Chapter 12 Not Knowing

At first Kitty didn't know if the young boy was telling the truth or not. It was quite plausible that he did run away from some sort of orphanage or home for boys and did not want to be identified. But the moment she saw the fear in his eyes, she thought otherwise. A person's eyes spoke volume. Right now the boy's eyes were telling her that he truly did not know who he was. The last thing Kitty wanted was for the boy to start panicking. Ruby was astonished. She couldn't believe that the boy on the couch didn't know who he was.

"Momma, how can he not know his name?" she asked. "That's an easy question. I know my name is Ruby."

"Shhh, Ruby quiet down," Kitty hushed her daughter.

The little redhead standing next to her momma was right. It was an easy question. He should know his name. "Wh.. Why can't I remember my name?" Lenny stammered.

"I'm not a doctor, but I'm sure it has something to do with your concussion," Kitty replied. "We'll talk to Doc as soon as he gets here. He's the best doctor there is. He'll know what to do."

"Yeah, he's the best," Ruby added. "He always makes me feel better. Hey boy, do you know your horse's name?"

Lenny was quiet for a moment. "I have no idea."

"Ruby, honey, if he doesn't know his own name, I would guess he wouldn't know his horse's name,"said Kitty. "Speaking of names, we can't call you 'boy.' You need a name." It didn't take Kitty long to decide on a name. "We'll call you, James. Is that alright with you?"

"James is fine," Lenny agreed.

"James it is," Kitty confirmed.

"Is he gonna be James Dillon?" asked Ruby. As far as she knew, people had last names. If James couldn't remember his last name, he could use theirs.

"No, right now he'll just be James," Kitty replied. "We have to find out who he is and where he's from. He might have a family who loves him and misses him."

"We can name yer horse too," Ruby suggested to James. "My daddy calls his horse, Buck. The horse that pulls our buggy is Buttercup. We have two horses that pull our wagon. We call them Applejack and Cocoa. Applejack likes apples and Cocoa is brown like cocoa. What do you want to name your horse?"

"Since I don't know if it's a male or a female, it's gonna be hard ta pick a name," James stated.

"It's a boy horse," Ruby confirmed. "I saw the boy part."

"Ruby!" Kitty exclaimed. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to her daughter.

"What momma? I did. Jame's horse has a part like daddy's horse, 'n Buck is a boy. That's what daddy told me."

Kitty had no idea how much Ruby knew about the difference between boys and girls. She was certain Matt would not give her a lesson on the differences without Kitty's knowledge. Kitty guessed that Ruby asked about Buck and Matt answered her as best as he could. She would ask Matt about it sometime.

KItty took a breath and blew it out. "Nevermind. James, now that you know your horse is a boy, what would you like to name him?"

James had been amused by Ruby's declaration. He didn't know who she was, but he was certain she was a funny little girl. "What color is he?"

"He's really dark, like almost black," Ruby replied.

"I think I'll call him Coal," said James. "Because coal is black."

"Coal is a perfect name," Kitty affirmed.

Several minutes later Doc returned to the house. He walked in and noticed James had woken up. He hung his bowler hat on one of the hat hooks and walked over to the couch. "I see our friend is awake. I'm Doc Adams." Doc extended his hand to James. "What's your name?"

James took the offered hand. Before James had a chance to answer, Ruby answered for him. "He don't remember his name or who he is. Momma picked out the name James for him."

Kitty's choice of names did not go past Doc. When Kitty was pregnant with Ruby, she and Matt decided on the name James Samuel Dillon if the baby was a boy. James was Matt's middle name and it just happened to be his middle name. He was Galen James. Kitty told Doc James was in honor of the two most important men in her life. Samuel was in honor of her bartender and dear friend, Sam. After Ruby was born and all that happened, Kitty didn't get a chance to use the name James. Doc was certain that Kitty felt this was her chance to use it, even if it was only temporary. Who knows? Maybe this situation wouldn't be temporary. Maybe James would find a permanent home with the Dillons.

Doc sat on the chair that Kitty had placed closed to the couch. "There's this thing called amnesia. It's when people forget things. They usually get amnesia after a hard blow to the head. It's almost as if their memory has been knocked out of them." Doc tried to explain amnesia as best he could in a way that was easy to comprehend.

"Do you have powders to make him better?" Ruby questioned. She had perched herself on Grandpa Doc's lap.

Doc kissed the side of Ruby's head. "I wish I did, but you can't cure amnesia with powders."

"Then how is him gonna be better?" Ruby inquired. "Me 'n momma said you would help him." Ruby was worried about their new friend.

