CHAPTER FOUR
They stopped at Jeremy Logan's place to leave Chaucer and Honey Pie since Ezra wouldn't be needing his horse for a while and Nathan, who rode Peso home, could always use the pony runabout that the gambler had gifted to the town's doctor or healer, whomever that may be, as well as the use of Mabel, whenever she was available. Ezra knew that his friend would be the man using the rig and the sweet horse, for hopefully years to come. Jeremy was sure to take good care of the two horses and the horses, who had become fast friends, not just stablemates at the livery, would be happily spoiled with all of the time Jeremy would give them to run free.
"Thanks for doing this, Jeremy," Vin said.
"Hell, Vin," the horseman said. "I can't believe it turned out like this. Ezra don't deserve this."
"No." Vin looked into the wagon at his friend. The laudanum seemed to be keeping him quiet. Jeremy's dogs barking looked like that might change. Ezra moved his head. He seemed to try to open his eyes.
"Fred," he whispered.
"Fuck," Jeremy said softly. "Damn piece of shit Grant."
"That's a fact," Chris said. "Thanks, Jeremy." The two men shook hands.
"Keep me posted on Ezra."
"We will."
They took the return very slowly, J.D. conscious of being on the lookout for possible ruts or rocks that might have fallen into the road on the way back to town. What The Magnificent Seven found upon their return had all of the men who were conscious left with their mouths hanging open.
"What happened?" J.D. asked.
"Sssh," Vin and Nathan said.
"Sorry," J.D. whispered. "But … look at it."
Chris got off his horse and walked up to familiar faces gathered in front of Pike's Grocery and General Store.
"Chris."
"Ben. What happened?"
"Dottie saw it happen, so she will be happy to supply all the awful details, but that wagon right there, with all of the staircase for the clinic piled on top of it, is half-loaded with silver," Ben said.
"Silver? Who … wait a minute." Chris walked across the street to inspect the wagon more closely. "Son of a bitch," he said, easily heard by those waiting back at Pike's store. Chris walked back over. "That's Graham's wagon. Where's the one who was driving this thing?"
"Dave Landon's watching him and the other two who held Mary hostage," Ben said.
"It's getting crowded in a jail that hasn't had much use lately," Robert Merton said as he and his wife Abigail joined the crowd.
"Hey, Robert," Chris said. "That wagon is Roland Graham's," he said to the rest of The Seven. "Remember the one who was shot when he brought his silver in, remember, the day Ezra had that punctured lung? It's still got Graham's blood stains all over the bottom. Mary found his son and he came to claim it."
Kid Curry walked out and stepped up to Dottie. "What's goin' on?"
"You heard the crash?"
"I did but I didn't want to come out until Joshua was truly asleep. He's out, for sure." Kid nodded toward the wreckage of the staircase up to the clinic. He whistled and asked, "What happened?"
"The one driving was drunk as a skunk," Robert said. "Had to go home and change my clothes he stunk 'em up so bad."
"We couldn't leave them in the house. They are hanging over the railing on the back porch," Abigail said. "I would avoid heading down that alley if you can."
"We need to get Ezra settled."
"Ezra?" Dottie, Gloria, Abigail and Mary all said, with Ben and Robert not far behind. Kid shook his head and was glad that Heyes wasn't around to hear all that. "What happened?" Mary asked for them all.
"Gunshot. Bullet's still in. Need him settled and calm. Gotta be ground floor, can't risk jarring him going up any stairs. I'll operate in the morning," Nathan said.
"Why can't you operate now? We can make room in the back where Joshua and Thaddeus are staying," Dottie said. The Seven, minus the one who was currently out of commission looked at each other. Chris nodded his head, so did Vin.
"Can we re-arrange things in there to give these boys as much room as possible?" Mary asked. She, Dottie and Josiah headed to review the room.
"Hold on," Kid said. The three who were heading to the room stopped. "Joshua's asleep in there. He's in pain and just now fell into a sound sleep. Isn't there any other option?"
"Not really," Gloria said. "The back room in the saloon would work, except that's been set up temporarily for overflow storage for both saloons and the restaurants. Remember," she said to her fellow Four Corners citizens, "that town that went belly up sold all of their restaurant merchandise at a steal of a price. The room is overflowing."
Kid could see that these people, who welcomed them and, save maybe for Larabee, wanted to help them, would have found another place if they could.
"All right. Then let's go move stuff around. Maybe we can get as many men as possible and try to move my partner while he's sleeping in that nice, comfortable bed," Kid suggested.
"I'm sure we can do that, Thaddeus," Dottie said. "You men, could you please wait? We will just be a few minutes while we look to see the best set-up. We'll be right back." Mary, Dottie, Josiah and Kid went back to the room that had been made up so nicely for the reforming outlaws.
Less than five minutes later, Josiah came outside. "Buck, Chris, Robert, let's get in there and move some furniture around. Thaddeus, go on and sit with your friend," Josiah added.
Kid had hoped that they could keep the area nearest the room that had the water run to it and the bank of windows that looked out onto the Pike's amazing garden, but with the light waning on this day and not knowing exactly how long the surgery might go, Nathan suggested that he needed his table on which Ezra would lay and Nathan would perform the surgery, to be placed at the windows. In order to use as little space as possible that had previously been promised to the two newcomers to Four Corners, they agreed to move the surgical table out of the way, moving it very carefully with Ezra on it, and place the bed in the same spot for the gamester to use for his recovery. Kid and Heyes kept the remainder of the room. Heyes' bed stayed nearest the wood stove, which would probably get a small workout in the morning the next day as the nights had grown progressively cooler. Kid's bed was placed on an "L" to his partner's when previously the two beds were set side-by-side. This allowed for more open area as Nathan would need to have a table for surgical supplies handy, tables for some lamps and space for Josiah and most likely Gloria to assist. Miscellaneous other necessities would eat up more space, temporarily. All but the bed and a small table would be removed once Ezra was clear of any complications.
"What do you think?" Josiah whispered as Nathan walked into the room.
"I think maybe we should do the surgery today."
"You do?"
"This got set up right quick. Can you get the table?" Nathan asked. "See if you can get Buck and J.D. to help Dottie with the bed? Have J.D. gather my stuff. You can figure out a way up to the clinic?"
"Already done, brother. We'll take care of it. We'll make sure it's all set up in fifteen minutes."
"Thank you, Josiah."
Nathan waved Kid Curry over to the door. Still maintaining a whisper as Heyes slept through all of the activity, the former slave said, "I'm gonna go ahead and do the surgery now. Keepin' a bullet in overnight isn't the best, especially when I think I can get it done before dark."
"I don't disagree. Is he all right out there? Do you want to bring him in, lay him on my bed?"
"Thank you for the offer, Thaddeus, but he's comfortable out there, we got him all bundled up, Vin's with him. Best to move him just once before I go in for the bullet."
"You think it'll go okay?" Kid asked. Heyes might not have taken to Standish all that well, but Kid liked him. He saw a lot of Heyes in him, and that was something for which Kid Curry held great fondness.
"I do. I could feel the bullet, and I could feel pieces of bone that got shattered. It'll be awkward, I'll need Josiah and Gloria for this one." Nathan looked over toward Heyes. "Let's step outside." They did, and Nathan continued as Chris stepped up to them. "I was just telling Thaddeus that I'm going to get the bullet out now."
"Really?" Chris nodded to Kid. Kid did not acknowledge Chris in any way.
