“We’re here now. Take this blindfold off.”
“Quiet,” Claus had told him, jabbing him in the back with the rifle. “Get moving. The boss man is waiting for us.”
Darren had held his tongue and allowed Leroy to grab his arm and steer him forward. He’d felt them pause before something large, and then a door had opened, and he was ushered over the threshold.
When the blindfold had been removed and he’d realized where he was, he’d wanted to strangle Orvis with his bare hands. Lorna sat at the table, her eyes revealing how scared she was. First Ethan had been shot, and then she’d been taken captive.
All of this was happening because of greed. Orvis was the mayor of Virginia City, but that evidently wasn’t enough for him. Orvis wanted the new railroad to be built for his own personal gain.
The sound of Orvis cursing was the opportunity Darren had been waiting for. The man was several feet away from the table. Now might be the only chance he had to help Lorna. Orvis was getting more agitated by the minute. It was only a matter of time before he shot one or both of them.
“Lorna,” Darren whispered urgently to her. He met her eyes and added, “Get under the table.”
Lorna nodded, but before she could do so, she found herself staring down the barrel of Orvis’s gun. Darren watched the color fade from her face and silently willed her to be strong just a while longer. If she succumbed to a fit of vapors, any chance he had to thwart Orvis’s plans would fade away like the mist.
Instead of complying, Lorna tried to reason with the man. Darren knew he had to act, regardless of the cost. He kept his eyes on Orvis, wishing his hands were untied.
Orvis’s hold on the gun seemed unsteady, and Darren watched as the man’s finger fluttered over the trigger. When Lorna began to plead with him, Darren felt his heart clench. She was struggling to be brave, but Darren could see the fear in her eyes.
“Sign the papers or she dies.”
Darren readily agreed, urging the man to put the gun down. He even started to reach for the pen.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
Darren knew he needed to do something. A noise at the door had him turning his head slightly. Is that the sheriff?
Darren couldn’t be sure, but something was happening just outside the house. Hopefully, help had arrived and Leroy and Claus were no longer a threat.
Darren turned back and watched Orvis as a demand came from outside.
“Orvis! Mayor Orvis! Come out with your hands up!” It is the sheriff!
“You are out of time.” Orvis pressed his gun against Lorna’s head and the color drained from her face. She was shaking, and Darren knew if he didn’t do something now, he might not get another chance.
Another round of gunshots echoed from outside, accompanied by voices demanding Orvis come out of the house with his hands in the air. Little did they know, the man was never going to give up or admit defeat.
His moment came seconds later when Lorna instinctively tried to move away from the gun. Darren took advantage and launched himself across the table.
He pushed his bound hands out in front and shoved Lorna and her chair backward. The chair tipped at the same time she screamed, and Orvis’s gun went off.
Darren felt the world tip sideways as he followed Lorna to the hard floor. A searing pain caused him to moan in pain when his shoulder and side landed on Lorna.
He used his bound hands to push himself to his feet, then turned to confront Orvis. The man was backing away, putting himself into an inescapable corner without even being aware of it.
“It’s over, Orvis.”
Orvis searched frantically for the gun he’d dropped in the chaos. Darren did the same, ignoring the burning pain and growing trickle of blood running down his side.
Darren’s head swam for a moment as he took a shaky step toward Orvis, trying to get to him before he could retrieve the gun. He didn’t make it; Orvis picked up the gun and pointed it at Darren with a shaky hand.
“I should shoot you again for doing that,” Orvis groused at him.
Darren looked down at his chest, where a blood stain was growing larger with each passing minute. He felt weak, and the pain came in waves that were growing harder and harder to ignore. But he couldn’t give up.
He took a step and staggered, falling to the floor on his knees as he pressed a hand to the bullet wound in his chest. Darren could hear the voices getting closer; he just needed to keep Orvis distracted until help arrived. “Put down the gun.”
Orvis looked at the door and then hurried toward it. He had almost made it when the cavalry arrived. Darren recognized Sheriff Chisholm and several of the townsfolk.
The men entered the house, their rifles drawn and ready to fire in a moment’s notice. Orvis dropped the gun and started pleading for his life when the six men pointed their guns at him.
“Darren, sorry we’re late,” Sheriff Chisholm told him.
Darren nodded, and then Orvis’s warning about the ranch came back to his befuddled mind. “Sheriff, the ranch…there’s something going on at the ranch…”
Darren tried to tell him more, but breathing was suddenly almost impossible. He tried to take a deep breath and started coughing. His vision started to narrow, the edges going from gray to black. Someone was beside him, insisting he lie down.
“Someone, go get the doctor!”
