Lucinda (4 page)

By the time he emptied his office of patients, a man came racing into town on horseback, asking for a Doctor.  Henry came running and the man said Apache struck their wagon train and they needed help right away.  Henry mounted up and rode off with the man, in spite of several folks telling him it was too dangerous.  Lucinda was standing nearby and heard it all, and also heard him tell people that he’d taken an oath to serve, and he was going to go and do what he could to help the injured.  The look on his face was concern, and Lucinda felt her first pang that perhaps things were not as they seemed.  Once he was gone, the people stood in small groups and worried about whether or not he would safely return.  They also worried that some of the outlying ranches and farms could be in danger if the Apache were getting this close.  Mac was called into the discussion, and he quickly stated he would ride out and warn everyone to be on the lookout.  Another man volunteered to help out, and soon there were at least five others going to spread the warning to watch for Apache.  The owner of the Mercantile made sure they were all well armed and had enough ammunition to defend themselves, not that one man stood a chance against a band of Apache on a killing spree.

Lucinda decided this would be the perfect time to check out of the hotel and move her belongings to the room she rented above the Dress Shoppe.  She needed to be where she could keep an eye on Doc Z, and as long as he didn’t know where to find her, she could destroy his practice before she killed him… unless the Apache beat her to it!  She didn’t like the fact that he would be riding back to town alone, and the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that he wouldn’t make it back at all unless someone covered his back.  She could hardly go to the Sheriff and tell him her suspicions, and that left only one thing to do.  She would have to saddle up and go after him and make sure he got back to town so that SHE could kill him herself!

It didn’t take long for Lucinda to change into her britches and tuck her hair up underneath her hat.  She knew that the desert could get chilly at night, so she took a coat along, too, and a bedroll, and she wrapped up some food and took two canteens of water.  Her gun was holstered and she had plenty of ammunition for it, and for the rifle she took with her.  The young boy at the livery tried to talk her out of riding out of town, and she was happy as could be he didn’t realize she was a woman until she mounted up to ride off.

“Ma’am, you cain’t go!  Them’s Apache’s out there and they’ll do terrible things to you if they catch you all alone!” he grabbed for her reins, but Lucinda slapped his hand with her riding whip, causing him to pull back his stinging hand and giving her the opportunity to race past him and out of town in the direction the Doctor had gone.

Chapter Three

Lucinda tried not to think about the Apache as she rode out of town to follow Doc Z.  She’d had nightmares the last two nights about them yipping and screaming as they tried to stop the stagecoach as she and Henry were traveling from the Crawford’s Station to Snowfall, and as long as she lived she would never forget the look in the Apache man’s dark eyes as she shot him and he realized he was going to die!  It still haunted her and made her feel sick to know that she’d taken another human being’s life, even though the man was trying to kill or capture her!

She refused to permit herself to dwell on how she would feel when she finally ended the handsome Doc Z’s life.  She had no choice in the manner; Henry was without honor and he killed Philip!  Lucinda missed her brother so much, and she owed it to him to avenge him, and she wasn’t going to let some Apache do it for her!  She followed the men out of town, hoping she was going in the same direction the two men did.  Every little sound and every little shadow made her nervous, and the horse she was riding was spooked, too, and she was having difficulty controlling him.  Lucinda told herself to calm down.  It wasn’t likely the Indians were on this side of the wagon train!  Henry had told her that they rarely came within ten miles of the town, but she had no idea how far she’d ridden, and it was totally possible she’d ridden right past the wagon train and missed it.

All of a sudden, she heard the same yipping noise she’d heard when the Apache tried to overtake the stagecoach.  She whirled around, looking for the Indians, and it took her several seconds to realize they weren’t coming after her.  Her next thought was of Henry and the man he rode out of town with, and she urged her skittish mount forward, toward the sound, determined to protect the handsome doctor so that she might have the pleasure of killing him herself.

* * *

Henry couldn’t just ride off and leave the injured man to the mercy of the Apache braves.  They wouldn’t have any mercy for the wagon train scout, and he knew it.  They held him, and others like him, responsible for the influx of whites moving westward at an alarming rate.  Henry took aim and fired, and felt sick when his bullet tore into the other man’s flesh.  He hated killing; it went against the oath he took, but he also believed in self-defense and in protecting his own life.  He couldn’t help others if he was dead.  Henry fired once more and another young brave fell to the ground.  If Henry was correct, that left one more.

