Chapter 6

Wide Spot sort of lived up to its name. The road narrowed as they went west and the road curved back and forth among the hills. This was the country that was full of sink holes and caves. Nobody with any experience left the road through here for any reason. That's why they were so surprised when they heard the cry for help.

A few yards off the road to the left was the edge of a fresh sinkhole and the cry came from there. Bill, who was driving, asked Ada to stop while they investigated. The two men carefully walked to the edge of the sinkhole and looked down.

The hole was about 20 feet deep, and, at the bottom, there was a man still sitting on his dead horse. It appeared that the horse had broken its neck as it fell into the sinkhole and had died without moving any farther. The man said, "I'm shore glad ta see y'all. I been here overnight, an' I thought nobody wuz ever gonna come along. Kin y'all he'p me, please? My leg's broken an' I can't git offen this dumb hoss by myself. My name is Jack Butcher an' I live over in Dona Ana county."

Bill said, "Shore, Jack, we'll he'p ya. I'm Bill Jones an' this here is Hank Prescott. Let us git rigged up, we'll be right back."

The two men returned to the buckboard and got two lengths of rope. One of each was fastened to the buckboard. The other end of one of the ropes was fastened into a harness around Bill so that he could be dragged back out of the hole, if necessary. Bill threw the loose end of the other rope down into the sinkhole.

The wall of the sinkhole was steep and slippery with loose sand, so Bill had to hold on to the other rope as he slid down to the injured man. Bill and a lot of sand arrived at the injured man about the same time. "Shit! Ya shore brought a lot more sand with ya than I really needed. I figured that I had a gracious plenty afore ya brung more!" the injured man groused, and then smiled to let Bill know that he was only joking out of relief to get the much-needed assistance.

Bill laughed and said, "Well, I did want ya ta appreciate this first class he'p ya wuz gittin'. Now, which leg is broken?"

"It's my right leg, an' its broken below my knee. I got my left foot worked out of the stirrup, but I can't move my right foot enough to work it loose."

"OK, let's git ya tied to the rope first thing afore we try to dig ya out. I'll try diggin' around yer right leg while ya try to work yer left outa the sand."

Bill tied Jack to the loose rope and yelled to Hank, "OK, TAKE UP THE SLACK ON HIS ROPE. I GOTS TA WORK HIS BROKEN LEG LOOSE AFORE WE KIN PULL HIM OUT. KEEP TAKIN' UP THE SLACK AS I DIG."

Bill dug in the loose sand with his hands until he reached Jack's foot. "Hey, Jack, we're in luck. Yer foot is already slipped outa the stirrup, soz it shouldn't be too much trouble ta git ya outa this here hole. When ya're loose, Hank will pull ya out with the mule, so just lie back an' enjoy the ride."

Only a little more digging was necessary before Hank could start pulling in earnest. Jack was pulled out of the hole with Bill beside him, giving him the stability he needed as he was pulled up. The trip hurt like hell, but Jack was finally safe.

It was impossible to tell for sure, but it looked like the act of pulling Jack and Bill out of the hole destabilized the surrounding ground enough that several tons of sand poured into the hole, cutting the depth of the hole in half. Bill commented, "Well, Jack, it looks like there ain't no way we're gonna recover yer tack an' such. But it shore looks like yer hoss got a decent burial."

"Yeah, twern't his fault that we wuz in that hole. I wuz trying ta git to Wide Spot last night an' wandered off the road when the moon got covered by a cloud. The next thin' I knowed, we wuz fallin' in that there sink hole. The ground jus' let go right from under us."

"Where should we take ya? Its shore an' certain that Wide Spot ain't got no doctor."

"Ya're right there! I guess that Jim Dandy would be the best place. It's a little town 'bout 10 miles the way ya're headed, soz I hopes it ain't too much outa yer way. They got a doctor; I saw his sign as I rode through, yesterday."

Bill said, "Maybe I should try ta set yer leg afore we start out. It'll prob'bly hurt less that way. I've had experience settin' broken legs on the range."

"Much obliged ifen ya would. It smarts a might, now, an' I ain't looking forward ta a 10-mile buckboard ride the way it is."

Bill found a couple of suitable sticks for a splint and set the broken leg. They left for Jim Dandy after he had finished setting the break. Jack managed to sleep most of the way, so the trip wasn't too agonizing for him.

