Shotgun Bride (Book Six of the Brides of the West)

by Hestand, Rita

  One of the men stared at her constantly. He watched every move she made, especially when she tore her sleeve. His eyes lingered on her. Shannon felt a shiver of fear run down spine, especially when she looked straight at the man. He had a mean expression on his face. Looking into his face was like looking at the devil himself. His eyes were black, and evil.

  Elmer moved back to the table and nudged Thornton in the side. "Don't stare at her like that; it's liable to make her nervous."

  Elmer glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled.

  "I'll need some whiskey to disinfect my instruments."

  Elmer didn't hesitate to offer his help this time. "Okay, I'll get you some."

  "I've got to get the bullet out." She turned to look at the one called Jimmy John.

  "Then do 'er."

  She nodded, and proceeded to work on the young man. This man couldn't be over sixteen and Shannon's heart went out to him. How had he gotten mixed up with these men? How had Darrel?

  "Thanks!" she nodded at Elmer when he brought the whiskey to her and cast him a slight smile.

  "Don't waste it." Elmer cautioned.

  "I wouldn't dream of it." Shannon shook her head.

  Jimmy John got up from the table now and came to look at her. He was very tall, way over six feet, and big too.

  He towered over her. However, even with his height, and weight he didn't provoke fear in her.

  She encouraged the young man to take the whiskey. He wasn't responding well, but the taste and touch of the whiskey at his lips had him stirring enough to do as she commanded. "This is going to hurt, so take a big drink." She encouraged.

  He barely nodded and swallowed several gulps.

  "That's good. You want something to bite on?" She asked him.

  He opened his eyes to small slits and looked at her. He shook his head.

  "You may wish you had…"

  Shannon worked for several minutes before she finally pulled the bullet out of his shoulder and into the bowl. After applying pressure to the wound, to stop the bleeding, she sewed him up and used a dab of alcohol to disinfect his wound once more.

  She saw the wince on his face.

  "Never could stand the site of blood, myself." Elmer explained as he looked away.

  Then she pulled the ragged blanket up on him and turned to the men that were now watching her intently.

  "That's about all I can do for now…" She said wearily. "We'll have to watch for infection though."

  They seemed to study her.

  "You did good doc. Have you taken many bullets out?" Jimmy John asked as he resumed playing cards with the others.

  "Since I been here, a few." She responded. "There were some accidents on the wagon train too, coming out here." She admitted.

  "How long you been here?"

  "About six months." She looked at him. "Do you suppose I could have some more coffee now?"

  Jimmy John studied her a minute, then nodded. "Get her some coffee Elmer."

  "I ain't no waiter." Elmer fussed at Jimmy John. Shannon knew he didn't mind so much, but it seemed to be a reason to give Jimmy John trouble.

  "I said get the lady some coffee." Jimmy John frowned at Elmer.

  His face was a dark storm cloud. "You did fine, doc. Just fine." He turned his smile back on her.

  She stood up and walked toward him, she extended her hand to him, "I'm Shannon Greer."

  "They call me Jimmy John, that's Wes over there by the window, Thornton to your left, and Elmer you met already. Darrel went out to check on the horses, he'll be back in directly. And that one you worked on is Billy. We call him Billy the Kid, sometimes, but he ain't half as fast with the gun as the real Billy."

  "Oh yes, I've heard of him, William Bonnie."

  Jimmy John nodded with a snide smile. He didn't like people as smart as himself, she guessed.

  Darrel came inside now; he'd taken the horses and hid them out in the woods.

  As Shannon took the coffee, she looked up at him.

  "You already got him fixed?" Darrel asked his glance shooting to Billy who moaned lowly.

  "Yes, he's resting now. We have to watch for infection though." She warned.

  Darrel nodded. "Oh yeah, sure."

  Shannon sipped her coffee and looked around the barren shack.

  "So…can I go back to town now?" Shannon asked when no one paid her any mind.

  Jimmy John twisted in his chair. "We'll wait to make sure he's okay first, and then Darrel will take you back."

