Dodd had missed Elizabeth even more than he had known. He did not want to leave her company, but he had patients waiting. Harvey had several calls that were toward the mountains and he probably would be gone most of the day. He had to get back to the office and Elizabeth’s mother was anxious, Dodd was sure, to see her daughter. Reluctantly they shared their final kiss and embrace and Dodd walked to the stable at the rear of the property. He had not taken time as yet to research who had built the house and outbuildings but as far as Dodd was concerned they could not have done a better job if he had drawn the plans himself.
The stable had six stalls and more than adequate space for several buggies or carriages. A carriage was something he would need before the wedding. He’d talk that over with Elizabeth to see what she liked. As far as he was concerned, something that would shield them from the wind and the rain was good enough for him but there were so many models, and Elizabeth might have taken a liking to one or the other.
His big gelding nickered as he entered the stable. He slapped him on the rump and said, “You feel neglected, don’t you, boy? Sorry, but I just don’t have much time to ride lately. But, don’t worry. I still love you.”
Dodd had left his buggy horse harnessed. He had slipped the bridle off so she could eat and now he put it back on, led her from the stall, watered her, then hitched her to the buggy. She was a good horse, a pretty horse, but he had not developed the feelings for her he had for the gelding. When one rides a horse, the relationship becomes more personal, more intimate. When one simply rides behind one, one can appreciate the horse’s beauty and other good qualities but it appears that such intimacy does not develop.
Dodd had thought long and hard before moving from the saddle to the buggy. He felt more at home in the saddle and, frankly, he loved that gelding. But the practice of medicine in the late eighteen hundreds required that he carry with him more than could be handled working horseback. He felt badly about that. Until Pete, that gelding had been his only real friend. He walked back into the stable, into the gelding’s stall, took his head and caressed and patted and talked to him. If he couldn’t find time to ride more, he’d have to hire someone to exercise the horse.
Joshua fed the horses and cleaned the stable, and you’d have thought the twenty-five cents a week Uncle Dodd paid him was a million dollars. He was proud of himself and Dodd was proud of him. For a boy his size, he did a very good job. (He was a small thirteen. All his uncles got to be big men but had developed late and were quite small at Joshua’s age.)
He was, however, too small to handle the gelding. “I’ll have to have another horse, maybe two, when I buy the carriage and there are Elizabeth’s two horses. I wonder if that will be too much for Joshua?” Dodd thought as he drove the buggy around to the front of the house. Elizabeth was waiting and he drove her home. He commented on his concern for the gelding and Elizabeth said that she’d exercise him every day. Dodd caught himself just in time. He was about to say that the horse was too big and too spirited. That would not have been the right thing to say to Elizabeth, both because of her independent nature and because he knew she could handle the gelding.
Dodd remained in the office until after seven o’clock. He wondered about Harvey but even though he had always come back to the office before going home, Dodd assumed that he finished late. He lived on the mountain side of town so he had probably just gone on home.
He was just about to leave for home when Ivan Lee Prater came riding up at a gallop. He was about the same age as Josh’s Noah, about twelve, but he was a big boy. “He’s going to be a big man like his daddy was,” Dodd thought as the boy jumped from the horse and ran into the office followed by his dog. Dodd smiled at that. When you saw either the boy or the dog, you saw the other.
“Is my daddy here?”
“No. I thought he probably went on home since he was on that side of town.”
Dodd immediately saw worry on the boy’s face. “Now don’t worry, Ivan Lee. He’s fine and if he’s going to be much later, he’ll get word to us somehow.”
There was still worry on the boy’s face but there was also now some indignation. “I wish folks would quit calling me that. Makes me sound like a baby. My first daddy’s dead and there’s no need to tell us apart like there was when he was alive. My name’s Ivan and I’m real proud of that. Please call me that.”
“Yes sir, I’ll remember that, and don’t you worry about your daddy, Ivan. He’ll be home soon.”
“But I got cause to worry. He said he’d be home in time to take me fishing and he don’t say them things unless he’s gonna’ do it.”
