Chapter 5
December 4th, 1884
Alicetown, Free West
While at Half-Hills, Elodie spotted a covered wagon near the sleeping Blackened that the group used to transport the injured. However, it was decided to leave the dead behind, and Mac would stay with them. He wanted to ensure that no Blackened returned for neither the bodies nor the devices in the mine.
As for the others, they returned to Alicetown. Once they were close enough, Luck rode ahead. In those moments, he thought about Benny. He wanted to know why he looked the way he did. Back in the mine, when Mac had returned from calling the girls down, Luck pressed him for answers. But he didn’t know either. Mac told Luck that Benny had always looked that way since birth. However, the horns were only a few years old.
Not too long after leaving the wagon behind, Luck reached the edge of town. A gun went off, and a bullet exploded the dirt not too far from where Wayward was. She stopped without his needing to pull on the reins.
“Announce yourself!” A woman’s voice shouted from the ahead. The voice echoed almost as loud as the rifle shot.
Luck put but hands up, “It’s Thomas Luck! We’ve got injured! Need to get to the doctor!”
A cloaked individual from a building on the edge of the town rose and waved a hat in the air, signaling Luck to pass through.
“C’mon, girl!” He Kicked his heels, and Wayward was back on the move.
The whole town looked almost abandoned, aside from bits of lantern or candle lights that pierced through curtains. Everybody must’ve been told to stay indoors. Luck didn’t even see people on the street, but he had a pretty good feeling that there were eyes watching everything.
Riding past the brothel, Luck pulled on the reins making a sharp 180 turn and doubling back. He wasn’t sure if Madam D’Arcy was awake, but he still shouted, “Madam! Your girls have Benny, and we’re going to the clinic!” Luck left it at that and continued the last stretch to Dr. Gilmore’s.
Once there, Luck hopped off the saddle before Wayward could stop. He ran to the door and slammed on it with an open palm. “Dr. Gilmore! You up?”
“I’m up,” Her voice was followed by muffled steps as the door swung open. “How many?” She asked. Her eyes looked heavy, and her voice was hoarse.
“Four. Three of ‘em, the Yucati, need the most attention. Benny seems fine, but you should probably check him out.”
“Okay.” Dr. Gilmore looked outside in both directions, “Where are they?”
“On their way. I rode ahead to let you know.”
“Smart. Come inside and help me prepare for their arrival.” Dr. Gilmore pivoted and led the way inside.
Before going inside, Luck turned wayward, “go get some water and rest up. You did good.”
Wayward kicked the dirt a few times and took off.
Luck returned to the clinic and rushed inside, where Dr. Gilmore had already started getting things ready.
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Luck yawned quietly, but Dr. Gilmore and Patricia, her medical assistant and Madam D’Arcy’s bookkeeper, turned to look at him.
“I’m fine,” he said with water in his eyes. Luck was asked by Dr. Gilmore to prepare some of his mother’s balm after she saw the bullet wound in his shoulder had nearly healed over. He grabbed his bag of ingredients from his room in the saloon and set up shop in the clinic, across the room from the injured. He looked over to where Dr. Gilmore and Patricia were. Both were in the process of removing the bandages of the second Yucatan. Their beds had been lined up against the wall, with cloth partitions separating each bed. Luck looked over to Madam D’Arcy. She was standing next to an unconscious Benny.
“These injuries appear to be - experimental in nature.” Dr. Gilmore said to the room. “Some injuries appeared to have been caused by boiling water, while other injuries resemble burns and cuts of different depths. Branding irons and surgical knives. Methodical too. The burns, brands, and cuts are in groupings. They go from minor to severe.”
“Why would someone do this?” asked Patricia.
“My best guess is for research. But I don’t know what kind of research.” Dr. Gilmore glanced at Luck briefly. “You said they had needles and rubber hoses connected to them?”
“Yes. On all of them. And all of them were in a similar state. Except for Benny.”
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“That’s no surprise.” She said.
“Why is that?”
“Because Benny is – resilient.” Madam D’Arcy said. She kept her eyes on Benny. “This boy doesn’t get sick, and he doesn’t get hurt. He’s never had a bruise or a scratch. Hell, he once fell from the roof of the brothel while star gazing and got back up like nothing happened.”
“Which is why his unconscious state worries me. He’ll need to go to Yucati.” Dr. Gilmore said.
Madam D’Arcy stayed quiet.
The good doctor peeked out the partition, “D’Arcy.”
“I know. I know.”
“Once the Yucati get here, he’ll have to go. Send Thomas with him. I’m sure he’s itching for answers.”
Luck raised his eyebrows, “I don’t mind. First, I’ll have to finish prepping this balm.”
Dr. Gilmore nodded and winked at him.
Luck was almost done with the balm. He had cut some lavender, blueberry leaves, and spearmint and mixed them with aloe. The olive oil and beeswax that were being heated started to show some bubbles, so he tossed the mixed herbs and aloe in the pot and stirred.
He pulled what looked like a piece of wood from the tin box where he kept the ingredients. Luck placed it in his mortar and pestle, then started grinding. His mother called the plant ayahuasca. It was a powerful plant. His mother said it was used by people who wanted to go on spiritual journeys. But if prepared correctly with other plants and not consumed, it would gently push the body to heal quicker, and it could also relieve pains from injuries.
