Chapter 10

Daisy Cooper was beside herself with worry by the time she heard the sound of horses approaching. The rest of the posse had passed through hours earlier, stopping off to water their horses before heading into town. With the amount of bodies slung across the backs of their mounts and the weary looking men who were still able to sit their saddles, she had concluded that it had been quite a shoot out. When she hadn't been able to make out Slim or Mort amongst the riders, her eyes had been drawn to the shrouded bundles that had, just a short time earlier, been men, the bile rising in her throat. Seeing her stricken face, Bill Evers, Mort's Deputy had been quick to reassure her. Slim and Mort had ridden off to go after Jess. Daisy's heart leapt to hear news of the young man she had been beside herself worrying over these past weeks; she knew he wasn't the fugitive they were making him out to be. Whatever the reasons for him riding with that band of desperados, well she knew they had to be good ones. Jess wouldn't just turn rogue. But her relief at hearing all three men were still very much alive, or at least had been a short while ago, was short-lived when she saw the expression on Evers face.

At her insistence he had told her that the deputy from the Cheyenne posse who had been sent to rendezvous with them had told them that Jess had been holed up on a bluff and had been shooting it out with the men who were tasked to bring him in. Slim Sherman and Mort Cory had ridden into the heated exchange not a moment too soon because Dan Logan and his men had been just about to start their final assault and if Harper had carried on shooting the way he was well…he had just gestured at one of the horses, carrying its silent passenger, reluctant to say the words out loud. Despite his actions of late, Jess Harper had a lot of good friends in Laramie and he at least needed his day in court. Not one of them wanted to see him shot down by a posse; especially not one with them on it. Daisy said a silent prayer that Slim and Mort's timing had been so impeccable. Whatever was going on with Jess, if anyone could get through to him, it was Slim and it was good to know that he had Mort at his back.

It had been dusk when Evers and his men had carried on their way to Laramie. Concerned that she was there alone, Evers had offered to stay there to ensure her safety but Daisy had refused, asserting her confidence that Slim and Mort would be back soon and that they would be bringing Jess with them. Bill Evers had smiled weakly. He had to admire the lady's faith but he had seen what that poison had done to the men they had had to kill that day and he suspected that Jess could be in the grip of that same insidious concoction. He couldn't think of any other reason that Jess Harper would try to shoot it out with an entire posse. He couldn't be sure how much of the Jess Harper they had all come to know and respect was left but he kept that fear to himself.

Now she stood on the porch desperately trying to make out how many riders were coming in, lantern in one hand, shotgun in the other, just in case. In the moonless night it was impossible to tell whom the riders were until they were almost up to the house. But there were only two of them. She made an assumption. Where was Jess?

"It's alright Daisy, you don't need the shotgun, it's us," the familiar but tired voice of Slim Sherman called out. Against the backdrop of the well-lit house, and with the lantern in hand, they could clearly see her, even if it was too gloomy to make them out. Relieved she leaned the rifle against the side of the house. She had never been comfortable with using firearms. Slim and Mort had reined up outside the bunkhouse; all she could see were their silhouettes as they climbed down off their mounts. She wondered why they weren't coming straight to the house.

"Daisy, bring some blankets and your doctorin' kit will ya?"

"Why? Oh Slim, are you or Mort hurt?"

"No, we're fine Mrs. Cooper but Jess is…" Mort didn't get the opportunity to finish. As her eyes got used to the gloom, she could now see what they were manhandling from across the front of Slims horse; the prone form of the young man who had been gone all those weeks.

"Oh Slim, bring him into the house."

"No Daisy, gotta be the bunkhouse, I'll explain later. Now will you bring your kit, Jess needs you."

Daisy Cooper didn't need to be told twice.

