Chapter 43
Those who wish to sing always find a song.
He’s alive,’ Rosita yelled breathlessly as she ran into the hacienda to the kitchen table where Enrico was sitting.
“Who’s alive, senorita,” Enrico asked?
“Senor Major! When I went outside I heard him groan. I went over to him and he opened his eyes. Please, Enrico, help me bring him inside.”
“Si senorita,” Enrico said as he gingerly placed his feet on the floor. His head still hurt but he had to help the Major if he could. He reached up and touched the bandage on his head covering the cut he received when his horse, Takodah, reared and threw him during the exchange of gunfire near the barn.
Both Enrico and Rosita rushed outside to where Major Walcott lay. At first Enrico thought Rosita was mistaken as the Major was ashen colored and quiet. When Enrico bent down and touched the side of Major Walcott where one of the bullets struck him, the Major let out a soft moan and his eyes fluttered open and then rolled back up into his head.
“I cannot carry him, Rosita. He is too big. We must drag him into the hacienda as carefully as we can. You take his feet and I’ll pick up his shoulders.”
Together they were able to get Major Walcott into I. P. Isom’s bedroom and onto the bed. He had lost a lot of blood. Enrico removed Walcott’s shirt while Rosita went into the kitchen to boil water to clean his wounds.
“Rosita, I am going to ride to Bosler and get Medico Wilson and bring him back.”
“Are you sure you are okay to ride, Enrico?” she asked as she applied pressure to Walcott’s left side to stem the flow of blood. They had already bandaged the wound on his face.
“Si senorita, I can do this for Senor Major. I will ride all night and bring the doctor back tomorrow morning.”
They worked feverishly together hoping that they could eventually stop the wounds from pumping out blood. The bowl of water Rosita had boiled was red from all the blood they squeezed out of the rags. She took it outside and dumped it and filled it up with fresh water which she quickly brought to a boil on the stove. It wasn’t long before that bowl was red from the blood as well. Finally they had stopped the blood from flowing out of his wounds.
Enrico stood up and said, “I will go now and bring back the medico.”
He grabbed his hat and ran out to the corral where Takodah was lazily munching on the hay he had left.
“Vaya con Dios, Enrico,” Rosita murmured as Enrico stepped into the stirrup and swung his leg over Takodah’s back. He tipped his hat in her direction as he turned Takodah and headed north to Chugwater at a gallop clutching his horse’s sides as they left the peaceful valley and entered the parched prairie surrounding the Circle L Ranch hoping it wasn’t too late for Major Walcott.
As Enrico rode to Chugwater, the Major’s words on how not to ride a horse to death came back to him. He was aware that Takodah was beginning to breathe hard and he knew he would have to slow down soon. He was close to Horse Creek where he planned to stop and let his stallion get his strength back by grazing on the buffalo grass and drinking his fill of the cool water. As he crested the ridge he spotted the river in the distance and brought his horse down to a walk. He hoped Major Walcott would live long enough for him to bring back Dr. Wilson who could bandage his wounds properly.
Riding along he noticed some mestengos, wild horses, along the ridgeline, standing there like it belonged to them. That this ridgeline and valley was intended for them to live free and graze on, never to be captured, ridden or worked. Takodah had noticed the wild horses as well. His ears were pointed in their direction as he heard a stallion’s call as it echoed through the canyon walls. He gazed at them intently as the mares rested and their leader watched. Enrico decided they should stop or they wouldn’t make it to Bosler and Doctor Wilson.
“Let’s pull over here in this stand of trees and rest. You can drink from the creek before we go on,” he said.
He arrived in Chugwater after a couple hours of hard riding. Pulling up in front of the doctor’s house, Enrico yelled, “Senor Medico Wilson, please come quickly. Senor Major Walcott has been shot and he is hurt bad. “
Dr. Wilson ran out to his porch as Enrico was dismounting. “What happened Enrico?”
“He is shot in the face and his left side. He also had two of his fingers shot off. He is bleeding a lot, Senor Medico Wilson. Please hurry.
“Where is he?”
“He is at the Circle L Ranch. It’s about ten miles south of here. We must go right away.”
Dr. Wilson turned and ran back into the house yelling, “Mildred, please get my bag and I’ll go saddle Casper and bring him around to the front of the house. We can’t waste any time. Let’s go Enrico, you can help me.”
“Si, Medico Wilson.”
They rode out at a fast trot and then picked up the pace as they reached the outskirts of Bosler, heading south toward the Circle L Ranch. Enrico did not push the pace faster as he knew that his horse was tired and that Dr. Wilson was not that good of a rider.