The got to Jim Dandy about noon and found the doctor sitting in his office eating a sandwich. Hank and Bill carried Jack into the office, and the doctor got right to work. "Ya boys did a good job of settin' the break. Yer friend's gonna be fine, once that heals. That'll be four bits. There's a hotel down the street a little ways, and the swamper kin look after him. Good day!"

They got Jack to a room and made arrangements for the Negro swamper to look after him for 10¢ a day. Fortunately, Jack had some money in his money belt that didn't get lost in the accident, so he would be able to pay for his care until he recovered. Hank and Bill went to the restaurant for dinner and dropped into the saloons to hear the latest news.

Mostly, they heard what they already knew, but there was one item of interest. There was a woman north of town who was trying to run her ranch alone, since her husband was killed by rustlers. She had offered a $50 reward for the men who had killed him. This wasn't the kind of money that they were used to getting, but, what the hell, they didn't have any other prospects right then.

They got directions to Mrs. Hawkins' place and set out after visiting the last of the three saloons in town. The Bar H Bar Ranch was about 2 hours away at Ada's usual traveling rate, so they arrived well before supper time. They drove into the front yard and didn't see anybody about. This was strange, since any working ranch usually had at least one hand who stayed around the house for odd jobs that couldn't be scheduled.

A bit concerned, Hank shouted, "HELLO, THE HOUSE! ANYBODY HOME?" Not hearing an answer, he tried again, "HELLO! HELLO! IS ANYBODY AROUND?"

This time, they heard a faint voice from inside the house, "Help! Please help me!" It sounded like a woman's voice coming from upstairs, so both men rushed in and up the stairs they found just inside the front door. There was a hallway at the top of the stairs with several closed doors to rooms leading off the hall. They heard again, "Please help me!" coming from the room at the far end of the hall.

They rushed in and found a naked woman tied, spread eagle, on the bed. They quickly cut her loose and threw a sheet over her. She gasped, "Water. I need water."

Bill rushed downstairs and grabbed a cup, filled it with water from the pump on the back porch, and rushed back to the woman with it. He fed her the water in sips so that she wouldn't get sick. He only let her have half a cup, at first, but said, "I'll git ya all the water ya want, jus' not all at once soz ya won't git sick."

She smiled at him and begin to rub her wrists where they were chaffed by the ropes. A few minutes later, Bill gave her some more water and left to refill the cup. When he returned, he gave her some more water, and she said, "Thank y'all so much fer savin' me. I thought shore I wuz a goner 'til y'all showed up."

Hank said, "Are ya Mrs. Hawkins? I'm Hank Prescott an' this here is Bill Jones. What happened?"

"Yes, I'm Mary Hawkins. It wuz horrible. Rustlers had run off with all the cattle, and I ran out of money. I had two ranch hands workin' here, an' I had to tell 'em that I had no money ta pay 'em their wages. They went crazy an' ransacked the house lookin' fer money. When they didn't find any, they said they would take out their wages in trade. They tied me ta this here bed and cut off my clothes. I don't know how many times they raped me in the two days they had me tied up. They left yesterday, an' I've been alone since then 'til y'all gentlemen came up.

Hank said, "Mrs. Hawkins, ya must be terribly hungry. I'm a fair trail cook, so I'll see what I kin find ta fix fer supper. We got some supplies along with us, so we kin have some sort of supper from that, if necessary. Bill will look after ya while I cook."

"Please call me Mary. Y'all are bein' so nice ta me, I may start cryin'."

Hank left to see what he could find to eat, and Bill said, "Call us Bill an' Hank, Mary. We like ta be nice to people. We find that it pays off in the long run. Now, what kin I do fer ya?"

"I'll have some more of the water, ifen ya please. After that, please look in that there armoire an' hand me the robe ya'll find."

Bill helped her drink and then got the robe for her from the armoire. He handed it to her and turned his back while she tried to put it on.

"Oh, fiddle-diddle! Bill, I can't manage this robe by myself, I'm too stiff and sore. Ya've already seen me nekkid, so one more time won't hurt. Please he'p me ta git it on."

Keeping his eyes averted from Mary's bared breasts as much as possible, Bill helped her to don the robe and fasten it across her chest. "Thank ya, Bill, ya're very sweet! Now, kin I have some more water?"

There was a knock on the door, and Hank came in with two sandwiches and a cup of coffee. "I figured ya needed sumpthin' ta eat, Mary, as quick as ya could git it, soz I whipped up some sandwiches an' coffee. I hope that meets with yer approval."