Lucinda

by Paige Mallory

  “Henry, if you spank me for helping Flo, I will be very angry with you!”

  “I am going to spank you for disobeying me. When you are told to keep a door locked, then you will keep that door locked. What if someone was forcing Gracie to yell out?”

  “Then she would have needed my help!” Lucinda turned up her chin. “You are just being ridiculous, Henry. And, I swear, if you spank me tonight, there won’t be a wedding night for a good long while and you will be sleeping elsewhere!”

  “Lucy, threatening me is a big mistake, and you just made the spanking I planned to give you that much worse.”

  “And you just ensured that I won’t be your wife at all!” she announced. “I am going to file for an annulment. Get out of this room, Henry Zabarksi. I wish I’d never met you!” As soon as the words left her mouth, Lucinda knew she’d made a terrible mistake. Henry shot up off the bed and crossed the room, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to his chest.

  “You love to push, don’t you, Lucy?” he asked, trying to control his own temper. “I gave you an order for your own safety. There are so many strangers in town who wouldn’t ordinarily be here, young lady. Keeping you safe is my responsibility, and I can’t do that if you won’t obey me. You have gone out of your way today to earn a spanking, and I realize now that I made a huge mistake being so gentle with you earlier. I should have walloped you soundly when I found you in the saloon! Since then you’ve been in two fights, sneaked out of here, and then opened a door when you were told to keep it locked. What you should have done was tell Gracie I was out on a call, and told her to take Flo home and I would come and treat her as soon as I got back.”

  “And I suppose I should have convinced Jasper she was at her home so he could finish what he started?” Lucinda snapped.

  “Of course not, and stop trying to confuse the issue,” he growled.

  “Tell me, Henry, would you be so upset with me if Jasper hadn’t come here looking for trouble? Is it the fact that I handled him myself that has you angry?” Her angry green eyes dared him to be honest with her.

  “What has me upset is that you opened the door when I told you to keep it locked and not let anyone inside, wife. You didn’t know Gracie.”

  “I know that you are a doctor, and that she came to you for help for Flo. If I can handle the likes of Jasper, and those two men who shot Mr. Tune today, then I can certainly deal with one female!” She was quite exasperated. “Henry, you are wrong about this situation. I did the right thing, and nothing is going to change that in my mind. If you are determined to spank me, then go right ahead, but you’d best be sure you want to make me furious with you. I didn’t do anything wrong tonight.”

  “Did you disobey me?” he asked softly.

  “Not in spirit, Henry. I heard someone who truly needed help and I responded to the fear in Gracie’s voice. I made the choice to help. I didn’t say, ‘Oh, I am going to disobey Henry!’”

  “And if two men were standing there?” he asked.

  “If I heard the same note of concern and desperation in his voice, then I would have tried to help, Henry,” she replied truthfully. “I would rather trust people than get known for turning folks away because you aren’t here. I want to be a help to you, if you allow me to learn. There is so much I don’t know,” she confessed. “You need to tell me how to handle things so I don’t do something wrong and hurt someone before you can help them. I truly didn’t know whether or not to give Flo laudanum, and she was in so much pain!”

  Henry’s anger melted when he saw the genuine tears of frustration in Lucy’s pretty green eyes. “You did the right thing, honey,” he said softly. “You should never give someone medication of any sort unless I tell you to. You cleaned her wounds and you did everything you could do for Flo. She thinks you are an Angel,” he admitted with a smile for her. “Gracie thinks you’re too good for me,” he said with a grin.

  “I don’t want to be too good for you, Henry,” Lucy said quietly. “I want to love you, and I want you to love me. I don’t want to keep angering you all the time, but I can’t change what I feel is right and what I feel is wrong. Henry, I would never be able to live with myself if I turned Gracie and Flo away tonight. I’m not a hypocrite, and I would no more turn my skirts from them than I would give preferential treatment to Miss McCrae if she needed help. Do you understand, Henry? I am not like my father. I think every human being deserves the right to be respected. I am sorry you were frightened when you came back from delivering that little baby, but I think Mac colored your first impressions before you had all of the facts. He doesn’t much like me,” she said regretfully.

