Heaven's Gate Bridge nine

HG nine

“Thank you William. I think that you are well enough for a small trip outside to see Timothy and Buddy. Will you tell him to give Buddy this food and then come in?” she said with a smile on her face.

“Sure Mother. I guess that Buddy is going to need a small box to sleep in. Maybe we can clean out Willie’s old box.”

Mr. Miller nodded his approval as William walked out the door. William closed the screen door very carefully.

“Is everything alright with Harriet? Your voice sounds as if you have some other news to tell me.” he replied as he walked closer to Frances so their voices could be soft.

“I don’t know. I just have a feeling, but when I talked to her just now, she said that she could not hear me. Could measles affect someone that way? I thought that most children were born deaf and dumb or as I have heard, mute.” she responded as she went to the stove to look at the rest of the breakfast that was cooking.

Mr. Miller put his hand on his chin and thought for a minute. He looked up at his lovely wife who was putting the scrambled eggs in a bowl. “I haven’t heard but if the doctor is coming this afternoon, why don’t you mention it.”

“I plan to. Why don’t you take her breakfast up to her and see what you think.” she said as she pointed to the blue rimmed bowl of oatmeal that was Harriet’s.

“Yes I will. Is it ready?” he said as he got a little tray out of a cabinet and put Harriet’s dishes on it.

He walked carefully up the stairs with Harriet’s breakfast. At her door, he knocked, “Is my little angel ready for breakfast?”

There was no answer. He tried again with a harder knock, “Harriet, I have something nice for you.”

He waited for about three seconds and then opened the door. Harriet was at her dressing table trying to comb her hair. She was looking at a tangle that seemed impossible to comb out.

“Good morning my dear.” he said in a nice tone of voice.

Harriet jumped with a little shout and clasped her hands together. “Oh father. You certainly surprised me.”

“Harriet, are you alright? I knocked two times before I entered. Are you playing some joke on your mother and me?” he asked as he pushed aside several items on her vanity table to put the tray on. A hand mirror fell to the wooden floor and Harriet sat still with no notice of the object‘s fall.

“Father I am alright but am having a small difficulty understanding you. It is rather strange because I had the same difficulty with mother. What’s wrong? Why can’t I hear well? Does this mean that I am still sick? I don’t want to be sick any more.” she said and she started to cry. “I just want to be well.” She got up and ran to her bed where she threw herself into the bed and pillow and started to cry harder.

“Harriet. Harriet. If there is anything wrong, we will find out. Dr. Carson will be here for a few minutes later today. He is a very smart man so I am sure that he knows answers to hard questions.” he replied as he went to her side and took her by the shoulders to give her a fatherly hug. He felt her arms encircle him and then more crying from his sweet little girl.

Mr. Miller finally calmed his daughter down enough to get her to promise to eat something. He watched her take a drink of her juice and a mouthful of oatmeal. Before he left, he picked up the mirror and put it on her vanity table.

When he was downstairs, he walked into the kitchen with a serious look on his face. Frances’ mouth opened wide and no sound came out. She then quickly covered her mouth with one hand and started shaking her head.

“Now Frances. Let’s wait until the doctor comes. We don’t know a lot about measles. And we don’t want to get the children upset, especially Harriet.” he said as he went to the door to go out for the boys. Before he went around the corner where he heard the sounds of puppy and boys, he closed he eyes and said a short prayer for his little girl.

Harriet did not eat after her father left the room. She returned to her bed and grabbed her doll. She looked at her friend who comforted her when she was younger. She even told her doll, named Florence, after Florence Nightingale, a few secrets that she did not want to share with her twin sister. The doll with its stitched on smile and button eyes was a gift from her grandfather before he died of pneumonia. Catherine also got a doll and named it after Lily Langtree, but kept it in a pretend baby bed like box beside her side of the bed.

She stroked the funny red hair and then gave her doll a big hug. “I don’t want to be sick. I want to be well.” She then looked at the doll and threw it across the room. It landed behind the chair that the girls used while they were waiting for the other sister to get ready for school.

She looked at her food and tried to eat the oatmeal. By now it was a little cold and she did not really like cold oatmeal. But she knew that her father did not like seeing wasted food so she ate one bite and then drank her juice. She thought that since she did not feel well, father would be understanding.

Just as she finished with her activity in the room with the toilet, she went to her bed to sit down to think. As she decided to retrieve her friend, Florence, she decided to open her window to let in some fresh air. She turned around and noticed that Catherine had entered. “Oh you are up. How are you feeling?” she said with a smile on her face.

Harriet guessed what she thought her sister was saying and pretended she understood.

“I am fine but still tired. You look better than me. How are you?” she asked hoping that Catherine might reveal that she had the same problem.

“Oh I am just fine. I have just a little itching, but mother says that my fever was not so bad.” she said as she went to her vanity table and hunted for a ribbon to tie up her hair.

“You don’t have any problems at all?” she said as she put Florence on the bed in the middle.

“No. Why? What is wrong? Mother and Father look a little concerned.”

“I guess it is because I had fever longer than you.” said Harriet not asking Catherine to repeat what she did not understand.

“Well I want you to be all well so you can go downstairs to see the puppy. Timothy and William are trying to teach it to sit down but the puppy just wants to follow them and roll over to have it’s tummy rubbed.” replied Catherine with a chuckle as she tied the white ribbon she found in a bow and walked to the door.

“A puppy? I do want to see it. Can you please take the tray downstairs. I really think I would like to go down to eat.” she said as she pointed at the tray. Catherine picked up the tray and left the room. After that Harriet sat on the bed for a few minutes before she looked for something to put on to go downstairs.