Beatrice and the Beast, page 22
Beatrice gasped with surprise and sympathy as did Grace when they saw the multiple bruises and lacerations on Rappo’s torso and his injuries even caused Zelletta to wince a little.
‘What the hell happened?’ he said. ‘He looks like he had a fight with a goddamned grizzly.’
‘I found him at the bottom of a deep arroyo,’ replied Charlie. ‘He ain’t said much, but I figure his hoss threw him for some reason.’
Rappo painfully, raised his head and just as painfully, spoke.
‘Injun goddamned fool,’ he gasped. ‘Let horse get spooked by rattler.’
‘That arroyo’s deep and covered in sharp rocks.’ Explained Charlie. ‘I don’t know yet, what injuries he’s got. But I figure he’s busted some of his bones including his ribs.’
To emphasise his diagnosis, he pressed a hand to
Rappo’s rib cage causing the Indian to pull in a sharp breath through his gritted teeth.
‘Sorry ‘bout that Rappo,’ he said. ‘But I figure I’m right about one or more of your ribs being busted. I’ll bind you up as best I can and try and hold them in place. But that’s about as much as I can do.’
The Indian grunted in answer deciding it was easier to do that than trying to speak.
‘We’ll have to cut a blanket up to bind his ribs,’ determined Zelletta. ‘Are you gonna check on the rest of him?’
‘One thing at a time son,’ answered Charlie. ‘Hold that lamp closer while I check his laigs.’
‘Leg busted,’ put in Rappo hoarsely. ‘This one.’
He placed a hand on his left leg.
‘Goddamn it,’ rasped Charlie. ‘That’s the last thing I wanna hear. Ribs I can deal with, fixing a busted leg ain’t gonna be so easy.’
He directed his next words at Beatrice.
‘Maybe you’d like to go and get a blanket from the supplies and cut it into strips Beatrice,’ he said. ‘We gotta remove Rappo’s pants so take the girl with you.’
‘He ain’t got nothin’ I ain’t seen before,’ said the child sullenly.
Beatrice gripped Grace’s upper arm and hurried her away.
‘Come along Grace,’ she said urgently. ‘There’s nothing we can usefully, do here. You can help me cut up a blanket and leave Charlie and Mister Zelletta to do what is required here.’
The girl reluctantly, went with the young woman. She was given no choice in actual fact considering Beatrice fiercely gripped her thin upper arm and half dragged her away from the three men.
Charlie, eased Rappo’s baggy pants off and bade Zelletta hold the lamp closer while he examined the Indian’s leg. Unfortunately, his fears were realised when he saw how bad the break was. Through the blood that had flowed from the wound was the unmistakable whiteness of the shattered end of the shin bone as it protruded through the skin of his leg.
Charlie turned to look at Zelletta.
‘I ain’t got the skill to fix this,’ he said sadly. ‘Only a doctor can make this better.’
‘Well you gonna have to do something about it Charlie,’ growled the big man. ‘Cos there sure as hell ain’t no doctors around here.’
Charlie was afraid if he tried to fix the break, he might make it worse. But on the other hand, he recognized, if he didn’t make the attempt, it might turn bad and the Indian could end up losing his leg, or worse, his life.
‘There's a bottle of whiskey in my saddlebag,’ He said. ‘Bring it here and I’ll give it a go. I saw surgeons fixing busted limbs during the war but I ain’t sure how they did it. I just know injuries like this can be fixed by skilful people. My biggest headache is, I ain’t one of ‘em.’
Zelletta placed the lamp on the ground and hurried away to retrieve the whiskey. On the way back, he desperately longed to take a good pull from the bottle, but resisted the temptation figuring Charlie would need the fiery liquid to clean the area of Rappo’s wound and hopefully, kill any infection. However, Charlie harboured no such inhibitions. As soon as Zelletta handed him the bottle, he uncorked it and much to the younger man’s surprise and chagrin, took a long drink from the three quarters full bottle.
‘Ain’t you gonna use that to clean the wound?’ He asked.
‘Yeah, but I need some to steady the nerves.’
With that, he took another large swig from the bottle before handing it to Rappo who also drank some of the whiskey.
