The Last Patrol

[Scarlet Angel]

Bo found the C.O. heading his way when he left Ella and Scarlet.

“Evenin’” He said.

“Corbin.” The man replied.

“Sir. I was curious about your doctor.” Bo said as innocently as he could.

The man stopped and glanced towards the direction of the infirmary. “Our regular doctor went on patrol with the last group that rode out.”

“Oh.” Bo shook his head in understanding. “I didn’t figure you for the type of man that would want to be treated by methods..” Bo paused. “I’ve read about using maggots and such for eating away some of the dead flesh. But can’t say I’ve ever seen a bowl of ‘em on hand. I got to admit I wouldn’t have thought of using my left over rations to keep them alive. He must be expecting a lot of casualties too, had a whole mess of the crawly critters”

The man narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“I wonder if Miss Ella has ever seen that. I should ask her, she’s studied a lot of different methods. I didn’t see any leaches but he just might have a few. Ya know I heard the medic didn’t want to treat Indians. That could be a problem since a lot of your scouts are Indian or at least part.”

The C.O. raised an eyebrow.

“Ella has no problem treaten ‘em. She’ll treat just about anybody even if she doesn’t care for them.”

The C.O. was now steadily looking in the direction of the infirmary.

 “You ever been a patient in your career?” Bo asked.

“Yes, I’ve been on the table a couple of times.”

“With all due respect Sir. If I am wounded I hope to be treated where I fall instead of being put on one of those filthy tables and if he is the only one available just make sure I have a round left to put in my head instead of bringing me back to him.”

The C.O.’s eyes flashed. “Excuse me.” He said headed towards the infirmary.

[Elegant Ella]

"So do I," replied Ella.  "But I'm confident he will be effective.  I've got a theory about this room.    A dressing table with mirror and a big bed like this," as she bounced onto it, "can't be normal furniture.  Maybe this is used as a guest room for any high-ranking visitors who might travel with a wife or mistress, although no one would be so rude as to speculate that the lady with the visiting general were not his wife."

[Scarlet Angel]

Scarlet chuckled at Ella’s comment and sat on the other side of the bed.

“So the high ranking visitors that have slept here. Could it be anybody we are impressed by? We could say I got to sleep in the same bed as….?”

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[Elegant Ella]

"It all depends on who would impress you," replied Ella.  "General George Custer might have been here fairly recently.  Some other famous and notorious people who might have been here include Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill Cody."

[Scarlet Angel]

"Some day some body is going to be reading a medical journal and they will say I sure wish I could have met that woman Ella Coatsworth. I bet she was some woman. And I'll be able to say Yes she is. I was lucky enough to travel with her part of my life." Scarlet smiled at Ella.

[Elegant Ella]

"More likely, I'll just be a footnote in your biography," replied Ella.  "You're the one working in a man's world on an equal footing.  I'm mostly working within the traditional sphere of woman's work, just stretching the nursing side of it a bit.  Women's stories don't get written down much."

[Scarlet Angel]

“Stretching a bit.” Scarlet laughed. “I think you’re pushing the traditional sphere by a long shot. Perhaps when we retire from this we should write some of our adventures down.”

[Elegant Ella]

"I am keeping a diary," said Ella.  "It's mostly notes on medical issues, like Grammy kept.  Then there are the letters I wrote to Alan about our adventures.  I don't think he really believes what we've done."

[Scarlet Angel]

“Maybe if you put men’s names where ours are it would be more believable.” Scarlet teased. “The adventures of Eddy and Sam” She giggled while fluffing her pillow.

[Elegant Ella]

"Scarlet Sam and Elegant Eddy, US Marshals", giggled Ella. 

Eventually the giggles subsided, and they slept.  Bruises, dreams and the unfamiliarly soft bed woke them several times during the night, but they felt refreshed when daylight started to enter the window. 

Ella applied more bruise ointment before Scarlet got dressed.  Only the bruise across the back was very painful.  Ella was as gentle as possible. 

