He’d watch and learn.
*****
Cassie told Bridget she was sending her to Taos to her cousins’.
“Like hell,” said Bridget. “I’ve been with you for eleven years. Don’t think you can get rid of me that easy, Missy.”
“I’m not trying to get rid of you. I want you safe.”
“Hmpft. You going away? You going to keep yourself safe?”
“No. I have a ranch to run.”
“Exactly. What makes you think I’m leaving? If anything I can help more. I’ll do all the cooking now. You tend to my Michael’s horses. You make his dream come true.”
That was all there was to it. Bridget wasn’t leaving and in a way, Cassie was glad. She didn’t need the temptation of being alone in the house with Sam for days and nights on end.
*****
Regardless of the thread posed by Borden, there was still a ranch to run. There were still fifteen mustangs that needed breaking. They were way behind. The army contract was due in three days. Five horses a day was a lot for just two cowboys. The work was back breaking. Hard on both the horse and the man. It was more than just getting on the back of the horse and staying on until the horse quit bucking. You needed to calm the horse, get him used to you, let him get to know you before you climbed on his back. It took time and it wasn’t easy. Cassie’s men were some of the best Sam had ever seen. They were gentle with the animals, respecting their strength and not abusing them.
Sam would have to help them if they were going to meet the deadline for the Army contract. He hadn’t broken a horse to saddle in a long time, but thought he should be able to do it. He still remembered the basics. Get on and don’t get thrown off. He would allow the regular cowboys to gentle the animal and calm him, Sam would just ride while the cowboy moved on to the next animal.
The first one he rode seemed to go pretty well. He only got thrown a couple of times before the stallion let him ride him around the corral. The second one didn’t go so well. This big appaloosa was the most stubborn horse Sam had known. He named him Satan because it was appropriate to the horse’s nature.
Sam thought he was finally getting him broke when the horse got a second wind and caught Sam unaware. Sam went flying over it’s head and landed flat on his back. He’d done it several times today, but this one was different. There was a lot of pain in his chest.
“Sam!” Cassie flew to his side and knelt. “What the hell were you doing? You’re supposed to be the foreman, not the bronc buster.” She ran her hands over his arms then up and down his right side. When she started on his left, he winced and would have flinched away but it hurt too damn bad.
“I wanted to make the deadline for the Army contract. And we will. Joe will have to finish with this horse. I don’t think I’m going to be able to. Ha ha Owww.”
“Hush now. No laughing or teasing or anything else.”
She sniffled and Sam looked over at her. “Ah, Cassie, honey. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m going to be just fine.”
“You don’t know that. You’ve got bruised, maybe broken ribs and who knows what kind of damage inside. Davy” she hollered at the stable boy standing nearest. “Go to town and get the doctor.”
“Yes ma’am.” The young man took off running for the barn and the fastest horse she had available, Lightning. He was a paint and one of the first mustangs they’d captured. His wide patches of black and white with a white head were unique and so Cassie and Michael had kept him rather than sell him to the army.
Davy took off out of the barn at a full gallop. Lightning could easily make it the ten miles to town in about an hour. He should be back with Doc Wright in about three hours. That’s a long time when you’re in pain.
“You boys see if you can get him up and walk him back to the house. I’ll meet you there.”
Cassie ran to the house. She grabbed the laudanum put several drops into a glass of water. Sam was going to need some help until the doctor got here but she wasn’t giving him enough to do more than take the edge off.
She threw the tea kettle on the stove to boil. The next dose of laudanum would be bigger and the stuff was nasty tasting and bitter. She’d make him a cup of tea with sugar to cut the bitterness and make it more palatable. Hopefully he’d get the whole thing in him before he passed out. Otherwise he wasn’t going to be asleep and out of pain for very long.
Bridget heard what happened and was already ripping a sheet into long strips to bind Sam’s chest with. He’d need to have those ribs immobilized as much as possible. She was going up the stairs when the men came in with Sam. She carried a tray with the glass of water and the bandages on it.
