The Doctor and the Rough Rider (A Weird West Tale)
Language: English
Pages: 303
ISBN: 1616146907
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
It’s August 19, 1884. The consumptive Doc Holliday is preparing to await his end in a sanitarium in Leadville, Colorado, when the medicine man Geronimo enlists him on a mission. The time the great chief has predicted has come, the one white man with whom he’s willing to treat has crossed the Mississippi and is heading to Tombstone—a young man named Theodore Roosevelt. The various tribes know that Geronimo is willing to end the spell that has kept the United States from expanding west of the Mississippi. In response, they have created a huge, monstrous medicine man named War Bonnet, whose function is to kill Roosevelt and Geronimo and keep the United States east of the river forever. And War Bonnet has enlisted the master shootist John Wesley Hardin.
So the battle lines are drawn: Roosevelt and Geronimo against the most powerful of the medicine men, a supernatural creature that seemingly nothing can harm; and Holliday against the man with more credited kills than any gunfighter in history. It does not promise to be a tranquil summer.
something special, that you revel in your exceptionalism.” A bitter smile. “Not all of us do, Theodore. You want to be a mayor or a governor? More power to you. I just want to lie in a bed and have a little less trouble breathing.” “I hope you get your wish, Doc, truly I do,” said Roosevelt. “But?” said Holliday. “Sure sounds like there's a ‘but’ in there somewhere.” “But you and I are riding to meet the most powerful medicine man on the continent. If we don't make a deal, America's stuck on
physical strength was all they wanted to imbue it with, they could make it the king of the grizzlies, huge and invulnerable.” He turned to Buntline. “Right, Ned?” “I agree. They didn't need to make this creature just to combat you, Theodore. They've got the warriors from half a hundred tribes to do that.” “May I offer an idea?” said Masterson. “Certainly.” “Could this thing have been created to face an American regiment if Geronimo finds a way to lift the spell without their consent?” Edison
example, I can design a weapon that will hurl an electric charge at him. We can rig a trap where he has to stand on a conductor to confront Theodore, and I can shoot enough voltage into that conductor to light the whole city—but will it work? I think it comes down to this: Is he alive as we understand life? I can design a weapon to use against any living thing—but what living thing has hands of flame, and is impervious to bullets?” “So you have to see him first?” said Roosevelt. “It would
been unable to. My friend, the notorious shootist Doc Holliday, suggested that a drink might loosen the doors of my mind, and I am so frustrated that I briefly considered it. Hopefully when I talk to Edison and Buntline tomorrow, they'll ask the right question, and all will become clear. If not, I will soon be lying beside you. Your Theodore ROOSEVELT WAS UP WITH THE SUN, AS USUAL. He went through his calisthenics, walked down to the restaurant, and ordered some scrambled eggs and coffee.
murdered and instantly responded with deadly force, killing his killer. He then became a gambler, and was in Tombstone just before the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. After a few more gunfights, always on the side of the law (or as the law), he became a writer, wound up in New York, and became friends with Theodore Roosevelt, who appointed him marshal of New York from 1905 to 1909. He died at his typewriter in 1921. JOHN WESLEY HARDIN John Wesley Hardin, like Bat Masterson, was born in 1853. He