Years of life in the plains had taken its pound of flesh. Dr. Hugo Huckle lived around thirty minutes from the convent. As a devout Catholic he made the trip out to Our Lady of Hope whenever he was needed without any questions. While he was not always the best Catholic especially in his younger days, he did feel that helping the nuns without a moment's hesitation could secure him a place in heaven.
It was an unseasonably hot day at the end of June when one of the Sisters made their way into his office. Bright yellow rays of sunlight illuminated the entirety of the small office. Dr. Huckle was just finishing with a tooth extraction when he heard the old front door creak open "Just a moment and I will be right with you!" He shouted over the grunting pains of his patient as he ripped the blackened tooth. Looking down at the blood filled mouth of another field hand with poor hygiene he said, "That'll be a quarter, same as the last time." The patient reached into his pocket and pulled out the shining silver coin, stamped an eagle on one side and Lady Liberty sitting on the other. Taking the coin in his fingers Dr. Huckle ran his thumb over the reliefs on either side to feel that it was the genuine article before looking back at his patient. "Take a swig of this, once a day." He reached up on the shelf behind the operating chair and pulled down a bottle of "Dr. Merlow's Remedy". Wiping the blood off his hands Dr. Huckle went out of the backroom to see who had just walked in, his prior patient still dazed by the pain and spitting blood into the small basin in his lap. Hugo assumed it was going to be another farmhand, miner or cowpoke with one of the small list of daily maladies that kept him in business. He was very surprised to see one of the Sisters standing patiently in the center of the room clutching her rosary.
As the last droplets of blood came off his hands into the oil soaked rag he spoke to grab her attention. "How can I help you today Sister? Is the Mother Superior's gout flaring again?" He had been treating the Mother Superior's gout for the past decade at this point with the same remedy he had just given to the field hand. As the Nun turned around he recognized her face. She was Prioress Maud, the Mother Superior's second in command of the convent and orphanage. A sharp eyed woman in her late thirties with permanently pinpointed pupils and a sharp nose curved downward like the beak of some exotic bird. Of all the Nuns who came into town she was his least favorite. "Judgemental" most people would have called her, Hugo thought the best word to describe her was bitch.
"The Lord has kept Mother Superior in fine health. Mother Superior has in fact sent me though, a young girl has just arrived and seems to be suffering from some affliction of the mind and Mother Superior would like for you to examine her." The Prioress tone gave the impression that she thought very little of Doctor Huckle, which did not go unnoticed by him. Once again he felt confident in his description of her. He did know to keep his thoughts to himself, even though she was a bitch she was still a high ranking member in the Church that fact did not mean he had to like her which was good because he never had and felt like he never would.
The field hand who had just had a molar removed came stumbling out of the backroom, clutching the door frame as strands of blood still formed at the corners of his mouth. "For God's sake man! Clean yourself up and go out the back." Hugo said as he pushed the glassy eyed patient out the back, the patient nearly falling over his own feet. The Prioress let out a small scoff at the exchange, every minute she spent in the city was a minute too long in her mind. It was smelly, diseased and sinful. Hugo heard the scoff but once again chose to ignore it, "Well as you can see Prioress, the examination room is now open if you would like to bring your new ward in."
The Prioress took a chastising tone, "She is not with me Doctor Huckle. The Mother Superior and I did not feel that she would be jostled around on the road into town being in her current state. You will need to travel out to the Convent and attend to her." She made extra emphasis on "The Mother Superior and I" making sure that Hugo knew that she was a decision maker at the Convent. 'If arrogance was supposed to be a sin how does this woman ever walk into a church?' Hugo thought. "Let me get my bag and we can go up to the Convent." Hugo turned to walk in and grab his bag as the Prioress spoke, "Unfortunately, Doctor, I will not be joining you. I have other matters to attend to in town but I am sure an educated man such as yourself will have no trouble traveling." She in fact did not have any other matters to attend to in town and she knew that she was lying, she just had no intention of taking a thirty minute ride through the back country with him. If she did go and place an order at the general store than it would not fully be a lie she told herself.
"I shall leave at once, Prioress." Hugo said trying to hide his joy now knowing he would not be sharing a ride with her. He hurriedly got his brown, monogrammed bag together and made his way outside. He could not see the Prioress or her wagon around anywhere as he made his way around to his small stable in the backyard. Inside the single stall was a grey donkey. Many years earlier he had gotten it as payment for her services from a local farmer who had since moved out east. Doris was the donkey's name and she had been his faithful companion for over a decade. Despite her smaller stature compared to the horses that almost everyone in the plains used she was still able to do all the tasks Hugo needed her for. She had even gone the two hundred miles to Kansas City and back without any difficulty. The trip up to the Convent and back would be as easy as a Sunday walk in the park to her, Hugo thought as he strapped her saddle on.
Just over thirty minutes later Hugo and Doris clopped their way up the road to the front door of Our Lady of Hope. From his prior experiences at the Convent, he walked Doris over to the small grass outcropping under the cottonwoods and left her to graze. One of the Sisters had seen him coming up the road and had gone in and gotten the Mother Superior who now stood outside at the top of the wooden stairs. As Hugo got within earshot she called out, "Good afternoon Doctor. Thank you very much for coming." Hugo let a warm smile spread across his heavy cheeks, "It is my pleasure Mother Superior. May I ask how the girl is doing?"
"That is difficult to tell, Doctor. All she has been able to tell us is her name. She seemed to have forgotten everything else. We did give her some water once she was awake. When she first got here she fainted right where we are now. We took her to one of the rooms and laid her down and after a short while she came back around. That was when I sent the Prioress out to fetch you. She is awake now if you are ready, Doctor?" Hugo and her were standing in the entryway.
"Yes, I think I should go see her now. Has she had anything to drink or to eat?"
"When she woke up we brought her some cool water and broth and she drank it all down as if she hadn't eaten in days. It is this room right here Doctor. Her name is June as far as she has told us."
Hugo reached out for the door, took a deep breath and walked inside.