“Come on, bring him up here,” Bridget said from halfway up the stairs. “What you think you’re doing Sam? You’re not a kid. You shouldn’t have been on those horses. You probably gave Cassie a heart attack. That’s how she lost Michael you know. He thought he had to break that horse himself. Big black devil, he was. A monster, like you tried to ride today or so I’m told. He couldn’t let the professionals that Cassie made him hire do it. Broke his damn neck getting thrown from him.”
“I didn’t know. I was just trying to help out so the contract would be filled on time.”
“No. You thought you’d have some fun just like Michael did. That’s what all you men think about. How much fun you can have. You don’t think about the consequences of the fun.”
Cassie listened to the exchange between Bridget and Sam from the top of the stairs. One thing about Bridget…she told it like she saw it. No beating around the bush. As soon as she saw Bridget’s head she moved back to Sam’s room. She’d turned down the bed and gotten the pillows out of the kids rooms and stacked them so Sam would be sitting up in bed.
The men, one on either side, helped him to the bed.
“Don’t sit down yet. I’m going to wrap your ribs. Drink this. It’ll help.”
“What is it?”
“Laudanum. Just enough to take the edge off your pain. I don’t want you going to sleep until after the doctor has seen you. If he was in his office he should be here in a couple of hours.
“Let’s get your ribs wrapped. It’ll help stabilize them and should help with the pain. Doc will probably unwrap them but for now it’s going to do the most good in helping with the pain.”
“Fine. Just do it.” Cassie unbuttoned Sam’s shirt and slid it down his shoulders and off. She checked for abrasions and bruising on his chest and back lightly running her fingers over him.
“Now’s not a good time for foreplay, Darlin’,” whispered Sam. He tried to smile but it came out a grimace.
Cassie sighed. That was Sam. Making jokes at a time like this! “Okay. Can you lift your arms?”
“Oww. Hell.” He’d tried to lift his left arm.
“Damn. This is going to hurt.” Cassie started the bandage in the center of his chest. “Bring your right hand up and hold this end tight,” she instructed Sam. She walked around him binding him as she went with the sheets Bridget had torn into long strips.
“There.” She tied off the bandage with the first end that Sam had been holding. “Feel any better?”
“Yeah. I think so.” He sat on the bed and then leaned back against the pillows.
She thought his breathing was easier. He didn’t seem to be in so much pain. “I’m going to get you some tea with sugar and give you some more laudanum. It will taste better with the tea. Then I’ll sit with you until Doc Wright gets here.” She started to walk out then turned back. “When I get back I’m going to give you what for, but now,” she went to the bed leaned down and kissed him. “I’m just glad you’re alive.”
When she got to the kitchen she had to sit. The adrenaline was wearing off and the reality of what had just happened was setting in. She took several deep breaths and then put her head between her knees. It was too close. Too close.
Bridget set a cup of tea on the table in front of her. Cassie’s hands shook so violently, the tea splashed into the saucer w
hen she picked it up. She quickly set it back down.
“Damn. Damn. Damn. What was he thinking?”
Bridget rubbed Cassie’s shoulders. Soothing her. “He wasn’t thinking, honey, about anything but getting that contract filled. He didn’t think about getting hurt or how you would feel if something happened to him.”
Cassie looked up at the little woman who now seemed to tower over her. “How…?”
“Do you think I’m blind? I’ve watched you two since the day he came. There was an attraction between you even then. I’ve watched it grow. You’re falling in love with him…if you haven’t already. That’s why you’re sitting here shaking like a leaf. You didn’t react this way when Pete got thrown and broke his leg. So you tell me, Cassie girl, what’s the difference?”
“It’s Sam. He…I…oh, Bridget. What am I going to do? He wants to court me.”
“So, what’s the problem, Lass?”
“Michael hasn’t even been gone three years. I don’t want to be disloyal to his memory.”
