My Children Are More Precious Than Gold Read Online Free PDF Page A

No, Jacob. Her heart
can't mend. The older she gets, the more strain there will be on
it,” Doc said.
    “ Doc, are ya tellen us
Lydia is goen to die?” Nannie looked away to hide the tears she
felt welling up in her eyes.
    “ Now, Nannie, we cain't
tell about when that's goen to happen.” Doc placed his hand on her
shoulder. “Just try to keep her well and happy for as long as she's
got. That's all ya can do, and call me any time y'all need
me.”
    “ I see. Thank ye, Doc.”
Suddenly, Nannie felt the need to be busy. “We'll have the meal on
the table soon so y'all can eat afore ya all leave. Girls, how's
that supper comen?”
    “ Doc, we appreciate yer
hep. Will a chicken and some tators or turnips do fer pay? Not much
else left til spring,” Jacob said, his head bowed.
    “ That's fine, Jacob. Been
a spell since the Misses and me had fresh fried chicken. Sounds
good!” Doc exclaimed. He turned his attention to the children
gathering around him. “Well, younguns, how did the winter treat
you?” To their delight, the doctor gave each of them a pat on the
head and a personal examination before he looked at Jacob’s
leg.
     

Chapter 3
     
    Blue Ridge Spring
     
    Alerted by the creaks and groans of an
approaching buggy, Jacob hurried over to open the kitchen door.
Impatiently, he watched Doc Jensen descend and stretch before he
tied his horse to the hitch rack.
    “ Mornen, Doc. Come on it.
I fer one sure am glad to see y'all,” Jacob greeted heartily as he
hobbled out of the doorway to let the doctor duck
inside.
    “ Did I see you putten
weight on that leg, Jacob?” Doc admonished, shaking a finger in
Jacob’s direction.
    “ Reckon, Doc, just a
little. Just testen it,” defended Jacob.
    Hearing a rustling sound, Doc turned
to see Nannie standing in the bedroom door. “Hey, Nannie, nice day,
ain't it?”
    “ Sure is, Doc, now that
yer here,” interrupted Jacob.
    “ Mornen, Doc,” Nannie
greeted and smiled. She realized how eager Jacob was to get the
splint off his leg. She was more concerned for her child at the
moment than her husband so she turned to Lydia lying by the
fireplace. “Lydia, look who's here to see y'all. Doc, she's been
right lonesome since the other younguns went back to
school.”
    Lydia sat up on her pallet, and
propped herself against a chair leg before she answered. “Hey.” She
smiled weakly at him.
    “ Hey, yerself, youngun,”
said Doc, grinning at the little girl as a feeling of sadness ached
in him at the sight of her.
    He could see the little girl was even
thinner than she had been on his last visit. Lydia dark brown eyes
appeared larger then they really were, set in their sunken sockets
above the skin tight framework of her sallow cheeks. Her short
cropped, dark brown hair, shaped in a bowl cut, had thinned until
the white of her scalp showed through in places.
    “ Well, let’s check ya
over, youngun.” Doc Jensen knelled down beside her and pulled her
away from the chair, placing his large hand on her chest to steady
her while he listened with his stethoscope to her back. “Breathe
deep, Lydia. That's a girl.” Gently, he leaned her back against the
chair, stood up, and turned to find Jacob and Nannie standing right
behind him. “Folks, Lydia's lungs sound much better. She’s just
weak. Keep feeden her all she'll eat and get her up each day to
walk around some. She will feel better when she can get some fresh
air and sunshine after the weather warms up enough that she can
stand being outside. Now, Jacob, you’re making me nervous hoveren
over me. Let me check that leg. Go sit down by the
table.”
    Jacob plopped down in a chair. He
stretched his splinted leg out in front of him. The doctor placed
his bag on the table and opened it. He reached in for a knife and
cut away the bandages. The kindling sticks clattered to the floor
among the dingy strips of once white cloth, exposing the pale,
white flesh of Jacob's right leg.
    As the doctor pushed on the mended
spot,