Winter's Refuge
Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Three
JED 'KID' CURRY
I remembered I needed to send a telegram to Colin about the change in Rocky's sleepin' arrangements. I'm sure he won't object to the room with Ken Josephs there to guard him, but I want to make sure he knows. "Gabe, I need to send a telegram.
Gabe was just standin' up with some telegrams in his hand lookin' around for somethin'.
Somethin' I can help you with?" I asked.
"Never saw this place so busy," he said, just as the telegraph started clickin' again. He sat down and grabbed a pencil. When the message was finished, he looked at me with wide lost eyes. "Can't deliver the ones that already came in before another one starts."
Picking up the stack of telegrams, I volunteered to deliver the ones I could. I filled in the form for the telegram I wanted to send.
"Thank you, thank you. Have you heard any news how Jeff is doing?" he asked.
"No, but I'll go by there now and check. I see one of these is for Dr. Arden from his brother in Cheyenne," I said, flippin' through the messages.
Gabe sighed. "You might want to rewrite your telegram. There's one in that stack for you from this Colin Apperson."
I found the telegram just as he mentioned it.
"To: Phoenix
Heard about tornado that hit Three Birds. Uncle and I worried about all of you. Catching morning train. Be there tomorrow afternoon.
Colin Apperson"
"Well, looks like he'll be here soon so you can forget about my telegram. Can you handle all this? I can ask Arnie to come help for a while," I told him, as he sat down to write another message.
"Arnie's on the way to the Pokoras," he said quickly, still writin'.
I waited until the incomin' message stopped before I said, "No, Mr. Crenshaw brought in Mrs. Pokora. They're over with Dr. Arden."
He handed me the message he just wrote. "I've got this, but if he could help for a little while; I'd really like to get some lunch. And if he knows some kid that can deliver telegrams?"
I put my telegram in my pocket and went across to the makeshift medical space, lookin' through the telegrams. I saw Frank as I walked there and handed him two telegrams, one from each of his brothers. "Jed, need your help down at the new saloon when you can. Most if it is gone, just gone. Skylar Shaw built cheap and fast. No one hurt, that I know of."
"Got to deliver a few more and I'll be there," I told him, to his back.
He turned around with a smile. "Only thing left is that heavy bar. A fire couldn't destroy it and even the tornado couldn't move it."
At first look, it was chaos in the medical buildin'. But when I looked around, I understood that it was controlled chaos.
Arnie and Eleanor were sittin' next to her ma, puttin' a cold towel on her forehead. "Arnie, if you are okay leavin' here, Gabe could use a food break for a little while."
"Go, Honey," Eleanor said, puttin' a hand on his arm. "You can't help here, but there you can. Everyone needs to help where they can today. Ma and I will be here whenever you finish."Her eyes were red from cryin'. She leaned over and gave his cheek a kiss. He blushed and looked at me with a self-conscious look.
I winked at him, but just said, "Gabe will be mighty glad of the help."
I saw Aiden sittin' by Jeff's cot. "How you doin', Jeff?" I asked, walkin' over to them and handin' the doctor his telegram.
Jeff pushed up on his elbows. "Ask him," he said, noddin' at Aiden. "He's the doctor. I don't think I need to be here."
"Patient Birde is doing well, and I know that because he is complaining loudly that his wheelchair was destroyed. He has some deep cuts that I've stitched up and Denise cleaned all the sticky jam off of him, but otherwise that's it," Aiden said, listenin' to Jeff's heart one last time. "Seems he was lucky enough to be trapped between two shelves that had fallen. He was buried in glass, jelly, jam, and hats, but he had room to breathe. He just couldn't get out. And if someone can get the rolling chair from my office, we can use this cot for someone who needs it. For what he just went through, he's in remarkably good condition."
"And I need to be out there helping the people of Three Birds," Jeff said firmly.
"I'll go get the chair," Miss Denise told us as she walked by. "And I'll send word to Gabe that Jeff's doing well."
Readin' his telegram, Aiden stood up and stretched. "Sounds like Oliver is already on his way here. I woke Arnie to send a telegram late last well he was already awake. We're lucky the telegraph lines are still up. Well, I can sure use his help."
HEYES
I sent Mary to get Martha and Joy from Mrs. Kirk's. They returned with a basket of cookies and muffins that Auntie took straight into the kitchen. "Everyone, come into the kitchen. Take a break. I made lemonade and now we have goodies!"