"Yeah. Everything's moved around inside. Josiah's working on fetching the table, a bed and the rest of the supplies for surgery. I'm gonna need Buck ready to take over for Josiah to keep Ezra immobile. They'll need a break, alternate."
"I can help," Kid said.
"So can I," Chris added.
"No. Josiah and Buck will do fine," Nathan said. "We'll have Gloria, too. All that help will make it go faster. We'll use your help for clean-up, Chris," Nathan said with an amused grin.
"Thanks."
"I wasn't eavesdropping, I swear," Dottie said as she joined them outside the room that was now going to be a surgery. "Ben, Jeremiah and I would like you and Joshua to spend the evening with us. Let Nathan get Ezra settled." She leaned up close to Kid and said, "I can do more in the kitchen than just bake."
"Dottie, I have no doubt about that." Kid saw Chris Larabee's frown, the former gunslinger's attempt to discourage Kid from accepting. "We'd love to join your family for the evening. That's real nice of you to invite us."
"That's great," she said. To Chris she said, "You might want to check your scowl, Chris. That line right there," she said, pointing to the deep frown line between his eyes, "may become permanent." Kid snorted a laugh, which deepened the line further. "Are you always this good at following directions? Don't answer that. I'll ask Mary." That made Kid Curry laugh out loud, then quickly put his hand over his mouth.
"Sorry," he said to Chris. He looked through the window. "Damn, Joshua is moving some."
"Go in and calm him. You can help him get dressed. I'll send Ben over to help you walk him carefully over to our place."
"Where is your place?" Kid asked worriedly.
"Follow me." They walked to the fence to the garden. "See that house at the back of the garden? That is our little house. We built it earlier this year."
"That is sweet," Kid said.
"Isn't it, though? Ben'll be here in a few minutes, so get on in there. Chris, do you want to watch that nobody walks in on Joshua without his pants on?" Dottie asked, tickled to see the frown line had eased.
"Not really, but since I'm the only one here … "
"Good for you," Dottie said as she walked by, reached up on her toes and kissed Chris Larabee on the cheek.
"She's something else," Kid said.
"Yeah. I think Ben might be a saint."
"Maybe. She's been awful welcoming, and lots of fun. It's eased Joshua's stress quite a lot, having her stop in."
"Joshua's?" Chris asked. Kid knew he was questioning the use of their aliases when only the two of them were conversing, but Kid chose to answer the query differently.
"Both of ours, I guess. See ya around," he said as he tipped his hat and entered the room to see to his partner.
"How come he's sleeping?" Jeremiah whispered.
"Well," Kid said to the little boy sitting in his lap, the stuffed cat nestled in the boy's tiny lap, "Joshua's been sick. That's why we're here, to see if Mr. Jackson can help him."
Jeremiah leaned deeper into Kid's chest. "Maybe Chief Ko-Je's medicine man can help," he whispered, his voice growing softer as his bedtime drew near. The boy was worried about his friend Mr. Ezra, and Kid decided that, once Heyes fell asleep, which he knew that he would, that it would be the fast draw's job to take the little boy's mind off of his worries for this man who clearly meant so much to so many in this town.
"Yeah, we heard he might be able to help." Kid stopped talking, intuitively aware that the boy would drop off to sleep once quiet held the room. He looked over to Ben and Dottie. The parents were so proud of their son, as they should be. Though he was still young, just seven, and definitely small for his age, he had a wise-beyond-his years aspect that was heartwarming to see in one so young. And his warm heart shone through as well. He was most certainly learning all the right things from his parents, but Kid Curry also knew that this community was doing right by little Jeremiah Pike as well.
Ben walked up to Kid. "Let me take this off your hands," he whispered with a loving smile.
"He's not bothering me," Kid said.
"I know. But it is his bedtime." Ben picked up his boy and carried him to his small room.
"We'll be back in a few minutes. Have another glass of wine. The whiskey is in the cabinet to the right of the sink if you'd like something stronger," Dottie said as she followed her husband and son out of the main living space.
Kid made his way to the whiskey. He pulled a glass from a shelf above the cabinet and poured himself a finger, or a little more, of whiskey and went back to sit near his best friend. They had enjoyed a delicious supper with the Pike family. They heard a goodly amount about Ezra Standish, who was Jeremiah Pike's "favorite person in the whole, wide world." Heyes seemed willing to at least listen to a little boy tell of all of the wonderful things he had learned from Ezra, about how much he loved the gambler's horse Chaucer, about gardening and the wonders of tomato horn worms, about bowling down a dusty alley, about igloos, about how much he missed Fred. Jeremiah told the two strangers, who listened to him as though they were cherished uncles, about how Mr. Ezra still missed Fred so much and how the boy worried that his friend might leave the town because he was so sad for so long. Kid felt they learned more about Standish in these few hours than they had in their previous short time in Four Corners. He could see in his best friend's eyes that Heyes might have a better understanding of the man and why he was a favored son of so many in this town.
Kid watched as Heyes made a sound of discomfort. Dottie had prepared the most comfortable chair in their tiny cottage for the healing man. He really should not have moved, his kidneys in no way healed enough for that. But the walk was a short one, he had Kid on one side and Ben on the other and they made the short seventy-five yard or so walk very slowly. The chair had a feather-filled blanket cushioning the already nicely-padded chair. A pillow was set behind his friend's head and he had been dozing soundly for a while until these new sounds of distress.
"Joshua," Kid called, aware that they needed to watch that they use their aliases, but knowing that getting Heyes to wake from whatever was vexing or hurting him was harder when he couldn't call him by the name that he had used to call him for nearly all of their adult lives. He set his whiskey down and grasped Heyes' forearm, both of which rested atop the cushioned arms of the chair. "Joshua, are ya all right?" he called, not too loud so as not to wake the boy in the other room, or startle the man in this one.
Heyes woke, his eyes taking in the worried blue in the eyes of his partner.
"Hello," he said as he looked around the room. "I fell asleep."
Kid smiled and spoke quietly, "Ya did. Ben and Dottie are in putting Jeremiah to bed." The smile disappeared when he asked, "Is everything okay?"
Heyes blinked tiredly when he answered, "I was dreaming about when we were hunting those mountain lions for Jake Carlson."
"That was quite a couple of weeks."
"Yeah. My mind," Heyes said as he waved his hand about his head, "was blurring what happened then with what's goin' on now." He forced his eyes open, looked at the most important person in his whole, wide world, and said, "When that cat nearly got me? But I saw in my … well, it would be more of a nightmare than a dream if it really happened, I saw myself falling on my back with the way it feels right now. It wasn't good."
"I bet. You hurting more?" Kid asked, worriedly.
"No. It's about the same."
Ben walked up behind Dottie and whispered, "It's not nice to eavesdrop. Didn't we recently have that talk with Jeremiah?"
Dottie leaned back into her husband's embrace and replied, "It's not eavesdropping if you can't hear the conversation."
"Clever lady. By the way, have I told you today how much I love you?" He kissed her neck, and then kissed it again as she turned to offer him more.
"This morning, my love. Of course, the rest of the day has been a crazy one. I would forgive you for not saying it, and I don't need to hear it because I feel it every minute of my day." Dottie rubbed up against him and then offered her mouth to her husband. A passionate kiss and intimate touching had Ben step away.
"Well. That is, ahem, well … I am looking forward to Joshua and Thaddeus going back to their room."
"That is something that might not happen for a while, so settle down," Dottie said as she kissed Ben on the cheek, and then licked her way to exercise her tongue in his ear. And out. An in.
