"Then go fetch the dok." Verna's dochter, Lydianne, stepped from the back room. In her arms, little Sarah Rose tugged at her mother's kapp strings. "He cannot refuse help if it comes dressed Plain, I reckon." Lydianne was young yet but had always possessed an extra dose of wisdom beyond her years.
"They don't make house calls," Simon reminded her. "Or dress...Plain." Even if he sought out Doc Richmond himself, he knew he couldn't convince the Englisch dok to pay a visit, and the midwife who had been the closest thing to a doctor had retired and moved away.
"I know one who will," Verna announced abruptly. "Many have sought her out from time to time. I have been hoping to reach out to her myself."
"Why?" He narrowed his gaze. Was his sister ill? In the family way?
"For her herbs and medicine. She sells Nature's Sun products, and Willis' mamm insists they are to be trusted. No sense in folks driving all the way to Walnut Ridge for them if I have them in my shop." She grinned like a pup with an old sock.
Verna had a good head for business, but there wasn't much space for more, Simon noted, giving the store a quick glance. However, the idea of an Amish doktor not so far away piqued his interest. Simon would happily go fetch her himself if she could help Michael, and Carl Hooley would happily welcome an Amish dok over an Englisch one.
"Where do I find her?"
CHAPTER TWO
Stella Schmucker followed her faithful hund, Ellie, down the narrow path that paralleled Fox Creek. The land ran straight up and down, with barely a level break in between, but Stella didn't mind rough terrain, considering it was filled with the many wonders that enabled her to provide a livelihood for herself.
Early morning light was breaking over Sugar Mountain. The deep basket in her right hand already housed blackberry fruits and leaves, wild lettuce, and a few chicory roots she hoped to dry out now that her stock had been drained. The mild laxative helped remedy countless issues and always made kaffi taste a little stronger.
Taking her tenth of nature's bounty was the first rule in foraging. God had blessed Stella plenty, and she had never been greedy no matter how little she had. A person could always find what they needed within nature. Not so much with people.
Without a word, Ellie deviated uphill. Careful of her footing, Stella kept her eyes trained on the ground and took time to admire the various ginseng plants she'd been nurturing for the past seven years. Each stem branched into stalks with five toothed leaflets, and as August neared, red berries clustered the centers boldly. In springtime, the yellow-green flowers smelled like lily of the valley, but as the season waned, the plant turned an unclaimed yellow for which Stella had no name for.
Hiking her skirts upward, Stella stepped over a fallen poplar log and marveled at the unexpected five-prong plant waiting there. Ginseng had the ability to hide away with a quiet intelligence few could fathom. It would be another month before she could legally harvest the much-sought-after roots she was paid handsomely for, and this year the word was that eight hundred dollars a pound was the going price.
Jah, in times of less plenty, there was always seng to sell.
Unwed and thirty-eight, it all added to Stella's meek savings. She didn't mind finding new ways to provide for herself, but selling herbs and vitamins was barely enough to purchase material for a new dress. That alone was reason enough for helping the midwife when the need came. No matter how many roles she'd fill, she'd not fuss or fluster. Her life was full and served a purpose.
From Stella's earliest memories of mixing wild garlic and mud and letting the cakes bake under the sun, she knew she wanted to help others heal. The day she discovered jewelweed, a preventive and a cure for poison ivy, it had earned her a second helping at the supper table and freedom to roam after her evening chores. She even earned a few short weeks each year to spend with her grandparents in Kentucky without pesky bruders lurking. That's when her eyes had been opened to a new world and when she knew her life could be...different.
Mammi helped a good many folks with her gift of healing. Stella had thankfully found that she too possessed the gift. Amish and Englisch came with all sorts of ailments to her front door. From sore throats, digestive orders, headaches, insomnia, rashes, spider bites, and even thwarting off lice or fleas, Stella did her best to offer comfort. Of course, she couldn't charge them for advice or herbal teas that she put full stock in, but Stella never turned down a donation. That's why she started carrying Nature's Sun products. When you lived off the kindness of others, you had to think outside the box. It was not charity, she had told herself, but simply making a living. Her embarrassment of growing up with parents who lived off the charity of others had embedded deep the need for her independence. She would be a giver, never a taker.
