STANDING
BETWEEN LOVE AND BETRAYALSTANDING
BETWEEN LOVE AND BETRAYAL
The dawn of the morning had yet to appear when the lawmen and Jack Morgan busted into Doc Barnes’ clinic carrying a severely wounded Buck. The doc had quickly taken authority of the grave situation. He ordered Kid and Teaspoon to lay Buck gently down on the bed in the back room. Then, as if neither of them mattered, Doc Barnes requested that both men leave him alone with Buck. With much apprehension both Kid and Teaspoon eventually made their way to the waiting room.
Teaspoon and Kid both took up to pacing back and forth in the small waiting room of the clinic. With their heads lowered as if they are both in a state of shock, they blindly stare at the creaky, wooden floor beneath their boots. Even as they pass each other in the middle of the room, they don’t glance at one another. They silently pass each other, pace a few more steps, turn and start over again. They are completely in sync with each other. If one didn’t know any better, you would observe the two men and swear that Kid were actually Teaspoon’s son.
Jack Morgan is resting on a nearby chair. He is holding onto his wounded right arm with his left hand. Blood is trickling down in-between the fingers of his left hand. His face is covered with beads of sweat from a fever and the nervousness that Kid and Teaspoon are causing with their continuous pacing! He wonders if an infection could be setting in already. The sweat drips down into his eyes, giving Jack a terrible burning sensation. He blinks his eyes a few times trying desperately to relieve the burning pain. He swipes his face with the sleeve of his left forearm to prevent his eyes from suffering through the blinding pain again.
Jack’s eyes wildly follow both Teaspoon and Kid as the two are pacing in front of him. He is having quite a time keeping up with the both of them. His eyes begin to water from the constant back and forth motions of the two distraught men. He sighs heavily in contempt of the two lawmen pacing an unmarred rhythm directly in front of him.
“It would be really appreciated if the two of you could change your pattern just a bit,” Jack spoke glaring annoyingly at the two men who pay him no mind.
Jack watches a few minutes longer. He tries desperately to shadow his eyes with his left hand, but he can still sense their pacing back and forth, and his action of shadowing his eyes only causes his eyes to water all the more. He clears his throat in a repulsive manner hoping that will get Kid and Teaspoon’s attention.
It takes a few moments for Teaspoon to realize that Jack is watching them pace with a sickly look on his face. Teaspoon finally halts his progression. With his hands perched on his hips, he completely ignores Jack and he gazes at Kid who hasn’t let up on his pacing or the painful expression on his face.
“It didn’t bother him at all,” Teaspoon spoke his voice cracking with emotion.
Kid stops in front of Teaspoon with a quizzical expression.
“I mean, what Jesse did. It was like…like he had it all…. planned out. I’ve been a complete fool. All along Jesse…Jesse had planned to take Buck…to take Buck from us,” Teaspoon spoke his words stammering from his mouth.
Kid stays silent. If he voices his opinion on the subject of Jesse and all that he has done to their lives, he knows inevitably he will break down emotionally. He fights back on his emotional state by reminiscing about the past.
He and Buck had become surprisingly close after Ike had been killed. Kid hadn’t planned it that way. Kid had actually thought that the Kiowa would become close to Jimmy. Even though all of them were as tight as any close-knit family, Jimmy was probably closest to Ike after Buck. But, Jimmy doesn’t handle well the emotional pain that others may be feeling. Jimmy is more of a doer, especially with his gun, and not much of a listener. Buck started to lean on Kid for support because he was there to listen when Buck needed someone to listen.
Because of Kid’s ability to listen for hours on end if need be, he and Buck have become the best of friends, as well as partners in business, and brothers. Kid knows he could never take Ike’s place in Buck’s heart, but he wouldn’t want to. It’s enough for Kid to know that he and Buck have a lasting friendship that will never die, just like the friendship that Ike and Buck have even though Ike is gone from this world.
“If Buck should die, I’ll hunt that bastard down until he feels the same pain that Buck is feeling, the pain that all of us are feeling,” Kid spoke with anguish. Kid turns to look back at the closed door that Buck is behind. A single tear escapes from his eyes and runs unashamed down his cheek. “You have to fight Buck,” Kid quietly spoke to his friend hoping Buck can hear his encouragement.