  "Thank you…" She said and continued warming her hands with the coffee cup. The coffee was strong but she needed it to stay awake.

  Filled with questions, she quickly figured the less she talked the better. These men were obviously on the run from the law and the more she snooped, the more danger she'd be in. She moved to stare out the window. Danger had never been a part of her life as an adult. Back in Boston, she had trouble getting any respect from her fellow constituents, but not so much her life was in any danger. None of the men seemed to acknowledge her education or degree, and took pleasure in putting her in her place.

  Practicing among a male dominated area, she couldn't make enough to support herself. That's when she decided to move west.

  "It's beautiful outside." She remarked as though talking to herself, as she stared out the window.

  Jimmy John shrugged glancing out the window. "The forest in the mountains is always pretty this time of year."

  She glanced outside; the sun was peeking through the trees creating a rainbow of colors. Shannon smiled to herself; she hadn't seen anything so pretty in her life. To think something as small as the sunshine could melt her heart and uplift her soul, surprised her.

  Since she'd been here, she hadn't indulged in the beautiful scenery, but confined herself to her office.

  Darrel brought her a chair and she sat beside the young injured man. She wondered about this young man. How had he come to this fate?

  She'd heard about the bank robbery in a neighboring town and wondered if these men might have been responsible for it. She knew better than to mention it.

  She looked into Billy's young face. Given a bath, and comb through his hair, the young man might have been handsome. However, his oily, unruly hair fell into his face, his clothes were filthy and tattered, and the stench of him made her nose wrinkle. She hadn't seen his eyes; he barely opened them for the whiskey she offered him.

  "Never met any lady doctors before," Darrel came to sit on the floor beside her. "You from around her?"

  Of all the men here, Darrel seemed the friendliest and open.

  "No…I'm originally from Boston. I've only been here a few months." Shannon informed him, leaning back in the chair to relax.

  "You talk different, that's for sure."

  "Yes, I've been told…"

  Strange how Darrel could put something so bluntly, while others struggled with defining their thoughts on the matter.

  Able to observe Darrel better she stared at him, taking in his shaggy haircut, his dirty clothes, but he had one redeeming quality, he had the eyes of an angel, so startling blue, as though one could see through them right to his very soul. He wasn't much older than the boy on the cot, Shannon surmised now that she got a better look at him.

  The others were older, Elmer being the oldest, with his blonde-gray hair and missing teeth. Jimmy John was probably in his forties, along with Wes and Thornton.

  Wes was tolerably handsome with his sandy hair and light brown eyes. He had a slight smile that seemed to make him look less harmful. He was the quiet one.

  Thornton was dark haired and eyed. His eyes shifted all the time, Shannon suspected he didn't trust anyone.

  It was Thornton that made her uneasy. He constantly stared. That bothered her. His eyes could undress her. She'd met men like that before in Boston, fellow doctors. She hadn't liked them any better than Thornton.

  "What did you say his name was?" She asked Darrel and looked at her patient.

  "Billy�
�" Darrel answered.

  "Billy what?"

  "That don't matter. Around here last names aren't important." Darrel glanced at Jimmy John who nodded.

  "He looks so young…"

  "Yeah…his pa kicked him out of the house when he was twelve. Jimmy John ran into him and started taking care of him. He's only fifteen." Darrel told her.

  "Kicked him out? Why would he do that?" Shannon frowned.

  "From what Billy told us, he was drinking his Pa's whiskey. His Pa was drunk and threatened to kill him. But instead, he just told him to get out and never come back." Darrel said.

  Shannon cringed a bit. A drunk? Yes, she knew that well enough.

  "His own son?"

  "Yeah, Billy never went back." Darrel smiled. "Is he gonna be alright?"

  "As long as that wound doesn't get infected, he should heal." Shannon nodded. "He's young; the only thing that concerns me is he's lost a lot of blood that could weaken him considerably.

  "You mean he ain't able to sit a horse, doc?" Jimmy John questioned.

  "Not for a while, no…" Shannon glanced over her shoulder at him. "He's much to weak for that."