Darren fought the pain in his chest and abdomen. He turned his head and saw Lorna lying on the ground. He called out to her and tried to reach her, but the dizziness and pain forced him to remain on his knees. “Lorna…”
“Darren, we’ll take care of her. You need to lie down until the doc gets here.”
“He was going to shoot her,” Darren ground out before his strength gave out and he collapsed on the wooden floor.
To his right, Orvis was complaining about the way the sheriff’s deputies were treating him. Darren didn’t know where Sheriff Chisholm had come up with the help, but he was grateful for their arrival.
“Ethan…”
“I’ll check on him,” the sheriff informed Darren, squatting down and looking at his injuries. “He’s been shot. Where’s the doc?”
“Right here,” Seth stated. “I need him taken over to the office right now. There’s no time to lose. I need to stop the bleeding.”
“Doc, check Lorna…” Darren managed to get out before moaning in pain when two of the other men bent to pick him up.
“Wait,” Dr. Ellsworth told them. “Lorna? She brought Ethan in and then just seemed to disappear. No one could find her.”
“Orvis took her. He…shot…”
“She’s over here. She’s got some blood on her but I can’t find a bullet hole. She’s got a nasty gash on her head that’s bleeding as well.”
“Orvis, if either one of these young people die, I will personally see you hang in the town square.”
“We don’t have a town square,” Orvis commented back just before one of the men restraining his arm hit him in the mouth with a closed fist. Orvis crumpled into unconsciousness and Darren couldn’t help but feel that the man deserved so much more.
“Get that man out of here,” Sheriff Chisholm told them. Darren watched as they dragged him out. “Doc, what’s the verdict? We got a man still bleeding here.”
“Lorna’s got a bad bump on the head, which is probably why she’s still unconscious.”
“Darren! Darren! Where are you, son?” Brian’s voice called through the house.
“He’s in here, Brian.”
“Oh, goodness! Darren!” June cried as she rushed to his side. “Doc, he’s been shot.”
“Get him out of here,” Seth told the men still holding him up. “Brian and June, Lorna’s still out cold. She needs to be in bed and given a chance to rest. The gash on her head should heal on its own, but it needs to be cleaned up. With Ethan in one treatment room and now Darren headed for the other, I don’t have any place to put Lorna.”
“We’ll take her home. I am mo
re than capable of looking after her,” June stated.
Darren tried to smile at the militant tone in his aunt’s voice as she began to issue orders to several of the men standing around. She did indeed have everything under control.
“Pa…” He started to say something, but his vision dimmed once more and this time there was no fighting it. Before his boots dragged over the threshold of Orvis’s house, Darren was unconscious.
He didn’t see the worried looks that passed between the doc and his pa. He didn’t see the arrival of the U.S. Marshal from Denver with his posse of men and a gathering of outlaws who had been taken into custody at the Wilson ranch.
He didn’t see the way his pa cried and prayed while the doctor was removing the bullet and trying to stop the bleeding.
Chapter 39
Pain. It was everywhere. Darkness. Her body felt so heavy. She tried to open her eyes, but her body wasn’t obeying the commands of her brain. She groaned, and a soft hand touched her forehead and murmured calming words to her.
Lorna gave over to the voice and relaxed her body. A cup was held to her lips and her head was lifted slightly. Cool water slid between her lips and when she was laid back down, she gave over to the exhaustion and slept.
The cycle of awareness and then sleep continued on and off.
* * *
The next day…
Pain. Dull throbbing that beat in time with her heart and forced her into wakefulness. Lorna kept her eyes closed and lifted her hand up, gently moving her fingers over the back of her head.
Ouch!
Her hand paused while the pain partially faded and then she gingerly started feeling around her scalp again. There it was – a bump that was very tender and very large.
She took several breaths before she took stock of any other injuries she might have. Her chest hurt when she breathed deeply, but it wasn’t a sharp pain, just a dull, bruise-like sensation.
Her wrist was sore and there was a tenderness on her hip, but when she tried to shift her leg, the pain didn’t increase. Just bruised and battered. But from what?
She slowly opened her eyes, relieved when the familiarity of her room at the ranch greeted her. The sun was shining through the window curtains, so she knew it was daytime.
The slight scrape of a chair on the floorboards came from the other side of the room. She slowly turned her head and saw June sitting nearby. The older woman’s eyes were closed as she leaned back, her head resting against the wall.
Lorna thought about just letting her sleep. She looked very tired and had dark circles beneath her eyes. Lorna turned her head away, deciding to let the woman sleep.
Her mouth was very dry, and she swallowed several times before she attempted to sit up. She tried to be quiet, but the movement sent a sharp pain through her head and she moaned softly.
