Winter's Refuge
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three
HEYES
I insisted on driving our wagon into Three Birds to pick up Martha and Michael after Dr. Arden's visit. I want to get that medical journal article about teaching babies sign language. It's something positive I can do for Ruth Anne. They'd only been gone about fifteen minutes. It's a good thing I left when I did. Only a little way down the main road, I saw their buggy leaning precariously over the ditch. The back wheel in the ditch was broken and the back one on the roadside was spinning freely not touching the ground. Hurrying toward them, my eyes searched for the doctor and his wife. I didn't see anyone.
Stopping the wagon just behind there, I started calling, "Doctor! Miss Denise!"
"Owww!" The voice came from behind the bushes at the side of the road. Rushing over I went straight to Miss Denise who was bent over in pain.
"You're hurt?" I asked. She reached out and grabbed me desperately. I felt her nails cut my skin as she yelled, "Owww!" again.
"I'm having a baby," she screamed back.
"Dr. Arden?"
Still holding me tight with one hand she pointed to a foot and a leg visible from the ditch. "He was thrown. Hasn't moved."
My thoughts were tumbling on top of each other. I pushed the urge to escape into my mind and thought what would the Kid do.
"Angie, can you walk? Want to get you into the back of my wagon."
She nodded and, leaning heavily on me, she took hesitant steps toward my wagon. I put the back down, her arm around my neck, put a hand under her knees and lifted her in. "Aiden!"
She moved herself up by the seats. She was breathing heavily. I know nothing about delivering a baby and was glad she hadn't screamed in pain again. I've got to get her to Phoenix. Listening for others on the road, while I went to the doctor, I didn't hear anything. We were alone.
Dr. Arden's been thrown to the far side of the ditch, landing on his side and shoulder. He was still, so still I was afraid I might find him dead. I got down into the ditch and knelt down behind his back. He's always told us not to touch or move someone who's fallen but I have no choice. I need to get him to the wagon so I can get Denise to our home.
"Doctor, it's me, Heyes." I touched his back and slowly pulled him toward me until he was leaning on me face up. I was relieved when his eyes opened to slits and he coughed.
"What? Oh, my head, shoulder, my leg…WHERE'S DENISE?!"
"In my wagon on the road. Need to get you in there, too. Let's see if you can lean on me and stand." I knew I could never carry him; I'm not the Kid who would have lifted him and carried him to the wagon.
Gingerly, he stood only putting weight on his left leg and clinging tightly to me.
"Doctor, going to help you sit on the side of the ditch. It's behind you. Then I'll go around and help you stand up and we'll get you over there and into the wagon."
He nodded and wiped the side of his head. I saw that his hand had come away bloody. My heart was beating quickly, and I fell to my knees trying to climb out of the ditch too fast. Slow down. Take control of the situation. Don't let them think you are scared. That was advice the Kid gave me when some of the gang got out of control in a saloon one night. It worked then and it worked now.
"Owww!"
"Denise!" the doctor yelled.
"We'll be with her in a minute," I told him, and I bent down and put one of his arms around my neck. "Lean into me and I'll help you to the wagon."
"To Denise. How far apart are…" his voice trailed off." He closed his eyes; all his weight fell on me.
"Doc, Doc, wake up!" I ordered firmly. His eyes opened to the slits again.
"Yes, Heyes, I'm alert now. Get me to Denise." He was able to put his bottom on the lowered wagon back panel and used his arms and his good leg to pull himself back near his wife.
I got into the driver's seat but before I could get the horse started he reminded me, "Get my bag. I'll need it."
I jumped down and dug in the tilted buggy until I found his bag.
"Please get us somewhere," Denise yelled as I drove the horse as fast as I dared.
JED 'KID' CURRY
I'd been closin' down the shop for the day, but I knew somethin' was wrong as soon as I heard the wagon make a quick sharp turn onto Curry Road. Heyes was drivin' like a crazy man, but his eyes were focused. Before he even got to the blacksmith shop, I was halfway to the gate and got it open just in time so he could drive through.
"Oww!" I heard from the back of the wagon, and I recognized the sound of a woman about to have a baby.