"If he had kicked or punched you in the belly, I would be expecting you to miscarry.  The stress and exertion could still have provoked one, so please let me know right away if you get any bleeding,"  said Ella.  "We need to talk to Tensleep about our plans to go find Carrie.  Maybe we can do that over breakfast, after I check on Chris."

[Scarlet Angel]

“I don’t believe I will help you with Chris.” Scarlet replied. “I’ll take care of your horses, find Tensleep and meet you for breakfast.”

Teddy and Bo were headed towards the stables themselves when Scarlet caught up to them.

 “Mornin’” She said with a smile.

“Mornin’” Teddy replied.

“Mornin’ Sweetheart.” Bo said. “Feeling better this morning?”

“Some, my back is still sore but comes with the territory I suppose.”

Teddy caught the sparkle of the ring she wore on her left hand. He figured he would not have to ask Bo about the relationship Billy had inquired about.

“Ella was on her way to check on Chris.” Scarlet commented.

“I’ll go make sure he behaves himself.” Said Teddy.

“If Ella needs help give me a holler. Otherwise I’m staying clear of him. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him…in front of witnesses anyway.” Bo said. It was hard to tell if he was kidding or not.

Teddy looked at him curiously before going towards the infirmary

[Elegant Ella]

Ella found two of the men who had helped with Chris just leaving the mess hall.  "Joe, Scott, is either of you available to help me this morning?" she asked. 

"Yes, ma'am," answered Joe, the one who had advised her to save the chloroform. 

"Sorry, ma'am.  I've got an assignment today, although I expect that helping you would be more interesting," replied Scott, who had been at the fort longer. 

"I'm sure there will be other times, Scott," said Ella with a friendly smile.  "Joe, I don't know if Chris got any dinner last night, so I was going to take his breakfast with us when I go to change the dressing on his wound.  What would he want for breakfast?"

"Everything in sight," replied Joe.  "I'll get a tray."  He soon filled a plate with sausage, eggs, biscuits, and added two cups of coffee.  Ella collected a cup of hot water. 

At the infirmary, they were greeted by the sight of the medic on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor.  Ella carefully stepped around the wet area, and walked into the ward, ignoring the mutters from the medic.  He looked like he had been up all night, with a hangover. 

[Scarlet Angel]

Chris glared at Ella and Joe as they came closer. “Come to torture me some more.” He growled. “I ain’t worth the chloroform huh?”

[Elegant Ella]

"Joe, please put the tray down over there.  He can eat breakfast after I change the dressing," directed Ella.  "Chris, it shouldn't hurt much when I change the dressing today.  If the wound is too painful, it can mean infection, which unfortunately, would require another round of cleaning." 

She removed the dressing and gently probed around the wound.  "No visible signs of infection," she reported. 
She used the hot water she had brought to moisten the contents of a small packet from her pocket, and spread the warm poultice on the raw flesh.

"Oh," said Chris in a surprised tone, "That feels good." 

"Healing doesn't have to be painful or taste bad," said Ella.  "Difficult patients gets bitter tonics and harsher treatment.  Nice patients gets honey in the tonics and soothing poultices."  She was almost finished dressing the wound when Teddy came in.

"All done.  You don't need to stay in the infirmary any longer.  Avoid activities that might tear the wound open again, such as wrestling, heavy lifting or deep knee bends.  Other than that, you can do anything as long as you keep the bandage clean and dry.  I will change it again tomorrow morning."

[Scarlet Angel]

“Yes ma’am.” Chris managed without choking on his own words.

Teddy and Joe both wondered if Thank you or I’m sorry were in his vocabulary.

[Elegant Ella]

Ella thought that was as polite a response as she could expect from Chris.  She cleaned up her debris, washed her hands, and headed over to the mess hall to eat with Scarlet and Tensleep. 

The medic was still scrubbing the floor when she passed on her way out.  She had meant to clean up the table and area around it after she had used it for Chris, but the medic's attitude had driven the good intention out of her mind.

[Scarlet Angel]

“What did you say to Chris back on the trail?” Scarlet asked Bo as they started feeding the groups horses.

“Nuthin’” Bo responded.

