Doc and Festus rode into town; they passed the stable and the jailhouse. The hill man pulled the horse to a stop in front of the general store. Of course this caught Jonas' attention and he quickly dropped what he was doing and grabbed his coat to go out quickly to find out what was happening, "Oh my!" the store owner exclaimed.
"Jonas, go get Miss Kitty," Festus ordered as he slid off Popcorn. "You stay put, Doc," he said patting his friend on the leg. "I'll get some help to get you down from there," he added as he glanced around looking for some one to assist him. There was no argument from the doctor who longed for a warm bed and a hot meal.
Jonas was off in a flash and he dashed across the alley and up onto the veranda of the Long Branch Saloon. He paused at the door, "Oh, my!" he said again as he looked back at the seen before he entered the establishment. Kitty looked up at the flustered store owner, "Mister Jonas?" she asked from the end of the bar, "What on earth is wrong?"
"Miss Kitty! Come quickly! It's Doc and Festus," Jonas waged his right index finger at the doors.
Kitty's mouth dropped open, wondering what the store owner meant as she grabbed her shawl and followed Jonas out to the street, just as Matt rode in and stopped next to Popcorn. The marshal was quick out of his saddle to help Festus with Doc, "Easy now," the hill man urged. "Ol Doc did something to his self and has a numb leg," the said looking over to Matt.
Doc groaned, "That's not all that's numb right now," he sputtered as his whole body shook from the cold as he tried to get down off the horse with the aide of his friends; it all seemed a bit undignified to him, but in his current position, there was little he could do.
"Let's get him up to room number one. I'll have Sam draw you a hot bath, Doc," Kitty stated as she examined Doc's face while Matt and Festus helped him across the alley.
"I'll take the horses to Hank," Jonas said as he gathered the reins and watched the little group help the doctor. He shook his head in sadness; slowly he walked the animals to the livery stable.
"Easy now, Doc," Matt said as they finally got the doctor seated on the bed. He then watched for a moment and left the room; there were enough people looking after the doctor. Festus followed, shaking his head. Matt motioned to the deputy to join him down below.
"Let's get you out of that heavy coat. It's almost as stiff as you are," Kitty stated as she assisted the doctor with the woolly coat; even it felt cold. She then rubbed her hands across Doc's back trying to get friction heat. It was working a little bit, but the hot bath would be best. Sam poured several buckets of hot water into the metal tub and mixed it with warm water, "I'll take care of Doc from here," the bar keep stated while he continued to fill the tub with water that was kept near the wood stove; room number one was the equivalent of the executive suite at any fancy hotel. It had it's own wood stove and bath and at this time of year, the stove was regularly stoked in case of business.
Kitty nodded, "Place his clothes on the chair near the wood stove to dry," she suggested. Doc looked terrible, his shouldered sagged and a stubbled beard was sprouting on his chin and cheeks, while his looked dishevelled. Kitty leaned forward and patted Doc on the shoulder before she kissed him on the forehead, "I'm glad you're home," she smiled.
Doc winked, "I'm glad to be back," he said in a tired tone. The doctor was dog tired.
Kitty watched Sam for a moment as he helped Doc with his cloths before she left the room, closing the door behind her. Her eyes scanned the room below and she spotted Matt and Festus. The hill man was clearly animated in the conversation, likely about what had happened. Matt nodded as he listened. Kitty walked down the stairs and over to the two men, "Can I get you a drink, Festus?" she asked.
"That would be real nice, Miss Kitty," the deputy smiled as he watched the saloon owner walk behind the bar. "Ol Doc's gonna want a hot meal," he added. "I only had a few strips of jerky with me," he sighed as he perched on the bar, looking equally tired.
"You didn't stay at the Person's place?" Kitty's eyebrows rose.
Festus shook his head no, "I was jist tellin' Matthew what happened," Haggen stated.
"It's quite the tale," Matt said as he too stepped to the bar and leaned on it looking at the deputy and then to Kitty. She slid a drink over to Matt as well.
"Jist wait til I get my hands around the necks of the ones that took the wheel and did this," Festus growled as he held up his left arm that still had the bandana wrapped around it.
"You better have Newly look at that," Matt stated.
"They took a wheel?" Kitty asked.
"I guess I didn't tell you that," Matt stated.
"Well, we've hardly seen each other since the snow storm," Kitty said as she expected Matt to continue.
"It started when Jonas noticed the rear wheel on the wagon that three buffalo hunters brought into town last night," Matt began.
"So them mangy pole cats are here," Festus snarled.
"Now hold on Festus," Matt tried to calm the hill man. "I need to know all the facts first."
"The fact is, Matthew, that ol Doc and I had an accident with the buggy, and that blamed horse ran off. It was now some awful! Best I could do was to help Doc into the woods, where I knew I could build a fire and some shelter," he shook his head trying to believe it himself.
"You and Doc spent the whole night out in that?" Kitty's eyes narrowed then bounced up as Festus nodded.
"That's right Miss Kitty! Once I got us a fire started and got some twigs all wove together, I thought about getting the canvas top from Doc's buggy, ya see," Festus stated.
"I told you it was quite the tale," Matt said as he sipped on his drink.
"Well then what happened?" Kitty asked, wanting more.
"Wall I got to the buggy and them mangy buffalo hiders were there, taking the wheel. Of course I told them to stop, but then one too a shot at me and clipped my arm," Festus looked at his arm. "But I think I got one of them," he then looked up with a strange look on his face.
"You think you shot one?" Matt asked.
Festus nodded, "I'm almost sure," he said as he took two big drinks from his glass.
"That's interesting," Matt said. "The other two said their friend was sick," he huffed.
Just then Wilbur Jonas came through the doors of the saloon, "How's Doc?" he asked with concern.
"I'm sure once he thaws out, he'll be just fine," Kitty stated. A smile slowly formed on the store owner's face, "That's good. That's real, real good," he said as he walked to the door.
Matt stopped him, "Jonas. Have you seen Newly?" he asked.
Jonas looked slightly stunned, "Last I saw him was about an hour ago and he was going to talk to those buffalo hunters. They were at Del Monico's," he stated. "He said he was going to look in on their sick friend," he added.
Matt and Festus looked at each other. If things weren't handled just right, someone was liable to get hurt or killed.