“Are you running from something, Daniel?”
She blinked at the sudden tension in his broad shoulders, but he didn’t withdraw his hand, which made her rush on.
“My grandfather said he worked with drifters on the railroad and they were all running from something. Wives and children—”
“I’m not married. No children.”
She felt her heart skip another beat at this news. “The law, then? Was it something you did?”
He looked so grim suddenly, and now he did release her hand, which made dread fill her. Oh, dear, had he committed some terrible crime and taken off to elude arrest?
“I’ve spoken of this to no one, but if you’re to help me, Pearl, you deserve to know.”
She could only stare at him, wishing she hadn’t broached the topic at all for what he must be about to reveal. “Please, Daniel, you don’t have to say anything. I had no right to ask you—”
“My sister died because of me.”
“Y-your sister?” Her breath caught, Pearl could hardly utter the words as such grief, melded with anger, swept over Daniel’s face. “When?”
“June, last year. I was so arrogant, a new graduate from medical school with little experience in childbirth. I told her I knew everything I needed to assist her, and her husband trusted me, too. Except I didn’t know everything and she bled to death after the stillbirth of her child, a tiny little boy.”
“Oh, Daniel, I’m so sorry!”
He didn’t seem to have heard her, but rose to pace the cell like a caged beast, his voice tight with restrained fury.
“She was kind and loving and as beautiful as an angel, with golden hair just like our mother. We were both young when scarlet fever claimed our parents, and we were left in the care of strangers. I vowed then as a twelve-year-old boy to become a doctor—yet I curse that day! If I’d asked a more experienced physician to attend to my sister, she might have lived. I’ve only myself to blame for her death, my conceit, my pride—God help me, no punishment is too great for such a crime!”
His last words filled with such self-hatred and loathing, Pearl could only watch, stunned, as he sank back onto the cot with his head in his hands.
She didn’t know what to say, what to do, a heavy silence filling the jail that was broken by the thundering of hooves and shrill whinnying of horses.
The deputy, who appeared as stunned as Pearl to have overheard such an emotion-wracked confession, wheeled back around to the window.
“Looks like trouble, Miss McMaster,” the young man said with a low whistle. “You’d best head out through the sheriff’s office.”
“Trouble?” Pearl blurted as Daniel raised his head. “What sort of trouble?”
“Jedidiah Hobbs and a dozen or so of his ranch hands just tied up their horses across the street and are heading this way.”
She heard it then, the rising rumble of angry male voices. The deputy swung open the jailhouse door and then slammed it shut behind him, as if intending to face the gathering mob. Pearl, panicking, met Daniel’s eyes.
“Dear God, what should we do?”
“You’re going to leave, just like he told you to. Now, Pearl! Go!”
Her heart in her throat, she grabbed her cane and rose shakily as what sounded like a skirmish erupted outside.
“Get out of our way, man! We’re not going to hang him, but we’re sure as hell not going to wait for the judge to show up, neither! Collar my boy, will he? Cuff his ears and drag him down the street? We’re going to teach that no-account drifter a lesson he won’t forget for coming into our town and throwing his weight around!”
“Pearl, go!”
She did, her peg leg hitting the floor in double-time as she hastened toward Sheriff Braun’s adjoining office. Yet she stopped cold the moment she threw open the door and saw something dangling from a hook just inside the room.
The ring of keys! Without thinking, she grabbed them and made it halfway back to Daniel’s cell—in spite of him yelling for her to turn around—when the jailhouse door burst open.
She screamed as the room was suddenly filled with shouting men, the keys snatched from her hand before she could even think of trying to hide them.
“Look at that, Sheriff!” someone cried out. “He sweet-talked her into helping him break out just as you suspected!”
Sheriff? Horrified, Pearl felt herself lifted bodily by a brawny ranch hand and deposited out of the way. The swarm of men surrounded Sheriff Braun, who stood in front of Daniel’s cell.
“You’re a devious one, Grant, just like the drifter that ran off with my poor sister a year ago,” grated the sheriff as he turned a key in the lock. “He used her and abused her and dumped her off in the next town and now she has his brat to raise! A good thing we got here when we did, wouldn’t you say, Miss McMaster? He’s all yours, Hobbs!”
