“I ain’t eatin’ none of that Mex food,” Arapahoe Brown blustered.
“It’s not Mexican, Rap,” Dandy Jim assured him.
“Seems to me, you didn’t mind gorging yourself on tamales and chili when we was down Sonora way,” Cyclone put in.
“That was different,” Rap said with a pout. “We was in Mexico and that’s what you’re supposed to eat there. This ain’t Mexico. We’re in the city and we’re supposed to eat high fallutin’ stuff here.”
“Well, Rap, this isn’t Mexican food,” Dandy Jim tried to explain. There were several card board cartons spread out on the table. “Lots of people like this in Saint Louis. Just look.” He opened one of the cartons and it was filled with chicken bits with a shiny glaze. The aroma was interesting. “Sweet and sour chicken, this is. You do like chicken don’t you, Rap.”
“I shore do. I been stealin’ chickens all my life and cookin’ them myself, but I never had none that looked like that or smelled so good.”
After Kitty, Cyclone and Dandy Jim had finished their visit with Abigail Carlin, they had gone to a nearby hotel and arranged for rooms. Then they went out to get food to take back to Paco’s. They had brought home Chinese food; sweet and sour chicken over rice.
Rap dug into the dinner with great relish, as did the others, but they refrained from telling Rap what it was until the meal was over. When Rap leaned back in his chair, rubbing his oversized belly and burped heartily, Chief Henry laughed and said. “My goodness, Rap, your eyes are already slanting up on you and you’re turning yellow.”
“What d’you mean, I’m turning yellow. You know I ain’t yellow.”
Everyone began to laugh and Rap looked around quizzically.
“What he is saying, Rap, is that you’ve been eating Chinese food,” Dandy Jim said.
“What?” Rap said. “You gotta be joshin’ me. That was too good to be Chink food.”
“Well it is,” Jeremy put in.
“You mean it’s turning me into a Chink? Slanty eyes and yellow skin and all?”
“No,” Kitty said. “That can’t happen.”
“It can’t?” He turned to Cyclone.
“No, it can’t,” Cyclone assured him.
Rap smiled and leaned forward, reaching across the table “Then, I guess I’ll just have some more.”
After supper, they all went back to the hospital. Abigail had just finished her meal and an orderly had just taken her tray away when they entered her room.
She was elated to see Jeremy and they both cried as they held each other in a big hug. As Jeremy broke away, he said, “I want you to meet my friends, Arapahoe Brown and Chief Henry.”
Her voice was frail, but there was a bit of a glint of amusement in her eye as she indicated Chief Henry. “Is he a real Indian?” She said almost conspiratorially.
“No, ma’am,” Henry said as he stepped forward. “Just a fake one.”
“You’re Cy’s good friend, aren’t you? I’ve read about you in those books they write.”
“Well, if I were you ma’am, I wouldn’t take too much stock in what you read. Not much of it has any truth to it.”
They visited a while until the nurse came in and told them that Abigail had had enough excitement for one day and it was time for her to go to bed.
All were in agreement that they should all call it a day. Tomorrow would come soon enough.
Mid morning the next day Kitty, Cyclone, Jeremy and Dandy Jim were back. As they once again stepped off the elevator that was still a wonder to Cyclone, they were met by one of the nurses who informed them that Abigail had not had a good night and was still in bed. They were warned not to excite her too much.
The warning had not been necessary for Abigail was asleep as the foursome entered.
They stood silently over the foot of her bed and watched her sleep with shallow breaths. Her diaphragm hardly moved.
“Is....Is she still alive?” Kitty was almost afraid to utter the words.
Jim Butler stepped forward to the side of the bed. He placed his left hand on her brow and with his right he lifted her wrist and felt her pulse. He nodded to Kitty and smiled. “She’s all right.”
“But....but she looks so gray,” Kitty said.
“Yes much more than yesterday. Let’s see what her doctor has to say. I’ll go see if I can find him.” He hurried out.
Abigail’s eyes opened and she smiled at Kitty. “You’ve got a very nice young man there, Kitty. He’s so kind.”
“Yes, he is,” she admitted. Kind, she meant. She didn’t know if he was her young man.
