by Jillian Hart
"It's a. Free country. I can. Think what. I want." He figured as long as he had some sass, he wasn't knocking on death's door. Yet. It would take more than a few bullets to stop his mission, but in truth he was feeling a little woozy.
A little help here, Lord. Just a tad. He sent the prayer up, hoping the Good Lord would see fit to hear him.
"It's a free country, yes, but you are in my family's store, which means it's my store." She added another diaper to the pile on his chest, her hands wet with his life's blood. Compassion lurked in the depths of her eyes, green threaded with sky-blue. The most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. "Can I trust you to lay here? I want to shout up the stairs. Someone has to fetch the doctor and I know if I leave you alone in this store to do it, you will drag yourself out the door on your hands and knees."
"Not sure. About. The. Hands." Being as he couldn't much feel them. He felt as if he were drowning, like the time he was held under the surface of the Yellowstone River when Kid Billings had taken objection to being arrested. He'd come near to dying that day. It felt a lot like he was feeling now. Boy, the pain was sure getting worse. "Maybe. I'll. Rest. A. Spell."
"Good decision." Her smile softly curved the innocent corners of her sweet mouth, a mouth obviously made for smiling. She leaped to her feet. "Don't you die on me."
That was starting to be his worry, too. His throat tightened. He hated to have it end like this. He hadn't done nearly enough with his life. There were promises to keep and a mission to finish. He watched Lila's pink calico skirts swirl out of sight and listened to the light tap, tap of her shoes on the boards. His vision began to darken at the edges. Regrets hit him. If he died right now, would he have done enough to earn his salvation?
He didn't know. He listened to the faint murmur of Lila's voice, the dim patter of shoes growing close. A shiver shook him so hard his teeth rattled. Iciness gripped him although it was the middle of July, the day hotter than a roaring stove top. He hadn't shaken this hard since he'd been caught in the teeth of a North Dakota blizzard chasing Wildcat Willy all the way to the Canadian border.
"My sister is running to fetch Dr. Frost." Lila returned, her lovely face a perfect picture of concern. She really was very comely. His chest tightened gazing up at her, feeling cold sweat bead on his forehead and roll off his neck. Her soft hand lighted against his cheekbone. "You are making me worry, Deputy, and I want you to stop it."
"Sorry." He gritted his teeth together so they wouldn't chatter. He looked like a weakling in front of her, shaking and trembling and sweating. Not to mention the bleeding. If he could will himself well, he would. She leaned away from him for a moment, leaving his sight only to bob back in again. Something warm and scratchy covered him. A wool blanket.
"That should help." Serene in the midst of crisis, she added another diaper to the pile on his chest and pressed painfully down. "You, sir, are the most troublesome customer I've had yet today."
"I try to stand out." He gasped, hating the weakness and that he was showing pain. "Don't like being. Second fiddle."
"You're one of those men." She rolled her eyes for emphasis, lightening the mood, trying to distract him from the blood staining the blanket. So much blood. "First you're too tough to let a bullet wound stop you, and now you need to be the center of attention."
"Trouble." He sputtered out the word.
"You very much are. My stepmother is going to insist we bill you for this." She hoped he didn't notice she was shaking as hard as he was.
"Put it. On my. Account."
"You don't have an account." He was knocking on death's door and he hadn't lost his sense of humor. Tenderness gripped her. She liked this man, and he was dying right before her eyes. She could do nothing but watch. "If you want to start one, we will need a letter of recommendation from another merchant where you have an account and a letter from your employer to verify your job."
"Will do. Right away."
Lord, let him be all right. Don't let him die.
Footsteps pounded on the boardwalk outside, distinctive taps and the faint jangle that made Burke Hannigan's eyes turn dark, his every muscle grew taut and he launched a few inches off the floor, only to cough, sputter blood and collapse back onto the wood planks. It didn't sound like the doctor. Dr. Samuel Frost didn't wear spurs.
"You have to lie still." She grabbed another fold of fabric to hold over the wound. "I've decided not to let you die, so you will simply have to comply."
Sadness darkened his blue eyes. He shifted slightly beneath the blanket, breathing faster as the footsteps pounded closer. Someone hollered a door or two down the boardwalk, the sound carried clearly through the open door.
"Hannigan? Where are you?" His boots struck like hammers, his spurs rang with menace. "Don't tell me you're dead because that would make my day."
What a horrible man. It could only be the town's sheriff. How he was voted into office remained a mystery for more than half the good citizens of Angel Falls. A shiver trickled down her spine and spilled ice into her veins. He was coming their way.
"Take this." Deputy Burke Hannigan's whisper vibrated with pain. His compelling gaze latched onto hers, his plea going soul deep. "Hide it. Promise?"
Something pressed into the palm of her hand and she didn't look at it. With a nod of agreement, she automatically slipped it into her skirt pocket as boot heels and spurs struck the boards outside the threshold. A shadow fell across her, and when she looked up Sheriff Dobbs swaggered through the doorway as if he owned the place. She felt Burke stiffen beneath her fingertips as his every muscle tensed.
