Free Weird West 04 - The Doctor and the Dinosaurs by Mike Resnick Page B

your word. And you gave me your word you would keep these two grave robbers from further desecrating the Comanche burial ground.”
    “Use your eyes, damn it!” snarled Holliday. “I can't walk twenty paces without coughing my lungs out, and I'm miles from both camps.”
    “You made a bargain,” said Geronimo.
    “You misled me,” replied Holliday. “You said you'd restore my health.”
    “I have explained that,” said Geronimo. “And in case it has already escaped your memory,” he added, pointing to the robber's corpse, “you just killed that man, which demonstrates that you can still function as you always did.”
    “That man had the brains and foresight of a demented toad!” snapped Holliday. “I want a new deal. A year of pain and a lifetime in hell isn't much of a bargain.”
    Geronimo stared at him for a long moment. ‘We have an agreement,” he said at last.
    “It doesn't make any sense anyway,” growled Holliday. “You opposed all the other medicine men who acted in concert against you and lifted the spell that kept white men east of the Mississippi. Why the hell can't you deal with two goddamned bone collectors?”
    “You are just a man, using the arguments and threats of men to make them stop and go elsewhere, and that is clearly in the interest of the Comanche. But I made the agreement with Roosevelt. They believe that I am their enemy, and if they know that I am involved in any way,even though I want the same thing that they do, they will eventually do exactly what you are here to prevent them from doing.”
    “Can they even hurt you?”
    “They can,” confirmed Geronimo. “But more importantly, they can hurt my people—and before I will let that happen, I will sacrifice myself if need be. But this can all be avoided if you and Roosevelt can make the grave robbers go elsewhere.”
    “You'd really die for your people?” said Holliday.
    “When one is a leader, one must accept the responsibilities of leadership.”
    “That's one good reason never to run for office.”
    “Speak to your friend Roosevelt,” said Geronimo. “The day will come when he bears far greater responsibilities than you can imagine.”
    “He's not exactly my friend,” said Holliday. “Hell, I've only had two friends since I came out here. They were both Earps. One's dead and the other's no longer speaking to me.”
    “He is a better friend than you have ever had.”
    “Because he likes me?” asked Holliday curiously.
    Geronimo shook his head. “Because he is Roosevelt.”
    “I don't understand.”
    “That is why you have only had two friends, and one of them will not speak to you,” answered Geronimo.
    “Touché,” said Holliday wryly.
    “The sun will set in another hour,” noted Geronimo. “What will you do, Holliday?”
    “Die, probably,” answered Holliday. “I've got no food, no shelter, and no horse.”
    “I will help you this one time,” said Geronimo. “It would serve neither of our interests for you to die here and now.”
    “I could surely use a buckboard, a team of horses, and a bottle of whiskey,” suggested Holliday.
    “No, Holliday. You would surely misuse them.”
    Holliday was about to reply when he felt a sudden dizziness. He thought he was about to black out and collapse, but somehow he found that he couldn't. He shook his head to clear it, then realized that far from standing, he was seated atop his horse. He checked his saddle bags and found to his annoyance that Geronimo had reunited him with his horse but had removed his liquor.
    He realized that his surroundings had changed. The forest was no longer there, the land was flat, not much was growing except grass and weeds, and a small creek ran off to his left. He could hear noises up ahead—voices, axes chopping wood, even a man playing a banjo.
    He urged his horse forward, anxious to reach Marsh's camp and get some food. Then he saw something unusual off to his left, and rode a little closer.
    It was a dead man, hanging