"You don't make it easy for me to do that." He sucked on her neck once more, playfully leaving a mark, and then stepped away, though remained close enough for their whispered conversation to continue. "They are obviously very important to one another," he said as they watched Heyes and Curry converse, Kid keeping his speech both verbal and physical as his hand remained on his partner's arm while they talked.
"Their life hasn't been the easiest. And I feel that they've left out the worst of what they have experienced in their lives. For some reason, I think we're lucky that they are both still with us, that Joshua's illness and this new injury are things that they are probably lucky to be suffering through. Men like them, drifting from job to job, never settling down, the types of things they have experienced could have broken them, injured them far worse than what is going on now. They could have died at any point in this hard life that they must lead. We've seen any number of drifters come into the store who have most likely died within days or weeks of spending their last pennies with us."
"I don't know, Dot. I think these two are smarter and more resourceful than a lot of the men we see come and go. And we'll give them a good, long time to recover from all of this, some downtime from their hard life out there."
Dottie pulled her husband toward her and gave him a long, lingering kiss.
"Dot … " he warned.
"All right, all right," she said with a smile as she fiendishly fondled his chest, slowly, seductively. He rolled his eyes, forced her misbehaving hand still and they walked together into the main room of their home.
Kid noticed the sound of footsteps. "He asleep?" he asked, taking his hand off of Heyes' arm.
"Oh, he was nearly there in your lap," Dottie said. "You were so good with him."
"You were?" Heyes asked, following by a yawn. "Excuse me."
"He was worried about you, worried about Standish. He seemed to need to talk, that's all."
"Well, you've always been the best shoulder for me, no reason why you wouldn't be good at it for a seven-year-old."
"Hey," Kid said, catching himself again before he blasted their true identities for the Pikes to hear, "Joshua, sometimes being that shoulder for you is like doing it for a seven-year-old."
"Right back atcha, Thaddeus," Heyes said, his retort punctuated by another yawn.
Ben shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You two make it hard for a man to compete for his wife's attentions," he joked. "I'm going to go check in next door. Be right back," Ben said as he left his wife with their two visitors.
"I hope everything is all right over there," Dottie said. "I didn't expect to have anyone come see us this soon from what's going on over there, but I think Ben took a look at you, Joshua, and his nurturing nature wants you back in your bed."
"I think Joshua's back would like that, too."
"This is a very comfortable set-up, Dottie. You have been so kind to host us while Mr. Jackson fixes Standish up."
"No. I mean, I didn't mean anything negative about how you put this chair together for Joshua," Kid said, his irritation with his partner showing through in the comment. He offered a faint scowl directed at the hurting side of the outlaw duo. Heyes frowned at the reaction.
"I didn't say that you did," Heyes insisted, leaning forward to make sure Kid understood that. The movement was a mistake. "Oh, god," he said as he held tight to the arms of the chair and settled back down into it.
"What're you doing?" Kid asked as he jumped from his seat and helped Heyes settle back in the chair.
"All right, both of you calm down. Why don't we just agree that we are all doing everything we can to get through a difficult time? Is that a deal?"
"Yes," Heyes eked out.
"Yes, ma'am," Thaddeus said.
"Um, I'm a little young for that, Thaddeus, if you don't mind." Heyes snorted a laugh, then groaned. Kid laughed, too, and watched to make sure there was nothing more he could do for his partner.
"Sit down, Thaddeus," Heyes said. Kid sat.
"Would either of you like another piece of gingerbread? Coffee?"
"Whiskey?" Heyes asked.
"Not for you. But you can have gingerbread. Or coffee," Dottie tried again. "Do you like tea?"
"A cup of tea sounds nice, actually. When was the last time we had tea?" Heyes asked Kid.
"I don't remember having tea since, well, never mind," Kid answered.
"Since my mother would have afternoon tea with her lady friends and family," Heyes offered as it was now his turn to place his hand on Kid's arm.
"You two have wonderful memories of your time as children. You shouldn't suppress them. We should cherish what memories we have." Dottie turned her head away from the two men before her, then stepped away and said quickly, her voice choked, "I will get the tea."
Heyes and Kid looked to each other. They must have touched a nerve with something they said.
"What did we say?" Kid asked.
"Don't know. But if she looks upset when she comes back, we should probably just drop it." Heyes yawned again.
"I hope they're close to done with that surgery." Heyes didn't reply as he nodded off once more.
"How's it going?" Ben asked as he walked up to the room where Nathan, Josiah and Gloria worked to remove the bullet from a particularly difficult location in Ezra Standish's body. He found Chris, Vin and J.D. had removed the two dining chairs from inside and found another one from somewhere and were sitting outside as they waited for the surgery to finish.
"Nathan got the bullet out, thinks he got all of the chips of bone when the bullet clipped his shoulder blade," Chris said.
"Ouch."
"Yeah. Nate said he's gonna need time to recover from this one," J.D. said.
"I wish … " Vin started, then he shook his head and looked away.
"You wish Fred was here to help him during this recovery," Ben said.
Chris looked to Vin and could see that Ben had gotten it right.
"Damn it. That dog was … "
"He was Ezra's balm," J.D. said. "My mom had the smell of the sea. We all have something that keeps us calm during the hard times. Ezra's was Fred."
"Yep," Vin said at the same time that Ben said, 'He was,' and Chris nodded as he conceded the simple truth.
"Do we know how much longer he'll be?" Ben asked as the door opened and Gloria and Nathan walked outside.
"Thank you, Gloria. You were, well, you were wonderful," Nathan said.
"Thank you, Nathan. But I had all the inspiration to do my very best knowing who our patient was." She turned to Chris. "Thank you for sending in Angie and Vivian to clean things up. They should be done very soon. Nathan, everyone, good night."
"Good night, Gloria," Chris said. He hugged her and she wasn't able to leave the area without a goodnight hug from the others before she walked tiredly back to her store.
"So?" Chris asked.
"It's good. We got everything. That tiny bit of shoulder blade shouldn't cause him long term trouble. It's in a tough location. I'll be cleaning it regular tomorrow and the next day, but then I'm gonna need those stiches to air out. He'll have to keep his arm away from his body. I'm gonna rig a table to the side of his bed at the window, and a strap for him to place his hand through. He won't be able to keep his arm in place without some help, and he'll need to be supervised for the next week. He can't let it get dirty, so he'll need it covered, but it also can't get soiled from sweat or anything else. We are all in for some bad days ahead. He will be unpleasant because what he will go through will be unpleasant."
"Maybe working through what's wrong with Smith will help keep his mind off of it," Chris suggested.
"It might, but we'll need to push working on that by a couple of days. Ezra's going to need all of his concentration on healing himself."
"Will Joshua and Thaddeus be coming back tonight?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, that'll be fine. Give the ladies another half an hour. That will also give Ezra enough time for the tea and laudanum to put him out. Then we can go in and move the table out of the way, shift the bed in place, and then transfer Ez to the bed."
"You had to give him the laudanum, Nate?" Vin asked.
"Yes, Vin, I did. I know he don't like it. I know you don't like it, and I don't like having to do it. But this was a bad extraction of a bullet in a bad location with some chipped bone. He needs it and that's all there is to it," the former stretcher bearer during the war responded, a man who learned more about doctoring than a lot of doctors with medical school degrees ever managed to retain from years of schooling in and 'practicing' medicine.
"We know you did what you had to, Nate," J.D. said.
"Thank you, J.D."
"All right. Since it will be taking Thaddeus and me a while to get Joshua back here, I'm going to head back and make sure he's awake enough to make the trip," Ben said.
