Another offered, "You remind me of my sister. I'd want somebody making sure she arrived safely."
The men nodded, smiling.
"It has been our privilege to serve you, madam," Ned intoned as he bent over her hand. Then added, "I don't say this to offend you, but were I thirty years younger—''
Vivid grinned. "I know all about you gamblers. A woman is secondary in your lives. Your first love will always be the cards."
Ned bowed his head as if accepting her statement, "You are as astute as you are lovely, Dr. Lancaster."
Ned and his friends escorted Vivid to the baggage car and graciously saw to the removal of her many crates. They then helped the porters transfer them all to the train bound for Michigan. When everything had been put aboard, Vivid turned to them and once again expressed her sincere thanks.
Ned shook her hand one final time, saying, "Some of my companions will be traveling east also. I will leave you in their charge. Good luck, Dr. Lancaster."
Ned and the men who were heading for the train to St. Louis and other points south left as one. The three gamblers taking the same eastbound train as Vivid made certain she boarded safely. They left her in the care of one of the kindly porters, then removed themselves to the pleasures awaiting them in the smoking car.
The new train proved to be far more crowded than the previous one, but the mutton-chopped conductor sat people fairly and not according to race. With that worry out of the way, at least for now, Vivid removed her hat, leaned her head back on the seat, and fell asleep.
Chapter 2
Niles, Michigan May 1876
Vivid sighed with relief when the train roared to a stop and the conductor loudly announced they had arrived in Niles, Michigan. She gathered up her bags from the seat beside her and stepped into the aisle to disembark. The thick black smoke from the train's stack billowed in through one of the car's open windows, making Vivid cough and quicken her pace to escape the foul air. Once she stepped onto the platform, she wanted to put a fair amount of distance between herself and the train; she was only slightly rumpled after the long journey from Chicago and had no desire to have her appearance destroyed by the coal dust and burning embers belching like brimstone from the stack. She'd already had to sacrifice a favorite jacket to cinder holes at the depot in Virginia City.
Vivid spent the next few moments supervising the porters unloading her crates and trunks; she had them stack everything against the weathered wood wall of the depot. When they were done, she fished in her handbag for a tip, but the older of the two men declined.
"Put your money away, Dr. Lancaster. Having your smiling face on the ride from Chicago is tip enough."
Vivid smiled her thanks and put the coin back into her bag. She'd spent most of her life among people who provided service for others, and she knew a genuine refusal when she heard one. She thanked the porters again and watched them hurry away.
The train blew a shrill warning to announce its imminent departure. She heard someone calling her name over the roar and turned to see some of the gamblers smiling and waving from the smoking car. A grinning Vivid waved enthusiastically and then offered a curtsy in humble thanks.
The train departed, leaving behind a roaring shower of cinders and smoke. When things settled, she looked around and saw that the depot was nothing more than an open-faced wooden shelter in a clearing, surrounded by more trees than she'd ever seen. There weren't many people around, either, a marked contrast to the hustle and bustle of the depots she'd seen in San Francisco, Denver, and Chicago. Here there were no vendors loudly hawking their wares over the cacophony of foreign and native voices so prevalent in San Francisco. The only person selling anything appeared to be the lone Black woman offering dippers of water from a barrel for two cents. Vivid knew she should be trying to locate Abigail Grayson, who was supposed to meet her, but at the moment her parched and dust-filled throat craved refreshment.
"You here visiting?" the woman asked Vivid after accepting her money. Vivid had politely declined to drink from the offered dipper and instead had the woman dip into the barrel with the small tin cup Vivid always carried in her bag. Only after Vivid had drunk deeply did she answer.
"I'm here to be the new doctor at Grayson Grove."
The woman smiled, pleasant surprise showing on her face. "You really a doctor?"
"Yes, ma'am, and I'm supposed to meet Abigail Grayson. Do you know her?"
"Everybody knows Miss Gail. Haven't seen her today, but her nephew Nate's here. Saw him just a while ago. Your people must be real proud."