Pearl screamed again when the cell door was thrown open, the stocky ringleader that had to be Jedidiah shouting, “Grab him, boys!”
Daniel had dumped the mattress on the floor and swung the metal cot wildly like a weapon, but he was no match for the dozen men who quickly overwhelmed him. Still he struggled and fought them every step of the way as he was half-carried out of the jailhouse and into the street.
Weeping now in disbelief, Pearl hobbled as fast as she could out the door without her cane, somehow dropped in the melee.
“No, he didn’t ask me to fetch the keys! I did so of my own accord!” she choked out through her sobs, but to no avail. Her protests were drowned out by whoops and hollers that rang out as Daniel was shoved to the ground amid kicks and punches. Then his legs were hoisted in the air and he was hog-tied around the ankles while a skittish horse was brought forward and the other end of the rope wound around the saddle horn.
She saw Jedidiah raise his revolver high to fire a shot that would send the frightened animal running—oh, Lord, no, please help Daniel, please help him!—when a roared command from an approaching rider made everyone turn to look.
“Blast you, Hobbs, lower your weapon!”
Chapter 5
To Pearl’s astonished relief, Jedidiah did so more out of what looked like surprise while all the onlookers seemed to have frozen in place.
“What in blazes? I’m gone less than a week to discuss improvements for our town and come back to a riot?”
“No riot, Mayor Logan!” Jedidiah once again raised his gun in the air. “Just what this good-for-nothing drifter deserves—”
“Pull the trigger and you lose your hand, Hobbs.”
No one moved, no one spoke as the mayor, seated atop a brown and white paint stallion, aimed his shotgun with ominous intent while the rancher’s face reddened with outrage.
“Sheriff Braun, untie Mr. Grant—now!”
Pearl watched, incredulous, as the young sheriff who had helped to drag Daniel from the jailhouse hastened to oblige the man whom he clearly recognized as his superior. Only then did Jedidiah’s ranch hands, glancing nervously from their boss to the stern-faced mayor, begin to drift to the opposite side of the street where they had tethered their horses. Townspeople, meanwhile, drifted closer, women shaking their heads in dismay while their menfolk looked on grimly.
“Luke, I told you before there would be no more taking out what happened to your sister on any drifter passing through town. Did I not?”
“Yes, Joshua, I do recall it,” agreed the sheriff, who looked chagrined as he dropped to one knee to slip the rope from Daniel’s ankles.
To Pearl’s horror, he lay there without moving. She realized as another sob broke from her throat that Daniel must have been knocked unconscious from all the blows.
“Is he still breathing?” the mayor demanded, his rifle still leveled at Hobbs. “God help the lot of you, he’d better be breathing!”
“Shallow-like, but he’s alive,” came Luke’s pronouncement, a rumble of relief erupting from the gathered crowd.
“My wife, Ingrid, told me what’s been going on the past few days
and it’s a darned good thing I arrived home when I did,” Mayor Logan said sternly, though his steely gaze softened when he glanced at Pearl. “Miss McMaster, are you all right?”
She nodded, swiping the tears from her face as she leaned against the wall. “I-I lost my cane. Everything happened so fast. I thought they were going to kill him—”
“She had the keys in her hand, Mayor!” shouted Jedidiah, though he had sheathed his revolver in his belt. “She was going to let him free—”
“Enough, Hobbs, or I’m going to have you locked up for inciting this riot! Luke, get a wagon to carry Mr. Grant to Doc Davis. Deputy, fetch Miss McMaster’s cane and escort her safely to her grandmother’s shop. Hobbs, take your rabble with you and ride on home. The rest of you, the spectacle’s over, go about your business. All of you better pray that the man survives the hospitality you’ve shown him since he went to Miss McMaster’s aid!”