"Hold on, Ben. How is he?" Nathan asked.
"He ate all right. He's very tired. Slept quite a lot tonight."
"Damn. All right. Bring him back here," Nathan said. To Chris he said, "I have a suggestion from Dr. Rutherford. Ezra will be soundly out and I can spend some time with Mr. Smith."
"Nate, it's … what time is it?" Chris asked.
"Nearly eight-thirty," Ben said. They all looked at him. "We just put Jeremiah to bed about fifteen minutes ago." They kept looking at him. "He's worried about Ezra and Joshua. So, he spent some time on Thaddeus' lap."
"Is that right?" Chris asked. Now everyone was staring at the former gunslinger. "I'm just thinking, they're strangers. You're comfortable with letting Jeremiah get that close to them?"
"I'm afraid that train has already left the station," Ben responded. "Jeremiah is very taken with those two. So is Dottie. So am I, for that matter. They are both nice men who have an obvious affinity for children, or at least for my child. I don't think that personality trait is something we can ever have enough of around kids. Anyway, Nate, I would hold off on spending time with Joshua tonight. It's late, he's tired, he won't likely give you the best answers because he's so tired. And you know he's sore."
"I know. I should talk to Thaddeus, though, just to get an update on his … " Nathan paused and then said, "I'll just have a conversation with Thaddeus before I call it a night."
"That sounds like a good idea, Nate. Are we going to need to have regular schedules for someone to stay with Ezra?" Chris asked.
"Yeah. I'm going to need to have a place to see other patients, too."
"That we probably can make room for in the back room of the saloon," Chris suggested.
"J.D. and me'll move things around for you to have some space. Chris, can you see if Heidegger has another spare bed?" Vin asked.
"Sure. I'll stop on my way to the saloon. You fellas wanna join me for a late supper and a drink?"
The members of The Magnificent Seven all agreed to get something to eat. Nathan said he'd be eating and running up to Ezra's room for some sleep as first Josiah, and then Vin, spent time with Ezra. Ben said it was mean of them to be heading to the saloon when he had to get Joshua back to his room and then he had to get back to his wife. His wink told them all that his night would be far more pleasurable than their meal and a drink.
The next morning, Nathan showed up at about seven-thirty to find a new outdoor seating area had been set up outside the room where Ezra, Heyes and Kid were staying. He had decided not to speak with Kid because he, too, returned ready to sleep. He found Curry sitting outside, drinking a cup of coffee and eating what looked like a triangular pastry. There was a basket on the table with a napkin covering it, and a coffee pot with extra mugs, sugar and milk.
"What's that?" Nathan asked.
"Dottie called it an apple pasty. She said it's a recipe that goes at least as far back as her great-great grandmother. There's more in the basket. Take one. It's pretty great," Kid said.
"Dottie knows how to bake. We got lots of ladies in this town that can bake," Nathan said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He looked in the basket. "There's lots of different things in this basket. How're you supposed to decide which one to eat?"
"That won't be my problem. I'll have to decide which two or three of what's in that basket I'm going to eat," Kid said as he chewed on his latest bite of the buttery breakfast treat filled with cooked apples and cinnamon and sugar. Nathan took his apply pasty and coffee and sat in the other chair set up in front of the table with the coffee and the baked goods. There was also a bench that looked like one that the Pikes normally kept inside the garden gate.
"Mmm," Nathan said as he took his first bite, his deep voice resonating outside, the vibrations chasing a bird away that had been sitting in a nearby tree.
"Good, huh?" Kid asked, a happy smile on his face. Kid Curry liked to eat.
"Incredible." Nathan took another bite and then a good swallow of coffee and then asked, "Everything all right in there?"
The smile left the blond's face. He finished chewing, took another drink of his coffee and said, "Ezra seems all right. Vin's been there since Josiah left. Ezra's slept well. He woke, got a drink. Vin was ready with the tea, even added a very little laudanum. He's been fine now for a while, sleeping."
Nathan looked this man in the eye. He knew the next part was going to be the harder part of this conversation.
"Thank you for that update. I'm glad Ezra's doing well. Vin would make sure that he would be okay, he would have let me know if I should come in to look at him. How is Joshua?"
Kid took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. "He's in pain. Damn that Larabee."
"You wouldn't be the first to say that," Chris Larabee said as he walked up to the two men. "Who did this?"
Kid was reluctant still to exchange pleasantries with the man who caused his friend more pain, even though he'd managed to stay calm the previous day. But Heyes had gone through his second night from hell, all of the symptoms that the healer said he would have, he did. Over and over and over again. The pain, the burn, the frustration of the need to go and then being unable to, and then the pain and not being able to get up fast enough. The embarrassment of doing those things with others in the room. Yes, for sure, damn Larabee all to hell. But Nathan did not have the answer to Larabee's question. And as much as Kid pretty much hated the man right then, he didn't have it in him to ignore him. He and Heyes may have landed on the wrong side of the law, but they were working real hard to fix all of that, and they were not raised by good, honest and decent people to be rude to others.
"Dottie arranged for it," Kid replied. "Ben, Tommy and Mrs. Potter's boy carried everything and placed it according to Dottie's instructions."
"It's nice. Tommy works for Inez over at the saloon. Inez is Ezra's girl," Chris said, trying to offer a pleasantry himself, as banal as it may be.
"I heard."
"Look … " Chris paused, still finding it annoying that they needed to use the aliases that Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were currently known by. "Jones, I am truly sorry for overreacting. I have … I have been known to have a, what some would, I can have … " he paused again. Someone else finished the sentence.
"A short fuse." Nathan snorted. Buck laughed. Kid Curry and Chris Larabee were a long way away from a smile, let alone snorting a laugh. Chris scowled at his long-time friend. "Settle down, old pard. I'm here to relieve Vin. Carry on," the ladies' man said as he peeked under the napkin, grabbed the first thing he found, and headed inside. He nearly bumped into Vin as he rushed out.
"Thaddeus! Nate, you, too." They all ran inside. "He's been moaning, like he's been doing," Vin said as he looked at Kid, "so I went over to see if he was waking, thought maybe I could help, and I found all this blood. Nate … "
"I see, Vin. Have the surgical table brought back in. My stuff is all in the corner on that small table. We need hot water. Get Gloria to get some clean cloths and tell her I need her. Vin, can you stay and help?"
"Sher. I'll get help with the table and get Gloria," Vin said. "Buck, take Thaddeus outside."
"You bet. Come on, Thaddeus."
"I'm not goin' far," Kid said. "What's wrong?"
"Chris, go sit with Ezra," Nathan ordered. "Thaddeus," Nathan said as he walked Kid to the door. "It looks like he's got a tear on his kidney, a serious one. He's bleeding inside, and he's bleeding through his urethra. You know what that is?" Kid nodded. "I need to go in and repair it. Now. I'll send for you to come sit with him as soon as we're done."
"I don't understand. He seemed … better."
"He wasn't. Go on with Buck."