I ran after the wagon to the porch of our house. Auntie and Chrissy were comin' out the door. Juan and Arnie rushed over from the stables. Heyes had the back of the wagon open when I got there. Miss Denise was breathin' hard and in labor with Aiden's bloody head in her lap.
Climbin' into the wagon bed, I picked Aiden up, relieved that he moaned softly when I did. At least he wasn't dead.
"This way, Jed, put him on the bed in the spare room," Auntie ordered, openin' the bedroom door for me. Pushin' pillows under his head, she ordered, "Go get Denise. Put her in the room next door. I'll get some bandages for the doctor and clean towels for his wife."
I wasn't thinkin' about anything except helpin' my friends and it felt good that Auntie is takin' charge.
Heyes had helped Denise scoot to the edge of the wagon while I was gone. I scooped her up in my arms and smiled at her. "Guess your baby wants to be born here at Phoenix."
HEYES
Auntie and Chrissy were helping Denise deliver the baby. I gave Angie a quick kiss and told her to stay resting on the couch. Arnie had gone back with the wagon to pick the twins up from school. He also thought to send a telegram to Dr. Oliver Arden. Hortencia took Joy and Ruth Anne to her house so she could watch them and her son. Ken rushed home worried about Mary.
That left me and the Kid to tend to Dr. Arden. I just followed what the Kid told me. He straightened the doctor out on the bed. Then we washed his head gently with the alcohol he used for cleaning. It must have stung but Arden was unconscious. I held a clean rag hard against the wound on the side of his head.
"Must have hit it on a rock," the Kid said as he looked at the doctor's shoulder. "This is dislocated. You hold him while I pull on it. Hold strong, the pain might wake him up."
"Uh?" Arden mumbled when we fixed his shoulder and lost consciousness again.
The Kid gently folded his arm across his chest and moved to his leg. There was a long gash on his leg. "Needs stitchin'."
We looked at each other. We've both stitched each other when we were running. But this was different. This was a doctor and an expert at it.
Taking a deep breath, the Kid said, "I'll get it cleaned up. Maybe just a bandage will do."
The walls in the original part of the house are thin and we could hear Denise when the contractions struck. Never knew much about childbirth. I was the last of my ma's kids. Living here, I've learned. The doctor had said he and Miss Denise were going to Cheyenne next week so she could deliver in his clinic there. Babies don't always wait for plans.
JED 'KID' CURRY
The gash on Aiden's leg is nasty and deep. "Never stitched one this deep and jagged," I told Heyes. I know that the sounds from the next room are makin' Heyes think about Angie and their baby. But I need him focused here. "What do you think about just bandagin' it for now?"
He looked closer, lightin' a candle like Aiden does to see better. "Think there might still be dirt in there. Let's wash it out again."
I got some whiskey but remembered that Aiden had a different kind of alcohol in his bag…and there might be somethin' in there that Auntie and Chrissy might need to help deliver the baby.
Aiden opened his eyes just as I finished washin' the wound out for the third time. Heyes used a clean cloth and pulled the caked dirt from around the edges. "Good, you're awake. Want you to take some pain medicine." I mixed some laudanum in a little water and held his head up so he could drink. I tipped the glass up at the end so he got it all.
We heard Miss Denise screamed, "OWW!"
"Who's that?" mumbled Aiden, the medicine takin' effect.
I wasn't goin' to lie to him, but I also wasn't goin' to let him try and get out of this bed. "Miss Denise. You're gonna be a papa soon."
"Oh, that's nice," he said as his eyes closed and he slept soundly.
Me and Heyes cleaned the wound one more time and covered it with a thick, clean cloth we found in his doctor's bag. Then we wrapped it tight enough to hold the cloth but not too tight. If stitchin' needs to be done, maybe Auntie can help with it tomorrow.
HEYES
The birth that seemed so imminent when we were in the wagon was taking a long time. Auntie told us that's the way it is sometimes. Babies can't be rushed. She told us there was still a lot of time between contractions. I really don't want to know all this about birthing babies. Miss Denise was distraught because she felt responsible for the buggy crash. While they were riding, she felt her water break. Auntie made this sound like a normal thing, but it sounds terrible to me and the Kid. Surprised, she tried to stand up screaming to her husband what happened. When he turned, the buggy swerved and into the ditch it went. The doctor was thrown out of his seat and flew into the ditch. Unhurt, she was able to crawl out of the wagon, hoping each second it didn't slip further into the ditch.
