Chapter Two
Sunrise was a welcoming sight. Slim gazed through the window and felt relieved when he saw Jess already at work. Daisy was in the kitchen, the noises and smells a clear indication that breakfast was being made. He gave a smile to Mike who walked out of his room with a yawn and then he opened the front door, exiting the cozy room to meet with whatever mood Jess would be in.
"Morning, Pard," Jess said without much feeling in his voice as he watched Slim walk from the house, coming towards his position. Jess stood near the corral, the harnesses for the teams that would need to be changed for the first stage being held loosely in his hands.
"How do you feel this morning?" Slim asked and then when he saw Jess' blue eyes narrow, he knew he shouldn't have asked.
"Grouchy," Jess answered a terse reply, putting his gaze immediately away from Slim's caring eyes as his single word description likely would define his entire day.
"I'm sorry, Jess," Slim reached his hands out to take the harnesses. "I'll forget what happened in the night."
"Good," Jess said, dropping the harnesses into Slim's outstretched hands, "'cause I reckon only one of us can." He turned away, his steps taking him into the barn where this time he did saddle his mount and without a further glance in Slim's direction, Jess rode away on Traveler, heading out on the north trail in a steady gallop. He hadn't wanted to leave, but as soon as the emotional battle was set in place, there was only one reaction and that was to run.
"Where's Jess going to in such a hurry?" Daisy asked from the porch. "I was just about to announce that breakfast was ready."
"I don't know, Daisy," Slim shook his head, watching as Jess disappeared out of sight. "He probably doesn't even know, just that he's running."
"He can't run from fear for long, can he?" Daisy turned to look through the doorway to make sure Mike was still seated at the table and out of earshot.
"Unfortunately Daisy," Slim paused, his words filled with compassion for his troubled partner, "Jess has been running from this fear since he was fifteen years old, just for whatever reason, now it's got a hold of him again."
"Oh," Daisy sighed, feeling moisture form in her eyes. "If only there was a way to help him get through this. It pains me so to see him this way."
"I'm going to eat my breakfast in a hurry, Daisy," Slim put his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "As soon as the morning stage leaves I'm heading into Laramie. Maybe Doc Sweeney has an idea. When Jess gets back," Slim paused very slightly, not wanting to think it even possible that he said the wrong words and that it could have been stated as if Jess gets back, "let him know where I went, but don't tell him why."
"All right, Slim," Daisy nodded as they both turned into the house. "I hope you get a positive answer."
Slim hoped the same, and he continued to hope as he waited for Doc Sweeney's return to Laramie as the physician had been out on a call when Slim had rode into town. He spent a dull thirty minutes pushing a glass of whiskey back and forth between his hands before finally downing the bitter liquid, refusing a second that was offered by the intoxicated man next to him and then finally exiting the saloon. Slim turned in both directions and was relieved to see the doctor's carriage rolling into town.
"Doc," Slim walked quickly towards the doctor when the older gentleman stopped outside of his office, "may I have a word with you?"
"Certainly Slim, what seems to be the matter? You look healthy and strong as always," Doc Sweeney reached out a hand to Slim but it was only gently shaken without its normal enthusiasm.
"It's not me, Doc," Slim answered, his voice portraying his distress before the words came from his mouth. "It's Jess."
"Surely he's not sick," the doctor raised his eyebrows at Slim's frown, "I don't think I've ever treated him for anything other than a gunshot wound. Healthiest patient I've ever come across."
"It's not physical," Slim shook his head, "actually I'm not sure what to call it. Something in his mind."
"His mind?" Doc Sweeney developed his own puzzled frown. "You're going to have to expound, Slim."
"Jess has been having nightmares," Slim explained, noticing the jab of guilt that speaking aloud Jess' problem gave him, especially since it was without his permission, "they've all been about his experience as a youngster when the outlaw Frank Bannister and his gang torched the Harper's house. If you recall, most of his family didn't make it out alive."
"Nightmares," Doc Sweeney shook his head slowly back and forth, feeling the trouble that poured from Slim's shadowed eyes hit him in his own. "Everyone has them, even someone as strong-willed as Jess. How bad are they?"
"They're intense, Doc," Slim motioned towards the bruise near his chin. "This was the result of last night's dream."
