Carefully, Josie probed the bruised area on Will’s chest with fingers she fought to keep from trembling. She was finding it much different examining Will when he was awake than it had been when he was unconscious. “So you named your wolf Romeo?” she asked to hide her reaction.
“Yes, it seemed appropriate,” he grinned.
Josie huffed, then asked, “Is this the only area?” pointing to the red mark on Will’s chest, “or did you hit your head when you fell?”
Will reached up to point to the tender area on his head, just as Josie’s hands moved to check the same area. Will caressed her hand, then dropped it quickly, as a grimace crossed his face when her gentle fingers probed the tender area at the back of his head.
“It’s tender isn’t it?” Josie asked, her hand still tingling where Will’s fingers had caressed it.
With a stiff nod, Will agreed, and an uncomfortable silence followed as the two sparring partners stared at each other. To break the stalemate, Will blurted, “I remember…”
Josie frowned, “Remember what?”
“I was after five men who were involved in a jailbreak back in Kansas.”
“After?” Josie asked, noticing a determined look in her patient’s eyes.
“A woman was hurt and a small girl scared when she saw the incident. It happened as the men broke out of jail. Their tracks showed the one who had caused the injury had joined them. I told the city marshal I’d bring them back.”
“Jailbreak, justice,” Josie was having trouble fitting the man in front of her, the one she was developing feelings for, as someone who hunted men. It troubled her, but she still found herself drawn to this man who she’d been treating. To cover her discomfort, Josie shot at Will, “I can’t believe you accept violence so casually.”
“I’m not saying violence is always acceptable, but it is a part of living,” Will retorted. “Why do women always find fault?” Somehow, he hadn’t expected such a strong reaction. It made him angry at Josie and at himself, for it hit close to some of the things he’s not liked also. Still, he wasn’t backing down. That little girl needed to know she would be safe.
“I’m not finding fault,” Josie defended, even though a niggling thought that he may be right was trying to sneak through, but she shoved it away.
“Yes, you are,” Will retorted. From there, the conversation was quickly devolving into an argument that was going nowhere.
“Listen,” Will continued, watching Josie’s eyes, “sometimes the only way to stop violence is to meet it with violence.”
“That is ridiculous, it only perpetuates the cycle,” Josie declared, hands on hips, her chin thrust forward.
Watching her, Will thought it would take very little to push her over the brink. If ever there was an aggressive stare, Josie was using it. Talk about aggression, this little doctor didn’t realize how she looked or sounded when she had her dander up. Somehow, he just couldn’t let it go. He was enjoying this by-play.
Smiling, Will continued to watch Josie get irritated at him. His smile brought even more fire into her eyes.
“My dear Doctor Josie, your very stance proves my point,” Will needled.
“What are you talking about now?” Josie questioned. “I’ll have you know, you still have not convinced me that violence is necessary.”
“To see you standing there, chin thrust out—”
“What does that have to do with this discussion?” Josie interrupted.
“I think with very little provocation you would be swinging those adorable fists at me,” Will answered, a knowing smile on his face.
“I doubt that,” Josie shot back, her eyes going wide as Will advanced on her, the look in his eyes exciting and scary at the same time.
With a laugh, Will walked past, a knowing look in his eye. “Thank you for giving up your spot in line for me,” Will smiled at the woman, who’d been talking to Amos, trying for all the world to not eavesdrop on what had been happening.
Blushing, she replied, “You looked like you needed more attention than me, and it looks as if Doctor Josie did a good job taking care of you.”
Will winked at Amos, then smiling at the woman, said, “I do believe you’re correct. Now I’d better get upstairs and make sure Romeo—”
Will didn’t finish. When he’d not returned, Romeo had worked the door open and gone looking. One hiss from Cassie, and the two animals were chasing each other through the hotel, Will, Amos, the woman and Josie all giving chase.
Chapter 25
Two days later, Will headed out. Someone had seen where two men had been hiding out, and then later saw three more riding out. Following that tip, Will took off in the hope of catching a break in his search for the person or persons who’d been involved in his being shot.
Approaching the area where he’d heard the voice in what had seemed so long ago, Will’s mind relived the previously-lost memories of that day. He wasn’t worried this time, for the sixth sense he normally felt was silent. A few miles farther on, he glanced around at where he’d fallen. Looking the area over, Will thought he’d found the area where the shot must have come from. There were also two different sets of tracks. It didn’t look like anyone had traveled this way since the shooting, nor had the rain hit here, so Will was fairly sure the tracks had not been disturbed since then. It seemed the storms in Colorado didn’t always follow a straight path.
Finding a winding path, he followed it until it topped out. It wasn’t much, but the terrain was deceptive. Looking around, he saw where the camp must have been. There had been five here at one time, but it appeared two had split off. Was that before or after the shooting? Searching further, Will saw the sun glint off a spent shell. From where he stood, Will looked directly down on where he’d been shot.
“This is the place,” Will murmured. Studying the tracks, Will saw where someone had come in from the right and another from the left to the man who must have done the shooting. “Maybe they had a falling out, that would explain two sets of people hiding out.”
