& Moira Purnell
Long
afternoon shadows stretched across the dusty street as Andy and Jess rode into
the small town. Andy looked over to
his weary companion and put a supporting hand on Jess’ shoulder as he began to
once more slip from the saddle. They
had been riding for several days and had put a few hundred miles between them
and the ranch. Being unaccustomed to the rigors of spending long hours in the
saddle, Andy was sore from the long journey.
Jess however, could sleep in the saddle if the need arose and he had done
just that several times over the past few days.
They had
spent several nights on the trail but Andy had come to realize that Jess really
needed proper care. Despite Jess’ persistent protests, he had decided that
they would find a town and spend a few days so that Jess could get a proper rest
in a real bed. He saw the small
hotel at the end of the narrow street and steered the horses toward it.
Quickly
alighting from his Palomino, he hurried around Traveler to catch Jess as he
nearly fell from the saddle. Wrapping
a firm arm around his friend, he managed to get Jess inside and sit him in a
chair in the lobby. After arranging
for a room on the ground floor, he assisted Jess to the comfort of the soft bed
that beckoned just down the corridor.
“There you
go, Jess. Easy now,” he coaxed as he gently helped Jess stretch out on the
soft inviting mattress. He removed
Jess’ hat and gloves and threw them onto a nearby chair.
Jess’
lashes fluttered open and he blinked against the dim light of the room.
“Andy?”
“I’m
right here. You rest a while and I’ll see about some supper for us.”
Andy pulled the colourful blanket that lay at the foot of the bed over
his ailing friend and headed to the lobby to see about an evening meal and a
doctor. He knew that Jess would most likely protest fervently about the latter
but if he waited any longer, he feared it would be too late to help him.
Andy was
sitting in the only chair that the room provided when the knock came at the
door, loud and businesslike.
The doctor,
black bag in hand, greeted him with a warm smile. Doc Wilkie was a gentle looking man in his late fifties, who
obviously had a sense of humour and a cheery disposition. “Someone here need
fixing?”
“Oh, Doc,
glad you could come so quickly. Please
come in. It’s my friend here,” said Andy as he pointed to the sleeping
figure.
“My, my,
and what has this young man been doing to himself?
Looks half starved and that’s a fact.”
The old medic took out his stethoscope and placed it around his neck as
he began to unbutton Jess’ shirt. Jess
mumbled and stirred, his eyes flickering open to glimpse the strange face.
“What
the,” said Jess as he weakly attempted to brush the hands aside.
“Now, now,
young man. I’m here to help you. Just settle back and let me do my job.”
Old and mild-mannered though he may have appeared, the doctor had strong
hands and he firmly placed Jess’ hands to rest by his sides.
“Now I have to examine you if I’m going to find out what’s wrong.
So you just settle down or else I’ll get your little brother here to
sit on you if need be.”
“Brother,
what? I…” Jess stammered as he searched about the room, his eyes finally
falling on Andy, who was standing framed by the light from the room’s solitary
window. “Andy, I told you
no doctor. What d’ya go and do this for?
You know it ain’t no good.” Jess tried to scold but the dryness in
his throat caught on the words and he coughed uncontrollably.
“Let’s sit you up, young man,
before you choke to death,” said the doctor as he expertly lifted Jess to a
sitting position and rubbed his back until the coughing subsided.
As the
rubbing soothed his cough, Jess recalled how Daisy would do the exact same thing
whenever he was ailing and his chest tightened with the excruciating pain of
loss.
The doctor
rubbed his hands together to warm them and continued with the examination.
After several minutes, he straightened his back and turned to Andy.
“Exactly when did this begin,” he asked bluntly.
“A little
over a week ago. He’s been
working really hard and he hasn’t been eating…and I think he’s been sick
longer than he wants anyone to know…” Andy didn’t know how much he should
tell the old man so he stopped, unsure as to whether he should continue.
“Well, from
just this quick examination I would say that your friend is suffering from acute
exhaustion and severe dehydration. Not to mention a very deep cut in his side
that looks infected and from the bruises, I’d say he’s cracked a rib
recently.”
