Part 4

“That’s right,” Eileen said. “But of course no pure minerals have calories. The function of the mineral is not to provide body heat.” She flipped a page. “Now let’s talk about diets and people. Can someone name three special categories of people needing different diets?”

Jean held up her hand. “Adults, children and expectant mothers.”

Eileen nodded. “Very good. Any more?”

Sally raised her hand. “Sick people have to have lots of different diets, depending on what’s the matter with them. And an office worker needs different food from the food needed by a laborer.”

Eileen hesitated. “You’re right about the first category, but don’t forget that all people need the same basic foods, no matter what they do.”

“All except Dr. Benson,” Lucy muttered under her breath. “He eats people. He’s a wolf!”

Eileen caught part of Lucy’s remark and blushed fiery red. She hesitated a moment and then decided to pass on to something else. For the rest of the hour, the class discussed the essentials of a balanced diet. And when Eileen dismissed them, the class adjourned for a few minutes in the lounge before they returned to duty.

They all helped themselves to cokes from the machine in the lounge and relaxed. Sally giggled as she opened her coke bottle. “That was a lovely remark you made in class, Lucy,” she said. “Eileen heard you, too.”

Lucy made a face. “I don’t care. She feels the same way we all do.”

Jean looked questioningly at Lucy. “I didn’t know you knew Dr. Benson that well.”

Sally giggled. “Haven’t you heard? Lucy had a date with the man himself last night.”

“Really?” Jean asked.

Sally nodded. “Lucy and I made a bargain that the first one he would ask yesterday to go out would date him. Just to see if his bark was as bad as his bite. So he asked Lucy, and Lucy is forthwith ready to make her report to the clan.”

Lucy took a drink of her coke. “It wasn’t bad at all,” she confessed. “In fact, I would have been quite flattered by all the lovely words. That is, I would have been if my name had been Jean.”

“What on earth are you talking about, Lucy?” Jean asked.

“Such a crush on you our Dr. Benson has! He talked on and on about you till I almost got insulted.”

The door opened and Eileen came in. “Okay if I join you?” she asked.

“Come on in,” Sally answered. “We’re having a time roasting Dr. Benson. Lucy went out with him last night.”

“So that’s what was behind the remark you made in class,” Eileen said. “Well, how was it?”

“We went to a movie,” Lucy continued. “Then the dear doctor started to make a play for poor little me....”

“Oh, goodness, Lucy!” Eileen interrupted. “You aren’t actually _telling_ them all about your date!”

“She went out with him on a sort of a dare,” Sally explained.

Eileen shook her head. “Even so,” she said, “it doesn’t seem right to talk about it. It’s sort of unkind, don’t you think?”

Sally grinned. “He has it coming. You know perfectly well he’s been chasing everyone in sight ever since he got here. The perfect redhead, disposition and all.”

Jean shook her head. “I think Eileen’s right,” she said.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Sally cried. “Now all at once Dr. Benson is perfectly okay, and we aren’t to betray his confidences.”

Eileen smiled. “He’s stupid in lots of ways. But he is a good doctor, and he’s awfully young, after all. Maybe he’s never been away from home before.”

Sally shrugged. “Well, if you feel so tenderly towards him, why don’t you go out with him, yourself?”

Eileen chuckled. “Never! He’s not my type, in the first place.”

Jean laughed and put down her coke bottle. “I’m on duty, so I’d better get back to work. I’m glad you had such a lovely time, Lucy.” She stretched and yawned. “Well, so long, gang,” she said.

She hurried down the hall of the second floor to look at the call sheet. Each day after lunch, the students were assigned to special duties for the day, and Jean wanted to check on her assignment. She frowned as she saw her name opposite that of Dr. Benson. Then she grinned sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders. As long as he was on duty, Dr. Benson would be professional and mannerly. Jean determined that she would be as pleasant as she could be to the young man.

Dr. Benson was making routine checks in the contagious ward when Jean found him. He seemed very grave as he examined his patients. Jean noted with satisfaction that he made very thorough checks on each one. He didn’t even seem to notice Jean as he worked. Quietly and efficiently she followed him from patient to patient, making notes on each chart.

“Well, that’s that,” Dr. Benson finally said as he finished examining his last patient. “Thanks, gorgeous.”

Jean smiled in spite of herself. “Anything else, Doctor?” she asked.

