“You got it, Boss,” Clem said.
An hour later…
There was a loud knock at the back door. Lottie went to see who it was, and found Clem standing there, hat in hand. “Miss Lottie, where’s the boss?” asked a distraught Clem.
“Is there anything wrong, Clem?”
“I need the boss, Ma’am,” he said.
“What is it Clem,” asked Zebulon, who had just walked up.
“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked.
Zebulon stepped outside, closing the door behind him. “What is it, Clem?” he asked.
“I didn’t want to say this in front of Miss Lottie. We got ambushed, boss,” Clem said. “It wasn’t the Sioux, it was rustlers, and they had run off over a hundred head. Whit was trailing after them, but the rustlers ambushed them. They got Jasper. He took a bullet in the back. The rest of them managed to get to the rocks.
“Whit sent me for help since I had the freshest horse. He said to tell you he doesn’t know how long they can hold out before they run out of ammunition.”
“How many were there, Clem?” asked Zebulon.
“Whit said there were at least ten. They’re in the canyon that runs alongside the Lazy J.” Clem said.
“Change horses, and get the cartridges from the shed and we’ll go help them.”
He went back into the house, and said, “I’ve got to go, honey. Whit and the boys were ambushed by some rustlers and I’m going to help them.”
“Do you have to go?” she asked. “Won’t they be able to handle it?”
He replied, “I don’t know. This isn’t the kind of thing you take a chance on. You don’t just leave your men.”
“Don’t go, Zebulon,” she pleaded.
“I have to go. They’re my men.”
“What about me? If something happens to you, what will I do?” she begged.
“You’ll be all right, Lottie. My men are in trouble, I have to go, they’re counting on me,” he said.
“Be careful, Zebulon. Please be careful,” she said.
“How long do you think it will be?” she asked, a tremor in her voice showing her fear of the unknown.
“I just don’t know. Now I’ve got to get going.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll have Jed keep an eye on the house. I don’t suppose you’ve ever fired a rifle, have you?”
“No, why?” she asked.
“Never mind,” he said. “Just do what Jed says.” With that, he turned and rushed from the house.
A distraught Lottie stood at the back door, watching until her view was obscured by the dust.
Two hours dragged by with no sign of Zebulon or the men. Then a third. It had begun to get dark and still no sign. She heard noises outside and rushed to the door. Whit dismounted and looked toward the house. She rushed up to him.
“Where’s Zebulon?” she asked.
“He’s been hurt, Miss Lottie. We wuz getting the best of it, and they rushed us trying to break out and get away. Zebulon took a bullet in the chest. It was closer to the Lazy J so I had them take him there, while I came for you. Mr. Jamison sent someone to get Doc Palmer and asked me to come get you.”
“He’ll be all right, won’t he Whit? He’s not going to die is he?”
“I don’t know, Miss Lottie I just don’t know. I’ll get the horses hitched up. You get whatever you need, but hurry.”
chapter fourteen
Zebulon Is Wounded
The Lazy J Ranch…
Without waiting for Whit to help her down from the wagon, Lottie hopped down and rushed to the door. Carrie Jamison was there to let her in.
“Is he alive, Carrie? Please tell me he’s alive.”
“He’s alive and conscious,” Carrie said. We sent a rider to get Carter. It will be at least an hour before he gets here. We did get the bleeding stopped.”
“I want to see him. Please take me to him,” Lottie said.
Carrie said, “First, let me tell you what you’re going to see. He was bloody, when he came in. I cut his shirt off and cleaned the area around the wound. The bullet is still in there, and Carter will have to take it out when he gets here. Honey, Carter was a surgeon in the war. He’s good. He worked with the Army when he first came out here too.
“I know you’re upset, and scared. You have to be strong for him. He’s a tough man, so you need to be also.”
“Now, he’s in here,” she said, and led the way to the bedroom, where Zebulon lay on a bed. Lottie tried not to look at the pile of bloody clothes on the floor.
