Chapter Twenty-Two
"Jarrod!" Dulcey called out excitedly as she came hurrying back into the jail.
The alarmed young man jumped to his feet and then stepped quickly up to the bars of his cell to greet the all excited young lady.
"I have the most WONDERFUL news!" the girl gasped--a bit breathlessly, "I just came from the depot and...according to Ca-arl...the Marshal knows that Roger Mareck is leaving!"
Jarrod's alarmed look turned to one of amazement and then to one of complete confusion. Hadn't that same WONDERFUL news just been dreadful?!--just a few minutes ago?!
"And apparently," the grinning girl cheerily concluded, "doesn't ca-are!"
Jarrod's confusion instantly gave way to annoyance, "Are you saying...that I just got myself locked up...trying to keep him from finding out about...something he already knew about?!"
Dulcey looked extremely apologetic and nodded very reluctantly, "Carl claims that Jim knew that Mareck was leaving town even before Mareck did. I'm terribly sorry!" she continued, seeing the young man's annoyance giving rise to anger. "I'll make it up to you...somehow! I promise!" she vowed and flashed a broad, bashful smile up at the Marshal's still-frowning prisoner.
Jarrod saw the smile and simmered down some. How could he--how could anyone--stay ma-ad at someone who could smile like that? "We-ell, what about the wagon? Were you finally able to find one?"
"There must be a dozen wagons in town right now. And all of them are loaded. And none of the men I talked to intend to unload them until after lunch. However, I did finally manage to convince Carl to come and move your things. Actually, I had to bribe him. It took an entire apple pie!"
"Grea-eat! So...where is he?"
"He's coming right over...just as soon as he finishes eating!" Dulcey added, reluctantly finishing her reply.
"Grea-eat!" Jarrod repeated, this time sounding angry and sarcastic, "That means the Marshal will probably come back, see my stuff still sitting there, get real ma-ad, and then, because he is real mad, he'll--most likely--make me stay in here all afternoo--"
"Jim's left?" the girl interrupted, suddenly looking a bit anxious again.
"Twice!" Jarrod told her, suddenly feeling a bit jealous again. The girl was obviously more interested in 'Ji-im' than hi-im.
"Where'd he go-o?"
"I don't kno-ow."
"Is Charley with him?"
"The first time, they left seperately and used the back way. The last time, they left together and went out the front."
"I wonder what he's up to?"
"Dulcey, you know that I was jailed unjustly--"
"Please don't!" the pretty girl pleaded as her attentions were forcibly refocused.
"Please don't what?" Jarrod wondered innocently.
"Please don't ask me to let you out," Dulcey answered, "because you know I can't!"
"That's right! And that's why I'm not going to ask you to let me out. Just give me the keys...and I'll let myself out."
Dulcey stared dubiously up at the young doctor, "You're not allowed out unless someone is dying. Remember?"
"But...someone is dying! Right here before your very eyes! It happens to be me! And what I'm dying from is boredom!"
"Well, then...I'll just have to bring you a book!" Dulcey determined, looking slightly amused--but more skeptical than ever.
"I'd rather you'd bring me the keys, instea-ead!" the young doctor said--in dead earnest. And then he gave the girl a pleading, desperate look of his own. (What worked for the goose just might work for the gander!) "Plea-ease?" he begged and batted his big, sa-ad eyes, "Bring me the ke-eys...? Why, if you were to give them to me right now, I might even be able to move my stuff and make it back into my cell before the Marshal gets back! The-en, when he finds his jail all cleared out and hears that I'm not getting a gu-un, after all--he'll be in such a good mood--he's bound to let me go!"
Dulcey stared into the handsome young man's incredibly blue eyes and battled with her uncertainty. How could she--how could anyone--say no to those big, sa-ad, incredibly blue eyes? Besides, what he'd just said made sense. Not only tha-at, hadn't he just gotten himself into trouble helping her? It was only fai-air that she should now return the favor. "Come to think of it, he did ask me to get rid of this stuff. And I'm quite certain he never meant for me to move these heavy trunks on my own. So-o, since you do seem to be the only help available at the moment..." she side-stepped over to the wall and nonchalantly lifted the key ring down from its hook, "This makes us even again!" she announced.
And Jarrod nodded.
