Depression by cmsix

Chapter 7

Doctor Jorge Jorgenson might be short, and bald, and have owlish eyes, but he was ok in my book. I could tell he was proud of himself when he came out a few seconds later. It didn't matter, because I was proud of him too.

He almost worshipped Ethel, for calling him I guess, but some of that rubbed off on me when he got a look at Bob's first print from the new printer. It was a kind of group shot I'd taken of all the Indians I'd met, after I'd finished the doctoring. They were standing in as close to a group as I could get them to, with the giant yellow pines in the background.

He was even more excited when I showed him the musket ball I'd taken out of the brave and then pointed out the brave in the picture.

"Why, this must be 75 caliber, at least," he said.

"That'd be my guess. The brave was lucky as hell it hit the fat part of his arm and didn't break the bone while it was at it," I said.

"It's amazing that infection didn't kill him," he said.

"I'm sure he would have died, or at least lost his arm, if I hadn't popped up with the Combiotic," I said.

"Combiotic?"

"It's a broad spectrum injectable antibiotic. Its use was intended for horses and cattle but it's no longer available in the United States. It was too good and too cheap to leave on the market, so the FDA made new regulations and it's illegal here now.

"No sense in having something the drug companies can't get bigger and fatter on, just because it works really well," I said.

"I'm sure the government had a sensible reason for outlawing the drug," he said.

"Of course they did, I just said that. They were protecting us from ourselves. It's certainly too dangerous to have people walking around without infections, not to mention if they still have money in their pockets.

"Why, we could spend hours and hours talking about our benevolent government, but I'd rather talk about honest poker players and virginal hookers if you don't mind," I said.

"We're delighted that you came, Doctor Jorgenson, and Meka seems to enjoy your company. While you're thinking about the government, maybe you should consider all they've done for Meka's people," George said.

I'll swear that Doctor Jorge Jorgenson had an epiphany in just that second, right before our eyes. I could almost hear the gears in his head mesh and start turning.

"The mother fucking bastards. I can't believe I've been so blind for almost all my life," he said, trembling with rage, his face getting redder and redder as he went.

I was afraid for him, and trying my best not to laugh at the same time. I think he'd actually never made the connection, or at least not so specifically. He might have known in the abstract sense all along and just not realized that it was still the same government with only the names of the thieves changed.

"Taxation without representation," he said, "The rallying cry to start our revolution. Look at us, we're so much better off now that our own representatives are taxing us."

"Well, maybe not," I said.

"Truth, Justice, and the American way," he said.

"And the American way is?" I asked.

"Tax the people until they can't breathe and they won't have the strength to scream about it," he said.

"Well, we can't fix it so let's eat," Ethel said.

Meka looked a little confused, and I didn't blame her. Caddo Indians knew a hell of a lot better than to let someone tax them. Better off dead, they'd probably thought.

When Ethel put a hamburger on Meka's plate, Meka looked up and said, "Thank you."

I thought Ethel was going to cry. She bent down, hugging Meka's neck and kissed her on the cheek. She was also prompt with another Coke, and that earned her a big smile.

The good Doctor ate quietly and he'd seemed to settle down, but I could tell he was still thinking hard and heavy about something.

After lunch was over we went into Bob's office while the company representative had Bob make a couple more prints. He ran off one of the coyotes jumping the creek and Meka just loved it. The one he printed of the bobcat under the bush was better off this printer, but it still wasn't as good as the coyote shots, since it had been getting light out when they were made.

The representative took off after that, and Bob started making prints of the Indians from my visit. The good Doctor was flabbergasted and I could tell he wouldn't leave them until he'd studied them all.

Meka made a motion that let me guess she wanted to go outside and we headed that way. I noticed she made a special effort to make her new boots sound out loudly with every step. She'd come nearly four hundred years practically overnight, but she was prancing and dancing now.

We climbed up on a fence and watched Carl working a colt in the round pen, on a Longe line. The colt seemed to be doing fine but it was something interesting to watch for a while. George snuck up behind us and we both turned to look when he called Meka's name.

