John Cannon pulled off his gloves and rested his arms on the top rail of the corral. Looking around the the compound he saw all his men engaged in their work. Blue had placed Kim's wagon underneath the horse shade and was busy helping their unusual guest as he built the fireworks for the much anticipated display. He liked the idea of Blue learning about explosives. Might come in handy, someday. The young man had been asking questions of the Chinaman all afternoon and it made John smile. Blue was always drawn to the new and the unusual. He never had a problem asking "Why?" , a consternation at times, a blessing at others.
All of the men had stopped to speak to the two at some point; to watch, to question,to listen. John hadn't said much about it. He was aware they knew of Mano's message and were a bit more alert than usual. This small distraction was probably a good thing, all in all. There could be no knowing whether this Cimmaron character would act on his words. Talk is cheap, John knew. Still, a man who would try to take Buck Cannon's horse from him without using a gun was a man one shouldn't take lightly. John wouldn't.
As he looked away from the wagon he noticed Victoria coming his direction. She picked up a shovel and rapped on it with a stick. Every head turned to look.
" Mr. Kim has offered to make dinner for us tonight! All of us. Now I need each one of you to spend a little extra time cleaning up today. We will be eating on the back porch."
She started to go back to the house when she turned and faced the men again. With a big smile she blurted, " And you'll need to bring your own chopsticks!" She returned to the house, a trail of confused looks behind her.
Mano put his hand on Buck's shoulder. "Ay yi yi, I wonder what that one has planned for us tonight." he chuckled. His response was met with a shrug of the shoulders rather than a comment. "Compadre, you have been distracted all day. Don't tell me that Cimmaron has you scared?"
" I ain't scared of nobody. You know that. Its just that... well... I still can't figure why they didn't just shoot me when they tried stealin' Reb. Woulda been easier."
" If it was Dog's choice there would have been lead, Buck. A lot of it. But Cimmaron is an Indian of the old ways. He believes that if he is smart enough, and courageous enough, or clever enough to take your horse from you then he is truly the one who deserves to have it. He does not see that as stealing. Killing a man for his horse is something the white man and the Mexicans taught the Indians. For the Kiliwa, there is no honor in that... The first time I met big John, do you remember what happened?"
" Well, 'course I do . Ya stole his horse. At gunpoint."
. " No, I took his horse. The question that day, dear Buck, wasn't , 'Would I kill big John for his horse? ' The question was, did big John think I would kill him for his horse. "
' "Ain't no difference, Mano" Buck spit, as the two men began heading for the ranch house.
Mano placed his hands on his heart and bent over. "Oh, Buck. I am deeply hurt. Have you ever known me to kill a man for his possessions?"
"No amigo, I reckon not. " Buck answered, stopping to look at Mano . "Youze just sayin' you tricked big John. Is that it?"
Mano leaned back and laughed loudly. " And a fine trick it was. Do not ever tell this to John Cannon, but I was out of bullets. The rifle was empty. I used my last round on the Apache who was going to kill him." Mano laughed again and Buck couldn't help but laugh a little as well .
" Don't worry about Cimmaron, Buck. I'm sure he will consider things and change his opinions."
"Nah. He's comin'. I can feel it in my bones. I can feel it in the air... So can you."
The men honored Mrs. Cannon's request and showed up with fresh shiny faces and combed back hair. They were a bit less boisterous than usual, Mano's story still fresh in their ears. They had defended the Chaparral before and weren't about let anything happen to Buck without a fight.
No one brought chopsticks, but Victoria made sure there were plenty of spoons to eat the stir-fried beef and vegetables Kim kept pouring from his wok. She wasn't sure the men would care for rice, but by the time the sentries came down and ate , there wasn't a grain to be found. As the hands headed back to the bunkhouse, the family retired to the coolness of the living room. John asked Mr. Kim if he would care to have a game of chess. That little snippet of information , about playing chess during his voyage from China , wasn't missed by John.
" Oh, no" Buck groaned. " Best watch yourself there, Mr. Kim. Nobody round here wants to play John 'cuz he ain't got the good manners to lose every now and then."
" Come now, Buck. I lose sometimes."
" Well, I ain't seen it. Not one time. Why do you think that chessboard's been sittning untouched for a year now?"
Kim rose and spoke to John. " Perhaps another time, Johncannon. If I may, I would like to see your man, Joe. The man who was injured."