Nathan didn't regret heading out with everyone the day before to help rescue J.D., but he still felt some guilt at not being able to visit with Joshua regularly and be able to see for himself the decline in the man's health. He doubted that Thaddeus saw it, the decline, since he'd been watching his partner get sicker, lose weight, sleep a lot … for weeks. Nathan was mad at himself. He should have had a talk with everyone he left behind, he should have made time to be with Joshua for some time before heading out. It was so wrong to see someone so young in such ill health. Ezra was only a couple of years older and it started to break Nathan's heart when he thought they might not resolve his fellow southerner's health concerns. Back then, a lot of people in town still perceived Ezra and Nathan to be at odds, two disparate men who could never get over their past differences ... the differences of their lineages. Sometimes it seemed like only the two of them knew how much things had changed. And thank heavens the doctors in Denver helped them get over the worst of Ezra's bad health. Minor sick headaches, much shorter in length, still flared. His depression over a little dog was the worst of Ezra's problems now. It seemed that Joshua Smith had no health concerns before this relatively recent trouble. And now this kidney tear was going to put them way behind in figuring out what was causing his sudden illness. The two concerns, a mystery illness and his kidney troubles, could be working against each other in moving him to a healthy life once more. The former slave shook his head and turned to fix the immediate trouble.
Nearly three hours later, Nathan sent Vin outside. "Thaddeus, come on in." Kid practically ran to the door. Vin placed his clean hand on the blond's chest. "Slow and quiet, there're two men in there recovering."
Kid looked through the open door. He couldn't see much, the light casting too bright in some areas, shadow left in others. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry."
"'s all right. He'll be fine. Nate's happy. That's good."
Kid breathed in slowly and then released the breath. He did it again. And again. "I thought … I couldn't, wouldn't think … "
"We understand. Go ahead in. Nate'll explain things."
"All right. Thanks."
"'s all right," Vin said.
"No, really. Mr. Tanner."
"Vin."
"Vin, you were helping. I mean … assisting, right?" Kid asked, his eyes tearing up.
"I did. It's all right," Vin said. "Ezra's a real good friend of mine. I know how ya feel. Go ahead in. Nate'll tell ya everything. But he told me he was sure Joshua would survive this jest fine."
"Thank you," Kid said as he wiped his eyes and walked into the room.
Nathan walked up to Kid Curry. "Over here." Kid walked up to Heyes in the bed, the bed he'd been using, in the same spot where it last sat.
"How'd you … "
"Lots of muscle," Chris said as he walked up behind both men. "Your friend's gonna be fine, no thanks to me. I can't say how bad I feel about this. We're lucky to have Nathan doin' his work here in our town."
"I would have less work like this, Chris … " Nathan started, but Chris cut him off.
"Nothing you can say can make me feel any worse than I do right now. They were sent here for you to help them, and I went off half-cocked. I could have … "
"You're really lucky that my partner is a forgiving kind of man. If it was up to me, you'd be sporting a black eye or two," Kid said. "But I promised him I wouldn't make a fuss about what ya did to him. Promised him I wouldn't kill you. So, I'm turning the other cheek. I'm not even gonna hurt you. Even a little bit." Kid saw the two chairs set up next to Heyes. "Tell me about Joshua, Doc."
"I'm not a doctor," Nathan said.
"Today, to me? You are."
Chris left the two men and went to take his seat next to Ezra.
"'s not often someone gives you fair warnin' that they won't be harmin' you. Lucky."
"What're you doing awake, Ezra?" Chris asked as he took the clean cloth that rested on the edge of the bowl of water, wet it, and wiped the sweat from Ezra's brow, neck and chest.
"Ah have a fever?" the card sharp asked.
"Expected, according to Nate. He expects it to be gone sometime through the afternoon."
"Hm. So, have you made amends with our visiting duo?" Ezra asked. He allowed Chris to help him to a drink of cool water. "How deep is this well that Ben had drilled? This water is sweet like ambrosia."
"I think there might be a spring feeding this well. It is good water." Chris took the glass back after Ezra took another drink.
"So, Mistah Jones has accepted your apology."
"Don't know if I would say that. He's promised not to hurt or kill me. That don't mean he can't come up with some other plan to make my life miserable while he's here."
"Then, Chris, Ah would suggest that you make yourself scarce in his presence. He might do you the favor of forgetting about you as he concentrates on assisting his partner to recover. Ah understand," Ezra said, his voice growing softer as he tired from this short time awake. Chris moved his chair closer. "Ah understand," he started again through a stifled moan, "that Mistah Smith is the brains of that outfit."
"We're both pretty smart, but he's the planner," Kid said as he walked over to Ezra. "How're you feeling?"
"As though Ah will be asleep …." And he was, just like that.
"He's tired."
"Nathan says Joshua will be out for at least another hour, and then he'll need to sleep." Kid looked down at Ezra, then whispered, "Let's go talk at the door."
They walked over and Chris said, "Is there a problem?"
"No. Nathan thinks they'll both heal better if we … "
"Try to get along," Chris finished.
"Yeah." Kid looked over to Heyes, and then back to Chris. "It doesn't feel right. You wronged my partner pretty bad. He's a good man, was only doing the right thing to try to save an innocent woman. Your woman."
"Wouldn't let Mary hear you talkin' like that," Chris said.
"You've got some strong women here in this town," Kid replied, his interactions with Mary Travis, Gloria Potter and Dottie Pike had left quite an impression.
"You've met Casey?" Chris asked.
"Oh, yeah," Kid said with a smile, one he could even keep on his face for a while, now that he'd heard what the healer had to say about his partner.
"She's just the cake with that family. Wait 'til Nettie gets back. She's the icing and the cherry, too." Chris smiled as Kid Curry really only had eyes for his best friend. "Look, I want to make up for what I did. I have ulterior motives. The more I do to fix this, the less time Mary will hold it against me."
"I doubt she'll be too rough on you." Chris snorted a laugh. Kid smiled broadly. "I've been wrong before. Let me think on it, talk to my partner when he's feelin' better." Kid smiled at the former gunslinger. "Truce?" he asked, offering his hand.
"Sure." They shook hands, and Kid moved to sit beside his friend and wait for him to wake up.
Nathan walked up to Chris. "Ezra wants to talk to you. Make it short."
Chris walked over to his friend, grabbed a chair and sat next to him, not wanting to talk too loudly for the sake of the other ailing man in the room, and not wanting Ezra to work too hard, either.
"Why are you still awake?" Chris asked as he watched Ezra resting, his eyes closed.
"I heard you mention Missus Wells to our visiting friend."
"You heard that?" Chris asked, annoyed.
Ezra smiled. "Ah have well-honed hearin', Chris. You had best remembah that."
The leader of the law enforcers of Four Corners shook his head. "Whaddya want, Ezra."
"Come closer."
"I'll be in your lap if I get much closer."
Ezra opened his eyes. "There is none who can hear us?" he asked, choosing to ignore the fact that his well-honed hearing missed that Chris was practically on top of him.
"Just me."
"Ah should think that allowin' the inimitable Nettie Wells near these two could be a recipe for disaster."
"What, now we have to try to keep J.D. and Nettie away from them?"
"Ah admit that the happenings with our young sheriff's abduction and Mistah Smith's injury and illness could work to distract from their real identities. But still, Mistah Dunne remains, and Missus Wells will join him, as our two greatest threats to keepin' our little secret."
Chris looked down at his injured partner in crime solving. He patted Ezra's leg and said, "Get some rest."
"Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"Where is J.D.?" Ezra asked, followed by a sign of pain, as he reached for his wound. He changed his mind because the effort pulled, causing himself more hurt.
"You need some of Nate's tea for that?"
"Lord, no. J.D.?"
"I think he's layin' low, a little embarrassed that he got kidnapped."
"He should be. This was not the first time he's been fooled. Is he with Casey?"
"I expect he is. It's her day off from the bakery. Ain't seen him all morning, don't expect to see …." Chris stopped talking as he saw that Ezra had fallen asleep. He walked over to Nathan.
"Is Ezra all right?"