Vivid smiled, thinking about her parents, and replied, "Yes, they are."
"And they should be. Little bitty thing like you, a doctor. That's something. Wait until I get home and tell folks I met you." The woman looked around the depot. "I don't see Nate right this minute, but he's around here somewhere. Can't miss him, biggest man in the depot, handsomest, too. What's your name?"
"Viveca Lancaster."
"Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you, Dr. Viveca Lancaster. My name's Kate Pierce; I have a boy down at Wilberforce."
"Pleased to meet you also, Kate Pierce."
They spent a few moments discussing Kate's son and then Kate shooed her on. "If Nate's supposed to meet you, he'll be mad at me for keeping you. The next time you're in Niles, you have someplace to sleep if you need it."
Vivid thanked the woman, then went off in search of this Nate Grayson.
There were only a few people still waiting on the platform. Most of those who'd disembarked with her had since departed with friends and family, or bartered the price of a fare with the drivers of one of the three horse-drawn hacks waiting beside the tracks.
She heard someone hailing, "Dr. V. Lancaster."
She spotted him on the far side of the depot and from Kate Pierce's description knew that this was probably Nate Grayson.
His height dominated the premises. His wide shoulders and muscular chest were prominent beneath the plain brown shirt. His sleeves had been rolled back in deference to the humid day, revealing strong mahogany arms. Vivid raised her eyes to his face. Kate Pierce had not erred in that description, either. He had a smooth, shaven face, which appeared to have been chiseled from dark marble. The nose was prominent, the jaw strong. He wore a weather-beaten hat atop his head, and a pair of oval wire-framed spectacles in front of a set of arresting, smoky-black eyes. The spectacles were necessary, she decided. Without them to deflect the masculine beauty of his face, women would undoubtedly swoon in his wake.
Smiling, Vivid approached him and held out her hand, "I'm Dr. V. Lancaster. Pleased to meet you." Up close, his chiseled good looks were even more devastating.
He did not take her offered hand. Instead he smiled down politely, and said, "I'm looking for a real doctor, miss, not someone to play doctor with."
He strode off then, again calling for Dr. V. Lancaster.
Vivid stood there, stunned. "Play doctor with," indeed! On any other day, Vivid would have pointed out the error of his ways; however, she was far too tired from her transcontinental trip to chase him all over the depot trying to convince him of her identity. So, taking a cue from her mother, Francesca, who always exuded calm in a situation like this, Vivid decided to take a seat on the bench near her belongings and relax. He'd be back.
Nate glanced around the nearly deserted depot and wondered if the damned doctor had confused the arrival date. Nate's Aunt Abigail had done all the corresponding with the physician. She hadn't accompanied him this morning because she'd gone to Kalamazoo to sit with a sick friend, but she'd specifically said that the doctor would be on today's early train. So far no one had answered his call except the fashionably dressed young woman who'd sidled up to him earlier. He'd seen her get off the train, and her beauty had drawn every male eye on the platform. When she introduced herself, he hadn't put much stock in her words because he'd seen her waving goodbye to a group of men just before the train pulled off. No decent woman would put on such a display.
He could see her now seated on the depot's lone bench across the way. Beside her were enough stacked valises, trunks, and crates to outfit a small Egyptian expedition. Nate wondered whom she'd really come to meet in Niles. He'd always been partial to the darker roses of the race, and she was indeed a beauty: clear, chocolate skin, gleaming black hair coiled below a pert little feather-tipped green hat, jet-brown eyes. If she was a fancy girl, she dressed far more grandly than any he'd ever met. Her emerald-green traveling suit with its snow-white blouse appeared to be of good quality and very expensive. The fit of the buttoned-front jacket emphasized the swell of her small bosom and the trimness of her figure. She glanced up as if sensing his perusal, held his gaze a moment, then coolly looked away. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, Nate thought with amusement before turning his attention back to discovering the whereabouts of the missing Dr. Lancaster. He decided to go over and ask Kate Pierce if she could shed some light on the mystery. Kate oftentimes knew more than the depot's agent about the comings and goings on the platform.
