The Lady's Arrangement (Help Wanted)

by Colleen L. Donnelly

  Doc paused and looked at his tall counterpart, then up at me, a tiny frown tightening his brows.

  “Might move close to her,” Ben said to Ted, tossing a nod my direction.

  Ted didn’t stir, but Jess did. He jerked. He let out a sound from deep within that rumbled like a buried scream. Mine followed his. A scream I never knew I had escaped, crying out sharp and clear as it rang across the prairie. Ben came to his feet, stood in front of me until the scream waned, and caught me as I dropped to be near my son when the scream finally died.

  “Let me see him.” My hands stretched and reached toward Jess while Ben’s gripped my shoulders, keeping me off the ground, his body like a wall between my son and me. “Let me go. I’m tired of you being in my way!” I squirmed as Ben held on, glancing back at Ted.

  “Come on, Regina. Let Doc do what he has to.” Ted came to my side, his good hand touching my arm. “Next time give us a little more warning.” He growled at Ben.

  Ben let the desperation and fight go out of me before he let go of my shoulders and steadied me back on the ground. His hands stayed close as he remained in front of me, waiting for my next move.

  “Was that supposed to happen?” I looked from him to my boy.

  “Yes’m.” Ben nodded. I stayed where I was, watching as Ben edged away and rejoined Doc Harris, dropping to the ground near my son.

  “He’ll be okay.” Ted came to stand in front of me, taking the place where Ben had been.

  I glanced at Ted’s face, hoping Flynn’s ranch manager was right…that he cared the way I did…and that I could see it there. “I’m just worried.” I stepped around him, closer to Ben and Doc Harris, leaning over them as the two men put my son back together.

  Jess moaned, he stiffened as the leg was formed to the splint, Ben binding it with a section of rope they’d cut from the longer piece.

  “Are you sure this is right?” I cringed as Ben snugged the rope tight.

  Doc and Ben looked up at the same moment, their hands still on my boy as they stared at each other.

  “Was it done wrong?” I looked from Ben to Doc. “Did Ben tie it too tight?”

  “He did fine.” Doc glanced up at me. “Everything Ben has done has been correct.”

  “You’re sure?” I rested my hand on Doc’s shoulder. “I mean, everything’s really going right?” I needed to be certain. I needed the face looking up at me to assure me Jess would be okay. He wanted to be just as certain. It was in his gaze just before he glanced down, from my face to my fingers gripping his shoulder.

  “We need to move him now.” Ben left where he’d knelt on the ground. I heard him stand, felt the quickness as he came to his feet, and his nearness as he stood at my side.

  “Ben’s right.” Doc let go of Jess, and I let go of his shoulder as he stood. Things were happening too fast amidst looks that were too uncertain. “We’ll know more about how he is when we get him settled.”

  Settled. Then Ben would go. Like he said. I glanced at the man next to me, then stepped away as he and Doc bent and eased Jess to his back, soft moans rumbling deep within him as they did. When my boy was flat, and his sounds stilled, Ben straightened and eyed what they’d done.

  “You put a different shirt on while you were gone,” I said.

  His Adam’s apple gave a little bob, his only response as he turned to Doc. “Ready?”

  “Ready as we’ll ever be.”

  Ben stretched the blanket over the grass and laid the boards a little way from each side. He folded the blanket’s edges over the boards toward the center.

  “You’ve done some doctoring somewhere,” Doc said as he waited near Jess.

  Ben carted the makeshift bed alongside Jess, took his first shirt from on top of Jess, and snaked it beneath him, worked it under Jess’s ribs, hips, and thighs until it cradled him. “If we all lift at the same time, we can get him on the cot without disturbing him too much.” Ben glanced up at us, then straightened.

  I nodded and took Jess’s head while Ted went to his feet. When we were all in position, we waited, listened to Doc breathe out numbers as he counted to three, and then we lifted. Together. Jess didn’t moan. His hip didn’t bend or his leg shift. In the most delicate of motions, he was on the blanket. I slipped my hands from beneath his head, brushing his hair from his forehead as I did.