Ivan was right about that. Harvey was very careful not to make promises. Doctoring was too unpredictable. If Harvey had made the boy a promise he must have been sure he could keep it.
“I’ll tell you what. Come with me. I’ll take this rig home and get my saddle horse. He’ll be coming back the west road. We’ll ride out until we meet him.”
Ivan quickly agreed. He had lost one daddy and had come to love this one as he had his first daddy. Because of that loss, he probably was more worried than necessary. Dodd understood that but Dodd was a little worried himself now. He was sure that Harvey could take care of himself but it wouldn’t hurt to check and it would be better for the boy to be doing something.
They found the rig tied to a tree at the edge of the mountains. It was still light but Dodd could not pick up any tracks. Ivan realized what Dodd was doing and said, “Jeff can find him.” Harvey had given the boy the dog and when Ivan couldn’t decide on a name Harvey had suggested Jefferson Davis. The young child did not understand but it was a commentary on Harvey’s perception of the former president of the Confederacy.
“Find Daddy, Jeff.”
The dog put his nose to the ground, made a few large circles then started up a very lightly worn path, so lightly worn that without the dog they never would have thought it a path.
Had Harvey not asked Bruce to go for more water at just that time, Dodd and Ivan might have walked into the predicament themselves. Bruce was carrying the rifle and while Dodd didn’t know what, he sensed that something was terribly wrong.
Dodd, being much taller had seen what Ivan couldn’t see. He was glad for that. The boy was worried enough. Had he seen the gun he would have been terrified.
Dodd stopped, indicated the need for quiet and said in a whisper, “Ivan, something’s not right here. Now, I don’t want you worrying too much but I think your daddy’s in some kind of trouble. You’re just a boy but I’m going to give you a man’s job to do. I want you to go quietly back down the mountain and get back to town as fast as you can. Tell Miss Elizabeth where I am and then go get the sheriff and bring him back here. Take the dog with you and try to keep him from barking.
Ivan felt just a slight touch of panic. For the first time in more than a year he felt the fear and horror of his first daddy’s death… but he also felt the responsibility of having been given a man’s job. He shed a few quiet tears but he bucked up to his responsibility, put his hand on Jeff’s muzzle to tell him not to bark and started down the mountain.
Dodd, like Harvey, had no idea that the cabin was there. He didn’t know who lived there and he had just caught a glimpse of Bruce. He did not have time to determine if it was a small man or a boy. He knew only that Harvey was in that cabin and at least one person in there had a gun, probably more. If Harvey were not held against his will, he would have gotten word to town somehow. There had to be more than one person. You don’t hold someone at gunpoint and leave for water unless there’s someone helping you.
Dodd, moving very carefully, circled the cabin. There was no horse barn and no indication that the family owned horses, a very strange phenomenon in this part of the country. There was another door in the back and two glass windows, obviously not part of the original construction. The cabin was expertly built, probably before glass was available in this area. The windows, about three feet high and two feet wide, had single panes and were neatly cut into the logs, with the frames held in place by nails. That’s what told Dodd they had not been part of the original construction. Those were the only nails in the entire building. It was notched and chinked, a form of building that had gone out of style almost thirty years earlier.
Dodd stayed far enough away from the cabin so he could not be heard in the event that he stepped on a twig or something of the like. He was close enough, however, to see figures inside. There seemed to be three people in the cabin. He could not make out features but he knew Harvey well enough to recognize his silhouette and he could see that he was frequently bending over someone so there was obviously a fourth person there, someone sick or injured. Of the two he could see, only that the taller of them had a hand gun and he had seen the shorter one with a rifle. He was not close enough to hear anything but he got the sense that Harvey was not particularly distraught.
Inside the cabin, Harvey continued his charade. He continued to dab water on the dead woman’s face and occasionally pour tiny amounts of some liquid from his bag into the water. This, he could tell gave the boys some sense that he was doing something medical and also was calculated to open conversation and perhaps give an excuse for him to go back to his buggy for more medicine—anything to kill time while he figured some way out of this situation. Ian seemed to be more relaxed but still stood at the foot of his mother’s bed pointing the gun at Harvey.