Vivid watched Grayson walk over and begin talking to Kate. When the water woman turned and pointed to where Vivid sat, Vivid quickly looked away lest he catch her watching him. Secure in the knowledge that he'd be begging her pardon very soon, Vivid resumed her contemplation of the landscape.
To her surprise, he came over and sat down on the end of the bench. He didn't speak, just sat silent, arms crossed. Vivid sat silent also, noting his long legs sprawled out before him and the dirty scuffed boots on his feet. Since she was still simmering from his earlier "play doctor with" remark, she waited for him to open the conversation. She didn't have to wait long.
"Name's Nate Grayson," he stated in a low voice. "Kate says you told her you were a doctor, too. She believes you."
"She struck me as being an intelligent woman," Vivid replied in the same neutral voice, her attention still focused straight ahead. "I am who I say I am."
He turned, briefly met her eyes with his startling gray ones, then looked away. "You don't look like any sawbones I've ever seen."
"We female physicians are still fairly rare," she admitted.
Vivid opened her mouth to ask after his aunt but closed it when he stated evenly, "I'd feel a whole lot better if you were really an actress my aunt hired to impersonate Dr. Lancaster."
Vivid kept her vision forward and her voice low. "An actress?''
"An actress."
"Why would my being an actress make you feel better?"
"Because then I'd simply pay you to leave and my life would continue on an even keel."
Vivid wondered if he were deranged, but decided Kate would have mentioned that little fact. "Why would your aunt hire an actress?"
"To bedevil me."
"To bedevil you?" Vivid echoed.
"It's her calling."
Vivid answered, "I see," although she really didn't. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am not an actress."
His eyes journeyed slowly over the features of her face. "Pity."
Vivid looked down at her gloved hands. "Mr. Grayson, I assumed I would be met by your aunt today."
When she glanced up again, he had returned his attention to the countryside.
"She's in Kalamazoo," he replied, seemingly distracted.
"Kalamazoo?" Vivid repeated slowly, wrapping her tongue around the unfamiliar word.
"It's a city north of here. Kalamazoo is the Indian word for the river. It means, 'where the water boils in the pot.' "
"And does the water boil?"
"No," he offered. Then added, "A logical conclusion to draw, though.''
She was grateful he hadn't made an issue of her ignorance. "So when will she be returning?"
"She said this evening." Then he added in a lighter tone, "You know, until I came here today, I couldn't figure out why she'd been so antsy all week, or why I knew nothing about this sick friend until I caught my aunt sneaking out of the house, with her bags packed, very early in the morning. She claimed she forgot to mention the friend, but I know Aunt Gail to have the memory of a griot."
A very confused Vivid asked, "And all this means?"
"It means there is probably no sick friend. In fact, I'd be willing to bet Aunt Gail never even left town. She knew you were coming today but made herself conveniently absent."
"Why?"
"So she wouldn't have to face the music." He paused a moment to survey her features once again. "Though I must admit, you are her best maneuver to date."
Vivid had had enough of this back-and-forth. She'd just completed an exhausting journey; surely it wouldn't be rude of her to demand he get on with it. "Mr. Grayson, I have gone along with this cryptic game quite willingly up until now, but I'm beginning to lose patience. Please explain to me what this is all about."
Still maintaining his arms-crossed position, he said, "I came to the depot today expecting to meet a man."
"What man?"
"Dr. V. Lancaster."
Vivid shrugged. "Well, everyone makes mistakes now and again, Mr. Grayson. As I said, female physicians are still rare."
"You're missing my meaning. You're supposed to be a man."
For a moment Vivid didn't understand, then warning bells went off in her head. She turned to him and stared, forcing herself to remain calm and keep her voice even as she asked, "You believe I should be a man?"
"Frankly, yes. Doctoring's a man's job."
"I see. Well, I certainly wish someone had explained that to me before I finished my training. I would have taken the money spent on my education and used it to become an actress!"
