Doc Ch. 11

My next patient was an older man who was suffering from arthritis in his hands. I told him there wasn't much I could do to help him, but also explained that if he kept his hands warm and stayed out of drafts as much as possible, it would help. Then I took him out front and showed him a willow bark based headache powder which I told him would help with the swelling and ease the pain. I only charged him $1 for the advice. I wouldn't have charged anything, but I knew that if I didn't, he wouldn't take the advice, figuring it was worth just what he would have paid – nothing.

My third patient was a little girl with a burnt hand. I carefully drained the blisters and cleaned the area then cut a leaf off an Aloe Vera plant I saw by the window. I applied a generous amount of the clear Aloe juice to the burn then carefully wrapped the girl's hand with a clean dry bandage. I told her mother to make sure she kept it clean and dry. I also instructed her to bring the child to see me in a few days, when I was back in town.

When I was finished, the mother told me they didn't have much money and asked if I would take 3 chickens which she would deliver to me when I returned. I told her that one would be enough, then took the little girl out to the store and bought her a candy stick. Thinking it over, I bought candy to give everyone and to keep some on hand for patients.

The last patient I saw was a miner, who for some reason wouldn't talk to me until I sent the girls out of the room. After they left, he loosened up and complained that his 'member' hurt. He also said that it hurt terribly to urinate. My suspicions were aroused and I asked if there was any pus seeping from it. He said there was, so I had him drop his pants. When he did, I could plainly see that he had a case of Cupid's Revenge.

I told him. "You have the clap. I can cure it once if you follow my instructions. I can give you a shot that will help it, but you must not have any sexual contact for the next three months. You also need to tell me where you caught it from so I can try to stop anyone else from catching this. You can't drink any alcohol for the next 90 days either, as that will stop the medicine from working."

The man's shoulders slumped and he whined, "All that just to fix it, Doc? How bad a disease is it?"

"It's a bad one. You could go blind, lose your mind, or even die," I told him, hoping that would frighten him enough so he would listen to me. "Who have you been with lately? I need to know where you caught it so I can find them and stop any more spread."

"I must have got it off one of those whores at the Oasis Saloon up in Deadwood last week."

"Have you been with anybody since?"

"That's the first time I've been with a woman since I came out here. I only had enough money for the once, and I haven't been with anyone since then, neither, Doc."

"Good, at least you haven't spread it further yourself." Although this man hadn't spread it around, I knew I'd have to go to Deadwood soon and try to keep this from becoming an epidemic. I feared I was already too late.

I prepared to give him a shot from my very limited stock of penicillin. Although it was intended for veterinary use on horses, it worked fine on people. Unfortunately, however, I only had six horse-size vials, which although they were quite large, would have to last me. Not for the last time would I wish I could make a brief return back home to get supplies. Veterinary penicillin and tetracycline were available over the counter without a prescription in horse country, and I could stock up fairly cheaply.

"This is a very rare medicine and I can't get more, so if you don't do as I tell you, I won't waste the cure on you again," I admonished as I cleaned the injection site with alcohol.

The man sounded scared. "It sounds expensive. I ain't got no money or a grub stake, but I got this pistol I can give you."

I looked at it. What I saw was a 'Baby Lemat', a very rare pistol that had belonged to a very senior Confederate officer. Any original Lemats were rare, but the 'Baby' was extremely rare, both in my time, and now, as there had only been about a hundred of them originally. It was a nine shot .32. caliber percussion pistol, with a center .41 caliber shotgun barrel. The barrel was only 4 1/4 inches long. It was in excellent condition. Just looking at it practically had me drooling. I knew I wanted it.

I was curious where he got it. "Was this yours in the war?"

He snorted. "Naw! I took it off a dead Reb general. I got another pistol now that's better for longer shots, so you can have that one, if it's enough, for the cure."

We were both happy with the deal. I accepted the pistol, which included all the fixings for loading and cleaning. I gave him his shot of penicillin and reminded him of the conditions of the cure – no sex and no booze for 90 days.

After he left, and seeing there no more patients, I went back to the front of the store where I found Grandpa had finished his visit with Jack and had rejoined the family. I showed him my new pistol and told him I rented two of the cabins out back so we didn't need to go home after dark.

Mt news about the cabins seemed to piss him off. He said, "Boy, me and your pa built those cabins for us to use when we're in town. Miller here, just rents them out when we're not using them."

Miller said, "Hank, you know I have been keeping them up for you. I deserve something for my trouble!"

Grandpa looked like he was about to explode. "You've been able to keep all the money you take in when we're not using them, without us asking for a penny of it. Now give Clay back his money before I really get mad! Hell, you should be payinghimbecause of all the new customers he's bringing in by having his doctoring practice right here – not to mention being able to sell all that patent medicine you got stuck with."