After Bruce had returned with the second bucket of water, he had stood the rifle in the corner. He gave silent but obvious indication that he did not approve of Ian’s handling of this problem. This seemed to both irritate and trouble Ian. He knew that his father would have disapproved of what he was doing and the longer the siege continued, the more unsure he was that he was doing the right thing. But he was a boy, and he was afraid. He was beginning to wonder what would happen to him when his mother was well, or even if she died. He knew he was not going to shoot the man so he assumed that he would go to jail. Since he was a ‘dirty savage’, he might even be hung. He wished that he had thought through this better, but his mum was so sick he couldn’t think straight, and anyway, he didn’t think he had time. He just wasn’t sure of anything right now, and he was agitated by his brother’s obvious disapproval, so he said in typical older brotherly manner, “Ye think ye know so much. Ye tell me a better way to keep Mum alive.”
Harvey thought this to be just brotherly bickering and hoped that it had broken the tension and he could now begin to talk Ian into a more rational mood. It had not. Harvey said, “Ian…”
That’s as far as he got. Ian’s frustration was such that he was totally out of control. Now, along with the fear, there was anger in his voice. “I told ye, keep your damn mouth shut. Just see to my mum.”
“Ye gone too far, Ian. I’m just as worried about mum as ye, but ye don’ hear me dishonoring our papa talkin’ like that.”
Ian was having to deal with so many feelings, but he was rational enough to feel somewhat contrite. His father would have been deeply hurt had he heard his son use that kind of language. That was the way Simon Freeland and all those white people he remembered from Carson City talked, not a son of Fergus McDuff. He had loved and respected his father and the thought that he might be in heaven listening caused him more confusion. He was ashamed, but hoped his father understood that he was doing this because he loved and needed his mother. He wished he had the patience and wisdom of his father but he was seventeen, not seventy-five. He hoped that he would someday have those traits and that it had been time, not just his nature, that had made his father what he was.
Ian felt that he should do something to mitigate and atone for his profanity, but he was still frightened enough that he needed to feel in charge, so with forced gruffness he said, “Ye can have your say, Doc Bloom.”
“I wanted to say that I need some other medicine that I keep in my buggy.”
“Tell Bruce what it looks like. He’ll go get it.”
“I don’t think that’s safe. My family will have missed me by now and probably will have found my horse. If Bruce goes down there, he’ll be caught, and, Ian, I’m afraid of what you might do. I don’t know exactly how you feel but I think I know a little. Before coming to Carson City I lived in New York—”
“In New York City? My papa had to run from there. They blamed him for something he didn’t do and they was gonna’ hang him.”
“Bruce, don’na talk.” Bruce again sulked at his older brother’s tyranny but did refrain from talking.
Harvey continued, “No it was upstate New York, in the mountains, beautiful mountains.” Harvey began to muse, but quickly drew himself back to the reality and danger of the moment. “I had a beautiful wife and family, two little girls and a boy not much more than a babe. Our house caught fire and all of them burned to death. I could do nothing to save them. My own family, Ian, and I could do nothing to save them. Try to think how that made me feel. I was sad and angry, and afraid of the future. I tried to do the right things but I saw a little girl who had been scalded in hot water and it took the skin off her head and upper body. She was the same age as my oldest daughter. I couldn’t take anymore. I went mad, I think. I couldn’t think clearly and I did some very foolish things. I couldn’t help myself but I ended up being very sorry for the things I did. That’s the way you feel now, isn’t it, Ian? I understand, and I’m not angry with you. I was a man when my tragedy happened. You’re a boy, and no boy should have this kind of worry. I wish I could take the worry from you but I know from my own experience, that you are the only one who can control what you feel.