So she handed him the keys. Then, while he was busy letting himself out, she let herself in to the Marshal's Office and had herself a little look around.
The Marshal was go-one, all right. But his coffee was still sitting there! Ev-er-y single drop--by the looks of it. She saw that there were also two empty beer mugs sitting on the desk. What had been Charley's final consideration concerning the sedative? Aside from sampling, she had no way of knowing. So she grabbed the glasses and picked up the cup and headed off to pour its unknown contents safely down her drain. "I'll be right with you, Jarrod!" she told the young man who was now busy tugging on a trunk.
Jarrod grunted an acknowledgment and glanced up in time to watch the girl turn towards the kitchen. She had just come out of the alcove carrying a full cup of coffee and--two empty BEER mugs?! The young doctor tensed and glanced up again--with the words, 'uh oh...' written all over his face. "Wait a minute!" he beckoned.
And the girl obligingly brought herself to a halt.
"Where did you find tho-ose?" he anxiously inquired, as she turned back in his direction.
"They were on Jim's desk," Dulcey replied, staring at the young man who was pointing to the glasses in her right hand, in confusion, "with his coffee. Why-y?" she wondered, making an anxious inquiry of her own.
Upon hearing her reply, the words 'UH OH!' reappeared on Jarrod's face. Only this time they were written in capital letters! "He wouldn't put the sedative in the bee-eer..." he stated confidently. But then concluded with a not so confident, "Would he?"
"Why-y?" Dulcey wondered, looking even more confused, "What possible difference would that make?"
"Mixing alcohol with any opiate is dangerous! But a combination of these two drugs would be particularily DANGEROUS! It would produce a chemical quotient equivalent to--" seeing Dulcey's look of confusion deepening, the young doctor quickly translated his scientific explanation into layman's terms, "The combination could turn your living legend into a raving lunatic! Rea-eal quick!"
The pretty girl's face filled with fear and her jaw dropped open in horror.
"He-ey..." Jarrod said soothingly, stepping around the trunks and up to the now greatly distressed looking damsel, "I didn't mean to frighten you." He gripped the girl's arms and gave them a reassuring squeeze, "Why, Charley probably never even considered putting the sedative in his beer!" But, while his words were saying one thing, his face was still saying another.
"Yes. Well," Dulcey told the young man upon whose handsome face traces of 'uh oh' were still clearly visible, "if it is as dangerous as you say, shouldn't we go and find out for sure? Just as quickly as possible...?" she added as the young physician failed to heed her first hint and release her.
Jarrod--who had gotten lost while gazing into the lovely young lady's eyes--returned to reality and then stood there, pondering over the pretty girl's proposal. Either he could stay there alone, lugging heavy trunks out into the alley...or he could go traipsing all over town with Dulcey, in search of a possibly drugged--and so slightly deranged--legend. "You're right!" Jarrod eagerly exclaimed, snatching the cup and glasses from Dulcey and setting them down on a trunk so he could take her hand, "Let's go! There's not a moment to lose!" He would take advantage of any excuse to be with her. In fact, he decided he didn't need an excuse to be with her--he so thoroughly enjoyed the little lady's company.
But the two didn't have to go very far to find the Marshal--or to wait very long to witness some truly bizarre behavior. They'd barely stepped one foot into the alcove, when the office's front door flew open and Jim Crown came casually striding in. His unexpected arrival caused the startled pair to split up. They pressed themselves up on either side of the doorway between the alcove and the office and peered out at the peace officer from behind a pair of bright-orange curtains. The couple continued watching as Crown continued striding--clean up to his corner filing cabinet--where he proceeded to pull a spare set of saddlebags out of its second drawer. The two turned to one another and blinked in disbelief as the Marshal unbuttoned his shirt and then began to stash a considerable sum of cold, hard cash into one of the bags' two pockets.
Dulcey suddenly had a rather horrifying thought. The thought was so horrifying, in fact, that she had to press her fingers over her lips to keep from gasping out loud. 'Had the Marshal drank the drugged beer and then went off and robbed the ba-ank?!' She turned back in time to see Jim place some important looking papers in the bags' other pocket.
"Here," Jim said as Charley Adams came backing in off the boardwalk, "since you ain't the least bit tired...take this and get goin'!"
