by Greg Dragon
“What about you? How’s your arm?”
Jeremiah wiggled his fingers and winced. “It’s a bit stiff. Probably gonna have to waste some o’ that good whiskey on it. Maybe I’ll get Cora to fix me up right nice.” He grinned as Jasper laughed.
“She’d be quite happy to fix you, but not in the way you’d like.” Jasper returned his brother’s grin, but he was worried about Jeremiah. The wound was still bleeding through the cloth and every time he pictured that woman, a shiver worked its way up his spine. She wasn’t right.
“You ladies done gossipin’?” Jed asked when they finally caught up. He didn’t expect an answer and they didn’t give one. The three of them angled their horses toward the saloon.
Jeremiah sighed with relief when he saw the familiar faded sign hanging from the roof. His heart did a happy little dance, for more reasons than one. Whiskey and women were the two things he loved most in the world and the saloon had them both. It didn’t matter that his woman of choice, Cora, had no interest in him. He would settle for one of the others. They were cheaper anyway, and they were more willing to give him what he wanted. Cora was a fine looking woman and fun to be around, but she would never do more than dance, and he had needs.
His horse stepped on a rock and stumbled slightly. It jostled Jeremiah’s arm and he grunted in pain. At least he would get a little attention from Cora, he thought. She was the best of the girls at fixing the injuries that the men tended to come in with, those that refused to see Doc Whitman, anyway. He flexed his fingers again and gritted his teeth. He considered turning around and heading to see the doc instead, but they were nearing the saloon. Besides, Jed would never pay the bill, so he pushed the thought out of his mind.
A large crowd had gathered on the porch in front of the saloon. It was always fairly busy this time of night, but the regular patrons were accompanied by men and women who usually considered themselves too upstanding to be seen around the drunkards in the saloon. Those folks typically kept to the hotel restaurant on the other side of town.
Jed led his brothers up to the outside of the crowd. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the people. Most were chatting amongst themselves, but nervous energy rolled over them like a heat wave. Sheriff Connor McClane and his deputy stood on the porch talking to Neil Avery and Cora Monroe.
“What’s going on?” Jasper asked. He had a very bad feeling about the whole thing and wanted nothing more than to head inside and get a drink.
“Dunno anymore’n you, do I?” Jed fixed his stare on the sheriff for a long moment before turning to his brothers. He nodded his head back down the street. “Go see the doc, Jeremiah. Have him take a look at you, get that arm fixed. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Jeremiah grumbled. “It’s fine. Can’t I just go get a drink and have Cora look at it?”
“No.” Jed glared at him. “Get outta here, now.”
Jasper and Jeremiah exchanged a look. Jasper shrugged and spun his horse around. Jeremiah returned Jed’s glare for several seconds, but his head was starting to swim and he really wanted to get off his horse. A cough rose in his throat, but he forced it away. Jed didn’t need to know how sick he really felt.
He followed Jasper down the street and they found Doc Whitman’s house. Jasper hopped off his horse and tied him up at the post. Dynamite immediately dipped his head under the bar to drink. Jeremiah pulled his horse in next to Jasper’s, but he didn’t have the energy to get off. Instead, he sank further forward in the saddle and rested his head on his good arm. Jasper came over to him.
“You gonna make it?”
Jeremiah laughed. “Yeah, it’s just a bite. I guess fightin’ with that crazy bitch took a toll.” He gathered his strength and swung his leg over. Jasper caught his arm and gave him some support as he climbed down. The younger man tied up the horse as Jeremiah slowly made his way to the steps. Jasper gave him his shoulder as he climbed up to the walkway and he leaned heavily against a post when he reached the top.
Jasper left him where he was and knocked on the door. Inside, he could see three figures through the curtains. One of them turned to the door, then rose. The door opened.
“Jasper.” Doc Whitman’s surprise was evident in his voice and on his face. The Gaines boys only came to see him when something was really wrong.
“Hey, doc.” Jasper gave him a weak smile and waved a hand at Jeremiah. “Jer needs a bit of fixin’ up. We wouldn’t have bothered you, but there’s a big pow wow going on at the saloon and the girls look otherwise engaged.”
