FAITH
FAITH (after an idea by Nesciri)
"There's nothing wrong with him that I can
fix," Dr. Borden said, shaking his head slightly. He had spent the last
hour examining Buck and trying to get him calmed down. They had talked to him
and tried to reason with him. Rachel had sung softly to him while she smoothed
his hair back off his forehead in a comforting, rhythmic motion. Teaspoon yelled
at him trying to get him to break through his clouded mind. Finally, there was
no choice but to keep him restrained.
"What do you mean? He's got fever, chills,
and he's in some kind of fit," Teaspoon repeated the symptoms.
"Yes, he does have a fever and other symptoms
associated with that. The fever isn't really high enough though to cause the
delusions he's having." The Doctor shook his head again. He had an idea
but he wasn't sure. "Teaspoon, from what you told me, it started after
this Yellow Crane cursed him." Teaspoon nodded his head. "I don't
know for certain, but I believe he's doing it to himself."
"What? How can someone make themselves sick
like that?"
"It's a relatively new discovery but it is
in some of the medical journals. The mind is a powerful tool but it can also
be a deadly weapon. If someone believes they're sick then they start to show
the symptoms of whatever illness they think they have. As far as the scratches,
he probably did that to himself last night." Teaspoon shook his head. "Marshall
Hunter, I'll be back tomorrow to check on him. You may have a serious decision
to make. As far as I can tell, he is slipping further away from reality. If
he doesn't come out of it, I think you need to consider sending him to an asylum."
"Listen Doc, that's not an option. You know
what those places are. He's not going to get cured there."
"I'm not talking about a cure. I'm talking
about a place where he can't hurt himself or others. How long do you think you
can keep him tied up in that bed?"
"As long as we need to."
"Look, try to keep him quiet tonight. Get some ice from the ice house and pack him in it. If the fever comes down, he may start to make some sense. I'll mix a sedative so come on by for that in an hour." The doctor paused and patted Teaspoon on the shoulder. "Maybe we can hold off on the decision for a while."
After Teaspoon and Rachel left to pick up the ice
and sedative, the riders stood around Buck's bed and watched him sleep. Ike
sat by his head while Kid stood by the foot of the bed. "OK, it's time
to talk," Kid glanced at Jimmy, Cody and Lou. Ike picked his head up and
gave Kid an almost imperceptible nod. Kid sighed. He knew he could at least
count on Ike to back him up. "We need to go find Yellow Crane and bring
her back. She can lift the curse or whatever she did to him," Kid explained.
"Are you crazy? She's the one that started
all this. You didn't even believe it when Buck told you about it in the first
place." Jimmy was exasperated. First, Buck was acting crazy and now Kid
was starting to believe it too.
"Yeah, but Buck believes it, so we'll just
find her and convince her to come with us." Kid wasn't really sure what
to believe anymore but he did know that Buck thought the Yellow Crane had taken
his soul from him. Surely, they could get him to believe that Yellow Crane could
also return it. Then, he just might recover.
"What makes you think she will?" Lou asked
in a small voice. She wasn't faulting Kid's plan but she knew that it wouldn't
be easy to convince a woman who apparently hated Buck to come with them and
remove her curse. Lou thought Yellow Crane might even enjoy seeing them beg
for Buck's recovery.
"If she doesn't come willingly, we'll force
her." Kids voice was hard. He paused before he continued, "Look it's
either this or Buck is on his way to an insane asylum. I'll say it again. It
doesn't matter what we believe, it's what Buck believes." The others kept
silent and there was an unspoken agreement made. When he saw that he had convinced
the others about tracking Yellow Crane, he went on, "And we need to find
Red Bear too."
"What the hell for?" The question came
from Jimmy. This was getting more complicated by the minute.
"Buck may be dying. Red Bear has a right to
know and maybe he can help convince Yellow Crane to lift the curse."
"How will we find Red Bear?" Cody asked.
He had done some tracking for the Army and he knew that finding an Indian village
was nearly impossible.
"We'll leave a message for him like he did
for Buck that one time."
"What will we leave?" Cody asked.
"Something of Buck's that he'll recognize."
"Like what?"
"His medicine pouch." Kid knew the medicine
pouches were completely personal and private to the wearer but he had no doubt
that Red Bear would recognize Buck's.
"No way, Buck told me without it, he'd die."
Cody didn't know if he believed in curses or not. He didn't even know if he
would ever be able to look at anything the same after this. He did know though
that Buck believed in the powers that little bundle held. If Buck was this bad
off because of Yellow Crane, he couldn't imagine what would happen to him if
he woke and found his pouch gone.
"He's doing that now," Jimmy pointed out.
"We don't know he's dying. The Doc says it's
all in his mind," Cody tried to reason out this mess. Buck was acting awful
strange
"Well, what else?" Kid was impatient to
get going.
"His earring then," Cody suggested. Buck
was the only person he knew that wore an earring.
Ike shook his head no. <He didn't have it when
he first got to the mission school. Red Bear won't know it's his.>
Kid thought for a moment. "His knife, then."
Again, Ike said no. <He traded for it with a
Paiute Indian we ran into one day while we were out walking. He gave the Indian
a schoolbook for the knife. He sure got in trouble with the nuns over that.>
Ike felt momentarily comforted by talking about Buck as if he were out on a
run and not tied up in bed.
"Ike, exactly what did he bring to school with
him?" Kid asked.
<His clothes, his medicine pouch, that's it.
He said Red Bear told him that was the most important thing he would need to
protect him on his journey.>
"We have to hurry. Teaspoon and Rachel will
be back soon and they'll never let us go," Jimmy was getting impatient.
He walked over to the window and glanced out at the darkness. He didn't see
anyone coming yet. He shuddered at the thought that there might be someone or
something out there he couldn't see as well.
"OK, it's got to be the pouch." Everyone
nodded in agreement. "Let's get it off him." Kid reached for Buck,
but Ike stopped him by placing a gentle yet unyielding hand on his arm. That
one gesture conveyed to Kid more than words could ever have. Buck was Ike's
brother and if anyone were going to do what Buck would kill to stop if he were
conscious, it was going to be Ike.
Ike slipped his hand under Buck's head and hesitated
only for a second. His best friend was dying and they had no choice. Ike gently
picked up Buck's head in one hand and worked the leather tie over his head with
the other. He had to tug a little as the strap had become tangled in Buck's
long hair but finally he got the pouch free. He laid his head back on the pillow
and waited for some sign of protest from Buck. Everyone stood still and held
their breath. It was OK. They had the pouch and Buck didn't seem to be aware
of its removal.
That changed when Buck's eyes popped open. He picked
his head up and screamed at the top of his lungs. He thrashed around in the
bed and kicked at the ties that were holding his legs in place. Everyone jumped
back from the bed when Buck started pleading, "I need it! Give it back.
I'll die without it. Ike. Ike, please give it back." Buck's eyes were full
of pain and he was starting to cry. The proud Indian that everyone knew was
gone. He was a broken young man who didn't even have a shred of dignity left.
Ike hesitated and took a tentative step toward the
bed. Kid grabbed his arm. "No, Ike. We need it to find Red Bear. Let's
go."
Ike shook his head at Buck. <We're going to get you help. I'll take care
of it. I promise.> Ike put the medicine pouch carefully in his pocket and
turned away. The others followed behind.
Buck began to curse vilely at the top of his lungs
as he frantically pulled against his restraints, "Godamn you. Damn you
all to hell. I hope you all fucking rot in hell!"
Jimmy opened the door and they left without looking back.
