BooksBarbecue
Back Come Again No More
Chapters (55)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover
  3. Title Page
  4. Contents
  5. PART I 
  6. 1.
  7. 2.
  8. 3.
  9. 4.
  10. 5.
  11. 6.
  12. 7.
  13. 8.
  14. 9.
  15. 10.
  16. 11.
  17. 12.
  18. PART II 
  19. 13.
  20. 14.
  21. 15.
  22. 16.
  23. 17.
  24. 18.
  25. 19.
  26. 20.
  27. 21.
  28. 22.
  29. 23.
  30. 24.
  31. 25.
  32. 26.
  33. 27.
  34. 28.
  35. 29.
  36. 30.
  37. PART III 
  38. 31.
  39. 32.
  40. 33.
  41. 34.
  42. 35.
  43. 36.
  44. 37.
  45. 38.
  46. 39.
  47. PART IV 
  48. 40.
  49. 41.
  50. 42.
  51. 43.
  52. 44.
  53. 45.
  54. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  55. Touchstone Reading Group Guide

She had about decided to attempt to set the fractured tibia herself when the doctor called to say that he was on his way. By the time he arrived, Eli’s body temperature was up to ninety degrees and he was semiconscious. Doc Miller was a tall, austere man with long, thin, spidery hands. He had been a country doctor for nearly forty years. Juanita explained what had happened, what she had been doing to bring up Eli’s temperature. The doctor examined the patient quickly, checked his temperature himself, nodded.

“You two might have saved his life. Who thought of the steam?”

“I did. Dr. Hodgson used to do this in Mexico when we found people almost frozen to death.”

“Yes. I had heard you were his nurse. Brightest doctor we ever had around here. Damned shame, his passing.”

Juanita looked away. Grief could still ambush her now, nearly four years after Dr. Hodgson’s death.

“We’ve got a couple of tricky operations ahead. We’ve got to set the leg. I suspect he’s got a ruptured spleen as well. I’m going to call into Sheridan for an ambulance.”

The operator at the hospital said that there would be a three-hour wait for an ambulance. Doc Miller offered to stay with Eli while Juanita got some sleep, but she refused. In that case, he said, he would catch forty winks himself if she could point him to a bed.

The doctor was still napping when Ezra turned up at the door. Not for the first time in his life, he had a sense that something had happened to Eli. He had ridden over to see, for once regretting that he refused to have a telephone installed in the cabin he shared with Ben. Juanita told him what had happened and what they had been doing for Eli.

“I shoulda known,” he said. “I woke up in the middle of the night, nervous as a cat. Eli and I have always been able to tell when there was something wrong with the other one. Comes with being twins, I suppose. It’s a good thing you heard the explosion, Spuds. He’d be froze to death by now.”

Ezra told Two Spuds he might as well go back to his cabin and get some sleep. With Juanita and Ezra and Doc Miller around, they had plenty of help. The Choctaw nodded. He hadn’t told Jenny Hoot Owl where he was going. She would be mad enough to eat his liver raw.