“No one is asking you to forget. Cassie,” Bridget paused and sat down next to Cassie. “No one misses my Michael more than I do. I raised him from a baby. He was more a son to me than to the woman who gave him life. But he would not want you to be alone forever. If you can find love again it would be the most wonderful blessing.”
“Then why do I feel like I’m doing something wrong?”
“Look, Cassie,” Bridget took her hand. “You will always love Michael. He’s the father of your children. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a new love now that he’s gone. You can love Michael, just not in the same way you did. You’re allowed to fall in love with a new man.”
“You make it sound so easy. And it’s not. It’s not easy at all.”
Suddenly Cassie found herself crying and Bridget holding her like she was a child. Patting her back and saying “It’s all right. You cry.”
After a few minutes her sobs subsided and she felt better. Lighter. Maybe Bridget was right. Maybe all she had to do was figure out a way to let go. She closed her eyes again. She was getting a headache and just wanted to lie down in the dark and rest.
She took a deep breath. “I guess I better take Sam his laudanum and tea. He’s probably in a lot of pain.” Then she smiled and looked at Bridget. “Nothing like the kind of pain I’m going to give him after he’s feeling better. Then I think, I’ll kill him.”
Bridget smiled. “That’s my girl.”
By the time Cassie got to Sam’s room she’d calmed down a bit. She knew he was just trying to help but didn’t he remember that Michael had gotten killed doing the same thing? Did she tell him about Michael? She did didn’t she?
Sam was sitting up in bed taking fast shallow breaths. “You need to take slow deep breaths or you’re going to hyperventilate and pass out.”
“I want to pass out. I won’t feel anything then.” Pain made him grouchy. Cassie knew that and didn’t take offense.
“Cassie. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you or scare you. Bridget told me what happened to Michael.”
“I know you didn’t mean it but it did scare me. Guess I wouldn’t have to worry about Harry Borden if you killed yourself, would I? Of course, I could just kill you myself,” she put a few drops of laudanum in the tea she carried. “No one would be the wiser now would they?”
He took the tea from her and took a sip. “Should I be worried?”
She shook her head. “I figure the pain you’re in is punishment enough for now. Why Sam? We have pros who know what they’re doing. Why’d you feel the need to go risk your life?”
“It really wasn’t very smart. I guess a part of me wanted to prove I can do any job on the ranch. I wanted to impress the wranglers and you.”
She took his hand. “I don’t need impressing. I need a foreman and you promised me six months. I’m holding you to it.”
“I only wanted to help get the contract filled on time. No other reason. Honest.”
She’d pulled the rocking chair over by the bed. “I’d rather be a few days late than have you risk your life.”
Two hours after he’d been thrown, Sam was wishing the horse had just stomped him into the ground and killed him. Because that appeared to be what Doc Wright was trying to do. But there was no way he was going to yell like a little girl with Cassie frowning at him from the end of the bed.
Doc removed the bandages Cassie had wound so tight about him and Sam felt as if all his ribs dropped in his chest and the only thing keeping them in place was his skin.
Doc ran his hands up and down Sam’s ribs front and back. “It looks like you’ve bruised a couple of ribs, probably got a concussion and a lightly sprained ankle. Good thing you took your boot off or I’d have to cut it off. I’m going to wrap you again, tight, feel free to yell all you want. Won’t bother me a bit. I’m used to delivering babies and if you think your shouting will bother me, well you haven’t heard a woman in labor.”
“It’s okay Doc. Cassie’s got me on enough laudanum to calm a horse, I won’t feel a thing. Besides she’s probably happy to see me get some payback for being so stupid.”
“Doc, if you want to make him yell like he’s birthing a baby, I have no problem with that. Maybe he’ll thing twice next time.” said Cassie.
Doc wrapped him so tight he thought he was trying to break some more of Sam’s ribs. Sam shouted and if he’d been standing would have collapsed to his knees.
“Damn, Doc! You trying to kill me?”
“No and once I get done wrapping your ankle, I want you to keep it up as much as possible for the next week or so. You’ve got to give the ribs and the ankle time to heal. And Sam.”