Lottie rushed to the bedside and took Zebulon’s hand. “I’m here, Zebulon,” she said. “Can you hear me? If you can, squeeze my hand. Hold on, they’ve sent for Doctor Palmer,” She could feel him putting a small amount of pressure on her hand. She sat there for an hour, holding her husband’s hand and talking to him
She turned to Case. “What about the others? Was anyone else hurt?”
Case had a distressed look on his face. Carrie came to his rescue, and said, “Jasper was killed, but no one else was hurt.”
“Why can’t you just let the sheriff handle things like this” she asked?
Case said, “You can’t do that. You have to take care of your own. If you don’t, they’ll take everything you have. Frontier justice is swift out here. It has to be,” Case said.
“What about the men that shot him. Won’t they just do it again?”
“No, these men will never do this again,” Case said with finality.
“How can you be sure?” she asked.
Carrie said, “Honey, they’re all dead.”
“Oh dear God, what kind of place is this?” Lottie asked. “How can you live like this?”
“Fortunately, there are a lot of really good people that make up for the bad,” Carrie said. “I think I hear Carter.”
A tired looking man in his mid-thirties rushed in, followed by his wife. “You must be Lottie. Elizabeth told me she met you. I’m Carter Palmer.
“Let me wash my hands, and I’ll check him out and see what we have here.
“Carrie, I’ll need hot water,” he said.
“It’s already on the stove, Carter. I washed his chest with alcohol, too,” Carrie said,
“Case, help me roll him over and hold him while I check for an exit wound.”
They rolled him onto his side, and Case held him in place while the doctor checked for an exit wound. There was not one. “It must have missed the major blood vessels, or we’d have a lot more blood. His heartbeat is steady, so it must have missed that. If it didn’t fragment, the kidneys and liver are probably okay.
Using ether, he anesthetized his patient. As he waited for the ether to take effect, he removed some instruments from his bag, and put them in the boiling water. After three minutes, using forceps, he removed a probe, and inserted the tip into the wound. After several tries, he made contact, enlarged the wound and using the forceps, he was able to extract the bullet.
“It looks to be intact,” he said, holding the lead up for the others to see. He soaked gauze with carbolic acid and applied it to the wound to sterilize it,
He turned to Lottie, and said, “I’m pleased to meet you, although I would have preferred different circumstances. I don’t want him to be moved for three days. After that, barring infection, he should be okay to be moved.
“I gather he’s not still sleeping in the bunkhouse?”
“No, as a matter of fact, we had just moved our things into the new house today,” Lottie said.
“I’ll stay today until the anesthetic wears off and I am sure he is alert. I’ll check on him daily. I think he will be okay. He was lucky the bullet missed the organs, and arteries.
“I understand this was the work of rustlers?”
“Yes, it was,” Case said. “They lost one, and have one other man injured you might need to check on. He’s up and around, so it’s not too serious. I think he went to the bunkhouse.”
“I’ll check on him in a few minutes.”
&nb
sp; “Lottie,” Carrie said, “You can stay with us until he can be moved. Can you get your foreman to bring some things for you?”
“As a matter of fact, they’re still lying on the bedroom floor. We hadn’t even unpacked when they came to get him.” She had resumed her seat in the chair by the bed and was holding Zebulon’s hand. She was on the verge of tears.
Carrie motioned to Elizabeth to step outside. “I think she is on the verge of losing it,” Carrie said. “It is a violent introduction to ranch life. I believe she is questioning her decision to come out here.”
“I can understand that,” Elizabeth said. “I get to see people in the worst moments of their lives. Most of them were born to it, but for a newcomer to be exposed to this sort of violence before they even get moved in, is traumatic. I’ll talk to her.”
“Let me,” Carrie said.
“I’ve known her two days longer than you,” she said, and laughed.
After Carter had determined the effects of the ether had worn off, and Zebulon was stable, he and Elizabeth headed back to Helena and his other patients.