He saw another rider approaching, and the Apache brave whirled suddenly, and went straight toward him.  The rider’s horse reared, throwing its occupant from the saddle.  The Apache jumped from his horse and ran toward the fallen rider, knife raised.  Henry nearly went into shock when he saw the rider’s hat fall off and he realized it was Lucinda!  He raced to go and help her, but was too far away to shoot without the risk of hitting her instead.  He knew she was going to be killed, and pain laced through his heart in a wave so strong it nearly brought him to his knees.

Lucinda reacted instinctively, and flipped the Apache brave through the air.  The man landed on his own knife, screaming before he fell unconscious.  She looked around her for more Indians, but to her relief there was no immediate danger… Unless, of course, you counted the angry man bearing down on her as fast as his two legs could carry him.  Lucinda automatically went into a defense position, but Henry didn’t touch her.  He stopped by the Indian to make sure he was dead, and then said, “What the hell are you doing out here, you redheaded brat!”

“Saving your butt,” she answered sharply, and then added, “I’m not about to let some Apache kill you; that’s my job!”

“So help me God, I am going to cut a switch and lace your backside, brat.  This is just about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.   He looked down at the brave once more and said matter-of-factly, “Go get my bag, Lucinda.  This man is still alive.”  When she looked at him in shock, he added, “Now!”

Lucinda didn’t stop to think about why she was obeying Doc Z; something about the authority in his voice, perhaps?  But she found herself doing exactly what he said, and she hurried right back, carrying the black bag she took from his saddle.  As she handed it to him, she asked, “What about the other man back there?” she asked.  “He’s wounded, too.”

“His wound isn’t life threatening,” Henry replied.  “This man will die if I don’t stop the bleeding,” he told her.  “Put your hat on right now and cover up your hair.  It’s hard to tell how many other Apache are watching us.  You need your tail end switched until it’s covered with welts, Lucinda, and I aim to live long enough to see it done!” he stated in a forceful tone of voice.  “When are you going to get it through your stubborn head that I did not kill your brother?  I didn’t lie to him, either,” he said as he did his best to stop the Apache from bleeding to death.  He poured a brown liquid over the wound, and the young man moaned, but did not regain consciousness.  Henry prepared to sew the wound together, moving quickly.  “I need to get this done before he wakes up.  You keep an eye on him, Lucinda.  If he regains consciousness, he’s going to start thrashing around… and try to kill us,” he added so matter-of-factly that she cringed.

“Why are you trying to save him if you know that he’ll do that?” she asked.

“He is a human being, Lucinda.  I took an oath to help all people, not just the ones I like.”  Henry worked as fast as possible, and once he was done, he bandaged the wound.  “Let’s go and help Sanford, brat.  I’ve done all I can for this one.  He’ll either live or die now.”

Henry pulled her to her feet and hurried her back to where the other man was sitting, his face drenched in sweat.  “Damn, Doc Z, this hurts!  I’ve heard tell they dip their arrows in poison…?” he looked at the much younger man to inquire.  “My insides are burning something awful, and I can’t see right,” he added, his face a bright red.

Henry had jerked the arrow out as quickly as he could after the man was shot in the shoulder, but it was entirely possible that Dan Sanford had been poisoned, too.  He examined him, and listened to his heart.  It wasn’t good.  Henry felt helpless.  Dan’s pain grew worse by the second, and he struggled to breathe.  “I’m sorry, Dan,” he said as kindly as possible, offering him some water to quench the burning in his throat and mouth.

“Damn.  This was my last trip, too,” he was barely able to whisper, and then he was gone.  Henry closed Dan’s eyes, and then shut his own for a few seconds to pray.  Lucinda felt like crying.

“It’s not fair!” she cried out.  “You saved that Apache and let this man die!”

“Lucinda, there was nothing I could do for this man.  I don’t have an antidote for the poison… I don’t even know what it is.  When it is a man’s time, he dies, and all of my medical knowledge can’t stop that… unless it is God’s will.  I’m a human being, not God.”

