Beloved Physician (6 page)

As the two women were heading for the door, Nadine smiled. “Now, Tharyn, I want to remind you that you can call on me for help whenever you and Dr. Logan have to be out of town, or even if you need me when you are here at the office.”

Tharyn hugged her. “Thank you, Nadine, And thank you for your patience in teaching me how to run the office.”

Nadine kissed her cheek. “You’re an easy student to teach, honey. It’s been my pleasure.”

On Saturday morning at the Downing house, Mabel was washing the inside of the parlor window while Cassandra was dusting the mantel, wishing she was living in some luxurious mansion as the wife of a wealthy man and had servants to do tedious tasks like she was being forced to do at the moment.

Cassandra’s aunt was humming some unfamiliar tune while washing the large window. Cassandra paused in her dusting, looked at Mabel, and told herself it must be one of those church songs that were so meaningless and boring.

Mabel happened to look her niece’s direction and saw that Cassandra was watching her. She stopped scrubbing and smiled. “Are you finished dusting the mantel already?”

Cassandra looked at the dust cloth in her hand and shook her head. “No. I was just wondering what song you’re humming.”

Mabel got a blank look on her face. “Well, I—uh—I don’t know. I was just humming and praising the Lord in my heart. Whatever it was, it was a song about Jesus, I’m sure. When I received Him as my Saviour, He washed my sins away with His precious blood and put sweet music in my heart.”

A dull look came into Cassandra’s eyes. “Oh. Sweet music, eh?”

“Mm-hmm. He will do the same thing for you, dear, if you will put your faith and trust in Him. Jesus loves you. He went to the cross and—”

“That’s all right, Aunt Mabel,” cut in Cassandra, and started dusting again. “You don’t need to preach to me. That gospel business just isn’t my cup of tea.”

Mabel started to say something else, but her attention was drawn outside as she heard hoofbeats and the sound of a buggy pulling into the driveway. She looked out the window and saw Pastor and Mrs. Shane in the buggy.

Cassandra had heard the sound too, but from where she stood
she could see the horse but not the occupants of the buggy. “Who’s that, Aunt Mabel?”

Waving out the window with a smile on her face, Mabel said, “It’s Pastor and Mrs. Shane, honey. They’ve been wanting to meet you.”

Cassandra felt a cold antagonism well up inside her, but said nothing.

Mabel dropped the washcloth into the bucket of water, hurried out the door, and into the hall. As she headed toward the front door, she said in a whisper, “Please, dear Lord, let them get somewhere with Cassandra.”

On Sunday, the Logans fully enjoyed the teaching and preaching and the fellowship of the solid Christians in the church. That evening after the service, they had Pastor and Mrs. Shane to their home for a light snack.

While they were sitting together at the dining room table and enjoying the food Tharyn had prepared, Dr. Dane said, “I noticed that Mabel Downing was alone in both services today. She must be having a hard time with her niece, trying to get her to come to church.”

Pastor Shane and Peggy exchanged glances; then the pastor nodded and looked at the doctor. “Yes, she is.
Quite
a hard time. Peggy and I went to the Downing house yesterday morning and talked to Cassandra.”

“Oh, you did?”

“Yes, but that girl’s heart is hard when it comes to the things of the Lord. She was not impolite at that point, but she made it clear that she wants nothing to do with our church or the Bible, and she flat told us she is an atheist.”

“Oh, I see,” said Dr. Dane.

“This has to be very difficult for Mabel,” put in Tharyn.

Peggy nodded. “That it is, Tharyn. We’ve known that Mabel was having a hard time with Cassandra ever since she came to live with her. Mabel winced with pain when Cassandra told us that she believes when people die, they simply pass out of existence; there is no heaven and there is no hell.”

Pastor Shane sipped his coffee and placed the cup in its saucer. “We both gave her a lot of Scripture concerning God’s existence and used common sense to go with it, but the girl refused to pay any heed to either. I went ahead and preached the gospel to her, wanting to plant the seed of the Word in her heart and mind. She would not respond at all. When we were about to leave, she did get somewhat impolite and told us she didn’t want us talking about it to her ever again.”

