Tombstone.
This morning I talked with Sabi about where everyone was and I waved to Mr. James sitting on the undertaker’s balcony. Sabi asked if I’d met Mrs. Rye yet and I told her about the bike and bunny she’d given me. I named the bunny Little Arrows and I told her about my new job at the clinic and how Mr. Alex was going to teach me how to work there.
Mr. Alex rode over and I asked him, “Mr. Alex? Can you teach me how to be doctor?”
“Well, why don’t you come work with me in the clinic and see how you like it,” he smiled.
“Okay!” Sabi headed off then and I hugged Mr. Alex and he asked, “Okay, Nat. How old are you?”
“Nine. This is Little Arrows. She help too?” I held up the bunny to him.
“Nine,” he nodded. “Okay, well, nine is old enough to be a big girl so in here, you have to act professional and be a big girl. Understand? This is a very important job.”
“Yes sir,” I nodded.
“No more little kid talk. You need to use proper grammar in here. And I know you know it well enough. And while we’re here, you’ll call me Mr. Stone and I’ll call you Miss Stark. Okay?”
“Yes sir Mr. Stone,” I nodded and he smiled, making me relax a bit.
“Now, first things first. Hold out your hands. Let me inspect them,” he said and I set the rabbit on the counter, holding my hands out for him. “Pretty clean, no dirt under the nails. That’s important.”
“Always gotta clean hands before you do work, Mr. Stone.”
“When you come in here, the first thing I want you to do is wash your hands. I’ll show you how to clean them like a doctor. Roll your sleeves up,” he said and walked to the sink.
I did so and asked, “Mr. Stone? Can I ask a question?”
“Yes Miss Stark? You certainly may ask as many questions as you’d like
“Is it better to wear pants or dress for this job?”
“It’s better to be clean and professional looking. If you can do that in a dress or pants, it doesn’t matter to me.”
“Ok, Mr. Stone.”
“Now, when you wash your hands, start at your elbows and wash down, letting the water run toward your wrists.”
“With soap right?”
“Scrub really carefully with lots of soap. You’re smart. Catching on right off.”
I rolled my sleeves up higher and did as he said, rubbing with lots of soap from the elbows down to my wrists.
“Good job! Make sure you really get your fingers.”
I worked really hard on cleaning my fingers and asked, “That cause dirt in wounds is bad?”
“Yes, you’re exactly right. If a wound gets dirty, it can get infected. And if a person gets an infection, they might die. SO we have to be really careful about dirt. That’s the first thing I’m going to have you do here, is clean a little. The clinics need to be really clean. We have to clean thoroughly after each patient. And they should be cleaned in general every morning. I can be really fussy about being clean.” Mr. Alex gave me the mop and bucket and said, “Now this isn’t the fun or interesting part about being a doctor, but it’s one of the most important.”
I nodded and remembered watching Miss Trin, and went about mopping the floor with the soapy water, making sure to get every speck and spot. “But Mr. Alex... I mean Mr. Stone…? What about the carpet? Can’t put mop with soapy water on there.”
“Nope, we’ll have to take it outside and beat it to get the dirt out. We don’t have to do that every day.”
“Oh good... That sounds hard,” I said and finished with the mop. “All done!”
“Good job! The floor is all shiny now. Now we should strip down the bed and put fresh linens on them. We’ll take the dirty ones to the laundry later.”
“Where’s the laundry?”
Mr. Alex pulled the sheet off the table and stuffed it in a basket. “Like this,” he said and I watched and then went to do the same with the other sheet. “I don’t know where the laundry is exactly. I leave a laundry basket out and it gets picked up.”
I found myself all tangled up in the big sheet and tried to find my way out, but I flailed the sheet out of my face. “Mr. Stone it all white!!” I cried and he chuckled and helped me untangled myself. I exhaled as I was freed and looked down, embarrassed. “I am sorry, Mr. Stone.”
“That’s okay, Miss Stark. Those sheets are big,” Mr. Alex smiled and patted my head.
“Uh huh. Like ghosts,” I said and he chuckled. I took another sheet off and put it in the basket he held out and said, “There that ghost didn’t attack me.”