It was one of his most guarded secrets, but he saw no harm in spilling the beans on this balm recipe after letting one be known already. That, and he wanted to do some good for a change. He turned to the injured lying on the beds. Then Luck looked at the Madam. She got up and walked over to him.
“This balm you’re making. How do you know it’ll work,” Madam D’Arcy whispered as she took a spot next to Luck. Her arms were crossed, but her hands held on to a small blanket around her.
“I’ve been using it for most of my life.” Luck took a small brush and wiped clean the pestle. “Anytime I’d get hurt, I’d use it.”
“Could it heal broken bones?” She asked.
“I haven’t tried. It can heal damaged flesh, though. Bruises, burns, cuts, scrapes, stabs, gunshot wounds.”
“If it doesn’t work on broken bones, then would it not work well with stabs and gunshots?”
Luck thought for a second, then turned to the Madam, “I guess not. But it does.”
“Okay,” Madam D’Arcy nodded her head. “So, how does it work?”
“I honestly have no clue. My mother – she showed me how to make it. Told me what herbs were best to use and how to prepare and combine them all.”
“Sounds like a smart woman. Something like this could help a lot of people.” Madam D’Arcy turned her head around slightly, then turned back to Luck.
“It could, but my mother had said that not everyone has a steady hand to make this. That and ayahuasca, the herb I was grinding when you came over, it’s highly illegal and restrictive in Mexico and The Union. But,” Luck stirred in the ground ayahuasca, “If you’re willing to spend the money in shady places and risk being jailed or murdered, it’s not that hard to get.”
“If your mother showed you how to make it, wouldn’t she have more ayahuasca? Can’t you get some from her?”
“No – she died many years ago.” Luck looked at the Madam, then went a little quiet. Turning his attention to the balm
“I’m sorry to hear.” She whispered. The sincerity in her voice was as warm as her eyes.
Luck took a deep breath and exhaled, “Me too.”
Madam D’Arcy’s eye widened, “I just realized I never got to thank you for bringing Benny back.”
“No need to thank me, Madam.”
“First of all, I do have to thank you.” She squeezed his shoulder, reassuring him, “You are a stranger in a strange place, yet with everything going on, you agreed to help us out.” The Madam adjusted the small blanket around her, “I’ll tell you about Benny, but can you answer a question first? Why did you help us?”
Luck thought back to her pleas. The sound of a broken-hearted mother was a painful reminder of his childhood. He removed the oil and beeswax from the fire, “you reminded me of my mother. I could do nothing then, and I’d be a damn fool if I hadn’t done nothing today.” He looked at the Madam, who had tears in her eyes.
She nodded and wiped away the tears in her eyes. “Benny had a rough start in life. His mother was a dear friend of mine who was living in California. When she got pregnant, her partner didn’t want to keep it, but she did. So, he kicked her out, and she came to me. Everything was fine throughout her pregnancy. Her only complaint was that she always felt warm. When she went into labor, the process was as normal as ever. Dr. Gilmore was there to deliver Benny, and I held her hand. When Benny was out, Dr. Gilmore tried wiping him clean of the blood, but the boy’s skin wouldn’t change colors. She gave Benny to his mother to hold and assured her that aside from his skin, he was a healthy baby boy.”
Luck poured heated balm into a ceramic container and stirred slowly. “What happened to his mother?”
“She died on the table. The bleeding started again, and she lost too much.” Madam D’Arcy furrowed her eyebrows .“She knew she wouldn’t make it, so she took me by the arm and made me promise to keep him safe. After that, she handed him to me and – that was it.”
Luck gave the Madam a sympathetic look. “Did you choose his name? Benny?”
“No, that was all her. She said before if it was a boy, she’d name him Benicio. It was the name of her twin brother, who died a young man.”
“I guess my other question is, why Yucati? How are they supposed to help?”
“It is a unique place. Yucati is separated into two sections. One for visitors not native to Yucati and not considered allies, and another for all permanent residents and friends of the city-state. They also have many mystics and shamans that practice the magical arts.”
“The magical arts?”
Madam D’Arcy but hand on Luck's shoulder, “You’ll see.” And she returned to Benny’s side.
Luck wondered for a moment what he meant, then made his way outside with the ceramic container. He set the cooling balm on the bench and sat next to it. Not a full minute after sitting down, a gunshot echoed from the south.
Luck stood up with his hand on his revolver. Looking to the south, a platoon-sized group rode into town. They were being led by a man and a woman. They approached the front of the clinic as a pair of eagles swooped down from the sky and landed above the porch roof.
I assume you are from Yucati?”
“Yes,” the woman said. She had long black hair, dark brown skin, very loose clothes, and a necklace with five jade pendants. The middle one a triangle. She said something to the man with her, then walked past Luck and entered the clinic.
The man started shouting orders in a language Luck didn’t understand. Then he turned and spoke to the eagles. The man appeared to also give them orders. Are there others like me?
Luck could understand when the eagles responded to the man. Unlike when he spoke with Wayward, there was no deciphering for him to do. The eagles communicated clearly and with coherent emotions…like people.