Chapter 3
"LAURA!" Almanzo went over to where she was and gently picked her up. It was nice to have her back in his arms again. She looked so beautiful. Almanzo walked up onto the porch and through the front door. He gently layed her down on the coach in the sitting room. Eliza walked into the room to witness this.
"Manny, what happened?" asked Eliza.
"Well, we were out in the barn arguing when Laura fainted all of a sudden."
"Oh the poor dear. I'll go make her some tea. We may have to call on Dr. Baker."
"That's a good idea sis. I was thinking of calling on Dr. Baker myself."
Almanzo went out and hitched the team up. He left Eliza in charge to watch Beth. He rode into town pretty quickly. He didn't know what was wrong with Beth. He remembered how she was there for him when he had pneumonia and almost died. She was so supportive. She stayed up all night when she first heard and she took care of him. Those were better times. Almanzo walked into the Dr.'s office to see Dr. Baker talking with Mrs. Olsen on Nellie's pregnancy.
"Well, it's not my fault Dr! She's as big as a whale and it's only been four months! She should not be growing this large! She's even too fat to fit into the new dress I bought her from Paris." Said Mrs. Olsen
"Now Mrs. Olsen, just send Nellie down here and I'll re-examine her later." There was a pause and Dr. Baker just looked up to see Almanzo standing in the doorway.
"Hello there Almanzo. What brings you here?" asked Dr. Baker.
"Well, Dr. Baker, it's about Laura. She's back in town and all."
"I see that. Is that all you came to tell me Almanzo?"
"No sir. She came by for a visit today and we started arguing and all of a sudden, she fainted. I think there may be something wrong. Could you come out to my place and take a look at her?"
"Well, son, I most certainly can. That sounds very interesting. I'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you Almanzo."
"Thanks Dr. Baker" said Almanzo.
Almanzo returned home and Laura still wasn't up. Eliza had left the tea out for the both of them. He started to get up to go get a book to read when Laura started waking up.
"I was wondering when you were going to wake up. I was getting worried." Said Almanzo.
"Manly, what happened?" asked Beth
"Well, we were arguing and you fainted. I called on Dr. Baker. He should be here in bit. Here, drink some of this tea while it's still hot. It'll make you feel better."
"Thanks. Did you say Dr. Baker's coming?"
"Yes Beth. Why?"
"Oh nothing. I really just don't think that I need Dr. Baker to come look at me that's all."
In fact, it was more than that. Laura was a little worried. Her secret was most definitely going to be reveled. She remembered how it had happened. She went into Winkoka quite a bit and some of the saloon men started to recognize her. This one man in particular, named Jeb started to harasses her and follow her around. She started getting worried about him. One day she went into town to go into the general store. The general store was right next to the saloon. Out of nowhere Jeb and his group came out and saw Laura. Jeb thought she was "mighty purty" she he tried to grab her and kiss her. Laura slapped him and started to run. He ran after her and she put up as much of a fight as she could. He took her into the back way of the saloon and up to his room. There, he raped her. Laura went to the doctor's the next day to be examined and he said she should be fine. A month later she started to become ill and she even had to miss school a few days. She thought that she had a simple case of the flu. She was re-examined again and she was pregnant.
