CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ben, Hoss, Little Joe, Hop Sing, and ten ranch hands set off on the cattle drive to San Francisco at the beginning of August, leaving Adam in charge of the Ponderosa. Without the assistance of his father and brothers, Adam had to work longer hours, and on the days she wasn't in the clinic, Josie often accompanied him as he rode around the ranch tending to their remaining cattle. She didn't much like these long rides, but focusing on sticking in her saddle helped keep her mind off the war.
Had it been anyone else, Adam would have been annoyed to have a beginner rider slowing him down, but his short patience was greatly extended where Josie was concerned. Besides, the riding practice was good for her. They took turns cooking supper in the evening and spent the short hours before bed much as they had their evenings on their journey to Nevada—reading or playing chess. Josie preferred the faster pace of checkers, but Adam was so thrilled to finally have a chess opponent worthy of him that she indulged him.
It was during this time that Josie got her first patient at the ranch. One evening in mid-August, just as she and Adam were finishing washing the supper dishes—throwing nearly as much water on each other as they did on the dishes—they heard a wagon tear into the front yard. Adam rushed to the door and opened it a crack, one hand on his revolver that sat on the sideboard next to the door. He dropped his hand and opened the door a bit wider as he thought he recognized the driver of the wagon.
"Ross?" Adam called. "That you?"
"Yeah!" Ross Marquette, Adam's best friend since childhood, called back.
Adam dashed out the door as Ross reined the horses to a stop. If Ross was racing into the Ponderosa's front yard after dark, something bad must have happened. Adam soon spotted what it was. Ross's wife, Delphine, was hunched over in the seat, clutching her left forearm. Even in the weak moonlight, Adam could see she was white as ghost. He hollered for Josie, who sprinted out of the house. She took one look at Delphine's pale face and ordered the men to bring her inside.
"What happened?" she asked as Ross carried his wife across the porch.
"She tripped over some lumber I had left in the yard and landed on her arm," Ross said. "I hadn't warned her it was there, and she couldn't see it in the dark. I can't believe I was so stupid!"
"It's ok, Ross," Delphine said in a thin voice. "It was an accident." Ross grunted but didn't agree. Adam knew his friend would beat himself up for this for weeks.
Josie directed Ross to lay Delphine down on the settee. The poor woman was so wan Josie was afraid she'd faint if she had to sit up again. Josie knelt next to her and spoke in soothing tones.
"Hi, Delphine, I'm Josie. Don't worry, I'm going to get you all patched up."
Delphine gave her a limp smile. "Adam's told us a lot about you," she whispered.
"Uh oh," Josie said, eliciting a shaky laugh from Delphine. "Now, let me see your arm." Delphine hesitated, but extended her left arm, resting it in Josie's waiting hand. Josie gently ran a hand down the woman's forearm, pausing when she reached the swollen wrist. Delphine gasped in pain, and Ross grabbed her good hand.
"I'm afraid it's broken," Josie said. "I'm going to have to set it. Adam, would you please get my medical bag, a couple splints, and some bandages from my room? They're all on that second bookshelf nearest my bed." Adam raced upstairs and soon returned with the requested items. Josie unlatched the bag and removed a brown-glass bottle and a rag.
"Delphine," she said, as she soaked the rag with pungent liquid from the bottle, "I'm going to give you some chloroform. It will put you to sleep so you don't feel me setting the bone."
Delphine nodded bravely, and Josie placed the sodden rag over her nose and mouth. "Just breathe normally." Delphine was soon asleep. Josie gestured to the rag with free hand. "Adam, hold this in place. If her breathing gets shallow, remove it for a minute, then replace it."
Adam did but wished Hoss were there to relieve him of this responsibility. Hoss had always been the family healer and would have known instinctively what to do. Even Little Joe would have been a welcome presence. He could have cracked a joke to distract Ross, who was sweating buckets as he stood behind the settee, holding fast to his wife's hand.
Josie checked once more to make sure Delphine was unconscious, then took firm hold of the bottom of the woman's hand in her own left hand and gripped closer to the elbow, below the fracture site, with her right. She took a deep breath and pulled Delphine's hand away from the elbow to realign the bones. There was a sickening grinding sound as the two pieces of bone settled into place against one another. Adam cringed. Josie ran her hands over the wrist to ensure it was properly realigned and reached for a splint.
As she aligned the first splint, she and Adam heard a faint "Uhhhh." They looked up just in time to see Ross swoon.
"Ross!" Adam cried. He let go of the chloroform rag and leapt around the settee to catch his friend before he struck his head on the hard floor. He caught Ross under the arms and gently laid him on the floor. He looked helplessly from his friend to his cousin.