  “You scared Mac, too,” Henry released her wrist and pulled her close to hug her tightly. “He likes you, probably a bit too much,” Henry informed her.

  “Ohhhh!” Lucy exclaimed, surprised. “I didn’t know,” she whispered.

  “I know, and don’t worry about it. Mac was angry that you had to deal with Jasper. He’s seen first hand how mean Jasper is when he drinks. It’s not the first time he’s beat on a woman, and Mac was afraid Jasper would come to and hurt you before he got here to help.”

  “Are you still planning to spank me, Henry?” Lucinda asked softly.

  “I probably should, but I’d rather make love to you,” he confessed, and then swept her off her feet and carried her to bed.

  * * *

  The Indian situation didn’t improve for the next several weeks. Both the Sergeant and the young soldier improved and Doc Z released them to return to their unit. The Apache finally moved away from the area and the people in town were able to return to their homes, provided their homes were still standing and hadn’t been burned out by the Indians. Life settled down, and the telegraph lines were repaired and the stage lines were once again in operation.

  Lucy finished sprucing up her kitchen, and was proud as could be when Henry praised her work and told her it felt more like ‘home’ now. Lucy also spent as much time as possible at Henry’s side in the Infirmary, learning what she could from him about treating illnesses and injuries. She also met a lot of people, most of whom she liked very much, and most of them treated her well. There were a few women who seemed to dislike her before they even met her, and Lucy shrugged it off as best she could. She was smart enough to know that it was mostly jealousy from them, or their Mama’s, because she was the one Henry married, instead of one of them!

  Lucy was also pleased to learn that she loved sharing her husband’s bed. Making love to him was as natural as breathing, and Henry made her feel truly beautiful when she gave herself to him. Marriage was turning out to be wonderful, and Lucinda was truly happy with her life, for the most part. The part of her marriage that she didn’t much like was the fact that Henry believed in spanking, and when she lost her temper without a darn good reason, he was quick to turn her bottom up for a good spanking. He wasn’t harsh with her, but he was very firm, and Lucy found that she was learning to control her temper somewhat as a result.

  Lucinda was content with her new life and when there was a knock on the waiting room door, she wiped her hands on her apron and went to see who needed help. Henry was out delivering another baby, so it would be up to her to deal with the situation until he returned.

  She opened the door to the waiting room, a smile on her face which suddenly turned into a frown when she saw who the visitor was. “Father, what are you doing here?”

  Chapter Eight

  Lucinda couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw her father standing in the waiting room of Henry’s office. “Father…? Why are you here? Is Mother well?” she asked in genuine concern for the timid woman who raised her.

  “Your Mother is well,” he stated, clearly frustrated. “It should be obvious why I am here, Lucinda. I have come to take you back to Boston where you belong.”

  “I belong here with my husband, Father,” Lucinda said firmly. “I am sorry you made the trip for nothing. I will not be returning with you.”

  “You are my da
ughter and you will do as I say, even if I have to thrash you with a cane to make you see reason.”

  Lucy felt her temper soar, but she did her best to remain civil as she replied, “I may have been born to you, but I am of legal age and I will do as I please. If you even attempt to thrash me with a cane, I promise I will take it from you and hand it back in tiny pieces. If you have said all you came to say, please leave. I am busy fixing dinner for my husband.”

  “Husband? You have no husband. I did not give my consent to this so called marriage,” Calvin Jacobs declared. “Unless you come along right now, I will see this man arrested and thrown in jail for rape.”

  Lucinda looked at him in shocked disbelief. “Have you finally lost your mind, Father? I was of legal age when I married Henry. There is nothing you can do to change that.” She suddenly laughed. “You actually have no idea whatsoever of my age, do you? Send Mother a telegram and ask her if you don’t believe me. Your threats are useless.”

  “I can disinherit you,” he threatened angrily.

