by Linda Bridey
Jack said, “I’m not on it. See?”
“But you were gonna try to walk on it, right?” Marcus said.
Jack’s annoyed expression told Marcus that he was right.
“There’s not even anyone in here to help you, either. I’m sure that was part of your master plan. No one around to stop you,” Marcus said.
“Uncle Marcus, I need to know if I can at least hobble on this thing. What if becomes necessary for me to do that? If the camp is attacked? You know it’s a real big possibility,” Jack said.
Marcus knew Jack was right. “Ok. Let’s see how it goes. I’ll help you. Just go slowly.”
Jack put an arm around Marcus’ shoulders and smiled.
“What are you smiling at?” Marcus asked.
“I’m taller than you,” Jack said.
Marcus said, “You’ve been taller than me for two years. You’re just noticing it now?”
“Yeah. Ok. Here I go,” Jack said as he gingerly tried to put weight on the leg.
It held him reasonably well when he was just standing, but walking was going to be the real challenge. He took a hobbling step and would have fallen if Marcus hadn’t been holding on to him. Jack swore vehemently and then said, “All right. Let me try again.”
Mike walked into the tipi and saw that Jack was up. “Are you trying it again?”
“Again?” Marcus said. “You already tried it and it didn’t work?”
Jack nodded. Marcus slapped the back of Jack’s head. “You idiot! That’s not going to change in a matter of hours. You’re gonna do more harm than good.”
“That’s what I told him. I think there’s a lot of irritation to the Achilles tendon because of the arrow damaging the gastrocnemius muscle. It’s impeding plantar flexion, which is why he’s having trouble with forward motion,” Mike said matter-of-factly. “I don’t think it’s severed from the tendon, though.”
Jack was sweating by this point. “I have no idea what he just said, but I think I need to sit down.”
Marcus said, “You’re both right.” He helped Jack get settled just as Sparrow came in.
“Were you trying to walk again?” Sparrow asked as she put her hands on her hips.
Marcus said, “Yes, he was.”
“Jack, you can’t do that. You tried and almost fell. You’re going to hurt yourself more,” she said.
Jack said, “Yeah, you’re right. I need crutches. At least with crutches, I could get around some. Uncle Seth still has his, I think.”
“I’ll go get them,” Mike said. “I should go see Mama and Pa and them, anyway. There’s no sign of infection, so he’ll be fine if he just rests.”
Marcus agreed and said, “I don’t think I needed to come check on you with the other Dr. Samuels on the job.” He smiled at Mike. “Now I know how Doc used to feel when he’d come check on one of my patients.”
Mike said, “Well, this is my first one, so I don’t mind you checking.”
Jack smiled. “If I’m your first patient, then that must mean you’re planning on having more.”
“Not really, but the likelihood of me having to step in again sometime is pretty good,” Mike said. “Well, I’m gonna go get those crutches. I’ll be back.”
“Mike, why don’t you let me go?” Marcus said.
“Why? I know the way even better than you do,” Mike said.
“I know, but what if your parents don’t let you come back? Who’s gonna take care of Jack if I can’t get here?” Marcus said. “I’m not feeding you bull, Mike. I mean it. I finally made Hannah stay home from the clinic because she’s due any day. There could be any number of emergencies come up that I could get stuck dealing with and if something happens to Jack or anyone else here, they’re gonna need you.”
“What makes you think I can help them?” Mike said.
Marcus gave him a knowing look. “If you know everything you just told me about Jack’s condition, I’m guessing there’s boat loads more medical knowledge up here in that big brain of yours that could prove helpful. You already know what each of these medicines are and what they do.” He indicated the bags that hung around the tipi.
“I know some of what they do, not all,” Mike said.
“Ok. Here’s what we’re going to do. I want you to tell me what you know this one does,” Marcus said.
They started out on a long medicinal lesson, but by the time they were done, Marcus was satisfied that Mike had the information correct and that he had retained it.