John wasn't sure of what to say. The bunkhouse was no place for strangers and Mr. Kim was about as unlikely as they come. Yet, Kim could clearly handle himself. That was patently clear.
Kim sensed the reservations of his host. "I am a healer. Perhaps I can be of assistance to your man, Joe. I have seen this kind of thing in the past. It is what I trained for."
Blue stepped forward. "I'll go out there with him, Pa. Can't hurt anything to have Mr. Kim take a look."
Blue's entrance into the bunkhouse didn't bother anyone, but the presence of the slight Chinaman behind him caused a few of them to stand.
" Please, sit." he requested Looking at Sam, Kim asked to see Joe. Sam pointed to his brother's motionless form on a bottom bunk. Kim took a leather purse from his shoulders and placed it on the table. He went over to Joe's bunk, knelt and began talking quietly to him. To everyone's surprise, Joe sat up, with Kim's assistance. Kim took Joe's legs and steered them to the side of the bed. Joe sat there on the bunk, both feet on the floor. With Kim's arms under his, Joe let out a loud groan and rose to his feet. Clearly, he was still in a great deal of pain.
Kim gestured to have the men move the table back as he helped Joe out of his undershirt. A heavy Indian blanket was laid down and Joe walked to the bottom of it. Gently, he went down on both knees and, with the help of his brother and Kim , laid down face first on the blanket. The ranch hands watched in complete silence as Kim removed several small bottles from his purse. They appeared to contain needles.
Kim knelt, his knees resting on either side of Joe's head. He whispered in the prone man's ear for a few seconds and Joe groaned out something that sounded like, "OK". Kim placed his hands on either side of Joe's big head and slowly twisted it to the right until Joe cried out. Stopping at that point, Kim slowly twisted it to the left until he got the same response. Returning Joe's head to the neutral point, the man paused. Suddenly he twisted it hard to the right.
There was a huge 'crack' which caused Sam to instinctively jump to his feet and draw his pistol.
" You just hold it right there, Kim. That's far enough. I'm not about to sit here and watch you cripple my brother!"
" Sit down,Sam." Joe grunted. " Keep goin' Mr. Kim. That helps."
Kim repeated the motion, only to the left this time. Again there was a resounding crack and a long guttural sigh which sounded a lot like relief.
An hour after Blue and Kim had left the house, Buck thought he should go out and check on Kim and the boys. When he walked into the bunkhouse not a single man turned around. They sat shoulder to shoulder in a semi-circle totally focused on something on the floor. Buck couldn't see over anyone so he wedged his head in between Blue and Sam. His jaw dropped.
On the floor laid Joe with at least a hundred needles poking out of his back . Kim was moving his fingers from needle to needle, twisting them slightly until Joe would groan. Then he moved onto a different needle and repeated the action.
Buck started to ask what was going on when Sam looked at him sternly and placed his index finger over his lips. Buck pulled his head back out and scurried to the house. He tried, as best he could, to tell Mano and John what he had witnessed, how Joe looked like a porcupine. Much to his surprise, Mano and John both knew of this practice. Buck couldn't understand how turning a man into a pin cushion could possibly be beneficial ,but if Sam and Joe weren't complaining, why should he?
Buck went back to the bunkhouse only to find Joe standing outside the front door.
" Joe?" Buck asked. " What are you doin' out here?"
Joe took a deep breath, bent over, touched his toes and then rose back up. " Just grabbin' a little fresh air, Buck," he laughed. Buck stared at him in disbelief as he made his way to the bunkhouse door. Upon entering, he saw Reno leaning against the back wall, shirt off, with fifty needles in his left shoulder. To his right sat Sam, his exposed leg hanging over a chair back with at least thirty needles sticking out from his knee. Pedro was bent over at the table, his forehead resting on his hands. In his neck and shoulders were dozens more needles. Mr. Kim was going from man to man, manipulating the needles as he had done with Joe.
Buck pushed back the brim of his hat and looked over to Blue. Slowly the old cowboy began rubbing his neck. "Ya know Blue Boy, my neck's been pretty stiff for a while now..."
Blue cut him off instantly. "Back of the line, Uncle Buck."
A quick glance showed six Chaparral hands standing in single file behind Blue. It was easy to tell by their faces that no one was going to be able to wedge in between any of them.
Buck grumbled something unintelligible as he took his place at the rear of the line.
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