Three Minutes

Abby tossed the man’s arm through the open window and into the smoldering pile. 

Smoke clawed upward as the pile sizzled impatiently. I stepped up to the table, on the right side, so as not to block the light and handed Dr. Strom his forceps. Abby went to get the cautery iron. We maneuvered gracefully around the doctor and his two nurses, who held down a moaning man in a ratty, butternut wool uniform. He was the third of the day to lose a limb, and it was barely ten o’clock. 

Musket balls were great at breaking things. At least, that’s what Dr. Strom always said. I’d been working for him since nearly two years ago. Abby, too. It was right about the time our boys started coming back from the line in right awful ways. “Damn Yanks,” Dr. Strom would say every so often when a new patient showed up on the doorstep of his home, which was now a makeshift clinic. 

The whole place was full of soldiers on cots and blankets, wrapped up tight in bandages made from whatever cloth we could find. It was cramped, and smelled of burning flesh and filth. The only room with any space was the dining room, where the doctor operated on his patients. He did it right on top of his dinner table, so he could draw the most natural light from the bay windows at the front of the house. That was very important for his work. He scolded us into memorizing that much. 

I liked helping out however I could at the clinic. After all, our boys fought for us and our way of life and I needed to do my part. Dr. Strom said that a lot, too. I made a little money to help Momma and Auntie Jane keep things going and I got to spend plenty of time with Abby, who was my best and only friend in the world. 

Momma always said Abby wasn’t quite “right.” That her eyes lingered too long and that her smile was just shy of crooked, but I didn’t think so. Matter of fact, I don’t think Momma or Auntie Jane cared much for me hanging around Abby, on account she was colored. They never said so, but I could feel a strange discomfort in them when Abby was around. Still, Momma let me play with her when my chores were done, long as we didn’t leave the yard. I never really understood that either, because Abby was free, she could go wherever she pleased. Dr. Strom had bought her freedom the day she was born, so she could live with the nice colored folks down the road from my house. They were free, too. Didn’t matter much to me, but any way you looked at it, Abby lived by different rules. 

One of the worst ones was that she never got paid a lick. 

The rest of the day went by so fast. We had a lot of folks needing worked on, seemed like more were coming every day. Dr. Strom was so used to his procedures that it only took him about three minutes to get through the bone and less than ten to get another patient on the table. It was a good day anyway, nobody died. I always hated it when they died. Dr. Strom would get real sad, pull a little black book from his pocket and record the time. I don’t know what it mattered, but it always seemed to weigh on his mind. Momma says that men with many thoughts drink too much, but I’ve never seen Dr. Strom touch the bottle. 

We wrapped up with the latest arrival around three, he’d been run through with a bowie knife on his left shoulder. Was blood everywhere but inside the man. We managed to get him patched up real good and gave him a bit of laudanum for the pain, not that we could spare much. Once we cleaned the table, Dr. Strom came over for a word. 

“Ya’ll get on home before it gets too dark, ya hear me?” he said, cleaning his large gold spectacles with a rag. “Clara, you get your pay for the day, go on now.”  

“I’ll be waitin’ ousside, Clar.” Abby said, smiling softly. 

“Good work today, Abby,” Dr. Strom called after her quietly, but all we heard was the creak of the swinging screen door as she ran out front. Abby never stayed behind long after the work was done. Some of the men could get real nasty just seeing her, but Dr. Strom made it clear he’d let a man die on the table for Abby, so they acted right most days. 

Out toward the back of the house was Dr. Strom’s study, nobody was allowed in there but me and the nurses when it was completely necessary. That’s because the doctor kept all his important papers and valuable items in there. It’s also where he kept a large safe and an old 1850 Colt pistol. I saw it once, in the top desk drawer on the right, but I knew better than to go looking. Across the room, on top of the safe, was a jar of one cents, and that’s what I was there for anyway. 

Each day of work I was allowed to take two Indian heads out of the jar as my payment. To many, it wasn’t much, but with just me, Momma, and Auntie Jane at home, we used all we could get. I twisted the jar of copper coins open and fumbled around through the lot. Once I selected two I liked, I looked over my shoulder and quickly swiped another for Abby and hurriedly stuffed it into my loafer. Dr. Strom was a wealthy man, and while I never found any pleasure in taking what was his, Abby worked hard, too. She deserved her fair share. 

As I turned to screw the jar’s lid back on, a glint of silver caught my eye. Down in the layer beneath the Indian heads, was a wide silver coin, far bigger than any I’d ever seen. I didn’t know what to make of it. I turned over some more copper coins and reached in for it. Turning it over in my hand, I realized I could have fit nearly four Indian heads in it. Along the bottom of the giant coin were the letters “HALF DOL,” and my heart was beating like a war drum.

