Wild Aces

It was a lovely day in Cooper Ridge; the perfect day to go out for a brief ride with Moon while she didn’t have any patents to look after. In hindsight, that should have been her first sign that something was going to go horribly wrong. She may have lived in the South for six months, might have learnt that it was safer than her Father said it was, but it was still more dangerous than the North had been. There were more dangerous careers, such as mining, being a cowboy and farming for men. While women worked on family farms, if they had one. If not, well, they worked in the Saloon, the brothel or in the schoolhouse. Those were the jobs that Cecily learnt to worry about in the last six months, anyway. Along with the occasional injury that she would treat even in the infinitesimal chance, Father allowed her to work in one of her family’s hospitals. During her rides, she tried to allow herself to enjoy the landscape and fresh air; different from where she grew up. Where she had been trained, she had been lucky to find a doctor to train her; more so since most doctors in large hospitals thought women were only good to give their husband an heir and a spare. While the peace should have been her first clue, the circling crows and eagles should have been her second. Slowing Moon down from her trot, she dismounted as she looked around. Her black leather doctor’s bag was still over the saddle horn, while her canteen was around her shoulders as she kept a tight grip on Moon’s reins. Cecily would only admit to a handful of people that she almost screamed when a black horse came running down the dusty road, only stopping to nose at her doctor’s bag and then her shoulder as she stared at the enormous horse. He was at least fifteen to sixteen hands. Glancing at Moon to make sure she was already, she looked back at the stallion before spotting the man in the saddle. “Oh, dear,” she whispered. A hat was covering his face, but what she was more focused on was the fact that his shirt was being stained red at the shoulder. She couldn’t see what would have made such an injury from her spot. Cecily looked around as she took the stallion’s reins into her hands. Now that she looked at his skin tone, she wouldn’t be surprised if someone jumped him. She would save that for the sheriff to investigate. She knew that her teacher would be disappointed if she allowed her patient to bleed out because she was curious about what happened. That would have to wait as she checked his wrist to make sure she could feel his heartbeat. Make sure that he wasn’t already dead. “Mat the lord protects his soul,” Cecily said, giving the stallion a sad smile as she tied his reins to Moon. “Don’t worry, just follow me and Moon. I’ll treat his wound; he’ll be up and about in a day or two.” She didn’t know why she was talking to the stallion like he could understand a thing she said, but she pulled herself onto Moon’s saddle. She couldn’t worry about him falling off, had to get him to the clinic as fast as she could. “It’s okay, Moon. We only need to get them to the clinic,” Cecily whispered as she kicked Moon into a canter. As fast as Moon and the unknown stallion could, they were back at her clinic, which used to be an old man’s Kelly’s brewery. Turning to the black stallion, she patted his neck. “We’re almost there. After I see your rider is alright, you’ll get a treat for keeping him safe.” “Good evening doc,” Sheriff Carter said as she tied the two horses to the hitching post in front of the water throughs. In a small town like this, horses were their lifelines, and she would make sure any horse coming near her clinic had enough water to drink, even if pumping the water made the muscles in her arms hurt. Less now than it used to. “Good evening, Sheriff Carter, how may I help you?” Cecily asked. “What’s with the gentleman?” Sheriff Carter asked as he eyed the man. Cecily looked at him with a narrow eye before going back to trying to get the man down from his saddle. He had a taught grip with his thighs. Guess she didn’t have to worry about him falling off. “Doc, I’ll carry him.” “If you could,” Cecily said. “What happened?” Sheriff Carter asked as he carried him into the clinic, placing him on the nearest bed. With a nod, she walked around, removing everything that was in her way without a second thought. “Someone attacked him outside town,” Cecily said as she looked at the wound, checking his back to see if the bullet had gone through. No such luck, it would still in be in shoulder and she would have to remove it. “The bullet hasn’t gone through; I’ll have to dig it out.” Cecily got out her instruments, Sheriff Carter watching as she removed the bullet. They had shot him high enough that it wouldn’t hit his lungs, but low enough that she could stitch it shut. Grabbing a bottle of cheap whiskey, she poured in onto his wound before burning the tip of her sewing needle. “What’s that for?” Sheriff Carter asked. “It’s low enough that I can stitch his wound shut. It’ll fight off infection,” Cecily said, sewing his wound. With a nod she poured more cheap whiskey over it, before putting clean cloth around her it, cleaning her hands before cleaning what she had used. “I’ll find out what happened,” Sheriff Carter said. “If you could watch him for a minute, just long enough for me to get the horses out of the heat of the evening,” Cecily said. Sheriff Carter nodding, sitting on the bed next to the man as she looked at the wound. “Happy to help doc,” Sheriff Carter said. With a nod, Cecily made her way outside towards the horses without a word. “He’s fine,” Cecily said as she patted the black stallion’s neck. Untying the two before leading them towards the barn that was attached to her clinic. Making sure the hay was clean, before leading each horse into a stall. Brushing them down before removing their tack, attaching a bucket of water and oats to each door. “Doc, do you need hand carrying those into the clinic?” Young Matthew O’Riley asked. “Jamie, Jack and I can help.” “That would be wonderful,” Cecily answered, putting the saddle bags down as she picked up her doctor’s bag. “Then you can tell me what’s wrong.” “Elizabeth has fallen from the fence,” Jamie said as he picked up some of her patient’s bags, the two other bags doing the same. “We ran ahead of Ma,” Jack added. “That means I’ll have a bed for Elizabeth when they arrive,” Cecily said as the three followed her into the clinic. “If you could put those besides that bed, that would be lovely.” “Yes doc,” Young Matthew said, putting the bags down. “Thank you for looking after my patient, Sheriff Carter,” Cecily said as Sheriff Carter stood up, Young Matthew taking his spot. Cecily getting a bed ready for young Elizabeth as Mrs. O’Riley walked in. “No problems doc, now I’m going to find out what happened,” Sheriff Carter said. “Mrs. O’Riley, why don’t you sit Elizabeth down on the bed and I’ll see what’s wrong,” Cecily said as Mrs. O’Riley nodded. “Now I was told that she has fallen from a fence.”