"Is he breathing normally?" Josie asked.
Adam checked and confirmed that he was.
"All right. Just leave him there." The rag had slid off Delphine's face, and she was beginning to stir. Josie didn't want her to wake up yet, so with one last forlorn look at his friend, Adam returned to Delphine and reapplied the chloroform. Josie finished splinting Delphine's arm and used a couple of the bandages to wrap the splints firmly in place.
"There!" Josie said as she finished. "When she wakes up, we'll fashion a sling for her." She pulled another small bottle of liquid out of her medical bag along with a syringe. She studied her patient, trying to determine her approximate weight, and filled the syringe partway with the liquid. She injected it into Delphine's good arm.
"What's that?" Adam asked.
"Morphine. For the pain. Go ahead and remove the chloroform. Let her wake up." Adam pulled the rag away as Josie put her supplies back in her medical bag. "You did very well," Josie complimented him. "Much better than Ross." They both glanced over the settee at the still-prone form of Ross Marquette.
"He always did have a weak stomach," Adam commented.
Josie dug a small bottle of smelling salts out of her bag, unplugged it, and jammed it under Ross's nose. The slim man jerked awake.
"Dell?" he said.
Josie smiled. "She's fine. She'll be coming around any second now. I set the bone and gave her a painkiller."
Ross grinned. "Thank you." He pulled himself up and grasped Josie's hand in both of his. "Really, thank you."
"You're quite welcome," Josie replied. "I think you should spend the night here. Delphine isn't going to feel like making the ride home tonight."
Ross agreed, and Adam ran to check that the guest room off the dining room was made up. As he fluffed the pillows, he felt a surge of pride in his little cousin. She'd stayed so calm throughout the procedure, even when Ross fainted, and hadn't hesitated once.
In the great room, Delphine was coming around, and her good hand reached for her husband.
"How you feeling, Dell?" Ross asked.
"Silly," Delphine replied with a giggle.
Ross looked questioningly at Josie.
"It's the morphine," she explained. "It's a bit inebriating. She may have some interesting dreams tonight." She paused, wondering how to phrase her next question. "I have to ask, though. What brought you here? Why didn't you ride into town for Dr. Martin?"
"Adam and I have been friends for over fifteen years," Ross replied. "I trust him with my life, and I know he trusts you with his. That's good enough for me."
Josie beamed.
"Besides, the Ponderosa is closer to my ranch than town is." Ross grinned good-naturedly, and Josie laughed. She could see why Adam liked Ross. He had a good sense of humor and a kind smile that made you forgive whatever friendly taunt he threw your way.
"What do I owe you for this?" Ross asked.
"Doesn't feel right to charge Adam's best friend. You just tell everyone in town what a good job I did fixing up Delphine, and we'll call it even."
Ross grinned again, flashing a perfect set of straight teeth. "You got it." He shook Josie's hand.
Adam returned, bearing a bit of an old sheet. "I thought we could use this as a sling."
"Perfect!" Josie replied. Ross helped Delphine carefully into a sitting position, and Josie tied the sling around her neck and guided her injured wrist gently into it. "How does that feel?"
Delphine giggled goofily again. "I don't feel a thing!"
Ross shook his head and helped Delphine stand. He led her slowly into the guest room and lowered her onto the bed, where she promptly fell back asleep. Once he was sure she was resting comfortably, Ross moseyed into the kitchen, where Adam and Josie had returned to finish washing the dishes.
"If she wakes in pain tonight, please come get me," Josie told him. "I can give her a little more morphine if she needs it, and tomorrow I'll send you home with a few opium pills. She should only need them for a day or two."
Ross thanked her again and helped them finish the dishes. He'd spent enough time at the Ponderosa over the years that he knew the house as well as any of the Cartwrights did. Once the dishes were put away, he returned to the guest room to sit with his wife. Adam and Josie went back to the great room and flopped onto the settee.
"Good work, Dr. Cartwright," Adam said, ruffling Josie's hair, which was coming loose from its braid.
"Thank you. I just hope Delphine sleeps all right tonight."
"She should. Ross would never dream of poking in on you, but if Delphine is bad off, he'll wake me, and I'll get you."
This was good enough for her, and she got up and walked over to the small table near the fireplace where the Cartwrights kept the chessboard on permanent display.
"How about a game?" she asked.