The doctor stiffened and cleared his throat. Jasper narrowed his eyes at him. He knew something about what was going on. “What’s up, Doc? Something bad happen?”
Doc Whitman bit his lip and glanced between the two men. Then he stepped aside. “Come in, please. We’ll discuss it inside.”
Jasper gave him one last look before walking over to Jeremiah to take his arm. “Let’s go.”
Jeremiah leaned against Jasper as they entered the doctor’s house. The men turned to the left to enter the doctor’s examination room. It was a mess. The table was askew, chairs were busted, blood was everywhere.
“What—“
“This way, please.” The doctor stood in the door to the kitchen. His eyes were hard as he stared at the men.
Jasper glanced back at the blood. There was a lot of it. He led Jeremiah out of the room and into the kitchen. The older Gaines man sank down into a chair. He was breathing heavily as he flopped his arm onto the table. The two girls on the other side of the table stood up so quickly, one of them knocked her chair over.
When Jasper finally pulled his attention from his brother to look at them, he had to bite back a gasp. The Crawford girls. He had known Abby and Hannah since they were kids. He was a year older than Hannah, Wyatt’s age. He and Wyatt used to play together on Sundays on the town square. One of his best memories was of going to the church social with his ma and pa, of a young Hannah Crawford playing with them and her sisters, her blond pigtails bouncing as they chased each other in circles.
“Come on, Hannah.” Abby gripped her younger sister’s hand and pulled her toward the door.
As they left, Jasper’s eyes met Hannah’s. He smiled at her. He couldn’t help himself. Her blue eyes glistened as she looked at him. She shook her head almost imperceptibly before she pushed past him and followed Abby up the stairs.
“What are they doing here?” Jasper asked as Doc Whitman set Jeremiah’s arm on a clean kitchen towel.
The doctor glanced at him briefly and began unwrapping the bloody bandage before answering. “Wyatt is dead.”
Jasper’s jaw dropped as his heart sank. “Wyatt? What happened?”
The doc cleared his throat and shook his head. “It’s not my story to tell.”
Jasper glanced up the stairs after the girls. He longed to go up and wrap his arms around Hannah, to comfort her. He took a step toward the stairs.
“Holy hell...” The doctor’s gasp drew Jasper back to his brother.
The wound was festering and smelled of rotten flesh. Jeremiah flinched and visibly gagged. “Dumb bitch,” he growled from between clenched teeth.
Doc Whitman narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. He stared at Jeremiah intently. “What exactly happened to you? I need to know everything.”
Jeremiah explained the story about the woman who attacked them. “She was crazy.”
The doctor pressed his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes for a second. Then he pushed himself back from the table and stood. He walked out into the hall and called up the stairs. “Abby? Abby, can you come out here, please?”
Abby appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Abby, I need you to go get Connor. Quick now. Don’t dawdle.”
The girl frowned as she stomped down the stairs. “What’s going on?”
He leaned close and whispered, “Just get him, please. And hurry.”
As Abby left, Jasper grabbed the doc’s arm. “What’s going on?”
“
Your brother... He’s in big trouble.”
“Why? What did he do this time?”
“It’s not anything he did. Nothing he could have stopped. That woman, she... Wyatt... I can’t. I just can’t. Connor has to explain it to you. He has to make the decision. I’ll clean your brother’s wound, but there’s not much else I can do. It’s too late. I’m sorry.”
Jasper squeezed his arm tighter as a boiling mixture of anger, fear, and despair crept into his chest. “Too late? What does that mean? How is it too late? It’s just a bite. Fix him.”
“Jasper, you’re hurting me.” Doc Whitman’s voice was calm, but firm as he delivered the unspoken command.
The young man glared at the doctor a little longer before releasing him and giving him a little shove. The doctor shook his head and sighed, but said nothing. Instead, he walked over to the table and began to clean Jeremiah’s arm. He was very careful, both not to hurt Jeremiah and not to touch the actual wound. He was just finishing when Abby returned with the sheriff and Jed Gaines.