Charley turned around and caught the saddlebags--which had been tossed at him--in self-defense. That the Marshal's friend was more than a little upset was quite visibly obvious. "You're the one who'd better get goin', Crown!" Charley shouted sharply back. That he was also quite angry was being made verbally apparent. "'Cuz--in about two minutes--Mareck's gonna be sendin' a dozen men in here ta tear this place apart! And when they find you, they're gonna fill you full a' lea-ead!"
The two young folks turned to each other again and exchanged horrified glances. Once again Dulcey was forced to press her fingers to her lips.
"You mean ta say that I been swingin' at hornets' nests again?" Crown inquired rather casually.
A bit too casually--as far as the young couple was concerned.
"Swingin' at 'em?!" Charley shouted in utter disbelief, "SWINGIN' at 'em?! Why, you been knockin' 'em on the ground an' stompin' up an' down on 'em!"
The Senator came backing into the office just then--with his gun drawn. Dave threw the door closed. Then he turned quickly around and fell back against it to breathe one, long, loud sigh of relief. The Marshal's old friend finally looked up and the pair in hiding saw that the expression on his face made for an exact match of Charley's. "What on earth has gotten INTO you, Ja-ames?!" Dave wondered in complete bewilderment.
But 'Ja-ames' just stared innocently back at him and leaned casually back up against his desk to even more casually fold his arms across his chest.
They were looking at a classic example of 'genius' gone 'haywire'.
"Have you been drinkin'?" Dave inquired cautiously and shot his strangely behaving old buddy a strange stare.
But 'Ja-ames' remained silent. Crown apparently found the Senator's question too insulting to even answer.
So Dulcey answered for him. "He's drugged!" she declared, stepping out of hiding and up to the Marshal.
"I had one bee-eer!" the lawman stated in his defense.
"I didn't say you were 'drunk'," Dulcey assured him, "I said you were drugged!"
It took several seconds for the girl's words to sink in. But then a look of dawning understanding came over the drugged man--closely followed by one of anger and betrayal, "NO-OW I'm gonna shoot you, Charley!" he announced, aiming his gaze in the direction of his no-ow cowering fishin' partner.
"Don't shoot me-e!" Charley pleaded as the enraged lawman straightened up and started heading towards him, "It wasn't my idea!"
"That beer you brought me--what did you put in it?" Crown inquired, curious as to just what on earth HAD gotten INTO him.
"I dunno! But it wasn't supposed ta have this sort of effect on you!" Charley assured him and kept right on backing away.
"O-Oh?! What sort of 'effect' was it s'posed ta have on me, Charley?!" Crown inquired sarcastically and kept right on coming.
"It was jes' supposed ta put you ta sleep, is all!"
"Oh! It's gonna 'put me ta slee-eep', all right...PERMANENTLY!"
"Not if we hurry!" the Senator interjected, stepping between the Marshal and Mr. Adams, "Come on, James! We got ta get you out a' here!"
"I ain't goin' nowheres!" the lawman adamently declared.
But Dave either ignored or didn't believe him, because he latched onto his partner's left arm and started dragging him off.
"I told you," Crown told him--all the while applying his brakes, "I ain't go--"
"But," the Senator cut in, "you heard what Mr. Adams said! Mareck's gonna be sendin' a dozen of his boys in here--any second now! Don't that mean anything ta you?!"
"Yea-eah!" Crown casually replied, "It means that I won't have ta wait 'til after two ta KILL 'im!"
The lawman's friends glanced helplessly and hopelessly at one another.
'It's useless ta try an' reason with him!' Dave told himself. Jim didn't have so much as even one 'rational' thought in his whole entire head! And time was running out! The Senator looked over the Marshal's sore right shoulder and watched--with widening eyes--as the young doctor came creeping out of the little alcove. Dave's eyes widened even further when he saw that he was carrying that long-needled, glass, cylindrical device of his. Hadn't Jim been drugged enough for one day? 'Then again,' the Senator silently realized, 'it sure beats breakin' somethin' over his hea-ead!' He continued watching as Dulcey and the doctor conversed--using only eye contact. The two were obviously in cahoots with each other and they apparently had a plan. Why else would the girl have remained so silent for so long?
