A Bride to Heal His Broken Heart

by Melynda Carlyle

  “What?” Lorna hurried to the window and her eyes widened in disbelief as she observed the large structure glowing bright with the orange, red, and yellow flames trying to consume it. “How?”

  “The outlaws. They started the fire. Ethan…the outlaws shot him.”

  Lorna quickly pulled her robe around her and belted it. There was no time to dress; no time to worry about propriety. “Shot?”

  June was very pale. “Yes. Ethan’s in a bad way.”

  She felt her heart clench at the fear and worry in the other woman’s voice. “Is anyone else hurt?”

  “I don’t know,” June told her.

  “Where is he?”

  “Downstairs.”

  Lorna followed June down the stairs. She paused for a moment, staring out the door. The barn was entirely engulfed in flames. She could feel the heat and smell the smoke from the burning wood. The sound of panicked horses rent the air. Men’s shouts joined them. The world had been so quiet a few hours earlier, and now…

  “Lorna?”

  She blinked and saw June’s worried face staring back at her from the bottom of the stairs. She finished descending the stairs and rushed outside. Ethan was lying a few feet from the front door. Brian was leaning over him, his hands covered in blood as he attempted to put pressure on the wound.

  Lorna crouched down on Ethan’s other side, and Brian gave her a bleak look. “He’s bleeding a lot.”

  Lorna nodded and met the older man’s eyes for a moment. Brian’s face was gray, his lips trembling, and Lorna was afraid he was going into shock. She looked into his eyes and spoke with quiet confidence. “Brian, Ethan is going to be okay.”

  She then turned to June and whispered, “Get me something to press against the wound.”

  June nodded and ducked back inside the house. She returned moments later with a handful of cloth. Lorna folded it and placed it over the entrance wound, pressing down. Ethan groaned.

  “Shush. I know it hurts, but I need to try and slow the bleeding down.”

  “Darren…outlaws,” he stammered out, pain making his voice weak.

  “Don’t worry about that right now.” Lorna felt panic begin to rise and she tamped it down. Ethan needed her to be calm and not give in to the fear running through her veins.

  “He’s losing so much blood, just like Mark…” Brian’s gaze was fixed on the wounded man.

  Lorna realized in horror she had left her medical bag at the doctor’s office in town. She cringed and mentally scolded herself. She had no way to help Ethan here at the ranch.

  She shifted her body, drawing Brian’s gaze to her own. “Brian, we need to get Ethan to town. Right now.” She was still hunkered down, not wanting to draw the outlaws’ attention.

  After only a slight pause, he nodded. She lifted a brow and asked, “The shooters?”

  Brian looked up at the burning barn and then back to her. “They’re gone now. They ran off.”

  “They did?” Lorna looked toward the barn. All she saw were cowhands.

  “It’s safe,” Brian told her.

  She heard June calling out, and seconds later two cowhands appeared by her side. “Ma’am?”

  “This is Eldon and James. Boys, Ethan has been shot.” June’s voice betrayed how worried she was.

  Lorna looked at the two men. “We need to get him loaded into the wagon and take him into town. Right away.”

  They nodded and carefully picked Ethan up, carrying him to the wagon and placing him in the bed of it. One of them hurried over to gather the reins of two horses and hitched them to the wagon.

  Lorna followed them, watching Brian carefully in case it all became too much for him and he collapsed again. June didn’t appear to be doing much better. Lorna looked around the yard, frowning when she didn’t see what she was looking for.

  “Brian, where’s Darren?”

  In response, Brian gave her an even bleaker look and tears filled his eyes. Lorna knew. Darren had gone after the men who had done this.

  She closed her eyes for a moment and then asked, “Did he at least take some help?”

  The cowhands nodded when she glanced at them, and she felt a small measure of relief. Well, that’s something, but still…

  Ethan moaned and she brought her focus back to the injured man desperately needing her help. She shook her head and turned to June. “Take Brian back up to the house and give him some hot tea with plenty of sugar in it. Don’t leave him alone or let him climb those stairs without help. He’s in shock.”

  June nodded and hooked Brian’s arm with her own. “Consider it done.” She took one step and then turned. “Lorna, what about your attire?”

  Lorna glanced down at her nightdress and robe. She couldn’t go into town dressed like this, but Ethan didn’t have time to wait for her to properly dress. While she was pondering the problem, June rushed into the house. She came back less than a minute later with a pile of fabric in her arms, thrusting it at Lorna.

  “It’s what you wore yesterday, but—”

  Lorna shook her head, stopping the other woman’s words. “It is fine. Thank you.”

  “Godspeed,” June whispered.

  Lorna nodded and took the hand that reached down for her, climbing quickly into the back of the wagon and sitting down at Ethan’s side. The two cowhands were sitting at the front, one controlling the reins, the other keeping guard with his rifle at the ready.

