The Encounter

by Norman Fitts

  They had decided to try and get the wheel back on, then worry about how to keep it there. Joseph and his sister had carefully moved Martin to the side of the road. Sarah hadn't wanted to move him, but even empty the wagon was too heavy for them.

  Joseph was up front with the team trying to figure out a way to use the horses.

  Sarah looked after their father. Lawrence and Margaret were on top of them before Sarah looked up and saw them.

  She stood up and called to her brother. "Joseph..."

  Joseph looked her way. He saw what; at first, looked like two men in the dim light. One of them armed. He reached into the wagon boot and pulled out his rifle.

  Margaret could see Martin on the ground. "Has someone been hurt?" She asked.

  The female voice backed Joseph off. He walked toward the back of the wagon with his rifle ready. His eyes were on the one with the gun.

  "It's our father", Sarah said. "He's hurt real bad. We're tryin' to get him to town."

  "May I have a look?" Margaret asked Sarah.

  Sarah looked at her brother. He nodded. She stepped back. Margaret knelt beside Martin.

  Lawrence looked at Joseph. He still had his gun leveled on him. "You mind pointing that thing somewhere else? We're just tryin' to help."

  Joseph's instincts had already convinced him they weren't a threat. They weren't from the mountain, but more important they weren't from the valley. "You folks not from around here", Joseph said.

  "No", Lawrence answered. "We're from Texas. My wife and I wanted to do some prospecting."

  At the sound of the word wife, Margaret looked back at Lawrence. She stood up. "It looks like a bad concussion."

  "What's that", Sarah asked?

  "A severe blow to the head", Margaret answered.

  Joseph leaned his rifle against the wagon. "Concussion? You're using words I don't know. You some kinda doctor?"

  Margaret looked at Sarah. She could tell how frightened she was. "No. I'm not a doctor, but maybe we can help you with the wheel."

  Sarah knelt beside her father. Lawrence walked around to the right side of the wagon. Margaret watched Sarah. Joseph joined Lawrence.

  Lawrence tipped the wheel up and looked it over. "The wheel looks okay. What about the axle nut?"

  "I came off somewhere back up the road", Joseph said. "I looked for it, but we're never gonna find it."

  Margaret joined the two men. "Let's get the wheel back on. It'll level the wagon." She looked at Joseph. "If you two can lift it, I'll put the wheel on." She could have picked up the wagon with one hand and slipped the wheel on with the other, but this wasn't the time, or place, to be showing off.

  Joseph stepped to the back of the wagon. "I couldn't do it by myself."

  Margaret took the wheel. Lawrence joined the boy. "Turn around with your back to the wagon. Lift with your legs."

  Joseph and Lawrence knelt down and slipped their fingers under the wagon bed. Lawrence was nearest the wheel.

  He looked at Joseph. "When I say lift, lift."

  Joseph nodded. Sarah watched. It was the strangest thing. She instantly liked this woman with the long black hair.

  Lawrence glanced at everyone, "Everybody ready? Lift..."

  The wagon came up. The axle was a little high. Margaret picked up the wheel and slipped it on. The two men set the weight down.

  This woman doesn't look that much bigger than me, Sarah thought. How could she lift the wheel so easily? Sarah stood up. "Let's get him back in the wagon."

  Everyone helped get Martin back in the wagon. Sarah stayed beside him.

  Lawrence took a look at the end of the axle, then at Joseph. "You got any tools?"

  "There's an ax under the seat", he answered. "And I got a knife."

  "That'll have to do. Get me the ax." He looked at Margaret. "I've got an idea."

  Joseph pulled the ax out from under the seat and brought it to him.

  "What're you gonna do", Joseph asked. "Can I help?"

  "No. Stay here and keep an eye on the wagon."

  Lawrence walked toward the trees. Joseph turned to Margaret. "What's he up to?"

  "I have no idea. I guess we'll all find out together."

  Margaret walked away from the wagon. Joseph picked up his rifle and laid it in the wagon box.

  "Strange, them bein’ on foot, whata you think?” he asked.

  Sarah looked toward Margaret. "They're tryin' to help. That's all I care about." She looked back to her dad. "What she said sounded bad."