“Great job! Now lets put new sheets on. I’ll help you with that. We can each take an end,” he said and picked up a sheet from the shelf and handed one end to me and we put it on the bed. “Now that will be much nicer for a patient to come in and find clean beds.”
“Do lots of people get shot during the day when it’s light out?”
“Not lots, but it does happen. We get some people with upset bellies, or sometimes broken limbs, or a but of other illnesses too, not just gun shots.”
“Mr. Alex, did you know Miss Aeryne died?” I asked. “Miss Trin is pretty upset ’bout it. Maybe you could help make her feel better.”
“No, I didn’t know that,” he raised an eyebrow.
“She died when they burned that house down next to ours. Jimmy and I saw her on the ground but we didn’t know if she was alive or not.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that.”
“But Miss Trin did tell me... Miss Zan didn’t get hanged.”
“Well that’s good!”
“Even though mean ole Suzy made fun of mommy bein’ a Pinkerton.”
“Don’t worry about what other people think,” he chuckled.
I put a hand over my mouth and looked at him and said, “I’m sorry Mr. Stone. I listening. We have clean floor and clean beds.... Now what? Walls?”
“Yep, make sure no cobwebs are in the corners,” he said. I cringed at that part and went to check, using the mop to reach the hard spots. I wiped away the cobwebs and he said, “You’re doing a great job, Miss Stark!”
I went to read the eye chart and read, “E, D, B, O, N, P, Z…”
“Looks like your eyesight is good. Better than mine,” Mr. Alex chuckled.
“Can you read the little ones?” I giggled.
“Not without my glasses.”
“How come you don’t wear your glasses now?”
“I have a tendency to break them so I only put them on when I really need them, like when I’m working on a patient. If I broke my glasses out here, it would be a long wait to get a new pair ordered.”
“Ooh. Yeah…”
“Now that we’ve got the room looking nice and clean, it’s time to sterilize the instruments. We’re supposed to do that each time we use them, but I don’t always know who has been here before me so I’d rather do it myself and make sure,” he looked around. “To do that, we need to boil a big pot of water on the stove. Once the water is boiling, we drop all the scalpels and tweezers and any metal tools we use.”
“Okay. I let you do that part, then I can drop stuff in.”
He nodded and filled a pot, and then put it on the stove. “Do you know why we put them in boiling water??”
“Um… I have a tendency to break them so I only put them on when I really need them, like when I’m working on a patient. Same reason we use hot water to wash hands?”
“It’s to kill all the germs. Do you know what germs are?”
“Like cooties. They the bad things that make us sick. Like when you touch a boy you get cooties. But if you touch a sick person you get germs.”
“Yes! Would you like to see what they look like? I can show you in my microscope."
“Yeah!” I said as he took out a microscope and put it on the counter. “It’s kinda like what Miss Trin has in her lab! For fingerprints and stuff!”
Mr. Alex took a glass slide and went outside, getting a drop of water, then went back inside and put the slide under the scope, looking first, and then grinned at me. “It is like what she has. Go ahead and take a look. See if you can see any wee beasties crawling around.”
I got a stool and moved it over so I could stand on it and looked through the microscope. “Wow, they ugly things.”
“Those will give you a belly ache if you drink water with them in it. That’s why you shouldn’t drink out of a puddle. Boiling water or alcohol will kill those though so it’s safe.”
“So alcohol is a good thing?”
“Alcohol is a very good thing. It sterilizes and if a patient is in a lot of pain it can help if they have a little drink. Drinking too much of it though will make you sick. Especially a kid. When you clean a wound, you use alcohol to kill the germs. Boiling water would burn a person but alcohol just stings a little.”
“So that’s why Miss Trin drinks whiskey when she’s sad…”
“Yeah, sometimes grown-up do that when their sad.”
“She drank lots last night…”
“Is Miss Trin okay?” he rose his eyebrows, cleaning off the slide and putting the microscope away.
“ I dunno, Mr. Stone... She kinda lonely ’cause Mr. Thomas has been real busy with stuff and with that fire and then the big court case.... And then finding out ’bout Miss Aeryne.. And she found two people from her past who were from a tribe that weren’t so nice to her. But they were the nice ones. But she’s been talkin’ lots about her Native stuff lately. And I think it making her a bit sad…”
“Sounds like she’s been quite busy.”
