In Need of the Doctor: A Tale of Redemption and Restoration

By Loraine Dennis Trollope

Hard times during the 1930s placed a heavy hardship on communities and individuals. This story takes place in the Great Depression, in the midst of those turbulent times. It is a good example of what happens when there is a complete breakdown of society due to economic and climatic changes and failures inherent in all types of relationships. High-speed chases, machine guns, gangsters, cowboys, preachers, saloons, hospitals, and miraculous healing are all found in this novel. Hard times are finally converted into good times through a transformation of the little town called Revival City, Montana. This town cannot be found on any Western map, but the scenes described are timeless, and as we all know, history repeats itself if we let it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503535176

Loraine Dennis Trollope

Trollope is slowly gaining popularity with some readers because of his insight into humanity and its will to survive against all odds. Paramount in his writings is the value of leaving a legacy to provide a window from which to view another time in history while at the same time showing its relevance found in today’s front-page stories. This novel, In Need of a Doctor, is a poignant evaluation of a polarized community and its ensuing difficulties in times of crisis ending in a restoration of family, community, and commerce. The redemption of what was lost and how positive change can be brought about through faith and trust is its message. Trollope has experienced good times and bad times like most people. The glorious result is the restoration and redemption to those who remain true to their heritage.

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Copyright © 2015 by Loraine Dennis Trollope.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015900721

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5035-3516-9

                Softcover        978-1-5035-3518-3

                eBook             978-1-5035-3517-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 01/29/2015

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Contents

Introduction

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Biography

Introduction

W ho knows the suffering that took place during the Great Depression of the 1930s? This was a time of major disruption in society, families, communities, and the economy. Those who suffered through its worst times have left us with only a few pictures, letters, and sketchy accounts of their life’s challenges. Like a bad dream, the pain is gone. Trials and temptations have vanished, as have stories of deprivation that were felt by everyone during this crisis in our history.

Catastrophic change occurred. The majority of all Americans felt devastation. These times were fraught with lawlessness, corruption, political upheaval, poverty, and conflicts of monumental proportions nationally. The desolation that occurred in the decade of the 1930s and its effects descended even into rural areas like Revival City.

What follows is a fictionalized story of the polarization of society, loss of cohesion, and the malaise that took place during those times in that small western town.

Probably the most disconcerting impact was the effect on relationships in almost every aspect of day to day life. Loss of hope and despair settled in what was once a vibrant community. Ruined reputations and the plundering of infrastructure tore at the fabric of their little society, resulting in havoc in all sorts of relationships throughout the town. Most were left with confusion and a lack of vision for the future. Bad news traveled quickly, and knowledge of mishaps that occurred spread like wildfire.

Those who were not as tough-minded as others simply left their homes and farms in the dead of night. No forwarding addresses were posted as they simply disappeared. Neighbors were not notified of their flight from the grinding poverty they were experiencing, while others in similar situations simply dug in their heels and faced adversity with an increased commitment to survive.

Our story is a compilation of contrived events that could have taken place anywhere in our rural areas during those years. An effort to portray the pains and major shifts in relationships that took place causing a degradation of the local community, and how redemption and reconciliation took place at the hand of the Great Physician is the main story line. Changes in individuals, families, and the community that took place were miraculous. The title, In Need of The Doctor, is in reference to the need for the Great Physician to heal woes that developed within the town of Revival City and how God acted through His church to create and promote a godly congregation of concerned individuals who made a difference in the lives they touched.

The outcome of these difficult times braved by the survivors was finally a restoration of hope and a resignation that tomorrow would be better. Their never-say-die attitudes, along with the resultant cooperation that developed in improved relationships, are the key point of the story. Working together for the common good of the neighborhood by their united response to crisis situations is a tribute to them and their values.

Challenges to their way of life crept in from outside and inside geographical borders as well as in their own internal destructive attitudes. Fred represents many of the challenges as time rolled on. Rod and Earl were the kingpins that held the community together, and it was their foresight and prayer that enabled healing and restoration to take place. Relationships between businesses, institutions, and government all played central roles in this story of recovery.

Bank failures, drought, grasshoppers, wind, unemployment, shortages, and daily deprivations brought stresses to everyone in the territory, but through God’s guidance, people not only survived but also thrived in His goodness.

This story is fictitious. Names, locations, and the story line are figments of our imaginations and perceptions.

Chapter I

T he boiling hot sun burned down on Fred as he trudged back to his camp after swamping out the Maverick Saloon. His work required him to empty spittoons and spread sawdust floor compound as he swept up cigarette butts, broken glass, cow manure, mud, paper, and bottle caps that remained after the night’s bacchanalia.

After sweeping the old warped floor, a mop and bucket was needed to put the finishing touches on his masterpiece of maintenance. Cigar and cigarette smoke settled heavily in the air, mingling with the odor of stale beer and the sickly aroma of spilled wine. Fred spied half-empty beer bottles sitting on the back bar. These came in handy in quaffing that gnawing sensation in his belly while at the same stoked the oven for even more alcohol to the point that Fred sometimes passed out dead drunk on the floor.

With little to tide him over these tough times, Fred was forced to lower himself to menial tasks in this dusty Montana town. It was a terrible comeuppance as he previously had been a major player in the town’s high society, being president of the local bank, but that was before bankruptcy and demon rum started to play into his life. Jobless and ostracized by the very community that once praised him for his good works, he was now left to roam dejectedly along the rambling creek that divided the town.

A tattered tent provided some protection from the rain and the boiling hot sun, but it did not take the place of the country home that he lost during a run on his bank. There were insufficient bank reserves to pay all the depositors that lined up outside of the bank at that early hour some months ago. Faith and trust in him as a banker evaporated owing to no fault of his own. Many depositors lost all their money, becoming victims in this dreadful turn of events caused by greedy investors outside the local bank and its ultimate takeover. Looking for a scapegoat, Fred was the next on their pecking order list. Noise and threatening riotous behavior of the crowd brought the sheriff along with three deputies marching down the street all bearing shotguns and Winchester rifles. Those who were lucky enough to have arrived early at the bank received their deposits in cash. But as funds in the vault dwindled, the crowd became unruly. Finally the bank was locked up, and Fred was taken into protective custody.

After a cooling-off period, the courts liquidated all the assets of the bank, and its board of directors leaving everyone in the same boat, broke. Fred was left to fend for himself. House and home was liquidated, and his family left him.

Short in stature, Fred was muscular, capable of defending himself easily against almost any foe. In fact, there were some barroom scuffles and a run-in with the law a time or two ending in short sentences in the county jail. By this time, he was quite well acquainted with the bespectacled, black-robed justice of the peace over at the courthouse.

Fred had a curious habit of avoiding people on the sidewalks and had a special disdain for the town’s clergy, who were determined to convert this profligate to show the power of their God.

It was incongruous, but one summer day, enticed by free ice cream and cake, Fred moseyed over to the park, seating himself under the spiritual revival tent that had been set up by a hellfire and damnation evangelist on the sawdust trail. Revival, touted as the cure for the town’s ills, drew a large crowd of passionate citizens.

While brushing shoulders with the town’s elite and devout, Fred seemed oblivious of his surroundings. Walking about in a dazed manner, he had difficulty relating to what was taking place. One thing was for sure: he did not feel as though he belonged in there. But cake and ice cream drew him to partake in the festivities because he seldom had the luxury of enjoying sweet treats. Cooking over a campfire and having no fresh water or refrigeration had sharpened his taste for bygone foods enjoyed by everyone else in the surrounding countryside.

Not finding a seat toward the back of the revival tent, he found himself in front of the platform, sitting on a folding chair that was sinking into