The Vanishing Point Read Online Free PDF Page B

Father called. "Will you come?"
    Joan hid the cards in her lap while Hannah darted into the study.
    "I heard raised voices in the kitchen." Father frowned. "What were you and Joan speaking of?"
    "Nothing, Father. Nothing of importance."
    "Were you quarreling?"
    "No, Father." Hannah bowed her head. On a normal day, Father would have pestered her until she confessed the truth, but presently he appeared too weary to pursue the matter.
    "This morning I examined Mr. Thompson. He suffers from a weak and troubled heart and has told me of palpitations."
    The heart pierced by three blades.
She tried to put Joan's cards out of her mind. Father was right—nothing good could come of fortunetelling.
    "Upon hearing this diagnosis," Father continued, "what remedy would you prescribe?"
    Hannah breathed deeply. In the past weeks, he had been teaching her ceaselessly, as if attempting to cram as much of his knowledge into her head while he was still well enough to do so. "
Digitalis purpurea
to regulate the heart, Father. Common foxglove. But it must be well diluted in a tincture with a gin base that the patient should swallow three times a day, but only a teaspoon. This tincture should include a tiny amount of
Helleborus niger
to warm and stimulate the heart. And also, very well diluted,
Convallaria majalis.
"
    "The common names of the last herbs, if you please."
    "Black hellebore and lily of the valley."
    "Tell me the lesson of Paracelsus."
    "All depends on the dosage. Any medicine may heal or poison according to its dose."
    "What will happen if
Digitalis purpurea, Helleborus niger,
and
Convallaria majalis
are dosed immoderately?"
    "The patient may die, Father. The herbs could induce heart attack."
    "What oath did I make you swear before I began to teach you about the physick herbs?"
    "The Hippocratic Oath, Father. That I will use this knowledge only for good, to heal and never to harm." Hannah wondered why he had bothered making her take the oath, seeing as she would never be permitted to practice these arts on her own. If she remained a spinster, midwifery would be the loftiest profession to which she could aspire. But there were plenty of midwives in the district already, each of them jealous of newcomers stealing their trade. Maybe she would be lucky enough to marry a physician or an apothecarist and be his helpmeet, measuring out the herbs as she did now for Father.
    He unlocked the cupboard where he kept the gin. Working beside him, with the late-afternoon light pouring through the big front window, Hannah weighed herbs on the brass scale. Then she added them to the measure of gin. Next she needed to dilute the alcohol solution with an equal measure of fresh well water. Passing through the kitchen on her way to the well, she found Joan at the table. A new card was laid out before her, the eight of clubs.
    "What does this signify?"
    "Arrows." Joan caught her hand. "Arrows traveling at great speed through the air. She is thinking of us."

6. The Seeds
Hannah
    M AY'S FIRST LETTER arrived on June 16, 1690, just as the hawthorn in the garden had ceased its blooming, fragile white flowers turning brittle and brown. Rain drummed softly against the kitchen door as Hannah, Father, and Joan gathered at the hearth. Hannah broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter. Mindful to conserve precious paper, May's handwriting was tiny, lines crammed together so that hardly a dot of white space remained. Father put on his spectacles and squinted, but only Hannah's eyes were strong enough to make out the crushed and distorted words. So Father sat down with Joan while Hannah read the letter to them slowly, with long pauses between the sentences as she struggled to decipher the words. When she came to a passage she deemed unfit for Father's and Joan's ears, she silently omitted it.
O CTOBER 25, 1689
Dear Father, dearest Hannah, to-morrow when we bring our Tobacco to Banham's Landing, I shall press this Missive in the Shipman's Hands. May it travell safely