Within minutes, the mandragora tea took effect and Ruby vomited into her mother’s lap.
“Better,” Kate said and burst into tears.
After another few minutes David Tanner appeared with August. In one stride, he dropped to Ruby’s side, checked her pulse, her temperature, and ordered August to fetch water and towels.
“Good sign,” he said, looking at Kate’s lap.
It appeared the crisis had passed. Ruby was not going to die of an overdose. At least, not today.
“Is this the culprit?” David raised the pipe. He took a whiff of the ash. He licked the inside of the baggy. Weed and smack.
“Whose is this?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Kate said.
“Where’d you get this?” he asked.
“It was my fault,” August tried to say.
“Mom’s sewing machine,” Ruby said listlessly.
“You did not,” Kate protested.
“He left it.”
“Don’t lie.” Kate blushed with shame.
“Who left it?” David asked, his glasses pushed up his forehead.
“Troy,” Ruby said.
“Who’s Troy?”
No one answered.
“Is Troy your friend?” David turned to Ruby.
“God no! He’s a fucking scumbag!” she sputtered.
“Who is Troy?” David repeated. “Would someone tell me?”
“A friend of mine,” Kate offered weakly.
“A junkie?”
“I don’t think so,” Kate said.
“Car mechanic?”
Kate nodded.
David recalled a handsome cowboy specimen he’d seen at the market. Taller and slimmer than David with a lot more hair, he remembered the bright blue jittery eyes. He’d heard he was good with cars. David traced the pink letters HM on the baggy.
“Is there more?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” Ruby said.
Kate searched the Singer’s compartmentalized drawers designed for bobbins, spools, needles, pins.
“Not here,” she reported.
“Is there more?” he turned harshly to Ruby.
“How would I know? Ask Troy,” she pouted.
“Can we ask him now?” David insisted.
“I just drove him to Santa Fe.”
“Does he live here?”
“He stayed here for a while,” Kate said.
“Let him know I’d like to speak to him.”
“He’s not returning,” Kate said.
“Good riddance, right, mommy?”
Kate leaned over and kissed Ruby’s cheek.
“If anything changes for the worse, call me,” David offered.
“Troy broke our phone,” Ruby said.
David’s presence confirmed what Kate already sensed about him. Manly but not macho, friendly with men, shy with women, trustworthy as a practitioner. She regarded him as a white native. But unlike others, his conversion had been accepted by the local villagers.
“Thank you for coming,” Kate said, wiping her tear-streaked face.
He adjusted his glasses, collected his bag. Kate Ryan was a very attractive woman, he thought. However, casual observation had led him to believe their world-views were incompatible. Her ready smile was the sign of an optimist. He also knew she cultivated healing plants. That alone was optimistic.
“Will you take this?” She handed him a loaf of banana bread and a sack that weighed almost nothing. “Instructions included,” she smiled.
David was accustomed to receiving goods in exchange for medical services. Goats, chickens, car parts, plumbing, he was open to barter economy. He bartered for his drugs.