Back at the campsite, Will saw where the trails split. Which direction should he take? His instinct said to head out along the trail of the two.
Now that Will had a direction to start, he hesitated. He wondered, was it really up to him to catch these men? Was he frightened? The minute the thought occurred, Will chided himself. Why would one little crease on the head make me question my purpose? Will thought.
“You are no coward William Murphy,” he declared to the wind. There was still the problem of why he was hesitating. His job was to find those who’d escaped and return them to Pond City. It was true, a number of days had passed, but there were always clues if you worked at locating them.
Heading off to follow the tracks of the two, Will took himself to task. “This is your job. You promised Sally and the Marshal, so what if a pair of green eyes—” Will closed his mouth, only to grouse out, “Green eyes, blasted woman doctor!” Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he glared around himself, on the chance he might find a clue he’d missed while thinking about those green eyes. There had to be something to show he was on the right trail, but Will saw nothing.
“Well, you seem to have something better to do than to talk about your job and a doctor with green eyes,” Will continued, when he heard a sound off to his right.
The sound of cracking branches and leaves rustling pulled Will to a stop, his horse looking in the direction of the noise. Will rested his hand on his gun, slowly lifting it from the holster.
“You should take better care,” a wizened old woman said as she stepped from the growth. “Figured I should make some noise so you’d know I was coming.”
“Why come out at all?” Will asked, voice calm, despite the pounding along the injured skull. He felt ten times a fool for being caught. What if it had been his original attacker? Will shook his head as he took himself to task.
“Well, it’s like this,” the woman said, her blue eyes staring at him from a weathered brown face. “I need s
ome help with my son.”
Will stared, “Your son? What kind of help?” He finally asked, as the woman’s blue eyes never wavered from his face, awaiting a response from him.
“He’s took real sick, got all violent-like,” she answered. “I can’t get near ’nuff to him to help him.”
“And you want my help for —?” Will left the question in the air between them, looking around to make sure this violent son wasn’t hiding somewhere near where his mother had come out.
The old lady finally looked away from Will, shuffling her feet. Looking up again, a plea and perhaps some desperation in her eyes as she replied, “Maybe help me restrain him, get him to town to a doctor.”
Will thought of Josie, for Kiowa Wells was the nearest town, and as far as he knew she was the nearest doctor. Josie barely made it to his shoulder, but he knew she was a good doctor. Would she be able to handle a sick man who was violent? Part of him wanted to refuse this woman’s request, in part to protect Josie and, he told himself, because he needed to get back on the trail of the two he was tracking.
Will was preparing to refuse, when Josie’s green eyes flashed at him, telling him he was a fool. She was a doctor and would deal with whatever was handed her. Besides, Amos was there and he was strong enough to help if she needed it. He rationalized to himself that one more day after all this time wasn’t going to make that much difference.
“Where is he?” Will asked, slowly dismounting.
“Just back of here. Got himself backed up on a short ledge.”
Will sighed, still not sure he should forgo following the trail. With his horse in tow, Will followed as the old lady returned back the way she’d come through the brush.
“You out here for a reason?” The old lady asked as they started back.
All of a sudden, Will looked out on a rocky vista, unlike anything he’d seen on these eastern plains. Off to the left, Will spotted a huge man lying on a two by three foot ledge. He wondered how the man hadn’t fallen farther. He wouldn’t have believed such a place existed, the colors on the rocks like a rainbow. Will thought he must have fallen, for when he looked around, he didn’t find any easy way to access the spot any other way.
“Is that your son?” Will asked, pointing toward the man on the rocks.
“Yes,” she answered, “but you didn’t say why you was out here, not that I’m not glad you are.”
Studying the situation, Will answered automatically, “Hunting some men.”
“Oh,” the old woman said, “He must have passed out after he climbed down there.”
“Climbed down, I don’t see a trail?” Will asked. “Will it be difficult to bring him up the same way?”
“He’ll be a dead weight, but may be easier than if he wakes up.”
“Well, best get started, I’m sure his lying there is not doing him any good,” Will responded, heading to the ledge with his horse. He hoped they might get a rope on the man and with the help of the horse, get him to level ground. “Just curious, has your son ever acted like this before?”
“No, but he’s been sick, seemed to run a high fever then the next thing I knew after the two men left, he started acting violent.”
Two men, Will wondered if they might be two of those whose tracks he was following. He’d have to remember to ask the old woman once they got her son out of danger.
“My son and I get by, but things like this make me wonder how I’m to get along. By the way, name’s Louisa and my son is Delbert.”
“Pleased to meet you Louisa, name’s Will. Now, if you’ll help me get this rope around your boy, the horse should be able to take most of the load getting him back up.”
When Delbert was safe in the wagon, an effort Will didn’t want to do again any time soon. They made him secure, making sure the restraints were set so if he woke, he wouldn’t hurt himself or anyone else. So far however, Delbert had shown no signs of awakening.
