Chapter 11 - Artie ex machina

Jim smelled smoke. Most disturbing was the fact that it seemed to come from inside the house. "Do you smell that?"

"Yes."

"Let's get out of here."

Jim went to pull the heavy butcher block away from the door. When he turned around, Nadja was in the room holding a knife in Kat's back.

"Nadja, what are you doing?"

"You lied to me. You said you'd go back home with me."

"I said I might. I asked you to look into it. I made no promises. Nadja, the knife is cutting in to me."

"Then you laid with him again, after you pretended he was leaving forever."

"Nadja, please don't."

Nadja whipped the knife from around Kat's back to the front of her neck where it pressed into flesh drawing a bead of blood.

"Nadja, stop," Jim yelled. "Kat only told you what I asked her too. Let her go. I'm the one you want to hurt."

"I saw the sheets. I smelled the bed. You went to him. He was just playing with you, using you. Why did you let him?"

"She can't talk with the knife digging in her throat like that, Nadja. Back it off if you really want answers."

Nadja relaxed her grip a little. Jim's eyes locked with Kat's as if to reassure her that he could manage this situation. The truth: he wasn't so certain after the Badlands. At least Kat was bigger, with more strength than the boy. Just maybe, if they could keep Nadja talking, guessing, he could catch her off balance before she hurt Kat.

"Do you really want the truth, Nadja?"

"Yes."

"I wanted him. Every inch of me wanted to feel his body on mine, inside mine."

"For that, you would give up everything? You fool." The knife came back in tighter.

"I want to stay here. I want to breed and train horses. I've always wanted the same thing. It was others who wanted different things from me. If I deceived you, it was because you could not handle or accept the truth. This was my last chance to make the life I wanted."

"With him, instead of me?"

"No, I have no expectations from him. If you had left things alone, he'd have been out of our lives tomorrow. I would have told you the truth then. I would have been content for you to come with me anywhere, but I do not want you that way, Nadja. I never have. I'm sorry, but it is how I feel."

"Listen Nadja, the smoke is getting thick. We need to get out of here soon. Let's take this outside, okay?" Jim's hand rested on his holster waiting, hoping she might turn away from him for a moment or two.

"The Countess and I are going nowhere, Mr. West. You are welcome to leave anytime you wish."

"Please, Nadja. Let's go outside. Make things right."

"Do you know what I have done for you today?"

"No. Oh, Nadja, what have you done?"

"You gave me hope of returning home if I could get you buyers for your horses. I took steps to send a slew of buyers your way, but of course, it was needless."

"What did you do?"

"In fact, I did nothing. It was you, Ekaterina, you on Schumann who set the show stables on fire. You were seen by a stable boy."

"Nadja, no, how could you? All those horses, the people."

"I had it all arranged. We'd take the evening train and be in New York in time tomorrow to set sail to England, then on to Minsk. I even emptied your father's safe to buy the tickets so you could not delay. But now you have nothing left, Ekaterina, just like me. No where to go. Nothing to live for."

"Schumann, what did you do to Schumann?"

Jim shook his head at Kat. She didn't need to irritate Nadja further.

"Jim, please, leave while you still can."

Nadja dug the knife deeper in Kat's neck. Kat was beginning to gag from the pressure and the smoke. Everyone's eyes were starting to feel the sting of the smoke. The sound of something falling from behind the kitchen door caused Nadja to pivot some. Jim pulled his gun, but didn't have a clean line of sight; besides, his concussed head kept his vision wavering between blurry and double. His hand shook a little. Hadn't he just lived through this? And hadn't he failed then when he could see more clearly? If he waited for there to be no risk to Kat, would he be too late again?

"You'll hit her first, Mr. West, or maybe run the both of us through. There might be justice in that," Nadja laughed and cried at the same time. The smoke deepened her voice. It gave it a similar tone to Eliza's grunt. Jim, ever sturdy and steady Jim, was shaking.

Another crashing noise from behind the women startled Nadja. She didn't turn so much this time, however. It was the fire she set. The house was beginning to crackle and crumble. More sounds got no reaction from her. Nadja appeared to be in a trance, steeling herself to die from smoke or to cut Kat's throat and take the bullets she knew would come from Jim's gun. Another crash was followed by the kitchen door whooshing open. A blur of a blanketed figure came in low from the door and struck upward with a stick at Nadja's head. Impact. Nadja's grip loosened slightly and her body turned inches to the left. Jim shot high at her blurry face, careful to avoid whoever, whatever, had come in low through the door. As blood exploded outward, Jim saw the knife swing back in toward Kat's throat. Both Nadja and Kat fell to the floor. There was so much blood and now so much smoke, Jim couldn't tell what came from whom. Jim could barely breathe, yet he ran to Kat. He felt the slice along her throat, but he was coughing too hard to help her.

"Let's just get her out of here, Jim."

"Artie?" Was it possible that the blanketed figure had been Artie? Jim couldn't process.

"Come on, grab her feet. I'll get her shoulders. Stay low."

Between coughing fits Jim kept saying the same thing over and over. "Artie? Artie?"

"I'm here, Jim."

