Festus quickly stepped down from Ruth, followed by Matt and Newly. Matt asked the other men to stay on their horses. "Doc wouldn't leave his medical bag like that. Something is wrong," Newly noted with concern in his tone. Matt and Festus continued to look at the mixture of hoof prints and footprints.

Festus then spotted the set of footprints that lead away from the others, "Matthew," he said as he followed them further, "I think these here footprints are Doc's," the deputy stated. "He either was walking in this direction or backing up."

Matt quickly joined the hill man as he carefully followed the tracks, "There's a second set of foot prints going in the opposite direction, but on the same path," Matt noted. The tracks got a little more difficult to read once they got into the tall grass.

Matt huffed then looked up and around when he spotted the doctor, "Festus!" he yelled and ran toward Doc. "Doc?!" Matt's voice was filled with anguish. Doc didn't move.

Festus was right behind Matt and Newly was quick to join them. Matt knelt down beside the doctor, "Doc?" he tried to get Doc's attention as he noticed the blood on his dear friend's shirt. Slowly Doc opened his eyes and rolled his head to look at Matt. "Doc, what happened?" Matt asked as he lifted Doc's vest to have a look.

"He just shot me out right," Doc said in a hushed voice. "I tried to make a run for it," he stated.

"Who shot you? Why?" Matt asked as he allowed Newly to examine Doc's wound. The young deputy lifted Doc's shirt and made a face.

"Crawford," was Doc's reply. "They didn't want me around anymore," Doc said as he grit his teeth together while Newly looked closer at the wound.

Matt's jaw flexed in anger. He stood and looked back at the other men who were now standing closer to Doc, watching on. He returned his attention to Doc. "Festus, you help Newly get Doc back to town. The rest of us will continue on. Catch up with us when you can," Matt said. His voice was low and calculated.

Festus nodded as he watched Matt walked back to the other men and ordered them to get back to their horses. Festus and Newly exchanged looks, "Crawford doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell once Matthew catches up to him," the hill man stated as he hazel eyes look into Newly's.

Newly took a quick look over his shoulder at the group as they rode off. He then returned his attention to Doc, "It's awfully deep, Doc," Newly stated. Doc nodded and then swallowed before he spoke, "You have to get it out," his crystal blue eyes met with Newly's brown eyes. Both men knew the bullet had to be removed but not in the middle of the wilderness.

"Festus. Go and gather up Doc's equipment, will you?" Newly asked.

"You betcha," Festus said as he stood and walked quickly to the medical bag and the spilled contents.

"We have to get you back to Dodge before I can get that bullet out of you Doc," Newly said as he placed his bandana over the wound and then placed Doc's hand over it. "Try to keep some pressure on this, okay?" he directed the doctor. Doc nodded, "You better hurry," said and his voice broke as another spasm of pain ran through his side. Doc clamped his eyes shut and made a face.

Newly stood and looked around wishing there was more he could do for the doctor. He noted that Festus was done with the medical bag and had tied it to his saddle horn. Newly walked toward Festus, "We need to make a travois to get Doc back to Dodge," Newly stated.

"I'll get to it," Festus said as he pulled his blanket from his saddle roll and the retrieved his hatchet. "How is he?" the deputy asked.

Newly looked Festus straight in the eyes, "He's lost a lot of blood."

Festus looked over to Doc, "Don't you die on you on me, ol' scutter," he muttered as he went straight to work. Newly fished through the medical bag and found some gauze and other material that he could use to wrap around Doc's abdomen to try and slow the bleeding.

Newly swiftly walked back to Doc. The doctor's eyes were closed again. Newly drew a deep breath before he knelt down next to Doc. "Doc, I need to get you to sit up for a moment," Newly calmly said as he woke Doc.

Doc's eyes fluttered open as Newly hooked his hands under the doctor's arms and assisted him to a sitting position. Doc moaned as he moved, "Easy," he said to Newly. "Sorry, Doc," the young man apologized.

Newly pulled at the front of Doc's shirt so that he could wrap the cloth around him; the buttons popped of in all directions. Newly removed the bloodied bandana and placed a large cotton gauze over the wound, "Hold that there for a second, will you Doc," Newly said as reached around behind Doc with the cloth so he could tie it around Doc's lower chest. Doc groaned the whole time as he watched newly work. As quickly as he could, Newly tied the cloth over the wad of gauze.

Festus worked feverishly on the travois using his hill man skills. He found some willow which he could make use of the fresh bark; that combined with some rope he carried he could make lashings to tie the poles together. He finished cutting the two long sections from maple saplings and began to cut another tree for the two cross sections. Periodically he'd look up to where Newly and Doc were.

Newly finished with the dressing, as best as he could under the circumstances. The young deputy assisted Doc back down to the grassy ground and then he stood, "I'm going to get my blanket for you," he said before turning to his horse. Doc nodded in understanding then closed his eyes.

As Newly walked to his horse he past by Festus who looked up from his work, "I'll have this ready in about twenty minutes," the hill man said.

"Good," Newly answered. "Doc's in pretty bad shape and I can't do much for him out here," Newly concluded.

"We'll take the road back," Festus added. "It'll be easier on ol' Doc," he said as he continued to work.

Newly didn't like the idea of a longer trip, but he understood Festus' reasoning. The young deputy continued walking to his horse for the blanket.

Newly placed the blanket over the now unconscious doctor and then walked to where Festus was just finishing the travois. The hill man picked up the wooden structure and carried to where Ruth stood. With the rope and willow, Festus tied the long poles to his saddle. "It's ready," he said as he looked at Newly.

Newly nodded, "Let's get Doc on is and back to Dodge."

Festus led Ruth over to where Doc lay unconscious. Carefully the two men lifted Doc and gently lowered him onto the travois. Newly tucked the blanket in around him, while Festus strapped the doctor down. "Let's get him home," Festus said solemnly.

Newly nodded and with a word walked to his horse and climbed up into the saddle. With a nudge he followed Festus and Ruth as they headed back to Dodge.