This coin was worth fifty cents, I knew that much, and that was the most money I had ever held in my hands. I glanced over my shoulder again as a bead of sweat began to form on my upper lip, an entire month of work at the clinic was between my fingers. Dr. Strom wouldn’t miss it, he probably didn’t even know it was in the jar. I listened hard for any footsteps then quickly stuffed the coin into my loafer with the other one, screwed the lid back on the jar, and ran out of the study into the crowded front room. The men were talking about someone named Captain Riley as I passed by them. I knew the name, heard it around the clinic a few times, but I didn’t know much else. 

“Word is Cap’n Riley were injured at the front, the jackass.” 

A scruffy-looking soldier with a linen rag wrapped around his neck was talking with one of the nurses, Ms. Gale. I tried not to eavesdrop, as Auntie Jane says that’s a sin and Auntie Jane never lies, but they were talking so loudly I couldn’t help hearing it. 

“Oh my, I do hope he’s alright,” Ms. Gale said, sweetly.

“Agh, he’ll be fine, the prick don’t die.” The soldier leaned back against the wall and sighed, “But that means we’ll be seein’ him ‘round here soon. Mark me.” 

“I heard he’s gettin’ replaced by new blood,” another soldier said, drinking from a thin flask. 

“Yeah, rumors goin’ ‘round that some prissy highfalutin new cap’n s’comin’ out here to turn the tide. Right embarrassin’ if ya ask me. Riley’s got a world of hurt comin’ down on him from command. Lee ain’t happy.” 

“Well, we ain’t gainin’ no ground, we’re just out there wastin’ good powder!” The flask drinker said before the conversation turned into lots of shouting and arguing about tactics. 

Whoever this Captain Riley was, I hoped he’d find his way to Dr. Strom as quickly as possible. I picked up my frock from the hook near the door and rushed outside to meet Abby, who was waiting patiently for her cent and my company. 

We walked home together mostly in the quiet, listening to the call of the whippoorwills and the low, constant groans of the cicadas. It was a long busy day so I didn’t mind much, but I could tell Abby had thoughts on something, so before we split ways I asked her, “You well, Abby?” 

She snapped out of her murky pondering and said, “I’m well. Just been feelin’ the heat lately, I s’pose.” 

“Honestly, this time last year there was already a chill in the air,” I said. 

“Mhm.” She said. 

“Well, Doc said you did good work today,” I said, trying to cheer her up a little.

“Oh…that’s nice,” Abby said, curling away from me a little. “Sorry I been real ungrateful-like to you lately. You sharin’ with me an all.”

“Nah, you earn that money fair’s I do.”

Abby teared up, “my Paw got that disease, from the damned mosquitoes that’s goin’ round. I buy it for ‘em, his medicine, with the money you been givin’ me…it’s really been helpin’, ya know?”

“Abby—

“He ain’t doin’ real good, he needs it so as he can work, an I can’t ‘ford it this month.” Tears were now streaming down her freckled face. “That’s why I been so foggy.” 

“Shit, I had no clue your Paw was sick. How much is it, then?” 

“Twenty-three cents, keeps goin’ up as more folk been catchin’ it. An we already cut it with water.” 

“No more cryin’,” I grinned, reaching into my loafer. “S’your lucky day, I just so happen to have come into twenty-three cents and then some!” I brandished the large silver coin and Abby’s big brown eyes widened even more, twinkling in its magnificence. “Take it.” 

“Clara! Where on God’s green—where’d you find it?” she exclaimed, “I couldn’—I can’t— 

“You can, yes, surely you can. An I don’t want not a single lip out of you Abby Sue.” 

“But—ya’ll need it, too!” 

“Yeah, but we’ll make do. You can owe me.” I said proudly, thinking of all the ways I could abuse this later, when the dust had settled on the matter. “Your Paw needs this!” 

Abby took the coin out of my hand slowly and wrapped her arms around my neck, squeezing the air out of my throat. “Thank you, Clar! Thank you so much I—well, I can’t wait to tell Maw. ‘Course I’ll owe ya!” And with that she ran down the road, waved, and disappeared into the fading light near the tree line. 

In our little rundown shack on the edge of town, I was welcomed home by Momma, Auntie Jane, and three lazy, foul-mouthed men in gray wool coats. The very same coats I helped Dr. Strom cut to pieces every day. They had come to stay with us on right of quartering, a few days earlier, as they were heading to the front. Soldiers often overstayed their welcome in town, but they were our boys, and they were fighting for our way of life. The way they always stared at me, I wished our way of life would be fought for and settled already. 

“Clara May! You take your shoes off when you come in this house, little lady!” Momma shouted from the kitchen before I even took a step to the bedroom. She had begun to notice my habit of taking them with me to bed and apparently wasn’t keen on it. 

“Yes, Momma!” I shouted back, pulling my loafers off and gathering up my coins. 