Connor looked from the doctor to Jeremiah to Jeremiah’s arm.
“He’s been bitten,” Doc Whitman said.
Connor blinked once and pulled his gun.
Chapter 21
Jed reacted on pure instinct. His own pistol was out in the blink of an eye and trained on the back of Connor’s head just as the deputy came in. Amos stared at the group for half a second before pulled his gun and pointed it at Jed. Jasper’s eyebrows rose up to his hairline as he pulled his gun and pointed it at Connor before switching it over to Amos. The whole scenario would have garnered many laughs had it been done by stage performers, but no one was laughing as they stood in the middle of a deadly showdown in the doctor’s kitchen.
Jeremiah sat at the table, tired and confused. His mouth gaped as he watched the display of machismo. Hannah clapped her hands over her mouth as she came down the stairs and witnessed the strange scene. Abby backed up into the hall and placed herself between the men and her youngest sister. She longed for her own gun and her mind raced to decide who she would aim it at. Jeremiah was her top pick.
Connor cocked the hammer back on his Peacemaker and took a step toward Jeremiah. Three more identical clicks echoed through the room. The men were locked and loaded. If any of them fired, it would be a bloodbath and no one would make it out of the house alive.
“Hang on, hang on. Put the guns down. Let’s talk about this.” Doc Whitman rose from his seat on the other side of Jeremiah and walked across the room. He placed himself between the injured man and the sheriff with his hands raised defensively. His eyes were locked on Connor’s.
“He’s a dead man, Jacob. You know it as well as I do. If we don’t kill him now...” Connor let the words hang in the air like a stick of dynamite waiting to go off.
“No one’ll be shootin’ my brother ‘cept me.” Jed stepped forward and pressed his gun against Connor’s head, knocking the sheriff’s hat onto the floor. Amos’s trigger finger twitched, but he restrained himself. The ball was still in the sheriff’s court and he didn’t want to be the cause of an all-out war.
“No one is going to be shooting anyone just yet. Let’s talk about this.” Doc Whitman reached his hand up slowly and wrapped his fingers around the barrel of McClane’s gun. He put gentle pressure on it. Connor glared at him, but he let the gun be lowered. He did not uncock it.
The doctor looked at Jed. “Now you.”
Jed pressed the gun harder into Connor’s head, making the sheriff growl, but he eventually pulled it away. He lowered it to waist height and left it there, still pointed at the sheriff’s back.
The other two men lowered their guns and reset the hammers. Both were relieved that it hadn’t come down to a shootout yet and they were more than willing to talk things through.
Jasper put his gun into his holster and entered the kitchen after tossing a glance back toward the stairs. Hannah sat halfway up, her face as white as a sheet. He pressed his lips into a tight line. She had seen him pull a gun on someone. Not just anyone, but the sheriff and his deputy. He mentally kicked himself and hoped to God she would forgive him.
He scooted around his older brothers and took the doctor’s vacated chair on the other side of Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s hands were shaking, so Jasper put his own hand on Jeremiah’s bare arm. It was cold and clammy, like his mother’s had been after she died. His heart sank into his stomach.
He looked up at the sheriff. Connor was watching him with a sadness in his eyes. “What’s going on?” Jasper asked. His voice hurt his throat as the question forced its way out. He didn’t want to know the answer, but he needed it.
Doc Whitman beckoned the Crawford girls in. Abby straightened her shoulders as she forced her way into the kitchen. She purposefully bumped into Jed with her shoulder, hard. He had no choice but to step aside as she and her sister walked into the room. Hannah brushed past Jasper and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before taking the seat further away from him. Abby settled herself into the chair between them.
“Jed, put the gun away,” the doctor admonished the only outlaw that remained standing.
Jed shot a look of death at the doctor. “Hell no. Ain’t nobody threatens my brother.”
The doctor sighed and shook his head. “Fine. Just don’t shoot anyone until we finish talking, okay?” He walked over to the table and propped himself on the corner next to Jeremiah. He turned his attention to the man with a grave look on his face. “The woman who bit you, you said she was sick, right? Gray skin, dull gray eyes?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well...” Doc Whitman paused and glanced at the girls. “A few men with a similar description attacked the Crawford farm a couple days ago. They killed Abe and Phyllis, and Madeleine. They got to Wyatt, too. He was bitten.”
