“Yes, I’m fine. But Mary Alice is ill. Please come quickly.” She turned toward the door. “And for goodness’ sake put your drawers on!”
* * *
Garth stood in the corner of the room as Doc Potter and Ruth tended Mary Alice. What in tarnation was wrong with his child? He couldn’t lose her. Just couldn’t. How would he ever cope?
“Everything’s normal,” Doc said. “She’s just fine. She’ll be up and around in a few days.”
“For God’s sake,” Garth said, “she’s not in perfect health, or she’d be out of bed eating her breakfast.”
Doc cleared his throat. “I assure you she’s fine, Mr. Mackenzie, she’s just a little under the weather from…” The doc’s neck turned scarlet.
Garth fisted his hands at his side. “What in the hell are you tryin’ to say?”
“She’s starting her courses, Mr. Mackenzie.”
“Courses?”
“Yes, her womanly time.”
“Confound it, I know what courses are. But she’s only eleven.”
“I’m twelve next month, Pa,” Mary Alice said, her voice but a whisper. Her pale face had turned a rosy red.
“She’s not too young. Do you know when her mother started?”
“Why in hell would I know that?” Damnation, he and Lizzie hadn’t discussed such things. How was he supposed to deal with this? Courses, for God’s sake.
“There’
s only a little blood right now,” Doc continued, “which is why she didn’t notice it herself yet. But it explains her swoons during the last few days. She’s fatigued. She’s cramping a little bit. When girls start young, it’s harder on their bodies. But I assure you, it’s completely normal and she’ll be just fine.”
“How long will it last?”
“Now that the bleeding has started, about five days. But the cramping and weakness sometimes begin several days before the bleeding. She’ll probably grow out of that, but expect it for the next year or so.”
“Oh, for corn’s sake.” Garth plunked down in a wooden chair, jarring his already aching body. “How often does it happen?”
Ruth stood from where she sat on the edge of the bed, her ruby lips pursed in a line. Now what had he done to piss her off?
“Mr. Mackenzie, may I speak to you in the other room?”
“No, you may speak right here in front of the doctor, Ruth. What is it?”
She stomped her foot, and her midnight eyes flashed. “In the other room,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Fine, fine.” He followed her through the adjoining door. “What, Ruthie?”
“I know you don’t mean any harm, but you need to stop interrogating the doc. This is a traumatic time for a young girl, and she doesn’t have her mother here to help her through it. You’re embarrassing Mary Alice.”
“Why should she be embarrassed?”
“Listen to yourself, Garth. Of course she’s embarrassed! This isn’t something a young girl discusses with her father, or with any man. Did your wife ever discuss it with you?”
“I don’t—”
“Of course she didn’t. I never discussed it with my pa, either. To answer your question, it happens once a month, so get used to it.”
“Ruth, I—”