“Who are you? Where am I?”
“I’m a doctor … well the closest thing to a doctor within forty miles. You’re at my farm, north of Hemingford. This is my home, me and my family live here. You were shot. Can you remember?”
It was now all coming back to the man, “Yes, I remember … I thought I died.”
“You did die, and up till a couple days ago I thought you still would die. You were in bad shape when they brought you here.”
“How bad?”
“You were shot in the chest. Your right lung was punctured. Both your clavicle and your scapula were badly fractured. You lost a lot of blood.”
The man had another question, he wasn’t really sure if he wanted to hear the answer. “Spinal damage?”
“No, none at all. Go ahead, wiggle your toes.”
The man looked down at the end of the bed and was relieved to see the blanket start moving there where his feet should be.
“You’ve probably lost about ten or fifteen percent of the mobility in that shoulder. We won’t know for sure until you’ve had more time to recover. I’m sorry, but that was the best I could do.”
Another wave of pain surged through the man.
Travis could see the agony in him, “I’m short on pain killers, I can only give you something when the pain is really bad … again I’m sorry. I’ve got to stretch them out as much as I can.”
“It’s all right, it’s not too bad. I’m okay. You don’t have to keep apologizing either. You saved my life … by the way, thank you.”
“I was glad to do it.”
“You said ‘up till a couple days ago.’ How long have I been here? Who’s ‘they’?”
“You’ve been here a week, well one week tonight. ‘They’ are the Bayard Militia, they’re the ones that saved your life. They resuscitated you, got the bleeding under control until they could get you here.”
“We were trespassing on their land?” The man was still confused and the pain and lack of medication were not helping.
“They didn’t shoot you. They saved you. You two stepped right into a war.”
“A war?”
“That’s right, the militia was tracking down some local f. They’ve been giving us trouble for a few weeks now. Just when they caught up to them you two walked right into the middle of it. From all that I’ve heard it was pretty bad. You’re lucky, the both of you could’ve easily been killed. Several men were.”
Shortly a small, familiar silhouette appeared, framed in the door. Joshua bounded into the room and right to the man’s side. Squeezing him with those tiny arms the man had grown to love.
“I knew you’d be all right. They tried to tell me you might not … but I knew.”
The doctor saw that their conversation was over and made a quick exit, closing the door behind him. “I’ll leave the two of you alone. We can talk later.”
The child didn’t seem to even notice anyone else there in the room. His face buried in the man’s aching chest, his arms squeezing the breath out of him, but the man didn’t mind. Joshua was crying, but it was happy tears that filled the child’s eyes. “I knew you’d be all right. I prayed just like you showed me … I knew.”
The man and boy had their reunion, the boy eagerly telling him all about what happened to them both and about their newest home. They even had other children for him to play with. They were all much younger than him and he was quickly getting used to being a big brother.
They spent a few more weeks there, the man finally back on his feet again early that October, and while he was still shaky and wouldn’t be walking very far, he knew they had to be going. His brother’s place was still nearly two hundred miles away and they had to leave before winter really set in. If they didn’t go now they would have to wait until next spring. The man thought five years was already long enough.
Through the militia he was finally able to contact his brother. Although they had their own rough times, they were now doing fine and even had another cousin for Joshua to meet.
Travis arranged safe transport via the Bayard Militia who said they would be glad to take them there, but for such a long trip would have to charge.
The man didn’t mind paying, especially after they saved their lives. It cost him all the silver he had left and half his .45 ammunition but he knew it was well worth the price.
They brought a horse drawn wagon and fixed him up a bed in the back where he could sit up and watch the countryside slowly pass by. He had a good laugh when he first saw it. It was a wooden wagon not too unlike those that carried the first settlers of this land, with the exception of course of the steel chassis, chromed rims and rubber tires.
After saying their good-byes to yet another new set of friends, that last leg of their long journey finally began. The man was still sore but feeling much better, although he still didn’t have the strength to heft that pack or rifle very far. As they slowly made their way, the boy at his side, the man started thinking. Thinking of this long trek that now had an ending in sight. He thought of those he had left behind and those he would at long last see again.
The boy was next to him peacefully sleeping, the previous night's festivities too much for the child. The party the night before had been twofold, both a going away celebration and an impromptu father’s day for the man and his boy.
The child slept with his head resting on the man’s chest, the good side. His arm draped over the man. In his hand the man had a card, handmade by the boy for the one he loved most. The child gave the man his present that night and also gave him his new name. “I love you Dad,” was all the card said, all it needed to say.
Joshua (Book 1) Page 33
