The Reluctant Bounty Hunter

by S G Read

  She did not know how much was translated as the squaw did not translate it for very long.

  ‘Will you show the old squaws how to straighten a leg when it is broken?’ Many Hands asked.

  ‘Gladly.’ Ms. Brody answered but the squaw did not understand.

  ‘What does that mean?’ She asked.

  ‘Yes.’ Ms. Brody answered to help her out.

  The squaw translated.

  ‘But you will not break someone’s leg just so I can show you, will you?’ Ms. Brody asked, not knowing what to expect.

  The squaw translated and it was obvious to the teacher that she was amused. Many Hands answered and she then translated the answer.

  ‘He says, no he will not break a leg so that you can show us but when someone has a broken leg, he will send someone to fetch you.’

  ‘Do not wait too long before you call me then, the sooner the better.’ Ms. Brody replied.

  Charlie oversaw the removal of the young man from the street to the doctor’s surgery where the doctor operated on the damaged parts.

  ‘If he sires a family I will be surprised the doctor declared, when he had patched him up. ‘She sure is a good shot, that Molly. Shame the cat house will have to close if she is sent to the penitentiary.’

  ‘The girls will still be here.’ Charlie retorted. ‘So someone will open another one sooner or later.’

  Charlie walked back to the office after doing his rounds to make sure all was well in town, then he settled down to sleep in the cell at the back. He was woken at eight by the doctor’s wife.

  ‘What’s up Rachel?’ Charlie asked as he was dragged to his feet.

  ‘The patient is dead!’ The doctor’s wife answered.

  ‘Well he was shot you know where but I suppose it means I have to arrest Molly for murder.’

  ‘No someone has stabbed him to death.’ The doctor’s wife answered.

  Charlie went with her to the office where the doctor was examining the young man’s body.

  ‘Someone up and killed him?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘They did.’ The doctor answered.

  ‘Obviously didn’t want the cat house to close if Molly was sent away.’ Charlie surmised. ‘With no complaint she is in the clear and the chances of me finding out which client did it are slim if not at all, but I’ll ask around.’

  Ms. Brody and the girls drove home after an eventful day and walked into the house very tired, it was the longest they had ever been out on a field trip.

  ‘Do not forget to write up any notes you might have taken, as you will write an essay in the morning.’ Ms. Brody reminded so that any thoughts, not yet put on paper, were written down so that they were not forgotten.

  The girls spent the next hour writing notes into their books ready for the morning then crawled into bed to sleep.

  Three weeks later Ms. Brody was eating her lunch when she saw an Indian at the window. Instead of panicking or firing through the closed window, she looked closer and recognized him from the Pawnee village. She held up her hand to show she had seen him and hurried to the class where Sarah was being taught.

  ‘I need you with me today Sarah, the rest may continue with your studies.’ She ordered and walked out again.

  Sarah followed her back into the parlor. Ms. Brody walked to the window in her parlor and opened it.

  ‘Please ask him what he wants Sarah?’ she asked politely.

  ‘Is there trouble?’ Sarah asked in Pawnee.

  ‘A squaw has fallen and broken her leg and Many Hands wants the woman to show them how to mend it.’ The brave answered.

  ‘They got a squaw with a broken leg Ms. Brody.’ Sarah reported.

  ‘They have a squaw with a broken leg Sarah and I assumed as much. We will go in the surrey and I will take some more splints with me.’ Ms. Brody declared. ‘Can you get Ruben to hitch up my surrey please?’

  ‘Yes Ms. Brody. We will be with you soon.’ She called out to the brave and closed the window before rushing out to find Ruben.

  Ruben was young but able to drive a team and he was good with horses, if nothing else. His father was a slave who ran away to fight in the war, his mother raped and murdered by the Red Legs on a raid. He only survived because he hid and stayed hiding. Ms. Brody had given him a job in the stables when she saw him in town in ragged clothes and half starved. Now he was well fed and happy until they went into Indian Territory. When that had happened, he stayed in the surrey while the girls studied the plants, not only was he afraid of Indians, he was also afraid of snakes! It was that reason which kept him in the surrey when Firm Hand was in trouble, there was a snake and although it was soon dead, he did not move.

