Chapter 10 Title: Reckoning
Chapter rating: G
"Your honor, I demand that Doctor Proudfoot pay for what she did to my lad, Teddy!"
"Now, now, Mistress Wyncot. Let us not be hasty." Mayor Will Whitfoot was having trouble controlling the angry hobbitess walking through his cheery yellow-painted doorway. The Mayor's wife, Amanda, ushered Mirabell Wyncot and her husband into the little parlor off to the left of the entrance hall, then disappeared to fix a pot of tea for their guests.
Rudy Wyncot and his wife had traveled into Hobbiton that morning specifically to see the Mayor. Mirabell had insisted that the doctor be censured for causing her son's death, but her husband was reluctant to support this claim. However, he would stand by his wife as she filed her official complaint with the Mayor.
"I want her removed from practicing medicine and I want it now!" Mistress Wyncot demanded. "She's not fit to be seein' sick folk. Look what she did to my poor little Ted. Why, her incompetence killed 'im, that's what it did." The Wyncots took their seats in the leather chairs beside the Mayor's work desk.
"Mistress and Master Wyncot," the Mayor began as he settled himself behind his stacks of papers and inkwells, "may I first offer my heart-felt condolences in the loss of your son. It grieved me to learn of his untimely accident and death. I am so very sorry for you and your family."
"Thank ye, sir," said the middle-aged farmer, bowing slightly as was the proper thing to do when addressing the Mayor.
The Mayor's wife came into the little formal parlor, bearing a lacquered tray with a tea service for four upon it. She smiled sweetly at her husband's guests, and when their social needs were seen-to, she quietly slipped into the little wooden chair beside her husband and took up a pad of paper and quill. Amanda Whitfoot often acted as her husband's secretary for his official Mayoral duties. She had been at market in Hobbiton and had witnessed the altercation between Samwise Gamgee and Ted Sandyman, and had heard Sandyman's accusation of the doctor. She had also overheard the rumors of Ted Wyncot's death. Mayor Whitfoot had been expecting to receive a visit from the Wyncots as soon as the funeral was over.
"Mistress Wyncot," the Mayor continued, "you levy serious accusations against Doctor Proudfoot. I have no wish to initiate anything official until we have had time to let emotions settle and the facts surface."
"My emotions are perfectly fine, thank you very much," Mrs. Wyncot snapped. Her husband's eyebrows arched upwards, almost crawling off his forehead, but he said nothing which might further upset his rather volatile wife. "I want to see that so-called doctor stopped from practicing here. She's a menace to folk. She killed my lad and I'll have satisfaction for it!"
"I am terribly sorry to have to ask you some questions, but surely you understand that I must do so in order to investigate what happened," the Mayor quietly said. "I understand there was an accident first before the doctor was called in. Is this correct?"
"Yes," Farmer Wyncot replied. "Young Ted fell and broke his poor arm. It were a bad break. Bone stickin' out an such. He bled quite a lot afore we got him inside and I ran fer doctor."
"But he was fine otherwise," Mirabell interrupted. "Talkin' and awake and all."
The Mayor addressed the farmer. "Did you find the doctor once you came into Hobbiton?"
"Not right at first," he replied. "She were out ta supper, but she left note on the door. I found her at the Inn, like note said. She and Master Baggins."
"And how did the doctor react to the news of your son's terrible accident?" the Mayor continued his questioning.
"Why, she left dinner," Rudy said. "Went back ta office to get her bag and such. Then we came back ta home."
"Not fast enough, if you ask me," Mirabell again interrupted.
"Once there, what actions did the doctor perform?" the Mayor asked.
"Nothing! She did nothing for the longest time!" Mirabell sobbed. "My poor lad lying there bleeding and all and she did nothing! I told her to do something, but instead she has that beau of hers, that Mad Baggins feller, throw me out of the room!"
"Now, Mother," Rudy gently said, "Thou knows that weren't the full truth." He turned and addressed the Mayor. "Me and me lad, Jack, and Master Baggins were told to take Mirabell out ta room, sos doctor could do her duty. Me wife were a bit upset."
"I was fine!" Mirabell huffed. "Ted was fine! He was talking. And they sent me out of the room. I never saw my lad alive again." Her husband pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to his wife as she began to weep.
"There now, there now, Mistress Wyncot," Amanda Whitfoot put down her writing utensils and patted the distraught hobbitess on the knee. "It's hard loosing such a fine lad as Ted. We are all so very sorry. Shall I get you a fresh handkerchief, dear?"
"No," Mirabell hiccupped slightly. "I . Oh, my poor Teddy." She sighed and was able to control herself after a few moments.
The Mayor began again. "I am terribly sorry to have to continue these questions. If they are too upsetting for you, we could do this at a later time."
"No, no," Rudy replied, "Best get it over with now."
"We'll continue on from that point," the Mayor said. "I take it neither of you were actually in the room to witness what the doctor did or did not do for your lad, correct?"
"That's right, yer honor," Rudy said. "Me eldest, Jack, were there, helpin' Master Baggins hold down young Ted during treatment. Jack said doctor couldna control Ted's bleeding."