The bright sun had begun its descent in the western horizon as they arrived at the Circle L Ranch. “I will put the horses in the corral,” Enrico said when Rosita ran out to meet them as they dismounted in front of the house.
“He is very hot, Rosita said. I have been putting a cold cloth on his head but it doesn’t seem to be helping any.”
“Has the bleeding stopped?” Dr. Wilson asked.
“Si, but he lost a lot of blood and looks very pale.”
“Well, let’s take a look,” Dr. Wilson said as they walked into the house.
He noticed rags stained red from blood that must have been used to stop the bleeding, stretched out drying on the counters and table in the kitchen as he walked into the back bedroom.
The major was lying on his back with a blanket pulled up to his chin and a towel over his forehead. He indeed was very pale from losing so much blood. As he pulled down the blanket to look at the bandages covering the major’s wounds, he couldn’t help but be amazed at how professional the bandages looked. This Mexican girl had done a commendable job and more than likely saved this man’s life and he told her so.
“You saved the Major’s life by the doctoring you did, senorita. You did as good a job as I could have done. I am going to open the bandages and suture his wounds. Can you boil some water for me?” he asked.
“Si, Medico Wilson, I will be right back.” She turned and ran into the kitchen and put the water on the kitchen stove that she had kept going throughout the day.
Enrico entered the house and walked into the bedroom and asked Dr. Wilson “Will he live, Medico Wilson?”
“I think he will make it, thanks to you two young folks. That young lady in there deserves a lot of credit. She did a tip-top job of bandaging this man.”
Rosita returned with the water as the doctor removed the bandages and opened his medical bag to begin his work.
Two hours later he had finished and went into the kitchen where Rosita was preparing dinner consisting of potatoes, corn and beef steak. Enrico was finishing putting plates on the table and the doctor couldn’t help but think how they looked like a nice domestic couple.
“I gave him something to make him sleep. He probably won’t wake until the morning. It’s best as he will be in pain for the next few days. Keep him on his back and check on the bandages every six hours or so the first day. He should recover nicely.”
“Si, medico, we will do that, Rosita replied. Please, come sit and eat. I have prepared dinner.”
“Well, thank you Rosita, I am famished. I will rest awhile before heading back to Chugwater. I have a young lady about to deliver her first baby any day now.”
“I will ride with you, Medico Wilson,” Enrico replied.
“But now we eat”, Rosita said as she brought bowls filled with potatoes and corn to the table.
Enrico returned the next day to find Major Walcott sitting up in bed eating tortilla soup that Rosita had made for him. His bandages had recently been changed. He was still pale, but looked much stronger.
“Buenos Dias, Senor Major. You look much better.”
“Thanks to Rosita and you Enrico. Thank you.”
“Who is the man, The Texas Kid who shot you, Senor Major?”
“He is the cowboy who hurt you in Red Angus’ barn, Enrico. He is from El Paso Texas. Rosita said he told her he was headin’ back there now. He was upset because I told him to pack up his stuff and clear out before morning. Tom Corlett figured he might try something like this.
Poor Tom, Rosita told me he died. He was a good man and a good friend. I sure will miss him. We had been ridin’ together for a long time.”
The major put the bowl on the night stand and then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
“I will get your horse back Senor Major,” Enrico said, more to himself than to the major as he turned and walked out of the bedroom.
Rosita was coming in and asked, “What did you say, Enrico?”
“I am going to get the man who did this to the major and bring the Major’s horse back”, Enrico replied.
“No, you mustn’t. He will kill you,” Rosita cried.
“I will not let him. I am leaving in the morning.”
“I will go with you, my hometown is just across the border from El Paso in Mexico and I can show you how to get there”, Rosita replied.
“You must stay here and take care of the major, Rosita. He will need help until he gains his strength back.”
“I will have Miss Turner come and take care of him. She lives at the ranch just north of here. I cannot let you go alone, Enrico.”
“I won’t let you come Rosita. I may be gone for a long time. The Texas Kid was heading back to Texas and it is dangerous country down there. The Comanche are everywhere and much of the land is desert.
“Enrico, I lived there most of my life before the Apaches took me away and sold me to Mr. Olive. I know of the desert and the town of El Paso.”
“Okay, Rosita, you can go get Miss Turner and see if she will take care of Senor Major. Then tomorrow morning we go after the Texas Kid and bring the Major’s horse back to him!”