'So what did you learn on your magical mystery tour?'
'I didn't learn nothing yet.'
'But you will,' she said.
'I know where to look for an answer,' he finally said.
'And where would that be?'
'There's only one place.'
She paused.
'Oh, I'll bet this one is rich,' she said.
'It just gets better and better.'
'Yep,' he said.
'I don't never want to disappoint you, Sally. This one is really rich.'
'Where is it?'
'Where a Russian put it. Where he hid it twenty-five years ago. But it's there, and by God, I'll dig it out.'
'What are you talking about?'
'It's in my hip. The bullet that crippled me. It's still there. I'm going to have it cut out.'
CHAPTER thirty-three.
It was dark and the doctor was still working. Bob found him out back of the Jennings place, down the road from the Holloways, where he'd had to help a cow through a difficult birth. Now he was with a horse called Rufus whom the Jennings girl, Amy, loved, although Rufus was getting on in years. But the doctor assured her that Rufus was fine, he would just be getting up slower these days. He was an old man, and should be treated with the respect of the elderly. Like that old man over there, the doctor said, pointing to Bob.
'Mr. Swagger,' said Amy.
'I'd heard you'd left these parts.'
'I did,' he said.
'But I came back to see my good friend Dr. Lopez.'
'Amy, honey, I'll send over a vitamin supplement I want you to add to Rufus's oats every morning. I bet that'll help him.'
'Thank you. Dr. Lopez.'
'It's all right, honey. You run up to the house now. I think Mr. Swagger wants a private chat.'
'
'Bye, Mr. Swagger.'
'Good-bye, sweetie,' said Bob, as the girl skipped back to the house.
'Thought those reporters chased you out of this place for good,' the doctor said.
'Well, I did too. The bastards are still looking for me.'
'Where'd you go to cover?'
'A ranch up in Idaho, twenty-five miles out of Boise.
Just temporarily, waiting for all this to blow over.'
'I knew you were something big in the war. I never knew you were a hero.'
'My father was a hero. I was just a sergeant. I did a job, that's all.'
'Well, you ran a great lay-up barn. I wish you'd come back into the area, Bob. There's no first-class outfit this side of Tucson.'
'Maybe I will.'
'But you didn't come all this way to talk about horses,' said Dr. Lopez.
'No, Doc, I didn't. In fact, I flew down this afternoon.
Took the two-ten American from Boise to Tucson, rented a car, and here I am.'
Bob explained what he wanted. The doctor was incredulous.
'I can't just do that. Give me a reason.'
'I am plumb tired of setting off airport alarms. I want to get on an airplane without a scene.'
'That's not good enough. I have an oath, as well as a complex set of legal regulations, Bob. And let me point out one other thing. You are not an animal.'
'Well,' said Bob, 'actually I am. I am a Homo sapien.
But I know you are the best vet in these parts and you have operated on many animals, and most of 'em are still with us today. I remember you nursed Billy Hancock's paint through two knee operations, and that old boy's still roaming the range.'
'That was a good horse. It was a pleasure to save that animal.'
