The Cat

In the dark little cabin, Jess couldn�t tell if it was day or night when he next opened his eyes. It took him a minute to even remember where he was. The line shack. He looked around the familiar room and remembered that Slim had brought him here. He thought he was going home, but now that his head was clearer, he knew that that had not been possible. His head pounded and he raised a hand and held it, afraid that if he moved too fast, it might just come rolling off.

Carefully, Jess turned his head and looked across the small room to Slim, stretched out on the bunk a few feet away. He was on top of the covers and fully dressed. Suddenly remembering his leg, Jess struggled to sit up, pushing the pile of blankets down and pulling them off his left leg. He was half afraid that Slim had cut it off last night. He remembered that it hurt so bad that he had either wished that he would, or possibly even asked him to. He couldn�t remember what was real and what was dream.

It was still there, lying like a log on top of a pillow. Looking at it now, he became aware of a dull constant ache, but nothing at all like it had been. It was wrapped in wide strips of cloth around a square frame. Slim must have splinted it. His toes were dark and swollen, but he was able to wiggle them. The splint came up to just below his knee and then his pants leg still covered down to his knee. He was glad he couldn�t remember Slim doing all that.

Jess settled back in the bed and pulled the blankets back up. The pounding in his head receded to a roar and he squeezed his eyes closed, waiting for the wave of nausea to pass.

After a few minutes he realized that he was really really thirsty. He looked around and didn�t see a canteen anywhere within reach. He hated to wake Slim up for that. Maybe if he just closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, he could forget how thirsty he was.

His head throbbed, his leg throbbed and he was so dry, he could barely swallow. He tried to remember how he�d gotten himself in this predicament. He tried to push aside the pain and concentrate. Oh yeah, the mountain lion, the steers, the rocks�and it had been such a pretty day too. He grinned ruefully.

Whether it was minutes later, or hours later, Jess didn�t know, but someone was twisting those knives that were sticking into his leg. There had only been a few small ones, but now he looked down and saw an assortment of cutlery, daggers, and implements of every description protruding from his leg and foot. He tried to take a step forward in the hot desert sand, and fell off a cliff. He was still falling when he opened his eyes to find Slim leaning over him. He jumped, and he must�ve startled Slim because he jumped too.

Slim smiled, �You awake?�

�I am now. What�re you doin�?�

�You were moaning in your sleep, I thought you were feverish again.� Slim reached out and touched Jess� head. �Yup, you are.�

�Can I have some water?�

Slim smiled and turned away, swimming out of Jess� field of vision, and then back again a moment later. Jess pulled himself up on his elbows and Slim reached behind him and fluffed up the pillows that had been flattened. Jess drank greedily, took some breaths, and then drank some more.

�Easy now, pard. That�s enough for a few minutes. You don�t want to lose it all again, do you?�

�Again?�

�Last night.�

�I don�t remember.�

�Well, you were drinking pretty heavily there, pard,� Slim said with a wide grin.

Jess eased back down, panting and wiping the water from his chin. �What time is it?�

�I was just outside and the sun�s straight up.�

Slim moved away again and Jess lay there, trying to push aside the pain. He kept the canteen and took occasional swallows. He still felt parched, but Slim was right, he was already feeling nauseated. He didn�t need to be throwing it all up. Slim pulled a chair over from the kitchen table and sat next to him. �There�s about a foot of snow out there too. It�s real pretty,� he said, grinning.

�I�ll bet.� Jess dropped his hands heavily on his stomach. �You certainly seem to be in a good mood,� he said irritably.

Slim knew he should be ashamed, but he just couldn�t bring himself to be. �Well, things could definitely be worse. For a while there last night, they were.�

Jess shot him a look, reading the relief in his eyes. He knew without asking that Slim had it as bad as he had last night. At least he couldn�t remember all of it. �Well, you don�t have to be so derned cheerful.�

Slim laughed, and sat back, throwing one arm over the back of the chair. �You hungry?�

Jess thought a moment before answering. He was hungry, but still more thirsty right now. �Yeah, a little.�

�How �bout something easy like some biscuits and gravy?�

�That sounds good.�

Slim got up and went over to the stove and started rattling pans. �Won�t take but a minute. We have left over biscuits and I just need to make a little flour gravy. I can put some sausage in it too.�

Jess pulled himself up and propped up the pillows against the wall and leaned against them. The movement made his leg throb more, but he had to change positions. He�d been laying on his back for two days now.

