6- Andi Far from Home

An unexpected outbreak of scarlet fever prompts Mother into sending Andi to Aunt Rebecca in San Francisco for safekeeping. The noisy city and Aunt Rebecca’s bossy ways are nothing compared to another danger lurking in San Francisco.

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Chapter 1

Indian Camp

Spring 1878

“Hurry, hurry!” Andi Carter bounced up and down on the wagon seat, where she sat between Mother and her big brother Mitch. “Can’t we go any faster?”

“Only if we want to lose our load,” Mitch said. “This isn’t the smoothest road on the Circle C.”

It sure wasn’t. More like a cattle trail.

A sudden jolt sent Andi flying. She grabbed Mother’s arm. “How much farther is it?”

“Not far,” Mother answered.

Each spring Andi’s family made a trip into the hills to visit the small Indian band that lived on their ranch. The Yokuts traded Andi’s family for blankets and coffee and other goods. In exchange, the Carters took home baskets of nuts, smoked fish, and dried berries.

This year Andi had brought something special to trade. “Do you really think Choo-nook will swap me one of her baskets for a doll?” she asked Mother.

A little bug of worry pinched Andi’s thoughts. Choo-nook probably worked hours and hours on her finely woven, watertight baskets. Would she trade one for something Andi had simply bought?

Andi hadn’t even earned her own money to buy the doll. She used one of the gold nuggets she and Cory had found a few weeks before. Andi’s eyes had popped wide open when the shopkeeper dropped gold and silver coins in her hand as change.

That gold nugget was sure worth a lot of money!

Mother patted Andi’s arm. “Of course Choo-nook will trade. She’ll love the special clothes you made for the doll.”

Andi brightened. She had spent hours sewing a little Yokut outfit. The stitches weren’t perfect, but Melinda wasn’t here to make fun of them. Her big sister was at school in far-off San Francisco.

Sitting still to sew is the same thing as sitting still to weave a basket, Andi thought with a smile.

Before long, she spotted smoke rising from a campfire. “There it is, Mitch.” She pointed off in the distance.

Mitch clucked to Barney and Jingo. The matched pair of bay horses picked up their pace.

Andi held on to her seat with both hands. The wagon rattled over the bumpy ground. “I wish I was riding Taffy,” she muttered.

Mother and Mitch looked like they wished they were riding horseback too.

Mitch finally pulled the wagon to a stop a little ways from half a dozen grass dwellings. Two barking dogs ran toward them. Other than that, the camp was strangely silent.

“Choo-nook!” Andi shouted. She climbed over Mitch and hopped off the wagon.

Choo-nook didn’t answer. Neither did anybody else.

Andi looked around. The Yokut children usually ran and played in the camp. The women tended the fire, made acorn mush, or worked on their baskets.

Not today.

“Choo-nook! Where are you?” Andi called, using the few Yokut words she knew.

Just then Choo-nook’s mother, Wa-see-it, stepped through the opening of their small home. She put a finger to her lips. “Shh. Choo-nook not well,” she said in broken English.

Andi stopped short. Not well? “What’s wrong with her?” She took a step toward the grass hut. “May I see her?”

Mother hurried over and grasped Andi’s arm. “Not now, Andrea. It’s best if you stay back until we learn more.” She turned to Wa-see-it. “How long has your daughter been ill?”

Wa-see-it shook her head. She did not understand Mother’s words.

Soon, other women appeared from their huts. One of the men came into camp from the direction of the river. He greeted Mother and Mitch but didn’t smile. He handed Wa-see-it a basket of cool water.

The Yokut woman ducked back inside the hut.

“What’s going on, Lum-pa?” Mother asked.

Lum-pa’s English was excellent. “Choo-nook’s throat burns like fire, and she is very hot. Her head hurts. Three other children are sick too.” His dark eyes looked worried. “Can you help them?”

“We will do whatever we can,” Mother said. “Mitch will fetch the doctor from town as soon as we return home.”

She laid a hand on Lum-pa’s arm. “It’s not yet time to worry, but it would be good to pray. Let’s hope this sickness is nothing serious.”

Lum-pa nodded.

Without another word, Mother took Andi back to the wagon.

Andi let out a breath. They had come all this way, and now they had to turn back? On account of a fever and a sore throat?

“Can’t I even say hello to Choo-nook?” she asked.

“Not today,” Mother said.

Mitch was busy unloading the wagon. “You might as well keep the supplies,” he told Lum-pa. “We can settle up later.”

Andi grabbed the doll from the top of the pile and gave it to Lum-pa. “This is for Choo-nook. Maybe it will help her feel better.”

