Waste Not Want Not Chap XI

When Paul awakened the sun was high and it was bright and clear outside. He sat up and looked at the clock. “One p.m.! Hell,” he wasn’t even sure what day it was!
He felt like he had to pee and very soon! He got up and took some shaky steps. Weak and wobbly for a moment he quickly got his legs under him.
Once he had relieved himself the next overwhelming sensation he experienced was from his dry, foul mouth. His bathroom mirror reflected the image of a pale and unshaven caricature of himself. He really was quite a mess! He quickly drew a hot bath and shaved over the wash basin.
He soaked in the hot water for a long while. His leg still hurt and was swollen and discolored around the two puncture marks the snake had left. When he got out of the tub he found he could put his weight on the leg with only minor pain.
After a quick and deliciously nourishing breakfast he went outside and slowly walked around the grounds immediate to the house. It was a beautiful fall day with a light breeze and cool and bracing air.
Though walking was somewhat painful and slow he put his mind to it and was soon managing a more steady gait. He then felt his recovery from this frightening injury would be slow but complete.
El Indio was much on his mind. He felt an uneasy gratitude on his shoulders. He was truly grateful for the man’s actions which had surely saved his life but he felt that El Indio and the squatters would still have to go. That would be more difficult now that he felt indebted to El Indio.
Paul stepped up the pace and put all thoughts from his mind and he concentrated on his rehabilitation. He continued his brisk pace for a time until he decided there he had enough. Stiff and sore he walked back to the house. He considered contacting his office or Conrad but he decided there was now no need to do so right now. No, he would do some work or maybe catch up on some reading. He was still very weak and he knew he shouldn’t over do it with work or exercise until his strength returned.
Nightfall found him deep within the pages of The Last of the Mohicans. A rapping at the door roused him from his reading. He got up and opened the door. There stood El Indio. He invited him in right away.
“Come in, come in! I was hoping you would come back. I want to thank you for saving my life. If there is something I can do, please let me know what it is.”
El Indio said “I am glad to see you are doing well. That was a difficult thing to survive. You must be very strong.”
Paul motioned for him to enter and to take a seat. He fixed coffee for both of them.
“ I am very grateful,” said Paul. “I would have died without your help.”
“It was no more than any man would do for another,” replied El Indio.
“Well, maybe so. The treatment you gave me seemed to help me to recover very rapidly. I understand you are a curandero.?”
“Yes, that is so. I use traditional cures and medicines to help people with their afflictions.”
Paul listened and then said “Sounds like what I’ve heard called ‘folk’ medicine by some doctors. Well, whatever you did it seemed to help me.”
Paul opened his cigar box and took out a fat Havana. “Join me in a smoke?”
“Yes but I have my own blend I prefer if you don’t mind.”
“No, not at all. Go right ahead,” said Paul.
El Indio produced a pipe he took and a small tin from a bag he had slung on his side.
They sat there for a while, sipped their coffee and enjoyed their tobacco as smoke wreathed their figures and drifted through the house.
The night was turning cool and Paul got up and stoked up a small fire in the fireplace. Soon the flames were dancing and casting their shadows on the walls.
El Indio broke the silence that had settled over them.
“So what brings you to el rancho? Are you the new patron? Will you begin to work the ranch again? The people here, they are all curious, and nervous.”
Paul was quiet for a moment and then spoke. “I guess you could say I am the new patron. I just recently purchased this place from a bank that had foreclosed because of many years of outstanding debt. This is my first look at the place. I had the work done on the house.”