I went out in the living room and read to Angie. Chrissy joined us after about two hours, took a nap in the overstuffed green chair by the fireplace, then went back in to help Auntie. Jed sent Michael and Martha to Hortencia and Juan's house when they came home from school. Remembering what happened when they wanted to see the first foal, Posie, being born, the Kid gave them a strict warning about what would happen if they tried to come home before summoned.
Normally the father paces during the delivery, but Aiden isn't really aware of what's happening. So, the Kid sits with the doctor for a while, then paces around the kitchen eating whatever is there. He even went in and sat with Miss Denise and talked to her when Auntie needed a break and Chrissy was sleeping. Don't think I could have done that.
When Angie fell asleep, I went out and helped Juan and Arnie with the horses. The Kid had left the last side of the blacksmith shop up and I walked down to close it. A couple of neighbors came to pick up their repairs. I didn't know any of these people, but they knew me and were very talkative. They each complimented the Kid's work. I told them they should tell him themselves. It would be good for him to hear.
I checked in at the Ortiz house. Hortencia came from a big family and easily handles all of the kids. Michael and Martha had been sitting at the table doing their homework but rushed me when I came through the door. Joy put both hands on the floor, stood up and followed them. Ruth Anne had been concentrating on a ribbon in her hands and was facing away from the others, did not respond. Why hadn't I noticed things like this earlier?
"Uncle Heyes, how's Mrs. Arden?" asked Martha, concerned.
"Auntie and your ma are helping her have her baby." I turned them around and went over and scooped up a startled Ruth Anne and sat down at their kitchen table. Joy climbed onto my lap.
"What about Dr. Arden?" Michael asked.
Hortencia, with her son in her arms, sat across from me. I thought about how much to tell them, but they'll know soon enough anyway. They've seen some badly hurt people come into the doctor's office when they were there. The twins are both drawn to medicine. Maybe we might eventually have a doctor in the family.
"There was a buggy accident. Dr. Arden was injured. Your pa is taking care of him at the house," I tried to say it with optimism.
Martha put her hands to her face, imitating a move that Auntie does often. "Oh, no! Was Mrs. Arden injured?"
I brushed her hair back of her ears. "No, but the baby is coming."
I looked at the two little girls sitting on my lap. Joy was looking at each person who talked and was telling the about her doll. Ruth Anne was staring at my face, frowning. I realized I was frowning while telling the sad news. I smiled at her. She smiled back and hugged me. "Good girl!" I told her. She stared at my lips. Has she figured out what we use them for? "Ughh. Ughh," she told me. I hugged her tight. I didn't know what else to do.
JED 'KID' CURRY
I'm not much of a cook but I saw the chicken Auntie had marinated and started cookin' it.
"I can help with that, Jed. I'm a pretty fair cook," Angie said from her spot on the livin' room couch with her feet up.
"Thanks, but you're stayin' right there under doctor's orders," I told her in a voice that told her no argument would change my mind.
I set the food out on the table so people could eat when they wanted. Then I went and sat next to Angie. "True answer please… How are you doin' with all this goin' on around here today?"
She hesitated. "Embarrassed that I lied to you all. Don't want to be a burden. Worried about Miss Denise. She told me her background. Women like her don't usually find love and marriage and have children. She's sweet but tough inside. Just been praying that the baby's big enough to survive. I had one born at seven months that only lasted a day…sweet baby girl looked like an angel. Didn't really have time to grieve probably for her. James had me pregnant with Sam within a few weeks."
I didn't know this about Angie. I wonder if Heyes does. It sounded like somethin' she kept silently close to her heart. "Sorry…" I started to say, not knowin' the right words.
She smiled at me and put a hand on my arm. "It was a long time ago, a lifetime ago it seems. Right now, I'd like it if you brought me some of that chicken and biscuits you made."
"Right away."
HEYES
Hortencia insisted I stay there and eat. She was right, the kids were all clingy and the two older ones worried. I left when it was about time for Sam to get home. Don't think he's been around a woman giving birth before. I caught him on the porch. After kissing his ma, he grabbed some of the food on the table and went out to be with Arnie in his room in the barn.