“Poor Mabel was so embarrassed,” said Peggy. “My heart really went out to her.”

Dr. Dane sighed. “Well, Tharyn and I will be praying for Cassandra, that the Lord will use the Scriptures the two of you gave her to open her eyes to the truth. I’m sure Mabel has been planting the seed of the Word in the girl’s heart, too.”

The pastor nodded. “Without a doubt. She’s obviously very burdened for her. And please pray for Mabel. This situation is indeed extremely hard for her.”

“We certainly will hold Mabel before the Lord, too, Pastor,” said Dr. Dane.

On Monday afternoon, Mabel had Cassandra in the sewing room with her. She was doing some necessary sewing and was attempting to teach her niece how to sew at the same time.

Though Cassandra was not the least bit interested, she acted as if she was.

In between comments about sewing, Mabel talked about Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, what He did for sinners in His crucifixion,
and His resurrection after He had died on the cross. When Mabel had brought up Jesus and His crucifixion for the fifth or sixth time, Cassandra said, “Aunt Mabel, I very much appreciate your taking me into your home, and am deeply grateful, but please don’t talk to me about your religion.”

Mabel’s eyebrows arched. “Religion? Have I mentioned religion?”

“Well, yes. You keep talking about God and Jesus and that kind of thing.”

“Honey, I’ve been talking to you about salvation. You don’t need religion, but you need salvation, and that salvation comes only by repenting of your sin, believing on Jesus, and receiving Him into your heart as your own personal Saviour.”

Cassandra drew a breath of air through her nose and let it out the same way. “Aunt Mabel, I don’t believe in God, so I certainly don’t believe in the Son of God. When somebody dies, they don’t come back from the dead. I do not believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It is all a fairy tale.”

Knowing the Word of God can penetrate the most stubborn mind and heart, Mabel went back to sewing, but as they worked together, she quoted Scripture after Scripture, doing her best to sow the seed of the Word in Cassandra’s heart.

They had lunch together, at which time Cassandra did not bow her head when her aunt prayed over the food.

At one o’clock, they went back into the sewing room.

At one-thirty, Mabel was showing Cassandra a particular type of stitching to do when there was a knock at the front door of the house.

Cassandra sprang off her chair and hurried into the hall, saying she would get it. When she reached the front door, she opened it and found Rosemary Snyder standing there with a pained look in her eyes.

“Hello, neighbor. What can I do for you?”

Rosemary asked, “Can we talk?”

Cassandra stepped back and opened the door wider. “Why, of course. Please come in. We’ll go into the parlor.” As they were heading down the hall toward the parlor door, they saw Mabel coming toward them from the sewing room.

Mabel smiled. “Hello, Rosemary. It’s nice to see you.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Mrs. Downing.”

As her aunt drew near, Cassandra said, “Rosemary came over to talk to me about something. We’re going to talk in the parlor.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I’ll go on back to the sewing room.”

Rosemary shook her head. “Please, Mrs. Downing, I’d like for you to be in on the conversation too, if you don’t mind.”

“Well, all right, dear. I’ll be back in a moment. I just want to go to the kitchen and get each of us a glass of lemonade. You two go on into the parlor.”

Mabel bustled down the hall, and Cassandra led Rosemary into the parlor.

When they were heading for the spot where two overstuffed chairs, Mabel’s favorite rocker, and the sofa were positioned in a circle, Cassandra looked at her friend. “What’s this all about?”

“I’ll tell both of you when your aunt gets back,” said Rosemary, a tiny frown forming between her pretty green eyes.

Moments later, when Mabel returned carrying a tray with three full glasses of lemonade and a plate of sugar cookies, the young women were sitting side by side on the flowered sofa.

After giving the refreshments to Rosemary and Cassandra, Mabel placed the tray on an end table by the sofa, took the remaining glass and a couple of cookies, and lowered herself into her soft rocking chair. She took a small sip of the lemonade. “Now, dear, what is this all about?”

