Prairie Widow by Harold Bakst Read Free Book Online Page A

Have you ever considered going home? To the East, I mean.”
    Nancy stiffened, and Jennifer felt as if she had transgressed. “Yes, I have,” admitted Nancy. “Many times. Will has, too. We’ve discussed it.”
    â€œBut you’re still here. Six years, you say.”
    â€œWell, it’s not as if we’re certain we want to go back. There’s nothing there for us, after all. Meanwhile, the years just seem to fly by.”
    Jennifer felt sorry for her neighbor. But she was also determined that the same thing not happen to her. Six years is a long time to be in a place like Kansas.
    â€œWell,” said Nancy, turning, “I guess we ought to go back in.”
    â€œYes, I shouldn’t be standing out here like this. Incidentally, it will be getting dark soon. Perhaps you and Lucy could stay the night.”
    â€œThank you. I think that’s Lucy’s intention,” said Nancy, stepping awkwardly back down the rise. “She never leaves a patient until she’s done.”
    Back in the dugout, Lucy Baker had lit some coal oil lamps. She sat by Walter’s bedside, wiping his forehead with a rag. Jennifer approached and stood there looking at her sleeping husband. “I can take over for a while,” she said to Lucy.
    Lucy looked up, rose, and handed the rag to Jennifer. “Nancy and I will prepare dinner for us all tonight.”
    For the next hour, Jennifer sat by her husband, wiping his brow and tightening the blanket, which kept loosening due to his shakes. “Oh, Walter,” she peeped, “don’t you wish you were home now?”
    Later, Lucy called everyone to the table. “I’m afraid we must stretch the food,” she said. “You’re low on many things.”
    â€œWe were visited by Indians,” explained Jennifer, taking her seat. “I had to keep feeding them.”
    â€œYes, they come to my door, too,” said Lucy. “They’re from the Osage tribe. It’s sad how they go begging.”
    â€œSad, nothing! They let themselves right in. I thought I was doomed.”
    â€œThat’s just the Indian way. They don’t have the same sense of property as White people. You could just as readily make yourself at home in their tent.”
    â€œI’d hardly do that!”
    â€œAnyway, they’re harmless. Believe me, there used to be
    a lot more of them when we arrived. The government had originally set aside Kansas for the Indians after they had been pushed out of other areas.”
    â€œHm! Then by all rights, we shouldn’t even be here,” said Jennifer.
    â€œBut then it was discovered you could actually raise crops out here, and the Indians were sent packing to reservations in the Oklahoma territory. I imagine if someone finds out Oklahoma is good for something, the government will send the Indians elsewhere.”
    After dinner, with Peter and Emma amusing themselves in the comer with their toys, the three women arranged themselves in a circle, sitting on the high-backed chairs. Lucy had removed some knitting from her satchel. She began to knit energetically while Jennifer and Nancy sipped ginger tea. The three chatted, telling each other about their homes back east. A tear came to Jennifer’s eye when she spoke, and Nancy, likewise, seemed saddened when it was her turn. Only Lucy seemed to have no regrets about leaving the east.
    By and by, everyone grew sleepy and went to bed. Jennifer slept near her husband. Lucy and Nancy slept on the children’s mattress. And the children slept on thick blankets laid out on the dirt floor. As Jennifer gazed up into the blackness, she found herself strangely lulled by the constant shivering of her husband, and she fell asleep.
    The next morning, Walter was paler and weaker than ever. It frightened Jennifer when she saw his face. Lucy also noticed, and she shooed Jennifer away so that she could resume her doctoring.
    When Nancy Camp saw