Chapter 11
After a few minutes a man in a gamblers jacket comes running towards them.
"Hi there!" he says to Kilburn, "I'm Edgar Wilkins."
"Dan Kilburn."
"Marshal," he turns a puzzled look towards Matt, "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
He unlocks the door then comes back to the wagon to help Kilburn get Matt into the office.
"Here let's get him on the table."
Matt grimaces as the movement jars his ribs.
"Where are you hurt Matt?"
The marshal raises his hand to his painful ribs.
"Let's get your shirt off so I can see." He gets Kilburn to help him
as he removes the bandage.
"Get that gun belt off him, would you?" he asks Kilburn.
Carefully he explores the ribs with his fingers. "Yes I think at least two are broken. Looks like the same ones as last time. Lie down here so I can look at your leg."
"Doctor, I need to go take those horses to the livery and then go back and help Marshal Patterson with the prisoners. Do you need me any more?"
"No I'll be okay, but ask the Marshal to send one of his men to get Mrs. Sykes for me. He'll understand."
"Sure thing, I'll see you later Matt."
The door closes.
Wilkins cuts some of the blood soaked fabric from Dillon's leg and looks at the wound. Then he goes over to the stove and puts some water on to heat.
"It's going to take a bit of work to get that bullet out Matt," he says.
He is busy getting instruments from a drawer and setting them in a bowl. Then he gets his very distinctive stethoscope from the medical bag sitting on his desk, and makes his way back to the Marshal.
"Let me listen here a minute." Eventually he removes the instrument from his ears.
"That's good enough, I don't think you lost too much blood.
"Fancy some coffee, Matt?"
"Not right now thanks. Sorry I broke up your poker game."
"Oh that's no problem. Lady Luck wasn't with me tonight anyway."
He watches as Wilkins puts the coffee pot on the stove.
"Isn't it kind of strange? I mean the town doctor playing poker in the local saloon"
Wilkins laughs. "Not at all, how do you think I afford to equip this place? I like to have the latest of everything, and the money I get from doctoring in this town isn't going to buy it."
"I thought you inherited the practice from an uncle."
"I did but he never made any money. His office was in an old shack at the end of town, and I think most of the instruments he owned were ones he inherited when the horse doctor died. I bought this surgery, and equipped it myself. I used to sleep in that little back room there, but I like to sleep in my own bed every night so when a small cottage on the street behind here came up for sale I bought it. Then I got the telegraph company to rig up a line between there and the surgery, so I can leave a nurse here at night. If necessary, she can send a signal to me if I'm needed. All that takes money Marshal."
He goes over to the stove and fills a coffee cup.
"When did you start playing poker as a means to support your medical practice?"
"I've always been fascinated by the cards, Matt. When I was a kid I would sit for hours, shuffling cards and dealing to imaginary players. I found a few books on how to play poker and read them again and again. I heard stories about Gamblers on the riverboats riding the Mississippi. I knew that was what I wanted to do. But as you know life sometimes gets in the way of our dreams."
"If you enjoy playing cards so much, why do you stay here, there are bigger games in other towns?"
He thinks a minute
"I'm guessing it's like you. You take on a job; find you have the skills to do it better than most. People come to depend on you and somehow, before you know it, you can't leave and let them down."
The door opens and a matronly woman of indeterminate age walks in. Her hair is tied back in a bun. Her clothes are very no nonsense, a dark skirt and light colored blouse coming well up to her neck. She starts to roll up her sleeves the minute she walks in the door.
"Good evening Mrs. Sykes, thanks for coming. This is Marshal Dillon from Dodge city."
She nods towards the man on the table.
"Matt this is my nurse, Mrs. Emily Sykes."
"Ma'am." Matt acknowledges.
"What do you want me to do Doctor?" she asks.
"You can get those instruments ready for me." He indicates those he had placed in a bowl, "and then prepare a mask and chloroform."
Calmly and efficiently she sets about her task.
The doctor finishes his coffee and comes over to Matt.
"Let's get these boots off of you," he says removing the right one. Any movement of Matt's injured leg causes pain and Dillon holds his breath in preparation for the left one.
"Oh I'll just wait till I've got you under to get that one off, it'll be easier on you."
"Do you have to give me that stuff? It makes my head feel so bad for days."
"I'm sorry about that, but if you want me to get that bullet out I don't see any other way. Laudanum is not going to control the pain well enough and I can't work safely with you squirming all over the table." He is very matter of fact in his assessment, no emotional ties here. Not like with Doc back in Dodge.