Later, Carrie said, Lottie, could we talk?”
Lottie looked up from her bedside chair and said, “Yes, of course. Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” Carrie said.
chapter Fifteen
Going Home Again
“Upset? I’ve never been around any type of violence, during the war, I knew of men that didn’t come back, and I knew women whose husbands didn’t come back, but I hadn’t personally been around when it happened. Today, a man who worked for Zebulon was killed. He was younger than I am. And Zebulon was shot, and could have been killed as easily as Jasper was. I don’t think I can live with that possibility day in and day out. I don’t want to live with it day in or day out,” Lottie said.
What are you going to do?” Carrie asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to go back to my old life either,” Lottie said. “I’m so confused. I don’t know what I want.”
“What are you going to tell Zebulon? He thinks you love him,” Carrie said.
“I do. I’m pretty sure I do,” Lottie said. “I’ve really made a mess of everything.”
“I can’t tell you what to do,” Carrie said. “I don’t know what I would have done if it had happened to me.”
“I do know one thing,” Carrie said.. “You had better make up your mind, and you had better do it soon, and you had better get it right. You only get one chance. If you get it wrong, you affect two lives, yours, and Zebulon’s.”
Sleep did not come that night. Lottie sat by the bed, silently crying, confused, watching Zebulon as he slept.
The next morning…
Carrie came in to see how Zebulon had fared during the night. He was sleeping, but restless. She put her hand on his forehead, and said, “Hmm, he feels warm to me. I’m glad Carter is coming back out this morning.”
Lottie, looked up, her eyes swollen, the imprint of the chenille bedspread was on her face. She gave Carrie a half-smile.
Carrie laid her hand on Lottie’s shoulder. “Have you been here all night?” she asked.
Lottie nodded. “I’ve been trying to decide what I’m going to do,” Lottie said.
“And did you?” Carrie asked.
“I’m going home, I just can’t cope with this uncertainty and violence. Do you realize ten men are dead?” Lottie said.
“The rustlers died as a result of their own actions. Their actions killed Jasper. Avoiding reality almost never works,” Carrie said. “If you’re not absolutely sure, then both of you would be better off if you leave. Zebulon deserves someone who wants to be here. I thought you were stronger than this though, and I certainly never pictured you as a quitter.”
Carrie’s tough remarks brought tears again.
Carrie told Case about her discussion. “She says she is going back home. It’s going to be tough on Zebulon when she tells him.”
“I expected more from her than this,” Case said.
“So did I,” Carrie said.
Later…
Doctor Palmer came in a few minutes after ten o'clock. “How is he doing?” he asked Lottie.
“He was restless most of the night,” she said.
Carrie said, “He feels warm to me.”
Carter placed his hand on Zebulon’s forehead. “I believe he does have a fever,” he said. He removed the dressing, and could see the wound was suppurating.
“Carrie, I need some hot water to sterilize my instruments.. I’m going to debride the wound before I reapply a dressing. I will have to use ether again, so no fires close by.” He dripped the ether onto a gauze pad and held it over Zebulon’s mouth and nose.
When he was satisfied the anesthetic tad taken effect, he retrieved his scalpel and forceps from the boiling water, and began cutting away the necrotized tissue. He widened the wound so he would be able to effect a more complete removal if the infected tissue. He worked quickly, a benefit of his years of experience in the war. He packed the wound with gauze soaked in carbolic acid.
“I’m going to leave the wound open for a couple of days to allow the carbolic acid and debridement to work, and then I’ll remove the packing and close it.” After he had packed the wound, he applied gauze soaked in carbolic acid atop the incision. “I’ll leave some laudanum to relieve his pain.”
When he had finished, he turned to Lottie, and asked, “How are you holding up?”
“Not very well,” she answered. “I’m having trouble coping with all of it.”