“He deserved every bit of what he got for roughing up my son!” persisted Jedidiah, clearly undaunted by the mayor’s threat. “Franklin’s a good boy—”
“Franklin needs a good lickin’,” Mayor Logan cut him off. “If I’d seen what happened to the McMasters’ granddaughter, I would have done the same thing and hauled that boy kicking and screaming to apologize! At least Tommy Padgett’s parents understand what their son did was wrong. Now move, everybody!”
They did, too, the street erupting into commotion that made Pearl gasp to see people’s haste to oblige their clearly much-respected mayor. It seemed she had her cane in her left hand before she could blink, the deputy appearing quite contrite as he offered his arm. Yet Pearl ignored him, her eyes only for Daniel as four men lifted him carefully into a buckboard wagon. He looked pale, so terribly pale…
“Mayor Logan, please! I want to accompany him. I beg you!”
As tears again burned her eyes, the mayor dismounted from his horse and rushed to her side.
“I’ll drive you there myself.”
Stricken with worry for Daniel, she could only nod as Joshua escorted her to the wagon and gently lifted her up onto the seat.
He took only a moment to tie his stallion to the back and then he joined her and flicked the reins above the draft horse, the wagon jerking into motion.
“What do you think, Doc?”
Pearl watched anxiously as the bewhiskered doctor turned to Mayor Logan. She knew from her grandmother that Charles Davis was Kari’s father-in-law and Seth’s adopted father, though she hadn’t met him until today.
“He suffered quite a beating, I’m afraid. A blow to the head. Bruised ribs, maybe one or two even cracked. He’s of strong constitution, though, so we’ll hope for the best. Once he wakes up, I’ll know more.”
“More?” Pearl blurted, unable to help herself.
Dr. Davis nodded, his eyes kind though his expression was somber. “A head injury is a tricky thing. If he remembers what happened and can talk, he should be fine. I could wake him with smelling salts, but I’d prefer he does it on his own. We’ll give it a while longer. My wife, Molly, and I will stay right here with him, so you don’t have to stay, Joshua…Miss McMaster.”
“No, I want to stay!” Her gaze fixed upon Daniel’s face from where she sat in a chair pulled up to the foot of the bed, she didn’t see the glance pass between the doctor and the mayor.
“Miss McMaster…” began Dr. Davis, but she softly broke in.
“Please, call me Pearl.”
“As you wish, Pearl,” he continued gently. “You look pale, if I might say so. You suffered quite a shock at the jail and whenever you move, I can see you’re in pain.”
“I’m always in a bit of pain,” she acknowledged, still looking at Daniel. “My leg…well, the stump. It’s not even two years since the surgery.”
“Yes, Kari told us how it happened when she and Seth came over for supper last night, I hope you don’t mind. You’ve so impressed them with your courage, Kari, Ingrid, Anita—and Andreas, too. Will you allow me to take a look to make sure everything is all right? Molly can help you undress, and she’ll stay right by your side—”
“Oh, please, I’d rather you see to Daniel,” she interrupted him as she glanced at his lovely wife, who stood on the opposite side of the bed. “He’s a doctor himself…he told me so right before those men…”
She fell silent, her heart going out to him at what he’d suffered. She’d been so close to getting back to him with the keys. If only she could have moved faster! He could have fled out the side door before…before…
Her eyes swimming, Pearl watched through a blur as Molly came around the bed and knelt beside her.
“A doctor, Pearl? But he’s a drifter—”
“Only because his sister died in childbirth! He was attending her, but something went terribly wrong. Her baby was stillborn and he couldn’t stop the bleeding. Grandpa said all drifters are running from something—and it’s true! Daniel had just finished medical school and he didn’t have enough experience to help her, so he’s been punishing himself since her death—oh, no, why won’t he wake? All of this has happened because of me! He could have walked away instead of helping me and now look at him!”
Body-shaking sobs gripping her, Pearl hung her head as Molly threw an arm around her shoulders to draw her close.
“Pearl…Pearl, listen to me, it wasn’t your fault! Oh, Charles, try to wake him! I doubt we’ll be able to calm her unless he opens his eyes.”
Nodding, Dr. Davis reached into his coat pocket for a vial of smelling salts and bent over Daniel. It only took a wave or two beneath his nose and he jerked awake with a start, only to groan in pain as he stared dazedly around him.