"He'll be fine. His wound will be painful. He's gonna have to keep that arm immobile for a while, two weeks at least."
"Shit. The fever?"
"Expected, but it's not too bad. I see he fell asleep on you. I saw him take a good drink earlier. He should have that fever gone this afternoon," Nathan said. He stepped back and observed the room nearly back to normal. "Hm."
"Hm, what?" Chris asked.
"I'm just looking at the room. This would make a nice clinic," the healer said.
"Would it? A ground floor clinic? That would be something," Chris agreed with a wicked grin. They would all be wealthy if they had two bits for every time someone suggested a ground floor clinic, either to Nathan or to each other.
"I'm sure Ben and Dottie have plans for this room. I can't afford this rent, anyway."
"We've got to figure out a way for you not to have to pay rent. It's not like you get paid much for the work you do."
"Well, we won't be settling that today. And here is my relief," Nathan said as Josiah walked in. "I'm gonna go get some sleep."
Kid Curry walked up to Nathan. "Mr. Jackson," he said.
"Call me Nathan."
"Nathan, I wanted to say, again, thank you." He offered his hand to the former slave. Nathan shook it, but was surprised to find himself being pulled in for a hug. Kid said softly, with a choked sound to his voice, "He means everything to me. Thank you." Nathan patted the strong back.
"I'm glad we caught it," Nathan said.
Kid stepped away. "I guess I owe Mr. Tanner some thanks, too. He was in there checking on Joshua. Are you all attentive like that? We, well, we have each other. It's … it's … "
"Hard," Chris said, sympathy for what these two had lived through this last year, struggling to survive, still wanted by the law, not knowing whether the governor of Wyoming was going to stick to their agreement.
"Yeah," Kid said, looking down, and then turning to look at the dearest person in his life. He turned back. "We both cannot say how much this means to us. That he was here to get help was big, but you saved his life today," Kid said to Nathan.
"He had to," Josiah said. "From what I hear, it was all over your face what would happen to Chris Larabee on your way out of town if he hadn't."
Kid looked to Chris. "He's not wrong."
"I know he's not. Believe me, there are friends of mine in this town who would have felt like doing the same." Chris turned to one of those friends. "Thanks, Nate."
"All right. I'm gonna get some sleep. Missus Merton should be here soon to help out, Josiah."
"Sounds good. Sleep well, brother."
They all watched as the man known to most of them as Thaddeus Jones went to sit vigil with his friend. There was no way they would know that he would leave the room but once overnight as he watched the man who he'd spent most of his life with wake long enough, some four hours post-surgery, for a drink, hardly open his eyes, relieve himself with the aid of Kid and Josiah as Abigail Merton left the room, and then fall back to sleep for another six hours. It was a long time for Heyes to be propped up, laying on his stomach across a pile of pillows and blankets, but the wait was much longer for the blond side of the pair.
"Wake up, boy."
Ezra jumped, but felt long, thin fingers hold him in place.
"What … "
"Take it easy, Fancy Pants." They heard a muffled laugh from the other side of the room.
"You can stop that right now, young man, or you'll be next."
"Missus Wells?" Ezra asked as he blinked his eyes. They refused to focus, so he tried to raise his hands to rub at them, forgetting that his left arm was not up to that effort. "Oooh, that was … "
"Not very smart." Nettie helped Ezra's arm to settle back where it belonged.
"You're back. Why are you back?"
"Casey sent me a telegraph and said Nathan could use my help. The train was fast and smooth heading to Cortez, figured it'd be the same coming back. I can visit my son again once everyone is healthy." Ezra looked over to where Heyes lay, still on a combination of his side and his stomach, and Curry sat talking with him.
"How is he?" Ezra asked.
"Better. You're the one Mr. Jackson has been worried about," Nettie said as she took a cool, damp cloth to Ezra's face. He felt his neck and chest and found sweat there, too.
"Mah fever came back?"
"Your fever never went away, and then it got worse and then you've been sleeping for too long," Nettie explained.
"So, they sent for you to yell at the convalescing?"
"Don't worry, Ezra," Heyes said into his pillow. "You aren't the only one who has enjoyed Miss Nettie's unique style of waking a man."
"Ah understand that your back is doin' bettah?"
"It is. Nathan says I can start sitting like a regular human being again tomorrow."
"Good for you. Ah trust that you have not caused physical harm to Mistah Larabee, Thaddeus?" Ezra looked down at his arm and frowned.
"He's still alive."
"Good to know." Ezra looked to Nettie. "What is happening with mah arm? It does not feel, for lack of a bettah word … right."
"Your fever got much worse. Mr. Jackson took another look at your arm and determined that something was causing an infection. He went back in and got everything he could find. Another piece of bone, some tiny pieces of thread. And your arm needs to stay dry. He's rigged something to keep your arm away from your body, let the air keep it dry. We are cleaning and drying it twice a day." Ezra rubbed again at the sweat on his chest. "Your fever really is nearly gone, it's just a hot day. Let me get ya sittin' up." She gently pushed her patient up at the small of his back and placed two pillows behind him. "How's that?"
"Very good. Thank you."
"Have a drink. Can you hold this?"
"We shall find out soon enough." He was able to hold the glass steady and drank all of the water. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Are you hungry or do you want to try the chamber pot?"
"Must we have these discussions, out here for all to hear?" Ezra questioned, annoyed.
"That's what I said," Heyes grumbled.
"I helped you with yours, Joshua. Have a little sympathy. Nettie's helping Ezra with his."
"Ah assure you, Thaddeus, Ah will hold it until one of mah compatriots arrives. Where is everyone?" Ezra asked anyone in the room.
"Well, I'm right here, thank you for askin'," Nettie answered. Heyes and Curry both laughed.
"Ah meant mah fellow peacekeepers."
"They're busy. But I understand Buck and J.D. will be bringing back something for each of you to eat."
"Good lord! Joshua and Thaddeus, prepare for the proverbial bulls in a china shop," Ezra warned. "Thaddeus, make sure you stand between those two and Joshua. They know not what they do." Ezra saw Nettie give him the side eye. "It is the truth."
"I know it." Nettie asked again. "Do you want to pee?" Heyes and Curry laughed. Now it was their turn for the Nettie Wells side eye. They quieted quickly.
"Good lord! Ah do, but only if Ah might have you removed from the premises and have one of mah brethren walk me to the outhouse."
"You realize that you have had assistance expressing your ur … "
"Missus Wells! Desist. Ah do not … nevah mind." Quieter, so that only Nettie could hear, he said, "Ah will express nothin' but mah gratitude for your fine care and assistance. Now, Ah shall rest."
"You just woke up. And there is no need for you to feel embarrassed. I have helped you in the past."
Ezra stared at her as he said softly, "Not in front of visitors."
Nettie looked over toward the other two men in the room. They were back to speaking with one another, not paying attention any longer to the discussion on Ezra's side of the room. She could see why this would be too much for the southern gentleman, too invasive, just altogether too much.
"All right. You rest," she said with a wink. "As soon as Buck and J.D. get here, I'll have Buck help you to the outhouse. Nathan said it would be good for you to get up and move around."
"Let's have J.D. help instead."
"Why? Buck is stronger."
"Buck is clumsy and easily distracted. Ah have no desire to be released from his grasp and fall into the doorway of the outhouse because Buck saw a pretty woman."
"That there is a good point. J.D. it is."
"Thank you." Ezra was surprisingly tired from this go-round with Nettie. He closed his eyes. "Ah'm glad you've returned," the former con man slurred as he headed back to sleep.
