Until September

by Brenda Jernigan

  Billy had to bite his tongue. He wanted to shout, she’s only fragile because everyone treats her that way. Instead he said nothing.

  “If it weren’t for Billy, I wouldn’t be here,” Claire told her uncle. “He rescued me from the Dalton gang.”

  “So I heard,” Ben said while he walked with Claire back into his office. “Your Aunt Ute was beside herself when she arrived. It took me two days to calm her down and assure her that Billy would find you.”

  “Well, thank you for your faith in me,” Billy muttered as he stood in the doorway. “And it’s good to see you, too.”

  Slowly, Ben smiled. “If I didn’t have faith in you, I’d never have sent you back East. Now I’m going to take my niece home, and I believe there is a little guy who has been waiting for your return. Never figured you’d come back with a child.”

  Billy smiled. “How is Willie?” he asked as they started down the stairs.

  “He’s been a big help working around my stables,” Ben said. “Willie told me he was now your brother.”

  “Looks just like me, too.” Billy laughed.

  Once they were downstairs, a commotion could be heard outside the office. It was just a minute before a man dressed in buckskins stormed through the door. He had riveting gray eyes, set off by a drooping mustache and blond hair that tumbled around his shoulders. He wore a Prince Albert frock coat that showed off broad shoulders. He seemed to look right through Claire.

  “Holladay. Just the man I need.”

  “What’s wrong, Wild Bill?” Ben asked.

  So this was Wild Bill Hickok? Claire had heard stories about his daring deeds during the Civil War.

  “Need another shotgun for the rest of my trip,” Bill said. “Jake was killed early this morning.”

  Ben let go of Claire’s elbow as he spoke. “Do you have passengers?”

  “Yes, sir. And they ain’t cottoned to this delay, neither,” Wild Bill said.

  Billy stepped forward. “I’ll ride with you.”

  “But you just arrived,” Claire spoke up. “You must be tired.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Billy said curtly, and then he walked off with Wild Bill.

  Claire looked to her uncle for help.

  “Don’t fret. Billy will be all right” He looked at her appraisingly. “It appears that you and Billy have gotten to know each other very well,” Ben finally said.

  “I have spent a lot of time with him.”

  Ben held open the door for her. “And ... ?”

  Claire swept through the opening with as much dignity as she could muster. “I like him.”

  “Does he know?”

  “No. And I don’t want him to.”

  “Well, he’s a fine man,” Ben said, helping Claire up into the carriage. “You couldn’t do much better,” Ben admitted.

  Claire gave a sigh. “I know. But my illness complicates things.”

  A week had somehow slipped by as Claire settled in with her uncle in his big sprawling house. It was only a little smaller than her home in New York.

  Aunt Carla, who lived part of the time in New York and part of the time in Denver with Uncle Ben, had taken the children to England for the summer, so Aunt Ute had taken over running the household.

  Claire thought that she’d be homesick, but she stayed busy enough exploring Denver and she tried not to think of home. She had regained her strength after her travels and had written two articles for Harper’s Weekly. She shoved the last of the articles into the envelope. How she would love to see Ann’s face as she read them.

  Then Claire decided she had better let Ann know how she was progressing with Billy, and what had happened so far. The letter started out... things haven’t gone as well since we left Independence. Wish you were here to talk to. . . .

  Claire admitted to Ann that she loved Billy, but was unsure what she could do about that She hadn’t even seen Billy since she’d come to her uncle’s house and wondered why he stayed away. She kept hoping that her uncle would say something, but he’d not mentioned Billy, and she wasn’t going to ask him.

  By the second week, Claire had become bored, and she knew she had to do something to keep her mind off Billy. She missed him more than she wanted to admit.

  One morning, she was reading the Rocky Mountain News when she came up with a brilliant idea.

  She’d go into town with her uncle and visit the Rocky Mountain News and do an interview with them.

