Chapter 4
Krystal paused filling out the Refugee Center form and looked thoughtfully at the woman in front of her. “Ursula, you say you are an herbalist. I know someone who might want to hire an herbalist but, more importantly, I know someone who needs an herbal remedy. My Aunt Bethel has been getting hot flashes and night sweats. They started right before the Ring of Fire and her doctor said, ‘you’re too young’ and did nothing to help her. We all know because she keeps complaining about how he wouldn’t listen to her. Do you have any suggestions?”
Once Ursula Durer understood what Krystal was talking about, her brow smoothed, and she smiled big and wide. “Easy as can be! Do you know the herb called sage? She must drink sage tea three times a day. Then her symptoms will be better.”
“Are you busy right now? I have someone you should meet when my shift is over.”
Two hours later, Krystal had introduced Ursula to her Uncle Raymond and explained that she was an herbalist who might be able to help Aunt Bethel. Upon hearing that, she had Raymond’s undivided attention. “Do you have a remedy? I’ll try anything to help her. Women up-time took something called HRT that we can’t replicate easily here and now.”
Ursula gave him a slightly pitying look. “You make life too complicated with all your medicines, like this ‘artee’ you say women took. Do you know the herb sage?” A nod. “Just have her drink sage tea three times a day, at least three days a week. Then it will not be so bad.”
Raymond looked skeptical. “It’s that simple?” Ursula nodded. “Hmm. I could use herbal cures for other common complaints, like headaches and fevers. What can you recommend for those?”
Two hours later, Raymond had a list of herbs to grow and buy, and Ursula had a new job making herbal remedies at the pharmacy.
November 1631
“Krystal and Sam, I have to talk to you about Christmas presents.” Grannie B now had their full attention. “Krystal, you know your mom always shopped the clearance sales, and you never figured out where she hid your presents. Well, she hid them here, in our house. By the time we moved out, you were bigger and the gifts were smaller, so she started storing them with your Aunt Bethel. She was particularly proud of the year she had all her Christmas shopping done by New Year’s Eve—fifty-one weeks before Christmas! Sam, what we hope you didn’t know was that your Aunt Sophia bought most of the gifts from ‘your dad.’ The year we left was no different. She already had some presents with Aunt Bethel and Uncle Raymond before the Ring. You need to decide if you want those presents on Christmas Day or some other time. Think about it and tell me when you decide.”
Krystal replied a bit too quickly. “I don’t have to think about it. We’ll see them again before Christmas and Mom can take care of it like she always does.”
Sam was getting fed up with her attitude. “I didn’t know who bought them, but I figured out it wasn’t Dad years ago. The dead give-away was that they were things I wanted and liked. I don’t have to think about it either. Please choose something to give me at Christmas. Save something for my birthday. Save any stuff that won’t be outgrown or useless in a year, so I can keep getting presents from her even though she is gone.”
Krystal was clearly furious, her eyes flashing anger. “My parents aren’t gone, Sam! They’ll come back. It may seem like a really long time to a high school kid like you, but it hasn’t even been six months yet. Soon, but not yet. They can still come back.”
Sam started to talk, but Grannie B motioned him to silence. “Honey, we all want to believe that, but what Sam said makes good sense. If your parents do come back, they can give all the gifts to you themselves. If they don’t, then you still have a little bit of them to look forward to.” Krystal glared at them both before wordlessly stomping off.
Grannie B broke the tension in the room when she said, “Well, that could’ve gone worse. She didn’t throw a thing.”
* * *
Raymond saw Ursula at the Gardens. “Your beer is on me. Curt, yours too. Ursula, you are a huge help at the pharmacy. I know I’ve said it before, but Bethel feels so much better since she started drinking your sage tea. I think she’s telling all the other women, including the ones she doesn’t like. You’ve done a real service for the community, my friend. Hang on a minute. I’m going to go tell the manager to give you a tab for your beer for the month because it’s on me. And cheap at the price!”
Once Raymond explained the situation, the manager refused to start a tab. The wife of Ernie Dobbs, one of the owners of Gardens, took HRT for menopause before the Ring and her symptoms roared back with a vengeance after she stopped having medicine. Until she started drinking the sage tea.
“Now that was unexpected.” Raymond plopped onto the bench, prompting Curt to ask for an explanation. “It would seem that your wife’s sage tea helped the wife of Ernie Dobbs, one of the Gardens’ owners. He was quoted as saying ‘that there is a miracle, in my book. I’d saint ’em if I could. Since I’m not the pope, or Catholic, I’ll settle for buying ’em drinks for life at the Gardens, if I ever find out who brought back my happy Mo to me.’ You and Ursula will drink for free here for the rest of your lives, in thanks.”