‘Maybe you’d better drink some more of that my friend,’ suggested Charlie. ‘I ain’t got no idea what I’m doing and I figure when I do what it is I’m supposed to and don’t know how to, if you get my drift, it’s gonna hurt damned bad and it might not even work. Are you okay with that?’
Rappo took another pull from the bottle and handed it back to Charlie.
‘No, I ain’t okay with that, but Injun figure he got no other choice.’
‘Damned right you ain’t. I wish we both had another choice but that ain’t gonna happen.’
‘Are you gonna sit there jawing all night or are you gonna get on with it?’ Growled Zelletta.
‘Putting it off I guess,’ answered his older friend. ‘Alright let’s see what we got here. Hold that lamp a little closer Frank.’
Charlie removed his bandana and poured a little whiskey on it before cleaning away the blood from around where the bone was protruding through the skin all the time muttering unintelligible utterances occasionally interspersed with the words, “uh huh.” Finally, he poured whiskey directly onto the bone and skin where it had broken through causing Rappo to yell out involuntarily and begin uttering a string of words in his own language that Charlie took for curses.
‘I ain’t even started to hurt you yet,’ growled Charlie. ‘Maybe you’d better take another slug of whiskey.’
Rappo did just that and after taking back the bottle which was now, less than a third full, Charlie did the same.
‘I need you to hold him still Frank,’ he said. ‘Better get one of the gals here to hold the lamp.’
Zelletta called for the girls to bring the strips of blanket and when they came close, he handed Beatrice the lamp and told her to come nearer and hold it aloft. She did as he told her and looked down at the Indian before gasping with shock and embarrassment and she quickly, turned her head away.
‘Couldn’t you cover him up?’ She whispered.
‘If he’s covered, I ain’t gonna be able to fix his leg.’
She held her position with her head turned away and the lamp held aloft while Zelletta positioned himself alongside the Indian and wrapped his big arms around him pinning his arms to his side. Finally, Charlie fished out a bullet from his gun-belt and placed it between the Indian’s teeth with the instructions to bite down on it.
‘Hold him tight Frank,’ said Charlie. ‘He’s gonna buck some when I do this. Are you ready Rappo?’
Rappo’s eyes widened with fear and he grunted his dissatisfaction with the way things were panning out. But knowing his choices were limited to two – either leave things as they were with a distinct possibility he would eventually, lose his leg or even his life. Or, allow Charlie to try and fix the leg with his limited expertise. He decided to go with the latter and place his trust in his good friend. He looked Charlie in the eye and nodded.
Charlie took a hold of Rappo’s foot and took a deep breath before pulling hard on it and manipulating the bone into place. Rappo bit down hard on the bullet and cried out between his clenched teeth as Zelletta held the bucking man as tightly as he could to prevent him spoiling the hopefully, good work Charlie was performing.
‘Bring that lamp closer Beatrice,’ he said. I can’t make out if it’s worked or not.’
Beatrice decided, under the circumstances, modesty was the last thing that was required. Therefore, she stooped at the waist and brought the lamp closer while looking to make sure it illuminated the right area of Rappo’s leg. She saw straight away, the small part of the bone that had been showing, had disappeared and the skin around the wound that had previously been swollen seemed to have flattened a little.
Charlie felt around the area with his fingers causing more cries of pain to come from the Indian.
‘I’ll be damned,’ he cried. ‘It seems to have worked. I’m damned if I know how I did it but the goddamned bone’s gone back into place.’
‘I knew you could do it Charlie,’ enthused Zelletta. ‘You’re a goddamned miracle man for what you did.’
‘Well you had more confidence in me than I had son. I didn’t even know what I was doing. It was pure luck that it turned out okay. We’d better get a splint on his leg so the bone don’t come apart again.’
‘Yeah,’ replied Zelletta. ‘Then we’d better get his ribs bound up.’
‘Maybe then,’ said Charlie. ‘Me and Rappo can get some grub down us.’
Zelletta instructed Grace to prepare food for the two men while he and Charlie bound Rappo’s ribs and leg before carrying him to the fire where they sat him with his back to a tree.
‘Damned hoss bolted,’ said the Indian. ‘Gotta find him come morning.’