  "Say…what's a pretty gal like you doing being a doctor?" Darrel asked looking straight into her eyes.

  "I don't know. I was always doctoring animals I found as a child. It seemed to come natural. So when I was older my folks sent me to college to get an education. I made good grades and I went to a women's university in Pennsylvania to get my doctor's degree." She said leaning back in the chair and putting her head back, to rest.

  "Why'd you come way out here?" He asked.

  "Lots of reasons, I suppose. Women doctors are still frowned upon back east. It's quite unseemly for a woman to be educated in this field, the men frown on it. Society frowns on it. So I thought by coming west I might have an easier time of being accepted since there are so many doctors needed out here." Shannon explained. "I'd heard about Oregon, how beautiful the Willamette Valley was. I wanted to see it. Therefore, I joined a wagon train and I fell in love with the country the minute I saw it. Unfortunately the people aren't that much different from Boston. A lady doctor is still a lady."

  "But you are right about one thing, doctors here are scarce, at least the good ones. You have to ride for miles to find one, and some of them you wouldn't want touching your kin, if you know what I mean."

  "I know what you mean. But the country itself is what made me stay here. It's so beautiful, despite the fact that it rains all the time and the mud is impossible sometimes…"

  "It's pretty enough, alright." Darrel glanced out the window. "But you're right about the mud."

  "Are you from here?" Shannon looked at him now.

  Darrel wasn't as handsome as Billy, but his friendly nature made him more charming by far.

  "Naw…I come up here from Texas with my folks." Darrel told her.

  "Texas? Didn't you like it in Texas?" Shannon asked.

  "I did, but my folks, they were tired of fighting off the Indians, and the droughts."

  Shannon smiled. "No droughts in Oregon."

  "No ma'am, but it sure rains a lot here." He said. "Too much sometimes. My boots are always muddied up."

  "I guess some day they will make roads and decent places to walk about on." Shannon smiled.

  When Darrel got up and the men went outside, Shannon closed her eyes. She only meant to take a short nap to revitalize herself, but she slept for a couple of hours, until Billy began to rouse.

  She jerked up and saw him staring at her. He had dark piercing brown eyes. Eyes that questioned and mistrusted.

  "Who are you?" He asked in a not too friendly tone.

  "I'm the doctor, my name is Shannon Greer." She said checking his head for fever.

  "A lady doctor?" He looked shocked. "I never met a lady doctor before."

  "Well, you have now." Shannon smiled. "How do you feel?"

  "Sore…" He tried to move but winced from the pain of movement.

  "You better lie still for a while, at least until you start mending." Shannon told him

  "Where's Jimmy John?" Billy asked looking about anxiously.

  "They've all gone outside." She explained.

  "Did you take the bullet out?" He asked glancing down at himself.

  "Yes…"

  "Thanks…" he said so simply.

  She nodded.

  Directly Jimmy John and the others came back inside.

  She stood at the stove fixing some fresh coffee and breakfast. She made herself to home since no one offered her a thing to eat. They had smelled it from outside.

  She saw them staring at her as they all came inside again. "I was hungry so I thought I'd cook some breakfast. Would you like to join me? I found the bacon on the counter."

  Jimmy John firmed his lips. "Sure…let's join her boys."

  Indulgent he moved around her. She served up the bacon, putting bread that was out on the counter in the skillet to toast it. They all gathered around the table again.

  Jimmy John faced her now. "We were talking it over about what to do with you…"

  "What to do with me?" She asked, her eyes narrowing on the man. She couldn't tell by his expression exactly what they decided. "I thought Darrel was taking me back to Bull Creek."

  "Yeah…we figure you done sized us up and realized we ain't no run of the mill cowpokes." Jimmy John stared into her brown eyes. "You know exactly what we are, don't you?"

  Shannon looked down now, not wanting to meet his gaze. "I'm pretty sure…yes."

  "You know…I like you doc. You are so honest. You don't try to lie your way out of things."

  "I hadn't thought about who you are much. To me a patient is a patient." Shannon knew she was in trouble now that she had removed the bullet and Billy was recovering.