  Uncle Ben thought it was a splendid idea, so the next day, she dressed in a gray day dress trimmed with a plain white collar. She wanted to fit in with the local people. This morning when she looked in the mirror, she noticed she’d lost the pasty white look she’d had back East.

  Once they were in town, Claire broke down and asked her uncle, “Have you seen Billy?”

  He gave her a sly smile. “So you’ve missed him.”

  “I didn’t say that. I was just wondering, that’s all.”

  “Billy has been helping out until we could hire more people to ride shotgun. As a matter of fact, he should be pulling in sometime today, if you want to see him.”

  “If I happen to be at the office when Billy comes in, then I’ll talk to him,” Claire told him primly. “Look, there’s the newspaper. You can let me off. When I’m finished, I’ll walk over to your office.”

  Billy had never been so damned tired. The only sleep he’d gotten in the last two weeks had been on the stage, and he was looking forward to climbing into a soft bed for a good night’s sleep.

  The stage pulled to a stop. Billy retrieved the mail sack from under the seat as Rattlesnake jumped down to hold the door for the passengers.

  “I’ll see you, Rattlesnake,” Billy said as he started for the office.

  “You need to get some rest. You look sicker than a toad frog.”

  Billy nodded and hurried into the stage office.

  He tossed the mailbag to the clerk, and then trudged upstairs to see Ben.

  “You busy?” Billy called from the doorway, then entered anyway.

  “It’s good to see your sorry hide,” Ben said. “You look like hell.”

  “Thank you,” Billy drawled. “You’re the second person who has told me I look like shit.”

  Ben chuckled. “I do appreciate you helping out until I could hire more men. These attacks are costing me a lot of money. If they keep up, I’m going to ask for Federal Troops as escorts. The mail must get through.”

  “I agree.” Billy nodded. “How is Willie doing?” “He’s doing fine, but he keeps asking when you’re coming to get him.”

  Billy smiled. “He probably thinks I’m going to get rid of him. I’ll go get him tomorrow. Has anybody else asked?”

  “As a matter of fact, Claire asked about you this morning. She’s over at the newspaper, if you want to see her,” Ben said. “Oh, before I forget—” Ben reached into his desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. “Your sister sent this to you.”

  Billy took the envelope and opened it up. He was frowning when he looked up again.

  “Is there a problem?”

  “I hope not. Brandy wants me to come home and talk to Mary about some crazy idea she has.” Billy smiled as he got to his feet. “With Mary you never know what you’ll be getting into. However it will be a good chance to take Willie out to the ranch and introduce him to his new family. There is going to be more than one surprised face when I arrive with a child in tow.”

  Ben leaned back in his chair. “You deserve some time off. Take a few days. I know that Claire will be glad to see you, too.”

  As Billy left the office, all he could think of was Claire. He had hoped to get some rest before seeing her, but somehow his feet seemed to be taking him in the direction of the newspaper instead of the hotel. He’d tried hard not to think of Claire this past week, but that had proven an impossible task. The thought of holding her in his arms made his blood run hot and his footsteps quicken.

  He was so glad he hadn’t let Claire get under his skin, or he migh
t do something foolish like ask her to marry him. Nope, he was just curious to see how she was doing.

  Claire walked out of the newspaper and directly into Billy.

  “Oh, my goodness,” she gasped.

  Billy steadied her. “You never know who you’re going to run into,” Billy said as he let her go.

  She smiled brightly. “It’s good to see you. Where are you going?”

  “To find you,” Billy said.

  Claire’s cheeks burned like a shy schoolgirl’s. Billy looked so devilishly handsome; she’d forgotten what an effect he had on her. However, she noticed Billy had dark circles under his eyes and appeared very tired. “How have you been?”

  “It’s been a long couple of weeks,” he admitted. “Come and walk with me. I’m going to get a bite to eat and could use the company.”

  They were about to cross the street when someone shouted, “Billy West!”

  Billy turned to find Kincade and two hired guns on either side of the old man.

