They waited as he knocked. There was no answer.
"Ralph?" he called again. "Are you here? Wake up! You've got company."
After a few minutes, he walked back over to the group. Polly swung off Demi's back and jumped to the ground. "Nothing?" she asked.
"He should be here. We talked about this yesterday afternoon. I'm going to check the barn. Jason, you and Rachel stay here with the horses."
Polly handed Demi's reins to Rachel and followed Eliseo. "I'm going this way," she said. "Come on, Obiwan. You're with me."
Ralph Bedford's old Chevy pickup truck was parked on the other side of the house. Polly and Obiwan walked toward it and when the dog picked up speed, sniffing at the ground, Polly had a sinking feeling. She started running and pulled up short when she got to the truck. On the ground between the truck and the house lay the old man. But he was still alive. He wasn't conscious, but she saw his chest rise and fall.
He'd been shot twice in the torso that she could tell. How he was still alive, she had no idea.
"Eliseo!" she yelled. "Bring a blanket and something to stop bleeding. He's been shot!"
Polly knelt down on her haunches and brushed her hand over Ralph Bedford's forehead. It was cold and clammy. She opened her phone and made a call that she knew would bring help.
"Oh Polly, not again."
"Aaron. I'm down at Ralph Bedford's place. He's been shot, but he's still alive. We need someone here right now."
"I'll call you back."
Aaron hung up and Polly looked around for Eliseo. He was right there in front of her and looked into her eyes. "Go back to the kids. I've got this. Don't let them come over here."
"But ..."
"You've done what you needed to do, now go. Walk away from this. I'm going to take care of him until they get here."
Polly hesitated.
"Go!" he snapped and his voice startled her enough that she jumped back to her feet and turned around, then ran toward Jason, Rachel and the horses.
Jason had gotten down from Nat when she turned the corner.
"No, Jason. Stay here. Leave them room."
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Someone shot Ralph Bedford."
Rachel let out a little whimper and Jason tried to hand the reins he was holding to Polly. "I can help," he said.
"No. You can stay here. Eliseo wants us to stay here. He's got it. I think he's seen more of this than any of us."
"He's not dead? Because you've seen a lot of that," Jason said.
"No, he's still alive. I called Aaron."
Jason was nearly as tall as Polly and when he stood in front of her, she had to look across at him, rather than down. "Do you think the same person that killed Henry's uncle shot Ralph?"
"I have no idea," she said. "But if they didn't, then we have a lot bigger issue in town, don't you think?"
"I think this is scary," Rachel said. "Why would they hurt a nice old guy like him?"
Polly's phone buzzed before she had to come up with an answer to Rachel's question.
"Hi Aaron."
"Stu Decker is on the way and Sarah should be there pretty soon with the ambulance. What are you doing at Ralph's this early in the morning?"
"We're here on the horses. Eliseo talked to him yesterday. We were coming over to look at a plow or something. Personally, I think Eliseo just wanted to check on the old guy. He's kind of taken a liking to him."
"I'm glad you did. Can I ask why you found the guy and not Eliseo?"
"Shut up," she said.
"That's what I thought. You are drawn to these things. It's like it's your super power."
"You're not funny and Stu is driving into the lane right now, so I'm hanging up on you."
Polly did just that and waited until Aaron's deputy got out of his car.
"Well, we meet again," Stu said. Your reputation is going to grow and grow."
"You all think you're hilarious." Polly pointed to the side of the house. "Eliseo is over there with him."
"Sarah is just around the corner. Send her over, okay?"
He was just out of sight when the ambulance pulled in. Polly pointed across the lawn and they drove as far as they could, stopping in front of the old pickup truck. Polly's favorite EMT, Sarah, and her newest young protégé jumped out and she ran around the truck, while he opened the back of the vehicle and began pulling bags out.
"Do you think he's still alive?" Rachel asked.