Andi didn’t care about getting a basket in return. Not now. Like Mitch said, they could trade later. It was more important for Choo-nook and the other children to get well.

Lum-pa smiled. “Thank you, little one.”

Five minutes later, they were on their way home. Mitch kept the horses at a fast trot. The wagon lurched over rocks and past gopher hills. Mother bounced with the wagon but didn’t say a word.

Andi gritted her teeth and held on.

The ranch house came into view in half the time it had taken them to ride up to the Yokut camp. Andi felt shaky when Mitch helped her down.

“I’ll be back with Doc Weaver as soon as I can.” He hurried inside the barn for his horse.

It was a long wait before Mitch returned. Mother paced back and forth and kept looking at the tall grandfather clock. It bonged two times. Then it bonged three times.

What’s all the fuss about? Andi wondered.

Andi had been sick with a fever and sore throat plenty of times. Last winter her scratchy throat kept her home from school. A day later, a stuffy nose and a cough put her to bed.

But Dr. Weaver never came by to see her. Why was Mother in such a hurry to fetch him this time?

Andi was up in the hayloft playing with Bella’s new kittens when Mitch returned. By the time she climbed down the ladder and peeked out the barn doors, Mother had changed clothes and was mounting her horse.

She and the men galloped out of the yard without saying good-bye.

The rest of the afternoon dragged. Andi trotted Taffy around the yard. She didn’t ride up to her special spot, though. What if Mother and Dr. Weaver returned while Andi was away?

She led Taffy into her stall and brushed her. She combed out her cream-colored mane. Then she combed out her tail. It took a long time. Her stomach rumbled. It was getting close to suppertime.

A few minutes later, Andi heard hoofbeats. Mother! She poked her head out the barn doors to see if the riders had returned.

She sighed. It was only the ranch hands returning to the cookhouse after a hard day’s work. Chad came home too, and Justin returned from his lawyer job in town.

Supper came and went.

Andi sat on the back steps with her chin propped in her hands. Just across the yard, the cowhands were relaxing on one of the bunkhouse porches. Diego strummed his guitar and sang a Spanish cowboy song.

At any other time, Andi would have joined the cowhands. This warm spring evening, though, she didn’t feel like singing or listening to tall tales. Where was Mother? Where was Dr. Weaver?

With a lump in her throat, Andi said a prayer for Choo-nook.

The sun was setting when Mother and Mitch returned.

Andi jumped off the porch. “Where’s Dr. Weaver? Is Choo-nook all right? What about the other children?”

“Give Mother a chance to breathe,” Mitch broke in. He helped her down from the horse. “She’s pretty tired. Doc Weaver headed back to town.”

There were dark circles under Mother’s eyes. She looked troubled.

Andi swallowed. “Is Choo-nook all right?”

“For now.” Mother smiled and took Andi’s hand. “Come along. It’s getting late.”

Chad and Justin met them inside.

“What’s up?” Chad asked.

Mother took a deep breath and looked at her two oldest sons. “It’s scarlet fever.”

Chapter 2

Scarlet Fever

Silence fell over the family. It felt like a dark, wet cloud had suddenly covered the sun.

Andi shivered, but she didn’t know what was wrong. It was so still she could hear the tick-tock of the grandfather clock in the hallway.

Justin finally broke the silence. “Dr. Weaver is sure about this?”

Mother nodded.

“What’s scarlet fever?” Andi asked. “Is it like the fever I had last winter?”

“No, sweetheart,” Mother said. “It is much more serious. But it’s nothing you need to worry about. Go on up to bed. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“But what is it?”

“Andrea.”

Mother didn’t say anything more. She didn’t have to. Andi closed her mouth and turned toward the wide staircase.

No fair!

Like always, she was being sent to bed so the grown-ups could talk. Prickles crept up her neck. Something was terribly wrong.

Andi didn’t hurry. She dragged her feet and strained her ears while her mother and brothers headed for the large sitting room.

“Dr. Weaver wasn’t surprised to find scarlet fever at the Yokut camp,” Mother was saying. “Just today he treated several unexpected cases in town. He wants the school closed right away to keep it from spreading.”

Andi put one foot on the bottom step of the staircase. No school? Yipp—

“It popped up out of nowhere at the camp,” Mother said. “Perhaps one of their people visited town and brought it back?”

Andi took two more steps so nobody could say she was not obeying.

“We don’t know how scarlet fever spreads,” Justin said. “But I’ll ride into town first thing in the morning. Sunday or not, the school board had better meet. The doctor is right. We’ll close school until this scare passes.”

