Don't Poke the Bear!

Chapter 11

THE OPERATION TO remove the rope turns out to be the nastiest, smelliest thing I ever been around, apart from buffalo hunters. The only worrisome moment comes when we put the ether over Rudy's nose, which he don't care for at all. His eyes go wide and I can feel a surge of power as his muscles tense. But Gentry soothes him with her talk, and he quiets back down right quick. In the end, it's just like Gentry predicted, and Rudy comes through it just fine.

While Rudy rests up from his surgery, Wing Ding and I make him a body harness from some old horse reigns. I know I won't be able to hold him back if he's determined to go forward against my will, but Rudy don't seem like the kind of bear that's gonna be trouble. I guess the proof'll be in the puddin'. After finishin' the harness, Wing and I go back to diggin' the indoor jail hole. It's my turn to haul the dirt to the toss area, and as the day turns to afternoon, I dump another load and look up to see Earl Gray drivin' his wagon toward town faster than need be. I look behind him to see if Indians are attackin', but there's no one chasin' him that I can see.

So fast is his approach, I drop the empty dirt bucket and circle around the buildin' to see if he plans to stop in front of my place. When he does, I run up to him.

"We're at war!" he shouts.

"What? Who's at war?"

"The whole blamed country!"

"What're you talkin' about?"

"They just finished takin' your money for the burial when a telegraph message come through. The North has declared war on the South!"

"Wait a minute. Which side are we on?"

"Damned if I know! But we better figure it out soon!"

"Maybe we should hold a meetin'," I say.

"Maybe we should."

"We can do 'er in my place."

Word gets around and a couple hours later there's about forty people in the Spur's main room. I start by sayin', "As you probably all heard by now, Earl was at Fort Dodge this mornin', and learned the North declared war on the South. In January we became a Union free state, so I assume we're with the North. At the same time, we're a western state, with no militia. I'm not countin' the soldiers at Fort Dodge, since there ain't enough of 'em to help either side, right Earl?"

"I saw eight or nine," Earl says, "plus a couple officers and a cook. There might've been one or two more, but I doubt it."

"The Fort Dodge soldiers are there to protect settlers from Indians," I say, "so I doubt they'll be reassigned to fight southerners. But if anyone's got any information about any of this, we'd love to hear it."

There's a lot of mumblin' and grumblin', but no one gets overly worked up, since none of us are quite sure which side we're on, or even if the war involves us. After ten minutes of brave talk and idle threats directed at nameless people who may or may not be fightin' against us, we shut down the meetin', and everyone gets drunk.