“Yes, Doc.”
“Once I get done wrapping your ankle. No more bronc busting. Call it doctor’s orders.”
“Whatever you say Doc. You’ll get no quarrel from me.”
The doctor wrapped Sam’s ribs again, tight and his ankle less so. “Cassie, give him laudanum at night for sleeping and willow bark tea during the day to help with the discomfort.”
“Sure thing, Doc,” said Cassie. “And I’ll make sure he stays in bed for the next week.”
Sam groaned.
“You still in pain, Sam?” asked the doctor. “Give it a few more minutes and you’ll be feeling better.
Sure he was in pain but that wasn’t what made him groan. He wanted to stay strong for Cassie. The look on her face was now one of fear. This was hard on her. If he’d only known before, he might have made a different decision.
“I’m already feeling better, Doc. Just a little tough breathing.”
“That’s expected. I’m going back to town. You come see me in a week and I’ll check you out. No work until then.”
“Okay, doc.” The last thing Sam wanted to think about was work. He thought the laudanum must be taking effect. He started to feel woozy and could hardly keep his eyes open. “See you th….”
Cassie looked down at the man sleeping in the bed. His face was bruised and cut where he’d hit the ground. His chest was wrapped in tight white bandages. He had a sheet covering his lower body with his right foot propped up on several pillows peeking out from under the sheet.. He was a mess. A dear mess.
“Don’t worry about Sam, he’ll be fine. He’s not Michael, Cassie,” said Doc gently.
“I know.” she said quietly. “I remember all too well that day. You had to come take the him to the undertaker, not wrap his ribs.”
“I remember. One of the saddest days of my life. But Cassie, just because Michael’s life ended that day, doesn’t mean that yours did, too. You’re young and have a lot of years ahead of you. Make the most of them.”
Cassie looked down at Sam. “It’s not as easy as it sounds…to move on. I want to move on but I feel guilty, Doc. Disloyal somehow.”
“Cassie, I’ve known you since the day you were born. I brought you into this world. You’re the most loyal person I know. Even when you shouldn’t, you always see the best in peo
ple. You were loyal to your brother, John, long after you shouldn’t have been. Even after he betrayed you so badly, you remained loyal to him.” Doc put his arm around Cassie’s shoulders. “I think Michael would understand. It’s time to let him go.”
“I hope you’re right, Doc.”
CHAPTER 8
Harry watched Colter get thrown from the horses. Each time he hoped he’d break his neck and save Harry the trouble of killing him.
The last time was the best. Colter didn’t get up. Harry stood, hopeful and adjusted his spyglass. Then he saw him move. Damn it all to hell. Couldn’t he catch a break, just one? Colter wasn’t dead. But he had to have help to get up. Excitement built up in him as he realized that Colter was injured. He might be able to get to him after all. He just had to wait. They’d have to leave him alone sometime. Then Harry could make his move. Just a little more patience.
*****
Cassie tried to take care of Sam and run the ranch. In the end the thoroughbred training was postponed . Delilah had to be taken to the rail head at Creede. The army mustangs needed to be delivered to the rail head, too. They’d take Delilah in the horse box, especially made just for that purpose.
The horse box was basically a small shed big enough for one horse, set on wheels. By using it to transport the horse to the rail head, Cassie was sure that the horse wouldn’t get damaged by some unforeseen force. No rocks in her hooves, no stepping in a gopher hole and breaking a leg. Whatever happened after Delilah reached Kentucky, at least Cassie was sure she got to Kentucky unharmed.
Sam complained of a headache and was a little dizzy when he tried to get up. Doc Wright had told her to look out for these symptoms because it would mean Sam probably had a concussion. In which case she had to wake him several times during the night and ask him questions like what year was it and who was president. He always got the answers right so she guessed the concussion was slight.
Cassie stayed in Sam’s room sleeping in the rocker, for what little sleep she got. It was the only way she could tend to him. By the end of the week she was dragging. Sam used the crutches Doc left and got around pretty good even with broken ribs.
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