Ralph Compton Frontier Medicine

by Robert J. Randisi

  Kincaid stood up and walked to the door with Doc Edwin. He turned and exchanged a glance with Nora before walking out.

  * * *

  * * *

  What do you think?” Kincaid asked.

  “I was lookin’ at their faces,” Doc Edwin said. “I think you’ve got Nora’s vote, and maybe Taylor’s, even though you’ve got him doin’ the job on the cheap. We just need one of the other fellas and you’ll win three to two.”

  They could hear the murmur of voices behind the door, which raised occasionally.

  “Is Nora right?” Kincaid asked. “Is the mayor saving the town treasury to use for his election?”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me,” Edwin said. “She made a good point about the money not doing him any good if he doesn’t have the votes.”

  “What about Taylor?” Kincaid asked. “Are there other carpenters in town who night bid on the job?”

  “With Taylor sitting on the town council, I’m sure he’ll get it, if it goes through.”

  Suddenly, the door opened and Nora appeared in the doorway.

  “You gentlemen can come back in now.”

  They followed her in and sat back down. Kincaid could tell nothing from the faces of the men at the table.

  Mayor Everett cleared his throat.

  “Both of you doctors made very good points,” he said. “We put the matter to a vote, and by a count of three to two, you have your new schoolhouse.”

  “That’s great!” Kincaid said, slapping his palm down on the table. “Thank you, gentlemen.”

  “Mr. Taylor will get to the job as soon as he can assemble the materials,” Everett said.

  “You won’t be taking other bids?” Kincaid asked.

  “That would hold the project up, Doctor,” the mayor said. “I’m sure you want to get it done as soon as possible.”

  “Yes, of course,” Kincaid said.

  “This meeting is adjourned,” the mayor said. He looked at Taylor. “Get to work, Bill.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  They all stood and the council members began to file out. Kincaid made a point of shaking hands with Taylor, the carpenter.

  “I’m going to tell the teacher, Mrs. Cottrell, the news today,” he said. “Maybe you should meet with her for some suggestions.”

  “I’ll do that, Doc. And, uh, thanks.”

  As Taylor left, Nora came over to the two doctors.

  “Three to two,” Kincaid said. “I would’ve thought it would be unanimous.”

  “No,” she said “even the mayor voted against you, but Mr. Taylor and I managed to get Mr. Worth on our side.”

  “And what does Mr. Worth do?” Kincaid asked.

  Nora grinned.

  “He’ll be selling a lot of the materials to Mr. Taylor.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Kincaid drove Doc Edwin to the office so he could take his turn.

  “Where are you off to?” Edwin asked.

  “I’m going to borrow your buggy to go out and see Mrs. Cottrell, the teacher. She’ll be happy to hear this news.”

  “You going to her house?” the old sawbones asked.

  Kincaid frowned.

  “That was my plan, but now that you mention it, I wonder if she’s started school up again.”

  “If she did, it’s at the old Worth house,” Edwin said. “I’ll tell you how to get there.” Kincaid listened to the simple directions. “You might as well take a look and see if it’s in danger of fallin’ down.”

  “I will,” Kincaid said.

  Doc Edwin went inside while Kincaid flicked the reins at the horse and got the buggy going.

  * * *

  * * *

  As Doc Edwin had predicted, Abby Cottrell was not at home, so Kincaid followed his directions to the “old Worth” place. He stopped the buggy in front of a dilapidated-looking large house. As he went up the front stairs he had to avoid one broken step.

  From inside he could hear Abby Cottrell’s voice as she went through one of her lessons. He followed the sound of her voice and found her with six students in a large first floor room. Some makeshift desks had been installed. As he peered in he could see one of the students was her daughter, Franny.

  “Doc Gabe!” Franny called, spotting him.

  He waved at her as Abby turned to look at him.

  “Just sit quietly, children,” she said, “I’ll be right back. I have to see what the doctor needs.”

  Franny waved again as Abby walked over to Kincaid, and they both stepped outside the room.

  “Only six kids?” he said.

  “The parents are afraid to send them to school,” she said. “I can’t blame them. What brings you here?”

  “I just came from a meeting of the Hays City town council,” he said. “They’ve approved the building of a new schoolhouse.”

  “Oh my God!” She covered her mouth with both hands. “You did that?”

  “I had help, but it took some fast-talking,” he admitted. “I don’t want any more children getting hurt.”

  “Oh God, Gabriel, I don’t know how to thank you! I would hug you, but it’s so inappropriate.”

  “Nobody’s looking.”

  She gave him a quick hug, then stepped back and blushed.

  “Is there a timeline for this?” she asked.

  “One of the council members is a carpenter, and he’s going to do the work,” Kincaid said. “As soon as he gets the materials. Luckily he’ll be getting them from another council member.”

  “How did you get the support?” she asked.

  “Well, Doc Edwin came to the meeting with me, and Nora Legend, who’s on the committee, set it all up so I could make my pitch.”

  “Nora Legend?” she said, frowning for a moment, then brightening. “Oh yes, the woman who has the apothecary shop.”

