by Al Lacy
Dr. Dane’s features flushed as the general lauded him.
General Dayton explained the terms of the treaty, then sat down. When Chief Tando had signed the peace treaty, everyone applauded.
Moments later, Captain Darrell Redmond and his cavalry unit mounted up, as well as the doctor, the two chiefs, the subchief and the other Ute warriors. Everyone in the fort walked to the front gate and waved as they rode away.
After some twenty miles had been covered, the traveling party came upon the Rainbow Lakes, where Dr. Logan bid them farewell and took the straight path toward Central City.
FIVE
Dr. Dane Logan found himself riding down a steep path toward a wide valley. There were several ranches in the valley, and he enjoyed the peaceful setting of the cattle grazing in the pastures.
On two of the ranches, he saw the ranchers busy putting up their last cutting of alfalfa hay for the season and stacking it in their fields close to the barns and corrals.
Moments later, Dane looked up ahead and saw a large herd of cattle, with at least a half-dozen cowboys riding in a wide circle on the edges of the herd. The herd seemed to be eddying like a whirlpool, and Dane could hear the bawling and bellowing, along with the crackling of horns and pounding of hooves.
As Dane drew nearer, he saw a few small fires and two or three ranch hands at each fire, holding branding irons in the flames. The motion of the cattle slowed from the inside of the herd to the outside, and gradually ceased. The pounding of hooves, the crack of horns, and the thump of heads also ceased, but the bawling and bellowing continued.
While Dane looked on, a few stragglers in the herd appeared about to bolt through the line of mounted cowboys. When one of the bulls tried it, he was quickly driven back into the herd, and the others gave it up.
The young doctor drew rein so he could get a good look at the branding, and saw one cowboy on a black horse was chasing a steer. He whirled a lasso above his head, then gave it a toss.
The rope shot out, and the loop caught the right rear leg of the steer. The black horse stopped with adept suddenness, and the steer slid in the dust.
With lightning speed, the cowboy was out of the saddle and winding the rope around the rear legs of the steer before it could rise.
Quickly, one of the men with a smoking branding iron left the nearby fire and applied the iron to the flank of the steer. The steer ejected a loud yowl, quickly rose to its feet when the rope was removed from its hind legs, and ran away, bawling.
Dane saw a young heifer on the ground in the grasp of two other cowboys, and when the red-hot branding iron seared her side, she bawled lustily. The sight of the smoke rising from the touch of the iron made Dane wince. He had never been able to bear the sight of any living being suffering, be it human or animal. He knew the branding was necessary, but wished there was a way to do it without inflicting pain.
As he moved on past the branding spot, the odor of burning hide and hair assaulted his nostrils.
Time passed, and when Dane was within ten miles of Central City, he was riding Pal at a steady trot.
Suddenly he heard a wagon coming up behind him with the team at a full gallop. He hipped around in the saddle and saw a young man on the wagon seat, snapping the reins and loudly shouting at the team.
Dr. Dane guided Pal off the edge of the road to give the wagon plenty of space to pass.
As it raced past him, he saw a middle-aged woman sitting in the wagon bed, leaning over a man lying on a mattress. The man was definitely injured or very sick.
Dane put Pal to a gallop and soon drew up beside the bounding wagon. He called out, “Hey! Stop!”
The young driver shouted back, “There isn’t time to stop! I’m taking my father to Dr. Dane Logan in Central City.”
Dane shouted back, “I am Dr. Logan! Stop!”
The young man’s eyes widened, and at the same time, the woman shouted, “Barry! Stop!”
The young man pulled hard on the reins, shouting, “Whoa! Whoa!”
The team skidded to a halt, as did Pal.
Dane leaped from the saddle and hurried up to the side of the wagon. “What’s wrong?”
“You said you’re Dr. Dane Logan, sir?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We’re ranchers, Doctor. My husband was gored by a bull about half an hour ago.”
Dr. Dane quickly tied Pal’s reins to the tailgate, took his medical bag from the saddle, and hopped in beside the woman and her husband. “Let’s go, Barry! We need to get him to my office as soon as possible! Avoid all the bumps you can.”