As Ursula returned from the restroom, she saw Raymond talking as a shocked expression blossomed on her Curt’s face. Reaching the table, she looked back and forth at them. “What is it that you have said to my man to make him look so?”
“It’s actually your doing.” Ursula looked skeptical at Raymond’s words. “No, it’s true. Your sage tea helped the wife of Ernie Dobbs, one of the owners of the Gardens. He’s so happy that you both drink free for life here!”
Now Ursula looked shocked. “That is not a nice joke! You must take it back. My Curt, he believes this is true.” Shaking her head. “I thought you were a nice man, Herr Reed.”
After a few minutes, Ernie came over and confirmed the free beer (but not food) for life. Then he started talking about commissioning a statue of them in the center of town because they were actual, honest-to-God HEROES the way they were helping folks with that tea. That convinced both Ursula and Curt that the whole thing was a mean joke. No one made statues of people like them, ever, for any reason.
“What will it take to convince you? Will a signed note be enough? No? If it’s witnessed? If it’s witnessed by the mayor?” They finally started to thaw at that suggestion. “How about a note signed by me and witnessed by Mayor Dreeson and Mike Stearns? Will that convince you it’s a real offer?” Ernie had never, in his life, had so much trouble literally giving something away for nothing.
A stunned Ursula and Curt went home that night with a note, signed by Ernie and witnessed by Mike Stearns and Mayor Dreeson, at the Gardens for dinner, clearly stating Ursula Durer and Curt Bauer were entitled to free drinks for life at the Thuringian Gardens.
Ursula spoke first. “Such important men would not lie when they would be caught so easily, Curt.”
“It is true. They lie so they cannot be caught, or so others will be caught in their place. What they signed must be true. I really think it must. I hope.” Curt stopped, took his wife’s hand, then gave a tolerable imitation of a courtly bow and kiss on her hand. “Thank you for causing this confusing blessing to fall upon us, my beloved.” Her laughter tinkled in his ears as they sauntered home, enjoying a perfect crisp fall evening.
“Husband.”
“Yes?”
“There is something else to make this perfect evening even more perfect.”
“Yes?”
“Next year, we shall be three in our family. The up-timers have confirmed that I am with child.” Ursula serenely continued walking while Curt stood frozen in shock before letting out a whoop of delight, then running up, twirling her in a circle, and practically dancing in the street.
“Now this is truly a night to remember!”
* * *
Beulah looked with pride at the students and volunteers working together at the Refugee Center. A year ago, they were living in different worlds, hundreds of years apart. Now, they were working together to help refugees arriving in Grantville be healthy. Every family had to fill out multiple questionnaires, starting with one when they arrived and were still soaking wet from the showers that asked where they came from, job skills, and how many in their group, and ending with one when they departed asking where they were moving to and where they would be working. Volunteers helped them.
“Where are you going to stay, now that you are leaving the Refugee Center, Frau Heydman?” Krystal enjoyed meeting new people this way, no strings or expectations attached.
“We found a place that is cheap. We rent from a person named Fuzzy, like a sheep. There is water and a toilet, which will be good when the baby is born.” Anna had given up trying to explain to up-timers that her last name was Banz, not Heydman. Her husband Mathias’ last name was Heydman, not hers. “Being in a house before the baby comes, this will be a blessing.”
Krystal’s brow crinkled. “You mean Wooly?” Anna Heydman nodded. “I heard about that. I haven’t seen it, but I heard the place isn’t safe. The ‘houses’ are poorly made and too close together. You might want to reconsider and live somewhere else.”
“Do you know a place for us, one that is cheap with water and a toilet?” Krystal shook her head no, brow crinkling harder. “Then we shall live with this wooly-man until we find better.” Anna would not be dissuaded.
Thanksgiving Day
“Happy Thanksgiving, Grannie B and Grandpa Eli!” Sam gave them big hugs when he surprised them in their room at the Assisted Living Center. “Krystal couldn’t come because she volunteered to work an extra shift at the clinic today. She said it’s good practice for when she’s ‘a real nurse’ in a few years, but I’m worried about her. She’s always working or studying. It’s like she’s trying to cut herself off from what’s happening around her. Then again, maybe she just didn’t want to come all the way out here. The winter weather here is brutal! It never got this cold back home.”
“She’s still fretting about when she will see her parents again, isn’t she?” Sam’s nod confirmed Grannie B’s suspicion. “It isn’t healthy. She’s not the only one who wants to believe the people we lost will come back, but most of us are still living our lives. Krystal Marie is putting too much on hold. Is she doing anything but nursing classes and work? Is she going out with friends or dating anyone?”