Dr. Benson ran his fingers through his red hair. “I guess not. Not now, anyway. But tell me something, beautiful? How did I make out with Lucy last night?”

Jean blushed and looked up at him questioningly. “I don’t have any idea,” she asked. “Why?”

Dr. Benson grinned wryly. Jean noticed that he had a dimple near his mouth. “That’s not a straight answer, and you know it, Miss Craig,” he said. “I know I was up for discussion today. Well, did you all approve of my technique?”

Jean instantly felt a warm surge of feeling for the doctor. He was actually pathetic. He sensed her reaction and waved his hand as if to brush it off.

“Forget it,” he said brusquely. “My ears are still burning from a dressing down I got this morning from Dr. Barsch. I’m still shaky on making out reports. Well, we all have to learn....” His voice trailed off, and he grinned. “What’s new with the boy friend, cutie?” he asked.

“Ralph’s fine,” Jean answered. “He’ll be back next week.”

“I wonder if he knows what a lucky guy he is,” Dr. Benson said. “To have a girl waiting for him ... you know, having someone he cares for thinking so much of him. Oh well, skip it. This is just a bad day.”

“I know how to make out reports,” Jean said. “Let me help you with yours.”

Dr. Benson stared at her. “You want to help me after the way I’ve acted towards you? The other nurses treat me as if I were poison!”

Dr. Barsch came down the hall. He smiled affectionately at Jean and nodded to Dr. Benson.

“I’m sorry if I was a bit rough this morning, Doctor,” he said gravely. “Sometimes I forget how complicated these reports can be till one becomes used to them.”

Dr. Benson actually blushed. “It was my fault, sir,” he admitted, “and I had it coming. Miss Craig has promised to help me with my next batch.”

“Good. Good,” Dr. Barsch said. “Our great trouble around here is that we’re too busy to teach routine. Well, a bright boy like you shouldn’t have any trouble.”

“Thank you, sir,” Dr. Benson said. “I’ll try to live up to my notices.”

“I’m sure you will, son,” Dr. Barsch said, clapping his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Then he smiled and walked off.

Dr. Benson pounded his fist into his hand. “That’s right,” he muttered. “Makes me feel like a heel!”

“Oh, no!” Jean cried, “he didn’t mean to! Dr. Barsch is a very considerate man!”

Dr. Benson shrugged and turned away. “I can’t figure out this deal at all. People just aren’t as considerate as everyone here seems to be. I know. I’ve been around.”

“You sound so tough,” Jean giggled.

“Well, I found out a long time ago there’s only one thing that really is interested in you ... as long as you have it. And that’s the dollar. People? Huh, they’re interested in you when you’ve got it. And I’m going to get it!”

Jean nodded and said, “And that’s why you’re living on sixty dollars a month as an intern now.”

“It’ll pay off,” the young doctor said.

Jean grinned in spite of herself. “A man with your intelligence could make a fortune quickly in business ... real estate, for example. But of course you chose medicine, and now you’re going to tell me you have to pay back your parents’ financial investment by going through with it.”

Dr. Benson set his jaw. “My parents! That’s a laugh. I’ll tell you a secret, Miss Craig. My fairy godmother sent me through school.”

Jean looked at him in amazement. “I don’t understand,” she said.

Dr. Benson smiled bitterly. “I think you do. You all do. I’m not good enough for you and your friends to date. I am the bright young boy from the other side of the tracks, didn’t you know? I’m the guy who sent himself through school. Why, I was out on the streets of New York peddling papers, shining shoes ... doing anything I could to support my parents, when I was just a kid.”

Jean gasped. “Really, none of us knew. We didn’t have any idea...!” she cried. “You were just so ... so fresh!”

Dr. Benson sighed. “Okay,” he said. “Skip it.”

“It really was awful of you to take Lucy out and talk all evening about me,” Jean said softly.

“I suppose I should have talked about what I really was interested in. Then you all could have had a real laugh!”

Jean frowned. “Now listen, Dr. Benson,” she said coldly, “I think you’ve got things completely mixed up. If you weren’t so busy feeling sorry for yourself, you might have noticed what we really are like here.”

The doctor set his jaw and mimicked her voice as he said, “All right, what are we all like here?”

Jean resisted the impulse to walk away from him and said, “I suppose you realize that you’re not the only one who’s had trouble in the past. Miss Simpson ... I mean, Mrs. Loring ... was raised in an orphanage, you know. And her husband, Ted, is probably one of the most popular men in the community today. He put himself through school. Only he never thought it was any disgrace to make his own way.”