“It’s a good start, but it might not be enough,” Mother said. “I remember the last epidemic. It spread so fast.” Her voice caught. “It’s the children who are in danger, like little Choo-nook. They can’t fight this fever. I . . . I’m afraid for your sister.”

Mother’s words brought Andi’s feet to a complete stop. Why is Mother afraid? Does she think I’ll catch it?

Andi could not go upstairs. Not now. Not even if Mother scolded her for not obeying fast enough. She jumped off the stairs and ran into the sitting room. “I feel fine, Mother. I won’t catch the fever.”

“Good grief, Andi,” Chad growled. “Why can’t you ever do what you’re told.”

“Chad,” Mother said softly. “Not now.”

Andi sat down on the sofa and threw her arms around her mother.

Instead of scolding her, Mother held Andi close.

Andi relaxed. She’s not angry that I didn’t go straight up to bed.

“No worries about Andi, Mother,” Mitch said cheerfully. “She’s safe way out here on the ranch.”

“I hope so,” Mother whispered.

Justin reached out and ruffled Andi’s hair. “Did you hear the news, honey? School will be closing for a while. You get a holiday.”

Andi had heard, but Mother’s worry about the fever had shoved this wonderful news into a corner of her mind. “A holiday? Really and truly?” She sat up with a smile.

Justin winked at her. “That’s right.”

Andi’s thoughts rolled around inside her head like tumbleweeds. They chased away the last bit of fear that had been creeping up on her.

No school! Hurrah!

Scarlet fever suddenly didn’t sound scary. Instead, it was Andi’s ticket to ride Taffy and play every day. The wild flowers were in full bloom. The trout were practically jumping out of the creek begging to be caught.

“No school!” She grinned up at Mother.

Mother smiled back.

Andi remembered Bella’s new litter. “I can play with the kittens every day.” She smiled wider. “Wait until Sadie hears about this! She’ll be so excited. We can fish and race and—”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Mother laid a quieting hand on Andi’s shoulder. “You and Taffy will have to play by yourselves. If scarlet fever can attack the Yokut children up in the hills, it could easily find its way to the Hollisters. Nobody knows where or when this sickness will strike next.”

“That’s why we’re closing school,” Justin said. “It’s called a quarantine. We want to keep you children away from each other so the fever doesn’t spread.”

Pop!

Andi’s happy bubble burst. She slumped. Some of the brightness went out of her holiday plans. “Scarlet fever must be very dangerous if I can’t even play with Sadie.”

Mother nodded. “It is. If the fever gets out of hand, it could turn into an epidemic.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s when so many children catch the disease that nobody can stop it,” Mother explained. “Scarlet fever is very contagious. That’s why I didn’t let you go near Choo-nook today. I wasn’t sure she had it, but I was afraid she might.”

Andi grew quiet. Mother sounded worried again.

“It’s also why I don’t want you to go near Sadie, even if she seems fine.” Mother paused, and her voice turned firm. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Andi’s heart thumped. “If I see Sadie hanging around my special spot, I’ll turn around and gallop home as fast as I can.”

Mother drew Andi into another hug. “I’m sorry if I frightened you, but children can die from scarlet fever.”

Andi’s eyes widened in horror. Die? No wonder Mother sounded afraid.

“Could Choo-nook die?” Andi asked. “Or Cory? Or my other friends at school? Or”—she swallowed—“or me?”

“Hey, now! Enough of that.” Mitch pulled Andi away from Mother and swung her around and around.

When he set her down, Andi squealed. “Do it again!”

“You’re getting too heavy for twirling.”

“No, I’m not.” Andi loved it when her brothers spun her around. “I don’t weigh any more than those grain sacks you throw around.”

Mitch laughed. “You got me there.”

“Don’t worry about your school chums,” Justin said. “The quarantine will keep them safe, and you too.”

Mitch’s laughter had cleared away the gloom. Andi felt much better.

“Justin’s right,” Mother said. “Many parents will send their children out of the valley before this sickness gets too bad. The rest will stay quarantined.”

“Which means no Sunday school tomorrow,” Justin added. “We’ll beat this thing. Dr. Weaver is running around like crazy to stop the fever in its tracks. Let’s pray he is successful.”

“Amen,” Chad agreed.

Mother rose. “It’s very late, Andrea. I’ll take you upstairs to make sure you get into bed this time.” Her smile showed Andi that she wasn’t upset.

Andi lay awake a long time after Mother tucked her in and listened to her prayers. Part of her was sad and scared about Choo-nook and Cory and Sadie. The other part wriggled with delight at her unexpected holiday.

Worry and delight. Up and down, just like a seesaw.

Delight won. Oh, Taffy, what a fine time we’ll have this week!

Andi fell asleep wearing a smile.

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