"George, what have you got there?" I asked.

Meka just stared wide-eyed, she seemed transfixed.

He was leading a small horse. It wasn't a pony; he said it was a registered Quarter Horse, just a very small one.

"We don't know what happened to her or how come we got her. She seemed normal when she was born, and if she's ever missed a meal, I don't know about it, but she's short," he said.

I got off the fence and walked around her and George was right, mostly. She seemed like a good horse, she was just tiny, almost. She wasn't just short, she was like a scaled down model.

Even as small as she was, she was still a Quarter Horse with bulging muscles all over; at probably a little less than twelve hands, she still weighed seven or eight hundred pounds so you couldn't really call her tiny. Dainty maybe.

"I don't see a thing wrong with her, except her height, or lack of it. Did you have it in your mind for someone around here to be helping hold a saddle on her?" I asked.

"I was hoping that Meka could help us out there" he said, smiling.

Meka was a little shy now, but she had come down off the fence. George held the lead rope out to her and the shy look melted into her biggest smile yet.

I don't know how she knew to move slowly around the horse but she did. She took natural looking but small slow steps up to the mare and then reached out and stroked its neck.

"Is she even broke?" I asked.

"Sure, we don't keep no broncs 'round here. It was a job though," he said.

"Who did you have that she could even carry?"

"Carl knew some boys that he thought could do it, and him and Jake was with them every second, tellin' them what to do and 'specially what not to do. Of course the Carl and Jake already had her going good on the line and standing tied an all first," he said.

"Well I guess we'd better see if we can find a saddle that will work between the two of 'em," I said.

"That's about what I had in mind. I know we've got a pretty good one for the little mare. Even though we've kept her more or less as a pet, she's been rode a bunch. Chuck and Dave did a lot of that before they got too big and heavy, and she's always had good manners," he said.

"I'm surprised no one's bought her for their kids by now. She's at least four isn't she?"

"Yep, she'll turn five in January, just like any Quarter Horse, January first is her birthday. You know how folks are though; they think she should be cheap because she's small. We did ask less for her on that account, but I'd rather let her die out here of old age than give her away. She's worth more than that to me just as something to talk about," he said.

"Well, I can see somebody that's glad she's still here," I said, nodding my head toward Meka.

Meka wasn't paying George or me a bit of attention. She was petting on the mare and talking to her with Indian lingo. Hell, if the Doctor stayed around a while she'd probably be gabbing at her in English too before long.

We got Meka to lead her into the barn and we tied her to a hitch and then went looking for the saddle George said would fit. There were two stacked on top of it but we got it out and dusted it off, and then put it on the mare for a fitting.

It was old hat to the mare, but Meka was surprised when I picked her up and put her aboard. She stayed still while I adjusted the stirrups though, and seemed a little cranky about being lifted down.

I couldn't explain what was happening, but I kept telling her about it anyway. George had the bridle by now, and I squatted down so Meka and I would be on eye level.

I showed her the bridle, the bit, the curb chain, and the reins and then put it on the mare. Then I took it off and had Meka hold out her good arm. I put the bit on top with the curb chain hanging under it.

Meka was a smart little devil, and when I showed her what it felt like to pull on the reins, and how hard it could squeeze her arm, she got the message right away, or at least she got the first iteration.

People will tell you uncountable numbers of tricks and give you even more tips about riding and training horses. Most of the advice is worth what you pay for it; but there's one thing you can always count on.

It's easier to train a thousand horses than it is to put good soft hands on a rider, any rider. That goes double or triple for one that thinks he's going to make a horse do something. You don't make horses do things; you train them to do things.

I think of riders with that he man attitude as ye haws, because that's usually what anyone watching them for long ends up saying. It's almost always followed by the thud of the rider's body hitting the ground.

We put the bridle back on the mare then and I put Meka back in the saddle. The first lesson was me leading the mare around with Meka just along for the ride. She didn't seem disappointed and I hoped that held out for a while. I couldn't see myself turning her loose with her arm in a cast while I couldn't even make her understand what she should do next.