“And you? What about you and your fine family? You wouldn’t give me a tumble,” Dr. Benson said.

“If it were any of your business, I could tell you how we managed to stay together without any money after the war. And of course I won’t date you when I’m engaged to someone else. Now forget this nonsense. We’d all like you if you’d give us the chance.”

Dr. Benson grinned sheepishly. “I really blew off,” he admitted. “I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

Jean smiled. “I’m glad you did. At least I know now why you seemed to be so ... so....”

“So terrible. Okay, beautiful. Let’s get back to work. And listen, what I’ve said is just between you and me. It’s no one else’s business.”

Jean grinned despairingly. Just when Dr. Benson seemed to let his guard drop, he picked it up again. But now, at least, she felt confident that he would discover how to make friends at the clinic.

7. Ralph Returns from Europe

Ralph flew back from Europe the first week in May. His plane landed at Boston, and he caught the first train for Elmhurst. The day after he left Bergen, Norway, he appeared at the Craigs’ front door.

Jean was waiting for him on the front porch when his taxi pulled up before the house. She tore down the steps as he opened the car door, and he jumped out and caught her in his arms. For several minutes neither said a word.

“Oh, Jeannie,” Ralph muttered, holding her close to him. “Jeannie, my darling!”

Jean burrowed her face against his coat and murmured. “Ralph, it’s been _so_ long!”

He held her away from him. “Let me look at you,” he said tenderly. “Gee, if anything, you’re more beautiful than ever!”

She crept close to him again. “Don’t let me go,” she pleaded lightly. “I’m going to stay right here for the rest of my life!”

He stroked her dark curls. “You won’t find me difficult to deal with on _that_ score,” he laughed. Then he became serious. “I’m not going away from you ever again, Jeannie. It isn’t worth it. Everywhere I went, everything I did, I kept wishing that you were with me to share it all. Jeannie, you’re with me now, and you’re here to stay!”

“That’s right.”

Arm in arm they walked up to the house. “How is Jack?” Ralph asked as they entered the front hall. “I was beside myself with worry when you wrote about him.”

“I’m fine,” Jack called from the front parlor. Ralph dashed into the parlor where the family was waiting for him.

“Welcome home, son,” Mrs. Craig said, embracing him. “We all missed you very much.”

Doris threw her arms around Ralph’s neck and kissed him. “Jean’s been nearly wild waiting for you,” she cried.

“Oh, Doris!” Jean cried.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, you aren’t going to be coy when you’re engaged to the man?” Doris said. “We were _all_ wild waiting for you!”

“Good to see you again,” Tommy said, holding out his hand.

Ralph grabbed the hand and tousled Tommy’s hair. “Hi, Tom. It’s great to be back.” Then he went over to the couch and knelt down beside Jack. “Hi, old-timer,” he said, taking Jack’s hand. “I hear you’ve been into mischief since I last saw you. How are you feeling?”

“Just swell,” Jack said. “I’m getting lazy. How do you like my deal? Everyone waits on me. I don’t have to do any chores. Whatta life!”

Ralph made a swipe at Jack’s chin with his fist. “Yep, some life,” he agreed. “You and I have a lot of hours to spend together. I’ve got a lot to tell you.”

Mrs. Craig brought in a tray of food, and Doris set up a card table near the couch.

“You must be hungry,” Mrs. Craig said as she arranged the table. “I’d take you into the dining room, but Jack probably wants you in here with him.”

Ralph slipped his arm around Mrs. Craig’s waist. “Why is it that mothers always think people don’t eat while they travel?”

Mrs. Craig made a face at him and said, “Very well, I’ll just take this right back to the kitchen.”

“Hey, hey,” Ralph said, snatching a cookie from the plate she picked up. “I’ll eat everything in sight. I _am_ hungry!”

They all laughed, and Mrs. Craig poured out steaming cups of hot chocolate for everyone. Jean propped Jack up on the couch so that he could manage his cup.

“Now, then,” Mrs. Craig said, “tell us what you’ve been doing.”

Ralph stopped munching his cookie and looked at her. “Don’t tell me Jeannie hasn’t kept you posted?”

They all roared. “We can practically recite your letters by heart,” Doris teased.

“Not all of them, I hope,” Ralph protested.