Mike knew that he was needed, but he said, “Can I please go with you for just a little bit? I miss everyone and Christmas Eve is tomorrow.”
“Oh, how the heck did we forget that?” Jack said. “It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow.”
Sparrow didn’t really celebrate the holiday, but she knew how important it was to Jack and his family. She felt guilty that their holiday season was being disrupted by her. When planning her escape, she hadn’t remembered that it was Christmastime.
“Ok, Mike, you can come with me, and I’ll talk to them about letting you come and go, ok?” Marcus relented. “Let’s go.”
Mike smiled. “Great! I’ll be back after a while,” he said and ran out of the tipi.
Black Fox came to see how Jack was doing a short while after Marcus and Mike had left.
He sat down by the fire and smiled at his nephew. “I hear that walking didn’t go so well.”
“You know, Mike has a really big mouth,” Jack said. “He must have told the whole camp.”
Black Fox smiled. “Actually, Raven told me.”
Jack nodded. “So what’s goin’ on with the trails? Any chance of me getting’ out of here for Christmas? Don’t take that the wrong way.”
The chief chuckled. “I understand. It’s strange about the trails. It seems as if Two Dogs’ men cleared out. We went scouting last night and didn’t find any of their braves around, nor did we today. There are tracks, but we’re not sure how far they go from here. He Who Runs and some others are seeing if they can figure it out.”
Jack nodded his understanding. “So the trails are clear then?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Maybe they only sent a smaller party after us because of the winter weather,” Jack said.
“Perhaps.”
Jack said, “You don’t sound any more confident about it than I feel.”
“I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep until He Who Runs comes back,” Black Fox said.
“Yeah. I know what you mean. Mike is bringing me back some crutches. I’m gonna rest up for a while and when he gets back I’m gonna get going to the ranch. If something bad happens here, I’m more of a hindrance to you,” Jack said. “You don’t need to waste manpower trying to protect me. Sparrow will be with me.”
“Ok. If I don’t see you before you leave, be well, nephew,” Black Fox said. He got up and stepped over to Jack to grasp arms with him.
Jack smiled as he watched his uncle leave the tipi.
Dean unlocked the door and ran from the house when he saw Marcus coming with Mike.
“Pa!” Mike said and ran across the pasture to his father.
Dean didn’t care if Mike was fifteen now, he hugged his son fiercely and kissed the side of his head. Then Tessa was there and Mike was enveloped by both of them. As they walked towards the house, all three of them were talking at once. Marcus smiled as he listened to them. The reunion got even louder when they went in the house.
Like any mother who’s been worried about one of her children, Tessa had Mike sit down at the table so she could make him something to eat. He tried to tell her that he wasn’t hungry, but Dean winked at him and shook his head. Mike smiled back and didn’t protest anymore.
Marcus filled them in on how Mike had saved Jack’s life and they were all stunned and proud of him. Mike grinned and blushed as praise was heaped on him. When Mike was alone with Seth for a few minutes, he said, “Hey, Uncle Seth.”
“Yeah?”
“I know what it is tha
t you’re not too old to do, now,” Mike said with a grin.
Seth recalled the conversation he’d had with Tessa in the cookhouse and how he’d left her out to dry when he’d left her to explain it to Mike. Now, looking at the devilish smile on the boy’s face, Seth laughed hard over it.
“Explain it to you, did she?” he asked.
“Nope. I already knew about sex,” Mike said.
“What?” Seth said in alarm.
“I grew up on a ranch, didn’t I?” Mike said and laughed at his uncle’s expression. “Besides, it’s in the Bible.” He decided to leave Seth think about that one while he went to go get the crutches from Maddie who had said she would have to look for them.
Marcus argued heatedly with Dean about letting Mike go back to the Lakota camp.
“I don’t give a damn how good he is, he’s our son and he’s going to stay here with us,” Dean said.
“It’s just to give Jack the crutches and then come back with him, Dean,” Marcus said. “I have to get back to town. They’ll be able to get Jack here on a horse now that the trails are safe. Black Fox told me they were before Mike and I left to come here.”
