Ralph Compton Frontier Medicine

by Robert J. Randisi

  “That wasn’t too bad,” Kincaid said to Maggie.

  “You’re lucky you’re a handsome man, Gabriel,” she said, “or the women would’ve brushed you aside, too.”

  “The kids seemed to be all right with me.”

  “Oh, you have a way with kids,” Maggie said. “But you’re going to have to win over the men, and for that you need new clothes.”

  “I never thought I’d come out here and be judged by the men because of what I wore.”

  “Men don’t need much to judge other men by,” Maggie said. “Especially out here. Come on, we’ll get some lunch, then buy you some clothes. After that, I’ll introduce you to a few people.”

  “Town fathers?” Kincaid asked.

  “Let’s just say some of the folks you should know, and leave it at that,” Maggie suggested.

  * * *

  * * *

  Maggie took Kincaid to a café where, as they walked across the floor, she was greeted by many of the other diners. Kincaid was impressed that the woman seemed to be liked by everyone.

  “I can see I’ve got a lot to learn from you,” he said, as they sat.

  “What do you mean?”

  “How do you get everyone to like you?” he asked.

  “Oh, I don’t think you’re going to have any trouble doing that,” she said. “You’re handsome and charming. All you have to be after that is a good doctor, and folks will fall at your feet.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Kincaid said. “I’ll admit something to you. I’m great with kids, but I’m not as good with adults. I have a problem treating them all the same when so many of them are, well, stupid.”

  “Gabriel,” she said, “if that’s what you’re going to be expecting, you’ll find a lot of it here. Stupidity, ignorance . . . But there are also people here who are kind, courteous, and wonderful neighbors.”

  “Maybe you can point those out to me,” he said.

  “You’re going to have to make up your own mind as you meet each one,” she said. “However, I can help you decide what to order here, since I know what’s good.”

  “Then I’ll just leave that up to you, Maggie,” he said, sitting back. “I’m at your mercy.”

  * * *

  * * *

  After lunch Maggie told Kincaid it was time to take a walk around town. She introduced him to a lot of folks—storekeepers who were sweeping up or stacking shelves, folks either working or shopping. It was all in passing, so Kincaid received nothing he could use to form an opinion. Maggie was simply allowing him to be seen around town.

  The one man they did stop and speak to for a few minutes was a priest, Father Bannon. He was in his forties, tall with broad shoulders, black hair graying at the temples.

  “I’m glad Doc Edwin is finally going to get some help,” the priest said. “He’s starting to slow down a bit. I just hope the two of you can get along.”

  “Does he get along with you?” Kincaid asked.

  “Mmm, we sometimes don’t see eye to eye, but I respect him. And I think he respects me.”

  “Well, I’ll do the best I can to earn his respect, Father,” Kincaid said. “It was nice meeting you.”

  “And you, Doctor.” He tipped his hat to Maggie. “Ma’am.”

  As the priest walked past, Maggie stared after him, admiringly. Then she looked at Kincaid for a few seconds.

  “Yes,” she said, “I think you’re going to give Father Bannon some competition with the ladies in town.”

  “But he’s a priest,” Kincaid said. “Certainly the women aren’t actually trying to woo him.”

  “No, he has that collar protecting him. But you won’t have that kind of protection,” Maggie said.

  “I think you’re giving me a little too much credit, Maggie.”

  “I don’t think so,” the older woman said to him. “To tell you the truth, if I was twenty years younger, I’d be saving you for myself.”

  “Maggie—”

  “I’ve kept you away from most of those women so far,” she went on, “but believe me, that’s going to change.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Shopping for new clothes was next.

  They stopped in the mercantile where Maggie introduced Kincaid to the middle-aged owner and his wife, Fred and Ellen Shipley. Above the door on the outside was a sign that read shipley’s mercantile.

  “Are you replacing Doc?” Fred Shipley asked, with concern.

  “I’m just here to give him some help,” Kincaid said. He thought that explanation would keep him from being any sort of threatening presence.

  “That’s good,” Ellen Shipley said. “Doc’s gettin’ a little older, he could use some extra help.” She put her hand on Maggie’s arm. “Not that you ain’t enough for him, Maggie.”

  “I do what I can,” Maggie said, “but I’m not a doctor, that’s for sure.”

  “So what can we do for you folks today?” Fred asked.

  “Gabriel here looks a little too much like a dandy,” Maggie said. “We need to get him some Western wear.”

  “Well, we’ve got plenty,” Ellen said. “Shirts, jeans, boots, hats, the lot. Come with me, Dr. Kincaid, and we’ll get started.” Ellen hooked her arm through Kincaid’s and walked him deeper into the store.

  Next to the mercantile was a place called Shipley’s Saloon, and there was a connecting doorway complete with batwing doors. Kincaid thought he’d take a look in there at a later time, when he was properly attired.

  They started with shirts, most of them cotton, long-sleeved, with yokes for support and bibs for cleanliness.

  “You don’t need the bib shirts, really,” Ellen commented, “since there are several laundries in town. In the old days you could just flip the bibs aside to hide stains.”