  Ben gathered the rest of the rope as I knelt there. He looped and knotted it until he’d crafted a makeshift harness and connected it to both sides of Walter’s saddle. His cattleman side was coming out now; I saw the dexterity as he handled the rope, a rope that had something to do with my son.

  “Here, use Boss, instead.” Ted stepped up and took hold of the rope.

  “Walter’s used to me,” Ben said. “He’ll pay attention as I come along behind with the back of the cot.”

  I saw then what Ben was doing. One end of Jess’s cot would be rigged behind Walter while Ben walked behind carrying the poles’ other ends.

  “But Boss has gear. He’s a ranch horse, and Jess knows who we are. Boss and I should do this.”

  “No, Ted. Let Ben do it with Walter.” I stood and stepped between the two of them, but it was Ben I turned to. I looked up into his tanned face where unsteadiness had hardened into a determination to see my boy settled. “You shouldn’t have whistled at your horse when my boy was on his back. But I thank you, just the same. You’ve done well helping to settle Jess.” Ben said nothing. He returned to rigging the harness, the rope as lithe in his hands as if it were string. I watched his hands and arms, sure and dexterous, fast and strong. Before I knew it was happening, Jess’s cot was off the ground, one end at Walter’s rear, the other in Ben’s hands. Ben made a noise, and Walter eased forward. Smooth as silk, the two of them, with my son, starting across the prairie.

  “I’d be honored if you’d ride my horse.” Doc’s voice was soft at my side, his horse’s reins extended in his hands.

  “She can ride Boss.” Ted brought his horse to me. “They know each other.”

  “I’m going to walk,” I said, watching Ben’s back as he followed his horse, straining to see my son toted between the two of them. “Thank you both, though.” I hurried away and to Ben, following close behind as he and Walter carried my boy, their black silhouettes moving smooth and easy toward my ranch. “You’ve done well,” I said, “enough to get my boy nicely settled.”

  “I ain’t going yet, if that’s what you keep trying to say,” Ben said without looking back.

  “I’m saying you’ve done plenty, though.”

  “And I said I’m not going until this boy is completely settled.”

  I stepped closer, opened my mouth, then closed it again. I wouldn’t argue like a Kansan or say what I was thinking—God help whatever poor woman ended up married to this man.

  Chapter 9

  Kansas sure gets dark when the sun goes down. The wail of a coyote seems closer, and eerier. Varmints rarely travel alone. ~Rex

  I straightened and took a step back, leaving Jess on his mother’s bed with Ted’s blanket and my shirt wrapped around him. He was quiet, Regina and the doctor huddled close by his side. He was well loved and well taken care of; all he had to do was wake up.

  I moved farther back and took in the room. Mrs. Howard’s bedroom. Heat rose around my collar as every wall and every corner breathed woman. Kansas and the outside of this home were stark, but here, on the inside, was color, fabric, and sweet smells that made my head spin. Mrs. Howard’s room had so much lace, so much finery and womanly frills that her boy could never get well lying in a place like this.

  “He did okay being carried here, right?” Regina was close to Doc. She spoke low, looked his way, a hand on her boy, while Ted watched from her other side. The three of them stood there, the two men oblivious to the rest of the room as the tiny redhead between them spoke.

  “His leg is stable. It made the trip well.” Doc glanced back at me. I caught his gratitude while, “Mister-Who?” flitted through his eyes.

&nbs
p; “How about the rest of him?” Regina tugged at Doc’s sleeve. “Why doesn’t he wake up?”

  Doc turned from me and looked at the woman next to him. “He took a blow to the head, and I don’t know when he’ll come to. I hope soon…” Doc’s voice was soft, the comfort in it evident. Even from across the room I couldn’t miss the kindness he offered. Special, was my guess, just for her.

  “Your boy’s tough.” Ted ran a hand across Jess’s head. “He’ll be fine.”

  “We’ll do our best to make sure he is.” Doc looked tired, like evenings of this sort aged him more than time ever did. He watched Regina run her hand along Jess’s arm. When she glanced up at him, his face colored, something bending over his bag and rearranging its contents didn’t hide. At least not from me.

  “When will we know if he’ll be completely fine?” she asked.

  Doc Harris looked up from his bag, the tinge still there. “Soon. I’d say soon. I’ll come often. Daily. If that’s all right.”