Since Buck was brought into Doc Barnes’ clinic there has been no movement from his body. His shallow breathing has the doc stopping the procedure he is performing to make certain that the young man is still alive. The doc had removed his clothing, and left Buck with only his long john bottoms on. He would do anything necessary and within his capabilities to make sure his patients are comfortable even his patients that are unconscious. It is his belief that an unconscious patient feels the care being given to them the same way a patient who is awake does.
The doc sighs heavily. He is feeling a little overwhelmed from all the blood that Buck is losing, with sorrow that Buck’s loved ones may not get the chance to say good-bye.
The doc gently places a white towel over the profuse wound on Buck’s upper right chest. He presses down on the wound hoping to halt the progressive bleeding before Buck loses too much blood, and in the aftermath of losing too much blood, he loses his life!
Doc Barnes could easily think of a hundred different ways that he would rather be spending a Sunday morning. The ironic notion that he could lose a good man like Buck Cross on a peaceful Sunday morning doesn’t sit well with him. He silently wonders how he would break the awful news to Buck’s family. Could any of them survive yet another loss of a loved one?
The doc tosses another towel, soaked with Buck’s blood, onto the young man’s legs. He glances down at the many towels covering Buck’s legs that are causing his long johns to be soaked red in color. He’ll have to make sure he changes Buck’s long johns before he allows his family in to visit with him. He would surely get a harsh reprimanding from Teaspoon if Buck’s family were made aware, by sight, of the astounding amount of blood that he has lost.
Doc Barnes grabs another towel from the nearby end table that is next to the bed that Buck is occupying. He places the clean towel over Buck’s wound. “Come on Buck. You have to help me out a bit here,” Doc Barnes spoke quietly to his unconscious patient.
As Jimmy rides onto the ranch, his eyes make a quick assessment of any sign of human life. He doesn’t see any. For a brief moment his entire body feels encircled with fear. What if Jesse and his gang had came back to the ranch, like Buck had thought Jesse was planning, and murdered his family? The ranch seemed too quiet as he gallops his horse to a halt in front of the white picket fence encasing the front yard of the Hunter Homestead.
Jimmy dismounts the horse before the horse actually comes to a complete stop. He tosses the reins aside. He doesn’t bother to open the gate of the fence. Instead Jimmy jumps the fence, and almost lands face down on the ground when his left trouser leg secures itself to a sharp edge of the fence! Jimmy must hop around on one foot while he releases the fabric with his hand from the fence. If anything can go wrong to impede his swift strides to the front door, it will happen. After a short time of trying to yank his pant leg free from the gate, Jimmy acquires his freedom, and he proceeds swiftly to the front porch.
Jimmy would have preferred not to be the bearer of bad news. He had understood that Kid needed to stay close by just in case Buck would need him. Teaspoon was too distraught with both sorrow and guilt. The old man didn’t even seem in his right mind to Jimmy. He knew that he couldn’t possibly allow Teaspoon to ride to the ranch to let the women know about the tragic events that ended their tracking down of Jesse James! Jimmy had, for a brief moment, thought about sending Jack Morgan out to retrieve the women. But, he seemed in a lot of pain with his arm and shoulder and with the amount of blood he had already lost from his own bullet wound. So, basically that left Jimmy chosen as the one to inform four women that Buck had been shot. Four women who will get hysterical and teary-eyed on him, and how he wonders is he suppose to handle the emotions of four women when he can barely handle the emotions of one woman?
The very moment that Jimmy places his booted foot onto the front porch, Rachel, Jane, Louise and Charlene are making their way out of the house. They are dressed, but not in clothing to do chores in, but in dresses meant for shopping in. Perhaps they had wanted to surprise the men, when they arrived home, with a feast meant to feed the entire town of Rock Creek!
The four women stand amazingly speechless as Jimmy glances at each one of them. His face must tell them of the dolefulness that he is about to burden them with, for each one of the women has suddenly developed a brave stance while collectively holding their breath.
Jimmy’s eyes meet with Rachel’s. She has been their mother for a number of years now. She knows how each of them responds to any given emotion. The sorrowful look on Jimmy’s face tells Rachel the story behind his visit without a word being uttered!
He quickly looks away from Rachel to avoid the anger she must be feeling after warning them all that Jesse would only bring trouble to their lives. He searches and then holds his sad eyes on Jane. Jimmy really isn’t quite sure how to break the distressing news to her. He has never been real good at handling emotional situations. As a matter of fact, Jimmy pretty much tries to avoid these exact situations, and up until this very moment he had done a real fine job of doing a lot of avoiding.