As Slim carried Jess into the darkened and seldom used bunkhouse, Mort fumbled around for the lantern hanging by the door and lit it, so there was at least a little light to see what they were doing before Daisy came back. He wasn't entirely happy that they were going to leave him here; he and Slim had had a fairly heated discussion on the way back about that. Despite his strong bond of friendship with both of them, Mort was and always would be, first and foremost a lawman, and it would be expected that he would take Jess into the jail, even if it was just a formality until the circuit judge could come and revoke the warrant that had been issued against him. Despite the mitigating circumstances, which he was sure the people of Laramie would understand, once they heard the whole story, they would expect this. He couldn't be seen to be giving Jess special treatment. Slim had snapped back that, as sheriff, since when did he care what the towns folk thought when it came to making the right decision, especially when it came to a mans life? This had cut Mort to the bone but he had known that Slim was probably still more than a little in shock at what he had had to do to get Jess back there. However, he couldn't argue that Jess was in no shape to go any further than the Relay station that night. And besides, Slim had asserted that Jess wouldn't want everyone to know about the opium, it would be just the excuse he needed to ride off again, when all this was over, and never come back, and that would certainly happen if he went through the painful and very public withdrawal he would have to go through in the Laramie jail. Mort had sympathized but felt that it was the opium that had fueled Jess' uncharacteristic behavior and if folk didn't understand that, it would make it harder to vindicate him. Slim had just sighed and told Mort that they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. For now, Jess needed doctorin' and they'd let the Doc decide in the morning if he could be moved or not. Finally Mort had conceded. He had known as well as Slim what the doctor would most likely say anyway.

Slim had gently laid Jess down on one of the cots and they were carefully removing his clothes when Daisy arrived back with two more lanterns and her medical kit under her arm. Slim took the lanterns from her and set them up to provide maximum light for Daisy to work with. As the layers and soiled wrappings were peeled off she could see two distinct wound sites, to the right shoulder and just above the left knee. From the exit wound she was pleased to see that there was no bullet to dig around for in the shoulder, although she would need to check for any foreign bodies in there like pieces of clothing that would breed infection. She was satisfied that the wound looked pretty clean; which meant it must have been tended soon after it happened. She looked at both Mort and Slim questioningly; eagle eyed Daisy Cooper hadn't failed to notice that there seemed to be tension between them. She'd find out about that later. She next turned her attention to the leg. That looked messier and she would have to work on that first, get the bullet out.

Slim looked at her worried expression as she examined the leg. "You think you can get that slug out Daisy?"

She shook her head, unsure. "I don't know Slim. I would prefer if Doctor Webb did it. Can't Mort ride in and…?"

Slim interrupted her "Sorry, Daisy. I think the doc will have his work cut out in town right now. Besides, I think we need to do this now. While Jess is out."

Daisy looked down worriedly at the young man lying motionless on the cot; his ashen face drenched in sweat. She instinctively reached down and touched his face, expecting to find his skin aflame with fever but she was surprised to find him cool and clammy to the touch. She was worried about what that might mean. He didn't appear to have lost too much blood, Slim and Mort had done a good job there, so what had him looking so pale, wretched, and frankly, emaciated?

"Slim, is there something else you're not telling me?" She looked from one to the other, convinced they were hiding something from her. She saw the surreptitious glance between them that confirmed that there was definitely something they were hiding from her.

"Well, we think Jess might have hit his head when …" Slim stopped himself, unwilling to admit just how Jess had received the head injury but Daisy hadn't failed to notice the stricken expression on his face as he had stopped himself; nor the way that Mort had suddenly been unable to look her in the eye when she had turned to him to finish what Slim had started. This was getting nowhere. If she was going to help Jess she needed to know it all. Still, first thing first, she needed to get that bullet out.

"Sheriff Cory, I set some water to boil on the stove, would you go see if it's hot enough for me? I need to get to work on that bullet and the probe needs to be sterilized."

Mort nodded silently, grateful for an opportunity to get away from Daisy Cooper's eagle eyed scrutiny for a few moments.

Jess gave an involuntary groan; worried that he was starting to regain consciousness, Daisy turned to her medical bag and reached for the small vial that she kept there for emergencies.

"Slim, lift his head a little, I want to give him a few drops of this to keep him quiet."

She waited for him to do as asked but he didn't move. She looked up at him in exasperation, "Slim? What's the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry Daisy, you can't give him that."

Daisy looked up at the pained expression on the steadfast young man's face and frowned. What on earth was going on?

"Now Slim, why ever not? The bullet has hit bone; it's going to be very painful if we don't make sure he stays unconscious. You wouldn't want Jess to suffer that amount of pain if he didn't need to, surely?"

Daisy was alarmed at the expression that now passed over Slim's face, anger, bitterness, despair, one after the other, in a matter of seconds.

He sighed. "No Daisy, of course I don't want him to suffer, but he's gonna anyway over the next few days and there's not a damn thing that any of us are gonna be able to do to ease that sufferin'. We're gonna have to be cruel to be kind and that has to start right now."

She looked down at the dark haired young man, his hair plastered to his forehead, the cold sweat creating a translucent sheen on his pale, chiseled features, his body beginning to tremble as he started to make the slow, steady ascent back to a semblance of consciousness.

