Medicine Bundle

by Patrick E. Andrews

  “We all was,” Dennis added.

  “Sure! I’ll fix up some biscuits,” Ben said. He walked toward the cabin. “Take care of them horses, boys. But don’t worry your heads too much. Nobody ever comes by here.”

  After giving the animals long drinks, they led them into the trees. It took a little work of clearing a space for them, but when they finished, the horses were well sheltered and completely hidden. The saddles, covered with slickers, were placed close by in the brush to be ready for quick use if needed. “That’s got it,” Charlie said. “Let’s go over and visit with Ben a spell.”

  Silsby said, “It seems you got something on your mind, Charlie.”

  “Yeah,” Dennis said warily.

  “I still ain’t gonna rustle no more,” Tommy insisted.

  “This don’t have nothing to do with rustling,” Charlie said.

  They walked out of the trees toward the cabin, carrying their saddlebags. The ranch’s old chuck wagon was parked directly behind the place. With no real use for it, Ben had abandoned the vehicle. It was weatherworn but still seemed serviceable if fixed up a bit. The cowboys went inside the cabin and stopped at the delicious smells coming from the stove. Ben pointed to it. “Remember, boys? This is the one I had on the Rocking H. Mr. Harknell give it to me.”

  “We know, Ben,” Tommy said. “We helped you load it on the wagon, remember?”

  “I reckon you noticed the ol’ chuck wagon,” Ben said. “I just keep it for when I cook for harvest crews. And it reminds me of the good ol’ days and good ol’ boys like y’all.” He went back to his cooking. “How’s Mr. Harknell doing?”

  “He kilt hisself,” Charlie said. “They wasn’t nothing left for him after he lost the ranch.”

  Ben’s shoulders sagged. “The godamn world is cruel, boys.”

  Charlie reached in his saddlebags and retrieved a pint of whiskey. He sat it on the shelf by the stove. “That’s for you, Ben,” he said. “Consider it payment for the grub.”

  “Oh, you boys don’t have to pay me,” Ben said. “But I do appreciate the store-bought likker. All I been sipping lately is moonshine.”

  When the food was served, the diners had to settle on the floor and lean against the walls due to a marked lack of furniture. Ben and Charlie sat at the table where the only chairs were available. Even if the accommodations were crude, the food was good, hot, and filling.

  ~*~

  Later, after cleaning up, a couple of the bottles were pulled from the saddlebags and passed around. Charlie let the small talk go on for almost an hour. He was preoccupied and his friends knew that he was in the midst of working something out in his mind.

  Ben enjoyed hearing about Montana and the winters. He thought Charlie and Silsby should have let Angelo Kennedy wander out into the snow rather than go through all the trouble of dragging him back and tying him up. “If the crazy son of a bitch wanted to freeze to death, y’all shoulda let him,” Ben said, a little drunk. “I recollect when I was a young feller working a Texas ranch, they was this cowboy down there said he was gonna shoot hisself. Ever’body said go on ahead. If you want to shoot yourself, just shoot yourself and shut your godamn mouth about it.”

  “Did he shoot hisself?” Tommy asked.

  “Nope,” Ben said. “He shot the wrangler, then the foreman shot him. That shows just how dangerous them loco son of a bitches really is.”

  It was Dennis who told Ben about their rustling. At first Ben was shocked, but as they explained they were getting even with all the newcomers because of the way the old Medicine Bundle Grasslands were carved up and fenced in, he decided to side with his young friends. “It’s them land grabbers’ fault Mr. Harknell done for hisself. I’m glad you’re rustling their herds.”

  “We ain’t gonna do that no more,” Silsby said. “We got chased off last night. They damn near caught us.”

  Ben took a deep drink of whiskey. “Boys, y’all’re lucky to be alive.”

  “That we are,” Silsby said, sharing a bottle with Dennis and Tommy.

  “But this place is always open to you,” Ben said. “They ain’t nobody, even the law, that’ll find you if you can manage to get here first.”

  It was at that moment that Charlie broke his silence. “Ben, we want to make a deal with you. A business deal.”

  “Sure,” Ben said. “I could use a little cash money in my life, believe me.”

  “Even though me and the boys has decided to give up rustling,” Charlie said, “we need one big score that’ll take us out of the Oklahoma Territory.”