"Where do you want this, Doctor?"
"Thanks Mrs. Sykes, just bring the cart over here."
Matt sees a small metal cart on wheels, with a clean white cloth covering the top. A set of medical instruments and a mask with a bottle of chloroform, are all neatly arranged on the cloth. He wants to object, but realizes that it's not going to do him any good.
"Cut around that pant leg for me so I can see what I'm doing," Wilkins instructs his assistant.
Once again he takes his stethoscope and places it on Dillon's chest. After listening for a minute or two he nods to the nurse. She picks up the gauze-lined mask, Matt starts to object but she looks at him, just raising her eyebrows slightly. He knows he has no choice.
"Okay go ahead," says Wilkins
She drips the liquid onto the gauze
" Just breathe deeply, Matt."
He listens. After just a few breaths his patient is out.
"That'll do Mrs. Sykes. Now hold his leg so I can get this boot off."
Having done that he asks her to clean the surgical area while he goes off to wash his hands.
Retuning to his patient he picks up a scalpel and cuts carefully into the wound to get better access. He probes for the bullet and eventually finds it lodged right next to the thighbone.
It is not easy to get to, and it takes him a good twenty minutes before he is finally able to grasp it with the forceps. As he starts to pull the bullet back out, his patient gasps and starts to move. He nods to his assistant who places the mask back over their patient's nose and mouth. The doctor puts his stethoscope in his ears again and listens to the big man's breathing as she applies a few more drops of the anaesthetic. It doesn't take but a few seconds before he is satisfied that his patient is suitably asleep once more.
"That should do Mrs. Sykes."
He resumes his work, finally managing to remove the slug and stitch the wound back together. Then he cleans it with some evil smelling liquid.
"Dress that for me please," he instructs her.
He goes to wash his hands once more.
When he returns Matt is waking up. "Just lie still there for a minute, we're going to have to strap those ribs for you."
He reaches down below the head of the table, pulls out a handle and winds. Matt is amazed, he is almost sitting up with no effort at all.
"Doc needs one of these," he says in a slightly slurred voice.
"Yes, I got this table about six months ago. It has all the latest gadgets built in. I spent a whole week at the Faro table earning enough money for it."
"Okay Mrs. Sykes grab a couple of those wide bandages from the drawer over there. I'll hold him up, you know what to do. I'm sorry it's going to hurt a bit Matt, no other way."
Matt grunts as Wilkins sits him up the rest of the way and holds him in position while the good woman does her work. She is fast and efficient. Despite his grunts and groans, she does not pause and has the job finished quickly. Wilkins lets him lie back.
"We'll get you to a bed for the night, that way you can sleep some."
The back room, that used to be his living space, has been converted to hold four cots. Each is separated from the other by a small partition and in one corner there is a desk and chair.
Wilkins sits at the desk and begins to write some instructions for Mrs. Sykes.
Dillon hears them talking, but cannot make out the words.
He falls into a half sleep until he is wakened by the Doctor. He has a stretcher on wheels, which he has pulled up next to the exam table.
"Let's slide you over here," he says.
Matt sees how amazingly easy it is to transfer to one of the beds in the back room with this device. Maybe Doc should take up gambling.
Wilkins sees his friend studying the stretcher. "They have them all over the place back East. I had a good night at poker and bought this one."
"I'm going to be gone for a couple of hours. You know where to find me Mrs. Sykes, I'll check with you before I go home."
He gets his vest and jacket from the peg.
"Edgar, if you see Kilburn, tell him I need to talk to him."
"I will, but not tonight you don't. The morning will be soon enough."
He leaves.
"All right Marshal, lets get you situated here." Mrs. Sykes busies herself arranging pillows and getting enough blankets to cover the Marshal. Then she disappears to the front of the office for a while to return with a tray with several bottles and a small drinking glass. She sets it on the desk, takes a thermometer from the tray an approaches the Marshal.
"Put this in your mouth."
"But..," he gets no further. "Doctor wants me to check your vital signs every two hours. You can either put this in your mouth or I will check your temperature like I would a baby's."
He looks at her and knows she would do that.
Obediently he opens his mouth. She takes out a small pocket watch and reaches for his wrist. Eventually she completes her task and enters her findings on a sheet of paper. She then proceeds to measure out a dose of laudanum and brings it to him in a small glass. He is going to object but knows it would be pointless, so obeys without question. She gives him a small glass of water to get rid of the taste.