"I hope so. They'll let us know." Polly took Demi's reins from Rachel and walked away with him. She just wanted to breathe and she wanted the strength of a big animal beside her while she tried to regain her sanity. She stroked his shoulder and smiled when he nuzzled the back of her head. Then she saw a large stump and led Demi to it, using it to give her height to easily slip her foot into the stirrup so she could swing onto his back again.
They waited a while longer and then Aaron's SUV pulled in behind Stu Decker's. Polly waved to him. He acknowledged her and strode across the lawn to the action.
Several minutes later, Eliseo emerged, wiping his hands on something and talking to Aaron. They walked over to Polly.
"Is he alive?" she asked.
"They're getting him stabilized for a trip in the ambulance, but Eliseo kept him alive until help arrived," Aaron said.
Eliseo shook his head. "I managed to remember a few things about emergency medicine from my days in Iraq. I'm sorry I snapped at you, Polly, but you were starting to go."
"What do you mean? I was fine."
"Polly, I'd asked you three times if you were okay and you never responded."
"I what?"
"You just sat there, staring off into space. It wasn't until I snapped that you came back to me."
She ducked her head. "I'm so sorry. I might have an extreme aversion to blood."
"You can deal with death, but you can't deal with blood?" Aaron shook his head in disbelief. "You are quite a character."
"At least this one wasn't dead," she said.
"And at least there was someone here who could take care of it when you couldn't."
"You're right. I'd like to think I'd manage if I was alone, but ... " she looked at Eliseo. "Three times?"
"You worried me."
"I'm really sorry."
"It's okay. I managed to get you moving and did what I could for Ralph."
A gurney came into view and they loaded it into the ambulance, then Sarah ran around to the front and got in. They waited until she had driven away and Stu joined them.
"I'll get the team in," he said to Aaron. "They won't like working on a Sunday morning."
"Yeah. Neither do I," Aaron growled. "Lydia just put my breakfast on the table." He turned to Polly and Eliseo. "You might as well get out before everyone arrives. I'm sorry your morning ride was disrupted."
"Let's hope that we were here in time," Eliseo said. He swung up onto Nan's back and moved her forward, then waited for Jason to re-mount Nat.
Henry was never going to believe this one. Polly decided to wait until later to tell him. He could enjoy breakfast without having to announce to his family that his wife had done it again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
"Hi there." Jessie was up and dressed and curled up on the sofa with one cat on her lap and the other in her arms.
"I see you've made a couple of friends," Polly said.
"They're great. I got your note. Thanks."
"How about some breakfast downtown? I just need a shower."
"You don't have to do that. I can eat toast or something."
"Ohhh no," Polly said. "My husband is having an awesome breakfast at his mother's house. We're not getting stuck with toast. I'm taking you to the best breakfast joint around."
"You two are weird," Jessie said.
"You've got that right. We're very weird, but why do you say so?"
"You really like each other. Like all the time. And everybody knows it. They just expect you to be nice to each other."
"I suppose. I rarely
spend time with people I don't like and there's no way I'd want to be married to someone unless we had fun together and respected each other."
"It's just weird."
"I hope it's not as weird as you think," Polly said.
"My parents never act like they're happy. Dad is always gone and Mom is always mad. If she isn't mad, she's telling someone what to do or telling us why we're doing things wrong."
This was going to be difficult. Polly wasn't sure if she was going to say the right things, but off she went.
"Sometimes people don't know how to be happy. They've had a lot of things break in their past and never get fixed. Did you ever talk to your mom about her life before she married your dad?"
"She didn't want to talk about it."
"Did you ever meet your grandparents?"
"I think I met my dad's parents when I was really little, but then they were gone."
"Any aunts and uncles or cousins?"
"No. Mom was an orphan. At least that's what she said."
"Did she talk about being adopted?"
"No."
"Did she talk about being a foster child?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"Do you think that her not having a family of her own might have something to do with all of this?"
"But shouldn't she be nicer to us so that we'd stick around and she could have a family?"