“No, Marcus. What if they’re not really gone and they all get jumped? Jack’s better to stay in camp right now until they make sure that everything really is ok,” Dean protested.
“Jack wants to be with his family over the holidays. They don’t celebrate Christmas there and he’ll be missing out on it for the first time in his life,” Marcus said.
Dean hated feeling torn between two of his children. He knew that Mike was on the cusp of manhood, but there was still a lot of boy in Mike despite his high intelligence. He didn’t want him put in danger needlessly. On the other hand, they all wanted Jack home for Christmas.
“Ok, fine, but I’m goin’ with him,” Dean said.
Mike wasn’t happy at first about Dean going along, but then thought maybe it would be fun to show his pa one of his favorite places. Dean watched Mike start walking nimbly on the ice and wondered how he was going to do it. It had been years since he’d played around on ice.
Mike turned back to Dean. “C’mon, Pa. You can do it. If you fall and break anything, we already have crutches,” he said with a laugh.
“Smart ass,” Dean said and stepped out onto the ice.
“Don’t try to walk, Pa. You have to slide your feet. If you walk like normal, you’ll fall for sure. Like this, see?” Mike demonstrated.
The hours he had spent doing the same type of thing came back to Dean along with the technique Mike used. “Yeah, I got it. Get goin’,” Dean said with a smile.
Mike had one of the most fun times with his father that he could ever remember. They slid and raced each other down the stream. Dean’s playful side surprised Mike because he didn’t see it much. He and Dean had started a good slide and when Mike had started pulling ahead of Dean, Dean pushed Mike off the ice into a deep snow drift.
“Cheater!” Mike had yelled after his father who just laughed and kept going.
Mike caught up with him easily and they arrived at the camp soon after that. Both of them were out of breath and laughing as they walked through the tipis. Dean took the crutches from Mike and started swinging along on them. Mike laughed at him and watched Dean greet the Lakota he knew.
Jack was sleeping when they entered their tipi. Dean smiled at Sparrow who was very surprised to see him. Dean nudged Jack’s good leg with one of the crutches. “Jack, time to get up for school.”
Jack groaned put a hand over his eyes.
Dean did it again. “Jack, you’re gonna be late for school and there’s gonna be hell to pay with your Mama if that happens.”
“Pa, just let me alone a little while longer,” Jack mumbled. Then it registered in Jack’s mind that he no longer went to school. Everything came back to him and he sat up suddenly. “Pa? What are you doing here?”
Sparrow laughed at his grumpy question. “That’s not a nice thing to say to your father, Jack.”
“How did you get here?” Jack asked.
“Mike and I came down the stream,” Dean said and held up the crutches. “These are for you. You’re gonna have to adjust them a little. I think you’ll need to shorten them about an inch or so.”
Jack looked at Dean. “You slid down the frozen stream?”
“I did and I did it quite well. I didn’t fall once, did I Mike?” Dean said.
“Nope, but he cheated at sliding,” Mike said.
Dean said, “You’re brother exaggerates. I accidently bumped him and he might have sort of landed in a snow drift.”
“Not sort of; did.”
Once again Jack thought that their father became a totally different person once he was off the ranch. Watching Dean and Mike together gave Jack a better perspective of what his father and Uncle Seth must have been like growing up together.
“All right, Dr. Samuels,” Dean said. “Let’s get a few horses ready and then get your brother home. Sparrow, you wanna come with us?”
“Sure,” Sparrow said. “I’ll be right back.”
Jack leaned back against the blankets and waited for them to return.
“How’s he doing?” Dean asked Sparrow.
“He’s worried,” Sparrow said. “He and Black Fox are worried that this isn’t over yet. So am I.”
Dean nodded. “I think we’re all thinking the same thing. That’s the reason I want to get you two home with us. I don’t like the idea of us being separated like this.”
Sparrow nodded and helped them catch some horses. She, too, felt an urgency to get Jack home.