It felt good to be sitting with my family. Even Ken, Mary, and little Kenny are here to help put things in order. I may be taking a break, but my mind is going fast, making lists of what needs to be done. And they are not short lists.
"Uncle Heyes, I think I heard the bell on the gate," Michael said. The windows and front door were boarded up, so I followed the boy out the kitchen door. Vince, Ken, and Rocky, carrying Nettie, were behind us. My little girl doesn't want to get too far from him.
Walking around to the front, we waited as a buggy pulled up. Colin Apperson and Dr. Oliver Arden looked at our house, not at us. Even though Governor Sanderson is no longer in office, Colin remained in charge of Rocky's parole. I wish the Kid were here. He and Colin are friends. This man still has power over Rocky. I'm afraid of men with power. I want to call him 'sir', but the Kid doesn't like that.
"Heyes, Dr. Oliver shared the telegram he got early this morning from Arnie Weber, I believe he's the Three Birds telegraph operator, telling him that a tornado went through here. Said his brother needs his help. We took the morning train together to Bridgeport." As he talked, he started to walk around the house.
"Hi. Thanks for coming. The Kid was going to send you a telegram." My words weren't failing me, but I couldn't think what to say. I'm not good at casual conversations with anyone but our family anymore.
Dr. Arden came and shook my hand. "Anyone hurt?"
"My wife has a broken leg and…" I started.
"My ma has a real bad cut on her head. I stitched it up, but I'd like you to look at it, please," Michael told him. "Will you come see her?" Michael took the doctor's hand and started pulling him to the back door.
"And who is your mother, young man?"
"Chrissy Curry. My pa is Jed Curry. I think you know him." Michael didn't stop escorting the doctor in to see his ma while he talked.
They disappeared into the house, and I caught up with Colin staring at the damage to our house, open mouthed.
"I never saw the damage a tornado could do before, only read about it," he said, as he continued to stare where our room had been. "Is Jed here? Did I hear you say your wife was injured?" he asked, eyes still glued to the wreckage.
"The doctor's with her. Did you get the Kid's telegram?" I asked.
"No. This used to be Rocky's room, and this was the addition that was your room, am I right?" Colin reached out and tried to push the tree the Kid had moved out of the room by himself. It didn't budge.
"Sir, Mr. Apperson, I'm Ken Josephs. Don't know if you remember me?" Ken forcibly took Colin's hand and shook it. And broke his fixation on the damage.
"Of course I remember you, Marshal Josephs…and how is your brother's recovery?"
"Very well, thank you for asking. He's now on Deputy Director Brothers' staff," Ken answered.
Colin's gaze had found the barn, with most of the roof missing. "No one was killed, you say?"
"Mr. Apperson, I need to talk to you about Rocky," Ken said firmly.
Colin looked around quickly and saw Rocky standing nearby. Nettie had laid her head on his shoulder. "Mr. Rocke, this was your room?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Rocky answered, but didn't move any closer.
Ken interrupted them. "Never can tell what a tornado will do. Force was so strong, it tossed Rocky's bed and broke his shackles. Thank God, because that heavy iron bed ended up halfway to my house. And Rocky, there, he's a real hero, saved both of the Heyes' kids when their parents couldn't get to them. Ended underneath that tree you were trying to move, protecting the kids beneath him."
Colin approached Rocky and took Nettie's hand. "Is this one of the ones you saved?"
"Yes, sir," Rocky answered.
"Key save me AND Zander. Unc Jed found us. I love Key," Nettie told him.
"Key...That's what she calls me, sir. Can't say Rocky yet," Rocky explained nervously.
"I'm proud of you, Mr. Rocke. Now Josephs, you were trying to tell me something?" Colin turned his full attention to Ken. I don't know if I could have answered any of his questions, but Ken handled it.
"Well, Jed towed that iron bed of Rocky's up to my spare bedroom. It hasn't any windows and Jed repaired the shackles and Rocky slept there last night. If you'd like to inspect it, it's this way. It was the best we could do under the circumstances to meet his parole conditions, and I'd like him to stay with us until his room is rebuilt. With your permission, of course," Ken finished.
Colin looked at Ken and then at Rocky and Nettie…and smiled. "Marshal Josephs, you have my permission. And I will write it up later and send you the signed copy and include that Parole Rocke has proven himself and will no longer need to be shackled at night effective today."