  Tommy looked at him. “Are you talking about our plans for a ranch in Texas?”

  “Nope,” Charlie said. “That’d take too much money. We ought to head down to Mexico and get a ranch down there.”

  “The Mezkins call ’em ranchos,” Ben said.

  “That’s right,” Charlie said.

  Ben asked, “How’re you gonna get the money, Charlie?”

  “First things first,” Charlie said. “Me and Silsby has got to get our women over to here.”

  “Are y’all married?” Ben asked.

  “Silsby is,” Charlie answered. “My gal is what you’d call a soiled dove.”

  “That’s inter’sting,” Ben said. “Why do you want to bring ’em to my cabin?”

  “So’s Belle and Mildred can wait for us to pick ’em up on the way to Mexico,” Charlie answered. “We can pay you to look after ’em.”

  “Which is Silsby’s wife and which is the whore?” Ben asked artlessly.

  “Mildred is my wife,” Silsby said. “Belle is Charlie’s sweetheart.”

  “Whores make good sweethearts,” Ben commented. “How come you want ’em to wait here?”

  “We’re gonna rob the bank in Clarkville,” Charlie said.

  They all stopped drinking and looked at him for one long moment of disbelief. It was Silsby who asked, “We’re gonna do what?”

  “We’re gonna rob the bank in Clarkville,” Charlie repeated. “We’ll hit her hard and fast and head down here to Ben’s cabin. We’ll pick up the women and move out for Mexico and set up the biggest damn spread anybody ever saw.”

  “Why don’t the gals wait for us in Kensaw?” Silsby asked.

  “Too dangerous,” Charlie said. “We’ll come back here where nobody expects us to go.”

  “How’re we gonna get them two gals over to here in the first place?” Silsby asked.

  “We’ll rent a wagon and mule in Kensaw to bring ’em over,” Charlie said. “And we’ll use it to take ’em down to Mexico.”

  “Wait a minute,” Tommy protested. “We’ll have to take that wagon and mule back to the livery in Kensaw, won’t we?”

  “You dumb son of a bitch!” Charlie snapped. “We’re gonna rob a godamn bank! What the hell are you worried about keeping a rented wagon and mule for?”

  “Oh,” Tommy said.

  Everyone was silent. For a few long moments, the only sound was Ben swallowing his whiskey.

  “Well?” Charlie asked. “What do y’all think of my idee?”

  “I reckon it’s better’n a sharp stick in the eye,” Silsby remarked.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  When Silsby returned to the hotel in Kensaw he anticipated the usual happy greetings from Mildred. The high point of his trips was getting back to the renewed outpouring of her affections for him after a week or so of being apart. They couldn’t enjoy the pleasure of sexual intimacy anymore because of her pregnancy, but her joy at seeing him again and the resultant enthusiastic hugs and kisses made up for that.

  This time, however, Mildred’s face wore an angry expression as he dropped his saddlebags by the door. Her mouth, capable of either sweet or sensuous smiles depending on her mood, was pursed into a tight-lipped grimace. She stood, arms folded over her large stomach, glaring at Silsby across the room. He smiled uncertainly. “How’ve you been, sweetheart?”

  “Kind of disgusted.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “
I’m tired of this hotel,” Mildred said. “I’m tired of you being gone all the time. They’s nothing for me to do. I sit in this room all day ‘less I take a walk. I know ever’ inch of this town now.”

  “That’s all about to change,” he said confidently.

  She ignored his statement. “I need to buy some things. And the room rent is overdue. We’re almost out of money. “

  “Well, darling, I didn’t bring any back this time,” Silsby said. “Me and the boys —”

  “You and the boys! You and the boys! Cain’t you do anything on your own?” she asked. “Ever’ single thing in our life is wrapped around them three. Why cain’t we do things by ourselves? Such as getting a house to live in.”

  He had never seen her so cranky before. “Me and the boys is old pals and we’ve made plans.”

  “They’s a bunch of drunken cowboys,” Mildred said. “My pa was right about that.”

  “I don’t want to talk about your pa.”

  “Don’t pick on my pa!”

  “I ain’t —”

  “I think we should go visit your folks,” Mildred announced.

  “I ain’t never gonna do that.”