“Ian, you’ve met just a few white folks. Those you met were bad people. I have a strong dislike for people who can only feel good about themselves by making other people feel badly. But they are there and they seem to be the only kind you met, or at least that you remember. We’re not all like that, Ian. Some of us know that all people—Indians, Negroes, Mexicans, white people—are God’s children, but if you don’t give us a chance, you’ll never know that, Ian.
“And I want you to think of something else. How well could you think if someone was holding a gun to your head? I want to do the right thing for your mama but having to wonder what you’ll do makes it hard to think clearly. She’s been very sick. I might not be able to save her. What will you do then, Ian? Will you kill me? If you do, you’ll be caught and you’ll have to face my family. I have seven new children. Just a little over a year ago, their first daddy died. Do you want to face them if you take this daddy from them?”
Ian trembled and sobbed but he did not lower the gun. “Ye’r right. I can’t think what’s the right thing to do so I’m goin’ to keep doin’ what I’m doin’. I already done enough that they’ll hang me so it really don’na make a difference.”
At that moment someone knocked on the door. Ian froze, his face contorted with fear. He moved the gun until it was almost touching Doc’s head. He was in a panic and at that moment extremely dangerous.
“Harvey, you in there?” It was Dodd’s voice.
Harvey looked at Ian. “He knows I’m here. I have to say something. He works with me. He’s also a doctor. Please, let me answer.”
Ian gave a slight nod and pushed the gun right against Harvey’s head.
“Yes, Dodd. We have a very sick woman in here. Did you happen to bring my other bag from my buggy?”
Dodd had his own bag but whoever was holding Harvey wouldn’t know the difference. “Yes”, he lied.
Ian told Bruce to get the rifle and cover the man as he entered. Bruce refused and Ian told him either to do it or he’d kill Doc now.
Bruce had always known his brother to be very excitable but it had always been joyful excitement he’d seen from Ian before. If they found a particularly pretty stone or a very large lump of silver ore or a baby animal they could keep as a pet, Ian would exude joy. Ian was also very tender-hearted. He was moved by an injured animal, or whenever he felt a member of his family was injured or upset. When he was twelve, he had cried for two days because his shot had only wounded, not killed a deer. The animal could not have suffered for more than a few minutes before Ian’s head shot had ended that suffering but those few minutes caused Ian anguish.
Bruce would never have believed that his brother’s deep feelings could become so mean and cruel. That was Ian’s body but it was not Ian inside. He could predict his brother but not whoever that was inside his body now. Bruce got the rifle. Ian told Dodd to enter.
Dodd looked around and saw the gravity of the situation but did not act afraid or surprised. That puzzled the boys, but Dodd had reason for his confidence. He, of course, knew that he was walking into danger but he also knew that help was right outside those windows.
Ivan had not been able to find the sheriff so he had gone to Elizabeth and she to Josh. Ivan was obviously very concerned and frightened but he was not in a panic. He was able to communicate as much as he knew of the problem rationally enough that both Elizabeth and Josh saw a need to get there as quickly as possible. Josh did not take time to send for his security men and Elizabeth took time only to get Dodd’s medical bag. She didn’t know what they’d find and she knew that Dodd carried some things that Harvey did not regularly carry.
Ivan had led them up the mountain to the cabin but had reluctantly, at Josh’s insistence, gone back to keep an eye on the horses. The boy had really been sent down to keep him out of harm’s way but the three adults did not want him to know there was that much possible harm.
There was no real need for it but Harvey asked if Dodd would give him some carbolic acid. “And please come over here. I’d like your opinion.” That seemed a reasonable request to Ian so he did not object.
Dodd immediately realized that the patient was dead. He looked at Harvey, who nodded slightly, indicating that, yes, he knew that.
“Harvey, I’m not sure that carbolic acid is what we need.”
“I’ve tried everything else. What do you think we should do?”
“Well, the first thing I need is some light. Would one of you boys please light a lamp?”
Bruce moved to light the lamp and Harvey said, “Oh, I’m sorry Dodd. I should have introduced you. This is Ian and Bruce McDuff. I knew their father. He was a very severe arthritic but lived to the age of seventy-five. He was also one of the finest men I ever met.”