Rosemary shifted sideways on the sofa so she could look at Cassandra, glanced at Mabel, and said, “Mother and I were at the general store early this morning, and we got to talking to a couple of ladies from Mrs. Downing’s church, Beulah Franks and Opal
Domire. The subject went to you, Cassandra.”

Cassandra’s brow furrowed. “Me?”

“Mm-hmm. The ladies informed Mother and me that Mrs. Downing had told them Cassandra had come to live with her because her parents had put her out of their home.”

Cassandra’s features reddened. She looked at her aunt, then turned to face Rosemary.

“Why did you tell me that your parents had died?” said Rosemary.

Flustered, Cassandra sent another hot glance toward her aunt, then silently looked at the floor for a few seconds. She nervously ran her tongue over her lips, cleared her throat, looked up at Rosemary, and said, “Well, in a way, my parents are dead to me, since they want nothing to do with me. I told you they were dead, Rosemary, because I didn’t want you or anyone else to know that my parents had put me out.”

Mabel’s head bobbed. “Cassandra! That’s a terrible thing to do! How would your parents feel if they knew you were telling people they were dead?”

Cassandra burst into tears and threw her hands to her face.

She sobbed hard for a minute, while Rosemary and Mabel looked at each other in consternation, then left the sofa and knelt in front of her aunt. “I’m sorry, Aunt Mabel! Please forgive me!”

Mabel’s lower lip quivered as she reached out and patted her niece’s cheek. “I forgive you, dear.”

Cassandra turned her tear-filled eyes on Rosemary. “Will you forgive me, too?”

“Of course I will.”

Secretly, Cassandra could not have cared less whether her aunt or Rosemary forgave her, but in order to stay in her aunt’s good graces, she told herself she must play the penitent part.

Mabel set steady eyes on her niece. “Who else have you told this lie to?”

Cassandra blinked. “I—I told it to Greg Holton.”

“Anyone else?” pressed Mabel.

“No. Just Rosemary and Greg.”

Rosemary rose from the sofa and moved to Cassandra, who was now standing. She laid a hand on Cassandra’s arm. “You should tell Greg the truth about this next time you talk to him. It is best to clear it up right away so he doesn’t hear it from someone else like Mother and I did from Mrs. Franks and Mrs. Domire at the general store.”

Cassandra wiped tears. “Yes. You’re right. I’ll tell Greg next time I see him.” In her heart, she dreaded having to come clean with Greg about the lie, but because she most certainly wanted to get to know him better, she would do it.

Rosemary embraced Cassandra. “Well, I need to get back over to the house. Mother and I have a lot of washing and ironing to do.”

Both Mabel and Cassandra knew that since Rosemary’s father drove a freight wagon between Central City and Denver, and his income was sometimes sporadic, she and her mother took in washing and ironing from many of the single men who worked in the Holton Coal Mine.

Mabel left her rocker and moved up to Rosemary. “Thank you, dear, for forgiving Cassandra. I know it hurt you to learn that she had lied to you.”

Rosemary bit down on her lower lip, looked at Cassandra, then back to Mabel. “It did, Mrs. Downing, but if I remember correctly, your Bible says that a friend loves at all times. I have come to love Cassandra in this short time, and even though she lied to me, I still love her.”

Cassandra smiled. “Thank you, Rosemary.”

Mabel stepped closer to Rosemary. “The verse you’re referring to is Proverbs 17:17. In the very next chapter, it says, ‘There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’ You know who that is?”

Rosemary grinned. “I’m sure it must be Jesus Christ.”

“You’re so right, and—”

“I really do have to go, Mrs. Downing,” Rosemary cut in, heading for the parlor door. “Thanks for the lemonade and the cookies.”

Mabel and Cassandra walked Rosemary to the front door, and when she had gone, Cassandra said, “Aunt Mabel, why is it you bring up Jesus so often?”

“Because He is my Saviour, dear. He is my everything. If only you would give Him a chance to be
your
Saviour.”

Cassandra only looked at her, but did not reply.

Mabel said, “Well, dear, we need to go to the general store and buy some groceries.”