Chapter 161 – A More Subdued Afternoon
Faith looked between the four gentlemen in front of her. She stood there with her hands on her hips. Wynn saw the look that she was giving them and knew that he was going to have to explain. He had seen that look from his wife and daughter many times.
"Faith." Wynn said. "This is need to know only, so please don't share it."
Faith nodded.
"There have been threats made against Jack and/or Elizabeth." Wynn continued. "It is part of the reason that there are extra Mounties in town. I think it will be easier to keep Jack here as he will be a calming force for Elizabeth. You and I both know that she doesn't need the stress of her husband several hours away in the hospital right now."
"Fine." Faith said. "Seventy-two hours. If there is no improvement, I am overruling all of you and moving him to Union City."
"Agreed." Jacobs said.
Jack and Wynn nodded as well.
"Then I will leave you to rest." Faith said. "I would suggest that he either stay here or have someone take him home in a wagon."
"Already thought of that." Jacobs said.
Faith nodded, gathered her items and left out the back door. At the last moment, she stepped back into the cafe kitchen.
"Is Abigail around?" Faith asked.
"Not at the moment." Wynn said. "Was there something that you needed?"
"Please let her know that Mrs Graves won't be in to help anymore." Faith said. "If she wants details, she needs to talk to her."
"I will let her know." Wynn said.
Faith didn't say anything else, but turned to leave. Jack waited a moment to make sure that she didn't come back. He was also thinking about Mary Graves. He wondered if she was okay. He made a mental note to tell Elizabeth and maybe she could find out. He really liked Caleb and hoped that nothing else happened, the boy was finally coming to terms with what happened.
"Thank you." Jack said weakly.
"Don't thank me yet." Jacobs said. "The only reason I didn't agree to sending you to Union City right now, is because of your wife."
Jack gave them a dimpled grin. Wynn shook his head. They got Jack over to the couch and got him as comfortable as possible and let him rest. They went to the dinning room to sit and wait for the others. Dee picked up the game that he and Jack had been playing, but left the checkerboards in case they wanted to finish their games.
Jacobs got up and got each of them a fresh cup of coffee. They were sitting as far from the kitchen as they could so that they could talk. When they had settled at the table, Wynn looked at Jacobs.
"Be honest with me." Wynn said. "Should he be in the hospital?"
Jacobs shrugged.
"Maybe." Jacobs said. "But I wasn't wrong. There is nothing that they will do there, that we can't do here. There isn't anything that they can give him. They would do the steam treatments and the same things I did to loosen up the mucus. At least this way, he will be able to be with Elizabeth and sleep in his own bed. I am going to need help each morning and evening to treat him."
"We will help." Wynn said. "I was so surprised to see his injuries. I mean I know he was thrown from a horse and washed downstream, but that, that I wasn't prepared for that."
"Most people aren't." Jacobs said. "My brother looked like that a lot. Just know that the bruising might be worse before it eventually heals. The cupping on his back can cause bruising."
"You are going to have to talk to Beth." Wynn said. "Knowing my niece, she is going to freak out seeing him like that. We will do what we can to help keep her calm, but she does better knowing information. Don't lie to her or she will unload on you."
"Got it." Jacobs said. "I am just not sure how much to tell her."
"Tell her the basics." Dee said. "Let her think and ask questions. If she doesn't ask for details, then don't give them to her. She wants information, but doesn't always want to know the down and dirty of things."
Jacobs nodded. The three sat and talked about a few other things. It wasn't long and Frank and Cody were back.
"Is Miss Abigail back yet?" Cody asked.
"No." Wynn said. "What did you need?"
"Some of the other boys are playing in the field and I want to go." Cody said.
"Are you done with your homework for tomorrow?" Jacobs asked.
"Yes." Cody said. "I can show you."
"Then you can go." Wynn said. "I will talk to Abigail when they get back."
Cody smiled.
"I am going to grab my glove." Cody said.
"Be quiet going through the kitchen." Jacobs said. "Mountie Jack is resting. He is doing better, but tired."
Cody nodded and headed to get his glove.
"That reminds me." Dee said. "He asked if he could get one of the new boys a glove."
"Don't." Jacobs said. "I will wire my mother. I am sure that my brothers have several that they have outgrown. I will have her send them along with some books for the children. I was thinking that there might be a real tea set for Opal and Maggie."
"That would be great." Wynn said. "I think if you have something for most or all of them, then it won't look like charity, but that you are giving all the children something."
Jacobs nodded. He knew exactly what he was going to do. After Cody left, Frank poured himself a cup of coffee and joined the others.
"How is Jack?" Frank asked.
"Better, but not out of the woods." Jacobs said. "We need to be able to keep his lungs clear and I am not sure that there is more we can do other than the steam and what I did."
"I remember my grandfather making this paste and putting it on my chest when I was sick." Frank said.
"You don't happen to remember what was in it?" Wynn asked.
"I know that it had mint and ginger." Frank said. "He mixed that with camphor oil and I can't remember what else was in there. He would spread it on my chest and then wrap me up with strips of a cut up canvas tarp. He would then wrap that with cloth."
"Was it almost black in color?" Jacobs asked.
Frank sat there for a bit thinking.
"I think so." Frank said.