  "We can either let you stay here with us, send you back blindfolded, or kill you."

  "Why would you want to kill me, you don't even know me?"

  Jimmy John studied her question, scratched his chin then looked at her across the table as she sat down to eat with them. "We don't have to know you to kill you. But you being a woman an all makes a difference and you did help Billy. We're beholding to you for that…"

  "Jimmy John, I'm a doctor, I go where I’m needed, but…my death would serve no purpose. I couldn't help others if you kill me. And that's what I’m here to do, help people." Shannon appealed to his better side. "All people. No matter the circumstances."

  He studied her face, and then a slow smile spread across his face. "I'm gonna think on it a while…" He told her.

  Shannon let out a breath and stared into his hazel eyes. She nodded. "I guess that's fair."

  "You're taking this well…" He said smiling at her.

  "I'm a doctor, I have no choice. I realize when I have to go off somewhere to doctor someone; it could mean some kind of danger for me. However, my profession puts me in danger every day. Every time I lose a patient, I'm in danger. Every time someone confides his or her problems in me, I'm in danger. So I'm no stranger to the dangers." She looked off into the distance, wondering how long it would take him to decide.

  Chapter Two

  "Where you going doc?" Jimmy John asked when she started to go outside.

  "I need some fresh air." Shannon insisted. "You have nothing to fear from me, you have plenty of men, and where could I go. I'm not even sure where I am. And I'm certainly not armed."

  "Go with her Darrel," Jimmy John instructed.

  Darrel's face contorted into a smothered frown. Obviously, he didn't like being ordered around. Shannon waited on him. She walked down the steps and walked about the yard.

  "Does he tell everyone what to do?" She asked when they were well away from the house.

  "Yeah…he's the boss. Don't mean we always like what he tells us to do, but we do it."

  "Why?" She asked simply.

  "Why? I don't know…I guess because without him to tell us, things wouldn't get done." Darrel reasoned.

  "What if he
decides to kill me, are you going to let him?" she asked keeping her voice steady for his answer.

  "I gotta follow orders. Jimmy John isn't a mean sort. Some of the others are…like Thornton, you gotta watch him. No one knows exactly what Wes might do, he's so darn quiet. We kind of watch him though. Elmer can be contrary, but Jimmy John uses his head, thinks things out before he acts. He's a good boss."

  "Do you think Wes is dangerous?" She eyed Darrel closely.

  "Wes is a pretty good fella. He don't cause no trouble. I think that's why Jimmy John keeps him around. He does as he's told without any lip."

  "So Thornton is the one to worry about?" Shannon glanced at Darrel again.

  "Yeah."

  From the way he said that, Shannon deduced that Thornton could be a real worry.

  "Why do you have to follow Jimmy John's orders?" she asked pulling her shawl over her shoulders tighter.

  Darrel got quiet a minute, staring at the ground before answering. "Jimmy John took me in. I was nothing before. I lost my folks in a fire a year before. I'd been living on what was left of our homestead when Jimmy John found me." He assured her. "Now, I'm part of the gang. I get a share of the money…everything." Darrel explained. "Most of the the time all I gotta do is hold the horses for them. They pay me just like anyone else. Easy money."

  "Maybe you shouldn't tell me so much…" She suggested. "The less I know, the less danger I am to everyone."

  "Yeah…I guess. Look, I'm sorry I got you into this, but Billy was hurt bad and we didn't want him to die…" Darrel explained. "And even though I went to doc Wells first, he was drunk out of his head. I didn't want him cutting on Billy in that condition. He could kill him."

  "I guess you didn't have much choice, did you?" Shannon asked.

  "No…I guess not." Darrel looked at her and smiled. "Thanks for fixing Billy."

  "You're welcome. But you have to understand, I need to get back to Bull Creek, I might have a patients waiting. Folks will wonder where I went." Shannon urged him.

  "If he lets you go, then…you'll get back. I'll probably be the one to take you…"

  "Darrel do you like this kind of life?" She asked turning to stare into his eyes.