  “Who is that?” Claire asked.

  “Somebody who wants me dead.” Billy heard Claire gasp, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off the old man. “What do you want, Kincade?”

  “I want you,” the old man ground out slowly.

  Billy gave Claire a shove. “Get inside, Claire.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do as I say. And do it now!”

  The tone of his voice made Claire obey for a change without further argument When she reached the door, she turned to see what was wrong and try to figure out why those men were shouting at Billy. Surely Billy was exaggerating.

  Billy moved out toward the middle of the street and everybody else started clearing the street.

  “You’re a hard man to kill, Billy West,” Kincade shouted. He stood with his feet wide apart, as did the men on either side of him.

  “So you’re the one that’s been taking shots at me,” Billy accused.

  You finally figured that out boy.”

  “Look, Kincade. It was a fair fight. I didn’t kill your son,” Billy told him.

  Kincade sneered. You might as well have. It was ’cause of you, Jake was a cripple. It was cause of you that he took his own life.”

  The marshal walked out into the street, putting up both his hands. “All right, gentlemen. I don’t cotton to gunfights in my town.”

  “It’s been a long time coming, Marshal,” Kincade said. “He killed my boy.”

  “I heard that was a fair fight”

  You didn’t hear me, Marshal. My boy’s dead. And it’s his fault” Kincade motioned toward Billy.

  “I can see you’re pretty bullheaded, but three against one isn’t fair, in my book,” the marshal grunted. “Back your men off, and I’ll let you both have at it.”

  Claire was petrified. She couldn’t believe the marshal was going to let these two men shoot at each other. Couldn’t the man see how tired Billy was?

  She watched as the two gunslingers backed away. Billy and Kincade squared up in the street.

  Wasn’t the marshal going to do anything?

  She had to do something to stop this. She couldn’t let the man kill Billy. But what could she do?

  Everything grew deathly quiet as the men stared at each other.

  Claire couldn’t stand still any longer. She had nothing to lose. She jumped off the boardwalk and ran toward Billy. Her scream of “No!” seemed to come from somebody else as shots rang out. She threw herself in front of Billy.

  She couldn’t let somebody shoot him.

  She couldn’t lose him yet.

  She felt Billy’s arms come around her just as another shot rang out. A searing pain in her right arm made her scream with pain.

  Billy holstered his gun with one hand while he clasped Claire to him with the other. “You little fool.” When he had a good hold of her he looked into her bright blue eyes. She stared up at him with tears trickling down her cheeks about the same time he felt the sticky blood on his hand.

  Claire had taken the bullet for him.

  And if it proved fatal... Billy looked at the old man who staggered to his feet because Billy had been merciful and had shot him in the leg instead of killing him—the wrath of hell would be released on Kincade. Billy would never show any mercy again.

  The next time, he’d kill Kincade.

  Billy scooped Claire up in his arms and headed for the stage office. Her head was cradled in his neck as he said over and over again, “Don’t you die on me, Claire Holladay? We have unfinished business.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Overland Stage office was full of passengers awaiting the next stagecoach when Billy burst through the door carrying Claire.

  Everyone turned to gawk at him, but no one offered to help. They were too busy gasping and covering their mouths. One passenger said that Claire looked dead.

  Ben was just coming down the stairs when he spotted them. “What the hell!” Ben bounded down the rest of the stairs and was in front of Billy before he could blink.

  Billy felt like his senses had left him the minute the gun had been fired. Where he was normally sure of himself, he now found he couldn’t think of what to do. So it took a few moments for Ben’s words to register. “I—I need help. She’s been shot.”

  “Take her upstairs,” Ben instructed Billy. Then Ben turned to one of his men behind the counter. “Go fetch the doctor.”

  A middle-aged woman stepped forward. She was dressed all in black, and a small satchel sat on the floor beside her. “I’m a doctor. Can I be of assistance?”

  “If you’re familiar with bullet wounds, follow us,” Ben said and took off after Billy.