“Yes, sir!”
As the youthful driver put the team back to a gallop with Pal following, the woman said, “Doctor, I’m Shirley Chandler. My husband’s name is Michael.”
Dr. Dane nodded, then said to the injured man as he pulled the blanket down, “Mr. Chandler, I’ve got to take a look at the damage the bull did.”
Michael ran a dry tongue over equally dry lips and closed his eyes. “Sure, Doctor.”
Dr. Dane gritted his teeth when he saw the bloody shirt where the bull’s horn had punctured Michael’s chest. The blood was flowing freely from the wound. He looked up at Barry and shouted, “Keep the team at a full gallop!”
Barry looked over his shoulder, “Yes, sir!”
Dr. Dane took a roll of bandage from his medical bag as Shirley looked on, her features gray and drawn.
The doctor saw the dismay on Shirley’s face, then looked down at the rancher and said, “Mr. Chandler, I’ll do everything I can to stay the flow of blood as much as possible with this wagon bouncing as it is. When I get you to the office, I’ll fix you up right.”
Michael Chandler licked his lips again and said, weakly, “Thank you, Doctor.”
Dr. Dane rolled off a length of bandage, wadded it up, and pressed it on the wound. The blood continued to flow. He rolled off more bandage and added it to what was already there. Still the blood flowed.
“Mrs. Chandler, I’m running short of bandage material,” Dr. Dane said, lifting his voice above the noise of the wagon wheels and the thunder of the horses’ hooves. “Could you tear off a strip of your petticoat for me? I need to get a sufficient pressure bandage on this wound.”
“Oh, of course, Doctor.” She turned her back to the doctor, lifted her dress a few inches, and ripped a long piece of white cloth from her petticoat. Turning back around, she held it up so he could see it. “Will this be enough?”
“I think so.”
Shirley’s hands were shaking as she placed the material into the doctor’s grasp, and stark fear showed in her eyes.
Dr. Dane gently patted her hand. “We’ll get him taken care of, ma’am. Try not to worry. We’ll be at the office in a few minutes.”
Shirley watched as he carefully folded the cotton cloth into a thick pad, placed it over the bloody bandages, and applied as much pressure as he dared. In his heart, he prayed, Dear Lord, please make this bandage slow down the bleeding.
Central City came into view in the distance. Watching the wound intently, Dr. Dane was pleased to see that the rush of blood was slowing. He looked at his patient, who now had his eyes open. “Mr. Chandler, lie very still. We’re almost there. You’re doing fine now.”
As they approached the edge of town, Dr. Dane said to Shirley, “How did you know about my office being here?”
“We’re patients of Dr. Fraser, but haven’t been to him in a year or so. We heard about his retiring, and that a Dr. Dane Logan was taking over the practice. I’m so glad we found you back there on the road.”
At the doctor’s office, Tharyn Logan was helping Dr. Robert Fraser in the examining room as he removed a long splinter from a teenage boy’s hand. When the job was done, and the boy and his parents left the office with the promise of payment in about two weeks, Tharyn began cleaning up the examining table.
Dr. Fraser washed his hands at the basin on the nearby counter, and as he was drying his hands on a towel, he smiled at the lovely redhead. “
Thank you, Tharyn. You did a good job helping me get that splinter out.”
She smiled. “Oh, you could have gotten it out without me.”
“Maybe so, but the way you talked to that frightened boy and kept him calm while I extracted that splinter sure made it a lot easier and a lot faster.”
She smiled again. “That’s what I’m here for, doctor.”
“Well, you’re good at what you do, Tharyn. You have tremendous medical knowledge for as young as you are, and you have a way with people that is marvelous.”
As the aging physician headed for the office door, Tharyn said, “Thank you for your kind words, sir.” She noted that he was holding a hand to his lower back as he walked. “Dr. Fraser, your back is hurting again, isn’t it?”
He turned, looked at her, and grinned. “Mm-hmm. I need to see a good doctor.”
“Well, I know a real good one, and he ought to be here pretty soon.”
Fraser chuckled and passed through the door.