“How was the clinic today, Bug?” Auntie Jane asked, “Any handsome crippled boys needin’ a wife or two?” I heard Momma hit her with a towel and whisper something inappropriate. 

“It was alright, Auntie,” I said, “no handsome ones, no ma’am.” 

“That’s cuz all the handsome ones still got their limbs.” One of the men shouted, winking at me. 

After washing up and doing all the nightly chores, I hurried into the bedroom and read a few pages of my story by candlelight before Momma came in and blew it out. I thought of the silver coin again as I settled into my soft, down pillow and sighed. 

The next morning I woke up to one of the soldiers shouting about Captain Riley. Apparently, he had arrived in town and was heading toward the clinic, with minor wounds. They all gathered up their things while I ate my breakfast and left a terrible mess in their wake, but they were gone. I smiled into my oatmeal. 

“Thank the Lord almighty!” Momma said, “Some real southern gentlemen, right Jane?” 

My Auntie laughed and threw her hands up in praise. 

When I finished my oatmeal, I said my goodbyes and I nearly skipped out the door to wait for Abby on the road, but I really wanted to get to the clinic today, and my patience wasn’t what it usually was. I was eager to meet this Captain Riley I’d heard about, and help him on his way. 

When I’d waited a bit, I became too impatient to wait any longer and headed into town without her. Maybe Abby had already heard about the Captain and went on ahead to meet him as well. It was a big deal to have an officer pass through a Podunk town like ours, I could imagine her excitement was as real as mine. 

As I rounded the corner onto main street, where Dr. Strom’s house was, I noticed a congregation outside with quite a lively mix of folks. They were pushing and shoving all together and trading words I would never dare use. I sprinted towards them to get a better look at what they were arguing about when, suddenly, a gunshot went off into the air. The crowd dispersed and retreated a few feet. I squeezed in between a few large gray coats and saw Abby, on her knees, Dr. Strom holding his Colt to her head. 

“How DARE you take from me, girl!” he bellowed, pulling the hammer back once more, “after all I’ve done for you and yours?!”

“Dr. Strom—good sir, I took nothin’ from you I swear on—

Dr. Strom struck her with the back of his hand before she could finish and a large silver coin flew out, landing in the dirt beside her. “Trying to buy tonic with my own money!?”

“Doctor, please!” I ran out of the crowd and into view, my stomach twisting in knots. “What are you doin’ to Abby?” 

“Shut your mouth, Clara,” Dr. Strom said, practically foaming at the mouth, “I knew someone was taking from the jar. I thought it was one of the soldiers first, but then Abby shows up today trying to buy dogwood tea for her father and I saw it. The coin. I knew the thief wouldn’t miss the opportunity and here she is!” 

Abby was sobbing into the dirt. He was going to kill her over fifty cents, fifty cents that I took. I had to tell him the truth, all of them, and hope they would believe me. But the words wouldn’t form, they were stuck on my tongue, held back behind gritted teeth. Before I could speak, the crowd parted on the left, and a confident-looking man with his arm in a sling and a sword at his hip stepped into view. “Good Doctor, whatever is this commotion about?” 

Dr. Strom’s eyes looked crazed now, he was barely holding it together, “Captain, she stole from me, after all I’ve done for her—

“Well now, I can certainly see how that might be painful. Their kind has a way of bitin’ the hand that feeds ‘em.” He looked down on Abby, who was still sobbing, “Don’t they now?” He pulled a long saber from the scabbard on his belt with his good arm and continued, “I won’t have a good doctor break his oath in front of all these people, now, ya hear? Put the gun down, sir. I will not ask twice.” 

Dr. Strom’s arm softened, and he tossed the gun on the ground, hitting his knees. 

“I will discipline the girl appropriately. She’s a young one,” he addressed the crowd, “I can assure you that she will not do this again, will you darlin’?” 

Abby shook her head feverishly, “No, sir, no sir, I would never steal from the Doctor, never, never, never—

“Silence!” he shouted, swinging the blade near her head. “Admit what you’ve done, and I’ll only take a hand.”

“She can’t!” I shouted, finally finding my voice, “Because I was the one who stole the coin.” Everyone shot their looks over to me in disbelief, including Dr. Strom. “I gave her the coin for medicine, for her Paw. He’s sick. With the Fever.” 

I gulped as the one called Captain Riley strode to me slowly. “Is this true, sweet girl? Now you wouldn’t lie to me would ya?” 

“No sir, it’s the truth,” my hands were shaking and Abby’s eyes met mine, “she’s innocent.” 

Captain Riley chuckled and grinned under his thick mustache, “Good girl for tellin’ the truth. God-fearin’ child, ain’t she?” He addressed the crowd again who had quieted tremendously. “Hold out your arm.” 

Captain Riley didn’t need three minutes to get through the bone.