  The surrey was ready ten minutes later and they rode out of town, not going round to where the brave was as he had skirted round town to get close enough to the school to approach it on foot, they were sure he would catch them up. As they crossed the railway they heard the whistle of the train and Sarah watched it as it chugged into the station passing where they had just crossed the line. They headed for the village and were soon joined by the brave and several others. The braves took the lead and there was no going via the cactus, they rode straight into the village with Ms. Brody following. Ruben was hiding in the stable when they left. The braves stopped outside a tepee and Ms. Brody did the same.

  ‘This might not be pleasant.’ Ms. Brody warned. ‘But I need you to translate a little better than the squaw who was doing it last time.’

  ‘Yes Ms. Brody.’ Sarah answered obediently. She had seen Becky’s leg and thought that it probably could not be worse.

  Before they went in they could hear the squaw complaining inside the tepee and Sarah wondered how bad it would be. Ms. Brody thrust her way inside with Sarah following and they both took in the scene. Ms. Brody walked over to the injured squaw and looked at her leg without touching in.

  ‘She needs one of those roots.’ She declared and Sarah translated.

  ‘She’s already had one Ms. Brody, they say that is why she is only complaining and not screaming.’

  ‘Get the bottle out of the medicine box Sarah.’

  Sarah did just that and read the label as she walked across. It was a bottle of brandy, French brandy at that.

  ‘Are you thirsty Ms. Brody?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘It is for the patient, this is a bad break and I have to pull hard to set it so I would prefer her drunk.’

  ‘Should she have this and the root Ms. Brody?’

  ‘I have no idea Sarah but she is going to have a lot of brandy, so explain that to the other squaws.’

  Sarah did as she was asked and the squaw took her first drink of brandy, at first she thought her throat was on fire but soon she was enjoying it. He complaining grew less and less until she passed out and then the teacher showed the other squaws how to set a badly broken leg. They had their own poultices to help it heal. As soon as the leg was straight and ready for the splints they put the poultices in place. The splints had to be fitted so that the poultices could be changed where the bone had come through the leg and that made it difficult but they worked together, the teacher and the squaws, with Sarah translating, as they worked until the leg was splinted and bandaged.

  ‘This one will take a long time to heal and she has to be kept off of it until the bones have rejoined.’ Ms. Brody warned and Sarah translated as best she could.

  When they stepped outside it was dark save for the fires dotted around the village.

  ‘There is a place for you to sleep.’ The squaw who could speak a little English explained and led the way to a tepee. It was empty but with a fire burning inside.

  Squaws brought food in and they ate together.

  ‘How come you can do that Ms. Brody?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘What set bones, I was a nurse in the war for a while when the fighting was close by and I set a few legs then, I also cut a few off.’ Ms. Brody answered.

  ‘How horrible.’

  ‘Better than dying with gangrene Sarah.’ />
  ‘What is gangrene MS. Brody?’

  ‘It is a form of blood poisoning I think and it causes the area to turn green and anywhere which shows that green has to come off.’

  ‘So gangrene in the head is not so good?’

  ‘No it is not Sarah, the patient invariably dies and it is not a pretty sight.’

  They ate in silence as Sarah digested that information.

  ‘So if only the foot is green do you just cut the foot off?’

  ‘Yes but sometimes the stump shows green and you have to cut more of and with a lack of anesthetics in the war you tended to cut off more, so that you only had to do it once, as to do it twice usually killed the patient.’

  ‘How Ms. Brody?’

  ‘The pain usually brought on a heart failure during the second operation.’

  ‘Oh I see.’ Sarah answered and her thoughts went to her mother who had suffered terribly but clung on to life so that she could arrange for her to go to school. ‘She must have loved me.’

  Ms. Brody looked up. Was quizzical for a few seconds and then asked. ‘Who your mother?’