"That makes sense to you and me, but when a person hurts inside, they do things that don't make sense."
"I don't want to hate her, but I really got tired of the way she treated me."
"Hating her won't do you any good. Maybe someday you can see life from her perspective and that will help you understand her, though. It won't change things, but it will help you."
"What do you think broke in Dennis to make him chain me up?"
"I've got nothing on that one, Jessie. I hope he can explain himself to a good lawyer. That's what I hope. Now let me take a shower and we'll go get breakfast."
Polly went into her room and shut the door. With all the people that had been in and out lately, the animals were getting more used to closed doors, but that didn't mean that ... yep, there it was. Scratching at the door.
"Hello there," she said to Luke, who walked in as if he'd been waiting hours for her to allow him access. "It's not going to do me any good to shut this door is it?" He pranced over to the cat tree in front of a window and jumped up on it, ignoring the conversation. "Fine then."
She sat down on the bed and kicked off her boots, then took out her phone. Henry didn't need to hear this from someone else.
"Good morning. Are you heading out for breakfast?" he asked when he answered the phone.
"I'm about to take a shower, but I wanted you to hear this from me first."
"No." he said.
"Well, not quite."
"What does that mean?"
"We went down to Ralph Bedford's house and he'd been shot. He wasn't dead and they're taking him to the hospital right now. It had to have happened just before we got there."
"And you didn't see anyone driving away?"
"Nope."
"Are you okay?"
"I guess. I don't know what else to be."
"Freaked out? Shook up? A wreck?"
"I might have freaked out a little, but I didn't know it. Eliseo says I zoned out."
"What does that mean? Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I think it was the blood. He asked me three times how I was doing and said I never responded. He finally yelled at me and snapped me out of it. I couldn't figure out why he told me to go away, but apparently I'm not good with blood."
"We've known that. I didn't realize it was that bad, though."
"Don't ever cut a limb off with one of your saws. I'll be useless."
He chuckled a little, but not very long. "Got it. Dad has always insisted on safety precautions and I don't work without them."
"That's probably good."
"Did they say whether or not they think the person who did this is the same one who killed Uncle Loren?"
"No one said anything, but Aaron called Stu Decker in. That was his case, right?"
"Yeah. Maybe they do think that."
"It kind of freaks me out that old men who live alone are a target. How horrible."
"I guess I'm lucky you married me."
"That's awful, Henry. You aren't old enough yet, though. Oh, by the way, I talked to Eliseo about the house. He's looking forward to meeting your aunt. I think he likes the idea."
"Much as I hate to admit it - you had a good idea. We'll see what happens. I know he was good friends with Ralph. How's he taking this?"
"Well, he saved the man's life since I couldn't do anything to help him. We rode the horses back and everyone was pretty quiet. Then he told us all to go ahead and leave. He didn't even want any help dealing with their saddles and tack. Rachel and I just came up to the main building and left Jason with him."
"Can you even imagine what's going through his head right now?"
"I'm just glad he's got those big old beasts to take care of his heart."
"You go take your shower and head for the diner. We're getting Lonnie and Duchess packed up right now."
"Give her a hug for me."
"You mean Lonnie, right?"
"If you'll hug them both, I'm fine with that."
~ ~ ~
Joe's Diner was busy when Polly and Jessie walked in, but Lucy waved from the back and pointed to a table for two.
"I promise," Polly said. "You're going to love this."
Jessie took Polly's arm and stepped in to whisper. "I can't pay for breakfast. I don't even have a job yet."
"Don't worry. I wouldn't have asked you to come with me if I expected you to pay. Give life some time. You'll get a job and find a place of your own and before you know it, you'll be inviting me out for breakfast. Today, let's just enjoy it."
Polly waved and smiled at people she recognized as they made their way to the table. She was stopped by someone tugging at her arm. She turned around and smiled down at Helen Randall.
"Good morning, Helen."
"I hear you've been at it again," the woman said, smiling knowingly.