"Looking forward to when you are back on your feet, Fancy Pants," Nettie said as she turned to Joshua and headed his way. "Now, what more can we do to get you healed up, Mr. Smith?"
"This is pretty incredible suspension."
"Indeed. Tiny has been makin' adjustments. Mabel has all the strength necessary to power through the less even sections of road, and this suspension takes care of the rest."
"But we'll steer clear of the ruts as much as possible," Hannibal Heyes, the driver, said.
"We will, especially since we are taking a section of the road that is well maintained all the way to the turnoff to Missus Wells' place, as is the ride further to her ranch," Ezra Standish said.
"You two doin' all right?" Nathan Jackson asked.
"We're fine, Nathan. Joshua and Mabel are providing a smooth ride," Ezra replied.
"You've had Tiny puttin' a lot of time and money into this rig, Ezra. Looks like it's workin' out," Vin said. Nathan and Vin volunteered to head out to Nettie Wells' place along with the two well-recovered men. Ezra remained in the room with Heyes and Curry for nearly two weeks. He moved back to his room in the saloon when Inez returned from Las Cruces, though that switch did not bring them back together, at least not in any outward sense, and certainly not in a physical one. The card sharp spent much of his time, still healing, with the still healing Heyes and his partner, at their dinner table, playing cards. During this time, Billy's return was delayed until his grandfather could return with him to take care of Mason Grant and the men who held Mary hostage and precipitated Heyes' assault by Chris Larabee. A jury trial found the two men guilty and the judge sentenced them each to ten years in prison, a smaller sentence only in order to keep the sentence from being considered too harsh and potentially reversed upon review. Grant also had a jury trial. The testimony of The Magnificent Seven was important, but it was the testimony of Jeremy Logan that sealed the deal, and convinced the judge to sentence Mason Grant to thirty years in prison. Kidnapping a lawman and shooting a lawman was in line with similar sentences passed down from his court as well as circuit courts throughout the region.
Nathan decided that with all of the healing and all of the testimony and general noise of the town of late, his patients could use a break, and Nettie Wells kindly invited them out to her ranch for a homemade meal, some fresh air and some time away from town, where a small traveling circus had brought in hordes of happy, screaming children from across the territory. The final day of the circus seemed an appropriate day to head out of town.
Heyes had several bad headaches, moments of dizziness, lethargy and another episode that Nathan had deemed a seizure during this time. The seizure itself was the least debilitating of all of these medical issues, it came and went very quickly, and was what Heyes had experienced earlier in the outlaws' stay in town, but it was concerning to the healer because he didn't understand what brought it on. As Ezra had spent a lot of time with the two visitors to town, so Nathan had spent much time with them. It was decided that having the doctors and Joe Martin come to town should be pushed off until Heyes was mostly recovered from the kidney injury. The schedules were coordinated, and Doctors John Adams, Harrison Rutherford and Jonathan Foster, who Nathan, Ezra and Vin met on the Denver trip, would be arriving in two days. Doc Wharton, from Durango, and Heyes and Kid's former outlaw friend and current physician's assistant Joe Martin, were both due to arrive in Four Corners tomorrow. This would be the last day for a while that any of them would be able to get out of town. Nathan was even more anxious for this meeting since what Dr. Rutherford had suggested had not worked and what the healer tried with Heyes also was unsuccessful.
"Ah believe it is. Nathan, you should be pleased. What say you, Mistah Smith?"
"I say it's a nice piece of equipment you got here, especially with such an attentive horse. Mabel knows her stuff."
"She does, indeed," Ezra agreed. "Vin, has J.D. been on special assignment?"
"Yep."
"Is it a secret or should Ah request a surgical tool in order to pull some teeth?"
"Very funny, Ezra," Vin said as Heyes, Curry and Nathan all laughed. "Robert requested someone to ride with him to a few of the farther away towns where some of his regular drivers live. He has bonuses for them, but wanted his top men to get cash. Didn't trust handlin' it by telegraph."
"So, he will be gone for how long?"
"'bout a week."
"Ah apologize for this line of questionin'. Ah do not recall seein' J.D. throughout mah convalescence. Ah recall Missus Wells assurin' me that J.D. would be comin' to walk me to the Pike's outhouse. Please excuse this particular topic of conversation, gentlemen. Ah do not recall seein' him."
"That's because your fever spiked again that day," Nathan said.
"It did?"
"Yes, it did," Heyes said. "Twice in one day. What're the chances of that?"
"Quite astronomical, Ah should think."
"You had Thaddeus all upset. He kept that wet cloth on you for a while. Missus Wells already left to help Nathan with a birth," Kid said. The quick draw had been fairly quiet on this trip. He made it clear before leaving that he was against Heyes going. They still hadn't figured anything out about Heyes' troubles. He thought the trip was too much for his friend. Heyes seemed intent on proving him wrong.
"You don't remember?" Vin asked worriedly.
"Of course Ah do not remembah! Nathan?"
"You're fine."
"Very well. Ah shall not think on it further."
"Is that all it takes? Don't think on it, it goes away? Looks like I got some not thinkin' to do," Heyes said.
"Shut up, Mistah Smith."
"No, I'm serious. I'm not tryin' to be difficult. If all it took for me to be feeling better was to stop thinking about my woes, then maybe I should give it a try."
"Ah believe you know that what Ah said was not that," Ezra said.
Hannibal Heyes smiled. "I know. If wishes were horses, right?"
"Ah wish it were so that you could think this away. Ah have felt the same as you … before … "
"I know. Maybe I'll get lucky with your doctors."
"Ah wish our Indian friends had been able to help," Vin said riding on Peso alongside the pony runabout that Ezra purchased for the use of the resident doctor or healer.
"It seemed like the combination of herbs and roots helped some with the dizziness, but made the headaches worse," Nathan said.
Heyes cocked his head. "We haven't given up on some combination that might attack the symptoms, but it would sure be fine with me if we found a cure."
"I think we are all wishing the same thing for you, Joshua. These doctors, and Nathan, all helped me to get to a resolution on the worst of mah troubles. Do not give up hope."
"I haven't."
They made the turn onto Nettie's property and within ten minutes were riding up alongside her house.
"Howdy, Miss Nettie," Vin said. "Hey, Casey."
"Hey, everyone," Nettie's niece said as she walked out from the corral to meet their guests.
"Good afternoon, fellas. Go on ahead and turn your horses out. You two boys," Nettie said, addressing Ezra and Heyes, "wait until Nathan can help you down, and then follow me," she added as she walked to the far side of her house. She called back, "Casey, help Vin take care of Mabel."
"Are we waiting for Nathan?" Heyes asked Ezra.
"Ah would if Ah were you," Ezra said as he nodded toward where Nettie was heading, except that she wasn't heading away from them any longer but looking straight at them at the corner of her cabin.
"Yeah, I see what you mean." Kid led Nathan's horse, Honey Pie, and his own over to the corral, where he worked with Vin and Casey to get all of the horses' saddles removed. They saw fresh hay and oats and water was all ready for them.
"One at a time, use my shoulder to help yourself down," Nathan said as he first helped Ezra down, followed by Heyes. Both men made it down with no trouble. Heyes stood with Ezra and Nathan and admired the old woman's property.
"Sure is pretty," he said as they waited for Vin and Casey to finish up with Mabel. Kid joined them as Ezra replied.
"A beautiful piece of property. Miss Nettie has horses, boards others, including Nathan's old horse, now retired," Ezra said. "Her vegetable garden is the envy of all, including yours truly. Most that she grows is for herself and Casey, but she provides abundant herbs and tomatoes for the restaurants in town. She has an amazing series of apple groves throughout the property, at least a half a dozen different varieties."