Sam shook his head no. It wasn’t worth reminding Grannie B, again, that Krystal had dropped out of the LPN training program. “Some kids asked her to go out at first, but they are getting busy with the army and whatever else is in their lives now, so they don’t come by or call much anymore. She always says no anyway. She still eats lunch with some of the nursing students at the vo-tech, but that’s it.”
Grannie B’s eyes lit up. At eighty-six, she had a new purpose in life. Her great-granddaughter was going to start living in their new world, not just existing. She pulled the German refugee family living in her old home, the Schultes, into her plans. They could help her with the first step: getting Krystal to do something—anything!—other than work. They all agreed that attending mass was just the thing, even though she hadn’t attended regularly before the Ring of Fire. Or maybe because she hadn’t gone regularly. Mass at St. Mary’s didn’t trigger any memories for her, happy or sad. There were no ghosts of ‘before the Ring’ to feed her dream of going back, and, as much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, Krystal was starting to see that perhaps it was only a dream.
Sam and Grandpa Eli were both Methodist but agreed that if it would get Krystal doing something, and make Grannie B happy, they’d go to mass too, at least through Christmas. Next, Grannie B and Anna Maria brought Krystal’s boss, Uncle Raymond, and some of her co-workers in on the plan. Krystal wouldn’t be working on Sunday for at least three months, even if she wanted to, so she had no excuse for skipping mass.
Knowing from her family that she had never been a regular at mass anywhere, Father Larry was surprised and pleased to start seeing Krystal regularly join the congregation at St. Mary’s.
* * *
“Beulah, do you have a minute?” Mikki Barnes was formal in class and on rounds, but this wasn’t class, and she wasn’t a twenty-year-old kid.
“If you bring a cup of fresh coffee to my office, you can have five minutes.”
Ten minutes later, Beulah wrapped her arthritic hands around a mug of hot java, eyes closed while she soaked in the warmth. She let out a deep breath and opened her eyes. “Now, what is it you need, Mikki? Are the youngsters driving you nuts yet?”
“No, nothing like that. They remind me a bit of Ethan and his friends, which is nice since we don’t see him much now. It’s not even about me. I try to visit the old folks out at the Bowers who have no family in Grantville. You remember that Krystal Reed was in my class until she dropped. Among other things, when I visit the Bowers, I see her helping the therapists and nurses with their tasks. There are two young men who help with PT a lot. Their English is still a work in progress, but they seem like good candidates to become certified physical therapists, possibly even RNs. The taller one, in particular, has a knack for working with the old folks. Good bedside manner on top of the physical skills. I’ve also seen them using some different equipment that is clearly down-time made. You might want to look into what it is and where they found it.”
“Hmm. I’ll make a note and we’ll look into it. Sounds like a good catch. Thanks. Did you have a suggestion or concern about Krystal?”
“Oh, right. We all know she has had a harder time than most with losing her family and up-time life. Nurse Sims and old Doc Sims have done a great job keeping her helping with the well-baby clinics and at the refugee center, in addition to helping when she visits the Bowers and working at the pharmacy. You or Garnet or someone should talk her into restarting the program next year. She has the talent and interest, and she will have enough experience that the first semester should be a cakewalk for her. I talked to Nurse Sims a bit and she is friendly with a few former patients as well as two girls in her original LPN class, which is all to the good for her mental health. She is friendly enough with a few former classmates to still have lunch together sometimes. Having friends here should help her deal with the stress better than last year.”
Beulah turned to a new page in her notebook, then flipped to a calendar page several months in the future and added a note there. “Done and done. Thank you so much for bringing this all to my attention, Mikki. If you keep this up, you might just end up a supervisor not long after you graduate!” Her grin took the sting out of her “threat.”
“Before you leave, I think Garnet may have a preview of some new books for your class, if you want a sneak peek.” Mikki plopped right back down into her chair, looking expectantly at Garnet as she walked in.
Garnet Szymanski was proud of how the LPN and other programs were shaping up. It wasn’t easy, but they were filling in the gaps where teachers and materials were left up-time, resources simply weren’t available (or replaceable) down-time, and things needed to be created to bridge the cultural differences. Most of the students from the first class would stay right here at Leahy, but some would start traveling and spreading knowledge. Even Justin, as resistant as he was, would take some knowledge back to England with him.
Garnet raised an eyebrow. “I take it Beulah told you I have some new books here?” Mikki nodded. “Did she tell you what they are?” She shook her head no. “The first one has anatomy prints, basic procedures, and a very abbreviated list of ailments and how to treat them. The second one, hot off the presses, lists the medical terms you absolutely need to know immediately—‘stay still!’—and the ones you need to know soon—‘nausea.’ In January, we expect a second, larger, booklet with the words in Italian, Dutch, French, Swedish, and possibly one or two other languages.” For patients speaking anything other than German and English, Leahy was working to find translators, but it was a big job and the mini dictionaries would help.