Chapter Fourteen
Sparrow rode double with Jack to help hold him on the horse since he couldn’t grip a horse correctly with his bad leg. Jack felt the pain of riding was offset by the fact that he got to hold onto Sparrow the whole way home. They took the trail that was the most level. It led to the main road and they could get to the ranch from there. They’d borrowed a rifle from He Who Runs and they had Jack’s gun, too. Dean kept the rifle across his lap as they rode and kept an eye out for anything suspicious. They stayed silent because they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. Mike had made sure to bring medical supplies with them so he take care of Jack’s wound.
They safely gained the ranch and Seth rushed out to help get Jack off the horse.
“Good to see you, Jack,” he said as he helped support his nephew until Jack steadied himself on the crutches.
“You, too,” Jack said.
Tessa waited until they were in the door and had Jack seated before hugging him. “We have been so worried about you and Sparrow.”
“It’s been rough, but we’re here, Mama,” Jack said.
Then Tessa embraced Sparrow and said, “I’m so glad you’re safe.” She was surprised when Sparrow began crying. “What’s wrong?”
Sparrow couldn’t speak. Her guilt came back and she couldn’t fight it at the moment. Tessa and Maddie got her sat down on the sofa and put their arms around her.
Jack said, “She feels like everything that’s happened is her fault. Me getting’ hurt, us being in danger. All of it.” He watched his fiancée with concern.
Maddie took Sparrow’s face in her hands and said, “Sparrow, we knew when the men were going to get you that there was a good chance this would happen, but we couldn’t let you stay there any longer. We’re going to get through this together. We wanted you here with us. This is where you belong. You belong with Jack and with all of us.”
Tessa agreed with her sister. “Listen to Maddie, Sparrow. She’s right. Don’t cry, sweetie.”
Sparrow took comfort in their words and began to calm down again. She hadn’t meant to cry, but there was something about being in Jack’s childhood home with his family that made it hard to contain her emotions. Their kindness and acceptance touched her deeply and Sparrow was thankful that Jack’s family thought well of her.
Jack shifted his leg a little and grimaced. Sparrow saw and said, “You should put yo
ur leg up and take more medicine.”
Jack made a face. “I agree with the putting it up part, but I hate the laudanum.”
Seth chuckled. “I remember those days. I don’t want to go through anything like that again.”
Maddie said, “I don’t want to watch you go through anything like that again. Of course, the best thing to ever happen to me came out of it. I met you and fell in love.”
Seth hugged her and said, “Same here, good-lookin’. Now we have J.R. and another one on the way. I hope it’s a girl who looks just like her mama.”
Sasha had been watching the various couples and other family dynamics since she had come to Dawson and she was envious of their close ties. She was lonely in Nebraska and was not looking forward to returning there. Even during their potentially dangerous situation, they had all made her feel welcome. She also enjoyed the children.
They moved Jack onto the sofa in the parlor and watched with curiosity as Mike changed the dressing. All of the movement from getting Jack to the ranch had caused the wounds to bleed and Mike wanted to put more of the poultice on it and rewrap it. Tessa had to leave the room because the sight of Jack’s leg bothered her for a couple of reasons.
She went over to the kitchen sink and took some deep breaths to steady herself. Sasha had followed her.
“Tessa, are you all right?” she asked.
“No. I just keep thinking how right Dean was to have Jack and Sparrow stay here instead of at his house. If they had been staying down there, they would be dead now,” Tessa said. The idea of her boy and sweet Sparrow being killed was a torturous one.
Sasha put a hand on Tessa’s shoulder and said, “But they’re here and they’re safe. Jack’s injuries will heal and they’re going to have a wonderful life together.”
“Thank you, Sasha. I have a confession,” Tessa said.
“Oh?”
Tessa nodded. “When Dean brought you here, I was not happy about it.”
Sasha’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”
Tessa gave her a sheepish look. “Because you are a beautiful, single woman and I was jealous.”