The Devil's Waltz
Page 22
“That’s what I said,” Erin said.
“No, you said . . . never mind,” Sarah said. “Go fetch the doctor and tell him your uncle is awake.”
“Be right back, Uncle Jack,” Erin said and dashed out of the room.
Posey looked at Sarah. “Dale?”
“At the hospital in Minneapolis,” Sarah said. “They saved his leg. He might have a slight limp they said, but he’ll be fine in a couple of months.”
“Good. God I’m hungry.”
“You’ve been asleep for three days; you ought to be,” Sarah said.
“Three days, huh?”
Sarah stood up, walked to the bed, and took Posey’s right hand in hers.
“Thank you, Jack,” she said softly and started to cry again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
* * *
The fall harvest was backbreaking work. Nine or ten hours a day in the sun spent with a scythe in your hands until they were swollen and bleeding.
Jose and Pilar worked the scythe, while Roberto and Carlos gathered the fallen wheat and loaded it into the cart.
They averaged four cartloads a day for the past week.
Pilar wore her man clothes with thick gloves on her hands and worked tirelessly. Her hair was tucked under her Stetson hat to keep the sun off her face. She didn’t talk much these days since the marshal left.
She kept busy on the farm, taking the corn and wheat to the mill, and did more work than she had to. Even after dark she kept busy, washing clothes and cleaning.
She rarely smiled much anymore.
Jose set the scythe down, went to the cart, and dipped the ladle into the water bucket. He took a sip, then removed his hat and poured the rest over his head. He replaced the ladle and noticed something in the distance.
A black dot on the horizon.
His eyesight wasn’t as good as it used to be, that was true, but it wasn’t so poor either, and he could see just fine at distances. He focused on the dot, and it grew larger.
Then he recognized the dot for what it was.
Jose turned from the cart and looked at Pilar.
“Pilar, take the horse and ride home and change your clothes,” Jose said in Spanish. “Go quickly.”
Pilar looked at her father. “Why, Papa?” she asked in Spanish.
“Your husband is coming,” Jose said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
* * *
Ethan J. Wolfe is the author of the western novels The Last Ride, The Regulator, The Range War of '82, Murphy's Law, Silver Moon Rising, All the Queen's Men, and One If by Land.
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