"That's better. You just lie there quietly." She dims the lamp on the wall by his bed.
"I'll be here so if you need anything just call me." She goes to sit at the desk and starts to read a book she had brought with her.
Dillon watches her for a while, but the drug soon takes over and he sleeps.
He is aware of her checking on him from time to time, but the Laudanum dulls his senses enough that he does not fully wake up.
It is pain that finally wakes him. His ribs and his leg are both throbbing. He thinks he sees the first hint of light coming through the window. He tries to move and gasps as he remembers not to move his leg.
Mrs. Sykes comes into view,
"I thought you'd be waking up soon. Let me check you." She puts that thermometer in his mouth again, checks his pulse and lifts the blanket to check the dressing on his leg.
"You're a little fevered," she says.
She leaves for a few minutes and comes back with a bowl of cool water and a cloth.
"I've buzzed Dr. Wilkins, he'll be here shortly."
She proceeds to dab at his face and neck with the cool cloth. It feels good.
It is not long before Edgar arrives. No jacket or vest this time, just a crumpled shirt with rolled up sleeves.
"What's going on?" he asks
Mrs. Sykes shows him the records she has been keeping. They talk a while, then he hands her some money. "Here I earned your pay last night. Go home, get some sleep and come back this afternoon."
"Thank you doctor," she says, "I'll see you later Marshal."
After she leaves, he looks at me. "Quite a character isn't she?"
"She can sure put the fear in a man."
He laughs. "I had a man the Marshal brought in a while back, He had got himself shot while the lawmen were arresting him. Big mean man he was. One night with Mrs. Sykes looking after him and he begged me to send him back to the jail."
"I can believe that."
"She knows what she's doing though, worked in a field hospital during the war. I couldn't ask for better help."
"You go play poker to pay her?"
"Yes, it's a good arrangement, I can earn more at the poker table than I pay her."
"If you always win, how come you can still find folks in town who'll play against you"
"We get a fair number of strangers passing through, and no, I don't always win. I just do well on average."
"Let's see what's going on with you. Mrs. Sykes said you were running a fever."
He gets his stethoscope and listens for several minutes. I can tell something is troubling him but he doesn't say anything.
I close my eyes trying to shut out the pain.
He leaves for a moment and comes back with two glasses of liquid.
"I'm sorry, neither of these taste good, but just go on and take them. It'll help your pain and hopefully the fever."
I swallow without protest, and he gets me some water to wash them down.
He pulls up a chair and picks up the cloth Mrs. Sykes was using and rinses it out. He starts to lay it on my face and chest. I feel my eyes getting heavy and return to sleep as pain fades away.
Next time I wake it is full daylight. I think I am alone, but as soon as I move Wilkins is there. He feels my forehead and my wrist.
"That's better," he says.
I look around. "Nice set up you have. Don't remember seeing it last time I was here."
"No I only got it finished about three weeks ago. Had to wait until I got my new house livable. Even that isn't finished yet. I'm waiting for some high rollers to come to town."
"Did you see Kilburn last night?"
"Yes he's coming over in a while, I have to go and make a few house calls out of town. Mrs. Sykes will come over later. She'll bring you some lunch and get that dressing changed. If you feel like it we'll get you up, but you can't put any weight on that leg for a week or so. I'll see if I can find you some crutches from somewhere."
"Do you want me to wire your friends in Dodge and let them know you'll be here a while?"
"That would be good, but you know if you send a wire everyone will know Dodge is without its Marshal and all the no-goods for miles around will take advantage."
"Oh I can manage to avoid that."
"How?"
"I can make sure Adams is the only one that knows what it says."
I look puzzled and he laughs.
"All doctors have a working knowledge of Latin. I doubt anyone in Dodge other than Galen will be able to read it. I am not that great at the language myself, but can manage. He won't have any problem understanding it."
"Just remember I don't want to get Kitty worried."
"Sure. Now let's see if we can get you up."
It takes a little effort, but eventually Matt is sitting at the desk with his leg propped up on a stool.
"Here have some coffee while I write this telegram."
It is not long before Dan Kilburn arrives at the door.
"Hello Matt. I hear you wanted to talk to me."
Wilkins acknowledges the Pinkerton man and then leaves to go send the telegram and make his rounds.
"How is Marshal Patterson doing with the men we brought back?"
"He got a lot of information on them from St. Louis. Still waiting on my boss in Texas though."
"You told me you thought there was an insider working with them."
