Chapter 32 - Where's Hannibal?

It was four days past their release date when the new doctor lifted the quarantine on the Curry household. When they asked him about David and his family, Schriever shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know." He saw their looks of surprise and explained, "I've been so busy, I haven't been able to go out there yet. In fact, they're next on my list."

They heard the sound of hooves in the yard. A young man they didn't know shouted from his horse, "Hello? I'm lookin' for Doc Schriever!"

The doctor quickly stepped outside. "I'm Doctor Schriever."

"My pa, he was thrown from a wagon. He's hurt real bad. Can you come?"

The doctor nodded. "How far away are you?"

"'Bout three hours ride from here."

Schriever raised his eyebrows. "Why didn't you get one of the doctors from Harrisville?"

"One of 'em's out of town and the other wouldn't come, said he was too busy."

Schriever's lips tightened to a thin line. "Give me a moment to finish here." He turned back to the Currys. "As I said, the Heyes' quarantine is due to be lifted as well, but now I don't have time to go and see them. Perhaps you could go over there and let them know the quarantine is over? You could see how they were doing at the same time." He took a moment to caution them. "Check to see if anyone is still sick first, don't release them if there's any doubt."

Caleb nodded. "Alright. Thanks, doc."

Schriever rode away with the young man and Caleb and Maggie exchanged a glance. Maggie wasn't strong enough yet to ride over there on her own, but she couldn't bear the idea of Caleb going over there without her. She was desperate to see her brother and his family and find out how they were, but she didn't like the idea of leaving her son on his own.

Joseph looked up from his seat on the sofa. "Ma, just go. I'm better now and I'll be fine while you're gone."

Maggie bit her lip. She knew he was right; he tired easily, but other than that he was much better.

She decided she could trust him. "Promise me you won't do anything silly. I don't want you to move from this room."

He grinned. "I promise, Ma. Now go! You'll just worry if you don't go over there yourself."

Maggie knew he was right. "Alright. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed him, then went to get her shawl.

While she was out of the room, Caleb sat beside his son. "Sure you're gonna be alright with us gone?"

"Sure, Pa. Not like I'm doin' anythin' but sittin' here and I can do that just as well on my own!"

They shared a grin, which faded as Joseph added, "You think they're okay?"

Caleb shrugged. "I hope so."

"Jed will want to know that Hanna...," Joe quickly corrected himself, "that Hannibal's okay." Joe felt bad that he hadn't been a better brother to Jed, especially now that he was his only brother. Joseph knew that if Han died, Jed would miss him every bit as much as Joe missed Adam.

Caleb understood what his son was feeling and gave him a hug. "Jed loves you very much, Joe. But you're right, he and Han have become very close over the past few months. He'll want to know that he's well."

Maggie was impatient to see her brother and the short journey seemed to take forever.

Elizabeth ran outside when she heard the wagon, and her face fell when she saw Maggie and David. At the look on her face, Maggie was filled with fear.

Ignoring the doctor's words of caution, she jumped down and grabbed her sister-in-law. "Elizabeth! What's happened? Is it David? Han? Oh please, don't tell me..."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, David's fine. He's much better, just very tired and he has a bad cough."

"Is it Han? Masterson said he'd survived it!"

"No, he did. He... I just..." She trailed off; she wasn't ready for this confrontation. This would be easier than telling David, but she couldn't seem to find the words. How could she tell them that she'd sent her child away? "How are you here? What about the quarantine?"

"It's over! The doctor told us to come and tell you, he got called away."

Elizabeth grabbed Maggie's arm. "You've seen Doctor Masterson? Did he give you a message for me? Why hasn't he come back to see us?"

Maggie realized that they couldn't have heard anything about recent events. "Beth, I'm sorry, but Doctor Masterson caught the diphtheria and died. We've got a new doctor from Harristown, Doctor Schriever. Why would Masterson send you a message?"

Maggie watched as the color drained from Elizabeth's face.

Elizabeth stared at her in shock. She couldn't think. If there was a new doctor, then surely he would have come to see them to tell them about their boy? Unless… her blood ran cold. What if Han had become infected again and this time he hadn't survived? She swayed and thought she might faint.

Caleb steadied her. "Elizabeth, are you alright?" He and Maggie exchanged a worried glance.

"Let's go inside." Maggie didn't know why Elizabeth was acting so oddly. If David and Han had both survived the illness, then what could possibly be wrong? Was Elizabeth getting sick as well?

Caleb led Elizabeth into the kitchen and pulled out a chair for her.

Maggie put a hand to her forehead but felt no fever. "Elizabeth, are you sick?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not sick." She tried to get her thoughts in order. After a minute, she said, "I'm sorry about Adam. He was…" she tried to find the right words. She had never been good at things like this and she was already finding it so hard to think. "He was a fine boy."