He beholds the trembling that begins to consume her body. It is astounding to Jimmy that his speechless body language tells Jane that it is Buck who is hurt. Jane passively ambles in front of the other women, and stands within a few inches from Jimmy. Her eyes moisten over with the obvious heartache that she is already feeling.
“Is he alive?” Jane asked as tears escape from her moistened eyes.
Jimmy takes her trembling hands in his, and holds onto them tightly. He dreads the news that he must tell her. “Yeah. But, he’s in real bad shape. I thought perhaps you’d…”
Jane aggressively removes her hands from Jimmy’s comforting hold! She rudely turns away from Jimmy, and holds out her hand for Rachel and Louise. “I have to go to him.”
“Jane, I’ll get the buckboard hitched up. We can all go,” Jimmy spoke with authority.
Without any warning Charlene shoves her way past Louise. “You people are entirely to slow! Buck could die before we get into town over the prolonged length of time it took you to tell us what trouble he’s in. I’m riding into town by myself!” Charlene spoke gruffly. She starts her stride past Rachel, but Rachel grabs securely onto Charlene’s forearm halting her progression into Rock Creek and to a wounded Buck.
“You will stay here at the ranch with me. Buck sure doesn’t need all of us hysterical women crowding into the doc’s clinic while he is trying to rest,” Rachel spoke in an authoritative tone.
Charlene pulls her arm sharply away from Rachel’s strong grasp. “I am not a prisoner on this ranch. I can come and go as I please, and I want to go into town at this very moment!” Charlene spoke boldly.
“If that is the case Charlene, then you can easily return to your own home,” Jimmy spoke adamantly. Jimmy had sensed that Jane doesn’t want or need Charlene to be tagging along to the Doc’s clinic. The last event that any of Buck’s family needs at this moment would be more of Charlene’s contriving to procure what she wants. Buck needs rest, not an emotional outburst from a woman that he despises!
Charlene begins to achieve a sulking expression on her obstinate face. Jane is well aware of the type of woman Charlene is. She has been dealing with Charlene’s disposition for quite some time now. She is a woman that always has been doted upon since birth. Her every obsession, her every desire, her every impulse, and her every wish has been made to come true by a certain person in the woman’s life who spoiled her rotten! There is no doubt in Jane’s mind that that person has been Charlene’s industrious father. Charlene is a woman that has never been held accountable for any wrong doing that she has participated in. That is why the woman is always on the loose searching out someone else’s life to destroy.
“Jimmy, can we just make our way over to town?” Jane asked as she walks past all of them, and steps down the stairs of the porch. If she has to, she’ll proceed into town one way or another without anyone’s assistance. It really doesn’t matter to Jane how she assembles herself by Buck’s bedside. She can get there by buckboard or by foot; it really doesn’t matter to her. At this moment in time all Jane really wants is for Buck to be awake and already healing by the time she arrives at his bedside.
Louise and Jimmy sadly gaze at one another for a brief moment. Jimmy’s sorrowful eyes are pleading with Louise for her to join him at his side. No words need be spoken. Louise walks up to Jimmy and the two of them together walk away from Charlene and Rachel to follow Jane.
Jack glares madly at the two men before him still in their exacerbating pacing mode. He is dealing with a bit of intense pain with his arm that is still discharging a small amount of blood. Once again he must be put through the excruciating pain of watching the dizzy back and forth motions of the two nervous lawmen.
Jack’s eyelids begin to feel extremely heavy. He feels his surrounding beginning to have a far away, blurry appearance. His eyes are becoming increasingly sleepy as he tries to stay awake. He tries irrevocably to escape the drowning of the echoing footsteps that are pacing back and forth in his mind. He had been trying to think of ways to outsmart Jesse James, to drown out those unrelenting footsteps, but his mind just isn’t that penetrating at the moment. He is having a difficult time keeping his mind tuned out from the harrowing pain that he feels in his shoulder and arm!
“If only that doctor would hurry up,” Jack spoke gruffly into the air.
Teaspoon stops pacing and looks over at Jack. “Did you say something, Jack?”
Jack gazes at the marshal and Kid behind squinting eyes and a bad disposition. “I said, do you two possibly think that for just five minutes you could sit down?” Jack spoke gruffly at Teaspoon and Kid. He stands up from his chair. “I’d even be willing to give up my chair if the two of you would let up on that nettlesome pacing you got to be doing!” Jack spoke as he becomes a bit wobbly on his legs. Jack grasps at his left leg with his good arm, trying to steady his balance before he collapses to the floor!