Andy looked
up, surprised that Jess had not mentioned the injury. “He will be alright though, won’t he?”
The medic’s
expression summed it all up. He
smiled but there was a note of gravity behind the kind eyes as he spoke.
“That is up to him, Lad. How
on earth did he come to be in this state, anyhow?”
The doctor re-buttoned Jess’ shirt and pulled the blanket up over the
frail body. Looking at Andy’s
grief-stricken face, he could see the discomfort his questioning was causing the
youngster as he continued. “Well,
no matter. First thing to do is get
some good meat broth into him. Plenty
of clear fluids too, tea and the like.”
“He hates
tea,” Andy replied softly, as if thinking out loud.
“Well,
he’ll have to get to like it; for now anyhow.”
He replaced his stethoscope and snapped his Gladstone bag shut.
“Now I will arrange for a special diet for him with the hotel clerk
before I leave and you make sure to get every last drop and crumb into him.
Okay?” He patted the
concerned young man’s shoulder. “Let’s
go and arrange for some suitable meals and let him rest.
You look like you could do with a good square meal yourself.”
Andy opened
the door for the doctor and followed him outside.
“It’s about suppertime. Why don’t you join me and you can fill me
in on how your brother got into this sorry state.
Only ever seen it once or twice before but never in such a young man and
in his prime too, from what I can tell.”
*
* * * *
The old medic
spoke with the hotel clerk and arrangements were made for special light meals to
be prepared for his patient then he and Andy headed for the dining room.
Though small, it was comfortably laid out with fresh linen tablecloths.
They found a quiet table and ordered the meal on offer for that day.
The old man
smiled warmly at Andy. “So
what’s been happening to get Jess in such a state,” he asked with an air of
expectation for the truth.
Andy fumbled
with his cutlery and decided that it was time to trust someone.
He realized he had to for Jess’ sake, and he blurted out his sad tale.
He told of Slim and Daisy, and the ranch and how Jess had drifted into
their lives all those years ago. He
explained how he was at school in St. Louis and had come home for his
brother’s wedding and then, through tears of anguish, he recalled the events
of the past days. His tale of woe
took up most of their meal, which was probably a good thing.
After the first bite of his supper, Andy had decided that the cook needed
some serious culinary lessons.
“I see,”
the old man remarked as he sipped his coffee and nibbled on his desert.
“So, do you
know what is wrong with Jess,” asked Andy, the desperate need to know eating
at his insides. Jess just had to be
all right. ‘Funny how things
turn out,’ thought Andy. The
day Jess rode into his life was the very day he had asked Jess to take him with
him. Now, they were together, on the drift but where would they end up? Being out in the world like this scared him and he needed to
know that Jess would recover; he couldn’t do this on his own.
“Well, like
I said, he obviously hasn’t been eating enough to keep up with what he’s
been doing and he has a pretty nasty cut on his side – I didn’t get a very
good look but it appeared infected and I’m sure his ribs have taken a beating
– possibly from a fall. Any idea where he could have gotten those injuries?”
Andy’s eyes opened wide and he shook his head as the doctor continued. “That
alone is enough to get him in pretty bad shape but couple that with what’s
been happening at home and days of hard riding….well, I’ve only seen it once
or twice before but rarely in a young man in his prime like your Jess. But if
he’s been sick for a while, it could certainly make his condition worse,” he
mused quietly. The doctor finished
his coffee and wiped his mouth then settled back in his chair. He took out a
small cigar and lit it, filling the air with its aromatic fragrance.
“What could
make it worse?” Andy almost snapped as his anxiety got the better of him.
“Homesickness.”
The reply was short and matter of fact.
“But I
don’t understand.” Andy mumbled
in disbelief.
“I think it
is quite plain, young man. You told
me about your brother Slim, and how close he and Jess have become over the
years. In fact, you described them
as being more like brothers than friends. And you also mentioned Daisy and how
she is like a mother to you boys, and especially to Jess. From what you’ve
said about him, all his life he’s lost those he loves and holds dear. I think
that this time was just too much for him to handle, both physically and
emotionally. He is a broken man, Andy.” The
medic continued to puff away on his evening enjoyment.