‘Don’t worry about that now,’ said Zelletta a little too forcefully. ‘You ain’t gonna be in any fit state to look for your hoss or even ride him for a long time yet.’
‘This Injun ain’t worried. Hoss will come back on his own when he stops feeling guilty about throwing me.’
Zelletta looked across the fire at Beatrice who had turned pale and was staring horrified at the Indian. She turned her attention to Zelletta who gave a brief shake of his head in the hope she wouldn’t blurt out what she had done and upset Rappo further. However, it wasn’t Beatrice he should have been concerned with. It was Grace who looked up and directed her words straight at Rappo.
‘You don’t gotta worry no more ‘bout your hoss, he’s daid. Beatrice shot him.’
The older girl jabbed the younger one with her elbow and was rewarded by a yelp and a ‘what the hell did you do that fer?’
Too late, the damage had been done.
‘Is the kid Joshing Indian?’ Asked Rappo. ‘What the hell she talking about?’
‘It’s true,’ admitted the older girl. ‘I shot your horse.’
Rappo stared at Beatrice in disbelief.
‘What you got against Rappo’s hoss?’ What he ever done to you?’
All three men stared at Beatrice with varying degrees of concern and she began to wish she could be anywhere but that particular place at that particular time.
‘It was a mistake,’ put in Zelletta. ‘She thought it was attacking us.’
‘She thought Rappo’s hoss was attacking you?’ Asked Charlie incredulously.
‘She didn’t know it was a hoss. She thought it was a man or something.’
‘Or something? What, something like a cow with a six shooter?’
‘Stop fooling around Charlie. She’s cut up about shooting the hoss. She don’t need you to make her feel worse.’
Charlie regarded the crestfallen girl and saw the tears glistening in her eyes and his heart softened.
‘I’m sorry Beatrice. I guess you’re still getting used to life in the wilds. Maybe you panicked and opened fire without realising it was Rappo’s horse.
‘It was my fault,’ growled Zelletta. ‘I told her anybody who doesn’t holler out they are friendly, must be enemies.’ She must have damned good hearing ‘cos the horse was around two hundred yards away when she shot it. I didn’t hear a damned thing.’
‘I’ll be damned,’ said Charlie. ‘I thought I’d seen everything when she showed us how good she was with a rifle. But to take down anything that far away, whether man or beast by sound alone, has to take a special kind of skill.’
‘I wish you’d never given me the rifle,’ cried Beatrice. ‘I never wanted to shoot anything and I’ll never use it again, ever. Now Mister Rappo will never forgive me for killing his horse.’
‘Serves the damned hoss right for throwing Injun,’ said Rappo. ‘He was crowbait anyhow. Rappo ready for a change. Maybe woman did Rappo a big favour. Anyhow, it’s hoss’s own fault for not hollering out he wuz friendly.’
Both Zelletta and Charlie knew the Indian was lying to save Beatrice any more anguish. He’d had that horse many years and both of them had survived many perils over time. Rappo had become very fond of him and the horse had become as much a companion during many lonely journeys together, as a means of getting around the wild terrain they inhabited. However, none of them missed Rappo’s final dig about the horse.
Rappo went back to finishing his meal, which due to his fractured ribs, was no easy task. Eventually, he managed to eat most of what was on the plate and drink some coffee before Charlie spread his bedroll for him and helped him lie down before covering him with a blanket.
‘You gals turn in,’ ordered Zelletta. ‘In the morning we’ll go to Rappo’s hoss and tote his stuff back here, then we’ll fix up some kind of travois to carry him on.’
‘We gotta find someplace with a doctor or somebody who can fix his leg properly,’ said Charlie. ‘I ain’t confident I done a good enough job on him.’
‘We’re a couple of days from the Texas border,’ replied Zelletta. ‘I know of a couple of border towns but I don’t know if they got doctors there.’
‘Rappo know Indian reservation half a day ride from here,’ put in the Indian. ‘Medicine man fix Injun good and take care of me ‘til I can ride.’
‘Okay,’ answered Zelletta. ‘We’ll take you there. I figure that will be better than spending days roaming from settlement to settlement looking for a doctor who might not even exist.’