"I don't know what you heard, but he was alive the last I knew."
Jessie's eyes grew big.
"Well, it's a good thing you found him when you did is what I heard," Helen's husband, Frank, said. "They had to work on him all the way to the hospital and nearly lost him twice."
"I didn't know any of that," Polly said.
A man she recognized from one of Henry's crews leaned over and said, "I heard she nearly passed out from the blood."
"Where are you guys getting all of this crazy information?" Polly said, laughing. "Now let me get some breakfast."
She pushed away from them and led Jessie to the table. Before they even sat down, Lucy put glasses of water and a carafe of coffee on the table.
"What do you think you'd like this morning?" Lucy asked.
"Jessie might need a minute to look at the menu, but if Joe is making up any of that garbage plate, I'll have it."
"What's that?" Jessie asked.
"This morning it's sausage, ham and bacon with green peppers, onions and mushrooms all fried up with potatoes and eggs on top. Do you want gravy on it too?" Lucy asked Polly.
"Of course I do."
"What about something to drink, sweetie?" Lucy asked Jessie.
"A Coke, please? And I'll have the same thing as Polly. That sounds good."
"Great choice. I'll be back with your Coke." Lucy hadn't even put the menus on the table. Polly still watched in amazement as she negotiated the tables and took care of folks as she moved past them. There were two other waitresses working the room this morning and they were good, but no one was as smooth as Lucy.
"Everybody knows you here," Jessie said.
"The funny thing is that I didn't think that would ever happen. I've lived in town for two years and it's only been the last few months that I don't
feel like I'm searching for names every time I see someone."
"What was that about you finding someone alive? Were they serious?"
"I'm sorry - I didn't tell you about that yet. When we were out riding horses this morning, we found a man who'd been shot. I called the Sheriff and he got the emergency vehicles there right away, so hopefully the man will live through this."
Jessie's eyes had grown huge again. "You're the one who found him?"
Polly pursed her lips. "I hate to tell you this, but it's kind of my thing. If you spend any time at all with me, you will hear people tease me about the fact that I find dead bodies."
Jessie sat back in her chair, "No shit?" She clapped her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry."
"No, that's fine," Polly said, laughing. "Sometimes that's how I feel too. But yes, if someone is killed in a three county area, it's going to happen right where I'm scheduled to be. Everyone in town thinks it's funny. I think it's a little creepy, but that doesn't change the way it works. Luckily, Sheriff Merritt and I are friends so he doesn't believe I'm a mass murderer."
"Aren't people scared to be around you?"
"That's just not funny at all, missy," Polly said. "Some folks might be. But that's too bad for them. I'm a lot of fun. And since I found Mr. Bedford alive this morning, maybe that will help my reputation."
Lucy brought Jessie's Coke. "You did it again, didn't you?"
"He's alive. I think," Polly said. "I haven't heard any different. So this time I didn't do it."
"He's such a sweet old guy. He comes in all the time with your farm hand."
"Did he ever come in here with anyone else?" Polly asked.
Lucy shook her head. "Not really. I met his granddaughter last week. Nice girl. I guess she was in from Texas."
"His granddaughter?"
"Yeah. Short little thing. Just about this girl's height. She spoke with an accent and everything. Wore cowboy boots and had a flashy red cowboy hat. Said she was up doing a rodeo in Nebraska and came over to see her grandpa."
"She told you all that?"
"Yeah. He'd gone back out to his truck to get a map or something. We just got to talking. She seemed really nice."
Polly nodded. She was going to have to ask Eliseo about this. A flashy girl in a getup like that would garner some attention in town. She'd already begun to wonder if the person committing these murders was female. The targets were too easy. Some of these old men were pretty lonely and a little feminine attention could go a long way. It would surprise Henry to find out that his uncle had gotten messed up with a little chickie, but everyone had a chink in their armor somewhere.
Tomorrow's Promises (Bellingwood Book 7) Page 20