Maggie's eyes filled with tears and Caleb moved to put his arms around her shoulders. "We were sorry to hear about Tom."

"Thank you," she said, distantly. It was funny, she thought. She had been worrying so much about Han that she had barely spared a thought for the child that had obsessed her so completely. Her voice sounded very far away.

Caleb looked around curiously. The house was very tidy. There were no blankets by the sofa, as there had been for the past few months while they decided where to put Han. He was surprised. He didn't think Elizabeth would have been ready for Han to move into Tom's room yet.

"Where's Han?" he asked. He wouldn't be playing outside; it hadn't been that long since he'd recovered and it was a cool day. "He isn't outside, surely?"

Tears began to roll down Elizabeth's cheeks. "No. No, he's not outside."

Maggie felt a knot of fear in the pit of her stomach. "Elizabeth, what's wrong? Where's Han?"

None of them heard the bedroom door open. David had heard the sound of the wagon and his sister's voice and decided it was time to get of out of bed. He opened the door just in time to hear Maggie's question.

Elizabeth started to sob. "I didn't know what to do! I shouldn't have trusted him! But he was a doctor, you're supposed to be able to trust a doctor!"

"Beth?" David stepped forward. When Caleb saw how unsteady he was, he took David's arm and guided him to a chair beside his wife.

David leaned forward and took her hands, trying to swallow the fear that was rising inside him. "Beth, what's happened? Where's Han?"

She couldn't meet his eyes. "Oh, David, I'm sorry! I'm so very, very sorry!"

David's heart seemed to turn to ice in his chest. He exchanged a frightened glance with his sister and brother-in-law. "Beth, please! Can you tell us what happened?"

She finally looked at him with tears in her eyes and started to talk, haltingly. "Tom had just died and Doctor Masterson said that it was a certainty that you would follow. I had to be with you all the time, I couldn't even sleep, not for a minute. I thought that it would be as it was with Tom; I'd step away, and then I'd lose you and I wouldn't have been with you!" She began to sob again, and it was a few minutes before she could continue.

"I couldn't take care of you both… I was so tired, I kept forgetting to check on him! One day, I realized that I hadn't given him anything to eat or drink all day and I'd let the stove go out - it was so cold in here! I thought he'd survive the diphtheria only to die because I wasn't looking after him properly… I knew I was going to lose him, but I couldn't bear for him to die because of me!"

David looked at her in confusion. "Why would you lose him?"

"I thought you were dying! I wouldn't be able to cope on my own, I'd have to go back to my parents, and if I did that…"

"You wouldn't be able to take Han," finished David. His feeling of dread was almost overpowering. "Beth, please! What did you do? Where is he?"

"I told Doctor Masterson everything and he said he'd help me. I asked him to take Han and look after him until… until I knew what to do. Masterson said he'd send Han back to the orphanage when David died, but I made him promise not to do anything until he spoke to me first!" The last words came out as a wail of despair, "He promised!"

She saw his shocked expression and her voice became a wail of despair. "I thought I could trust him, but now I don't know what's happened! Now Masterson's dead and there's no word about Han! I should never have trusted that man, never! I've been going out of my mind with worry! I want my son back, I miss him so much!"

Again, she broke into heart wrenching sobs, but the others were too stunned to comfort her.

David felt sick. He wished he could get angry and blame her, but he couldn't. He knew how tired she'd been after Tom died and then he got sick immediately after. He couldn't imagine how hard it must have been to try and take care of them both. She would have trusted Masterson, an educated, professional man. She would have taken his word without question.

David looked at the others. "Masterson's dead?"

"Yes. There's a new doctor from Harristown, Doctor Schriever. He didn't say anything about Han."

David reached again for his wife's hand. "When? When did Masterson take him?"

"Three days after Tom died."

Maggie had to sit as well. "Almost three weeks ago. He can't have been fit to travel. Perhaps we're over-reacting, perhaps Masterson had someone else take care of him until he was better."

No-one spoke for a few minutes as they all tried to take it in.

David looked at the others. "We need to speak to this new man, Doctor Schriever. Find out what's happened." He turned again to Elizabeth. "Maggie's right, I'm sure Masterson would have asked someone else to look after Han until he was better. Doctor Schriever must know. Masterson would have written something down, he always kept notes about everything. Han's probably waiting right now for us to bring him home."

Caleb stood up decisively. "I'll ride into town, see what I can find out."

Maggie frowned. "But Schriever was called out, remember? He'll be gone for at least a day!"

Caleb swore. "I'd forgotten. But it's a small town, someone is bound to know something. Besides, I want to send a telegram to my pa and get the children back. Mags, can you get home without me? Can you manage the horses?"

"Yes. It's not far and I can rest afterwards."

"Sure?"

She nodded.

"Alright. I'll go now and be back before nightfall."

David stood and clasped his hand. "Please, Caleb… find my boy!"