I did get a good hour of walking though, and teaching Meka how to Longe the little mare was high on my list of things to do, soon.

We were barely back in the house when Bob came out of the office with a big print of Meka on her horse. I hadn't even seen him out taking the pictures; then again, I was occupied. Thank God he'd left me out of it. Meka was really proud.

"You know, if it's even half as easy as it looks, I'm mad that I didn't get a camera like that years ago," I said.

"The more you do it the easier it gets, but just two years ago a camera not even half this good would have cost more than twice as much. With so many places makin' them now, Nikon's had to buckle down and get with the improvements, or else find a place to bury the company and let it start pushin' up daisies," Bob said.

"I guess it's put a hurtin' on Kodak then, hasn't it?"

"They know somebody's slapped 'em back from the money trough all right," Bob said.

George was right by me, and since he saw that Meka was caught up in the pictures that were still coming out, he led me back out toward the kitchen.

"Do you think it would be ok if we sent the little mare down to your barn for Meka?" he asked.

"I don't see nothin' wrong with that. Ridin' up here to see you and Ethel would probably be good practice for her," I said.

"Good, does it matter which stall we put it in?" he asked.

"Not really, but why don't you take me down to get Joe Bob and later I can ride him back and lead Meka and the mare. Joe Bob won't give us trouble with her will he?" I asked.

"I don't think he will, that mare's never come in that I know of. I wondered about it when I thought she was getting' old enough, but it never came up. I've never even asked a vet to check her out so I got no idea why she don't ever," he said.

"Well, it'll be a good thing I guess."

Doctor Jorgenson was ripping Meka untimely from the printer's output tray just then and so I asked him to tell her I'd be gone for a while. He did, and she came over and shook my hand, and George's too when she realized he must be going also. She was so cute about it.

George ran me down to the house and let me off and I saddled up Joe Bob and led him to the front door where I picked up the lever gun. I didn't feel like riding off into the sunset with nothing but my Glock, not after my last little exploit.

Joe Bob and I had a peaceful walk back to George's house. After that I fooled around outside in a round pen with the mare for a while. She did just fine and I had a lot more confidence in her after working her a little.

I'd put Joe Bob back in his former stall while working with the mare and after I was done with her, I put her in the stall beside him. They snorted at each other a time or two and then settled down to the serious business of turning Coastal Bermuda hay into horseshit.

When I left the barn I saw George over by their small smithy, he was holding a young colt while Frank, another of their hands, was trimming its feet. I walked over to help him watch.

"That's a pretty nice colt there," I said," Who's his folks?"

"He's outta that big black mare, and Show Boy's his daddy. He looks pretty all right and we're hoping the mare put some sense in his head. Show Boy is a damned good horse, but between you and me, he ain't the brightest bulb," George said.

"That just means the rider needs to take up the slack."

"Ain't that a god dammed fact? Too bad more people don't know about it," George said, laughing.

"Well, just think how smart people would be if they gelded about two thirds of the males born and made the choice over brains," I said.

"Man, that would have been hard on Bob," George said, trying not to grin.

"You mean you think he'd a been cut?" I asked.

"Naw, I'd a been, and he wouldn't even be here," George said, laughing out this time.

"You know, George, that horse medicine you had down in my barn really helped me out on my visit. I wonder if I shouldn't be trying to think up a few other things that might come in handy."

"I can't see where it would hurt you any, and if you do get a notion about something you might need don't keep it to yourself. Sometimes, a few days before a trip, we get hints we don't even realize we're gettin'," he said.

"Come to think of it, we might ought to see if we can't get some of that stuff Doctor James and the nurse used to make that cast. Meka's wasn't the only bone I set last time," I said.

"I hadn't even thought about that but you're right. I know that stuff is cheap too. We might as well take a hard look at what's in your medicine kit," he said.

"Some injectable local anesthetic might pay off too. It keeps 'em from flinching while I sew up cuts and such. The spay on helped but I know a little of the injectable would have been better."

Before long it was supper time, and Ethel told us that Doctor Jorge was going to be staying up there for a while. He'd called the college and taken an emergency sabbatical. It must be nice.