Silence.
Vivid took a deep calming breath. At least he was honest, she told herself, but Vivid had fought this battle so many times over the past year and a half, she'd grown quite weary of hearing the frank opinions of honest men. "Mr. Grayson, when your aunt hired me, she said nothing about my having to alter my gender."
To her surprise, he chuckled softly. "You do have a way with words."
"Honed by years of debating men who speak their minds, Mr. Grayson."
“Touché, mademoiselle.''
Vivid could still feel him observing her when he said, “I wonder how Aunt Gail figured to get past me on this."
More cryptic speech. "Mr. Grayson, believe me, I haven't any idea what you are talking about. Your aunt and I have been corresponding for the past seven or eight months. She made no mention of my gender being a problem to anyone."
"Well, she should have," he pointed out as he looked back out over the trees.
Vivid wondered why her gender suddenly mattered. If her memory served her correctly, Nate Grayson had affixed his signature to the contract she'd received from his aunt. Why would he now pretend no knowledge of what the V in V. Lancaster represented? "Mr. Grayson, what is your role in the community?"
"My grandfather settled the Grove. Like him, I own the land, the general store, and the bank. I'm the sheriff and also the mayor."
"That's quite a bit of responsibility."
"Sometimes."
"Given that, I fail to see why this issue is even being debated now. You must have been aware of my gender when you signed my contract."
He turned as if startled. "What contract?"
Vivid sighed. She very calmly reached into her reticule and withdrew the packet of papers she'd wrapped in oilskin for protection and handed them to him.
A highly skeptical Nate unwrapped the documents and slowly perused the wording. The papers were a contract between one Dr. Viveca Lancaster and the Black community of Grayson Grove, Michigan. The agreement hired the doctor for one calendar year, subject to renewal, and bore the signature of one Abigail Grayson and one Nathaniel Grayson! Nate studied the signature. He determined immediately that it was his signature, but he didn't understand how Aunt Gail had managed to obtain it without his awareness.
Nate handed the papers back and the doctor, rigidly sitting there, took them from his hand, rewrapped them, and placed the packet back int
o her handbag.
"So," Vivid said, "I suppose now you'll claim your signature's been forged?”
"No, I just don't remember signing it."
"Ah, amnesia—an exotic form indigenous only to Michigan, no doubt."
Nate could only shake his head and chuckle softly. The last thing he needed in life was another overly educated female to add to the Grove's population. Aunt Gail and her troops were more than the town could handle already.
"Let me be frank," Nate said. "When I agreed to offer the position, I assumed Aunt Gail had hired a man."
Vivid's face mirrored her confusion. "When you agreed to offer the position? I assumed your aunt had the authority—" She looked over at him and began to get a very bad feeling. "Mr. Grayson, surely you are not telling me that I have traveled all the way from San Francisco to take a position that is not in reality mine because I happen to be a woman."
"Possibly."
"I hope you are jesting with me," she said softly. Vivid searched his face for some hint of humor, but found none. The implications were so staggering that for the first time in her life she almost fainted dead away. She took a deep steadying breath in an effort to regain her composure. She'd been so elated at this chance to practice. Now she found herself precariously close to the same situation that had forced her to come all these many miles in the first place. After completion of her studies at the Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia, she'd written letters until her hands ached, but could find no physician willing to take her on, not even as an apprentice. She'd queried doctors and institutions all over the country, but most hadn't even bothered to reply. Receiving a positive offer from Abigail Grayson had been an answer to her prayers. Did this man know how many miles she'd traveled, or the expenses she and her parents had incurred? "I really must speak with your aunt," Vivid stated, still shaken by the startling turn of events. "When will she be returning?"
"Later this evening, but it's I who'll have the final say in this matter."
Vivid's dark eyes locked with his. She wondered if he really planned on denying her the position for such an unfair reason. "You said 'possibly' the position isn't mine. Can I assume there's also the possibility that it can be?"