  ‘Yes, do you know what happened to her, Ms. Brody?’ Sarah asked sadly.

  ‘I do, Mr. Lee explained what happened and I sympathize with you over your loss. But as you say, to wait for someone who she could enlist to take you in charge in the condition she was left in, took more than willpower, it did indeed take love.’ Ms. Brody answered. ‘As soon as she knew you would be looked after she relinquished her grip on life and she chose well I think.’

  ‘Oh yes Duncan is a good man and I would be proud to be his daughter but I doubt if I will ever know my real father.’ Sarah answered, still sadly. Then on a brighter note she added. ‘I have a humdinger of a teacher though.’

  ‘I am glad you think so Sarah, now I think it is time for bed. I must admit I never thought I would bed down in an Indian village.’

  ‘I’ve slept in Running Wolf’s village, I had to when Becky…’

  ‘And just what did Rebecca do?’

  ‘I promised not to tell anyone about it.’

  ‘Then I, in turn, promise not to tell anyone about it.’ Ms. Brody declared.

  ‘Well Becky was fed up with riding round the valley Duncan and Morning Sun live in so we decided to go out for a ride and rode straight into some Sioux. We could only try to reach the Pawnee village as I was not about to lead them into Duncan’s valley. We rode hard and on the way Becky was hit in the leg with an arrow. I grabbed her reins and kept going and with luck the Pawnee were alert and the one who was about to drag me off my horse was killed with an arrow. The rest could not stop and they were soon all dead but Becky had the arrow through her leg, through the saddle and it even stuck in the horse. They pulled it out of the horse and saddle then cut it and pulled in through Becky’s leg. The old squaws are good, they cured the wound in Becky’s leg and saved the horse.’

  ‘And what did Mr. Lee say when he found out?’

  ‘He was away at the time on marshal business but I was taught not to do it again. Although I wouldn’t anyway, not after seeing the arrow through Becky’s leg.’

  ‘Would not Sarah, it is would not. And did Mr. Lee tell Becky off?’

  ‘Yes Ms. Brody, when her leg was all mended.’

  ‘When her leg had healed Sarah.’

  ‘Sorry Ms. Brody, I think I am talking too fast, to keep ladylike.’

  ‘Then I should talk slower Sarah. It sounds to me like you had a good mother and now you have a good father figure but should you want to try to find your paternal father, then you will have to speak to the woman who runs the hostelry where your mother worked.’

  ‘Better than the cat house.’ Sarah declared.

  ‘It is. You must find out who were your mother’s clients nine months before you were born and if they have children, you should look at them to see if there is any resemblance but it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Of course if you do find him, he may not want anything to do with you as it will let his wife know, if he has one, that he has visited such an establishment.’

  ‘I’ll sleep on that Ms. Brody.’ Sarah answered and settled down to sleep.

  Ms. Brody did the same.

  Chapter 11

  Duncan walked out of the cabin in the morning and breathed in the fresh air. It was getting cooler now and soon winter would be upon them. With less snow falling inside the valley it was the best place to be but he thought he would take a few head of cattle up to the Pawnee’s winter village before the snow was too deep and then he could spend the winter with Morning Sun and little Duncan in the valley, without worrying about the Pawnee. He made a mental note of the idea and walked down to the stream to wash. He remembered that Morning Sun was well on the way with little Duncan but still insisted in helping drive the cattle to the winter village, assuring him that he would never find it alone. He smiled and immersed his head in the water only to stop with his head half in and half out of the water. Something had glinted in the sunshine and it caught his eye. He pulled his head out and waited for the water to drip of his head. At the same time the water in the stream settled down to its normal trickle. Now he looked closer. There is was. He picked up a small gold nugget, polished by the running water.

  ‘Well look at that, this valley has a lot going for it.’ He declared, slid the nugget into his pocket and finished washing.