It couldn't be any nicer than the meal we had that night though. A big old roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, black-eyed peas, and then peach cobbler for desert.

Meka surprised everybody at the table when Ethel brought her a coke to drink. She didn't even open it, but looked at Ethel and asked, "May I have milk please."

Shit, she could have had anything she wanted, and that's a fact. We got it all stuffed in and then Meka and I had to go out to saddle our broncs and fork 'em. We said our goodbyes and went to the barn with George coming out to help.

"What's that mare's name anyway, George?" I asked.

"Her name is Little Missy," Meka said.

"You're gettin' slow on the uptake, John. Meka asked me while you were first fiddling with her saddle," he said, and then he and Meka both laughed at me.

When Little Missy was all dressed for her stroll, I put Meka on her and then asked if she knew what stop meant yet. She nodded her head so I pointed out of the barn and took the chance she'd know go too. She did, and I let Little Missy walk her about ten yards out of the barn before saying stop. They did fine.

"You gonna let her drive already?" George asked.

"I been thinkin' about it, and what's the little mare gonna wanna do when it's just two horses walking down the road?" I asked.

"She'll be right up beside you, and tangled in the lead rope if you don't watch it," he said, seeing where I was going with it.

"Might as well pitch her on in the creek and see if she can swim then. Especially since Ethel's got Doctor James broke to come when she calls."

Meka and I left then and we had a nice ride to the house. There was still plenty of light when we got to the barn and we even had nearly enough to find our way to the house after the stock was put up and fed.

I had to help Meka just a little with getting out of her shirt one armed, but she managed her boots, socks, and jeans by herself. She got one of her new T-shirts on by herself too, but I had to laugh at her new underwear. Apparently she liked the men's better because she was wearing a pair of boxer briefs she must have gotten at Wal-Mart yesterday.

We were in bed asleep by nine PM and the next thing I knew, Meka was slipping out of bed to beat me to the pisser. Oh well, I'd have to hang on. She surprised me by coming out after only one flush and I nearly sent her back in for more. She was growing up too quickly already.

We decided that we just had to have some coffee before we rode back up to George's house, but it was made and we left the house a horseback with our second mug before six AM.

It was really nice riding at sunrise but it was also nice to put Joe Bob and Little Missy in their stalls, put the oats to them, and walk into the kitchen.

I was surprised to see that even Doctor Jorge was bright eyed and bushy tailed, in fact he was in a good mood this morning. He wasn't the only one, even I felt great. I'm sure we all felt even better after the meal was over. I left Meka to entertain Doctor Jorge and went to fetch Joe Bob.

We rode out towards the first site I'd made a kill from and didn't find any new sign. I was just turning toward the next site when I felt a need to go back to see George. I was almost positive I'd be going some when else tonight.

By the time I had Joe Bob back in a stall and got to the kitchen I could see that everybody except Doctor Jorge knew something was up. I buttonholed George in the office and he confirmed it.

"It's stronger than it usually is and I'm sure it will be tonight. I've already called my vet and he sent an order to his medical supply place in Texarkana. Farley left to go pick it up not more than ten minutes ago. Can you think of anything else you need?" he asked.

"What did you order?" I asked.

"Twice as much of all the medical stuff that was already down there, except for the Combiotic. It has to come from Mexico now, so we'll get you two more bottles of our stock here. I ordered some Penicillin G Procaine and some Liquamycin La-zoo, too. That's what the vet said he uses now in place of Combiotic. He mixes it in equal proportions.

"I had him make the order for the cast stuff and he said that veterinary mix was more nearly waterproof. He doesn't know what's going on but I think he has suspicions that some of it may be used on humans.

Anyway, he was very helpful and suggested we get some saline solution and some D5W for intravenous drips. He even gave me a URL and a username and password for a medical site that will give you general directions for use," he said.

"What in the hell is a URL?" I asked.

"Sorry, it's the address for finding a place on the Internet. I'd better get Bob to print the information out for ya," he said.