“Mr. Grant, I’m Dr. Charles Davis. You were brought to our infirmary—”
“Where’s Pearl? Is she all right?”
Daniel’s voice so hoarse, stricken, he tried to sit up but groaned again and fell back onto the bed. At once Pearl grabbed her cane and stood up with Molly’s assistance, and hastened as best as she could to his side.
“Daniel, I’m here, I’m fine!”
He reached out to her in spite of the pain it cost him, grimacing as he grasped her hand, his eyes darkened and wet with moisture.
“You’re all right? I heard you weeping—but I couldn’t help you. I tried to fight them, there were so many, and then I felt a terrible pain in my head.”
“Shh, Daniel, you’re in the infirmary now and Dr. Davis and his wife, Molly, are going to help you. Please lie still. I won’t leave you. I’ll stay right here by your side.”
“Yes, stay with me, Pearl…stay.”
As he went limp on the bed, his chest heaving from pain and exertion, Dr. Davis signaled to his wife.
“A dose of laudanum, Molly. He’s regained consciousness, thank God, but we need to bandage his ribs. Give him only enough to hold the pain at bay and keep him calm. Joshua, pull that chair up for Pearl so she might sit beside him. If she holds his hand, it might go better for him.”
She did, lacing her fingers with Daniel’s stronger ones as he gripped her hand so tightly that her knuckles went white.
His eyes fixed upon her face while the doctor and his wife worked quickly and efficiently, first cutting away his shirt with Joshua standing close by in case they needed more help.
Never once did she let go of his hand, even as he moaned in agony when they eased him into a sitting position so they could lift his arms and tightly bandage his ribs.
Out of the corner of her eye, Pearl saw Ingrid and Anita enter the infirmary and stand to one side, her heart filled with gratitude that her new friends were rallying around them. A few moments later, her grandparents appeared, too, deep concern etched upon their faces, and then Andreas burst in with a paper in his hand.
“A telegram from Caleb!” he shouted, though his sisters both shushed him into lowering his voice as he read the message aloud.
“Release Mr. Grant from jail at once and drop all charges. Lily and I will return next week. Tell Hobbs to stand down or
hell to pay. I’ll deal with him and Sheriff Braun when I get back.”
“Release him from jail?” Pearl murmured sadly as Daniel’s grip relaxed, his head lolling to one side and his eyes closed.
She doubted he heard much of Caleb Walker’s telegram at all as the pain, and the laudanum, finally overwhelmed him.
“Pearl?” His throat parched, Daniel opened his eyes to a room lined with narrow beds and lit by a single lamp in the corner.
He heard a rustling and turned his head, grimacing at the sharp throbbing the movement cost him, only to see a woman leaning over him with a glass of water. She looked vaguely familiar, a white apron over her dark dress and a white cap atop her honeyed hair, her gaze filled with concern.
“Easy, Mr. Grant. You’ve been sleeping for quite a while. Here, let me help you lift your head so you can take a sip.”
Her voice soothing, she braced her arm behind him so he could drink, which he did, thirstily. Yet it seemed the glass was no sooner at his lips than she set it on the side table while easing his head back down upon the pillow.
“Not too much water at first. Do you remember me? I’m Molly Davis, Dr. Davis’s wife. You’re in the infirmary adjoining our home. My husband went to get some sleep, but he’ll be back in another hour or so to take my place—”
“Where’s Pearl? She was here…unless I imagined it.”
“No, she stayed by your side until a few hours ago when Dr. Davis insisted she go home with her grandparents. She’s a remarkable young woman, but the shock of everything that happened—well, she needed a good night’s rest. Are you hungry? Would you like to try and eat?”
Daniel shook his head, wincing. His stomach grumbled, but he wasn’t thinking of food, only of Pearl.
A memory came flooding back to him of her seated at his bedside and holding his hand so tightly—or had that been him gripping hers like he would never let her go? She’d looked so pale, her eyes filled with tears…
“She’s all right, isn’t she?”
Pearl: Sweet Western Historical Romance (Walker Creek Brides Book 4) Page 4