Now Playing: The Robin Hood of the Range
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Episode Nine concluded with:
Cissy
stood and watched her father until he made it inside the house. What would she
have done if her lies had failed? The girl didn’t know, but she did know this
much. She would never have let her pa get past her and find Ricky Cates.
Episode Ten
Cissy
ran back to the barn. She retrieved a bag of clean rags that could be used as
bandages, and a few clean tools, including a bucket. The girl stepped outside
the barn where there was a pump and filled the bucket about a quarter full. She
then hurried over to the outlaw, whose face remained pale.
“This
is gonna hurt some, but I’ll have you fixed up soon.”
Cates’
voice expressed anger and disbelief. “What do you know about doctorin’?”
A
lifetime spent with Dencel Runyan had inured Cissy to harsh words. She accepted
the mockery in Ricky’s voice as her rightful due. “I’ve been brought up on this
hardscrabble ranch.” The girl spoke as she undid Cates’ makeshift bandage which
came from a ripped, dirty blanket. “My pa likes his drink. All sorts of ugly
things happen around here. I don’t have much book learnin’, but I’ve still
learned a lot. Had to.”
The
outlaw became more cautious. He realized, once again, that this girl could help
him. His voice became friendly. “Nobody
could accuse you of braggin’ on your family.”
“Nothin’
much to brag on; my ma is a fine woman, but…” Cissy held the lantern closer to
the wound. “Not too much buckshot there. You must have been movin’ pretty
quick.”
The
killer caught the strong element of hero worship in the girl’s voice. “There
were…six men in that posse.” He started to say a dozen but realized Cissy lived
too close to Grimsby and the real world to believe that. “They were all armed
with shotguns or Winchesters. I wounded four of them. Figured they had it
comin’ for what they did to the Bolgers. Simon, Elsie and Isaiah, why, they
were just hard working, poor people.”
What
followed was painful for Ricky Cates, but he remained stoic as the girl removed
the buckshot and cleaned the wound. He had to keep the image of the Robin Hood
of the Range alive in order to keep himself alive.
Cissy
concluded by locating a ladle, putting fresh water in the bucket, and making
her patient take several drinks. She held the ladle in one hand and lifted
Cates’ head with the other. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. You’re gonna be weak
for a spell.”
“Guess
so…thanks for all you’ve done.”
Cissy allowed the outlaw’s head to gently return to the ground. She withdrew her hand
slowly, allowing it to caress Cates’ cheek. The girl looked confused and upset.
She started to speak, then stopped and began again, only this time on a
different track. “I’m gonna give
Sherwood a rub down, then put him in a back stall, where he won’t be easy to
spot.”
The
girl tended to the horse, then with the lantern in hand, she quietly went back
to her patient. Ricky Cates was sleeping but the light woke him up. As his eyes
opened, he smiled at the pretty face which hovered over him.
“I’m
sorry I woke you.”
“I’m
not.”
The
girl’s body trembled; in her nervousness she forgot about the first name
arrangement with her hero. “Mr. Cates, there’s somethin’ I gotta say to you.”
Tomorrow:
Episode Eleven of The Robin Hood of the Range