  He needed equipment to pan for gold with and to buy that in Martinsburg, would be to invite trouble. He decided to ride to Bluegrass to buy it, that way he could check on things in town while he was there but it could wait for a while, the gold was not going anywhere. Morning Sun was more important than gold. When he felt refreshed he walked back to the cabin, at the door he stopped and pictured cattle further up the valley with a fence to keep them away from the house, there would be food there for anyone who wanted it and it would start to clear the scrub land. It was worth thinking about although he had never really seen himself as a rancher!

  It was a month later when the girls went on a field trip. This time they did not go into the wilds but straight to Many Hands village to see how the squaw was fairing. Ms. Brody had driven out in the surrey to look at Firm Hand’s leg and it was healing well with only a bandage round it now. He was allowed to walk on it with a crutch, much to his annoyance but Ms. Brody was adamant and what she said was enforced by Many Hands.

  They were met and led into the village and while the girls fraternized under license with the younger braves, Ms. Brody looked in on the squaw. The bone in her leg was healing and the skin had already healed where the bone had protruded, all in all everything was fine, except that the squaw was just as complaining as Firm Hand had been. So much so that she had been tied to the floor of the tepee to stop her getting up. Now that she was feeling better she thought she ought to go into the bushes when nature called but she was not allowed.

  ‘I think she can try a few steps on it, to see if there is any problem.’ Ms. Brody declared after she had replaced the bandages, both under and over the splints. She put the splints back on to make sure the leg did not break again but they allowed the squaw to stand.

  ‘She can go outside when it is necessary but she must keep off it as much as possible.’ Ms. Brody added when she had finished.

  The English speaking squaw translated and the injured squaw stood up. She would have fallen but there were hands willing to catch her. She limped a few paces and then returned to the ground.

  ‘She says it hurts.’ The English speaking squaw announced.

  ‘It will do for now and when she is allowed to go about her duties it will hurt for a while then.’ Ms. Brody answered. ‘Now we are going to visit your lands to learn more about the flora and fauna.’

  The last bit was lost on the squaw and she just nodded. Ms. Brody walked out to see Sarah fighting a young brave. She went to admonish her but bit her lip, she wanted to see the outcome as well. The two were Indian wrestling and they were fairly equal despite Sarah being a girl. M
s. Brody watched with interest until Sarah was thrown to the ground and Ms. Brody was annoyed. It looked to her like Sarah had thrown the fight.

  ‘Come on girls we have places to see and things to do.’ She called and they all climbed onto the surreys.

  Firm Hand was able to ride his horse now and led them out through the back of the village. It was a little trail, not built for a surrey but they managed to follow him.

  ‘Why did you let him win Sarah?’ Ms. Brody asked when Firm Hand was far enough in front not to hear.

  ‘Oh, you saw that did you. Well I beat him before and he lost face, I was just restoring his esteem.’ Sarah answered.

  ‘I have a lot to learn, and not only about Indians.’ Ms. Brody declared and drove on.

  They spent the rest of the day looking at plants with Firm Hand trying to explain via either Sarah or Becky, what each plant did. Some were already in their books and they could read what it said about them there. They cooked food on an open fire and ate it sitting round the fire, while still trying to talk which made Ms. Brody speak up on occasions, when her own mouth was empty. After the food they moved on to a new campsite and erected tents, they were staying the night to make the trip worthwhile and show the girls what it was like. As some of the girls were more ladylike than others, they had a shock coming. No soft bed! When night fell Firm Hand settled down to sleep under the stars while the girls entered the tents to prepare for bed. Sarah and Becky had their pistols nearby in case they were needed but apart from some noisy prairie dogs, who decided tonight was a good night to howl, the night passed without a problem. They spent a second day looking at plants where Firm Hand knew they could be found and taking notes, until it was time to return to the village. Ms. Brody looked in on the squaw and then thanked Many Hands for allowing Firm Hand to go with them. Then they started home.

  While they were out on the prairie they did not see another Pawnee but they were there making sure nothing happened to either them or Firm Hand. The same four Pawnee made sure the two surreys reached town without any problem before they returned to the village. Some girls were moaning about being back in the school, others were mooning over the thought of a soft bed and others were asleep where they sat.