Free The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice

a quiet man. Mama was the one who told Lizy and Lucas stories and read to them from the Bible. But no one had ever before talked to Lucas the way Doc had talked in the wagon the night they’d left the Stukeleys together. Doc asked big questions about things that Lucas had wondered about but had never really thought to put into words. He felt as if Doc’s talking had loosened up all those thoughts inside him, and now they wanted to come pouring out. Doc’s talk put Lucas in mind of a world bigger than the farm, bigger than Southwick, a world that was thrilling and mysterious. It made him want to know more.
    He’d felt helpless and ignorant, watching his family die. If only he’d known then what he knew now! Sometimes doctoring meant doing unpleasant things, such as pulling Daniel’s tooth or taking off Clem Buell’s leg. But now that those things had been done, Daniel was feeling better and Clem would live. Working with Doc had shown Lucas how good it felt to be able to help people who were sick or troubled.
    And tonight, on the ride home from the Stukeley farmstead, he had felt exhilarated. Now that Thomas Stukeley had been unearthed, his heart burned, and the cure completed, Sarah Stukeley would live, too. Lucas was sure of it.

Eleven
    Lucas was relieved to find that Doc Beecher was up and about the next day.
    â€œMerely the aches and pains of old age, lad,” he assured Lucas with a wink. “I dosed myself and ordered myself to bed for the day and now I feel quite well again, despite the old saying about doctoring oneself.”
    â€œWhat old saying is that?” asked Lucas.
    â€œWhy, lad, have you never heard it said that he who doctors himself has a fool for a physician?”
    Lucas smiled and shook his head.
    â€œWell, now you know me for what I am,” Doc said, laughing. “But, be that as it may, this old fool feels full of spit and vinegar today. And how about yourself, lad? Tell me about your visit with the Stukeleys.”
    Lucas and Doc Beecher were sitting in Doc’s office. Eagerly, Lucas pulled his chair closer to Doc’s and began to talk. “When I got there, Doc, I saw Lydia and Samuel and Mr. and Mrs. Stukeley all standing together on the hillside. They were praying, and looking real sorrowful.”
    Doc winced. Lucas, seeing the look on Doc’s face, hurried on. “I thought at first they were burying Sarah, but they weren’t. Remember, Doc, how they said that Thomas was visiting Sarah, and that he’d visited the others, too?”
    Doc, a wary look on his usually jovial face, nodded.
    â€œWell, it’s just as Mr. Rood said to me the day—”
    â€œMr. Rood?” asked Doc.
    â€œOliver Rood. His farm neighbored ours. He came to me when—well, when he thought there was still time to save my mama. And he told me that he knew a cure for her. He’d used it, you see, to save his own son Enoch. And it worked, Doc!”
    Doc Beecher lifted his eyebrows but said nothing, waiting for Lucas to continue.
    â€œAnd now word of the cure is spreading, must be. The Stukeleys heard of it from some kinfolk. And so when I got to the farm and saw Mr. Stukeley with a shovel in his hand and no burying to do, I figured I knew what they were about. I wanted to help, and Mr. Stukeley said I could.”
    Lucas stopped to look at Doc. He realized he’d been expecting—hoping—that Doc would be pleased at this news. Mr. Stukeley had dismissed Doc, but he’d allowed Lucas, Doc’s apprentice, to be involved in performing Sarah’s cure. Lucas had felt proud of that, and had thought Doc would be, too.
    But Doc only asked quietly, “Help?”
    â€œYes. With the digging. See, Thomas was the first to die.”
    â€œAnd Thomas was coming round to make Sarah sick,” Doc said.
    â€œThat’s right,” said Lucas. “So we dug up his grave and, Doc, when we opened up the coffin, Mr. Stukeley saw