  He chose several shirts in three different shades of blue, with no bibs.

  Trousers were next, also cotton. They carried canvas work pants, but since he wasn’t going to be riding the range and working cattle, the cotton pants made more sense. He bought both solids and stripes, for variety.

  They had common shoes, which she explained some townsmen preferred, but high boots were much more versatile, and as a doctor he never knew what terrain he was going to have to traverse when on a call. He agreed and bought two pairs with heels that would add to his height.

  As for a jacket or coat, he chose a simple sack coat that most townsmen wore and a duster for when the weather became unpleasant. There was nothing like a duster to protect the rest of your clothes from rain.

  When she tried to show him some vests, he begged off. He didn’t see the need for one. He had a pocket watch that his father had given him, but there was no chain, so he simply kept it in a jacket or trouser pocket.

  The last thing Ellen showed him was the hat section. There were plenty of wide-brimmed Stetsons that cowpokes wore to protect them from sunburn and glare. Then there were bowlers, which some townsmen preferred. Kincaid wanted something in the middle, a Stetson, but not with a particularly wide brim. Ellen showed him a couple and he chose one.

  “And how about a gun?” Ellen suggested, as they walked back to the front of the store.

  “I don’t think so,” Kincaid said. “I don’t expect to get into any shootouts.”

  “Nobody ever does.”

  “If I decide I need one, I’ll pick it up later.”

  “Suit yourself, Doctor.”

  When they got to the front desk Fred and Maggie were engaged in frivolous conversation, just catching up with each other and current events. Nothing that couldn’t be interrupted.

  “Here we are,” Ellen said. “He has a complete wardrobe.”

  She put all the clothes and boots on the counter. Maggie went through them quickly.

  “Blue?” she said, looking at Kincaid.

  “Three different
shades of blue,” he pointed out.

  She looked at the trousers, then touched the boots.

  “I approve,” she said, then looked at Fred. “Tally it up.”

  Fred leaned over a piece of paper with a pencil, wrote everything down, and did the math.

  “Put this on Doc’s bill?” he asked Maggie.

  Before Maggie could respond Kincaid said, “No, I’ll be paying.”

  “Should we start a tab?” Fred asked, pleasantly.

  “No,” Kincaid said, “I’ll pay for it now.”

  Fred stared at him.

  “All of it?”

  “Yes,” Kincaid said. “Is that unusual?”

  “Well . . . just about everybody in town has a tab,” Fred said.

  “But we’ll take it all now,” Ellen chimed in, happily.

  Fred passed the bill over to Kincaid, who looked at it, took the money from his pocket, and handed it over.

  “I’ll wrap it all up,” Fred said.

  “No,” Maggie said, “leave out a shirt, a pair of pants, and the boots. He’ll wear them out.”

  “Why?” Kincaid asked. “I can wear them tomorrow.”

  “You’re going to meet some more people today,” Maggie said. “You should look right.”

  “What people?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I saw you looking into the saloon next door. If you go in there, you’ve got to look right. You’re not going to get as lucky as you did yesterday.”

  “What if I just go back to the same saloon I was in yesterday?”

  “What for?”

  “Well,” Kincaid said, “for one thing, Bat Masterson invited me back to play poker with him.”

  “You know Mr. Masterson?” Ellen asked.

  “He does,” Maggie said.

  “He’s such a gentleman,” Ellen said. “And you’re friends?”

  “Not exactly,” Kincaid said, picking up a shirt, a pair of pants, and the boots from the counter. “Is there somewhere I can change?”

  “In the back.”

  As he headed for the back Maggie said to Fred, “We’ll need the hat, too.”

  * * *

  * * *

  When he came out they all looked him up and down, and Maggie said, “That’s so much better.”

  “You think so?” Kincaid asked.

  “How does it feel?”

  “The boots will take some getting used to,” Kincaid said. “The shirt’s kind of stiff.”

  “That’ll change after it’s washed a few times,” Ellen told him. “You look very handsome.”

  “If you go next door for a beer,” Maggie said, “nobody will look at you twice.”

  “You think so?”

  “Go ahead, do it,” she said. “I’ll have Fred wrap up your old clothes while you test out the new ones.”

  “All right, I will.”

  Kincaid walked to the batwing doors and through into the saloon. It was early and there weren’t that many customers, but there were enough for the test. He walked to the bar, conscious of the fact that nobody was looking at him.

  “What’ll it be?” the bartender asked.

  “A beer.”

  “Sure.”

  The bartender set a mug of beer in front of him and didn’t give him a second look.

  Kincaid drank half of it, then thanked the bartender and paid. He went back through the batwings to the store, where Maggie was waiting.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “Not a look,” he said.

  “You see?” she said. “You’ve just got to blend in.”

  Kincaid picked up his brown paper packages, thanked the Shipleys, and left the mercantile with Maggie.

  “Shall we go to the house and leave these things?” he asked her.

  “No, the office is closer,” she said, “and there might be some afternoon patients waiting. Here, put on your hat.”

