Caroline's Passion by Peggy L. Henderson

Author:Peggy L. Henderson [Henderson, Peggy L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-09-21T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

“So, tell us, Caroline, you truly are a real doctor? What made you want to do that? I mean, that’s a noble profession and all, but shouldn’t the doctoring be left to the men?”

Caroline plastered a smile on her face as she walked between Beatrice and Rosalind Helmers. Rosalind was older than her by a year, and Beatrice a couple years her junior. Over the course of the last two weeks since leaving Independence, the two sisters had become her closest female companions. They were the eldest siblings in a family of five, traveling with their parents and a younger brother.

In a way, it was good to have the companionship of women her own age. Unfortunately, other than coming from Ohio and growing up on a farm, they had very little else in common. Both sisters were fascinated with Caroline’s tales of Boston, even though they seemed to have opposite tastes in everything else, and bickered constantly with each other. They’d lived their entire lives on their parents’ farm, and neither one of them had ever been to a large city.

The topic of Caroline’s profession hadn’t come up among her new-found friends until today. Rosalind and Beatrice had seemed rather uneasy broaching the subject. Burt Anderson, the wagon master, had announced at the start of the journey that William King was a doctor traveling with them, and that if anyone had any ailments or medical complaints, they were to seek his advice. William hadn’t looked at all pleased that he would have to potentially treat some of these people. None of the emigrants were of the same social standing as his patients in Boston, and he didn’t like giving away his services for free.

“You’ll learn real quick that on a wagon train such as this, folks stick together and help each other. Pride and social standings don’t mean a thing when you’ve only got each other to rely on,” Trevor had quietly told him. Then he’d turned and spoken loudly, so that everyone could hear, “Don’t forget Dr. Hudson. She’s as qualified as William to see to anyone’s medical needs.”

The people had murmured amongst themselves at Trevor’s announcement, and most of them had shaken their heads and walked away. It appeared as if her medical knowledge wouldn’t be welcomed among the emigrants, either.

Beatrice looked at her with wide eyes, no doubt waiting for a response to her question. Caroline sucked in a deep breath. Even women didn’t think a female should be a doctor. When would people’s minds start to change on the subject?

Aimee Osborne, the healer who had encouraged her to go to medical college, had told her not to let anyone stop her from achieving her dreams. She’d done that, but what if no one accepted her or took her seriously? Not even her fiancé backed her up in her profession. The only person who believed in her was Trevor, even though he’d been rather surly since the day they’d left Independence.

Caroline smiled at Beatrice. Perhaps she could change the minds of her new friends.

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