“Aw, she always left out the mushy parts,” Jack said. “She just read the _interesting_ things.”

Ralph chuckled and winked at Jack. “Well, I did run into one good story that I didn’t write Jeannie about. Right in Bergen. I was working with a boy quite a bit younger than myself. He was the leader of the underground movement during the war. After Norway was occupied by the Nazis, that is.”

“Oh, good heavens!” Mrs. Craig cried. “Those poor people!”

Ralph looked up at her thoughtfully and then said, “Well, I don’t pity them. Not after what I’ve seen.”

“Why, Ralph!” Jean cried. “Whatever do you mean?”

Ralph smiled. “They don’t want our pity, Jeannie,” he said softly. “They need our help and understanding, but not pity. I wish I could honestly say I had the nerve that that boy had. I admire him, and I admire them all.”

“I’ll bet he had some stories to tell,” Tommy said.

“He wasn’t much older than you, Tom, when the Nazis invaded,” Ralph said. “And he went right into the Underground. Blew bridges and railroad tracks and things like that.”

Mrs. Craig slipped her arm around Tommy’s shoulder protectively. “Heavens!” she cried. “A child like Tommy?”

“They had quite an arsenal,” Ralph chuckled. “And you’ll never believe where their headquarters were. In the basement of Gestapo Headquarters. Two of their boys were accepted into the Gestapo. Not one message went out of Gestapo Headquarters that the Underground didn’t know about.”

“Mercy!” Mrs. Craig cried. “It makes me tremble just to think about it.”

Ralph smiled. “You don’t need to be sorry for people who went through a war that way. Now they’re working like beavers to build up their disrupted country. Their schools are all open, their railroads are working just fine. The country looks good, and the people ... they’re wonderful.”

Jean shook her head. “But all of occupied Europe isn’t like that, Ralph?”

“Some countries are further along than others, of course. Paris looked pretty good to me. Of course, in the eastern countries ... well, I didn’t get a chance to see for myself,” Ralph said. “But now I have an idea of the job we farmers have on our hands. Jeannie and I are going to be pretty busy.” He swallowed the rest of his hot chocolate. “I’m going upstairs to unpack. I’ve got some things to give out.”

Tommy carried his bag upstairs, and Ralph ran up behind him. Mrs. Craig smiled heavily. “He’s seen a great deal,” she said gravely. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt any of us to see what Europe is like today.”

Ralph came bounding into the room, his arms full of packages. “Here we are,” he announced. “Now, let’s see. Oh yes, this is for you, Mother Craig,” he said, handing her a parcel. Mrs. Craig exclaimed as she opened the package and found a Swedish linen dinner cloth. “It’s magnificent!” she cried. “Ralph, this is too much!”

He kissed her on the cheek. “I’m glad you like it, dear,” he answered.

For Tommy and Jack, Ralph had brought rucksacks from Bavaria, and for Doris, Ralph had a music box from Dresden. Doris handled the delicate instrument lovingly and turned it on. It played an air from _Don Giovanni_.

“I couldn’t resist it when I heard it,” Ralph said. “I remembered how fond you were of Mozart.”

“Oh, Ralph!” Doris cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

“This is for Kit,” Ralph said, pointing to a package. “Maybe you can tuck it in her laundry case when you send it. It’s a Polish gypsy outfit. I found it in Paris; I think it’s probably a Frenchman’s _idea_ of a Polish gypsy dress. But it looked so much like Kit that I had to bring it along.”

He produced a chiming Swiss watch for Mr. Craig, and then he handed Jean her package. Slowly she opened it. It was a set of earrings and bracelet and pin.

“It’s not the real thing, Jeannie,” Ralph explained. “Costume jewelry, I guess you call it. But it’s an exclusive Jacques Fath. I picked it up in Paris.”

Jean sighed with delight as she fingered the filigreed pieces, “I’ve never had anything so beautiful.”

“And French perfume for all the ladies,” Ralph announced, handing out the tiny packages.

Everyone squealed and exclaimed over the dainty scents. Mrs. Craig shook her head in mock resignation. “What am I going to do with you, son? You spoil us all so.”

Ralph kissed her and grinned. “My family is a very special one. Oh, here are a couple of gadgets for Aunt Becky and the Judge. Well, we can see about them later.”

Mrs. Craig smiled tenderly at the young man. “Now, somehow, the family seems almost whole again.”