Harvey looked at Ian while he talked. As he knew it would, Harvey’s reference to his father’s character again brought violent sobs from Ian.
The light had been a signal. Both Josh and Elizabeth stepped in front of a window, each with a gun in hand. The light also allowed Dodd to see that there were no bullets in the five chambers of the pistol that were visible. It was not definite but it was a reasonable assumption that there was none in the sixth chamber.
Dodd spoke and as he did he moved back his suit coat revealing his own holstered gun at his side. “Ian, I don’t know why you are doing this, but I know you are frightened and worried. I don’t want to hurt you but I cannot allow you to hurt my friend. Please give me the gun.”
Ian sobbed more violently but gave no indication that he would modify his intent. He continued to hold the gun to Harvey’s head. “Did you think to load the gun, Ian?”
Ian said nothing, but realized that he had not. He felt that he had to continue his bluff, however. Dodd’s question did, however, put Harvey’s mind at ease. If Dodd were not sure the gun was empty, he would not have asked the question.
Dodd now played his trump card. “Ian, do you want your brother dead? Look out the windows.”
Josh and Elizabeth both stood there, pointing guns at Bruce. It had never been their intent to shoot anyone but only to distract Ian. As he hoped he would, Ian turned toward the windows. Even before he saw Elizabeth and Josh, Dodd had the gun. Bruce would not have gone for the rifle but he was petrified. He was sure those white people were going to shoot him.
Ian wavered for a moment and then slowly sank to the floor. Harvey was over him, checking his pulse and feeling his chest to check his breathing. “Poor child. I think he’s just fainted. I thought he might have gone into shock. He was very highly agitated.”
Elizabeth was already holding a sobbing Bruce, caressing him and speaking words of comfort.
Harvey now indicated that Dodd should look to Ian. He sat on a chair and put his head in his hands. His ordeal was over and he was both collecting himself and offering a prayer of thanks.
He asked for water, which Bruce quickly gave him. He looked into Bruce’s eyes and that look of compassion caused the boy to fall into his arms. “Mum’s dead, ain’t she?”
“Yes, Bruce. She was dead when Ian brought me here. I’m very sorry.”
“Is Ian dead?”
“No, sometimes when people are very frightened they faint. It’s like going to sleep. Doctor Forrest will help him wake up soon.
“Will ye hang ’em?”
“No, Bruce. Ian tried to act from love, and because of his fear and worry things just got away from him.”
“I’m sorry for what he done to ye. I never seen him like that. He’s a kind, gentle soul.”
“I know, Bruce, I know. He loved you and he loved your mother. You were treated badly by white people and he did what he thought was necessary. He was wrong, but he’s only a boy. No boy should have to make those kinds of decisions. He may be anxious for a while but he’ll get over it and he’ll be a kind and gentle man like your father was. So will you.”
Bruce did not puzzle over the kindness of these white people. He needed comfort and affection right now and he took it without question. His memory of the cruelty of the school was not as deeply lodged in his mind as was Ian’s. To that point of his life, Ian had known only love and kindness. He had been corrected when he had done wrong but it was always with firm love and tenderness. He had no idea that cruelty existed, had never been treated that way and he had never treated anyone that way. His tender nature had made the cruelty more difficult to bear, and impossible to understand.
As soon as Josh was satisfied that things were under control, he went down the mountain to tell Ivan and to ride with him to his home to tell and reassure Hannah and the other children. There were some hugs and tears of relief but there was also some concern expressed for the McDuff boys. Hannah and the older children knew the pain and fear they must have been feeling and where there could have been resentment, even rage, there was empathy and compassion.
Ian roused slowly and seemed not to remember what he had done for nearly an hour. As his memory returned he was confused. He saw Bruce talking calmly to—and occasionally being caressed by—one of the white people, mostly the lady. They were not being cruel to his brother. Indeed, he got the feeling that they were comforting him, for when he occasionally looked toward their mother’s bed, Bruce would begin to cry. Each time that happened, he would go to the lady for her hugs and her tender words. The reality of the situation broke suddenly upon his brain. His mother was dead.