  “Please do.” Regina nodded as she bent over her boy. Her hair fell like a cloud around her son and her face—a face I had to admit should be out where it could be seen. Not the sort of face I expected on a liar, or on a woman in trousers with a pitchfork in her fist. I glanced at the two men who flanked her. At least one of them saw the same thing I did in that fog of red hair.

  Regina drew her curls to one side, looped the mass of them behind her neck, and let them fall over one shoulder. Becky had been pleasant, and pretty enough, but for all of her good qualities she never filled a room the way the widow did. Regina caressed Jess’s face as she leaned his way. It was like looking at a painting—nothing like the woman I’d seen come stomping through the barn earlier—a painting my stepmother would have hung.

  “Okay if I stay close to him tonight? Sit at the edge of the bed, if I’m careful?” She looked up at the doctor.

  “Yes, certainly.” He lifted a hand. I thought he would touch her, the way he held it close in the air, but he let it drop, burying it in a pocket, instead. “Talk to him some. That’s what he needs. Let him know you’re here. That may help him wake up.” Doc glanced back at me. He missed the widow’s I-told-you-that-earlier look she tossed at me as he walked my direction, his hand out and extended my way. “We haven’t officially met, but I’m glad you were here. I’m Doc Harris from Liberal. Been doctoring several years, but never had help like you gave me tonight. Thank you for all you did.”

  “Ben Miller. Glad to help with the boy,” I said. His handshake was firm, steady, but not hard.

  Regina glanced up. “Doc, I’m sorry. I should have introduced the two of you sooner. But Ben isn’t intending to be…”

  “You had too much on your mind,” Doc interjected and smiled her way, then turned back to me. “Miller. There are some Millers north of Liberal. Good people. You related to them? From around here?”

  I shook my head. “No,” I said, the same moment I heard, “No family in the area, but that’s what he prefers. No family.” I peered at the woman perched next to her son.

  “As I was saying…” I looked at Doc again.

  “He came with the intent of staying, though,” Regina cut in again. “But that didn’t last.”

  I leaned around Doc, making the frown on my face plain as day for a woman choosing to talk for me. I scanned the room, looking for a dress. She had to have at least one somewhere. And she needed to get it out and put it on. Wearing trousers was going to get her in a lot of trouble.

  “But…” I tried again, not spotting any fine clothes.

  “But he didn’t like what he saw,” she finished for me. “So he’ll be leaving soon. To where everything’s perfect.”

  I threw up my arms. “Well, there you have it, Doc. Whatever you need to know about me you can ask the…the…her.” I jerked a thumb the widow’s direction. I caught her eye and the glint in it that time, but I couldn’t care less what that bossy woman thought. I turned and headed toward her bedroom door where more glint—a different sort of glint—stopped me. Sparkling trinkets, eastern trinkets, glittered in the candlelight. I glanced down at her dresser top, where dishes and small trays shimmered with lockets, perfume bottles, bracelets, combs, and more.

  “I suggest you leave the lady’s things alone.” The brim of Ted’s hat and his one good hand blocked what I could see. “She’s had a rough evening. No call you getting sticky-fingered.”

  “Nothing sticky about me. Like she just told you and everyone, I ain’t sticking around.” I didn’t need to re-announce my leaving, since the widow already had. Just said it nice and quiet to her ranch manager. Touching my hat, I went on through her bedroom door, on through the rest of her house, and on through the Kansas dark.

  Chapter 10

  If I have to swallow crow, then I might. But a little respect afterwards would certainly be in order. ~Regina

  “Who is he?” Doc asked as Ben strode from the room.

  “No one,” Ted answered. He walked from my dresser, the sound of the kitchen door punctuating the last of Ben’s footsteps. “Just someone trying to take advantage of a widow and her boy.”

  “Ted, I believe Doc was asking me. After all, this is…”

  “I should have been here today. I warned you about fellows like that.” Ted nodded toward the jewelry on my dresser top where Ben had stopped. Ted had warned me. Surely I’d have more sense than to invite one of those types here to marry me.