"So, you're not dead after all, Hannigan." The sheriff scowled. "But the day ain't over yet."
Chapter Two
Dobbs. Burke's mouth soured at the sight of the snake. No, thinking of the sheriff as a snake did a disservice to reptiles everywhere. He blinked hard against the fiery pain scorching him, rasped in a breath and locked gazes with the villain. He did not blink. He'd learned long ago to never show weakness to a bad man.
"It takes more'than an outlaw'to stop me." He bit out the words as if the double bullet holes weren't affecting him one bit. "Don't give away'my job'just yet."
"I'll put up a post. I was plannin' on it anyway." Footsteps struck the floor with a bully's force, the only power left a man with no heart and a black soul. "You're a lightweight. Never should have given you the job."
Lightweight? Burke didn't let the insult bother him. He was a good half foot taller than Dobbs. He knew what Dobbs was. He had gotten a good eyeful working for him the past few months. "I'll prove myself."
"I doubt it, boy." Dobbs lifted his upper lip in a sneer.
Burke's vision blurred. That couldn't be a good sign. Reality wavered around him like a mirage. From the blood loss no doubt. His teeth clacked together like a train's iron wheels on a track. Pain consumed him like flame. He was fading fast. Lila's pretty face hovered over him but her image blurred, too. He caught a pinch of concern, a fluff of cinnamon-brown curls and sweetness. So much sweetness. The pressure of her hands felt distant on his wounds. The world slowly began to melt away.
Keep the badge hidden, he wanted to tell her. Keep your promise to me. But the words would not come and he couldn't say them in front of Dobbs anyway.
"Looks like I ought to put you out of your misery like a downed horse." Dobbs bit out with a hint of laughter.
"What a horrible thing to joke about." Lila's gentle alto held a note of dismay. "Step away from him. I don't need your brand of help."
"Just tellin' the truth, gal. Life is hard. You ought to toughen up and accept it."
Easy to feel Lila's outrage and distress. Her emotions seemed to vibrate through her gentle touch. She was all he could see'every other bit of his surroundings had gone. She was a smudge of creamy skin, rich brown curls and pink calico, and he clung to her image, remembering her sweet beauty and rosebud smile.
"Ignore. Him." He coughed out the words.
"I intend to. Hold on, Deputy." She ignored everything but him. Voices murmuring at the doorway, the strike of her stepmother's shoes on the stairs and the scary amount of blood soaking her hands and her dress. "Don't you leave."
"Won't." The one word cost him. His eyes drifted shut but the hint of a smile touched the pale corners of his lips.
"Deputy?" Her heart crashed to a stop. "Burke?"
"That's life, missy." The sheriff scoffed. "No sense tearin' up about it. First you live, then you die."
Her faith taught to turn the other cheek, so she ignored him. She collapsed back on her heels, shaking. Tears scalded the backs of her eyes. Was Burke dead? She couldn't tell if he was breathing. She laid two trembling fingers against the side of his throat. Nothing. Nothing at all.
Wait. The tiniest flutter pulsed against her fingertip. He lived. Relief rocketed through her. Now that she was a little more calm, she could see the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest. He was holding on, just as she'd begged him to.
"Stand aside, Dobbs." Dr. Sam Frost's terse demand betrayed his tension. Were the wounds mortal? Worry crept around her heart and cinched tight.
Please, let the deputy be all right. She rolled back the crimson hem of the blanket for the doctor, who was already kneeling and reaching into his medical bag. He worked quickly, pulling out his stethoscope and leaning in to listen. Two deputies pushed into the room. There was no disguising the doctor's concern as he straightened.
"Lila, you need to leave the room now." The doctor tore apart the deputy's shirt. Buttons flew and hit the floor with ping sounds.
"No, I'm staying." She braced herself but nothing could prepare her for the sight of Burke's chest. Two seeping wounds tore into his flesh, marring his perfect physique.
"Lila! Get away from that man." Eunice tromped around the corner of the counter. "He has no shirt."
"But the doctor might need help." She swallowed hard, feeling woozy at the sight of ruined flesh and bone. Sympathy pains cut deep into her. She hated feeling so helpless. "I have to do something."
"You will avert your eyes and come with me, young lady." Eunice grabbed an elbow and Lila was wrenched to her feet. All around her movement and flurry and voices drummed dimly in her head.
"On three," the doctor ordered and along with other men lifted the unconscious deputy onto the front counter.
"What do you think you are doing?" Eunice demanded. "We conduct business in this establishment. How will we serve our customers?"
"Mrs. Lawson, human life takes a higher priority." Dr. Frost appeared pained, hardly paying her any attention as he poured a solution from a brown bottle onto the separate wounds. "I need better light. Lila, find me some lanterns. I need to operate."
"Someone had better reimburse us for our lost profits," Eunice announced, although it didn't appear as if anyone were listening.
Lanterns. They had a whole shelf of lighting needs. Lila twisted away from her stepmother's grip and dashed down the aisle. Her fingers felt wooden as she opened a can of kerosene and poured it into the first lamp she grabbed.