The Marshal's back remained towards the boy. All they needed now was a 'distraction' of some sort. Just as Jarrod was about to signal Dulcey to make her move, the office's front door opened and one--seemingly made-to-order--'Marshal Distractor' appeared.
"I guess I should a' kno-ocked..." the lovely, tall, shapely lady with long, black hair and dark, green eyes said--upon seeing that three pistols were now pointed at her. The woman wore a lovely, rose-colored dress with a tall, white, lacy collar. And she wore it very well!
"Katelyn..." Crown called out somewhat reverently, and quickly replaced his Colt. The lawman and the lady were obviously old acquaintances. And the Marshal made no attempt whatsoever to conceal the joy he felt at seeing her again. Her sudden appearance in the room caused his whole appearance to brighten--considerably!
Katelyn gave the walkin' wounded a quick, worried once over. The lawman was apparently still in one fairly sound piece. So she allowed herself to lighten up a bit. And even managed to greet him with a genuinely warm smile, "Hello again!"
Crown found the sight of her smile and the sound of her voice irresistable. But then, he had no resistance at the moment. No restraints existed no-ow. He was a slave to his emotions. Whatever he felt like saying--he said! And whatever he felt like doing--he did! And, just then, he felt like holding her. So he crossed over to Katelyn and took her into his arms.
All eyes in the room widened as the Marshal's eyes closed, and he proceeded to kiss this 'Katelyn' lady most passionately--on the li-ips! Such public displays of unbridled passion were uncommon--even among married couples. And so his audience naturally considered his extremely inappropriate behavior quite shocking!
The object of the Marshal's amorous advances was currently beside herself--with jo-oy! The lady didn't seem to mind being pulled gently up into the lawman's powerful arms to be tenderly kissed by him--one little bi-it! Katelyn finally recovered from their most passionate kiss and found--to her amazement--that she was the only one in the room who had. "It's all right," she assured their shocked audience, "Yah see, we were sort a' married...for a while." But her announcement only succeeded in shocking their audience even more. A fact which Katelyn found to be even more amusing. But then she saw that Jim Crown still seemed sort of dazed and disoriented. And her amused look vanished--as she realized that something, other than their kiss, must be affecting him.
The Marshal was growing woozier and woozier with each passing second. "Katelyn...?" he whispered softly. Then his dark, green eyes glazed right over--and he passed right out!
Katelyn gasped as Jim Crown just suddenly collapsed in her arms. The woman gasped again and stood there, holding on to all one hundred and fifty-six pounds of him--for dear life!
"FINALLY!" Mr. Adams annoyedly exclaimed, and directed his annoyance at the sedative's dispenser, "You told me this stuff would jes' put 'im ta sleep!" he shouted, pulling the supposedly powerful sedative bottle from his pants' pocket and pitching it to the floor at the kid doctor's feet, "Yah never said anything about it makin' 'im act crazy!"
"I told you to put it in his coffee!" the young doctor stated in his defense, "How was I to know that you weren't going to follow my orders!"
"There'll be plenty a' time for talkin' later!" Dave Fisher told the two argumentative men as he took the lawman from the lady and laid him gently down onto the floor in front of the door, "Right now, we got ta get him out a' here! Mareck says he ain't leavin' now unless it's over Jim's dead body! An' I really believe he really means it!"
"We can't wait around for Carl to finish eating!" Jarrod realized, returning to more urgent matters, "We need a wagon right no-ow!"
"I got a borrowed buckboard you kin borrow!" the lady eagerly informed him, "I'm sure Mr. Fitzsimmons wouldn't mind. He an' the Marshal are good friends!"
Dulcey hoped there would be plenty of time for talkin' later, because there were a million questions she wanted to ask this mystery woman...who seemed to know the Marshal--and his friends--so well.
"Where is it?" Jarrod wondered.
"Right out front!" the woman answered.
"Okay. Bring it around to this side door over here and then wait for us there in the alley!" the doctor ordered.
And the lady readily obeyed.
"What are those for?" Jarrod wondered as the Senator placed a pair of leg irons upon the lawman's chest and then began lifting his limp legs up off the floor.