  “Grant Hollings said they was real nice.”

  “When did you talk to Grant Hollings?”

  “He came by here while you was gone,” Mildred said. “He told me as to how your parents was real nice folks.”

  “My pa never beat Grant Hollings’ ass,” Silsby retorted.

  “He’s a U.S. marshal.”

  Silsby’s eyes opened wide. “I thought he was in the Army.”

  “He ain’t in the stupid Army,” Mildred snapped. “He’s a U.S. marshal and he lives in Medicine Bundle.”

  “Did he marry my sister?”

  “O’course,” Mildred said. “Why’d you think he called on us?”

  “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Well maybe you’d be interested in the fact he’s got two kids,” Mildred announced. “That makes me an aunt and you an uncle.”

  “I reckon it does.”

  “Why didn’t you bring back any money this time?”

  “Well,” he said, “things just didn’t work out.”

  “Did you spend it?”

  “O’course not,” Silsby said. “I always bring back ever’ cent with me. We had some bad luck. The horses we was going to pick up was already gone. But we got a sure thing going now.”

  “Silsby!” Mildred snapped. “We got seventy-five cents! That’s all we got! Seventy-five cents!”

  “Now, darling, just sit down on the bed a minute,” Silsby said, hoping to soothe her bad mood. “You’re started to look peaked.”

  “I’m expecting. I’m supposed to look peaked.”

  He noticed she wasn’t very pretty at that moment. Her face was round and full, and the angry expression on it did nothing to make her look attractive. He spoke carefully. “Let me explain what’s happening.”

  Still angry, she sat down.

  “We’re gonna help a man move a big herd of cattle to Wichita,” Silsby said. “He’s gonna pay us plenty for the job. When we’re paid off, we’re all going to Mexico and start that ranch we been planning on.”

  “I thought we was going to Texas.”

  “No,” he said. “We found out we can get a bigger place south of the border. Ever’thing is cheaper down there. The cattle, cowboy pay, land, ever’thing, see?” He once more tried to put her in a better humor. “You know what they call cowboys in Mexico?”

  “How would I know that?”

  “They call ’em vaqueros,” he said with a chuckle. “Ain’t that a funny way to say cowboy?”

  She was not interested. “Why cain’t you and me have our own place?”

  “We will later on, darling,” Silsby said. “But it’s best that us fellers start out together.”

  “I got to throw up.”

  Mildred walked across the small room to lean over a basin on the wooden commode. She gasped and vomited, then waited and did it again. She remained there and went through another spell of nausea. “I want some fried chicken,” she said.

  “What?”

  She vomited again, gasping and coughing. “I said I want some fried chicken. I’m hungry for fried chicken.”

  “How can you —”

  “I want fried chicken!” she yelled, then vomited once more.

  “Where’s the seventy-five cents?” Silsby asked. “I’ll go down to the cafe.” Mildred, still bent over, pointed to the battered bureau. He found the money in the top drawer. After another look at his wife in the throes of nausea, Silsby went downstairs and out to the street to buy the chicken at the town’s cafe.

  When he got back a half hour later with a covered plate of hot, freshly fried chicken, he found Mildred sitting on the bed. She was smiling. “Oh, good!” she said happily. “I’m so hungry.”

  “You kind of remind me of Angelo Kennedy right now,” Silsby said, giving her the food. “Now can I talk to you?”

  “Sure, darling,” she said, taking a big bite from a drumstick.

  “Me and the boys is working on a cattle deal in Wichita for the next week or so,” Silsby said. “We’re gonna make a lot of money. It’s a sure thing, and we’re gonna take it and go to Mexico and start a ranch.”

  “I know, darling,” Mildred said. “You told me how cheap it is down there.”

  “Right,” Silsby said. “Now I want you to go stay with a friend of mine over west and wait for me there.”

  “Cain’t I wait here, darling?” she asked cheerfully.

  “No, sweetheart. It’d be handier if you waited over there.”

  “All right, honey,” Mildred replied, still eating.

  “We’ll come by there and pick you and Belle up for the trip south.”

  “Belle?” Mildred asked. “Is Belle going too?”

  “Sure,” Silsby said. “She’s Charlie’s sweetheart. They don’t want to part, so she’s going to Mexico too. You and Belle is real good friends, ain’t you?”