I checked on all the horses again. Our three visiting mares have been here almost three weeks and at least two of them I'm sure are pregnant. I'll talk to Arnie tomorrow to have the third have more time with Fall's Legend.
And when I went back into the house, I could tell the baby still wasn't here. I stopped inside the kitchen door and listened until the Kid came down the stairs with a quilt.
"Heyes, help me bring water into the bedroom. Auntie keeps asking for drinkin' water and boilin' water. She said some babies just take their time bein' birthed."
Carrying the pot of water into the room, I tried not to look toward the bed. Miss Denise needs some privacy. I quickly left after pouring the water into a basin on the dresser.
Kid followed me out. "Heyes, why don't you take Angie and get her settled in your own bed. She's not sleepin' out here with all the commotion. Then maybe tell Sam it's okay if he stays with Arnie tonight."
I nodded. "Okay." The Kid is good at taking charge of a situation. When did he learn to do this? Or could he always do it and just deferred to me because that's the way it had been growing up? I need to think about it.
When I came back after talking with Sam, Chrissy was asleep on the living room couch where Angie had been, and Auntie was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee looking exhausted.
"Our darling Hortencia is in there with Denise to give me a break," Auntie said, yawning. "Jed is in with the doctor, but he seems to be sleeping quietly with the laudanum we gave him."
I know I needed to help but I didn't want to be in with Denise. "I'll go sit with Arden. The Kid can help Hortencia if she needs him. Auntie, go sit in the big chair by the fire and close your eyes for a few minutes."
So that's what she did and fell asleep as soon as her eyes closed. Hortencia must be exhausted, too. She's pregnant and watched the kids all day until they went to bed. Now Juan is with them. Sitting next to Dr. Arden, I leaned my head back, fell into a light sleep and nightmares of the prison infirmary attack. Only this time Arden was the patient, and I was his doctor with the guards demanding I take care of him. When I said I didn't know what to do, the billy club hit my legs. But it didn't hurt, and it kept swiping against me until I opened my eyes and realized it was Joe's furry tail hitting my calves. Nobody had paid much attention to him all day. I knew that Notjoe was probably in the barn room with Arnie and Sam.
I closed my eyes again and when I opened them hours had passed and the sun was climbing in the sky. Arden was still sleeping deeply. Chrissy and Auntie were fast asleep in the living room. And the Kid and Hortencia were still in with Miss Denise. Neither of them has had any sleep for almost a day now. I worry about the Kid relapsing again. He's still not as strong as he wants us to think. There was no coffee so I started some. Before it was done, there was a knock on the door. Friends usually come around to the kitchen door so I didn't know who this could be.
"Heyes, where are they?" asked Dr. Oliver Arden as he bustled into the living room, followed by Mike Loveland carrying his sleeping son.
Startled, all I could say was, "Huh?" and look at Mike. Recovering, I said, "Your brother's in the first bedroom, Miss Denise is in the next. Just then her loudest "OWW!" filled our house. Dr. Oliver headed for her room as Auntie and Chrissy stirred.
ASJ*****ASJ
Mike Loveland told me that Dr Oliver had gotten into Bridgeport on the late train from Cheyenne. "He came to the newspaper office after not finding a buggy to rent at the livery," Mike explained. "Was frantic to get to Three Birds. Soon as I knew who he was, I gave him a place to sleep in the back room. We left before dawn this morning, with Mikey thinking it was all a grand adventure. I've never been to Phoenix but know this road well and made good time. Dr. Oliver talked the whole time about his brother Aiden and their father and mother. He thinks Aiden quite brave for moving west."
Handing Mike a cup of coffee, I yawned. "Got to get back in with Dr. Arden…Dr. Aiden Arden. If you don't mind, our foreman, Juan Ortiz, has a lot of kids to handle with his wife here. Would you take Mikey over there and help out?"
"That one of the men I saw in the stable with the horses? And I think Mikey would love to help collect the eggs."
"Thank you for bringing Dr. Oliver here. Can't tell you what a welcome sight he was."
