A light rain began to fall as Matt left the doctor's office. Admittedly his mood matched the weather as he only thought of how Jane Rose met her tragic end; one that set very uneasily with the marshal. Matt's earlier conversation with Zachariah had already had him wondering, but now he was getting a clearer picture of what kind of character Zach really was.
As he descended the wooden stairs he noticed Festus and Newly in the alley below. Both men were examining the mould that Newly cast and comparing it to the tracks in the alley, "Thar's one," Festus pointed out.
Newly knelt down and placed the cast near it, "I think you're right Festus," he noted.
By now Matt was standing next to the hill man, "What's up?" he asked.
Newly stood, and then brushed the dirt off his knees, "We've been able to track the boot prints to here," O'Brien stated.
"By the looks of thangs, we're not gonna git much more," Haggen stated as he scanned the rest of the alley for visible tracks, but there had already been too much traffic in the area, and now the rain.
"Well, I didn't see anyone here last night when I came over to see Doc," Newly said firmly.
"He may have been hiding," Matt indicated.
Newly thought for a moment, "He left the Long Branch before me, so he could have," he noted. "But I didn't hear anything," he said looking around to see it was possible that he had missed something the night before.
Matt looked up to the sky; the clouds were growing greyer. He then looked at the door that separated the alley, "Did you find foot prints where Doc thought he saw someone?" he asked as he walked to the door.
"Only a partial one," Newly stated. "There are a lot of other tracks through there, including our own," he said with a hint of disappointment in his tone.
Matt nodded, "I can imagine," he looked back toward the veranda of the Long Branch. "He must have been here with her while you were up at Doc's," the marshal's eyes rested on the two deputies.
"We never heard a peep," Festus sighed. "I checked out the window when Doc said what he thought he saw, but I didn't see a single thang."
Newly scooped up the plaster cast, "I'll take this over to the jail house," he said as he cover the casting with this coat. Matt and Festus stood watching the young deputy, "That was a plum spark of smarts, Newly had there," Festus smiled.
Matt nodded in agreement before he walked away to talk with Kitty. Festus continued to stand in the alley thinking about the other possibilities of making plaster moulds. Doc was now standing next to him, and looking in the same direction trying to figure out that the hill man was looking at the made him so happy. Finally the doctor's eyes shifted to Festus, "What in thunder are you looking at?" he snapped causing the deputy to jump.
"What in tarnation did you do that fer?" Festus growled back. "You're doctorin' business that slow you have to make yer own patients up?" he sputtered while furling his arms about.
"Well, you look simple, just standing there with a smile on your face," Doc stated. "Of course I shouldn't be all that surprised," he half laughed as he walked away.
Festus' eyebrows knit together, "You old scutter," he hollered after the doctor.
Doc slowly made his way to the Dodge House, as he had promised Randall. He half waved in a motion to Howie behind the desk as he strolled across the foyer to the landing where the staircase started. As he climbed the stairs Doc glanced around looking to see if Randall's siblings were in sight, but they weren't.
The doctor reached the General's room and gently rapped his knuckles on the door. "Who's there?" a stern voice demanded.
Doc drew his hand across his moustache, as he wasn't looking forward to talking to the General about his sons, "It's Doc Adams," he flatly stated.
"It's about time you showed up," the General growled. "The door's unlocked."
Doc flexed his jowl muscles as he slowly opened the door. The room was heady with the smell of mustard and body odour. Slowly the doctor entered the room and walked toward the bed where the old General remained. "You're voice sounds stronger," Doc noted, which caused the General to glare at him, "What kind of statement is that?"
"It means it sounds like your lungs are clearing up," Doc snapped. "That's what kind of a statement it is," he placed his medical bag down on the little table near the bed. "Are you always that direct?" he asked.
"You don't get to be a General treating people with kid-gloves," Clanton stated.
"Is that how you treat your sons? Barking at them that way?" Doc pushed.
"How dare you!" the old man snapped. "I should have your license revoked for such atrocious bed-side manners," he ranted on.
Doc was slightly amused, and hid his smile with a brush of his moustache, "Randall takes good care of you and the others, doesn't he?" the doctor tried another approach as he sat down on the chair next to the table. He place his hat there as well.
The General stared forward and thought for a moment before answering, "It's been hard since Claire died," he almost sounded pitiful.
"She was your wife?" Doc asked in a calm caring voice. He blinked.
The old man nodded slightly, "She was my wife of nearly fifty years," the General rolled his head looking over to the doctor. "She didn't fair well during the war, and suffered nervous fits and died not too long after," he sighed. "The boys were only in their teens at that time, trying to keep the farm running," he rolled his head back and stared forward again.
Doc crossed his right leg over his left knee and draped his left arm over the back of the chair, "So Randall is the oldest?"
"Yes. Then Zachariah and Clement came along. Clement had a difficult birth, so he's a little slow. The other two take care of him," the General stated. "Randall has a clear head on his shoulders. Zachariah sometimes lives in the clouds. He's the one most likely to marry off first. Randall would rather make some money and a name for himself. Not sure that Clement should marry, but if the right woman came along…" his voice trailed off as he felt like he was babbling. "What's all this about? Why should you care about my boys?" he asked again looking over to the doctor.
Doc drew his hand across his moustache, "We just like to get to know folks that stay in town, is all," he answered hoping that it was enough to avoid any further questions about his questions.
"They're all good men. They work hard and they're honest. One day they will make good fathers, when we find the right women," the General stated. "I'll stand beside any one of them come hell or high water and I have means if the need ever arose," he gruffly added with an influx of anger to his voice.
Doc almost froze at the comment, "Any loyal family man would do that," he stated as he watched the General.
"Is there something I should know?" the old man asked as he looked over to the doctor.
Doc felt stuck, "Oh, no. Nothing," he tried to smile as he finally stood and retrieved his stethoscope from the medical bag so that he could listen to the General's chest. He said nothing as he set to work and began his examination.
The doctor concluded his exam and packed away the stethoscope. He looked down at the man in the bed, "I don't think you have to endure anymore mustard plasters, but I'd like you to keep taking those pills," he said as he pointed to the little brown bottle on the table. "You're getting better," he said as he picked up his hat and the medical bag and left the room, closing the door behind him. Doc drew a deep breath and slowly released it before he want looking for Matt.