Jeremiah flexed his fingers and winced at the pain radiating up his arm, into his shoulder and neck. “Like me?”
“Yeah, like you. The wound festered and rotted in hours.” He paused. “It killed him, Jeremiah. He died on the table in there.” Doc Whitman glanced at Connor before continuing. The sheriff nodded. The doctor cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Then he came back.”
Jed took a step forward, putting himself part way between the sheriff and his brother. His eyebrows knit as he eyed the doctor. “What’s that mean? How’d he come back?”
Doc Whitman shrugged. “He came back to life. Only, it wasn’t him. He was... different. His skin was gray, and his eyes were the eyes of the dead, dull, no light in them at all. He tried to bite Abby, but she got away from him.” Tears sprung to his eyes and he fought to keep them in check. “He got Eva, though. It was like he didn’t even recognize her, his own fiancée. Tore a chunk of flesh from her neck and began eating like it was Christmas dinner... He was a monster.” His voice faltered and he buried his face in his hands.
Jed raised his gun again, pointing it straight at the doctor’s face. “My brother ain’t no monster.”
“Jed, put the gun down.” Jeremiah’s voice was weak and strained. His breathing was labored and his skin was even paler than it had been when they arrived. “He ain’t lyin’. I can feel it comin’. I can feel it in me, eatin’ me alive.”
The oldest Gaines brother lowered his gun and stared at Jeremiah. “No. You ain’t a monster. No one’s killing you. Not ever.”
Jeremiah opened his mouth and closed it. He had no answer. He knew what needed to be done, but hell if he wanted to die.
“What if we promise to leave and not come back?” Jasper’s hand still gripped Jeremiah’s arm. He was sitting forward on his chair, pleading with the sheriff with puppydog eyes.
The sheriff shook his head. “Not good enough. You might come back anyway. After he’s turned.”
Jed latched onto Jasper’s idea. “Nah, no, that’s good. That’s a good idea. We’ll ride until we can’t go no further. We won’t ever come back here. Not to Lonesome Ridge. Not ever.”
Connor’s lip twitched. Jed was a liar and a ch
eat. He wouldn’t trust the man as far as he could throw him, but the sincerity in his voice was more than Connor had ever heard. Besides, the brothers were dead men if they stayed with Jeremiah.
“Do it, Connor. Please.” Doc Whitman pleaded with the sheriff. “Just let them go.” He stood up and walked over to whisper in Connor’s ear. “He won’t last much longer. I’d rather he not be here when he turns. We can send out a party in a little while to track them.”
Connor glanced at the doctor. The man had a good point. “Very well. Go, before I change my mind.”
Jasper rose and helped Jeremiah get to his feet. His brother leaned on him as they shuffled toward the door.
Connor watched the young man for a few seconds before he stepped up and gently gripped his arm. “You don’t have to go, Jasper. You’re welcome to stay here.”
Jasper’s eyes went wide with hope, but they fell when Jed glared at him. “I...”
“The Gaines brothers stay together, Jasper. Always. You’re coming with us.” Jed’s voice was hard and held an unspoken threat, but Jeremiah shook his head.
“No,” Jeremiah said. His thick accent disappeared as he spoke. “Let him stay. He belongs here. He deserves a chance at a life we could never have.”
Jed turned his baffled glare on Jeremiah. “No—“
“Shut up, Jed. For once in your life, just leave it alone. Let the kid be. Let’s go.” Jeremiah leaned over to give Jasper a weak hug. “Good luck, little brother. Make Ma proud.” Then he pulled away and hobbled out the door before anyone could stop him.
Jed stared after his brother for a moment before turning to Jasper. “Yer dead to me. If we ever meet again, I’ll kill ya.” He stomped out the door and slammed it shut behind him.
Chapter 22
Jasper walked to the window and leaned his head against the dusty glass. He watched with a heavy heart while Jed struggled to help Jeremiah mount his horse.