Jim was suddenly back in the room. “The nurse said Doctor Lane will be in shortly,” He said. Then, seeing Abigail’s eyes open, he said, “How are you feeling today Mrs. Carlin.”
“Don’t Mrs. Carlin me, young man,” Abigail scolded. “Just call me, Mom.”
Kitty felt flustered. Her mother was assuming something that she wasn’t sure should be assumed.
Jim glanced from Kitty to Abigail. He smiled to her. “That would be nice, Mom,” he said. “I don’t have one of my own.”
“What’s going on in here?” A commanding voice behind them sounded. “We don’t allow this many visitors at once in here. You want to kill this woman?”
A tall lean figure in a full length white coat, whipped past them and leaned over Abigail’s bed, a right hand immediately grasping Abigail’s wrist to feel for pulse.
“I’m all right,” Abigail protested. “Besides, this young man already checked my pulse.”
“He did, did he? Well, I’m the doctor here” Then turning to face Jim Butler, the doctor suddenly drew up short with surprise.
Jim’s jaw went slack also. The doctor before him was a woman. Straw colored hair had been cut short; thick strands falling to the nape of her neck. She wore horned rimmed glasses that hid her light blue eyes and any attractiveness in her lean face. She had a strong jaw and pointy chin, but if one were to look hard, a soft feminine veneer could be discerned. Seconds ticked off as each of them stared into the face of the other. Finally, the doctor exclaimed, “Why, Doctor Butler. What are you doing here?”
Jim was dumbfounded. Kitty, Cyclone and Jeremy were all caught off guard. They all stared at him as if accusing him of something evil. Jim shifted back and forth on his feet, definitely uncomfortable. His secret was out and what made matters worse, the woman standing before him was Cora Lane.
Kitty, Jeremy and Cyclone were practically busting at the seams in curiosity for the rest of the day, but Jim Butler carried on as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He offered no explanations and was careful not to engage any of the others in eye to eye contact. As much as he tried to hide his embarrassment and guilt, it was obvious that he was most uncomfortable.
“Why’d’you suppose he never told us about being a Doc?” Cyclone had whispered to Kitty one time while Jim was engaged with talking to Doctor Lane.”
“If he’d have wanted us to know, he would have said so,” Kitty answered. “I suspected it that time he helped those homesteaders back home.”
“That’s right,” Cyclone mused, rubbing the point of his chin. “I wonder why.....”
Kitty cut him off sharply, “Never mind. If he wants to talk about it, it’ll be in his own good time. For now it’s none of our business.”
“You sure about that?” Cyclone said.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Kitty admonished with irritation. At the same time she was watching Dandy Jim’s rapport with Doctor Cora Lane. Her green eyes could see the ease that Jim and Doctor Lane conversed. A sudden concern and a bit of sadness tugged at her heart.
Mid-afternoon, they had all met in Doctor Lanes’s office. She explained that Abigail Carlin was suffering from a tumor in her stomach. It was growing and the prognosis for survival for any lengthy period of time was nil.
She also informed them that there was a hospital in Chicago that had had success in treating this type of tumor. It would involve surgery and a new experimental treatment using radiation.
br /> Kitty and Jeremy had a little understanding of the term ‘radiation’, but it meant absolutely nothing to Cy. None of them had questions about it. They were all in agreement that they were in favor of doing whatever it took to help Abigail.
“It will take a lot of money and she’ll need constant care,” the doctor cautioned.
“Whatever it takes,” Kitty assured her.
Cyclone and Jeremy nodded their agreement.
That night, after a long day at the hospital, Jeremy went back to Paco’s and Cy and Kitty retired to their rooms at the hotel.
At eight o’clock, a rap came on Kitty’s and Cyclone’s door. It was Dandy Jim Butler and he was asking Kitty to go for a walk with him. She agreed and got her shawl. They went out and for once Cyclone had no reservations about it. Hopefully Kitty would come back with the answers he’d been dying to hear all day.
There was chill in the air with the daytime sun gone. Lexington Avenue was fairly quiet with light traffic. City lights spread out as far as could be seen and cast a false reassuring glow of safety, belying the realities of danger hidden in the shadows and darkness.