  "Well, she don't know. She ain't no doctor. She said so."

  "What if what he's doin' doesn't work?"

  Sarah sounded scared. That scared Joseph, but he couldn't show it. He'd always looked to her to take care of things where the family was concerned. Now, she was depending on him. "Don't worry Sis, we'll think of somethin'."

  The chopping stopped. Margaret walked back to the wagon.

  "Sounds like he was choppin' down a tree", Joseph said to Margaret. "What good's that gonna do?"

  Margaret watched the edge of the woods. "I don’t have a clue. Here he comes."

  Everyone looked in the direction of the footsteps. Lawrence stepped onto the road. He carried the ax in one hand and a four-inch long, three-inch diameter piece of tree trunk in the other. The sun was gone. They were working by moonlight.

  "We're gonna need more light", Lawrence said. He looked at Joseph. "You got a match?"

  "No. We were in a hurry. I figured on bein' to town by now."

  Lawrence looked at Margaret. "I think we can handle it." To Joseph, "can you get us something to burn?"

  "Yeah", Joseph answered. "What are you gonna do with that?"

  Lawrence leaned the ax against the wagon. "Make an axle nut."

  Joseph looked at him, shook his head, picked up the ax and wandered into the woods to look for kindling.

  Margaret walked over to Lawrence. She stood with her back to Sarah. "How are you gonna start a fire?"

  Lawrence looked past her to Sarah. Sarah was seeing to her father. "You'll have to use one of those things in your bag."

  "We can't do that in front of them."

  "We don't have a choice. If they say anything we'll tell 'em it's a new kind of match, the latest thing from back east, or something."

  Sarah was tending her father, but her attention was on Margaret and Lawrence. Why were they whispering? She didn't feel threatened by them, but still...

  Joseph returned with an armload of small limbs and twigs. "Where do you want 'em?"

  Lawrence pointed to a spot by the wheel. "Put 'em down there." He looked at Margaret. "Would you get a match from the bag?"

  She watched him for a moment, and then went to her bag. Lawrence knelt and began organizing the kindling for the fire. Sarah and Joseph watched. Margaret returned with her match. She put herself between the kids and the woodpile. She knelt down. There was a flash and flames rose up in front of her.

  Before anyone had a chance to ask what happened, Lawrence stood up. "Joseph, let me have that knife."

  Joseph reached into his boot and came out with an eight-inch knife. He flipped it. It stuck in the ground next to Margaret.

  She pulled it out, stood up and glanced around. "A little close don't you think?"

  "No ma'am", he said. "If I'd wanted to hit ya I would've." He meant nothing by it other than showing off.

  Lawrence picked up the tree trunk and walked to the wheel with the missing nut. Everyone watched. He pressed the wood against the end of the axle. It left an impression in the middle.

  Lawrence picked up the ax and handed it to Margaret. "Use this for a hammer?"

  She took the ax and everybody moved over by the fire. Sarah watched from the wagon.

  Lawrence knelt by the fire. Margaret joined him.

  "Okay", he explained. "I made an impression of the axle. Now, we're gonna cut out the hole. This is a green piece of wood. It should thread onto the axle. With any luck, and we take it easy, we'll make it to town." He looked at Mar
garet. "I'll hold the knife, you hammer."

  She handed him the knife and they started. Joseph and Sarah watched. Joseph was impressed. This might work. Lawrence moved the knife as Margaret used the ax. It took a while, but they made a hole through the trunk.

  Margaret held out her hand. "Here, let me put it on."

  Lawrence handed it to her. She stood up and went to the wheel. He knew she was the only one who could twist it onto the axle thread. Lawrence stood behind her. She made it look so easy no one suspected it wasn't.

  Lawrence picked up the ax and handed it, and the knife, back to Joseph. "You mind givin' us a ride to town?"

  Joseph slipped the knife into his boot. "Get in." He laid the ax in the wagon box.

  Sarah sat at her father's head. "Please hurry."

  Joseph climbed up onto the seat. Lawrence and Margaret walked to the back of the wagon.