"Then he probably used charcoal from the fire." Jacobs said. "You mix it with lightly cooked onions or camphor oil. The mint and ginger also help and cut the smell."
"Don't look at me like that." Jacobs said. "My father worked with several native tribes and learned many things. He didn't care if it wasn't standard practice, if it helped, it helped. He was willing to try most anything to find something that helped Scotty."
"That was your brother?" Wynn asked.
"Yes." Jacobs said. "Dad took him to the best doctors in both Canada and the States, when they couldn't do anything, he turned to the old native ways. He even was in contact with some Chinese immigrants who he knew lived in Halifax."
"We don't have camphor oil." Dee said. "But I know where there is some wild mint and ginger."
"Let's see how Jack is later." Jacobs said. "I didn't want to start with the strongest because I wasn't sure how he would react. The Vicks has menthol in it which should help loosen the mucus. If it doesn't, I am not above finding some onions and charcoal."
"Maybe you should have gone into medicine." Wynn said.
"You know that is not where my passion is." Jacobs said. "And you know it."
"Yes." Wynn said. "But if I haven't said it, I am grateful that you are here right now."
Jacobs just nodded.
"I know medicine is not your passion." Frank said. "But if you get the chance, you should sit down with Cat Montgomery. She is the one that people turn to if they need help around here. Granted we now have Nurse Carter, but still many can't afford to run to the infirmary for every little ache or cough."
"I would be more than willing to share the journals that I have compiled over the years." Jacobs said. "Most I know by heart, but I like having them to refer to. When I learned that I was going to be in Benson Hills, I figured it was going to be a longer stay, so I wired my mother from Calgary and asked her to send my large trunk to Benson Hills. It might actually already be there."
"For the record." Wynn said. "You will be in Benson Hills for the foreseeable future. I need someone that is going to be a good influence on this region. I know I have Jack and McGinty, but there is still lots of work to do. This area is also rapidly growing."
"Thank you." Jacobs said.
After a moment, Jacobs turned to Frank.
"Frank." Jacobs said. "We are going to have to step up and help Abigail this week. I know I have assigned the Cadets to help, but Faith said something about Mary Graves not being able to come in and help anymore."
"I know." Frank said. "I ran into DeWitt when we went for a walk. He had brought Caleb to play with some of the boys and I could tell that something was wrong."
"If you can." Wynn said. "Will you please tell us? I know Faith couldn't say much."
"DeWitt asked for prayers." Frank said. "All he said was that Faith was worried about the baby and put Mary on bedrest."
"I will make sure to send someone out there to check if they need anything." Wynn said. "I may not live in this town full time, but it and the people who live here have become special to me."
"I was going to ask you why the row houses are so far from the town." Jacobs said.
"Because Pacific Northwest." Wynn said. "I swear that the men that ran that company in this town didn't make much sense."
"From what I have been able to gather." Frank said. "Granted, I arrived after the trail and when Gowen was already mayor. What I have learned was that the mining company wanted to run the town, but not exactly be a part of it. I mean look at all the land that they owned. With the exception of a few buildings here in town, it was all closer to the mine or further out."
"I saw that." Jacobs said. "I was looking at a couple of older maps that Jack had. Still. You would think that having the housing and church closer to town would make more sense."
"Yes it would." Frank said. "But from what I understand, there was a settlement here with the mercantile and a few other buildings when Pacific Northwest opened the mine here. They let the town grow, some, but controlled a lot of things. They didn't push out independent business, but they did push out individuals that didn't do as they wanted. From what I have learned talking to people, several of the businesses that no longer are here are because Henry Gowen and his Pinkertons pushed them out when he took over the mine. They didn't fall in line with what he was pushing, so he pushed them out. From what people have said, most found it easier to leave than deal with Gowen and his Pinkertons. After the disaster, apparently it was Abigail that was the first to be brave enough to stand up against him; the other widows stood with Abigail, but were still terrified of Pacific Northwest and Gowen."
"That is good to know." Jacobs said. "It might help with what we are dealing with."
"Well." Frank said. "Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. I found several old writings from the previous pastor."
"Would you be willing to bring those to Abigail's office this week." Dee said. "I would like to look through them if you will allow it. I think it might be the answer to several questions that we have."
"I will drop them off at some time tomorrow." Frank said.
"Where did you find them?" Jacobs asked.
"I cleaned out the cabin before they moved it." Frank said. "There was a small box that was addressed to the new pastor, so I opened it."
"Wonder why he left it." Dee said.
"I don't know." Frank said. "Some of it was records of baptisms and funerals that he had done. There were other writings, maybe parts of sermons. I will bring the entire crate of items. I hope that it helps you find what you are looking for."
"Thank you, Frank." Dee said.
As the guys were sitting there talking, Abigail and Becky came in.
"Where are the others?" Wynn asked.
"They will be along shortly." Abigail said. "They were packing the clothes back up to bring over here so Elizabeth can take them back to the house later."
Dee and Jacobs exchanged looks and then stood and headed to the saloon. Becky came over and positioned herself between Frank and Wynn.
"Is Mountie Jack going to be okay?" Becky asked.
"We hope so." Wynn said. "He is still pretty sick. He is currently resting in the other room."
"If he is so sick." Becky said. "Why isn't he in the hospital like I was?"