"Now Hank, a man's got to make a living..." Miller still defended his actions, but I didn't think he'd get much sympathy from Grandpa.

And no, Grandpa wasn't buying it, as he continued his rant, "You are a greedy bastard! Ever since this gold rush started, you've been making money hand over fist. I heard tell you been renting the cabins out to six or seven miners at a time, and making them hot bunk so you could collect more! I don't like the miners, but I won't see them robbed, either! That is going to stopnow!"

Miller didn't know enough to quit when he was ahead. "But Hank! With Clay using two of the cabins full time, that just leaves me with one to rent!"

"That does it! You can just stop renting any of them! If you want to be in the hotel business, build your own!" Miller wasn't happy about that development at all, but he had no one to blame but himself. If he'd kept quiet, he'd still have a quite lucrative business renting out beds to itinerant miners at no cost to himself. Not only that, but his greed might have cost him an old friend.

With Grandpa's last words, we left a worried Miller behind and headed down the street to get something to eat. I could tell grandpa was still steamed. We got to the restaurant Grandpa had recommended, and when we sat down, the waiter said with a sneer, "We don't serve no stinking Indians in here."

This set Grandpa off again, and he started yelling, "BILL!! BILL!! You'd better get your ass out here right now!!"

A fat man came rushing out of the kitchen saying, "What's going on out here? What's all the yelling about?" He saw Grandpa and greeted him, "Oh, hello, Hank. Is there a problem?"

Grandpa was fuming. "We came in and this here feller, he tells us you won't serve us."

Trying to soothe his old friend, Bill tried to explain, "Sorry, Hank. The miners, they got together and passed an ordinance that we can't serve Indians. It's the law."

I spoke up then. "Did the people of this town elect those miners to council? Is one of them the mayor? Did they invite the rest of the townspeople to their meeting?"

Bill was agitated, but he allowed as no, they hadn't been elected, and no, none of them was the mayor, and for sure no, none of the town folk had been invited.

"Well then, there ain't no such law because the people of this town did not pass it. A bunch of drunks who are mostly passing through are NOT citizens of the town. Any so-called ordinance they passed is a fraud, and you can bet I'll be looking into that!" I declared loudly. "Youwillserve us and" I indicated the mouthy waiter, "if anyone calls my family a bunch of dirty stinking Indians again, they better be ready to back it up."

Bill looked like he agreed, but he had a business to think of. "Hank, who is this? If I serve you, just on his say-so that their law is no good, they will close me down!"

Grandpa reassured his friend. "Ain't anybody going to close you down, Bill. This is my nephew Clay. He's the new doctor in these parts. But most importantly for what we're talking about now, he's also a deputy marshal, which means not only does he know the law, he IS the law!" To prove it, he had me produce my badge and show it to everyone in the room.

Bill still wasn't too happy, fearing reprisals from the miners. "Sorry, we'll serve you because I respect the Law, the lawful Law, but they threatened to burn out anyone that broke their rules. I can't help but worry."

I understood exactly what Bill's problem was, and to a certain extent, sympathized. He was a law abiding citizen, and wanted to be, but despite that, some bullies had appropriated the lawful procedures in the town, their threats still carried weight. It was time for my first act as a lawman.

"Uncle Henry, it looks like I need to stay in town for a few days. It's time to get this mess straightened out. This looks like some more of the stupid things they are doing, trying to kick off a war. This is just the sort of thing we talked about and that Jack hired me for."

True to his word, Bill served us an excellent meal. He served it himself so we didn't have to put up with his nasty waiter. I had a notion that once I got things straightened out, that that parson would be looking for a new job.

After we ate, it was getting late, so we retired back to the cabins. Grandpa and Dawn took one end and we took the other end. Sally, Rose, the baby and the boys got the middle cabin. I hoped they weren't too crowded. I was all set to settle in for a quiet evening with my ladies, but the first thing I knew, the girls all, just right in and started cleaning the cabins. An hour later all three cabins were spotless, and only then did we retire for the night.

I was surprised when Dawn joined us in our bed. I grinned and asked, "I guess the twins said it was OK, eh? Don't we need to get the Chief's and the Holy Woman's permission?"

She punched me playfully in the arm. "You knew already! I just did not want it to be too easy for you. Getting the elders' permission is only for maidens, like when you married the twins. Since I am widowed, and no longer a maiden, we don't need all the ceremonies. When you announced I was your wife to everyone that was it. In fact, we were actually married before you even asked – we were as soon as you told that bad man I was your wife."

What could I say to top that? I wisely kept my mouth shut and allowed my wives to control the evening activities. The twins conceded first place honors to Dawn as the new wife. She and I were as perfect a match together as either of the twins and I. And so it came to pass that after much enthusiastic and yes, noisy, loving, I finally bid goodnight toallmy wives with a tender kiss. With three warm bodies cuddled around me, I drifted off to sleep, exhausted.