"We're placin' the Marshal in protective custody!" Dave explained as the young doctor picked Jim up under the arms and they began carefully carting him off, "Those are ta guarantee that we keep him in custody. We can't afford ta take any more chances--or make any more mistakes. With a lot a' sleep an' a little luck--Jim'll prob'ly come through all a' this with jes' a bad headache. But the next mistake we make, could cost him his life!" Dave added softly, completing his somber prediction.
The three co-conspirators exchanged somber glances. The Senator was right, all three of them were equally to blame for the current state of Jim Crown's rather deadly affairs.
Why, Dave even considered himself to be partly responsible. He should've never left his partner's side--not even for one second!
"What are yah gonna do with him once yah've got 'im in the wagon?" Charley wondered curiously as the little entourage reached the door and came to a halt.
Being a newcomer to Cimarron, Dave turned to Dulcey--who had opened and so was now holding the door for them, "How 'bout it? Is there someplace where we kin hide 'im?"
"--An' Mareck an''his men won't find 'im?" Charley continued, adding onto the Senator's good question.
"I know the perfect place!" Jarrod replied, before Dulcey had the chance to. "Dulcey just showed it to me this morning!" he continued as they continued heading out the door, "Dulcey, you'd better find Francis. He should probably be informed of all of this..."
"I'll find 'im!" Dave volunteered. "I know where he is," he explained, seeing the puzzled look on the pretty girl's face.
They carried their unconscious cargo cautiously out into the alley. Katelyn seemed to be the only one in sight, so they placed Jim Crown carefully down in the back of her 'borrowed' borrowed wagon.
"We should probably cover 'im," Dave said as he stood there, staring down at his very visible and very vulnerable friend.
"Come on!" Jarrod invited, "We can pack my trunks in around him and then cover him with the crates."
And so they could. And so they did.
"All right," Jarrod said, climbing up into the seat beside the lady, "move out! And please be careful! Those crates contain some very valuable, extremely delicate medical equipment! And I don't want to drop any of them."
Katelyn turned to the dictatorial young man--who she could only assume must be Cimarron's new doctor--and gave him an annoyed glare, "I don't want ta 'drop' any of 'em, either!" she assured the self-centered kid, "They could land on the Marshal an' crack a couple more of his ri-ibs!"
Dulcey smiled and stepped up to the marvelous mystery woman. She couldn't've said it any better, herself! "Will you be staying with him?" she wondered curiously.
"I'd like to. If it's all right with you-ou? Yah see, I'm a Nurse, by profession."
'And you're in love with him!' Dulcey silently realized, seeing the look that was there in the woman's eyes. She knew that look because she had seen it in her own eyes. She had been in love with the Marshal once, herself. A long time ago. Dear God! What had she done?! Instead of saving her big brother's life, she'd just come this close to getting him killed! Jim was forever asking her not to interfere. Why didn't she ever seem to listen? Why did she always have to learn the hard way? And why did Jim always seem have to be the one who ended up paying the price for her stupidity? She meant well. She always meant well. "Take good care of him for me," Dulcey said and passed the lady a sort of sad smile--along with the Marshal's hat.
"I wi-ill!" Katelyn promised, returning the smile--but keeping the hat. And--with that--she drove carefully off.
Dulcey watched the wagon until it disappeared from view.
"I'd better get goin', too!" Charley Adams glumly announced. "I promised Jim I'd deliver this for 'im," he added, motioning to the Marshal's spare saddlebags.
Dulcey turned to the man, "That's the first time I've ever heard you call him anything but 'Crown'..." she realized, looking and sounding somewhat surprised.
Charley appeared somewhat embarrassed, "Tell Cro-own I ain't hangin' around 'im no more! It's too hard on an old man's heart!" he explained rather grumpily.
'It could be awfully hard on a young girl's heart, too-oo...' Dulcey realized sadly to herself. Then to Charley she said, "Does that mean I won't be fixing you any more free breakfasts?"
Charley considered the consequences of he and his fishin' partner parting ways for a few moments before making his reply, "Tell Crown I forgive 'im--this time. Not hangin' around 'im would be even harder on this old man's stomach!" he explained rather lightly. And he and the girl exchanged grins.
"Be careful, Charley!" Dulcey called out as the old man turned to leave.
Charley nodded and then disappeared.
The Senator seemed to have disappeared as well.
That left the young lady all alone in the alley--with her rather bittersweet thoughts.