“Too busy, Mr. Stone,” I nodded and he agreed silently. “You’re her best friend, right? Like Jimmy’s mine?”
“I am.”
“Can’t you tell her not to work so much?”
“I’ve been telling her that since I met her! Miss Trin likes to work,” he chuckled.
“What happens if someone drinks too much alcohol?”
“They get all dizzy and say stupid things and throw up.”
“I better make sure she don’t drink too much then,” I frowned.
“Looks like it’s time to throw the tools in,” he said, looking at the boiling water on the stove. He held out the tray of surgical instruments and said, “Plop them in one by one. Just be careful not to get splashed. And you’re right, She shouldn’t drink TOO much. But a little now and then is okay.”
I nodded and took the tools, placing them slowly into the hot water. “What do each of these tools do, Mr. Stone?”
“Well, this little sharp one is called a scalpel. It’s used to make incisions. Like if I need to cut a patient open for surgery or to help get a bullet out.”
“Oh... But I don’t have ta do that part, right?”
“Nope, you don’t have to do that,” he grinned. “If I have a patient in here when you’re around, I’ll have you fetch things for me. But no making incisions.”
“Okay good. Not that I couldn’t watch,” I assured.
“Are you brave when it comes to blood?”
I finished putting the tools in the water and placed them on the table. “Uh huh. Remember when I hurt my arm?”
“Good! Because that’s important too. I do remember.”
“I didn’t care ’bout the blood or the hurting. I just didn’t wanna get in trouble for bein’ in the mines,” I said and he chuckled. “Tools are all clean.”
“Good job! I’m really pleased with your hard work today.”
“Thank you Mr. Stone! It’s not so hard.”
“No it isn’t. But it’s still important. I think that’s probably good for today. Maybe next time, we can work in the Pearce clinic and I can introduce you to Mr. Bones, the skeleton there and you can learn all the bones in the body.”
“Mr. Bones?” I grinned.
“Yep, he’s hanging right there in the clinic. It’s useful to be able to see what your skeleton looks like.”
I pointed to the different parts on him and said, “Arm bone, hand bone, leg bone, foot bone... head bone, Neck bone….”
“I think you’ll catch on in no time,” Mr. Stone chuckled.
“Hey Mr. Stone?” I grinned and looked at him.
“Yes, Miss Stark?”
“What do you know about the Apache tribe?”
“Not a lot. I’ve met a few of them, and even been welcomed there in the past, but I’ve never had much of a chance to really study their culture.”
“Do you know why the subject makes Miss Trin so sad?”
“Well... She has a past with them. Have you asked her about it?”
“I’m reading through her journals still from way back then... But she still in Colorado at the part I’m at. Nothin’ really ’bout Apache or Natives ’cept she kept visiting this Chief called Hawk with the Cheyenne tribe in Kansas. She go there to feel more peaceful when she upset. But somethin’ musta happened to make her so sad since then. I just not at that part yet. She told me about Sunset and how he almost killed her cause she had the Native soldier medal from her dad.”
“Her journals will probably tell more about it.”
“But then he couldn’t cause of their shared um... heritage. But that’s all I know.”
“I hope she doesn’t think about the past too much if it makes her sad.”
“Well I think it’s more ’cause things are starting to happen lots now. Like the fire and Aeryne and Miss Zan. I think that what making her sad more than the talk bout Natives. She really wants me to learn ’bout them. So they can’t be all bad… Right?”
“It might be. You’re a curious kid - I bet you could learn lots of stuff about them. No, they aren’t all bad.”
“Maybe just the ones Miss Trin met. But she also told me yesterday ’bout when she saved the Apache Chief here from getting hanged for protectin’ his family. So I guess ’nuff time has passed that now she can help ’em again.”
“Yep, I remember that case,” he nodded.
“She said it were the only other time she helped that side of the court here. Mr. Alex? Um… I mean Mr. Stone?”
“Yes?” he chuckled.
“Thank you for showin’ me how to clean clinic.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for helping today. You’re a great cleaner. Would you like to help more?”
“Uh huh! Maybe tomorrow we can go to see Mr. Bones.”
“That sounds like a great idea! I’m glad you want to learn more,” he grinned.
“More fun than school. Less confusin’ too,” I said and he chuckled.
