Chapter 4

“God, Connie, I’m not dying. Slow down.”

A second set of particularly nauseating chatter bumps rattled my bones and the jeep.

“Not dying?” Consuelo said, “You haven’t seen your ankle ... No! Don’t look!” She looked at her watch ... try that while driving over a dust gravel road full of the evidence that the county hasn’t been using your taxes in the proper manner. “We need to loosen the tourniquet for a minute.”

She started to pull over.

“I can do it!” I said.

“No!” She pulled off the road. “I’ll do it.”

She un-twisted the arrow shaft... “That’s going to make a mess. No ... don’t look!”

Mumbling to her self ... I could hear what she was saying...

“God, blood is so hard to clean up.”

“That bad?”

“What?”

“Bleeding.”

“Don’t look!”

I looked ... shouldn’t have ... that wonderful Bear Lodge meal didn’t look so good in my lap ... didn’t taste good either.

“Damn it Karen ... I said don’t look.”

“I was wondering why.”

“Now you know.”

“Now I know.”

She tightened the arrow and engaged the gearbox. It’s a Jeep, but it’s got a Davy Martin installed Corvette engine and five speed ... when I say Away we went ... We really WENT!

Before the Water Plant the road makes a ninety degree off camber turn to the right and up a steep hill where it turns ninety degrees again, left this time. The bottom turn is where the wreck occurred that got me the 340 in the Dodge ... slow around the corner is recommended ... we didn’t.

It was close. Close also threw me up against the shifter ... that’ll leave a bruise ... and, YES! before you ask, I had the seatbelt fastened.

At the top of the hill ... the road was paved ... going into the Water Plant. At the top of the hill, Soldier Creek is gravel. The transition is fierce.

BUMP

Oh God.

My head hit the roof...

“Hello, Karen.”

A fuzzy guy in a white coat over green scrubs was lifting one of my eyelids. With his other hand he was shining a pencil light in it.

Of course I flinched.

“Glad to see you’re with us, again.”

He felt the top of my head...

OW!

“That’ll be sore for a few days.” He said, “You don’t recognize me?”

“Umh...”

“I’m the guy who sewed you up in Norris. I knew we should have X-rayed that ankle. But the closest machine and technician was sixty miles. Teach me to go with first instincts. Quick action by your friend ... Consuelo is it? ... saved your life. You should thank her.”