Tharyn went back to cleaning up the examining table. “Lord,” she whispered, “please take care of Dane, and please help him to get back here real soon.”
Suddenly the door to the office came open, and Dr. Fraser said, “You were right, Tharyn. Your husband is back. He just arrived, riding in a ranch wagon with a family named Chandler, who are longtime patients of mine. Michael—the husband—is hurt, and Dane is carrying him toward the office.”
Tharyn hurried with Dr. Fraser into the office, and Barry was just opening the outside door, with Dr. Dane’s medical bag in one hand. Dr. Dane came through the door with Michael in his arms, and Shirley following. Barry closed the door.
Tharyn gave her husband a loving glance as she moved toward him. “What happened?”
“Mr. Chandler was gored by a bull earlier this morning. He’s hurt pretty bad. This is Mrs. Chandler, and their son, Barry.”
Tharyn smiled at Shirley and Barry. “Glad to meet you.”
Dr. Fraser hurried ahead of Dane and opened the door to the back room. While Dane was carrying Michael through the door and toward curtained section number one, he said to Tharyn and Fraser, “I met up with the Chandlers on the road, on my way home from Fort Junction.”
“I’m so glad we met him on the road, Mrs. Logan,” said Shirley. “Michael may have bled to death by now if we hadn’t.”
Tharyn met her glance. “Thank the Lord.”
“That’s for sure.”
Dr. Dane carefully laid Michael on the examining and surgical table. To Tharyn, he said, “We need to prepare for surgery. I’ve got to work on the internal damage before I can suture him up and stop the bleeding completely. His rib cage and the left lung are both damaged. I’ll have to examine him completely and make sure I haven’t missed something now that we’re out of that bouncing wagon.”
“I’ll hurry,” she said, and dashed to the medical cabinet across the room.
As Tharyn began placing chloroform, scalpels, needles, thread, and other necessary items on a small cart, Dr. Dane turned to Shirley and Barry. “You can wait just outside the curtain, there, while I do a through examination. Once I’m able to determine the extent of the damage, I’ll step out and tell you. Then you can go sit in the waiting room out front while I do the surgery. When I’m done, I’ll come out and let you know how it went. Okay?”
Shirley nodded. “Yes, Doctor. Thank you.”
Barry took his mother by the hand and led her to the table. Michael looked up at them with dull eyes.
Shirley patted her husband’s cheek. “Darling, Dr. Logan is going to do surgery on you. Understand?”
Michael nodded.
“Barry and I will be in the waiting room once the surgery is started.” With that, Shirley bent down and kissed his cheek. “I love you.”
With dry tongue, Michael said, “I love you, too.”
Barry bent down and looked into his father’s hazy eyes. “I love you, Papa. And I’ll be taking care of Mama.”
Michael tried to smile, but it was very faint. With that, mother and son stepped out of the curtained section.
By this time, Tharyn had arrived with the cart and wheeled it up beside the table, placing it at the head.
Dr. Fraser stood by, silently looking on. Dr. Dane hurried to the wash basin, scrubbed his hands, and returned to begin his examination.
Some five or six minutes later, the young doctor stepped between the curtains, leaving Tharyn holding the pressure bandage in place, and Dr. Fraser looking on. They could hear him as he said to Shirley and Barry, “It’s as I thought. Michael will be all right. The bull’s horn only punctured the left lung and broke two ribs. It didn’t touch his heart or any other vital organ.”
Shirley sighed. “Well, that’s good news, Doctor. We’ll go to the waiting room now.”
“I’ll be glad to help you with the surgery, my boy,” Dr. Fraser said.
Dr. Dane smiled. “Thank you, Dr. Fraser, but I can handle it all right.” He frowned and squinted at the elderly man. “You don’t look like you feel well.”
Still holding the pressure bandage, Tharyn looked at her husband. “Dr. Fraser has been having some pain in his lower back, honey.”
The frown still intact, Dr. Dane squinted at the elderly physician again. “Do you know what’s causing the pain?”
Fraser got a crooked grin on his face. “Yes.”
“And what is it?”
“Old age.”
Dane smiled. “You go on home and get some rest. That’ll help you a whole lot.”