Delphine slept well that night, and Josie sent her home the next morning with a small packet of opium pills and instructions to return in a week so she could see how her wrist was healing. True to his word, Ross told everyone that Dr. Cartwright out on the Ponderosa had fixed up Delphine, and Josie began receiving the occasional patient out on the ranch. Since most of the men were away on the cattle drive, she utilized the bunkhouse most of the time she needed to see a patient, but this was only a temporary arrangement. Eventually she would need a small clinic on the ranch if she were going to continue seeing patients there.
Toward the end of August, Josie came home from town one afternoon with a telegram from Ben saying they were on their way home.
"That's strange," Adam said after he read the short note. "Pa told me they were going to take a few days off to enjoy San Francisco. I guess he changed his mind." He was mildly disappointed. It had been nice to have a quiet house the past few weeks.
Four days later, Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe trotted into the front yard, followed closely by Hop Sing in the chuck wagon. Adam and Josie stepped outside to greet them, and Josie spotted fading bruises on each of their faces.
"What in the world?" she muttered.
Adam noticed it, too, but the testy look on Pa's face told him not to mention it. He plastered on a smile and ambled over to take Cochise's reins from Little Joe as the young man slid off the pinto. He thought he'd do his exhausted baby brother a kind turn and groom his horse for him.
"How was San Francisco?" he asked, giving Little Joe a smile.
Joe wheeled around, nostrils flaring, and decked Adam right in the face. Completely unprepared for the blow, Adam went down hard, landing on his back in the dirt.
"Adam!" Josie squeaked. She ran to him, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket as she went. She knelt next to the dazed Adam as he sat up, blood pouring from his nose. "I don't think it's broken," she said, inspecting Little Joe's handiwork, "but you're going to bleed for a while. Here." She handed him the handkerchief, which he pressed gingerly to his face.
Satisfied that Adam hadn't suffered irreparable damage, Josie leapt to her feet and stormed up to Little Joe. She shoved her face directly into his and saw that he was, in fact, sporting a fading black eye. She had half a mind to blacken the other one for him.
"What was that for?" she hollered, her fists clenched at her sides.
Little Joe was nonplussed. He'd assumed Adam would hit him back, so this was an eventuality for which he was entirely unprepared. He sputtered for a moment, then spit out, "Look, just don't ask about San Francisco, all right?"
Josie turned to Ben. "Later," Ben said, sliding off Buck and leading the tired animal into the barn. He made no comment regarding Little Joe's unprovoked attack on Adam, which struck Josie as odd. Uncle Ben never tolerated scuffles between his sons. It was as if he were too worn out to care.
Hoss leaned toward his cousin, and Josie spotted a days-old bruise on his face, too. "I'll tell ya later," he whispered and followed Ben to the barn.
Josie turned back to Adam, who was still sitting in the dirt and holding Josie's handkerchief to his nose.
"Did it stob?" he asked stuffily, pulling the handkerchief away so Josie could see his face.
"Looks like it. Go wash your face." She took the sodden cloth from Adam and sighed as she realized he had just bled through another of her handkerchiefs.
"Oooohhhh, I'm gonna get that little pup," Adam said as he stood.
She started to follow Adam into the house, but then walked back to Little Joe and kicked him hard in the shin. She smiled in satisfaction as he began hopping up and down on the opposite foot, clutching his injured shin.
Little Joe gave Adam and Josie a wide berth the rest of the evening. After a subdued supper, Ben went upstairs for a bath, and Little Joe went out to the barn to check on Cochise, leaving Hoss alone in the great room with Adam and Josie.
"So," Josie said, sitting on the settee next to Hoss, "what happened?"
Hoss sighed heavily.
"A sad story is about to begin," Adam said.
Hoss sighed again and launched into his tale. "Well, things were going ok until Pa got shanghaied."
"What?" Josie exclaimed, not sure whether to be horrified or entertained.
Adam shushed her. "Maybe you better start at the beginning," he suggested.
Hoss did. His story was a bit rambling and confusing at parts, but Adam and Josie were able to determine that two of their ranch hands were shanghaied, and when the police refused to help, Ben, Hoss, Little Joe, and Hop Sing tried to find the men themselves. During the search, Ben fell into a trap in a saloon on the Barbary Coast and was shanghaied himself. Hoss soon fell into the same trap when he went looking for Ben, but Hoss, taking advantage of his size, managed to wrest some answers out of the men who grabbed at him. Adam and Josie lost the main thread of the story right about there, but it seemed that eventually Hoss, Little Joe, and Hop Sing located Ben aboard a ship at the dock and got into a huge fight while rescuing him.
"That explains the bruises," Josie said as Hoss wrapped up his saga.
Adam shook his head. He had never been so glad to have missed a cattle drive.