"Slim, what on earth are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry Daisy," he gently took the vial of laudanum away from her, "but the reason Jess is lookin' as bad as he is right now is 'coz he's in withdrawal. He's been pumped so full'a opium these past weeks that if we hadn't found him when we did, we coulda lost him forever. And now we've gotta clean him out and that's not gonna go easy for him; nor for us. But it's gotta be done and it has to start right now."

He gestured to Mort who had just arrived back carrying the steaming bowl of water.

"Now Mort and I'll help all we can, but for Jess' sake, you'd best get to work on that leg now before he comes to anymore than he already has."

It wasn't often that Daisy Cooper was speechless but to hear that one of the three young men she had come to look upon as a son was in the grip of an addiction to one of the most powerful opiates there was, was almost beyond her comprehension. But looking down at the tremors that were already starting to envelop him, the clammy skin, and his translucently pale visage, she couldn't deny the truth of it. She recognized it for what it was; she had seen it enough in the war. And she also knew that Slim was right. They had to get the bullet out now before the tremors and Jess' slowly returning consciousness made it impossible to do so. She nodded silently and with her own hands trembling at the prospect of what they would face in the days to come, she doused her probe in the steaming water and began the delicate procedure.

"Well done Daisy, that's a fine job of doctorin'"

Daisy wiped the sweat off her own brow as she finished up the evening's ministrations by binding the shoulder wound. It had taken almost an hour of probing and tugging to get the bullet out of his leg. Thankfully, it hadn't taken long for Jess to pass out entirely as the blinding pain had penetrated the fog of semi-consciousness he had been gradually returning to, consigning him to merciful oblivion for the duration of the crude but necessary surgery. Daisy had been thorough; she had wanted to make sure no pieces of debris were still left in there to risk infection. Jess was going to have enough to deal with over the next few days without that.

As she covered him up with a blanket, his torso and leg swathed in bandages, she looked down at the young man, her heart aching to think of what he was about to go through.

"There, he looks like he's resting comfortably for now. It's late and you look all in Slim, why don't you go into the house, supper just needs heating up on the stove. You too Mort, you're more than welcome to stay the night?"

Slim didn't respond; he couldn't take his eyes off his stricken pard. Mort looked at him to see if the invitation was going to be supported by the rancher but there was no sign he had even heard what she had said.

He smiled weakly "No thanks, Mrs. Cooper. I need to get back into town, relieve Evers and see what's been happenin' while I've been gone. I'll stop by in the morning, see how things are and I'll bring Doc Webb out with me." With a final look at the young man on the cot, he shook his head, sadly, and without a further word to Slim or to Daisy went out to unhitch his horse and head for home. When Slim didn't even wish the sheriff farewell, Daisy's determination to get to the bottom of what had Jess lying there with two bullet wounds, gathered momentum.

"It was the sheriff that caused that shoulder wound wasn't it? That's what's causing the tension between the two of you?"

That had the desired effect to shake him out of his reverie. Slim looked at the determined lady standing before him. She never ceased to amaze him with her ability to hone in on the truth no matter how hard he or Jess tried to shield her from it. How she had guessed that though, the lord only knew.

"Yeah…." He couldn't think of anything else to say. Suddenly he felt too defeated to say anything else.

"I thought so. The Slim Sherman I know would never allow a friend to leave without thanking him or wishing him well on his journey. I hate to think what must be going through that poor man's mind riding back to Laramie with one friend fresh in the grave, another lying sick and wounded and worst still, a third treating him as badly as you just did."

Slim was incredulous. He hadn't been expecting that.

"He shot Jess, Daisy. He could have killed him. I can't just let that go."

"Yes, and if Jess was in the state that I'm imagining he was in, looking at him now, then I am sure that Mort Cory had no choice other than to do what he did; to protect you and to maybe stop Jess doing something that was going to be irredeemable."

She looked to the young rancher for confirmation. Slim sat down on one of the other bunks dejectedly, his head in his hands.

"You weren't there Daisy. For an awful minute, I thought he'd killed him. I just saw the bullet hit him and the look on his face as he fell was…like…" he struggled to find the words " Like we'd betrayed him."

Daisy sat down beside him and patted his arm "That how he hit his head?"

Slim nodded. "Yeah, he fell back against a rock."

"Well, you certainly didn't betray him; either of you. When Jess is feeling well enough to figure it out, he'll know, if he doesn't already, just what good friends he has. It'll be a tough few days, but he's strong and he's got a lot of people around him who care enough to get him through."