Fraser scrubbed a hand across his mouth. “Yes, Doctor, I’m sure you’re right. Is there any charge for your expert opinion?”
Dr. Dane chuckled. “Not this time.”
“Good. See you later.”
“Tharyn and I will come by your house on our way home this evening. I’ll check on you then.”
Dr. Fraser thanked him and left the building from a side door.
“Are you ready, darling?” Tharyn asked her husband.
“Yes. Administer the anesthetic.”
While Tharyn was picking up the bottle of chloroform from the cart, Dr. Dane leaned over Michael, who was almost asleep already. “You’re going to be all right. Just relax now, and this will soon be over.”
Michael closed his eyes, opened them again, and said, “Thank you, Doctor.”
Tharyn poured chloroform into a soft cloth and placed it over Michael’s nose and mouth. “Don’t fight the anesthetic, Mr. Chandler. Like Doctor said, just relax. Breathe deeply for me, will you?”
Michael closed his eyes again and nodded.
A few minutes later, when Michael was almost under, Tharyn said to Dane, “I’m going to make a quick check just to see if anyone else has come into the office.”
“Okay.”
When Tharyn entered the office, she saw that Shirley and Barry were the only ones there. Barry was seated in the waiting area, staring at the floor. Shirley was standing at the large window, looking out onto the street, while wringing her hands into tight knots.
Tharyn stepped up and placed her hands on Shirley’s shoulders with a gentle squeeze. “Dr. Dane is young, but he has plenty of experience, Mrs. Chandler. He’ll do a good job on your husband. You and Barry did the right thing getting him here as quickly as possible. There’s coffee over there on the stove. You and Barry feel free to help yourselves to it.”
Stepping back from Shirley, Tharyn looked at the young man as he raised his line of sight and placed it on her. “Barry, take care of your mother, won’t you?”
Barry nodded and gave his mother a slight smile. “Yes, ma’am. I sure will.”
Barry left his chair, moved up to his mother, and put his arm around her shoulders.
“The surgery may take longer than you might expect, but with the Lord’s help, everything will be all right,” Tharyn said.
“I’m sure it will,” said Shirley.
“I need to ask a favor of you,” Tharyn said softly.
Shirley nodded. “Of c
ourse.”
“There are no appointments scheduled at this time, but if anyone comes in wanting to see the doctor, please tell them that we won’t be available until about two hours from now. But if there’s some kind of emergency, please come and knock on the back room door and let us know.”
Barry nodded. “I’ll do it, ma’am.”
Tharyn thanked them, then hurried to the back room door and disappeared.
SIX
almost two hours had passed since Tharyn Logan had gone to the back room to assist her husband with the surgery on Michael Chandler.
Shirley and her son were pacing around the waiting area, and glancing out the large window that faced the street each time they passed it. Shirley looked up at the clock on the wall above Tharyn’s desk, then stopped at the window. She noted the breeze that had picked up in the last few minutes, and watched as the breeze scattered the colorful leaves that had fallen to the ground from the trees on Main Street, making a pattern on the broad street like a patchwork quilt.
Barry stepped up beside her and took hold of her hand. She looked at him, then put her gaze back outside the window. “It’s my favorite time of the year.”
Barry grinned. “I know, Mama.”
She sighed, then said, “All too soon a white blanket of snow will cover this scene.”
“Yes, Mama, but wintertime is easier at the ranch, and this season, it will give Papa some time to recuperate before the hard work of spring and summer begin.”
Shirley nodded. “You’re right about that, son.”
At that moment, they heard footsteps in the back room, then the door opened, and Dr. Dane Logan appeared. They started toward him, and he hastened his pace. As they drew up to face each other, Dr. Dane said, “Michael came through the surgery just fine.”
Barry put an arm around his mother as she said, “Wonderful! Thank you, Dr. Logan.”
Dr. Dane sat them down and explained the details of the damage and what he had to do to repair it. When he was sure that mother and son clearly understood, he said, “It’ll be at least a couple of months before Michael can begin doing any work on the ranch. Even then, he’ll have to go at it slowly until spring. And he mustn’t do any lifting at all until I say so.”