"What about the needles and tubes and all that it will take to use it?" I asked.

"He ordered the whole works for us. Even two veterinary type stands to hold the bags on. He says they're better if you're on uneven ground.

"I didn't even have to tell him we needed human size needles, he guessed that on his own and said the ones for a large dog would work just fine," George said.

"Well, that's more than I thought of and I'm sure it'll do. I don't have time to go to medical school."

"Probably not before this trip anyway," he said, and then grinned.

Ethel took over then and had me sit at the table. She started putting food in front of me right away. I wasn't hungry but I don't turn food down if I can possibly eat it. I was gnawing away when Meka came out of the room she and Jorge were using. She came over to the table and I pulled her into my lap.

"I know you leave tonight. I stay with Ethel and George," she said, slowly but distinctly.

"I'm sure that they'll take care of you, and I'll be back in the morning," I said.

She smiled wide and hugged me too then, so I gave her a kiss on the cheek. She seemed resigned and not really unhappy and then she asked Ethel for a coke, which appeared as if by magic.

I did notice that it was a smaller plastic bottle this time though. Ethel had cut Meka down from the twenty-ounce bottles they usually kept to the small eight-ounce size.

"Gatorade! We should get some Gatorade George, it would be good and a hell of a lot easier than a drip if it will do," I said.

"And where did you do your surgery last time?" he asked.

"I didn't do any surgery, all I did was stitch a couple of cuts and one bullet hole," I said.

"You cut out the bullet, and I still want to know where you did it."

"Most of it was on the kitchen table, and I did the oldest boy out on the lawn," I said.

"We need to get a gurney then, one like they use in ambulances, but with fat blowup tires," he said.

I didn't even get a chance to give my opinion; George was dialing his cell phone before he quit talking. What the hell, it was only money and it was his at that, not that I couldn't donate if I needed to, a little at least.

I'd just polished off what Ethel called my mid-morning snack when the FedEx truck pulled up. Hell, this place was like Christmas all the time. I wondered what the deliveryman had in store for us, but I noticed right off that he didn't have a white beard or a red suit.

Ethel called Bob out to deal with the guy and I figured it was more parts for the new printer or something. It wasn't. It was another Nikon, just like the other one but with several more lenses and a tripod. There were also two dozen more memory cards for them.

"I figured I'd get you a separate camera so you wouldn't have to keep putting one on the binoculars and taking it back off, and you can just try the other lenses if you have time.

"We wouldn't have needed the memory cards but your computer isn't finished yet. If it was, you could just unload the ones you already have yourself, although the cards will be handier. Now that we've got some pictures, I wanted to make sure you didn't run out of room and miss some that you might have been able to get otherwise," he said.

"What will that help if I unload them in a computer in my house, you've got the printer up here?" I asked.

"That's no problem, you'll be able to send me a copy from your computer after you have it. He's putting in a wi-fi card and you'll be hooked to the Internet too, through our downlink," he said.

"I'll take your word for it."

Before I knew it, lunchtime was here and I had a struggle stuffing anything more in. I gave it my best shot, but decided that Joe Bob was going to have to work some of it off me this afternoon. As soon as the meal broke up I headed for the door.

I mostly just rode him out from the ranch house, looking around is all I could claim to be doing, but I did get a good bit of it done. I even found some coyote sign that we hadn't run across yet.

I rode back up to George and Ethel's back door a little after four PM and didn't even get to knock. Meka opened the door and welcomed me back with a big smile. She seemed completely over her earlier suspicions about me taking a trip tonight. She led me to the couch, had me sit down, and then claimed a spot on my lap. We just sat there hugging but not talking.

I felt a little odd, coming in and not speaking to anyone, but I couldn't help it. I just wanted to sit there and hug Meka. All right, I'll admit it, I was a little afraid that I'd never see her again.

I was afraid I might be sent somewhere and never come back, or worse. I was afraid, and I didn't want to think about it. So I sat there and hugged Meka to me, and after a while I started stroking her long black hair.

