I said to myself, ‘In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.'” — Ecclesiastes 3:17, NLT
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“Pull yourself together!” I ordered. “McGinnis and who else? And who is this McGinnis?”
“The Kid, he calls himself the Kid,” muttered Tanner, who was gaining control of his emotions. “Sorry, Marshal, it’s just that I’m the only deputy left, the other three are dead, and Marshal Peters was shot down right in front of me, and when the Sheriff tried to stop it, he was shot. I was fortunate to be able to drag him down to the office.”
I looked back where Charlie lay, “They’ll pay for this,” I promised, then told Tanner I was going for the doctor. He gave me directions and I heard the door being locked as soon as I left.
I didn’t try to hide myself. Some here in Silverton knew me, but since I had never heard of McGinnis or this Kid, I didn’t reckon they would know me by sight. My jacket covered my badge, so I walked normally to the doctor’s office which was a block on the other side of Greene Street. Silverton always had a need for a good doctor with the injuries that occurred to the miners, but in the past they didn’t last long, just a little longer than a marshal.
In front of a small house, there was a red cross and below it read, “Doctor’s Office — Zedekiah Minton.” Since it was an office I didn’t bother knocking and went right on in the entrance. There was a little room to my left with a couple of chairs, and to my right was another room with the door closed.
“Doc, Doc Minton!” I hollered. I was half-tempted to go through the closed door, but thought better thinking that he might have a patient in there. “Doc!” I yelled once more.
The door opened slightly and I saw part of a face peek out. “Have a seat, I’ll be right with you. I’m with a patient,” he informed me, then quickly closed the door before I could say anything else.
I didn’t bother to sit, but stood in the little entryway–waiting. It was a good ten minutes before the door opened again and out walked a young woman with a boy who could not be more than ten years old. The doctor was chatting to them. I tipped my hat and received a slight nod from the lady. “Now, remember to take that medicine with food,” admonished the doctor then patting the boy on the shoulder.
After escorting them to the door and opening it for them, he turned to me. “Now, what can I do for you?”
“Grab your bag and coat and come with me. Sheriff Gold has been shot and is in dire need of your services.”
He donned a coat that was hanging from a rack near the entry, then went back to the office to get his bag. “How bad is he?”
“That’s why I’m here, I need you to check on him. He was shot twice, once in the upper chest area and once in the head. I’ve got the bleedin’ stopped, but he’s needs your attention.”
He was ready to go. “He’s up at the jail.”
As we walked at a brisk pace, he remarked, “I heard shooting the other day, quite a bit in fact, but that’s nothing new in Silverton.” He stopped, I figured he wanted me to tell him more.
“When we get inside, I’ll explain more.” It only took us a few minutes to arrive at the jail. I banged on the door, and Deputy Tanner slowly opened it. I took the doctor right on back to where Charlie was. I got out of his way so he could work on Charlie and turned to Tanner.
“Now, where can I find this McGinnis and so-called Kid?”