"You know," Doc Sweeney rubbed his mustache before continuing, "I've been reading some articles recently published by a doctor back east that did extensive studies on men during and after the war. They all suffered from consequences from the fighting that lasted weeks, months and even years after the war was over. Brutal nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, tremors, chest pains and some with even more symptoms, but when examined, there was found nothing physically wrong with the men. It's something going on inside of the brain, which unfortunately, us doctor's can't properly tap into. Jess went through an extreme trauma when his folks died, it's only natural that he has some repercussions. When did Jess' nightmares start?"
"Let's see," Slim scratched the back of his neck as he thought back over the disrupted nights during the past week. "Today's Thursday, he had one last night. The previous one was Monday, so the first must have been Saturday night."
"Makes sense," the doctor nodded. "Saturday afternoon was when the Garrett family's house burned down. If I heard the stories correctly, Jess was in town when it started and he was one of the first to arrive on the scene to help rescue the family."
"I suppose that could trigger his memories," Slim replied thoughtfully. "But Doc, Jess has been around fires before this recently. He was out helping Lars Carlson in the middle of the forest fire last summer. He almost burned in a couple of different house fires, one while he was in Chloride trying to find the man who shot Mike and another one a few years ago when he was trying to help an old miner friend. None of those events bothered him enough to bring on severe nightmares. In fact, when he spoke of them it was rather nonchalantly, almost being as calm as when he relates one of his gunfights. Why would this fire affect him any differently?"
"Were you in town during the blaze?" Doc Sweeney asked, feeling that he might have the answer to Slim's question.
"No," Slim shook his head, "I was out at the ranch. I heard about it from one of the stage drivers not long after it happened."
"Sheriff Cory stayed with Mrs. Garrett, helping to console the poor woman while I worked on her boy and I heard the gory details right from Mort. There are three Garrett kids, the oldest is eleven, the middle eight and the youngest is four. It was the youngster that I had to treat for several burns, had to shave away most of the hair on his head in the process. All three of those kids were in the house when it went up in flames, Slim. From the way Mort described it, they were screaming at the top of their lungs, as was Mrs. Garrett, who was near hysteria outside of the house. She'd been working in her vegetable garden when she smelled smoke but couldn't get back inside through the main doorway. Mort said Jess was there, although he had no knowledge of what Jess did, if anything, but we know that two men went into the burning house to rescue the kids and one of them could have been Jess. No one stepped up at the end to admit to their heroism and the kids couldn't recall who it was either. The oldest boy was able to run out on his own but the two younger ones had to be carried to safety. The little one, well, considering where his worst burns were, if he'd been in there much longer, we'd be adding a gravestone to the cemetery."
"It was the kids," Slim nodded, remembering Jess' details of the horror he faced at fifteen word by word. The description of the screams had been enough to make him shudder and Slim had never heard it at all. "That must have been the trigger. Jess is sensitive to little kid's emotions anyway, but the screaming and the fire together was too much. Now he's reliving it all again through nightmares."
"It could happen to anyone," Doc Sweeney nodded with a sigh, "but with his past, Jess is definitely more susceptible."
"Is there anything I can do to help him with this," Slim paused, not knowing how to title what Jess was going through, "problem?"
"From what I understand, there's no real cure, only time," Doc Sweeney looked at Slim with compassion, knowing how difficult this situation was for him, especially now that he didn't have the greatest news to share.
"Doc," Slim's voice took on a more desperate tone, "I can't just sit by and do nothing. He won't talk to me about it and won't listen to me when I try, but there's got to be something."
"I don't know, Slim," Doc Sweeney rubbed his chin, "perhaps a change of scenery will help."
"That's exactly what I'd like to avoid," Slim shook his head, imagining Jess taking off to parts unknown and not seeing him for weeks or months, if not longer. "I don't need Jess as far as Denver, Billings, or anywhere else."
"No, no," Doc Sweeney answered quickly, putting a hand on Slim's arm, "I didn't mean something so drastic. Just getting him off of the ranch, away from the bedroom where the nightmares occurred for a week or so might be all that he needs. That can be as simply as having him stay at the boarding house up the street."
"I don't know, Doc," Slim frowned, feeling doubtful that the doctor's suggestion might work. If he explained to Jess why he wanted him to spend a week in Laramie, his partner might not be obliging if he knew he talked to the doctor about his nightmares without his approval. "I guess that's something I'll have to think on."
At that moment, shouting from the edge of town grabbed the attention of Slim and the doctor along with everyone else that lined the street. All heads turned towards the rider that sped into view, his one word exclamation was enough to get dozens of different feet running in action.
"Fire!"