“I know what you mean. I used to get in trouble in school a lot for not paying attention. I was always daydreaming out the window. And the teacher would spank me with a ruler.”
“It’s just cause they won’t let me sit beside Jimmy.”
“That’s too bad you can’t sit beside Jimmy.”
“It’s no fun. But... Sabi said she sorry for bein’ mean to me that one day. So maybe we can be friends again.”
“They just don’t want you getting cooties,” he smirked. “That was very nice of her.”
“Yeah but we both on SS Cootie,” I chuckled. “So it don’t count for us.”
“I’m glad you’ve got a good friend like Jimmy.”
“Uh huh. And I’m glad Ma’s got a good friend like you!”
“So am I.”
“Mr. Um... Can I call you Alex now cause we done working?”
“Yep, you can,” he nodded and chuckled.
“Are you gonna be around lots? Maybe I could go find Miss Trin and you two can drink a bit... But not too much.”
“Sure, I wouldn’t mind having a drink with Trin.”
“Okay I go find Miss Trin then,” I went to hug him tight and he gave me a big hug.
“I’ll be here,” he promised. “You did a great job this morning.”
“Thanks Mr. Alex!” I grinned and walked out of the clinic.
***
This evening I found Payton and told her about helping out at the clinic. Sabi and Ruby came over and I told them that my ma was okay now ‘cause she got to see Mr. Thomas again. Sabi said that she called my ma auntie which meant we were kind of like cousins. Payton told us that Miss Ashton was a horse thief and she was gone, so she couldn’t adopt her anymore. She also said that Miss Joan was trying to adopt Jimmy so she couldn’t adopt Payton.
A woman came over and asked us if we were going to serve vegetables since we were near the stand. Mr. Cole came over then and I ran over to hug him. He told me to go find Miss Rye and stay with her, as well as Ruby, Sabi and Payton.
“But why? Somethin’ wrong, Mr. Cole?” I asked curiously.
“Cause I don’t need to find you hurt in the street. Now scoot.”
“But…” I sighed.
“No buts.”
“What if I wait in clinic? I help there now. Mr. Stone taught me how to clean it. I bet it needs cleanin’ again.”
“Ok but inside.”
“Yes sir,” I said and went into the clinic, but stayed near the door to look outside the window to see if anyone was going to come in. I still wanted to know what was going on and pressed my nose to the window. I saw a man walking over to the clinic then and stepped back, knowing I had to be professional. “Hi Sir, you been shot?”
“Why hello, what are you doing in the clinic young lady?” the man asked.
“I’m helping out if the clinic needs to be cleaned. I help remove sheets from beds once people been on ’em. And sterilize the tools. You don’t look shot,” I looked up at him.
“No little Miss, I was in town looking for a young little girl as I wanted to finally meet her. But I don’t know where she is.”
“What’s her name?”
“Her name is Natalie. I am a very close friend of her ma, Miss Trin.”
“That’s my name and my ma!!” I said excitedly.
“Oh! So you are the little red-haired girl Jimmy goes on about.”
“Uh huh!! That’s my best friend!! Are you the man who has sleepovers with my mommy and gives me candy?”
“Well my name is Thomas,” he blushed bright red. “Umm, yes I have slept over at Miss Trin’s before. Yes, did your ma give you that bag of candy I sent you today? It came all the way from Texas.”
“I did!! It was real yummy!!” I went to give him a big hug. “You make ma real happy! She need that.”
Mr. Thomas smiled and hugged me, ruffling my hair. “Well she makes me happy too. She said you are a hand full to take care of, but she loves you very much.”
I giggled and then asked, “Mr. Thomas what’s goin’ on outside?”
Mr. Thomas reached into his coat pocket and took out a shiny silver dollar and handed it to me. “That’s for being such a wonderful little girl and helping your ma.”
“Wow, thanks Mister!” I grinned and took the dollar.
“You’re more than welcome. Well some bad people seem to be shooting their guns. Its best if you and I stay in here. I don’t much like guns. Do you?”
“Nu uh. Guns are bad but they still help protect people. Miss Ashley was killed ’front of me ’cause she weren’t wearin’ guns.”
“I also heard you saw something bad happen over the weekend, with your best friend Jimmy.”
“It was scary,” I looked down.
