The Cat

Later, he didn�t know how much later, Jess opened his eyes and found himself looking at a dark gray sky. He felt a softly jerking movement and heard a constant scraping sound. He remembered the travois. Slim had come, he remembered that. They must be going home. He wondered how far they had come. Big fat fluffs of snow were falling, seemingly in slow motion on him and into his eyes, causing him to blink. He turned his head to the side and watched sage and rocks go slowly by. He wondered if he were dreaming. He wondered if he had dreamed that Slim was there, too. Soon his eyes drifted shut and allowed the dark cloud to descend, this time unafraid that it would swallow him.

When Jess next woke, his first sensation was warmth. He was warm again. Actually, he was hot and he felt like he was smothering. He opened his eyes. He was lying on his back and a mound of blankets was in front of him. It was so high he had to lift his head to see over it. Across the room he saw Slim. So, it hadn�t been a dream.

�Slim?� His voice was dry and rough as sandpaper. He coughed and tried again. �Slim?�

Slim covered the distance across the small cabin in three strides. He knelt down beside the bed. �Hey, Pard. How ya feelin�?�

�Hot.�

Slim reached his hand out and laid it on Jess� forehead. �Yeah, your fever�s worse. It�ll be down by morning.� He stood up and pulled a couple of blankets down. �I�ll take off a couple of these, but you still need to stay warm. You�ve been having chills.�

�What time is it?�

�I dunno, probably �bout midnight. You�ve been sleeping for a long time. How�s your leg feel?�

Jess raised his head and looked down seeing only an expanse of blankets down to the end of the bed. �I don�t feel it much.�

�That�s good. I had to set it while you were out. Once it�s set and can start healing, it shouldn�t hurt as bad.�

Still a little bleary, Jess asked, �You set it?�

�Yup.� He reached over and snagged the whisky bottle off a small table. Holding the half-empty bottle up by the neck for Jess to see. �I got half of this down you and then started pushing an' pulling. I finally got it set. I think it�s perfect. Right now I�ve got snow packed around it to take down the swelling.

�Snow?�

�Yeah, it started in for real when we were on our way back here. There�s probably five or six inches out there by now, and it�s still coming down.�

Feeling suddenly light-headed, Jess closed his eyes and sank back into the pillows. He had a pleasant buzz going in his head, and right now, he wished it would never end. Slim was still talking about snow and horses and mountain lions, but Jess couldn�t listen. He wanted to go back to the dream he�d been having. In it, he was lying on a soft bed of grass on a warm day watching clouds sail by. He recognized a few faces in the clouds as they drifted by. Faces from his past, faces he�d like to be able to see again, but not in clouds. Slim�s voice faded and was replaced by the music of a soft warm wind on a spring day.