Jim didn't seem to believe it, however. When they cleared the building, Artie was down on the ground pressing a cloth against Kat's throat. As Jim coughed up smoky phlegm, he stared hard at Artie, finally beginning to believe he was really seeing Artie.

"Jim, we need to stop the bleeding. I need you to focus, Jim. Is there someplace we can find cloths, clean water, maybe a medical kit for the horses?"

"The stables."

"No, they are on fire too."

"Schumann, was he in there?"

"I let him out. I don't know where he is now."

Jim whistled as loudly as his battered lungs could. Jim's horse neighed back from the corral. Jim had hoped Schumann would respond. He tried again. He heard two neighs this time, one from the corral and one from just outside near his horse. "Keep your fingers crossed, Artie." Jim ran to Schumann. He was still saddled as he'd been earlier, with well worn saddle bags on both sides. Jim pulled the bags off and ripped through them. He found a small medical kit for patching up horse wounds including carbolic acid. He took it and then grabbed a bucket in the corral and emptied it. He ran to the pump outside the corral, filled it and hustled back to Artie.

"Artie, how bad is it?"

"I can't tell until I clean her up some. A lot of this blood might be the other woman's." Artie was applying pressure to the wound with his handkerchief when Jim got back. "What did you find?"

"Pretty much anything you'd need to fix a horse's wound and some fresh water. I've got a handkerchief."

"Okay, I want you to slowly pour some water on her neck, right over my hands for now is fine. By some miracle, is there any carbolic acid?"

"Yes."

"Great. How about sutures?"

"Horse sutures. You're going to try those out here, Artie?"

"She won't make it to town alive if I don't."

"Okay, what next?"

"We're going to swap places on three. Keep pressure on the wound while I get ready. If you want to tell me what the hell has been going on while we do this, you may."

"Not now, Artie."

"You're really shaky, Jim."

"I know, Artie."

"The head wound?"

"Some of it."

"The lady?"

"Her too."

"I see that I have a lot of catching up to do. Okay, on my count, you're going to lift my handkerchief. I am going to rinse the wound with water first, so I can see exactly what I am dealing with. Then you come back with a clean cloth and pressure. Do you think you have it together enough to apply carbolic acid to the clean cloth slightly ahead of my stitching while maintaining pressure with the other hand?"

"I can do it."

"Okay, it's by your right hand now, and it's uncorked so you can get to it easily after you get the fresh cloth down. Ready, 1, 2, 3."

Jim followed instructions nearly robotically. Artie calmly applied his tailoring skills to human flesh. Fifteen minutes later, Artie tied a knot. It wasn't ideal, either the suturing job or the use of the horse grade sutures, but the wound didn't seep too badly. The patient was still alive. That was positive. Jim's color and demeanor were less so. "I think she'll make it, Jim. She has a good chance."

"If you hadn't shown up when you did . . .."

"That's what partners are for, right?"

"Artie . . . thank you. I . . . it was a bad situation."

"So I heard, but we pulled through it together like we always do."

"I thought it was going to end just like in the Badlands. It nearly did."

"Jim, I don't know what happened to you in South Dakota, but we're going to talk about it soon. However, now we've got to get this young lady to a real doctor."

"Someone's coming, Artie."

"Jim, you're okay? Kat, oh lord, how is she?"

"I think she'll make it, Ollie."

"We need to get her out of here. Townsfolk are not far behind me."

"How are we going to do that? There's just the one road."

"Get into the woods on the right of the road. About 500 yards in, there's a creek bed. It's pretty flat. It goes just north of town. You'll be able to see the rails when you are close to town."

"She should see a doctor."

"If you bring her into town, Jim, I can't guarantee her safety."

"But it was Nadja who set the fire, not her."

"I believe that, but they won't and even if they did, it wouldn't matter to them. One Russian is the same as another to them right now."

Kat began to stir.

"Jim?" she croaked.

"You'll be all right but you shouldn't talk. You've got stitches in your neck and we don't want them to break loose."

"Nadja?"

"Dead."

Kat's eyes moistened.

"This next part is going to be rough, Kat. We have to go through the woods to get you out of here. Just stay as still as you can. Okay? Just blink for yes, don't try to talk."

Kat blinked.

"I'll get your horse and give you a hand, Jim."

"No, just open the corral and step aside, Ollie. He'll come when I call."

Kat pursed her lips in distress. "Schuuu, Schuu." She couldn't finish the word.

"Kat, we don't have time to worry about your horse," Ollie said.

"I'll get him," Artie said. "You get started, Jim."

"No, Artie, he's as touchy as mine. I'll get him." Jim whistled for his horse. He came and so did Schumann.

"Oh great, a pair of them," Artie huffed.

Jim mounted his horse, took the hand up of Kat from Artie and Ollie and set off with Schumann trailing behind them. After Artie mounted his horse, Ollie held him up a moment. "Here, I found this satchel over by the corral. She's going to need what's in it if she makes it. I'll stay here and throw them off the track, tell them I think both women were in the house. Send me a message when you get wherever you go on that train."

"Will do. Thanks, Ollie."

"Thanks to you and Jim. God speed to Kat."