After a few minutes the feeling passed and that made me wonder if they had done it. I went back over it in my head and decided that if they had, I couldn't tell, and if that was the case it probably didn't matter.

"I hope you're not waiting supper because of me. I just feel a little weird right now, but I'll probably get over it," I said.

"Good, you two get up and come to the table, supper's ready," Ethel said.

Everybody went to the table and I felt good again as soon as I headed that way. I was getting a good send off anyway. We were having steaks and baked potatoes, and a bowl of Ranch Style Beans, of course.

After the supper dishes were taken away, Carolyn was up and filling coffee cups. For Meka and I, she filled our insulated mugs. I could almost feel Meka smiling about having a special cup for her coffee, as if even the normal cups weren't new enough to her.

I took a closer look at her mug then and remembered it was exactly like mine, just smaller. I recalled finding it in a Texaco convenience store, maybe three years ago, in Hope Arkansas, of all places.

It was almost exactly like the ones I liked best, except that it was an eight-ounce size while the ones I always bought for myself were twenty ounces. I think I remember buying it just because it looked the same, just smaller, and I don't think it had ever been used until Meka came.

She was proud of it though and that made me glad I'd had it. I knew we'd become closer in less time than seemed possible, but I was glad about that too. Meka was important to me, for a lot of reasons. I caught a glance of Jorge Jorgenson looking at her, almost as if she were something holy, and knew that she was very important to at least two of us.

After one mug of coffee I decided I'd better get on back to the house. George had already told me that they'd put everything they gathered up today in the house or the barn, and that my desk had all the instructions that came with the equipment and the information they'd printed from the Internet on top of it.

"My desk?" I asked.

"Yeh, it came in too, but it wasn't on the rush deal. Bob ordered it the same day he asked Whooper to build you a computer. It's just too bad the computer ain't ready," he said.

"No it isn't. I'd just be confused if I tried to use it where there was no one I could ask a thing," I said.

"Maybe so, anyway, if the new stuff will help then go ahead and use it, but if it won't, just leave it be. Just because we get a notion you might need somethin' don't mean you really will, or I don't think it does," he said.

At least I was glad Joe Bob wasn't as confused as I was. He stood still while I saddled him and almost seemed glad when I got up. He headed out of the barn and then back toward our home without me having to bother with any directions. He was a smart damned horse.

Jasper and Jeffry sounded a welcome when they smelled Joe Bob about halfway down the drive. I guess they were mad at me because they'd missed their noon meal.

Since they were mules I wasn't worried about them getting colic from over feeding and I put their lunch and supper in for them now. Unlike some horses, most mules will stop eating when they're full. Joe Bob hadn't missed any meals and all he got was his normal two scoops.

When I went in the house it was crowded. The new desk was big and so was the space age looking chair behind it, but Ethel had rearranged things and the desk and chair had plenty of room and damned if they didn't look like they were exactly where they belonged.

The two ambulance gurneys were nearly in the way and the pile of new medical stuff beside them wasn't helping. There was crap everywhere and I knew I'd be fucked if I needed even half of it. I wouldn't be able to take the time to read the instructions if someone needed an IV drip. All I could do was hope.

I did see one wonder drug that I recognized. Granulex was something I'd used often. It was great on wounds and especially good at helping them heal and close, promoting skin's growth better than anything else I knew of. I hoped I wouldn't need any but I was glad to have it, even thought I hadn't thought of it myself.

Another surprise was the four boxes labeled Coordinated Cutlery Suite. I was pretty sure from the box's labels that they were replacements and more for the kitchen knives I'd given away last time. Now I remembered that Ethel had asked me if I still had any knives after I'd told them about my parting gifts. I guess she was making sure that there were plenty on hand.

At least they'd stacked the twenty cases of thirty-two ounce Gatorade plastic bottles neatly against the side of the refrigerator. Right beside them was a new shelf unit, probably thirty inches wide, and it looked like it had at least three bottles of every type of vitamin pill or over the counter medication Wal-Mart sold.

I took my clothes off, had a shower, and climbed into bed. I heard thunder rumbling just as I lay down, and then rain started sprinkling.