Wide-eyed, Doc swallowed the bile in his throat and
continued reading with a trembling voice from the twenty-third Psalm. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever…” His eyes were torn from the pages of his
Bible to watch in fascination as Soaring Eagle smeared a greasy concoction onto
the wound, bandaging it carefully. Doc
wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, noticing that Kitty lay
still and quiet now. He knelt beside her
and anxiously took her wrist in his hand, blowing out a breath when he detected
her pulse, a little weak, but steady.
Doc felt shaky with relief as he watched Soaring Eagle continue his
ceremony, putting away the knife and now holding an eagle feather aloft over
Kitty’s pale body, stroking it over her face, arms, legs, torso, and hovering
over the bandaged wound.
Ducking out through the flap of the tepee, Doc approached
Virgil and Isom, huddled whispering together nearby at a campfire. Virgil asked anxiously, “How is she, Doc?”
Doc voice trembled. “I…I
just don’t know yet, Virgil. I think
she’s better. She’s stopped thrashing
around. Her pulse is nearly
normal.” Doc had to stop for a moment
and gather himself. “We’ll have to wait
and see…that’s the only thing we can do…just wait and see.”
Isom looked at Doc through narrowed eyes. “What exactly happened in there, Doc?”
Speaking hesitantly, Doc answered, “I’m not sure what
happened, to tell you the truth.” He
took a deep breath and avoided Isom’s penetrating gaze. “I don’t wanna talk about it right now,
Isom. I’ve…I’ve just never seen anything
like it.”
Isom nodded with a wry, humorless smile. “I know what you mean, Doc. That Soaring Eagle, he’s a powerful medicine
man. I told you so, didn’t I?”
Doc nodded, “Yes, you most certainly did.”
Doc, Virgil and Isom’s heads turned in unison at the sound
of a loud disturbance at the edge of camp.
They could hear braves shouting and whooping. Virgil spoke first as he squinted into the
darkness, “That looks like a white man they’re after. He’s sure putting up one heck of a fight.”
Doc interjected, “That’s not just any white man. Look!
It’s Matt!”
Isom took off at a trot, heading toward the braves,
shouting in their native language for them to stop. Doc and Virgil were right behind him.
It had taken three strong, young Indian men to capture Matt
and hold him securely. Blood was
dripping from the corner of his mouth and one eye was swelling, but he was
still struggling mightily to escape.
Isom held up his hands and quickly explained to the men
that Matt was here to see them, and they were friends of the old medicine
man. With a bitter reply to Isom, the
young men reluctantly released Matt and walked away, glancing warily over their
shoulders at the tall, strong newcomer.
Doc exclaimed, “Matt, are you alright?”
He growled bad-temperedly as he picked up his hat off the
ground, “I’m fine, Doc. Where’s
Kitty? Is she okay?”
“I’ll tell you the truth, Matt, I just don’t know for sure.” Doc was chagrined at his inability to help
her. “But she seems to be resting quietly
now. You look terrible. How did you get here so quickly?”
Shaking his head, the lawman grimaced. “I’ll tell you later, Doc. I really wanna see Kitty right now.”
Doc nodded understandingly and took Matt’s arm. “Come on, son. She’s right this way.”
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Matt had to bend double and remove his hat to get through
the opening of the tepee. Kitty lay
quietly on buffalo robes in the middle of the animal hide construction. Sitting motionless in the shadows, Soaring
Eagle rose when Matt entered and placed a hand on his shoulder silently, then
left. Matt sank to his knees on the
floor beside Kitty and took her cold hand in his. His voice was hushed, almost a whisper. “Kitty, honey, can you hear me?”
Sunken, black-rimmed eyes in a ghostly pale face did not
open. He gingerly touched the bandage
over her heart and spoke again, “Kitty, I…I cut my trip to Hays City short for
you.” Matt raked his fingers restlessly
through his hair and cleared his throat.
“I got the Hays City sheriff to meet me halfway so I could come back to
Cimarron and spend some time with you, sweetheart.” The tall lawman sat back heavily, dejected
that she could not answer him, terrified that he was too late. “I got to the ranch house and there was a
note from Doc. Told me you were bad sick
cause…” Matt had to swallow and his
voice turned bitter. “…cause two men had
hurt you. Told me to come here.”
Matt tasted blood and dug out a handkerchief, wiping his
mouth. “I must look a sight. I rode straight back. I didn’t think you’d care much what I looked
like as long as I made it here.”
He reached out a hand and smoothed back her hair, radiant
in the glow of the dim campfire and his voice softened, gentled. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I’m sorry that you’re sick. Can you hear me, Kitty?
The cold hand that rested limply in his moved, weak as a
kitten, and his heart leapt into his throat.
He could feel her trying to squeeze his thumb. Matt lifted Kitty’s hand to his lips and
kissed it. He whispered hoarsely, “I’m
going to find the men who did this to you, Kitty. Doc will take good care of you while I’m
gone, I promise.” In the flickering
firelight, he leaned over her pale, still form and brushed his lips softly
against hers. “I’ll be back soon. I love you sweetheart.”
tbc
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