Chapter 10 (Doc)
Kevin gives his demonstration on the use of different staining techniques for preparing slides for the microscope. Again he holds the attention of his audience and many of the doctors there ask questions afterwards.
I leave to go to the clinic and help Edgar get back to the hotel. He seems a little weak but in good spirits. Harrington even shows up with a new jacket for him.
Later I find Kitty getting ready to go to the opera. Kevin had agreed to come by and pick her up at around 7.00.
I plan to go to an exhibition of wares by companies supplying pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, not that my financial status allows me to buy much, but its nice to know what is out there.
About an hour later I head down to the exhibition, which is being held in the hotel ballroom. I am surprised to see Edgar heading in the same direction.
"I'm not sure you should be up and wandering around," I tell him.
"I'm fine Galen, I have to go see the latest equipment that the companies have to sell."
"I guess I'll just go along with you then."
We make our way slowly around the exhibition. I see to it that Edgar doesn't do too much walking, although it is difficult to contain his enthusiasm for every new gadget on display.
Finally he admits to being tired and I walk him back to his room. We order supper to be sent up.
Kitty really enjoyed her evening at the opera. At the back of her mind she was worried about Matt and would have loved for him to be there with her instead of out on the trail. On the other hand she could not change him. Kevin was an excellent companion. He had an interest in the opera and appreciated going to such events.
They got a carriage back to the hotel,
"Tell me Kevin, how come you never got married."
He was quiet for a moment
"At one time I thought I was going to. She was a beautiful woman, Kitty, smart and full of life. That house I have in Baltimore was for her and I to share. I think she got tired of my being at the lab with my test tubes and microscopes. I would get working and totally forget the time. Some nights I did not get home at all. One day she was gone. Later I learned that she had moved to Richmond, Virginia, and married a banker. My fault I suppose. It is difficult to be a man with a passion for his work."
'I guess you are right about that. At least your test tubes and microscopes aren't going to ambush you on the trail or shoot you from some dark alley."
"Matt will be fine Kitty. He has a knack for surviving."
"I am scared that one day his luck is going to run out."
They arrive at the hotel. Kitty suggests a nightcap at the hotel bar.
"I'm not ready to sleep and I will only lie awake worrying," she tells him. They sit for a while sipping on brandy and discussing the opera which they both enjoyed.
Eventually Kevin escorts her to her room. "Galen is going to think I have abducted you, he tells her."
She kisses him on the cheek, "Thank you for a wonderful evening Kevin, you are a good friend."
"Goodnight Kitty."
(Doc)
Next morning I go to a lecture on diseases of the lungs. Although most of my practice in Dodge City seems to revolve around removing bullets, setting broken bones and delivering babies, I did originally set out to treat diseases and ailments that afflict the human body. I still find it a fascinating subject.
After it is over I head to the sheriff's office to see if he has heard anything from Matt. I am hoping to see Marshal McIntyre. When I get there, I see an exhausted young man sitting across the desk across from the Sheriff. His clothes are torn and stained and his face and hands are scratched and bruised. He is drinking coffee from a large white mug. The sheriff introduces him as his deputy Jerry Dean, the man who had disappeared two or three weeks earlier.
"You look like you need a little medical attention, young man."
"Oh I'll be fine thanks Doctor, I just need to go home and get cleaned up." He gets up to refill his coffee mug. I notice blood on the back of his shirt, and how he moves a little stiffly.
The sheriff tells him that the marshal he met up with is a friend of mine, and that I would be interested in hearing what had happened.
The man fills his cup and returns carefully to his chair. He repeats his story for my benefit. He tells how he rode out tracking the men that robbed the casino when he was overpowered. When he woke up he was about forty miles west of here, down in a mine. There were several other men being held there also. They were made to work at extracting silver from the rock. He wasn't sure, but thought that some of the men running the mine were those involved in robbing the casino and ambushing him and the Sheriff.
He goes on to tell me of the big man, a US Marshal, who had shot a couple of the guards, which allowed himself and another man to escape.
"Where is the Marshal now?" I ask him.
"A big brute of a guard named Tony, hit him over the head with a rifle butt. There wasn't much the two of us could do. We were on the other side of the ravine. More guards where arriving. I thought it essential that at least one of us should make it back here. That's what the Marshal had told us to do."
"So what's going to happen now?"
"Marshal McIntyre has gone down to the telegraph office. He's hoping to round up some deputies and head out that way in the morning."
It's not long before McIntyre returns, "I guess you heard the news Doc", he says.
I tell him I have and that I plan to ride with them.
"Doctor, that trail is hard. The only way in by wagon is a lot further round and takes several hours longer. The closest it comes to the mine is about five miles," the deputy tells me.
"By golly young man, I think I have ridden more miles on a horse than you have. Admittedly I don't do it very often now, but I am quite capable and I won't slow you down. Matt Dillon is a good friend of mine and I want to see that he's okay."
Andy McIntyre knows me a little better, "Look Doc, I promise you that we will get Matt out of there and bring him back, there is no need for you to come along. Besides it could be dangerous, we don't know how those miners will act. We don't need you to get hurt."
I am thinking of a serious head injury. From Deputy Dean's description Matt took a hard blow to the head. I need to be there.
"I'm coming, I'll be here in the morning, just have me a horse ready."