But not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, he shook Adam's proffered hand. He wanted to see Josie, but it didn't feel like an appropriate time, so he bid the family farewell, swung back onto his palomino, and set off for home.
Josie dissolved into tears again when Adam handed her the telegram, but this time they were tears of relief. Adam poured her another brandy.
"You know," she sniffled, holding up her brandy, "this stuff is terrible."
Adam smiled. "Now you know how I feel about tea." He patted her head.
The whole family rode into town together the next day in hopes of getting the full story of the Battle of Bull Run. The casualty list was now available, but fortunately, they didn't need to check it for familiar names. There were nearly 5,000 casualties—mostly wounded—on the two sides, with the Union suffering two-thirds of the losses. It was the bloodiest single day in American history to that point.
"A waste," Ben said, shaking his head over the 600 men on each side who had been killed or mortally wounded. "Every single one of them a waste."
Fortunately, the Confederate Army had been too disorganized to pursue the fleeing Union soldiers, and Washington, DC, was safe, at least for now. President Lincoln called for another 500,000 recruits and began enhancing the fortifications around the capital. By the end of the war, Washington, DC, would be the most heavily fortified city in the world.
Though it was now apparent the war would certainly not be decided in ninety days, it was also clear that both sides needed time to regroup, and there would be no more major battles the remainder of the year. For now, at least, Dr. Jacob Cartwright would remain in Washington. Josie set off for the clinic that morning relieved, if not entirely happy.
Adam was dismayed to learn that the war would continue indefinitely, but at the same time, it meant that Josie would stay on the Ponderosa a bit longer. Despite the sadness of the whole situation, he couldn't help but smile. Josie would be with them for Christmas.