He looked at her closely. “Listen to me. This man could die from this if I can’t knock the infection down. He will sense your feelings. It could affect the healing process. He needs you, but he needs you to be strong. If you can’t do that, then you need to stay away from him. I don’t mean to be cruel or harsh, but that’s the way it is.”
Sobbing, Lottie ran from the room. “What’s going on?” Carter asked Carrie.
“She’s having trouble with the enormity of the violence and the fact ten men died in the gun fight. She has decided she can’t handle it and is going to go back east.”
“Just like that, at the first sign of trouble, she’s going to cut and run? She needs to be shaken up.”
“I was pretty rough on her before you got here, but I don’t know if I got through or not.”
“Well, Maryland this isn’t. Maybe she can’t handle it. If not, it’s better to find out sooner, rather than later. I’ll stick around for a while and make sure he comes out of it, and I’ll talk to her.”
He washed up, ridding himself of his stained surgical apron and went looking for Lottie.
He found her on the porch, sitting on the steps. He sat beside her, and said, “Pretty rough, huh?”
She nodded, without saying anything.
“The human mind, body and spirit are God’s greatest creation. There is virtually no limit to what it can handle. I’ve never told anyone about this, but I’m going to tell you a story… a true story; it’s my story.
“After I finished medical school, and before the war, my wife Lucy, and I lived next door to Elizabeth and Caleb Cartwright, in Rockville. When the war came along, I figured the Army would be a good place to hone my craft. After all, everyone said it would be over in less than a year. I was right, I got plenty of experience in a hurry, but it lasted over four years, not one. I estimate I amputated a thousand arms and legs during the war. The thought of Lucy kept me going all of those years.
“When I finally got home, I found Lucy had died from smallpox. I had not been notified because the Army had listed me as killed in action. Elizabeth had arranged for Lucy’s funeral. Then I found her husband had been killed at Spotsylvania.
“After what I had been through, I wasn’t sure I wanted to practice medicine, but I did for about six months. I couldn’t do it. I decided to toss it all and try my hand at gold mining. The night before I was to leave, a man came to the door and begged me to come look at his wife. She was pregn
ant and had begun bleeding. Elizabeth had been helping me with deliveries and I asked her to come with me. We lost the mother and the baby that night. She did a lot of soul searching, trying to understand how we could work with such trauma.
“I didn’t try, I cut and run, the same way you’re thinking about doing. I came to Helena, bought the house we live in now, and decided to continue at medicine. There was a major problem with the Sioux, and the Army recruited me to help. I became a surgeon again, only this time, I was treating arrow and tomahawk wounds. When I came back, I realized how lonely I was. Elizabeth and I had been writing since I left Rockville, and I found myself missing her. I asked her to marry me, but she would not. Finally, I decided it was time I did something. I closed the practice and went back to Baltimore, where I proposed again, and told her I was prepared to live there or here. I found the reason she would not come out here, was she had a baby. My baby. The son I don’t think you have met. I brought them back with me, but we kept the two houses in Baltimore, just in case she didn’t like it here. We still have them.
“If I could handle what was thrown at me, and if Elizabeth could handle what was thrown at her, I think you can cope with this, Lottie, look at me. My concern is for my patient, not whether you are up to this. He needs you, but if you can’t do it, then I want you to stay away from him. Do you understand me? I’ll put you on the stage back to Baltimore myself. I mean that.” He stood and went back into the house to check on Zebulon.
He sat in the bedroom talking to Carrie and Case, and occasionally checked Zebulon’s pulse and heartbeat.
Two hours later, Lottie walked into the room. “I want to sit with my husband,” she said.
Are you sure? I meant what I said,” Carter said.
“I know you did, and I thank you for saying it. Now, may I?”
“Yes.” He moved back, and she sat down and took Zebulon’s hand and began massaging it. The effects of the ether had worn off and he began to stir. He opened his eyes, looked at her, and said, “Lottie.” He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
“I need to get back to town. Send for me, if you need me,” Carter said.
Charlotte's Mail Order Husband (New Montana Brides series) Page 6