  Margaret picked up her bag. "Why don't you ride up front? I'll ride with the girl", she said in a low voice.

  "You think the father has a chance", Lawrence asked?

  "In this day and time, not much", she answered.

  Lawrence looked at her for a moment, then picked up the canteen and put it in back. Margaret climbed in and sat next to Sarah. Lawrence walked around and climbed up onto the seat.

  Joseph looked at him. "Thanks for helpin'. We couldn't do it by ourselves."

  Lawrence glanced back at the wheel. "Don't thank me yet. Let's see if it works. By the way, I'm Larry and that's Maggie."

  Joseph looked back and touched the brim of his hat. "Ma'am."

  He picked up the reins, released the brake and slapped the horses. The wagon jerked forward. Everyone held his or her breath. The wheel stayed on and the wagon lumbered its way slowly down the road toward town.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The computer on Margaret's ship contained detailed archives covering every period in American history. It had provided her with a history of this time and place.

  The Crossing was literally just that. Since the late seventeen hundreds, French Canadian Fur Traders and Mountain Men had been holding rendezvous with the Arikara, Crow, Snake and other Indian tribes for the purpose of fur trading. The valley marked the entrance to, what was then, just an Indian trail through the mountains. Eventually the white men established a trading post on the site.

  The Mountain Men were gone and the fur industry was history. Next came the introduction of sheep and cattle, mostly cattle. Around that, the town grew.

  The territorial government only allowed the ownership of about two thousand acres per holding. The balance of the range was open, government land. The Cattlemen's Association, made up of the valley ranchers, used that range to graze their collective herds.

  ***

  The balance of the trip had been particularly arduous for Sarah. She tended her father as best she could. Not much conversation passed between any of them. About an hour after they started with the damaged wheel, the wagon rolled out of the mountains into town.

  The mountain road became the town's main street. There were a number of outlying structures, but the bulk of the town's businesses ran down both sides of a rocky, dirt road. There was wrought iron, oil, street lamps lighting most of the storefronts, a feature that seemed a little fancy, to Lawrence's way of thinking, for an otherwise plain cattle town. It was as though hundred-year-old photograph had come to life.

  Joseph turned left away from the main street. He drove the wagon down the back of the buildings. Music and laughter filled the night air, and then faded as the wagon moved on.

  Lawrence watched the buildings go by. "Where're we going?"

  "Up ahead there", Joseph answered, "the one with the light in the back."

  Lawrence could see a lamp burning on the back of one of the buildings. Joseph pulled even with the door and stopped. The sign above the door read, "JOHN CASSIDY, DOCTOR OF MEDICINE".

  "Hurry Joseph," Sarah was anxious to get her father inside.

  Joseph and Lawrence got down and walked to the door. Joseph knocked. After a moment he knocked again.

  "The Doc has his office out front", Joseph said, knocking harder. "But they live upstairs in the back."

  Sarah watched the door. "Why don't they come?"

  Margaret put her hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Don't worry they're coming."

  A moment later the door opened. Erma Cassidy looked out at the two men standing in the light. She didn't know Lawrence and the broad brim hat shaded Joseph's face from her.

  "What do you want?, she asked, peering out the partially opened door, "Somebody sick?"

  "It's me Miz Cassidy, Joseph McKenly."

  She opened the door wider. "Joseph McKenly, I couldn't tell it was you. What's wrong?"

  "It's my dad. He got hurt bad this afternoon. We need the Doc to look at him."

  John Cassidy walked up behind his wife. "What is it?"

  She looked back at him. "It's the McKenlys. Martin's been hurt."

  John stepped around his wife and out the door. Lawrence and Joseph stepped back. "Where is he?” John asked, trying to make out who was in the wagon, "in the wagon?"

  "Yes sir", Joseph answered. "He's lyin' in back. His horse went down and his head hit a rock."

  John walked to the back of the wagon. Erma stayed at the door. Sarah held her father's head in her lap. Margaret sat beside her. John looked at Margaret, then at Martin.

  Sarah was beginning to tear again. "You gotta help him. We got here as soon as we could."

