The Diary of Jerrod Bently - J.W. Osborn (mobi ebook reader TXT) 📗

go get cleaned up. I will make you some thing to eat and then you need to rest.”
“Do I have to do that by myself?,” he grinned suggestively. She giggled “Go wash the trail dirt off, “ she said “And I will wait for Dr. O’Brien.”

It seemed like it took hours for the town doctor, James O’Brien to arrive. Doc, bathed, dressed, and his beard neatly trimmed was waiting for him at the kitchen table. He was just finishing his bacon, eggs, and biscuits with strawberry preserves when he and Victoria heard the knock at the door. Victoria rose to let the tall thin man in. “Thanks for coming,” she said as she offered him a place at the table across from her husband. “Would you like some coffee, Jim?”, she asked. The kindly looking doctor smiled appreciatively “Thank you, Victoria,” he said , his Irish brogue very evident in his words “Don’t mind if I do.” She went to the stove and picked up her metal coffee pot with a thick pot holder around it’s metal handle. She poured a second cup for her husband and one for the doctor. Then sat down with them. “It is your niece who has been injured?”, O’Brien asked.
“Yes,” Doc replied “She fell off a ledge and into a ravine about ten days ago. She was unconscious for at least four days after the accident happened. Her left arm is broke in two places and her right ankle, well, it might be broke for all I know, it looks bad and her right knee is sprained badly.”
“Was anyone able to set or at least, splint, the broken arm?”, the doctor asked worriedly. “Yes,” Doc replied, “Her grandfather did it. We were very careful bringing her here. Her broken arm will heal in time and so will her leg, but what scares me to death is the fact that she suffered a heavy blow to the head in that fall. I’ve seen men drop dead weeks after taking a blow like Sam took.”
The doctor was quiet , considering all that Doc had told him. “Does she seem to have any memory loss?” he asked. “Or vision trouble.”
“No,” Doc replied “Least ways not that I could tell. She is stubborn,” he added “and that may be what gets her through this.”
“Indeed it might,” O’Brien answered “Now, may I see her?”
“Of course,” Victoria said “This way. She showed him to the hallway and the door of Sam’s room. “If you need anything, Jim,” she said “Just let me know. I will be in the kitchen trying to convince my husband to go get some sleep.” The doctor smiled “He looks like he could use it,” he said as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Slowly sleep began to fade into a gentle awakening. Sam stirred. She recalled the jolting and lurching of the wagon, the pain in her arm and everywhere else but falling asleep despite it all. She felt comfortably warm and the smell of fresh linens and wild flowers teased her senses. She opened her eyes finding herself in a sunlit bedroom, with a fresh morning breeze flowing through the open window across the room. She was lying in a comfortable bed under a colorful hand sewn quilt. Her arm ached and throbbed but some how it was not as much discomfort as it had been on the trail. Turning her head, she looked down at it to find the short flat boards that Scrub Pot had used to splint her broken bones gone. Instead her arm was wrapped tightly in white gauze around a well fitted wooden splint and lying in a sling hung around her neck. She tried to move her fingers, and found that this time she could move them a little. She heard someone outside the closed door of her room. Slowly it opened and Victoria Stevens stepped into the room. She was carrying a breakfast tray and her warm smile was welcoming. Sam thought she was seeing an angel standing by her bed holding a tray with both hands. For a moment, Sam tried to recall her mother’s face, but it was too long ago. She was a baby when Sarah Dodge died and she could only image what she looked like from the things Doc and Scrub Pot had told her.
“Good morning, Sam,” Victoria said with cheerful tone in her voice. “How did you sleep?” She set the tray down on the night stand next to the bed.
“Very well,” Sam replied, still waking up from a very long rest. “It is nice to sleep in a bed.”
Victoria sat down in the chair opposite her. “I am glad,” she said “I thought you might be hungry,” she added. Sam Dodge studied Victoria’s face intently. The woman’s brown eyes were warm and friendly, her smile seemed radiant and reassuring and her hair, so beautifully golden. So unlike Sam’s dark auburn. “How are you feeling?”, Victoria asked, bridging the gap in their conversation.
“Better, I think,” Sam replied “What happened to the splints that were on my arm?”
“You don’t remember?” Victoria questioned, trying not to sound worried.
“No,” Sam answered “I remember Uncle Elliot carrying me up the steps, but not much after that.”
“Doctor O’Brien took the splints off, “ Victoria said ,“He was here to see you yesterday. He told us that he did not have to reset your arm, and that it is healing very well.”
“I thought I was dreaming,” Sam said “Some one was pulling on me. It must have been him.”
Victoria laughed “You were very tired to sleep though all of that.”
“Must have been,” Sam replied as she sniffed the delicious aroma of the biscuits and coffee Victoria had brought.
“The doctor told your uncle and me that who ever set your arm did a fine job,” Victoria said “ because of that, he expects it to heal quickly and be as good as new.”
“It was my Grandfather,” Sam replied “He’s Blackfoot.” She had hoped to shock her new Aunt with such a declaration.
“I know,” Victoria replied confidently “He is a fine man. He officiated at our wedding.”
“He did two weddings that day,” Sam answered “our old trail boss and a Pawnee squaw called Bird That Talks and then, you and Uncle Elliott. I couldn’t come because he needed my horse to get back to town for the wedding.”
Victoria looked down at the plain gold wedding ring on her finger. “He told me that you sent your mother’s ring with him so I would have a wedding band to wear. “ she said “I never got to say thank you for such a special gift.”
“I was glad to give it, Miss Victoria,” she answered .
“Are you hungry?”, Victoria asked.
“Yes,” Sam replied as she looked at the tray on the table. “Did you make all of this for me?”
“Yes, dear., “ Victoria replied “I did, for you and your uncle.”
“Doc says you are a far better cook than my Grandfather is,” Sam said as she buttered a steaming biscuit. “Where is Doc?”
“He’s sleeping right now,” Victoria replied “He was exhausted. I sent Hap home to his mother and your horse is out in the paddock with Desert Rose. He is so beautiful and Rose has been no trouble to look after.”
“Where did you put Joe?,” Sam asked as she set her breakfast plate in front of her on top of the covers. “He and Trouble can’t be together unless you want your barn flattened.”
“Doc took the black over to Jake Titus’s ranch and turned him out with two of Jake’s mares.”, Victoria replied. “Don’t worry, Sam. Everything is going to be fine. You will see.”
Victoria rose and poured some coffee for Sam as with her arm in a sling Sam was at a disadvantage. “There,” she said as she handed her the cup. “My customers love that blend. I hope you like it too.”
“Miss Victoria,” Sam declared “After nearly three months of my Grandfather’s coffee, a cup of wash water would be a blessing, so this will be a special treat..”
Victoria smiled at her. “I think we are going to get along just fine, Sam,” she said “I am staying home today instead of going to the shop. Dr O’Brien gave me some pain medicine for you and said that you should not get up unless you have to. “
”I will try to not be too much of a bother, Miss Victoria,” the girl replied.
“You are no bother, Sam,” Victoria said reassuringly “If you need anything, I will be out in the barn feeding the horses.” Sam threw off her covers and moved to the edge if her bed. “I am going with you,” she said.
“Sam.,” Victoria advised strongly “ I don’ think that is a good idea. As soon as her bare feet hit the floor, excruciating pain shot up her right leg from her swollen , bruised ankle to her equally darkened knee. She fell back to the edge of the bed. “Think you are right,” Sam replied “It hurts pretty bad.” A moment later, Victoria had her patient back in bed, her injured leg propped up on pillows and the promise of ice from the ice house