Slim shook his head, trying to dislodge the image that kept replaying itself in his head. "I know Daisy. I hear the truth of what you're sayin' but every time I close my eyes, I see Mort firing and his bullet hitting Jess and I just can't seem to see past it."

Daisy looked at him sternly. "Well you must. Because right now, whether you care to admit it or not, you are as much in need of Mort's friendship as he is yours. I can't imagine what it must feel like to have no other choice but to shoot a man who has been as close a friend as Jess has been to him. It must have been churning him up inside every moment that he was here helping hold Jess down while I removed that bullet from his leg. Granted that wasn't the sheriff's bullet but it might as well have been." She looked for any sign that she was getting through to him. Slim just sat there with his head in his hands.

"And another thing I'll bet you haven't considered. I'll bet he shot Jess so that you didn't have to? He probably didn't want the two of you to have something like that between you and I for one am very grateful to him for that."

That did it. Slim shook his head in defeat. He couldn't help giving a tired smile. "Alright Daisy. I guess you're right. I just need to focus on one thing at a time right now, and that's gettin' Jess through the next couple days and I reckon' if ever there'll be a test of friendship that'll be it. Once I get him through that, then I'll get to Mort. One thing at a time; alright?"

Daisy regarded the young man seriously. It wasn't quite what she wanted from him but it was a start. The strain of the past few weeks, particularly day's, was etched on his face and she didn't want to push him beyond what he was able to cope with right now. What she did know was that he needed a proper meal and sleep. She made up her mind that she would sit the night shift with Jess so that he could get both.

"Alright Slim. Now, why don't you go inside and heat yourself up some stew and then get some rest, you'll be no good to Jess if you keel over. I'll sit with him tonight."

Slim shook his head determinedly "No Daisy. I'll take some of that stew, but I'll have it here if that's all right with you? I'll sit with Jess tonight and when Mort brings the Doc tomorrow I'll make arrangements for one or both to help with the vigil. This is one you'll have to sit out."

It was Daisy's turn to argue, "But Slim, I know it'll be hard going but its nothing I haven't seen before or can't cope with?"

Again Slim shook his head " This is different Daisy, those men you nursed in the war, they were strangers; they didn't really mean anythin' to you. But Jess is likely to say and do things that he'll regret. And when he's back to himself again, he'll remember those things. And if he said those things to you, he'd never forgive himself and I don't want to give him any excuse to leave once all this is over. For his sake, you gotta stay away. That's why Jess has gotta be here and not in the house or in the jail where everyone'd know about it. For Jess's sake, I gotta take control of this one. You understand?"

Daisy did understand. That was the cruel thing about opium withdrawal; the terrible physical pain and need the drug imposed on its victim as their system tried to purge itself of its vice like grip made them say and do terrible things to try and get one last fix. But it was like a possession, the person within could hear themselves say those things; see themselves do those things, despite not wanting to; but have no power whatsoever to hold back. And once they were clean, they would remember everything. Like Jess would remember. And she knew how that would tear him apart.

"Alright Slim, I'll go get you that stew. But in the morning, I insist that you ask Mort and the Doc to sit with him while you get some sleep. We got a deal?"

He got up and walked over to her and patted her arm. "Sure Daisy. It's a deal."

She placed her other hand on his and smiled reassuringly at him, more proud of him at that moment than she had ever been. She turned and headed to the door before he stopped her.

"Daisy?"

"Yes Slim?"

"How did you know that it was Mort who shot Jess?"

She smiled "Oh. Lucky guess. That, and the fact that that shoulder had to have been bound almost straight away after he had been shot. It was too clean and there was too little blood loss for it to have been left for any while." She turned to leave again and without turning back "Oh, and the fact that it was Mort's neck scarf tied around his shoulder." With that, she was gone.

Slim smiled. Daisy Cooper could give the pinkertons a run for their money with her detective skills.

After she had delivered his meal, Slim bolted the door from the inside and, with a heavy heart retrieved the rope he had brought in from his saddle, and had secreted under one of the bunks until Daisy had retired for the night, and reluctantly secured his pard to his bunk. Just in case. He then turned his attention to Jess' .45 which was still tucked down the front of his jeans. He checked the three remaining chambers to see if his suspicions had been correct, the clenching feeling in the pit of his stomach intensifying as his fears were confirmed. The gun was empty. He looked at his sleeping pard trying to take in the implications. There was no way he wouldn't have known.