She was shocked to see the pain in Henry’s blue eyes.  She felt herself softening towards him, but before she could ask about Philip, they were surrounded by more Apache.  To try and draw a gun now would be suicide.  Henry whispered to her to remain calm.  An Apache Chief was with the group, and he quickly dismounted and ran toward the injured man Henry tried to help.  He cried out something, and another brave dismounted and went to his side.  They approached the two white people who were still kneeling on the ground beside Dan Sanford.  “My father asks why his eldest son wears white man’s bandage?”

“He fell on his knife.  I stopped the bleeding, stitched his wound closed, and put a bandage over the wound to keep it clean.”

Henry listened as the man spoke to his father, who once again walked over to where his son lie to lift up the bandage and look underneath at the stitched wound.  The Chief spoke again, and once more the brave turned to Henry.  “My father asks why you would save an enemy who was trying to kill you?”

“I am a Doctor; I heal people,” Henry said simply.  He waited again for the translation back and forth.

“My father thanks you for his son’s life and will spare yours and your woman’s.  Go to the white settlement now, and I will ride with you for protection.  My father is angry that so many whites are running through our lands, but would honor you for saving his son.  Get your horses; we go now.”

Henry wanted to go to the wagon train, but wasn’t about to argue with Lucinda’s safety at risk.  He’d never be able to protect her if he angered the Chief.  It was best to comply with his wishes and go back to town.  He did, however, plan on cutting a few switches on the way…   “You can take Dan’s horse,” he told Lucinda, leading her to the animal.

“But… what about…?” Lucinda started to protest and was cut off when Henry smacked her bottom hard.

“Shut up now,” he whispered firmly.  “Now is not the time for your sass, brat.”

Lucinda was outraged and insulted.  Her butt was sporting a bright red handprint, even though she couldn’t look in a mirror to verify it!  In fact, she didn’t need to; she could feel the burn on her delicate skin, and when Henry plopped her on the saddle, she could feel the burn even more clearly.  She gave him a dirty look, but wisely kept her mouth shut, even though she was tempted to ask the Apache for some of the same poison they used on their arrows to slip into Doc Z’s food!

The trip back to Snowfall was done in silence.  The Apache brave and Henry were wary of each other, and Lucinda was fuming over the indignity of being swatted once again in front of others, even if those others were Apaches!  When they were less than two miles from Snowfall, the brave let out a whoop, startling both Henry and Lucinda, and then he headed back in the direction they came from.  Henry told her to keep moving, and swatted the rump of her mount.  They picked up the pace and Henry led the way to the stable.  He left Lucinda to explain to the young boy who’d rented her a horse and the boy’s Pa why she was coming back with one horse and the other was missing, while he took care of an important task, cutting three switches from the tree beside the livery.  He walked back inside to hear the owner telling Lucinda that the other horse had returned on his own, and they figured her to be scalped or taken captive.  The man delivered a good scold, but he was honest and returned all of her belongings, including her new rifle.

“Glad to see you made it back safe, Doc Z.  Didn’t figure you would, or this one, either,” he pointed at Lucinda, who was feeling about two inches tall.  “Mac found two ranches burned to the ground, folks dead, women used first.  Not a pretty sight.”

“We’re lucky to be back, Otis,” Henry admitted.  “Dan Sanford is dead,” he said quietly.

“Sorry to hear that, Doc Z.”  He saw the switches in Henry’s hand and looked to his son and said, “I reckon you and me best get on home to supper, Georgie.  You shut up the doors for me, Doc Z, when you’re all done.”

“Be happy to, Otis,” Henry agreed, and then took out his knife.  “You are going to peel the bark off these switches, Miss Brat, and then you are going to get the switching of your life.”

“Oh no I’m not!” Lucinda declared.  “I’m armed, and I know how to defend myself and I will if I have to.”

“You risked your life like a foolish little idiot, Lucinda.  Your grief and stubbornness is making you crazy, and it is time someone take you in hand for your own good.  That someone is going to be me, and I’m not going to stop this time until I’m sure you are listening to what I am telling you.  I’m not going to let you get yourself killed over a foolish vendetta that has no basis on the truth.  I’m not going to permit you to get away with riding out into Apache territory when you already know they are riled up and looking to kill every white person they see.  That was the single most foolish thing you could have done, Lucinda, and out of respect for Jake, I’m going to take great pains to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He gave her a hard look and said, “You can either cooperate and peel these switches, or I will peel them and use every one until it breaks.  Your choice.”