  “Ready?” the one driving asked.

  Lorna nodded. “Hurry!”

  He’s losing a lot of blood, and without my instruments, I have no way of stopping it. God, if you’re listening, we could use a little help right about now. Brian and the others have suffered enough loss. Don’t take Ethan as well.

  Chapter 35

  The ride into town was nothing short of brutal. Lorna did her best to keep pressure on the bullet wound as the wagon rumbled and rocked across the uneven earth. The cowhands weren’t taking things slow, and more than once the wagon swayed to and fro so wildly that Lorna feared it might tip over.

  She didn’t caution them to slow down. Ethan’s life hung in the balance and he was losing blood with each beat of his heart. He needed medical attention desperately.

  “Almost there,” one of the cowhands told her.

  “Good.”

  “Hang on.”

  Lorna braced a hand against the floor of the wagon as it tilted sideways. The horses were running full-out and dust flew behind them as they headed down the main street directly for the doctor’s office.

  Lorna released the pressure on Ethan’s chest. “One of you get back here.”

  A cowhand crawled over the buckboard and took up her position by Ethan’s side, while the other helped her down from the wagon. She ran to the door and banged her fist on it. “Doctor!”

  The doctor’s office was in the middle of town. Luckily, the man and his wife lived in the back part of the building. Lorna pounded on the door, yelling for Dr. Ellsworth to wake up.

  “Please, Doc, you have to wake up! Claire? Anyone!”

  She took a step back, wishing there was an easy way to access the back of the building. She pounded her fist on the door again. “Dr. Ellsworth! Wake up!”

  The glow from an oil lamp indicated she’d been successful, and she took a step back. “Get him out of the wagon,” she called to the two cowhands.

  The door swung open and a disoriented Seth Ellsworth stood there. “What’s going on? Lorna?”

  “Ethan’s been shot,” she told him, striving for a calm she didn’t feel. She grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. “Please, you have to help him. He’s bleeding a lot.”

  Doc looked to the wagon where the cowhands were trying to get Ethan out. He’d passed out during the trip to town and they were struggling to lift him. Doc immediately rushed to help, picking up Ethan’s feet while the other two lifted his shoulders and chest.

  “Bring him inside. Lorna, light some more lanterns. Claire, are you there?”

  “I’m here,
Seth. What can I do?” Claire appeared in the office doorway, still tying her robe around her. “Lorna?”

  “Sorry to wake you up this way,” Lorna told her. “The outlaws set the barn on fire and shot Ethan.”

  “We need water, Claire,” Seth huffed out as he and the others labored under Ethan’s weight. “We also need some more rags.”

  “I’ll get them.” Claire disappeared into the back of the office. Lorna stared after her and held the door open as the three men carried Ethan into the building.

  Once they had set Ethan on the bed, Lorna and the doctor worked frantically to locate the bullet that had penetrated Ethan’s body. He was continuing to bleed, and it took several tense minutes before Dr. Ellsworth finally found the bullet and surveyed the damage that had been done.

  “He’s lost a lot of blood,” Lorna murmured as the doctor worked to stitch Ethan up.

  “Yes, but don’t give up on him yet. You did the right thing in bringing him here and keeping pressure on that wound.”

  Lorna gave a tight nod, watching the doctor’s hands as he expertly worked to save the injured man.

  “He’s very lucky. The bullet didn’t damage any major organs.”

  “What are his chances of survival?” Claire asked quietly.

  Seth looked at his wife and gave her a tired smile. “I’d say they’re fairly good. There’s always infection to worry about, but his heart is young and strong. He should pull through just fine.”

  Claire nodded and relayed that information to the cowhands. Seth called to her, “Have one of the men take a horse and ride back out to the ranch. Brian and Darren will be very worried.”

  “Darren went after the outlaws,” Lorna said into the silence of the room.

  “I would expect nothing less.” Seth went back to sewing Ethan up.

  She helped the doc finish tending to their patient and then helped Claire wipe some of the blood off of his body. Once she was certain Ethan was resting as comfortably as could be expected, she stepped out of the room and washed her own hands.

  Claire disappeared for a moment and then returned with a pile of clothing in her arms. “We’re about the same size,” she said as she held them out to Lorna.

  “Thank you,” Lorna said. She took the clothing and then stepped inside the other treatment room and quickly dressed. Her dress was stained with Ethan’s blood and she wadded it up. It would need a good washing, and even that might not salvage it.

  The metallic stench of blood permeated the air of the office. She stepped outside and inhaled deeply several times, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She was about to go back inside when movement to her left caught her eye. It was the wee hours of the morning, yet strangely enough, there was a man walking around.

  She scanned the area, wondering where he was heading. That’s when she saw the light of several lamps burning in the mayor’s house. It appeared the man on the street was heading there.