Mr. Thomas knelt down in front of me and looked in my eyes. “Listen Natalie, life can be scary, and many bad things happen we can’t control. You were so brave to stay there with Jimmy. Remember though, never be afraid to run and find help or safer place to hide. Houses can be replaced, you can’t.”
I hugged him tightly and nodded. “I wanted to stay on balcony but Jimmy wanted to go put out the fire. I didn’t wanna lose him too.”
A lady walked in then and I asked her, “Hi lady, you been shot?”
“I understand, but next time, drag him with you no matter what you have to do. You are both very special kids, and we dont want anything to happen to either of you,” Mr. Thomas hugged me tight.
“Okay Mr. Thomas,” I nodded.
“Evenin’ ma’am,” Mr. Thomas tipped his hat to the lady.
“Can I ask what you are doing in the clinic?” she asked.
“I am keeping little Natalie here company while the bad things go on in the street,” Mr. Thomas said.
“And I was told to go inside cause Mr. Cole told me to. And I started helping Mr. Alex with the clinic this morning. I cleaned it all. Don’t it look clean?”
“Never mind,” she said and walked out of the clinic.
“She no like how I cleaned the place?” I frowned.
“I don’t think she liked finding strangers she didn’t know in here. There are things in here that can hurt you dear,” Mr. Thomas said.
“Oh… But Mr. Alex is teaching me how to do stuff and what not to touch.”
“That’s good dear, just please always be careful when in here ok.”
“Hello you beautiful people,” Miss Lisa shouted then and I cringed, hiding behind Mr. Thomas.
“What’s wrong, dear?”
“She eat kids.”
“Who?”
“That woman voice.”
“Nawww, she cant eat kids. She just a woman,” he laughed.
“Mr. Thomas?”
“Yes Miss Natalie?” he laughed and sat down on the floor next to me.
“Where Jimmi? I mean… Where is Jimmi?”
“I dunno dear. I haven’t seen in quite some time. Maybe he is with Mrs Joan his soon to be new ma.”
“Hope not.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She keep takin’ him away from me and tellin’ him what to do. And she was mean to Miss Trin.”
“You really like Jimmy don’t you?”
“He like a brother to me,” I nodded a lot. “I don’t have no brothers or sisters.”
“He really likes yo to Natalie. He talks about you all the time. He told me you two have a boat together.”
“All the girls were mean but the ones here startin’ to be nice. Sabi even said she sorry to me today.”
“I got a question for you Natalie.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you know, if you feed a cow chocolate, you get chocolate milk?”
“Really?”
“Yeah! And if you spin a cow around real fast, you get whipped cream…” he chuckled.
I blinked and asked, “Are you makin’ that up, Mr. Thomas?”
“No! Would I tell a fib to a kid? Ask Miss Trin next time about it.”
“It quiet out there in streets now,” I giggled and looked out the window. “Ain’t it Monday?”
“Yes it is, I do believe.”
“There a dance today,” I showed him on the calendar book. “You should come with me and get Ma and you two can go to dance.”
“Oh really? Yes, I told her I would be calling on her this evenin’.”
“Wann?”
“Sure, lead the way Miss Natalie.”
We walked outside and I saw Mr. Cole there still and asked, “Mr Thomas, you know Mr. Cole?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Mr Cole, this is Mr. Thomas. He ma’s um… What the word for sleepover buddy, Mr Thomas?”
“Friend,” he laughed.
“Friend? That it? That don’t sound enough.”
“Evenin’ Mr. Cole,” Mr. Thomas tipped his hat to him.
“Evenin’ Mr. Tom.”
“We goin’ to find Ma so Mr Thomas can take her to the dance. But I wanted him ta meet you cause you kept me safe. No one got shot?”
“Thats plenty dear. Yes, I promised Miss Trin I would call on her this evening.”
“No but lots of gunfire….” Mr. Cole smiled.
“Oh... Good thing I was inside then.”
“Yes it was…”
“Come on Mr Thomas, let’s go find Ma. Maybe she in her office. I go find her if you guys wanna talk. I think I see light on up there. Ma!!! Mr Thomas downstairs!!! You go dance. I gonna stay here and read!” I called up to her and then sat in her desk and read as she went downstairs to meet Mr. Thomas.
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