"He's not gonna make it, Doc," Dobbs commented. "Don't think the sheriff's office is gonna pick up your bill when he dies."
"I'm not worried about the money." Dr. Frost sounded busy and annoyed, although she couldn't see him because of the shelving and the way her stepmother stood like a barricade between her and Burke Hannigan's bare chest.
"I'll take that." Tight-lipped, Eunice twisted the lantern from Lila's grip. "Fill another, but that is all. We can't spare anymore expense than two lanterns."
"Does the deputy have family in the area?" the doctor asked, strained as he lighted a match to his scalpel to sterilize it. "No? Any next of kin?"
"He didn't list a soul on his application." Dobbs's spurs clanked against the planks as he headed toward the door. "No one cares if he dies. I'm leaving. Good luck, Doc. You'll need it."
Lila wondered if Burke could hear what was going on around him, if he was touched by the sheriff's callous disregard for human life. She felt dirtied by the words, as if they had somehow brushed against her soul and she was glad when the door slammed shut. She set the can on the shelf; the lamp's reservoir was full. She ran with it toward the deputy. Blood streamed out of wounds the doctor investigated.
"One didn't go too deep. Hit a rib." As if that was good fortune, Dr. Frost dropped a bullet into a pan with a clink.
"Go upstairs, Lila." The hard set of Eunice's round face held a warning. She took the lamp. "Go. No argument."
"But'" She had a thousand arguments but she bit her tongue. Disobeying her stepmother would only upset Pa. That was the last thing she wanted. As hard as it was, she forced her feet to carry her across the room and toward the door to upstairs. When she looked back, she couldn't see anything of Burke but his thick dark hair, tousled as if he'd just run his fingers through it. What happened next was God's will and so it was to God she prayed as she took the stairs one at a time with Eunice on her heels.
"
"Nothing so terrible has ever happened here before." Lark huddled in the corner at the kitchen table with fearful eyes. "All those gunshots. Do you think they will come back? Oh, do you think we are in danger?"
"Not likely." Lila used her most confident voice to reassure her little sister. She shut the kitchen door behind her, making sure to listen for Eunice's footsteps, which were heading into the parlor. "If you're worried, I can stay with you for a bit."
"Yes, I would like that." The girl tossed a cinnamon-brown braid over her shoulder'a shade matching Lila's'and sighed with great relief. She was a sweetheart, the identical copy of their mother. "You know Eunice. She told me not to be silly."
"She means well." She went straight to the washbasin.
"But she isn't Ma." Lark nibbled on the edge of a sugar cookie. "Do you reckon she's right? That this town will become lawless and we will have to sell the store and move? I don't want to leave the store."
"I can't see our settled town going to rack and ruin easily, not if Eunice has anything to do with it." She rinsed the blood off her hands. Burke's blood. "Everything will be fine, just you wait and see."
"What about the deputy? Is he really going to die like Eunice said?"
"No." Her stomach twisted up tight as she remembered the flash of his deeply blue eyes. Sadness gripped her as she grabbed the bar of soap and lathered her hands. "We're going to take good care of him so that he lives."
"Isn't his family going to take care of him?" Lark put down her cookie, no longer hungry.
"The sheriff said he doesn't have any family." That was even sadder. If Burke passed away, no one would care and no one would mourn him. She set down the soap and rinsed in the basin.
"He has to have someone somewhere." Lark wrinkled her freckled nose. "Everybody has family."
"I don't know. Who knows if Dobbs is right?" She grabbed a towel and dried her hands. Lark was right. How did someone get to be all alone? Everyone
came from somewhere, even a handsome deputy with a killer smile.
"Oh, I know!" Lark bounded off her cushioned chair and dropped to her knees next to the paper box by the stove. She rattled through the folded newspapers. "You are talking about the new deputy, right? That's what Eunice said when she told you to stay up here away from him."
"Yes." Lila swallowed her resentment, remembering Eunice's parting admonishment. "Why?"
"I remember reading something. Let me see." She plucked out a paper and leafed through it. "Here it is. Burke Hannigan."
"That's him." A spark of interest thrilled through her like joy on a sunny day. She gripped the back of the chair, stopping herself from thundering around the table and snatching the newsprint from her sister. She was merely curious, that was all, wondering about the injured stranger. "What does it say?"
""The town of Angel Falls welcomes new deputy Burke Hannigan. He hails from Miota Hollow near Miles City, where he worked as a deputy before the town burned to the ground in a grass fire."" Lark paused to comment. "Oh, that's too bad. I read about that early this spring. It doesn't say he has family."
"Then the sheriff was right." Did she sound casual? She sure hoped so. As she hung up the towel, her pulse drummed in her ears, making it hard to hear as Lark bowed her head and continued to read.
""He's a bachelor and this reporter has surmised he is not willing to settle down, so be that a warning to you ladies who might be interested in catching our new deputy's eye."" Lark stopped again. "There is no mention of any relatives, so he really must be alone. How sad."
"Yes." She thought of him in the room below, stretched out on the front counter. Her palms went clammy and her knees weak. He didn't look strong enough to survive surgery. He'd lost so much blood already.