  The woman nodded, then picked up her black bag and hurried after them.

  Billy kicked open the door and carried Claire inside. When the doctor entered, she looked at Billy and said, “You’ll have to place her on the sofa, if you please.” When Billy didn’t move, she said in a much firmer voice, “I cannot examine her while she’s still in your arms.”

  Billy finally came out of his stupor and placed Claire on the green sofa that was behind Ben’s desk.

  Billy stood there, his gaze never leaving Claire’s face. She was so lifeless. The bodice of her dress was soaked in blood down her right side. He had no idea how badly she was wounded. But she wouldn’t have been in this situation if she hadn’t been trying to protect him. And he couldn’t very well relieve his frustrations by yelling at her as long as she was unconscious.

  “How the hell did Claire get shot?” Ben shouted.

  “You’ll have to keep your voice down,” the doctor instructed from behind them.

  “Claire took a bullet meant for me,” Billy explained. “She actually jumped in front of me. She did it before I could stop her. I told her to stay in the building, but of course she didn’t listen.”

  “She’s a brave woman,” the doctor said, moving up beside them. “My name is Doc Susie,” she said as she pushed Billy out of her way. She placed her black bag on the floor, then sat on the couch beside Claire.

  Billy glanced at Ben. He looked like he wanted to kill somebody, and Billy couldn’t blame him. Ben spoke one word. “Who?”

  “Kincade,” Billy said. “I’ll explain later after we get Claire taken care of.”

  “All right,” Ben agreed and then added very quietly, “I knew I shouldn’t have let her come out here. She’s too delicate.”

  Susie picked up Claire’s wrist. “What’s her name?” “Claire,” they both said.

  Doc Susie placed two fingers on the side of Claire’s neck. “Her pulse is good,” she said, “so I think you gentlemen can rest easy.”

  Billy took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure he’d breathed at all since Claire had been shot. He’d reasoned that Claire wasn’t dead, but he hadn’t had the time to see how badly she was injured. “How is she?”

  The doctor reached into her bag not bothering to answer the question. She passed a small bottle of smelling salts under Claire’s nose, and Claire je
rked and began to struggle. She started to cough as she blinked a couple of times before her eyes popped open.

  “That’s a girl,” Doc Susie soothed. Then she looked over her shoulder at the gentlemen. “Are either of you her husband?”

  “No,” Billy said, and motioned to Ben. ‘This man is her uncle.”

  Claire was still coughing, so Doc Susie had to raise her voice to be heard. “It appears she has been shot in the shoulder, so it isn’t life threatening. But I would appreciate both of you leaving me with my patient for a few minutes. And if you could find me some hot water and fresh bandages, it would be greatly appreciated.”

  Neither man moved.

  “Look gentlemen, neither of you are helping me or Claire by standing there staring at her,” Susie told them firmly. “I assure you she isn’t going to die. Water if you please. ... Now!”

  Both men frowned at the bossy doctor before they left. Then Susie turned back to Claire. “First, young lady, let’s tackle that cough of yours. It doesn’t sound like a normal cough.”

  Claire was focusing now on the kind woman beside her. Where had she come from? The last thing Claire remembered was the gunfight in the street She couldn’t believe that the man actually shot her, but by the fire in her arm she knew he had. Remembering the panic on Billy’s face, she thought he had been shot also, but she must have been wrong because she saw him before he left the room and he looked fine, thank goodness.

  The doctor helped Claire to sit up, then held a bottle to her lips.

  Claire felt the bitter liquid slide down her throat and start to ease her cough. Now she needed to concentrate on her other problem.

  When Claire had finally ceased her hacking, she winced at the pain in her arm. “My arm,” she managed to say between coughs. “It feels like it’s on fire. Who are you?”

  “I’m Doc Susie. I live in Fraser. It’s high up in the mountains. I just happened to be in the stage office when they brought you in, and I could see right away that you needed a doctor. How did this happen?”