TWENTY-SEVEN
When Charlie checked on Rappo the next morning he became a little perturbed to see the Indian was wide awake and his face twisted with pain.
‘How you doing Rappo?’ He asked. ‘How did you sleep?’
‘Okay.’ He lied.
Charlie recognised he was far from okay but played along in the knowledge that Rappo was too proud to complain. Instead he enlisted Zelletta’s cooperation in helping the Indian to the creek where he could wash up and attend to personal matters.
Later, while Beatrice and Grace built up the fire and prepared breakfast, Zelletta and Charlie looked around for suitable branches with which to construct a travois.
A couple of hours later, they were all mounted and heading out in the direction Rappo had indicated they should go to find the reservation. It was the only place near enough, where hopefully, he would receive the expert treatment that was required to aid his recovery.
Beatrice was filled with apprehension about being taken to an Indian reservation. All the stories she’d heard since her childhood, about Indians, had never painted them in a good light. As a matter of fact, everything she had heard, portrayed them as uncivilised savages who remorselessly, Raped, tortured and killed white women. Of course, Rappo’s decency, had belied those stories, but she wondered if he was simply an exception because he spent so much time with white people. He was the only Indian she had ever come in contact with. Now apparently, she would soon be amongst a whole tribe of them and the thought filled her with utter dismay. However, despite that, she was determined to overcome her fear for the sake of Rappo, who badly needed expert treatment if he were to survive his accident.
They made several stops along the way, mainly to check on Rappo and five hours later they came within sight of many tepees scattered along the banks of a wide stream and they were able to make out people going about their daily business and horses grazing close by.
When they came within five hundred yards of the reservation, Beatrice noticed signs of activity and soon, a dozen or so horsemen left the encampment and galloped toward them. When they came closer, she was able to hear them yipping and whooping as they brandished spears and tomahawks above their heads.
‘Oh god!’ she exclaimed fearing they were being attacked by a hoard of savages.
‘Don’t worry Beatrice,’ said Charlie with a smile of assurance. ‘It’s just some young warriors letting off steam.’
He wasn’t entirely convinced himself but didn’t want the girls to be unnecessarily alarmed. At least, not until something alarming happened.
They came on fast, riding their ponies in a suicidal fashion and despite being fearful of the fierce looking men, Beatrice marvelled at their skill and expertise as they rode their ponies without saddles and guided them with their knees, thighs and a single rawhide rope halter which some held between their teeth.
The small band of travellers came to a halt and were quickly surrounded by whooping Indians riding in a circle around them and making what appeared to be threatening gestures with their lances and tomahawks which did nothing but add to Beatrice’s already heightened terror. Seeing how uneasy the girl had become, Zelletta eased his horse alongside her and placed a big hand over hers before giving it a reassuring squeeze. She turned her frightened face to regard him and he gave her wink, which she thought, under the circumstances, to be wholly inappropriate.
‘It’s okay,’ he yelled above the clamour of the warriors. ‘They don’t mean any harm.’
‘His words did nothing to ease her consternation but his big hand enveloping hers, did. She felt a warm glow rise up her arm and enter her chest and her violently palpitating heart seemed to realise another reason to beat and though still pulsing rapidly, it also began to flutter and suddenly, she felt safe in the knowledge he would never allow any ill to befall her. She wanted to believe it was because of his fond regard for her but in all likelihood, was because he was concerned, he wouldn’t get paid if she came to any harm.
As though his encouraging words had suddenly pulled down a curtain on the whole scene of chaos, the Indians halted their wild display of bravado and began to ride single file, back to their encampment. The last one to leave, turned and beckoned them to follow before riding off to join his companions.
Zelletta urged his horse into a walk and the other’s followed his lead with Charlie bringing up the rear leading one of the mules which had Rappo’s travois attached.
When they entered the village, it was to Beatrice’s consternation, that they were immediately surrounded by many Indians, most of them women and children who ran or walked alongside their horses while speaking loudly in their native tongue and constantly, touching the rider’s legs. Charlie was speaking to her, but it was hard to make out his words amongst the clamour. Therefore, she gave him a weak smile before continuing to turn her head from side to side as she visibly shrank from the close attention of the people surrounding them.