  "Let's get him inside where I can have a look." John looked at Lawrence and Joseph. "Take him out easy."

  John stepped back. Joseph climbed into the back. Sarah moved away so he could take their father's shoulders. Lawrence took the feet and they eased Martin out of the wagon. With Sarah and Margaret on one side and the doctor in front, Joseph and Lawrence carried Martin through the door.

  John had been a young surgeon in the Union Army during the war. Erma was a nurse at a hospital in Baltimore. They met, and married, and decided to move west. Their original destination was the California coast. This was as far as they got.

  The Cassidy's two-story office, and living quarters, was the second largest building in town, second to the hotel. Off the hallway were four bedrooms, a washroom and the stairs leading up to the living quarters.

  Erma had entered the first room on the right, lit the lamp and returned to the door to wait for the others. John was first, followed by Lawrence and Joseph carrying Martin. Margaret and Sarah were right behind them.

  John stopped at the doorway. "Put him on the bed."

  Lawrence and Joseph entered the room. Sarah wanted to follow them. John stopped her.

  "Why don't you go with Erma", John said. "Let me have a look."

  That wasn't what Sarah wanted. "I want to stay, please."

  Erma took Sarah's shoulder. "Come on child, you can't help in there. Let John see to him."

  "Please, I can't leave him." Sarah protested. She was sure that if she left him something bad would happen. "Why does Joseph get to stay?"

  "He's not", John answered, trying to calm her down. "I just need to ask him what happened." He looked at Margaret. "Please, go with her while Erma gets what I need." He looked back at Sarah. "I'm gonna do everything I can to help him."

  Sarah was beginning to cry. "Don't let him die. Please, I don't know what we'll do if..."

  Margaret put her arm around her. "Come on. You've done all you can do. You got him here. Let the doctor look after him."

  Arguing with the doctor wasn't helping her father. "Okay, I guess you're right," Sarah conceded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She looked through the door at her father lying on the bed. Her whole world was beginning to come apart. She walked off with Margaret and Erma. John stepped into the room and closed the door.

  Joseph and Lawrence stood by the bed. John walked over and sat on the bed beside his patient.

  He looked at Martin's eyes, and then opened his shirt. "You said his horse went down. Where was
this?"

  Joseph watched the doctor. "We were chasing the wild herd. He got a rope on the stal..." The word stuck in his throat. "Leader. His saddle slipped and he went down."

  John laid open Martin's shirt. He unbuttoned the long johns, and then tore them open to the waist. There was a large bruise on the left side of Martin's chest and the middle of his abdomen. He looked at Joseph. "Was he trampled?"

  "Not by the herd", Joseph answered. "His horse must've stepped on him... Is he gonna be okay? I mean, if he's gonna be laid up for a while..."

  Before John could answer, the door opened and Erma entered with a tray of instruments and a pan of water. John stood up. Erma joined them at the bed. John took the tray.

  Your sister's in the front room on the left", she said, setting the pan down on the bedside table. "She had blood on her dress. I put it in to soak."

  "I'm gonna do everything I know how", John said, to Joseph. "You're the man in the family. Go see to your sister."

  Lawrence put his hand on Joseph's shoulder. "He's right. Sarah needs you now. Let these folks look after your Dad."

  Joseph just looked at them for a moment. He knew inside, what the doctor was trying to tell him. The little boy was scared and wanted to run to his big sister, but the emerging man couldn't do that. It was his shoulder that would have to support her. He didn't say anything. He looked at his father, then turned and left the room with Lawrence.

  Erma looked at the door, "Those poor children."

  After turning away from the room, Sarah had tried to control her emotions, but there wasn't much fight left in her. Erma thought the best thing for her to do was to lie down for a while. Margaret agreed. Sarah didn't want to lie down. She wanted to be with her father. Erma promised to come and get her after a while or if anything changed. Margaret and Erma weren't taking no for an answer so Sarah quit arguing.

  Erma got Sarah a gown. They helped her out of her clothes and into bed. The front of the dress was stained from her father's head wound. Erma took it with her when she left. Margaret sat on the side of the bed. The emotional drain had taken its toll. In five minutes, Sarah was asleep.