Chapter two

Festus rode the trail to Bucklin as quickly as he could, not wanting to leave Kendig in the small town jail for long. To his mind, the man was a vicious animal wanted for various crimes, including murder. In Dodge City, he was wanted for bank robbery and assault, having robbed the bank and almost killing Mr. Bodkin the bank manager two months back.

Riding slowly down the streets of Bucklin, Festus looked about cautiously for any sign of trouble as he recalled the last time entering this town. Coming into town on a saddle and tack belonging to a gunfighter, and being identified as one, had not been one of his better moments. Nor had the welcome the mayor had given him when he thought Festus was the man he had hired to rid the town of some unsavory characters, the Watson boys.

He shook his head as he remembered the rest of the events that had left a bad taste in his mouth: being bitten by what he had thought was a rabid dog and thinking he was dying led to him accepting the job of hired gun, which had resulted in his calling the Watson boys out into a gunfight he knew he couldn't win. Luckily, he had discovered the dog wasn't rabid, but still had to face them in a fight which had luckily been settled with fists instead of guns on the advice of the town doctor: a man he owed a lot to.

Stopping in front of the town jail, he was surprised to see few people out and about and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck go up. He dismounted and walked slowly to the jail, casting his eyes up and down the street, searching for anything amiss. Entering, he found his friend the town doctor inside with the new sheriff, Ben Peters, and bent over a still form on the jail cell floor. He walked to them and peered over their shoulders at the figure lying still and quite obviously dead, recognizing Kendig from the wanted posters.

Doctor Caleb Rand looked up with a grimace when he saw Festus standing there. "I had hoped it wouldn't be you comin' for this fellow, Festus."

Festus drew back in surprise. "Well now, that's harder'n I'd slam a door, Doc! Whadda ya mean by that?"

Rand rose painfully to his feet and stared at Festus for a moment. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just, your timing stinks. If only you had taken your time getting here."

"Wall shoot, I don't care none that he's dead. As long as I had nothin' ta do with it that is. I can jes tell Matthew he died 'fore I got here," he said gesturing with his hands, not understanding the problem.

"His being dead isn't the problem, Festus. It's what he died of that is."

Silence met the man's statement. "It looks like typhus," the Doctor said quietly, not looking at Festus or the sheriff. "I should have seen it earlier. He's got the rash on his belly and he was feverish and delirious before he died. A few others in town are showing the same symptoms. I didn't realize till now what we're dealing with or how serious it is," he said, guilt lacing his voice.

"With Kendig's obvious symptoms…well, I think we can safely say the others have typhus too, but in the early stages. Kendig was in town long enough to have spread it to anyone. I'm afraid we need to quarantine the town." He looked up at Festus with sorrow in his eyes. "And that includes you now that you're here. We can't take the chance of spreading it any further."

Festus' mouth hardened into a thin line as he looked down at the man lying dead at his feet, an unsettled feeling filling him as he thought of all the emotions the word "typhus" carried with it. Contemplating the next few weeks in sadness, he straightened and leaned towards the doctor, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Jist tell me what ya need done, Doc," he said softly.

"Well first, the town must be closed off-no one in or out. You'll need to have all roads guarded, Ben," he said looking at the sheriff in sadness. "No one. No exceptions. We can't let this go any further than here. Understand?"

Ben Peters, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on Kendig's body, nodded slowly but looked scared to death, which he was.

"Then we need to bury him," he said looking down at the body at his feet. "And notify the rest of the towns near here by wire that we're quarantined and why. We'll set up a hospital in the school house to take care of those that come down with it."

When the sheriff didn't move, Festus spoke up. "I'll take ta gettin' him buried, Sheriff. You git the men set up ta guard the roads. Then we'll take care of the wires and settin' up the hospital."

When he still hadn't moved, Festus placed his hand on the man's shoulder and shook him gently. "Now, Sheriff. We ain't got time ta be thinkin'."

Finally, the man nodded and moved off to see to the blockade while Festus grabbed Kendig under the arms and dragged him out the jail cell door and to the town cemetery, conveniently located only a few yards from the town jail.

Coming back, he grabbed a shovel and stopped to look Doctor Rand in the eye. "Ya know, I don't think I'm ever gonna come back to this here town. Ain't done me nothin' but cause me more trouble'n I need," he said with a slight smile.

Rand smiled and shook his head. "I wouldn't blame you a bit, Festus. Not a bit."