"She forced our Teddy to drink something too," Mirabell said. "Something horrible. I think it killed him, cause Jack says Teddy passed out within a minute of drinkin' it, and then he died shortly thereafter." Mirabell began to cry again. Rudy placed his arms around his wife's shoulders and looked at the Mayor.
"Well, now, I think that will be all I need," Mister Whitfoot said as he stood up. Rudy raised his weeping wife to her feet, then shook hands with the Mayor.
"Thank ye kindly for lookin' inta this matter for us," Rudy said. "I'm for not goin' any farther, myself. But Mirabell thinks doctor didn't do right for our lad. What's ta be done, yer honor, sir?"
"I shall have to interview Doctor Proudfoot and Mister Baggins and get their views on what happened," the Mayor said as he walked the sorrowful couple to the front door. "I shall let you know the outcome of that meeting. But, Master Wyncot, I must confess that I might not be the best person for hearing this case. I must say that I cannot be entirely unbiased here. Mister Baggins and his friends rescued me from my incarceration in the Lockholes during the Troubles. The doctor nursed me back to health afterwards, and I am quite partial to her. If there is to be an official investigation, we will need to bring in an impartial arbiter from outside the Hobbiton and Bywater areas. Word will spread all over the Shire. Your family's sorrows will be talked about, just as surely as the doctor's is right now. Is that what you want? Think carefully about it."
"Of course that's what we want," Mirabell snapped through her tears. Her husband sorrowfully shook his head, but did not dispute his wife.
"All right. I shall continue my investigations. Again, please accept my deepest condolences on your loss," the Mayor said.
"Thank ye," the farmer said as they walked through the doorway and into the afternoon sunshine.
"Will? What are you going to do?" Amanda asked as she quietly shut the front door and retrieved the tea service.
"Looks like we shall have to pay a visit to Miss Proudfoot tomorrow, Amanda," he replied as he followed her into their kitchen, leaning on his cane. "Do you mind, dear?"
"Of course not, love," she smiled. "But if you cannot judge the case, who will you get?"
"I shall have to send for someone who has medical knowledge, but is not from the area. Someone not closely associated with Miss Proudfoot or the Wyncots or Frodo Baggins. Hmmm . We could ask the Micheldelving physician to look into the matter and tell us whether our doctor acted appropriately or not. What's his name, Amanda? You know. the one that teaches the other Shire physicians."
"Havloc, dear," Amanda said as she cleaned the tea service. "Doctor Thumo Havloc, I believe."
"That's the one. Thumo Havloc. We shall have to send for him."
"Your honor, I demand that Doctor Proudfoot pay for what she did to my lad, Teddy!"
"Now, now, Mistress Wyncot. Let us not be hasty." Mayor Will Whitfoot was having trouble controlling the angry hobbitess walking through his cheery yellow-painted doorway. The Mayor's wife, Amanda, ushered Mirabell Wyncot and her husband into the little parlor off to the left of the entrance hall, then disappeared to fix a pot of tea for their guests.
Rudy Wyncot and his wife had traveled into Hobbiton that morning specifically to see the Mayor. Mirabell had insisted that the doctor be censured for causing her son's death, but her husband was reluctant to support this claim. However, he would stand by his wife as she filed her official complaint with the Mayor.
"I want her removed from practicing medicine and I want it now!" Mistress Wyncot demanded. "She's not fit to be seein' sick folk. Look what she did to my poor little Ted. Why, her incompetence killed 'im, that's what it did." The Wyncots took their seats in the leather chairs beside the Mayor's work desk.
"Mistress and Master Wyncot," the Mayor began as he settled himself behind his stacks of papers and inkwells, "may I first offer my heart-felt condolences in the loss of your son. It grieved me to learn of his untimely accident and death. I am so very sorry for you and your family."
"Thank ye, sir," said the middle-aged farmer, bowing slightly as was the proper thing to do when addressing the Mayor.
The Mayor's wife came into the little formal parlor, bearing a lacquered tray with a tea service for four upon it. She smiled sweetly at her husband's guests, and when their social needs were seen-to, she quietly slipped into the little wooden chair beside her husband and took up a pad of paper and quill. Amanda Whitfoot often acted as her husband's secretary for his official Mayoral duties. She had been at market in Hobbiton and had witnessed the altercation between Samwise Gamgee and Ted Sandyman, and had heard Sandyman's accusation of the doctor. She had also overheard the rumors of Ted Wyncot's death. Mayor Whitfoot had been expecting to receive a visit from the Wyncots as soon as the funeral was over.
"Mistress Wyncot," the Mayor continued, "you levy serious accusations against Doctor Proudfoot. I have no wish to initiate anything official until we have had time to let emotions settle and the facts surface."
"My emotions are perfectly fine, thank you very much," Mrs. Wyncot snapped. Her husband's eyebrows arched upwards, almost crawling off his forehead, but he said nothing which might further upset his rather volatile wife. "I want to see that so-called doctor stopped from practicing here. She's a menace to folk. She killed my lad and I'll have satisfaction for it!"