  “That’s right. Since I arrived I’ve been a patron of her shop, and she understood the need for the new schoolhouse.”

  “I’ll have to thank both her and Dr. Edwin,” she said. “But . . . I have to get back to my students.”

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I went to your house first, and then came here. This place is a shambles.”

  “It is,” she said, “but I don’t think it’s going to collapse. And now that I know it’s only temporary, I think we’ll be able to muddle through.”

  “I hope so.”

  She turned to go back into the classroom, but stopped to look at him one more time.

  “Thank you so much, Gabriel.”

  “Don’t thank me, Abby,” he said. “I did it as much for myself as I did for you. I don’t want to have to treat any more children for those kinds of injuries, and I don’t ever want to give that kind of bad news to any more mothers.”

  “I don’t blame you for that,” she said, and went inside.

  Kincaid left the building and drove the buggy back to town.

  * * *

  * * *

  He left the buggy in front of the doctor’s office, didn’t bother going inside to tell Doc Edwin it was there. The old man would simply find it waiting when he came out.

  He started to walk toward his place, but along the way decided to stop in a small saloon called the Brown Bull. It was still early, so it was not even half full. He went to the bar and ordered a beer from a man who looked bored. Behind the bar was a large framed painting of a brown bull. He studied it idly while slowly consuming the cold beer and congratulating himself on a job well done.

  Three months later . . .

  The morning of the party Kincaid rose and went downstairs to the Sunflower for breakfast.

  “Are you going to the dedication?” Kate asked as she served him.

  “I am,” Kincaid said, “but I thought I’d have a light breakfast and put in a
couple of hours seeing patients, first.”

  “This town is so lucky to have a doctor as dedicated as you,” she said.

  “Doc Edwin’s been here fifty years,” Kincaid said. “I think that’s pretty darn dedicated.”

  “Fifty years is too long,” Kate said. “We need somebody young, like you, who knows what’s new in medicine.”

  Kincaid thanked her and ordered his breakfast. More and more, lately, he’d been hearing that opinion. It seemed that while he was becoming more accepted as a doctor, Doc Edwin was becoming more . . . well, dismissed. Kincaid thought they all would have been better off to find some happy medium.

  When Kate brought his breakfast bill he asked, “Will you be going?”

  “Yes,” she said. “We’re supplying some of the food.”

  “Good.” He paid for his meal. “I’ll see you there.”

  He left the Sunflower Café and walked to his and Doc Edwin’s office. Stopping in front he regarded the new shingle that hung there with both their names on it. It had been Edwin’s idea. The old sawbones was as sour as ever, but had come to accept Kincaid as a full partner after nearly six months.

  Entering the office Kincaid removed his jacket and stowed his medical bag in the examining room. He sat at the desk he now shared with Doc Edwin and gave the older man some thought. He was eighty-one now, having reluctantly celebrated a birthday the month before. For his birthday, Kincaid had had to drain his lungs of fluid, again. Physically, the man was beginning to break down. Mentally, he was growing depressed as it seemed the townspeople were losing faith in his abilities.

  Kincaid gave the old sawbones credit for not blaming him for the dimmer attitude. After all, it had been Doc Edwin’s actions that brought him there. The old man knew that, but couldn’t help but be reluctantly and sourly grateful for Kincaid’s presence.

  Kincaid was concerned for Doc Edwin’s overall health. If it continued to deteriorate, the old man was not long for this world. Kincaid wasn’t sure he or Ellis County were ready to completely do without Dr. Samuel Edwin.

  His reverie was interrupted by the opening of the door. A man and a woman in their thirties entered, the man actually leaning on the woman for support. Both were dressed in filthy farm clothes. The man’s pants were stained with what appeared to be blood.

  “Doc?” the woman called out. “He hurt his leg.”

  “Bring him in here,” Kincaid said, indicating the examining room.

  He helped the woman get her husband into the room and up onto the table, and from there she backed away and allowed him to work.

  He cleaned and bandaged the gash the man had managed to get while plowing his field. He then walked them out and advised the woman to keep her husband off his leg for several days, and to clean the wound often.

  “We were gonna go to the party for the new schoolhouse this afternoon,” she said. “You know, for the music and the food.”

  “You can go,” he said. “Make him stay home. You can bring him some food. As for music, tell him to sing to himself.”

  She laughed and said, “Oh, Doc. Thanks.”

  He nodded, helped the man up onto their buckboard, which the woman drove away. Kincaid had never seen them before, but knew he’d probably be seeing them again.

  * * *

  * * *

  Kincaid had only a few more patients before it was time to head out to the new schoolhouse. He knew that Maggie and Doc Edwin were planning on taking Doc’s buggy out there, so he went to the livery and saddled his horse. He took his medical bag with him, just in case.

  The ride wasn’t a long one. The rubble from the collapsed house had been cleared away and the new school erected in its place.

  He had been out there several times during the past few months to see how things were progressing, but this was the first time he was seeing the finished product. There were plenty of people there already, meandering in and out while they waited for refreshments and food to be set out on the various tables. A man was off to one side, standing at a recently erected brick oven-and-stove, with steam coming up from it.