They walked a while, making small talk; neither one bringing up the day’s revelation concerning Dandy Jim Butler.
“You’re wondering.......” he stopped suddenly in his tracks, swung around to face Kitty, and suddenly started to blurt it out.
“You don’t have to tell me, Jim,” She said, putting her finger to his lips and gazing into his eyes.
He gripped her hand with both of his and pried the fingers away. “I have to tell you, though,” he said. “You have the right to know.”
“Jim,” Kitty said. “I don’t have any rights.” Her gaze lingered, searching his eyes as if asking for an answer. “Or do I?” She wanted to add, but didn’t.
“I didn’t tell you before, because, I’m not a doctor. At least not anymore.” He was still holding her hands.
“But it seems so natural for you. And, Doctor Lane thinks you are.” There was a little concern showing through on that last part. She didn’t want to ask more. Didn’t dare.
“Cora Lane and I went to the same medical school, right here in Missouri,” he explained. “She doesn’t know what happened afterwards.” He was silent for a moment.
Kitty’s urge was to ask “What did happen?” She didn’t.
“I joined the cavalry,” he started to explain. He didn’t want to add the next part. He didn’t want to hurt Kitty by mentioning it. Then deciding he couldn’t explain without bringing it up, he added, “With Kip.”
Kitty’s eyes widened. Jim gripped her hands tighter. He could feel the tremble at the sound of Kip Dalton’s name. He could see the sadness in her eyes. She didn’t have to say what Kip had meant to her.
“Kip and I were always close growing up. More like brothers than the cousins that we were. He had been in the cavalry all the while I was in medical school. When I received my degree, he talked me into joining the cavalry with him as a physician. There was always a need for doctors there.
“God knows it was rough. Gunshots, arrow wounds, knife wound, cholera, diphtheria. You name it I saw it. Half the time, I could do nothing but listen to the misery and watch people die.”
“I’m sure there were those you helped and lives you saved.” Kitty said.
“Yes, I know that now,” Jim said. “But at the time I was worn out, overworked, and overtired. I drank a lot and wasn’t always at my best. When Kip’s wife ….......”
“Kip’s wife?” Kitty exclaimed. “I didn’t know he had been married.”
“He never wanted to talk about it afterward.”
“What happened?”
“Childbirth went wrong. I told Kip we’d lose her, but we had a chance to save the baby.”
“His wife died?”
Jim nodded. “We lost the baby too.”
“Kip blamed you?”
“He never said so, but I’m sure he did. God knows I blame me. I was half drunk at the time.
“Anyways, Kip left the cavalry. I quit shortly after and went after him. I followed him from town to town and game to game. He gambled a lot and soon I was gambling too. At times we drifted apart, but from time to time, we’d catch up with each other. Kip would pretend he didn’t blame me and perhaps he didn’t. But, seeing me, being near me, only made the memories more vivid. He’d disappear from my sight as quickly as he could.
“You know what happened after that.”
“But he wasn’t a bad man,” Kitty uttered. Her eyes misted and the street light glistened on the wetness. “Not really.”
“No. But I could never stop him from doing bad things.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Kitty said. “And you’re still a doctor, aren’t you.”
“I have the paper that says I am, but I’m not.”
“I think you are,” Kitty said emphatically. “And Doctor Lane does too.”
Jim was silent.
“I know I have no right to ask, Jim,” Kitty started, not really wanting to continue, but she had to know.
“Does she.....,? I mean,....seeing you together with her.”
Uncomfortably, Jim cut her off. He shook his head back and forth. “Does she mean something to me. Of course. We went to medical school together. It was rough on her being the only female in school. I tried to talk her into quitting. I told her she would never make it in a man’s world. I was wrong and I’m glad she stuck to it. She’s a fine doctor and you’re lucky to have her for your mother.”
Kitty forced a smile as if she understood, but her real question went unasked and unanswered. “Did Doctor Cora Lane mean anything more to him then and …..now?”
Not wanting to go further with the discussion, Kitty said, “It’s getting cold out here, Jim. let’s go back.”
Jim smiled. “Yes, it is a little cold. He pulled her toward him and they both held tight shutting the chill out for a while.
****
Chapter Nine