"I am terribly sorry to have to ask you some questions, but surely you understand that I must do so in order to investigate what happened," the Mayor quietly said. "I understand there was an accident first before the doctor was called in. Is this correct?"
"Yes," Farmer Wyncot replied. "Young Ted fell and broke his poor arm. It were a bad break. Bone stickin' out an such. He bled quite a lot afore we got him inside and I ran fer doctor."
"But he was fine otherwise," Mirabell interrupted. "Talkin' and awake and all."
The Mayor addressed the farmer. "Did you find the doctor once you came into Hobbiton?"
"Not right at first," he replied. "She were out ta supper, but she left note on the door. I found her at the Inn, like note said. She and Master Baggins."
"And how did the doctor react to the news of your son's terrible accident?" the Mayor continued his questioning.
"Why, she left dinner," Rudy said. "Went back ta office to get her bag and such. Then we came back ta home."
"Not fast enough, if you ask me," Mirabell again interrupted.
"Once there, what actions did the doctor perform?" the Mayor asked.
"Nothing! She did nothing for the longest time!" Mirabell sobbed. "My poor lad lying there bleeding and all and she did nothing! I told her to do something, but instead she has that beau of hers, that Mad Baggins feller, throw me out of the room!"
"Now, Mother," Rudy gently said, "Thou knows that weren't the full truth." He turned and addressed the Mayor. "Me and me lad, Jack, and Master Baggins were told to take Mirabell out ta room, sos doctor could do her duty. Me wife were a bit upset."
"I was fine!" Mirabell huffed. "Ted was fine! He was talking. And they sent me out of the room. I never saw my lad alive again." Her husband pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to his wife as she began to weep.
"There now, there now, Mistress Wyncot," Amanda Whitfoot put down her writing utensils and patted the distraught hobbitess on the knee. "It's hard loosing such a fine lad as Ted. We are all so very sorry. Shall I get you a fresh handkerchief, dear?"
"No," Mirabell hiccupped slightly. "I . Oh, my poor Teddy." She sighed and was able to control herself after a few moments.
The Mayor began again. "I am terribly sorry to have to continue these questions. If they are too upsetting for you, we could do this at a later time."
"No, no," Rudy replied, "Best get it over with now."
"We'll continue on from that point," the Mayor said. "I take it neither of you were actually in the room to witness what the doctor did or did not do for your lad, correct?"
"That's right, yer honor," Rudy said. "Me eldest, Jack, were there, helpin' Master Baggins hold down young Ted during treatment. Jack said doctor couldna control Ted's bleeding."
"She forced our Teddy to drink something too," Mirabell said. "Something horrible. I think it killed him, cause Jack says Teddy passed out within a minute of drinkin' it, and then he died shortly thereafter." Mirabell began to cry again. Rudy placed his arms around his wife's shoulders and looked at the Mayor.
"Well, now, I think that will be all I need," Mister Whitfoot said as he stood up. Rudy raised his weeping wife to her feet, then shook hands with the Mayor.
"Thank ye kindly for lookin' inta this matter for us," Rudy said. "I'm for not goin' any farther, myself. But Mirabell thinks doctor didn't do right for our lad. What's ta be done, yer honor, sir?"
"I shall have to interview Doctor Proudfoot and Mister Baggins and get their views on what happened," the Mayor said as he walked the sorrowful couple to the front door. "I shall let you know the outcome of that meeting. But, Master Wyncot, I must confess that I might not be the best person for hearing this case. I must say that I cannot be entirely unbiased here. Mister Baggins and his friends rescued me from my incarceration in the Lockholes during the Troubles. The doctor nursed me back to health afterwards, and I am quite partial to her. If there is to be an official investigation, we will need to bring in an impartial arbiter from outside the Hobbiton and Bywater areas. Word will spread all over the Shire. Your family's sorrows will be talked about, just as surely as the doctor's is right now. Is that what you want? Think carefully about it."
"Of course that's what we want," Mirabell snapped through her tears. Her husband sorrowfully shook his head, but did not dispute his wife.
"All right. I shall continue my investigations. Again, please accept my deepest condolences on your loss," the Mayor said.
"Thank ye," the farmer said as they walked through the doorway and into the afternoon sunshine.
"Will? What are you going to do?" Amanda asked as she quietly shut the front door and retrieved the tea service.
"Looks like we shall have to pay a visit to Miss Proudfoot tomorrow, Amanda," he replied as he followed her into their kitchen, leaning on his cane. "Do you mind, dear?"
"Of course not, love," she smiled. "But if you cannot judge the case, who will you get?"
"I shall have to send for someone who has medical knowledge, but is not from the area. Someone not closely associated with Miss Proudfoot or the Wyncots or Frodo Baggins. Hmmm . We could ask the Micheldelving physician to look into the matter and tell us whether our doctor acted appropriately or not. What's his name, Amanda? You know. the one that teaches the other Shire physicians."
"Havloc, dear," Amanda said as she cleaned the tea service. "Doctor Thumo Havloc, I believe."
"That's the one. Thumo Havloc. We shall have to send for him."