"She's got a cavern where she keeps a lot of them so that we're in apples 'til almost the new year," Vin said.
"That's amazing," Kid said.
"It's not just her and Casey who do all this work, is it?" Heyes asked.
"She pays some folks to help during the apple harvest," Nathan said.
"She does everything else, just her and Casey?" Kid asked.
"A couple of Robert's wranglers come out sometimes to check the horses. The farrier and the vet come out regular. Ezra comes out to work with the horses," Vin answered.
"Ezra?" Heyes asked, incredulous, looking to the gambler.
Ezra was taken aback by the discourteous response from the reforming outlaw. He stepped away as Nettie walked straight to Heyes. The southerner stopped the old rancher. They spoke briefly, privately, then everyone heard Nettie say, 'No', and watched her walk to Heyes.
"I know that you haven't been well, but I don't think that means that you have forgotten your manners. Do you remember what Dottie and I said about that man? He has untold depths, he has shown that over and over again to his fellow peacekeepers and his fellow citizens. Do you know that while he has spent time with you and Thaddeus that he has documented every moment of your assorted ills, what you ate, what you drank, were you sleeping just before or just after, were you sitting, reading, playing cards … "
"Miss Nettie," Heyes tried to interrupt, but Nettie was not done.
"He wants to help you like he has helped so many of us, like the way he got help … "
"Miss Nettie, I didn't think … "
"Well, you seem to have that part right." Heyes seemed to pale before the old woman's eyes. "Thaddeus, come walk Joshua to the table," evident worry in the rancher that she'd gone too far.
Heyes closed his eyes and shook his head. "I do not need Thaddeus to walk me anywhere. I am fine. There are days, many days, when I am fine. Not a lot of days since we've been here. It's a hard thing to recover from, being assaulted by Chris Larabee. I know Ezra's help during these last weeks was, well, it was what kept me sane, knowing that it might end, like it has for him. That and having Thaddeus there, always there," he said as he reached out and placed his hand on Kid's shoulder, the smile offered full of love. The former leader of the Devil's Hole Gang smiled as he saw Ezra stopped and not far away, listening. "And I know he's helping Nathan figure this all out. But, I can't bear … I don't want to be an invalid."
"You mean treated like an invalid," Ezra said as he walked back into the conversation.
"That's what I said."
"No, it ain't," Thaddeus said softly as he set his hand affectionately on his friend's back. They looked each other in the eye, then Thaddeus said, "You're not going to be a cripple. We're gonna figure this out." Heyes blinked rapidly, needing to keep any tears at bay. "Like Ezra said, you're not gonna be an invalid."
"No, you are not," Ezra said. He added, "Ah had some very painful moments through the years that Ah suffered mah illnesses. Certainly, Nathan and Ah would have gotten much farther much faster in our relationship if Ah had not been so out of sorts so much of the time."
"Years?" Heyes asked, the look of sympathy he sent Ezra's way was returned with obvious compassion from Four Corners' resident professional poker player for what Heyes was going through and for how he obviously thought things might turn out.
"Ezra, you weren't anywhere near as bad as all that," Vin said.
"It was more my fault than yours," Nathan said.
"Well, in any event, we are not those men any longer, Nathan, and Mistah Smith, you will be a new man once the good doctors with whom Nathan, Vin and Ah became acquainted in Denver, join us. Let us retire to this wonderful table in the shade of Nettie's charming cabin and enjoy some food and camaraderie." Ezra waved his hand for Heyes and Curry and Nettie to head toward the table. They walked where Ezra indicated, with Vin and Nathan taking either side of their friend and patting him on the back, Nathan careful not to pat too hard on Ezra's still not fully healed left shoulder.
"I apologize for my words, Joshua. I know you have had a time of it lately," Nettie said and she took his offered arm and allowed him to walk her closer to the table she had set for everyone.
"And I apologize for laying all of my troubles on you kind folks. You didn't deserve that. I don't usually, well, it's not right to make my troubles yours."
"Nonsense, son," Nettie said, hugging the slender reforming outlaw's arm. "We're all made of stern stuff around here. And we care about ya. You've grown on me, that's for sure." More quietly, Nettie said, "And even though Casey's got her man in young J.D., I think she might have a little crush on you," a near whisper at the end, knowing that Casey would be joining them in mere moments.
"She's a sweet girl."
"Tough as nails, but a good girl," Nettie said proudly as she watched her niece finish up at the corral.
"What have we here? Is this new?" Ezra asked.
"Vin set up the brick floor for me that last day before I headed to Cortez. The rest was a surprise to me when I got back. Except for the cooker. This'll be a lifesaver during the heat of the summer. The kitchen inside gets hot, and it lingers into bedtime."
"This is real nice," Nathan said.
The sun was already over the house as it made its way to setting in a few hours, on the far side of the property. Vin had built a structure over the brick patio with slats going across the top. Fabric was run on top of them to help protect those sitting below from the harsh sun, which just barely still cast some light now on the far edge of the table. The table, a solid wooden affair that should withstand the elements for years, was set, bowls and pots covered. On the large cooking grill that Vin also set up, chicken and an assortment of vegetables could be seen resting along the outside, away from the heat. A large cast-iron pot was set closer to the simmering flame.
"Is anybody else joining us?" Kid asked. "This looks like a lot of food."
"Have you seen Vin eat?" Ezra asked.
"Nate keeps up," the tracker said, defending himself.
"My partner can put away the food, but it still seems like a lot," Heyes said.
"Aunt Nettie knows how to cook for a crowd. We hardly ever have leftovers, Mr. Smith," Casey said, lowering her face when Hannibal Heyes smiled at her.
"You can call me Joshua. We talked about that," Heyes said. He made Casey blush, but the smile she offered shone bright.
"All right. Joshua."
"All right, you two. That's enough of that silliness. Everyone sit. Casey, come help me," Nettie said.
"Casey helped me with the cover for the eating area. She wanted to surprise Nettie," Vin said.
"We had fun, but it was a lot of work," Casey said as she came back with a large platter of chicken from the grill. "Vin, could you come get the pot of beans?"
"Sher."
Kid started to open one of the bowls sitting on the table.
"That's probably not wise. Nettie won't like it," Nathan suggested.
"I'll wait," Kid said.
"Don't wanna get on Nettie's bad side?" Heyes asked.
"Smart man," Nettie said into Hannibal Heyes' ear. He jumped, and then grabbed his back.
"Ouch."
"Y'all right?" Nettie asked.
"Yeah. Sorry, Nettie."
"You're fine. I was just kiddin' with ya."
He rubbed his forehead. "It's hard to tell."
"Do you have a headache?" Nathan asked.
"I didn't. Maybe it's the sun," Heyes suggested.
"Sit facin' away from the house. The sun's gonna set behind you," Nettie suggested.
"Might as well take your hat off. It'll end off soon enough, anyway," Kid suggested.
"Like you, Ez. You don't wear your hat unless you have to," Nathan said.
"It is true. Chris and Vin wear their hats far more than the rest of us."
"Ezra doesn't like how it messes up his hair," Vin said as he sat the heavy, cast-iron pot toward the end of the table. He mussed up the southerner's hair and then ran to his seat on the other side of the table.
"You will pay for that." Ezra warned. Vin just smiled back in return.
Nettie led the group in saying grace, and then the eating started, interspersed by stories from all of the early supper participants.