"Always wanted to see this Phoenix that Jed and you talk about all the time."
JED 'KID' CURRY
Things hadn't changed for hours except for Miss Denise's pains getting a little closer together. Hortencia was asleep with her head on the bottom of the bed, but I couldn't sleep. Someone needed to stay alert.
All of a sudden, Dr Oliver rushed into the room. He knows everyone here at Phoenix. He stayed here and nursed us through the grippe. "Jed, Miss Hortencia, let me exam Denise and see how she's progressing." He leaned over and took her hand. "How are you feeling, my dear?"
"Tired. So tired. Oh, Oliver, it's you! I'm having the baby."
He grinned. "You are at that. Now let me examine you."
Pushin' his hand and stethoscope away, she tried to sit up. "No, check Aiden first. He was bleeding. He was thrown from our buggy!" She looked at me then back at her brother-in-law. "What are you waiting for, go!" she ordered.
Dr. Oliver laughed as he looked at me. "Jed, lead the way. Don't worry, birthing women can get very bossy."
HEYES
An hour after Dr. Oliver got here, everything was settled. After inspecting me and the Kid's cleaning of Dr. Aiden's head and leg wounds, he smiled and said, "Good job. My brother has trained you well." He hemmed and hawed over the head wound. "We're going to have to watch him closely. I don't like where this injury is positioned."
"Me and the Kid been taking turns sitting in here with him. We been giving him some of the laudanum stuff you left here."
He had taken the bandage off the leg and was bending to look closely again. Without being asked, I relit the candle me and the Kid had used and held it close for him. "Thank you, Heyes. Thorough job of cleaning the wound. Please get me my bag from the other room and I'll stitch this right up."
Arden's eyes blinked open just as Dr Oliver was finishing. "Oliver? Oliver, tell father I will be late for dinner tonight. I'm not feeling well."
"Yes, brother, I will. Here, it's time for your medicine again."
"But it tastes bad. Can mother add some honey?" Dr Arden said, his eyes closed again.
"I'll see that she does that on the next one." Oliver seemed amused and tapped his brother on the arm. "I'll be back to check on you."
"Stay with him, Heyes."
JED 'KID' CURRY
After he finished with Aiden, Dr. Oliver asked everyone to leave Denise's room except Auntie and Chrissy. Within half an hour, the door opened and he emerged holdin' a little baby. "It's a healthy little boy. I want Aiden to meet his son."
I started to protest but he knew as well as I do that the medicine Aiden took will keep him sleepin' for hours. Still, he held the baby close to Aiden. He spoke quietly so I couldn't hear.
Auntie, Hortencia, and Chrissy fussed over the little one and even took it back to let Angie see him. Wrapped in the blankets, all I saw were brown eyes and some brown hair on a pointy head. Dr. Oliver was delighted to be an uncle and even though it was late morning, he sent us all to bed…doctor's orders. Chrissy was already sleepin' in our bed, and I crawled in beside her.
"Denise's baby cute and healthy," Chrissy whispered, turning over to cuddle up next to me.
"Uh huh," I answered, lettin' sleep take me.
"Not as pretty as Jed and Chrissy's babies."
HEYES
Nobody in the house slept last night but the world went on around us, even though we were focused internally on what was going on inside. That's one thing about our family here. We take care of each other. The twins got to school. The cow got milked. The eggs were gathered. The babies were fed and the horses were taken care of. All outside appeared normal but occasionally someone would open the back door and ask, "Baby here yet?" or "How's Dr. Arden?" Even after the little boy arrived, we were left undisturbed.
I brought Angie out to the couch and went back in to sit with the new father. His sleep was not as deep, and I knew I would see his eyes flicker open soon. He moaned loudly and tried to reach for the bandage on his head. I caught his head. His eyes looked at me in pain with questions. Dr. Oliver had heard the moan and was there quickly, carrying the baby.
Moaning, the patient's eyes fixed on the bundle in his brother's arms.
"Aiden, you have a healthy son." He bent so the new father could see the baby but didn't give him to his pa.
Dr. Aiden smiled but groaned. "Healthy? Denise?"
"Both fine. Denise is anxious about you so concentrating on getting better. She said you need to talk about a name for this little one."