"Thank you, sir," Rocky said, shifting Nettie to his left arm and holding out his right to Colin. "Thank you very much."
Nettie didn't understand but she knew we were happy. "Key, good," she announced loudly to all of us.
JED 'KID' CURRY
We held the emergency meetin' of the Town Council in Aiden's waitin' room. Me and Jeff led the meetin' and Palmer Robinson, Aiden, Frank, Miss Beverly, and Mr. Kolmand were there.
"Has anyone seen Father Patrick?" Jeff asked.
"He went to Mallard Springs yesterday. He's supposed to perform a wedding there or something," Miss Beverly answered.
"Did anyone check if there was damage to the church?" asked Jeff. "We might be able to shelter some people in the church hall."
And they all looked at me. I tried to think what Heyes would do to start the meetin'. Then I thought of his lists. "We need to get a list of all the damage to any of the town buildin's,' I started.
"I'll see to that," Frank said.
"Good. Thank you," I said. "And we need to know how many people we have here who are hurt or displaced from their homes. Is anyone missin' still? They'll need food and a place to stay. Wish Father Patrick was here. He'd know what to say to them."
"Miss Denise and I will make the list of those hurt…and those that we lost," Aiden said. "The makeshift hospital is running well, but I'll be glad when Oliver gets here to help."
"And I will work with the families who came here to get them help and shelter," Miss Beverly said. "And make a list of any that we haven't heard from yet."
"Good. Me and Juan went to Mrs. Kirk's and the Crenshaw's this mornin'. Mark them safe." I thought for a minute. "Does anyone have a key to the church hall?"
"Maybe Chris Birde," Miss Beverly answered. "And we are going to need to feed all the people here. I will get all the ladies started on this. There are at least eleven families that have come to Three Birds already."
"I will start a list with the estimated dollar amount of the repairs needed in town," Palmer Robinson announced. He looked at me, then looked away. Then as if he had made a hard decision, he added, "And, we will cover the expenses to feed and take care of the refugees here…and, of course, we'll help those who don't have the money to rebuild." He sighed.
"Think we can get a lot of people together to do some house and barn raisings the next couple of months. Maybe you and Miss Beverly could organize that, Mr. Robinson? Volunteers will keep the costs down."
"We have one last piece of business," Frank said, as we all looked at him. "The new saloon Shaw built is demolished. Nothing left but that long heavy bar that survived the fire in the old saloon. I got a telegram from my brother Fred. Seems he's been communicating with you, Mr. Kolmand?"
Charles Kolmand nodded. "Yes, we have. He asked me to trace the providence, the ownership that is, of the saloon. I let him know last week that he still owns it."
"I sent him a telegram about its current condition. He said save the bar and burn what's left. And when the original saloon is no longer needed as a hospital, he will reopen it there. He wants to call it 'The Survivor Tavern.' So, not today but soon, I will need volunteers to move that bar. I thought we could make a bonfire in what's left of that saloon. Anyone who has something broken to pieces can add them to it. Kind of a cleansing feeling for the town."
ASJ*ASJ
As the meetin' was endin', Dr. Oliver's buggy stopped in front of Aiden's office. He was surprised to see so many people in the waitin' room.
"Oliver, I'm so glad you came so quickly." Aiden shook hands with his brother.
"Are these people our patients?" Oliver asked.
"No, a meeting of the Three Birds Town Council led by Jed Curry. We were just breakin' up. Come, we have a makeshift hospital set up across the street." Aiden put his hand on his brother's back and turned him to the door.
But Dr. Oliver turned back to me. "Mr. Curry, Colin Apperson came down from Cheyenne with me. He's helping out at Phoenix. And I examined Mrs. Heyes, lovely lady. Her leg is indeed broken. it's mobilized and will have to wait for the swelling to go down before we can cast it. She needs to stay off of it, as I told her husband."
"Thank you, doctor," I said as my thoughts turned to Chrissy…and Colin.
Dr. Oliver smiled. "And I examined Mrs. Curry. I understand your son stitched the wound?"
Aiden looked shocked. "Michael?"
"Yes. I have never seen such perfect small stitches in my life. He said you taught him, Aiden," Dr. Oliver said. "That boy will make a fine surgeon someday."