  “Sort of,” she responded, devouring a wing, and speaking between bites. “I see her down in the lobby now and again.” She chewed the chicken for a moment. “You know what Belle does? She does with other men what you and me do in our bed and they pay her for it.”

  “I thought you knew that without me telling you,” Silsby said. “But she’s gonna give it up to be Charlie’s woman.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Can I have a piece of chicken?” Silsby asked.

  “No.”

  “Well, now, that’s fine, darling.”

  “I like Belle,” Mildred said. “She comes and visits me. But I don’t like what she does. Poor Charlie.” She reached for another piece of chicken. “Don’t tell him.”

  “He knows.”

  She continued to chew, looking at him. “You mean to tell me that Charlie knows that Belle does it with other men and he don’t care?”

  “It’s how she makes her money,” Silsby said. “She won’t do it no more when we have our ranch in Mexico.”

  “Well, I should hope not,” Mildred said. “We need some money. We only got seventy-five cents.”

  “We only got twenty-five cents,” Silsby said. “That chicken cost four bits.”

  “Well, then you shouldn’t have bought it.”

  Silsby showed a condescending smile. “I tell you what. I’ll take something over to Joe Dantry at his store and he’ll give us some money on it. Dennis and Tommy is gonna do that so’s they can have a good time tonight.”

  “Is Charlie gonna get a loan too?”

  “He don’t have to, darling,” Silsby said. “Belle gives him money.”

  She started to cry. “I cain’t give you any money like Belle gives Charlie.”

  “What?”

  “Belle gives Charlie money and I don’t ever give you any,” she said, weeping.

  “It’s all right, darling,” Silsby said. “I don’t expect you to. Now stop crying about it.”


  She wiped at her eyes and took another bite of chicken. “You’re so sweet, Silsby.”

  “You’re the sweetie.”

  “Are you mad we cain’t do it no more ‘til they baby is borned?”

  “Aw, no, honey! That’s normal when the wife is expecting.”

  “You’re sweet.”

  Silsby went over to their trunk and opened it up. “I got that little Derringer pistol. Joe will let me have five dollars on it. That’s enough to last us ‘til we leave for Ben’s place.”

  “What is Ben’s place?”

  “That’s Ben Shaw,” Silsby explained. “He’s an ol’ pal who used to be the cook on the Rocking H. You and Belle is gonna stay in his cabin ‘til we come by and pick you up to go to Mexico.”

  Mildred grabbed the last piece of chicken and began eating it. “This is really good!”

  “All right, honey.”

  “I mean it, darling. This is really good!”

  “I’m glad you like it,” Silsby said. He stuck the small pistol in his pocket and left the room. When he reached the lobby, he met Charlie and his paramour Belle LaTour coming in off the street.

  Charlie greeted him. “Howdy, Silsby. Where you headed?”

  “I’m gonna pawn this Derringer of mine,” Silsby said. He nodded to Belle. “How you doing?”

  “Just fine,” she said. The woman was a slim, hard-faced whore with a raspy voice. Her hair was a mousy brown, and her mouth a rouged gash above a square jaw. “How’s Mildred feeling today? She was poorly yesterday.”

  “She got sick and wanted some chicken,” Silsby said. “I reckon Charlie told you about our plans of going to Mexico.”

  “He sure did,” Belle said. “And the sooner we get out of here the better. I was busier’n hell last week when some army boys come through. I spent most of Wednesday flat on my back with some soljer between my legs. When the last of them boys in blue finally finished, I was raw as a peeled onion. I cain’t take much more of that.” She gave Charlie a sharp nudge with her elbow. “Then this randy son of a bitch comes home and ruts on me.”

  Charlie laughed. “Well, you’ll soon be the lady of your own hacienda down in Mexico. You’ll just have me to put up with.”

  “I got to get that money,” Silsby said. “I’ll see y’all later.” He went outside and strolled down the street to the general store. When he walked in he noticed Joe Dantry was waiting on a couple of drifters. Silsby went straight to the back where loans were negotiated. He found Dennis Nettles and Tommy Chatsworth sitting on chairs against the wall. “I’ll bet you boys is here for the same reason I am,” Silsby said.