Kid finally halts his pacing, and stands next to Teaspoon when he witnesses the problems Jack is having standing on his feet. Jack tumbles backward and sinks down into his chair with a loud thud!
Kid veers forward thinking that Jack is going to plunge to the floor missing his chair completely! Kid keeps his eyes on Jack until he is settled back down in his chair, he then straightens his stance and loses his temper once he views that Jack is safely sitting in his chair.
“It’s high time you minded your own business!” Kid spoke angrily.
Teaspoon is still in such a state of shock over the tragic turn of events that took place over the last couple of days that he ignores the reprimanding that he should be giving Kid for being so disrespectful to an elder. Teaspoon remains as silent as he is still.
“If it weren’t for your insisting that we keep moving forward this catastrophe wouldn’t have happened!” Kid spoke angrily as he freely lashes out at Jack without Teaspoon coming to Jack’s rescue.
“I can’t live my life swearing on the bad feelings an Indian happens to have concerning danger! If I had lived my life that way, I’d been dead twenty some years ago.” Jack leans back on his chair once again, begging for sleep to overcome his weary body. He closes his eyes hoping that his honesty shuts Kid up. He waits cautiously to hear if either man retaliates about the way he speaks his mind.
“Jack, I can understand you’re being angry with Jesse and his gang because of your…uh…your predicament,” Teaspoon spoke calmly. He motions with his hand at Jack’s wounded right shoulder and arm.
Jack opens his eyes in hopes that Kid and Teaspoon are still both standing quietly.
“But, please don’t bad mouth my deputy, who at this very moment is in the other room fighting for his life,” Teaspoon spoke, his voice raising a bit to vent the frustration he is feeling that he can’t do a damn thing to help Buck.
“Dammit Teaspoon! The bounty hunter isn’t the one that is suppose to get shot!” Jack spoke exasperatingly.
“You got shot because you weren’t paying attention to the possibility of there being danger ahead of us. None of us were paying attention to the job we were doing. Because of our bickering, you got shot, and we could lose Buck, and Jesse is still roaming around free to do whatever harm he wants to do to my family!” Teaspoon spoke somberly.
Doc Barnes is applying the last of the bandages to Buck’s wounded chest. Once the doc has the bandages securely in place, he swipes his wet brow with the front of his sleeve. He gazes down painfully at his patient, who is still unconscious.
“I guess I best get you and I cleaned up before I allow your short-tempered yet perspicacious family in to see you,” Doc Barnes spoke quietly to his motionless patient.
The doc swishes around a cloth in a basin of warm water sitting on a table next to Buck’s bed. He wrings out the excessive water and begins to dampen and wipe at Buck’s blood tangled hair.
Jane comes storming into Doc Barnes’ clinic just about separating the door from its hinges! Her eyes immediately search out the back room with its doors closed. Without hesitating her motion forward she guesses that Buck is being kept in that room and she proceeds toward it!
Jane must bypass Kid and Teaspoon in order to get across the waiting room and to the room where Buck is being taken care of by Doc Barnes. She doesn’t get too far when she feels the gripping of someone’s hands on her wrist! She whirls around swiftly almost pulling herself and her captor down onto the floor!
Teaspoon reacts quickly and pulls the distraught woman close to him to keep her from taking a bad fall onto the hard wooden floor! He can’t allow Jane to disrupt the doctor’s work on Buck. Jane doesn’t realize how grave Buck’s wound is, but Teaspoon is well aware that Buck could easily die from the wound he suffered!
Jane tries to extract her arm away from Teaspoon’s powerful hold. “Let go of me!”
Teaspoon yanks Jane to her senses. “Get yourself under control. Buck doesn’t need all this hollering right now!”
Jimmy and Louise stand silently at the front door looking in on the disturbing scene between Jane and Teaspoon. Louise feels sorry for Jane, who is suddenly realizing how much she loves a man that she may never get the chance to let him know just how much she loves him.
Jane settles down in Teaspoon’s gentle hold on her. Her tears accepting defeat course uncontrollably down her cheeks. Teaspoon tenderly soothes the distraught woman.
“What will I ever do if he doesn’t make it?” Jane cries out softly.
Teaspoon brings Jane in close to him for a gentle fatherly hug. “Buck is gonna make it. Cause the two of you are gonna have a long and happy life together.