“Nuthin’ doesn’t make a man lose his color and make sure the remarks are said behind your back.” Scarlet replied raising an eyebrow as she looked in his direction.

“It had something to do with the removal of his spine.” He said.

“With your bare hands not doubt.”

“No doubt at all.”

“Marshal told me to keep my knife sheathed. I guess I will have to call you.” She smirked.

Bo chuckled.

Scarlet was finishing feeding the last horse when Bo came up behind her.

“Scarlet.”

“Yes” she said turning to face him.

“Is there something going on between you and Fritz?” He asked.

Scarlet’s eyebrows knitted together. “No. Things are as good as expected to be under the circumstances, why?”

“You’ve not been completely yourself. Are you ok.” He replied.

She smiled softly “I am ok Bo and there are not any problems between Fritz and I, unless he’s going to be unhappy about me being here. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve noticed that look in your eyes you used ta get. Something that slips through when you least expect it, a sadness. You’re still very good at throwing up that wall so no one sees in, but every once in awhile I see it.”

Scarlet gingerly kissed his cheek. “Thank you for worrying about me. Maybe it’s just I would rather be home with Fritz instead of here. You know I don’t care for being inside the forts much.”

Bo looked into her eyes he knew she was telling him the truth or at least part of it. Scarlet never lied to him. If he could figure out or come close and ask directly she would tell him, but there was something underlying something bothering her. He could feel it.

“Well if there’s anything you ever want to talk about…” He started.

“Bo” she said softly “you know if I want or need someone to talk to I will come to you.”

“Fair 'nuff” he replied knowing if Scarlet didn’t want to talk about something you might as well be poking at a rattler with a stick.

“I need to round up Tensleep and get over to breakfast to meet Ella so we can talk about finding Carrie.”

“Oh that reminds me, I wonder what the infirmary looks like this morning and I had a question for Ella.” He said amusingly.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” Scarlet said seeing Tensleep coming into the stables. “Your horse has been fed and he still has enough water. Ella figured we should be discussing Carrie and will meet us in the mess hall.”

[Elegant Ella]

Finding something for breakfast in the mess hall was being a problem for Ella.  She had slipped a lot on keeping kosher over the past three years, including giving up completely on keeping meat and milk separate, but she still avoided eating pork as much as possible.  The biscuits looked like they were probably made with lard.  The eggs smelled like they had been cooked in bacon grease.  There was cornmeal mush, fried in bacon grease.  There was no fruit.  There was no oatmeal mush. 

She took a cup of hot water and made tea, and sipped that while nibbling on an oatmeal cookie left in her pocket from the trip here. 

[Scarlet Angel]

Tensleep, Scarlet and Bo joined Ella.

“There are still a few things you might find to your liking in my packs.” Bo said looking at Ella nibbling her cookie.

Scarlet sat down next to Bo and put Carrie’s file between the group.

“From what I can gather Carrie Moore’s family was killed by Indians when she was young.” Scarlet filled the pages while she sipped her coffee. “This.” She said tapping one of the papers. “Is a report filled out by Jack Moore, who at one time was assigned here, that talks about a raid on an Indian camp and the rescue of four white women, two of which.” Scarlet looked at the paper closer. “here it is. ‘Two of the women seemed to understand English but not be able to speak it. While the two older women were happy to see the army the two younger fought to stay with the tribe.’ It goes on to talk about what they refer to as the rescue.”

“My guess is she lived with people who view the white men as enemies, tried to adjust to the way of life of her own people after being rescued and finally one day snapped. It would probably pay off to talk to some of the scouts that have been around here and see if there’s been any spotting of her yet. We could see if anybody knows where the tribe she was living with is located, she’s probably headed back. From the records Jack Moore had not been retired long and the children, one of them was not even a month old.”       

[Elegant Ella]

"Thank you, Bo," replied Ella.  "I meant to visit the kitchen yesterday and see what I could arrange, but I didn't get around to it.  By the way, what did you say to the C.O.?  The medic looked like he had been up all night cleaning, and had been suffering a mighty hangover most of the time."