  * * *

  * * *

  They walked to Doc Edwin’s office, found no one waiting outside. They went in and dropped off the packages.

  “Where to now?” he asked.

  “Doc wanted you to meet some important people,” Maggie said.

  “Like who?”

  “Well,” she said, “not exactly the ones he would think are important. Come on, I’ll show you.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Kincaid was surprised when Maggie took him to an apothecary shop.

  “Doc wanted me to come here?” he asked.

  “No,” she said. “He hates this place. It only opened a few months ago.”

  “If he hates it, why bring me here?”

  “Because I thought you’d get some use out of it,” she said. “After all, you’re up on all the more modern medical techniques, aren’t you?”

  “Well . . . most of them.”

  “Then you’ll know how to put this place to good use.”

  “But how’s he going to feel about me coming here?” he asked.

  “He’ll respect you for being your own man,” Maggie assured him. “I met the lady who runs it when she came to a town meeting, so I can introduce you.”

  “Doc’s never met her?”

  Maggie shook her head. “He refuses.”

  “But, why?” Kincaid said. “He’s a good doctor; he wants to help his patients.”

  “But he told you himself, he’s set in his ways,” Maggie said. “He won’t even come in here.”

  “Well then, I will,” Kincaid said, and entered.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The apothecary shop was owned and run by a lovely blond woman named Nora Legend. The woman smiled when she saw Maggie, but then her eyes went to Kincaid and sized him up. From what he saw he assumed she was his age, mid-thirties.

  “Maggie,” the woman said, “welcome. And who do we have here?”

  “Nora, I want you to meet Dr. Gabriel Kincaid,” Maggie said. “Gabriel, this is Nora Legend. She opened this shop a few months ago.”

  “Dr. Kincaid, welcome to Hays City,” she said. “I’m very happy you’re here. Perhaps I might have a regular customer now. I’m sure Maggie told you I’m not Dr. Edwin’s favorite person.”

  “As he and Maggie keep telling me,” Kincaid said, “he’s set in his ways. Me, I don’t have any ways, yet.”

  “Ah,” Nora said. “A man who’s an open book. I like it.” She put her hand out and he shook it.

  “We just came by so Gabriel could meet you and see your shop.”

  “Have a look around, Doctor,” Nora invited. “Would either of you like a drink while you’re here?”

  “No, thank you,” Maggie said.

  “I had a beer earlier today,” Kincaid said. “That’ll be enough for me until tonight.”

  “Well, a man who can control his drinking,” Nora said. “I think we’re going to get along, Doctor. How about tea?”

  “That sounds good,” Maggie said.

  “I’ll take that, also,” Kincaid said, “and I’ll also take you up on having a look around.”

  “You go right ahead,” Nora said. “I’ll take Maggie in the back to help me with the tea.”

  Maggie followed Nora to the back room while Kincaid began to wander around, taking a closer look at the shelves lined with bottles and jars.

  * * *

  * * *

  So?” Nora said to Maggie as she made the tea.

  “So what?” Maggie asked.

  “Is he married? Is there a Mrs. Dr. Kincaid waiting for him?”

  “Right now he’s staying with Doc Edwin,” Maggie said, “and there’s no Mrs.”

  “Aw, too bad,” Nora said, then raised her eyebrows at Maggie. “He’s so handsome.”

  “I know,” Maggie said. “You’re g
oing to have a lot of competition in town if you’re interested.”

  “What kind of a man is he?” Nora asked, putting some cakes on the tray with the tea.

  “He only got here yesterday, but so far he seems decent and intelligent.”

  “That will make him a rare commodity in this town, being both of those things.”

  “I guess we’ll see,” Maggie said.

  Nora picked up the tray and Maggie grabbed the teapot.

  * * *

  * * *

  Kincaid was very impressed with the contents of the apothecary shop. He saw quite a few items that he’d be making use of. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to fight Doc Edwin in order to introduce them to his practice.

  He turned as the two ladies came back into the shop and set the tea and tray down on the glass countertop.

  Nora poured and handed Kincaid a cup. He drank it straight without sugar or cream, which both ladies added to theirs. Then she held out the plate of cakes to him.

  “Did you bake these?” he asked.

  “Oh yes,” Nora said. “I bake and cook, when I’m not here in the shop.”

  “We’ve already exchanged some recipes,” Maggie said. It was clear that these two women, though a decade apart in age, truly got along.

  Kincaid continued to browse Nora’s inventory, more and more impressed. At one point, however, he became aware that the women were watching him closely.

  “We should probably go and let Nora get back to work,” he suggested.

  “It’s really not a problem,” Nora said. “You can see how many customers I had just in the time you were here.”

  “I’m sure that’s going to change,” Maggie commented.

  She and Kincaid put their cups down, said goodbye to Nora, and made for the door.

  Outside he asked Maggie, “What were the two of you talking about in the back room?”

  “What do you think?” Maggie asked. “You’d better get used to the fact that you’re not only the new doctor in town, but you’re also a new eligible bachelor.”