"Yes, and I still do. Most of the robberies they knew about were Federal Shipments. Too many for coincidence."
"Ask the Marshal to be quiet about the arrests. I have been thinking. We need to plant one more piece of false information. If Dorsey was holed up in that shack, there were only a number of ways his contact could communicate with him. He either had to send a wire to Salina or Wichita, or send a rider out to the shack. I figure if we can keep our eyes on those we have a good chance of finding out where his information is coming from."
"You know, I think that has a chance of working. I'll talk with the others and see what we can set up. We can always leave someone out at the shack, and with help from the local sheriff we can intercept a wire. I'll go and see about getting things set up. Are you going to be okay if I leave you by yourself?"
"Sure, Wilkins arranged for someone to come over until he gets back. Go on and see what you can set up."
Wilkins left and Matt finds himself alone. He watches out the window for a while, then folds his arms on the table and lays his head down.
That is how Mrs. Sykes finds him a little later. She feels his forehead and checks his pulse.
"Well you seem fine today, she tells him. I brought you some stew and biscuits, and if you eat that there is some apple pie."
The food is good. Matt realizes it's been several days since he had a meal other than trail rations. Maybe Mrs. Sykes is not so bad after all.
Once he's finished, she decides it is time to get him back to the bed.
"Doctor left instructions for me to change that dressing," she tells him.
The woman is strong and has no difficulty helping him across the room.
She brings the small cart from yesterday to the bedside. It has everything she needs for the task. Dillon has to admit Mrs. Sykes knows what she is doing. Smoothly and efficiently she has the dressing changed. The only pain he felt was when she poured some liquid directly on the wound.
"I know it burns," she tells him, "but it will stop it from getting infected." She checks his temperature and pulse and records them. Then gets a small glass of laudanum." Just a half dose," she says. Doctor wanted you to get some rest.
Matt didn't mind too much, his ribs were painful and there wasn't much else to do right now. Hopefully the Pinkerton man would return and tell him how things were working out.
It was later that evening before he woke. Wilkins was sitting at the desk with some food spread out in front of him. "Want some supper Matt? I just had some sent over. Dan Kilburn was here a little while ago – he said he would come back later."
He comes over to the bed and helps me up.
"Here I got these for you," he produces a pair of crutches, "I have adjusted them. I hope they are tall enough for you."
"How many hands did you have to play for these?" I ask him.
He laughs, "I got them from one of the patients I went to visit. He broke a leg about a year ago and I got him the crutches then."
It takes a while to get moving, but finally I sit at the table and see he has got a couple of steaks and some beans.
"Are you planning to take the train back to Dodge?" he asks.
"No, my horse is here, so I'll ride."
"How long does that take?"
"About seven or eight hours."
"In that case you better wait a few more days. Don't want you to bust that wound open."
Kilburn returned later that evening. He had put Dillon's plan into action. Two of the men had ridden out to the shack, and one was on his way to Salina to check on the telegraph there. Meantime Marshall Patterson had heard from the Rangers in Texas. All the men they had brought in were wanted for various crimes mostly connected with robberies and hold ups, and one for murder.
After Kilburn leaves, Edgar says he is going to go play a few hands.
"I still have a lot of work to get done on my house," he explains.
I'll be fine by myself tonight," Matt tells him, "I could probably go get a room at the hotel."
"No stay here. I'd take you over to the house but I only have one bed there. Here I'll show you the buzzer I've rigged up – just in case you need anything during the night." He demonstrates how to wind the handle and push the key. "That's all there is to it. I can be here in less than five minutes. Anyway I'll stop by and check on you on my way home."
The following afternoon Kilburn returns.
"I think we have a bite Marshal," he says. "Yesterday morning we put out information on a federal shipment going by stage from St. Louis to Colorado. A wire came in to the telegraph office in Salina at about noon today with details of the shipment. The Marshal's Service have been very helpful at getting us access to whatever we need to track this down. The wire was sent from Washington. Now all we have to do is find who sent it. I think the Marshals are going to take the case over now, but we got things started. Pinkertons will give me a bonus for this. I feel bad that all you get is a bullet in your leg and a couple of busted ribs."
I laugh, "That's how it works with my job, you get the badge but not much else. I'm happy for you Dan. What are you planning to do now?"
"Not sure Matt. Probably head back to Texas and get my old job back."
"How about riding back to Dodge with me? I'm going to need a little help on the trail"
"Sure thing. When do you think the Doc will turn you loose?"
"Probably another day or so."