“You mean
homesickness could cause him to be so sick?”
Andy just couldn’t believe that his stalwart friend could ever succumb
to such a thing. Jess was so strong
and vibrant; always full of the joys of living. But then, that was during the
past years he had spent with his new family.
‘Slim’s the key to all of this
– he can always get through to Jess. I
can’t help Jess on my own but I know Slim can and darn it all, Slim is going
to know about this too, and he’s gonna help, whether he wants to or not.’
“Oh, Andy,
not just that – there really is something wrong with him physically. I’ll
have to check on him again when he is more cooperative but I am sure that we can
cure his infection fairly easily…but it also sounds like he has a touch of
pneumonia so we’re going to have to work on that, too. And once he’s well
enough to travel, he should go home and that should help his mood a lot.” Andy
smiled as he thought of taking Jess home. “Well, Andy, you look like you might
have a plan in mind for helping your friend.”
The medic stumped out his finished cigar and called for the bill.
“Mind telling me what it is? Jess is my patient after all and I want to
know about anything you have in mind to help with his recovery.”
As the two
left the dining room, the kitchen hand brought out a tray containing meat broth,
lightly buttered bread, and some steaming hot tea. Andy took it gratefully and followed the doctor down the
short hallway to his and Jess’ room. Though
he tried to open the door quietly, the hinges creaked as the doctor pushed it
open. Once inside, he turned up the
lamp and looked at his patient.
Jess stirred
at the movement in the room and opened his eyes.
“You again,” he whispered. “Can’t
a man get any peace around here?”
“Supper,
Jess,” the mild-mannered doctor announced and hauled Jess into a sitting
position, placing pillows behind his back even before Jess could protest. The
doctor looked up and Andy set the tray on Jess’ lap.
Jess looked
from the forlorn face of his young companion to the old quizzical stare of the
man who was obviously the doctor who had examined him earlier, though he
didn’t actually remember most of it.
Jess lifted
the tray from his lap and handed it off to his friend. “Take it away, Andy, I don’t think I can eat right now.
I’m not hungry.” He returned
the old man’s glare as he slid beneath the covers and threw the extra pillow
back onto the other bed. “Leave
me alone, Old Man. Just let me die
in peace, okay?”
The last
statement was as much as Andy could bear. He threw the tray against the wall.
“Don’t talk like that, Jess. Don’t.”
“You have
to face it, Andy, I’m not going to get well again. My time has come and that’s just the plain truth,” Jess
remarked solemnly. At least, that’s how he felt. He could not remember ever
feeling so sick and his injured side throbbed mercilessly each time he moved. He
just hoped the doctor would not want to examine the wound closely – he
didn’t think he could handle any more prodding tonight.
“Judging by
how you must be feeling right now, you may not want to live, young man but you
don’t have to tell the boy as much. Me
neither, for that matter.” He sat down next to his patient. Before Jess could
realize what he was doing, the doctor firmly grasped his arm, brandishing a
hypodermic needle. Jess tried to pull away but the doctor was faster and managed
to get the medicine into his difficult patient. “This will help you rest
easier, young man. You just concentrate on getting better now.” The old medic
stood up and put his arm under Andy’s and helped the sobbing boy from the
room.
“Hush now,
Andy. Everything will be all right
but I think you should think about wiring your brother in Laramie.
He’s the one who can help Jess now. Maybe he can talk some sense into
him and we can all work on getting him better.”
He patted the boy affectionately. “Tell
you what - I’ll get Jake to open up the telegraph office so that you can send
the wire tonight. It is an
emergency after all. A man’s life
is at stake here.”
Andy nodded
his agreement as he wiped his arm across his tear-streaked face.
“Thanks, Doc. I don’t know if Slim will care enough to come.
But I have to try, he’s Jess’ only hope. Jess always listens to
him.”
Young man and concerned doctor headed out into the dim light of evening in search of Jake and possible salvation for a very sick man.