  “Please do. I have no need of you or of anything you own. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do.” Just as she turned to walk away she heard gunshots in the street, and seconds later there were pounding footsteps on the stairs outside the door before the door was thrust open.

  “Sheriff’s been shot, Mrs. Z. Where’s Doc?”

  “He’s delivering a baby, Sam. Can you get Mac up here to the treatment room?”

  “They’re bringin’ him now.”

  Lucy forgot all about her Father standing there, and in fact, she shoved him aside so that the men carrying the unconscious Mac could get through and put the man on the examining table in the next room. She calmly assessed Mac’s injuries and quickly realized the head wound was the most serious. Fortunately the bullet merely grazed his temple, but Mac was unconscious as a result. She cleansed the wound and realized that stitches wouldn’t help. All she could do was apply an ointment she’d seen Henry use and bandage the wound. Once she finished with that, she turned to the wound on his upper arm. That one she could stitch, and she did, quickly and with confidence, and was ready to bandage his arm when Henry came rushing through the door.

  “How bad is it, Lucy?” he demanded, the concern on his face evident.

  “Mac is unconscious, but the wounds don’t seem serious, Henry. I’ve done the best I can do.” She watched as her husband unwound the bandage on Mac’s head and asked her questions. He nodded in satisfaction, and carefully re-bandaged the wound. He then helped her bandage Mac’s arm, and once that was done he pulled her close and hugged her tightly.

  “You did well, Lucy. I’m proud of you.”

  “Do you know who shot Mac?” she asked.

  “Some drunken cowboy in off a trail drive. We could have trouble, Lucy, and I don’t want you out on the street alone right now.”

  “What kind of trouble?” she wanted to know.

  “The kid has been bragging that the drovers will storm the town and get him out of jail. I’ve met the trail boss before, and the kid might be right. Personally, I think the herd would be better off without his hothead, but Razz Fencil might think different.” He gave her a quick kiss and said, “I’d better see to the dude out in the waiting room. We’ve kept him waiting a good while already.”

  “Oh… He’s not a patient,” Lucy said, but Henry was already on his way out the door. She took a deep breath and followed, not a bit sure how her husband was going to deal with her father.

  Calvin Jacobs was scowling and Lucinda had no trouble discerning his displeasure when Henry apologized for making him wait so long to be seen. “I certainly am not ill, and if I was, I certainly would not permit a horse doctor in a small town such as this to treat me!”

  Henry’s temper flared and his blue eyes were chips of ice as he looked at the older man. “Then why are you here?” he demanded.

  “Henry, this is Calvin Jacobs, my father. Father, my husband, Doctor Henry Zabarski.” It was obvious the two men did not like each other, and for some reason that reassured her. Thankfully, Henry was nothing like her father.

  “Lucinda, get your belongings immediately or I swear I will not be responsible for my actions. If you think for one second I will permit you to stay here with this disreputable quack and behave in such an unseemly fashion as you just did with that wounded man, you are out of your mind! You are coming home.”

  “I am married, Father, and my place is with my husband. Give my best to Mother,” Lucy linked her arm through Henry’s.

  “Mr. Jacobs, Lucy isn’t going anywhere. We are legally married, and she is of age.”

  “I do not care about that. She is my daughter and she will not marry unless I give my approval, and I do not approve of you.”

  “You aren’t the one who is married to Henry, Father,” Lucy smirked. “Fortunately, I am, and it is my choice to stay right here.”

  “You are a disgrace to my name, Lucinda, and I am heartily ashamed of you.” Calvin’s dark eyes were narrow and full of rage.

  “I think you need to leave, Mr. Jacobs. No one speaks disrespectfully to my wife, and that includes her father.” He walked over to the outer door and opened it.

  Calvin walked to the door and then turned to Lucy and said, “You have not heard the last of this. I will see this preposterous so-called marriage dissolved, and you can count on it, Lucinda. I have promised you in marriage, and you will return home and take your rightful place.”

  “I already have a husband and I wouldn’t marry any man you picked for me, Father. Go home.” Once he was gone, she turned away so that Henry wouldn’t see her tears and said, “We need to check on Mac, Henry.” She led the way into the infirmary, only to learn that Mac was still unconscious.