  “We’ll talk more about you being here, later. Please go take care of Boss now. The poor animal is probably unhappy standing out there still saddled up, after I rode him so hard.” We rode him so hard. Me and Ben. I glanced at my dresser. Surely I had more sense…

  “Well, I’m sorry again I wasn’t here.” Ted nodded at Doc and me, then left my room.

  I looked at Doc as soon as Ted was gone, my kitchen door shutting more softly this time. “How much do I owe you for all you’ve done?”

  “I won’t discuss payment now.” Doc stood over me. “When this is all settled, we’ll talk.”

  Settled. I glanced at the empty doorway. “Is there something worse you haven’t told me about my boy?”

  Doc’s eyes were blue like Jess’s, like Flynn’s. A warm blue that softened the air, almost taking the icy fear out of my question. “There’s nothing more, other than the fact Jess may be confused and terribly sore when he wakes up. And I don’t know how long either will last.”

  “I’m grateful you’re willing to come back often while Jess is recovering.” I glanced at my dresser, where my jewelry lay. “I may have to be creative in the way I pay you.”

  Doc’s hand was warm—like his smile. His fingers were smooth and gentle, unlike the rough and calloused ones of Ben, as he patted my hand. “I won’t talk payment with you, Mrs. Howard. Let’s talk only of Jess.”

  “But I won’t have it that way…”

  “And speaking of Jess, you’re going to need something for him when he does wake up.” Doc dipped into his bag and came out with a tiny bottle he placed in my other hand. “This will help him with the pain. Just a little bit, though. Less than a spoonful, and only if he needs it, but no more than two times a day.”

  I looked at the bottle. If I paid Doc with money, it would likely take what little I’d found of Flynn’s, plus the cash from selling Flynn’s horse.

  “What does this medicine cost?” I asked.

  “Nothing tonight.”

  “Doc, I appreciate…”

  “Okay, if it makes you happy. A bottle like that costs fifty cents, full. As you can see, the one I gave you is barely half.”

  “And your trip out here?”

  “Mrs. Howard…”

  “Doc, unless we do this right…”

  He raised his hands. “All right. A trip might be the same. Probably less.”

  I dropped my hands, along with the bottle, into my lap.

  “I said, don’t worry,” Doc repeated above me. “You have only one thing to think about.” Doc nodded toward my son.
/>   Doc Harris was right. If Flynn were still alive, Jess would be all I was thinking about. But since Flynn wasn’t, I not only had Jess, but also his bills. And a ranch the bank wanted to take away from me, and some stranger outside in my barnyard who didn’t mind eyeing my jewelry, but was stubborn enough to refuse to keep our agreement so I could tell Flynn’s banker to go away and leave me alone.

  The door to the kitchen opened and closed again, and footsteps I knew were Ted’s came back to the room. He nodded at me, the scent of a weary horse wafting with him as he walked to the foot of the bed, and stood where he could see Jess.

  “I’ll bring you a little something as payment tomorrow morning.” I said it low so Ted couldn’t hear. I glanced at Ted, the ranch manager I also couldn’t afford. Two men in my room, neither one of which I could pay what I owed him. That third man in my barnyard had to stay, no matter what, stay and marry me like he was supposed to; then he could go. “I’ll be coming into town tomorrow with Ben while Ted stays with Jess.”

  “You’ll be going into town on your own, I’m afraid.” Ted heard me this time. He glanced up from watching Jess sleep. “If that was his horse I heard outside just now, you will.” Ted jerked his head toward the window.

  I looked at the dark panes behind my lace curtains. I heard nothing. Ted crossed his arms and repositioned his feet. I stared harder and listened more.

  “Excuse me for a minute.” I stood. “I’ll be right back.”

  I burst through the kitchen door out into the stretch of dirt between the house and the barn. Surely someone I would choose to marry would at least have the decency to tell me he was going before he rode off into the night. The dark was palpable, tiny stars too high to do any good. I planted my fists on my hips and called into the dark. My voice carried well in the cool night air, almost a melody, but it brought no response other than the spring peepers’. I listened to the high-pitched little frogs chirping as if all was well, when it wasn’t. I swam through the darkness and their songs to the barn, felt my way through its door. “Ben? Walter?” My face heated up. I couldn’t believe I called for a horse as if he’d answer.