"We can still help him," Doc reassured his granddaughter.

Ruby looked out the window and saw her daddy and Festus ride up. She jumped off Doc's lap and ran to the window. "Daddy 'n Uncle Festus are here. I'm gonna tell daddy that James is awake." Ruby ran out the front door and to her daddy. "Daddy! Daddy! James is awake."

"That's great news," Matt responded as he unpacked the items Kitty had asked for. "Now that we know who he is, we can find out where he's from. Did he tell momma where he came from?"

"He don't remember his name or anything," said Ruby. "Grandpa Doc said he has 'nesia. Momma gave him the name James."

Like Doc, Kitty's choice of names did not go past Matt. It was obvious to Matt that Kitty was becoming attached to the young boy. Matt just hoped she didn't become too attached. "Let's go inside and talk with Grandpa Doc 'n momma."

"Well I reckon I must be invisible 'cause my favorite lil niece ain't even said hi ta me," said Festus.

"I'm sorry Uncle Festus," Ruby apologized. She went over to Festus and gave him a hug. Festus returned the hug.

The trio walked into the house. Matt and Festus hung their hats next to Doc's. Matt placed the bags of coffee, flour, and sugar on the coffee table. He still had Ruby's gumdrops in his vest pocket. He was surprised she hadn't asked for them. The excitement of James waking up must have made her forget. In regards to forgetting, Matt wanted to know more about James. Ruby said he had 'nesia, which Matt knew that she meant amnesia.

Matt addressed Doc. "Ruby said our friend can't remember anything, 'n that we're calling him James."

"That's correct," Doc verified. "He has a case of amnesia."

"How bad is it?" asked Matt. "When will he get his memory back?"

"There's no way I can answer that," Doc replied, tugging on his ear. "I've read cases where a person gets his memory back shortly. There have been cases where it takes longer for a person to get his memory back. There have even been cases where a person never gets his memory back."

"What can we do to help James?" asked Kitty. She couldn't imagine being in James' shoes and being lost without any memory. She couldn't phathom not remembering Matt or Ruby.

"The best thing for people with amnesia is to surround them with familiar people, places, and things," said Doc. "That's gonna be difficult because we don't have anything familiar to surround him with. But sometimes words or even smells can trigger a person's memory. It's gonna take time. We'll just have to be patient."

James had been listening. He was trying to take everything in. A little bit ago two men had walked into the house. One of the men was a giant and the other one looked like a silly hillman. He wasn't sure how he knew to describe the other man as a hillman. He just did. The giant man seemed kind. James noticed the U.S. Marshal badge and began staring at it. There was something about the badge.

Matt noticed James staring at him. "I guess I haven't introduced myself. I'm Matt Dillon. I'm the Marshal of Dodge City. I'm also Kitty's husband 'n Ruby's father. This here is my deputy, Festus."

"Nice ta meet ya, James," said Festus.

"Nice ta meet both of you," James replied. James hadn't been sure which man lived here, but he wasn't surprised it was the giant with the badge.

"You keep looking at my badge," Matt said to James. "Would you like to hold it?"

"No," James slowly drawled. "I'm not sure, but I think I might know a marshal."

Kitty's eyes widened. "Doc, is this a sign that his memory is coming back?"

"It's possible," Doc answered.

"We can't wait for James' memory to come back," Matt stated. "We have ta try ta find some clues about who he is. Festus 'n I are gonna see if we can track where his horse came from." Matt reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the gumdrops. He gave them to Ruby. "Maybe you can share these with James."

"My gumdrops!" Ruby exclaimed. "I will daddy. Oh 'n James' horse is named Coal. James can't remember his horse's name, so he calls it Coal 'cause it's black like coal."

"You take two and give James two," Kitty instructed. "And then give the bag to me. Remember. It's staying in our bedroom." Ruby chose two gumdrops for her, two gumdrops for James, and gave her momma the bag.

"Matthew, we better get goin' if 'n we wants ta have a mighty good deal of sunlight ta do our trackin'," said Festus.

"Yer right," Matt affirmed. "Let's get goin'."

"We'll see ya directly," said Festus as he Matt left.

"I should probably be going too," said Doc.

Kitty suddenly felt nervous being alone with James. Not because she was afraid that he would do something, but because she was nervous there might be an issue with his concussion. She didn't want to be alone if that happened. She would have to leave Ruby and James to get Doc, and she did not want to have to do that.

"Doc, will you please stay?" she asked.

Doc could see the pleading in Kitty's eyes. "Sure thing." Kitty showed her appreciation with a hug.

TBC