Slim noticed Jess� discomfort. There was nothing he could give him, except maybe some whisky later. Maybe a distraction would help. �You wanna tell me what happened the other day?�

Jess looked over at him, surprised. For some reason, it hadn�t occurred to him that Slim didn�t know. No reason why he should. �It was a mountain lion.�

�It attacked you?�

�No, one of the steers I was driving. It spooked my horse. I hit the ground and a hoof came down on my leg.�

�Ouch.�

�You said it.� Jess grimaced and rubbed his leg as another pain shot through. �Did Bob get home alright?�

�Yeah. He came in about midnight that night. I wouldn�t �ve even seen him until the next day except the barn door was loose and flapping in the wind. I went out to close it and he was out in the front paddock.�

�He was okay?�

Slim smiled, �Yeah, he was okay.� Slim put two biscuits on a plate and poured the lumpy gravy over them. He stuck a fork in them and went over to Jess and handed him the plate.

Jess laid it in his lap and dug in. After a few bites, he slowed down. His appetite wasn�t quite what he�d thought it was. �You think Daisy and Mike are okay?�

�They�re fine. They�ll be worried, but that can�t be helped. We can�t get back for several more days.�

�Yeah. What about the horses?�

Slim knew what he meant. �They�ll be alright for a few days. They won�t be able to find grass, but there�s some oats. I had to let the cattle go this morning.�

Jess just acknowledged with a nod. That would be hard on them, loosing those head, but maybe they�d survive the winter and be back next year. �I�m sorry, Slim. This whole thing was my fault.�

�No it wasn�t, Jess. It wasn�t anybody�s fault. Sure, you�ll be laid up for a couple of months, but it could�ve been a whole lot worse.�

Jess put down the fork and shoved the plate aside. He just couldn�t eat anymore. The prospect of a couple of months laid up with a broken leg was unappealing to say the least. He broke his leg once before and had lain out in the desert for four days before Roney Bishop found him. That had kept him off his feet for about eight weeks and he�d almost gone crazy.

Of course, at that time, he had been alone. Except for Roney, who even then was off-kilter, he didn�t have any friends and certainly no family around. He had never really felt the loneliness before, until then, but it had always been just under the surface. Now, he rarely knew a lonely minute. His life was full, and even when he was alone, his replacement family was never far from his mind.

Slim noticed the pain lines had returned on Jess� face. He reached for the whisky bottle and offered it to Jess.

�Don�t you think it�s a little early in the day for that?� Jess said wryly.

�You didn�t seem to mind too much yesterday.�

Jess pushed it away. �I�ll save it for later.�

�Suit yourself.� Slim put the bottle back, but within reach if Jess wanted it. Then he took the plate and took it over to the sink. �Try to drink some more water, though. You didn�t have any for a long time, and then drinking all that liquor last night didn�t help matters.�

�Yes, Daisy.�

Slim grinned without turning around. Slim did the dishes, his own from that morning as well as Jess�. When he turned back around drying his hands, Jess had fallen asleep, still sitting up against the wall. He eventually slid down and settled into a more comfortable position on his side. His skin had a fine sheen of perspiration, and there was dampness on his undershirt, but the fever wasn�t as bad as last night and Jess was less disoriented, too. In a couple of days he�d be back to his ornery self, and then the real challenge would begin. He couldn�t wait to get Jess back home and turn him over to Daisy�s care.

With nothing else to do, Slim started on his sign project. He had found some scrap wood that morning in the shed, and he sat down at the table to make them into the signs he had promised himself he�d post on the property to warn against hunters. He found a small can of paint, half dried up, but still, if he added some lamp oil to it, it would be usable. He had to pull nails out of the wood, cut some of it, whittle away knots and flaws in some. In the end, he made four signs before he put it away and started working on supper.