  She moved back into the shadows and watched the man as he drew nearer to her position. As he crossed near the window of the doctor’s office, she couldn’t help but notice the red bandana he carried in his hand.

  She gasped before she could stop herself and the man turned. He looked directly at her and Lorna took another step backward, bumping into the corner of the building. She was completely in the shadows now; not even the weak light from the moon touched her.

  The man changed direction, his eyes scanning the street. He took one hesitant step toward her, and then another, his eyes still trying to find the source of the noise.

  Lorna could hear her heart beating in her head, and she clenched her hands in the fabric of the borrowed skirt, breathing quickly and shallowly as she tried not to make any noise.

  When the man started toward the doctor’s office, Lorna wanted to bolt from her hiding place and seek refuge inside. But she couldn’t, not with Ethan in there. As the moon illuminated the man’s face, the red bandana caused a shiver of fear to travel down her spine.

  Lorna pressed her back against the roughness of the building, silently willing the man to go the other direction. Instead, he stared into the shadows and his eyes widened as he took determined steps toward her. There was no place for her to run. She was trapped.

  The man stopped a few feet away from her, looking intently at her as he reached down with one hand. When his hand came up, he was brandishing a gun and pointing it directly at her head.

  “Don’t make a sound and I won’t shoot,” he whispered harshly to her. He closed the distance between them and Lorna could only stand, frozen. She bit her lip to keep from crying out in fear.

  Lorna eyed the gun, flinching when the man reached out and grabbed her arm in a painful grip. He pulled her toward him, forcing her down the steps and onto the street. She glanced at the doctor’s office and the weak light coming through the window.

  “Don’t even think about it,” the man growled in her ear, pressing the barrel of the gun into her side. “Walk.”

  Lorna could feel her pulse racing. Her chest felt tight; she tried to draw a breath, but it stalled in her throat. Her vision started to fade, and she struggled to remain upright and fight the man pulling her along.

  They reached Orvis’s house and a side door opened, spilling light out onto the darkened street. Lorna tried to focus, but she was getting dizzier by the minute.

  “What’s this?” Orvis’s voice infiltrated the fog clouding her brain.

  “She saw me. No witnesses. Isn’t that what you said?” the man asked.

  “That’s correct. It seems Miss Lorna is going to give me some of her time after all. Bring her into the parlor,” Orvis stated.

  The man holding her squeezed her arm and forced her over the threshold. Lorna knew she didn’t have a chance of fighting to get away, but she couldn’t just do nothing. She pulled back against the outlaw’s hold, opening her mouth to scream, when a strange odor assailed her senses.

  The last thing she remembered was being pulled into the elegant parlor, a cloth pressed against her face. After that, the world went black.

  * * *

  Lorna woke up some time later, feeling very groggy. She lifted a hand to her head and blinked her eyes several times, taking in the unfamiliar room. There was only one lamp, leaving most of the room cloaked in shadow.

  She pushed herself up to a sitting position as she tried to remember what had happened. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. A headache was beginning to form behind her eyes, making it hard to keep them open.

  There was a man carrying a red bandana. He pulled a gun on me and dragged me across the street. To Orvis’s house. Strange odor.

  She could still smell the ether on the rag they’d held over her face, and it made her gag. She took stock of her surroundings and realized she was in a room with only a small chest of drawers on the opposite wall.

  She staggered to her feet and took a moment to let her dizziness fade. There was one door and she took a step toward it. Before she could reach it, the doorknob turned, and in walked Orvis.

  “Well, well. Lookee who decided to wake up,” he said with a chuckle that sent warning shivers up her spine.

  He stalked toward her and she backed up. “Mayor…”

  He laughed evilly and then shook his head. “Oh, I think we can dispense with the formalities. You can call me Orvis. After all, we’re going to become good friends.”

  Lorna ignored his request and continued, “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I would like to leave.”

  “I’m sure you would. However, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards for you.” He continued to advance toward her, forcing her back against the wall.

  “Mayor…”

  Orvis’s face tightened. “I’ve already told you what to call me.” He stopped and then a smile appeared on his face. “What do you say you and I get better acquainted?” he asked, stopping mere inches from her. He lifted a hand and caressed the side of her face.

  Lorna turned her head away, her stomach heavin
g as she realized she had no way to escape him. “Leave me alone.”

  Orvis shook his head and then dropped his hand. “That, I cannot do. It’s a pity, really. You just had to get in the way.”

  “I didn’t do anything…”

  Orvis ignored her and continued, letting his eyes roam her person. “I had hoped for a different outcome between us, but nevertheless, you are going to come in real handy.”

  “For what?” Lorna asked in trepidation.

  “I want something, and you are going to help me get it. Yes siree, I’m calling the shots now.”