  People kept coming by to check on the well-liked sheriff, and Lucy didn’t have time to worry about her father. She put the incident out of her mind and tried to be gracious when folks came to offer assistance or food, and many of them were even willing to take Mac into their homes while he recovered from his gunshots. Two men volunteered to keep and eye on the prisoner, and things seemed to go well until it was obvious that other drovers were coming into town in groups of two and three, and trying to look inconspicuous. Henry told Lucy he expected her to keep the doors locked while he went to help the newly deputized young men who were guarding the prisoner. Lucy didn’t like the sounds of that and quickly argued with Henry. He promptly gave her a hard swat on her bottom and told her that she would obey him or earn one very sore backside.

  Lucy rubbed the burning handprint after Henry strapped on his gun and left. She went to check on Mac once more, and then she decided that she was going to help Henry, whether he liked it or not, despite the fact he would probably spank her until she couldn’t sit down afterwards. She was going to protect her husband, help him, and hopefully be back home before he knew she was gone or that she’d interfered in any way. She changed into the pants and shirt she wore to follow him out of town when he rode out with the wagon train scout during the problem with the Apaches. This time she would make sure that Henry didn’t catch her helping him. Lucy strapped on her gun, just in case she needed it, and tucked her long black braid up under her hat. The last thing she wanted to do was draw any attention to herself.

  The situation wasn’t good, she quickly realized. There were strange men standing around, smoking, talking, but their eyes were alert and Lucinda realized they were waiting for something or someone. It didn’t take Lucy long to spot Henry, and a few other men he was able to recruit to help with the dangerous state of affairs. She saw two men slipping around behind the jail, and decided they were the first ones who needed to be handled. A few minutes later they were lying on the ground and wouldn’t be waking up any time soon. Lucy methodically went around, silently removing the drovers, telling herself that she had no choice. The ones closest to the jail… and to Henry and the other men from town… would be the most difficult to handle without being seen.

  Suddenly, there w
as a commotion in the street and a man on a large white stallion rode up to the jail at a full gallop, three other men right behind him. “Doc Z, it’s been a while,” the man spoke with purpose.”

  “Fencil,” Henry nodded. “Your man shot our Sheriff, and he is going to stand trial for it,” Henry didn’t waste time on small talk.

  “I need that boy, Doc. He’s a bit wild, but he’s my sister’s kid and I said I would look out for him. I’ll pay damages, but Randy comes with me.”

  “You can’t buy him out of this one, Razz. The kid needs to pay for his crime.”

  “There are twenty of us, Doc. You got what, two others besides yourself? I can tear this town apart in minutes.” He motioned and two of his men forced two hostages out into the street.

  Lucinda was shocked to see her father had a gun at his head. The other victim was a very frightened Miss McCrae.

  “We can do this easy or hard, Doc. My men have this town surrounded. One word from me and people start dying, beginning with these two. Let Randy go now, or I’ll have my man fill the dude with bullets and you can watch him die. Then the old woman goes next,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

  “You aren’t doing your nephew any favors by insuring that you are all hung for murder,” Henry reasoned.

  “You won’t be around to see it happen, Doc,” Razz pulled his gun and leveled it on Henry. “Show yourselves, men!” he bellowed. No one responded, and while Razz was yelling even louder, Lucinda was coming up behind the men holding her father and Miss McCrae. There was no hiding from Henry now, she knew, but something had to be done, and she was the only one in position to deal with the situation. It took seconds to put the two men down, and a shot rang out and Razz’s gun went flying when Mac suddenly appeared and fired.

  “You’re under arrest, Fencil,” he called out. The men with Fencil put their hands up without protest, and the threatening situation ended abruptly. “Lock them up, men,” Mac ordered sharply, ignoring the pain in his throbbing head and arm. His dark eyes settled on Lucy and he shook his head. “Doc, do something with your woman. She’s damn well going to get herself killed one of these days!”