“You know those two men, they started taunting Delbert, cause he can be a bit slow. I tried to stop them, but they just pushed me away,” Louisa began.
“When did this happen?”
“Early this morning. Said they wanted breakfast cause they had some business to take care of. I fed ’em, but they wanted to have their fun. I finally pulled down the shotgun and they took off.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t come back,” Will suggested.
“They probably would have, except they said they was on a time schedule,” Louisa answered with a shake of her head. Will could tell she was worried for her son and perhaps...
Returning to the house, Will saw the door was partially open. He put his hand to gun, his senses heightened, asking “Did you leave the door open?”
Following his eyes, Louisa shook her head ‘no’. Her eyes grew wider as they approached. Standing to the right of the door, Will indicated the woman should move behind him. Instead, she moved to the opposite side and pushed the door open the rest of the way.
When there was no response, the two entered. Louisa advanced to the table, pulling the knife from the top.
“Someone’s been here,” she said.
“How do you know your son...”
“We don’t own no knife like this. ’Sides, it was holding this down,” Louisa said, indicating the piece of paper with the upper corner pierced where the knife had been. Louisa’s hands were shaking as Will walked forward, taking the paper from her numb fingers. The fact that Louisa appeared frightened was not lost on Will.
“Look behind the house and you’ll see your future,” the note read.
Walking out and around to the back of the house, Will saw a four by six foot hole dug into the earth, a board with RIP carved on it resting near the grave.
“Who—?” Louisa asked, turning frightened eyes to Will. “Why would—?” She continued, holding back tears, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.
Placing his arm around her trembling shoulders, Will walked Louisa to the front of the house, “I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll take care of that, that thing later. Now we need to get a blanket for your son. While you do that, I’ll check the rest of the house. Then let’s get your son to town and the doctor.”
Nodding, Louisa grabbed the quilt from the bed as Will searched the other room in the house, placing the threatening note in his pocket.
Soon, the three were headed to Kiowa Wells, Will’s horse tied to the back of the wagon. They made good time. Louisa checked on Delbert, who had begun moaning and shivering. She tucked the quilt tighter around her son, cooing to him to keep him calm.
Night was coming on when Will asked, “Should we try to stop and hope for the best, or keep going toward town?”
Louisa looked up from the back of the wagon, “He’s sleeping, which is a good thing, but he feels pretty hot.”
“Very well, we’ll keep going,” Will said as he encouraged the horses to a slightly faster pace. “With luck, we should be there by mid-afternoon.”
“Thank you,” Louisa replied. “You’re doin an awful lot for folks you don’t know.”
“Someone did me a favor one time, it made all the difference.” And it had, Will realized. He’d met Josie and even if he wasn’t the man for her, he had to admit his life was better for knowing her.
Once he’d stopped fighting the memory of those green eyes, Will somehow knew he’d accomplish what he’d set out to do, even if it was going to take longer than he’d expected. He’d deliver Delbert and his mother, say goodbye to Josie, then move on, get the job done and head to the job he had waiting for him, he hoped. Even if it wasn’t, there was always a need for the law, and that’s what he was, a lawman, he knew that for certain now.
The sun was coming up, waking Will from a doze. Glancing around, Will noticed tracks. Stopping the wagon he jumped down. Louisa looked out asking, “What’s goin’ on?”
“Tracks, tracks of the two I’ve been after and over those, a set of three,” Will answered, the meaning struggling to take shape in his sleep-deprived bra
in. Suddenly Will’s mind cleared and a fear ran through him.
“Can you drive the wagon on in to Kiowa Wells?”
“Course. Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know, but two sets of tracks are in an awful hurry to get to town,” Will answered, untying his horse and galloping off toward town, hoping he was wrong in his supposition, but feeling he wasn’t.
Chapter 26
Josie stood on the hotel’s porch investigating the sky, the clouds coming over the slight rise. The air, which moments before was soggy with heat, now pushed against her face. Summers here on the dry plains were so different from what she had known back in Iowa. Back home, the air was almost always moist, the sun creating a steamy atmosphere. Here, the winds, while warm, felt good. Still, there had been some pretty stormy days, as her bruised backside reminded her.
She wondered if messages were carried on the winds. Although most wind was gentle, Josie wondered if she spoke to the wind, would it tell her family how she was doing. On impulse, Josie smiled and whispered, “I’m doing fine, don’t worry.” Perhaps her spoken message would beat her little letters home.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but she felt the wind whispered back in her ear the answer to her question. “It will.”
Shaking herself for such a fanciful idea, Josie turned to return to her office. Things had been pretty quiet since Will left three days ago. She hated to admit it, but she missed his teasing, his warm smile and the look in his eye when he looked at her, especially just before he did something to tease her. Shaking her head to get William Murphy out of her mind, Josie thought of Mrs. Anson, who was due to deliver soon. So far, the pregnancy had progressed well, but the woman still feared complications similar to what she’d experienced the last time, when she’d lost the baby. Perhaps a trip over to the Anson’s home would be in order.
Josie's Dream (Grandma's Wedding Quilts Book 9) Page 9