  Off to another side horses, buggies, and buckboards were parked, so he directed his horse over there and tied her off to a picket line. Then he walked back toward the action.

  Looking around he didn’t see Maggie or Doc Edwin, but he did see Abby Cottrell standing by one of the red-checkerboard covered tables. She smiled as she saw him approaching, reached behind her for a cup.

  “Lemonade?” she asked.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Shouldn’t you be taking parents through the schoolhouse?” Kincaid asked.

  “If you can believe it,” she said, “there are no parents here yet.”

  “I’m sure they’ll be coming,” Kincaid said.

  “I hope so.”

  “You think they’d send their kids to school without looking at it first?” he asked.

  “No, I meant I hope they send them at all. I still only have about half my class.” She looked around. “And where’s the mayor? He made a fuss about wanting to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony.”

  Kincaid looked over at the school, didn’t see any ribbons stretched out in front. But he saw something else.

  “I see some council members here,” he said, “including Nora Legend. In fact, she’s walking over here.”

  “Oh good,” Abby said, sounding less than thrilled. “I haven’t had a chance to thank her yet.”

  When Nora reached them she smiled at Kincaid and practically ignored Abby.

  “I’m glad to see you here, Gabriel,” she said.

  “I couldn’t miss it,” he said. “After all, we’re the ones who got them to build it. Nora, I want you to meet Abby Cottrell. She’s the teacher.”

  “Oh, it’s so nice to meet you,” Nora said.

  “You, too,” Abby said. “Gabriel told me how instrumental you were in getting the school built, and I’ve been meaning to thank you.”

  “It was him, really,” she said. “Doc Edwin and I simply sat there and supported him.”

  “They did more than that,” Kincaid said. “It was pretty much a group effort.”

  “That’s nice of you to say,” Nora replied.

  “We were just noticing that the mayor isn’t here,” Kincaid pointed out. “Didn’t he want to dedicate the new school?”

  “He did,” Nora said. “I’m sure he’ll be along.”

  “Steaks!” the man at the brick oven shouted. “Who wants a steak? Come and get it!”

  Kincaid looked over and saw Kate was standing next to him, putting steaks onto people’s plates as they came forward.

  “Abby? Steak?” Kincaid asked.

  “Not just yet, Gabriel, thank you. But you go—the two of you.”

  “Nora?” Kincaid said.

  “I’d love one.”

  She linked her arm in his and they walked away, leaving Abby there alone.

  “She doesn’t like me,” Nora said.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because she likes you,” she replied. “And she doesn’t want any competition.”

  “I think you’re imagining things, Nora,” Kincaid said. “We just happened to come to town on the same train. We’ve seen each other very little since then.”

  She patted his arm and said, “You’re such a man.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Kincaid and Nora sat at a table off to one side. As they ate Kincaid saw somebody else among the guests, someone who surprised him. At the same time both Maggie and Doc Edwin came over to join them with their steaks.

  Doc Edwin sat next to Kincaid and said, “I see you spotted him.”

  “I did, just now,” Kincaid said. “I thought he left town.”

  “He might’ve,” Edwin said. “Maybe he’s just here for the dedication of
the new school.”

  “Right,” Kincaid said. “A gunman who cares about a new school.”

  Both physicians looked across the field at Jed Butram, who was strutting around with his gun in his belt.

  “I hope he doesn’t start anything here,” Kincaid said. “I’m really enjoying my meal.” Along with the meat there was blackened corn on the cob and potatoes.

  Butram seemed to be holding a cup of lemonade in his hand. When he saw Kincaid he smiled and raised the glass to him.

  “That sonofabitch,” Doc Edwin said. “He’s tryin’ to goad you, Gabriel.”

  “I know that,” Kincaid said.

  “If he comes over here,” the old sawbones said, “I’m gonna give ’im a piece of my mind.”

  “I’ll bet he could use it.”

  At that a fancy buggy, pulled by two horses, attracted the attention of almost everybody. When it stopped, the mayor stepped out and began waving to people.

  “He’s campaigning already,” Nora said. “Look at that big, phony smile.”

  Kincaid glanced over to where he had left Abby and saw some people with her, surrounded by kids—their kids, he assumed. So apparently some parents had finally put in an appearance.

  “It looks like she’s going to be busy,” Nora said, leaning against him. “So you’ll have to make do with me.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be able to struggle through,” he said, smiling.

  * * *

  * * *

  Jed Butram sipped his lemonade, then set down the empty cup and went to get himself a steak. He felt that “Dr. Death” was probably getting close to the point where Butram could take him. It was what he did, he worked on a man’s mind before killing him. He figured it always gave him about a tenth-of-a-second edge, which was all he needed. He just wished he had been born earlier and had been able to face the likes of a Ben Thompson or Wild Bill Hickok. He was sure he could have taken them as well.

  After he had spoken to Dr. Kincaid once, and eaten breakfast in the same café once, Sheriff Llegg had warned him off.