Had it not been for his hormone-affected vocal cords his words would have been the plaintive, mournful wail of a very little child. “Mum’s dead, ain’t she? I done all that sinnin’ and hurtin’ of Doc Bloom for nothin’. Will ye hang me now?” The question was asked in resignation, not fear.
Bruce rushed to him, embraced him and shared their mutual loss. They wept together. Elizabeth, Dodd and Harvey let them have their time, but they were weeping with them. This was one of the deaths the doctors would never come to accept. They had shed tears before at the tragedy of a pointless death and they would until they retired from the practice of medicine. Elizabeth wept for the death, but more for the fear and agony of the children.
Surprisingly, in spite of his deep trauma, it was Ian who brought the boys to composure. He thought of a part of the Bible he had read many times. “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh.” This was not a time to laugh but it was a time to stop weeping. He still had responsibilities. He did not have to worry about his future. He was sure he would be dead. But Bruce would live and needed care. “When ye hang me, will ye see to Bruce?”
“Will’na be a hangin’, Ian. These is good folks. You remember papa and Simon talkin about Mister Hatcher they sold silver to? Papa always said he was a good, fair man. This lady is Miss Elizabeth Hatcher. Mister Hatcher is her papa. We goin’ to her house and we can stay until we think out what to do.
“And do you remember papa talkin’ about Mister Forrest who has that big silver mine? You remember that other man who was here? That was Mister Forrest. He went to tell Doc Bloom’s family he’s all right. And this other Doctor is Doc Forrest. He’s Mister Forrest’s brother and he said don’t worry about name callin’. He said that when folks know the Forrests and the Hatchers and the Blooms is takin’ care of us, they’ll leave us be.”
Ian heard what Bruce was saying but was not really paying attention. He was the oldest member of the family now and he had responsibilities. “Mum needs buryin’ and I got to find the right words in the Bible. I got to think where to put her. She will’na fit in the same cave as papa.”
“Doc Forrest asked if we want to take both Papa and Mum to where we can have a proper grave and have a preacher say the words over Mum, and some for papa, too. I want that Ian. Papa and Mum should be together.”
“How we gonna get them down the mountain? I know Papa’s box is still strong and the smell is gone but the box is big and heavy and it’s too far for even a man as big as Doc Forrest to carry Mum all that way.”
Dodd answered. “My brother is sending some men up with some mules. A mule can walk a steep trail where a horse can’t. Those men will build two travois and take your Papa and Mum down the mountain.”
Ian thought for several minutes. Bruce said nothing, respecting his brother’s need to come to grips with what needed to be done. When he finally spoke it was with a kind of shamed resolve. These white people had been very good to them and would take care of them until they could decide what to do, but he could not abide the thought of his mother in a white man’s box. “Bruce and I will build the box. The moon is bright. If ye will help us fell the trees we can get it done soon. We built Papa’s box. I want to have my Mum in a box from these trees she loved so much.”
The trees to which Ian referred were jack pines. They grew to be only about six inches in diameter and when split down the middle could be notched and fit together quickly. Josh had sent six men and he himself came back. Dodd had sent Harvey home. The anxiety of the evening had exhausted him.
Ian allowed the men only to fell the trees. He and Bruce, with a skill and speed that amazed the men, built the coffin. The split logs were notched in a unique way so that when forced into place, they would not come apart. The bottom and top were held together by split strips nailed to the half logs. This method of construction had been invented by Fergus and taught to his boys.
Dawn was breaking when the boys wrapped their mother in an Indian blanket she had brought with her as a bride, and gently laid her in the box. The box was placed on a travois and secured. The rocks the boys had piled at the mouth of a small cave were removed, and Fergus’s body was placed on a travois. Ian and Bruce, with this small, sad precession, headed down the mountain, away from everything they had ever known and loved.
Copyright © 2003 Gordon L. Klopfenstein