8. Jean and Ralph Discuss Their Future

That evening, after dinner, Jean and Ralph slipped out of the house and almost automatically headed down their favorite path to the banks of the small river. They held hands as they walked. There was no need for talk. Each felt warmly secure in the presence of the other.

Jean didn’t trust herself to speak until they had reached the river. Every time she started to say something, the loneliness of the past months welled up in her and tears came to her eyes. Then she would clasp Ralph’s hand harder, as if to reassure herself that he had really returned.

Ralph chuckled as they came to the river bank. “It’s really me, darling,” he said softly. “I know how you feel, because I feel the same way.”

Jean laid his hand against her cheek and let a few pent-up tears fall. Ralph cupped her chin in his free hand and smiled at his beloved tenderly.

“Tears for me?” he asked softly. “My little Jeannie, you mustn’t cry!”

Jean smiled and nodded. “It’s foolish to spoil your first evening at home this way.” She shook her head as if to forbid further tears.

Ralph laughed. “It’s not spoiled. If anything, it’s enhanced. You know, when you love someone as much as I love you, it’s hard to believe that she can care so much for you. It’s wonderful to find out.”

She grinned. “But there’s so _much_ to talk about, Ralph! So much has happened in the past two years which we have to talk about. Tears don’t say anything!”

Ralph laughed again. “They say plenty, Jeannie. But if we must return to the world of mundane facts, let’s hear about your past two years.”

She giggled. “So my activities seem dull to you,” she teased.

Ralph tousled her curly hair. “You’re a flirt, aren’t you? The feminine mind can be _so_ illogical!”

Jean sat down under a tall maple tree. She leaned against Ralph’s shoulder. “Now tell me,” she said. “Something happened while you were abroad which is bothering you. I could see it in your eyes all the time you were talking with the family.”

Ralph picked a blade of grass and put it between his teeth. “It’s strange how one can be impressed by having a new light thrown on something which he always knew but which never seemed important before.”

“Yes?” she asked.

“You know what my ranch in Saskatoon is like, don’t you, Jeannie? I mean, you know what the land is like.”

“I know you have grain and some live stock....”

“And that a lot of my land isn’t cleared of forests as yet?”

She nodded.

Ralph drew his pipe from his coat pocket and lit it. “About once a year I get a letter from the government asking me what I plan to do with my uncut timber. I never paid much attention to it before. I liked having the trees there. It was good for the soil. But I saw something in Paris which has changed my mind completely.”

Jean looked at him in surprise. “What could happen in Paris that could affect your forests?” she asked.

Ralph laughed. “This, my dear, is a good lesson in the size of the world today. I live on an isolated Canadian ranch. But I have the power, out there, to help or hinder businesses all over the world. That timber I have should be cut and shipped to wood pulp manufacturers. But let’s start at the beginning.”

Jean giggled. “That would help,” she admitted.

“You remember, I wrote you about attending the newspaper convention in Paris last fall?”

Jean nodded.

“I wish you could have been there. Newspaper men from all over the world, except from behind the Iron Curtain, attended it. It was marvelous! Journalism professors from midwestern universities in the United States rubbed shoulders and exchanged ideas with editors from Iran and Tasmania. Believe me, it was a conference of tremendous importance! I attended it, because I was in Paris to investigate crop production of central France, and a friend of mine invited me to attend.”

“You wrote something about the conference, I remember,” she said.

“Well, all these editors have the same complaint. There’s not enough wood pulp in the world to furnish the newspapers with newsprint. In a way, it’s wonderful, because that indicates that countries are printing more papers. And that new countries are insisting on better and bigger papers. Egypt, for example, has more newspapers than ever before. And, of course, one of the first projects Israel, as a new country, undertook was the establishing of fine papers.

“But we must have more wood pulp! As long as each of these countries, large and small, can have their papers, this world is comparatively safe. These papers can carry news ... facts of the world ... right to the doors of all the people in the world. Then, the people themselves can decide what is good and what is bad in this world.”

Jean sighed. “It sounds like a tremendous undertaking.”

“It is! And, Jeannie, if you could have seen those men! Arabians, who have been literate for only a generation, were demanding free press for their people. Mexicans pleaded for more newsprint to help educate their people. The Israeli, of course, put the need for communications, the need for stimulating the minds of their countrymen, above almost everything else.”

Jean nodded. “Now I begin to see.”