June was immediately by her side, pushing gently on her shoulder until she lay back down. “Don’t get up.”
“I didn’t want to wake you.”
“I’m a very light sleeper. What can I get you?”
“Water…”
“All right, I’ll get you some. But lie still.” June left her side and returned a moment later with a glass of water. “Here, let me help you.”
Lorna lifted her head and managed to get more water in her mouth than down her front. “Thank you,” she murmured as she let her head fall back to the pillow. “What happened?”
“You don’t remember?” June asked, setting the glass on the side table.
Lorna closed her eyes as bits and pieces of her memory fit back together. As the picture became clearer, she swallowed back her tears.
“Orvis was pointing a pistol at me. Darren tried to shield me. I fell backward…there were gunshots and yelling from outside.” She opened her eyes and met June’s watery eyes.
Lorna had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. “There was a gunshot….” She felt her eyes fill with tears, but she mustered up her courage and asked, “Where’s Darren?”
June’s tears fell down her cheeks and she clasped Lorna’s hand. Lorna felt her heart break, fearing the worst. She tried to put together a sentence, her voice breaking. “Please…don’t…he tried…June, please…where is Darren?”
“Shush,” June soothed Lorna, brushing her hair back from her forehead. She placed a cool cloth there in place of her hand and then quietly explained, “Darren is at the doctor’s in town. He was shot and lost a lot of blood before they could get him across the street.”
“Darren was shot because of me—”
“No, child. No, he was shot because of greed. Orvis’s greed. Darren is very weak, but Dr. Ellsworth believes he will be fine, given time.”
“I need to go see him.” Lorna made to get out of bed again, but June once more stopped her.
“Not until you’re better. Darren hasn’t regained consciousness, and Brian is with him. He’ll send word when things change.”
Lorna closed her eyes as they filled with tears. “How long?”
“How long since he was shot?” June asked.
Lorna nodded once, ignoring the stab of pain in her skull. “Yes.”
“Yesterday. You don’t remember us bringing you home last night?” June asked.
Lorna closed her eyes and then shrugged a shoulder. “I remember bits and pieces, but no, not really.”
“No matter. With Ethan and Darren both taking up Dr. Ellsworth’s treatment rooms, he advised us to bring you home and see that you got a good night’s rest.”
Lorna’s head was pounding, but she couldn’t lay in the bed a moment longer. She needed to do something. The world was spinning out of control. Darren had gotten shot because of her. If she’d been more careful, or had tried to run from the outlaw who took her, Darren wouldn’t have had to try and shield her – he wouldn’t have gotten shot.
“That might be how you see things, but I assure you no one thinks you’re responsible for Darren getting shot,” June told her.
Lorna opened her eyes in confusion. “How—”
“You were thinking out loud.”
Lorna blinked and then let her body relax. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You take all the time you need to sort things out in your head. You’ve been through a lot.”
Lorna said nothing, taking a moment to compose herself and figure out what she needed to do next. She opened her eyes and asked, “Who rescued us?”
“Sheriff Chisholm.”
“Really?” Lorna’s eyes opened wide. “How did he see to shoot anyone? He’s blind.”
June was smiling as she nodded. “Believe it. It seems the good sheriff has been faking his poor eyesight.
“About a month before Mark’s death, he and Mark discovered some evidence that led them to believe Orvis was working with the outlaws – paying them, even. Sheriff Chisholm believed he had been involved in other criminal activities in the region, but had never been able to prove it.
“When the new railroad approached him, Orvis saw it as an opportunity to gain even more power. All he had to do was help convince the ranch owners to sell their land. Land the railroad was certain they needed.”
“I can’t believe he’s been faking being blind,” Lorna murmured. “Mark mentioned that he was working with someone to help get rid of the outlaws that had moved in.”
“Mark told you this in his letters?” June asked.
“He said he thought something was going on that wasn’t right, and that he was going to do something to stop it.”
June nodded. “That sounds like Mark. He always did the right thing. He and the sheriff came up with the plan for him to fake his poor vision in hopes that Orvis would slip up. When Mark was killed, Sheriff Chisholm decided to go ahead with the ruse while he waited for reinforcements to arrive.”
“Reinforcements?”
“He sent word to the U.S. Marshal’s office in Denver, Colorado. Marshal Collins arrived late last night with an entire posse of lawmen.”
“Orvis s
aid the ranch was surrounded,” Lorna remembered.
June nodded again. “It was. The marshal and his men took out most of Orvis’s men, killing quite a few of them and arresting the rest. Several of them were more than willing to provide the details of Orvis’s plan, including the fact that Darren and you were both being held hostage in town.”
A Bride to Heal His Broken Heart Page 24