Thorpe noticed her delicate fingers as she pushed the cartridges in the chambers. It occurred to him he’d never seen a woman load a gun. Evelyn wouldn’t have touched a gun, much less known the business end. This woman handled the revolver like an expert. She was an unusual woman. “Do you live nearby?”
“No, we’re on our way to Wyoming.” She snapped the cylinder on the .45 in place and handed Thorpe his gun. Pulling a pistol from her waistband, she held it out to him. “If they come back, don’t take time to reload, use this.”
When she turned away, Thorpe heard her say, “Blaze.” Her Appaloosa walked through the trees to her side.
Thorpe tucked her revolver in his belt and reached for Smoke’s reins. “You’re headed to Wyoming this late in the year?” Thorpe was also headed home and he’d cursed himself for being the biggest kind of fool for traveling so late in the year. Having finished what he’d come to do in Missouri, he wanted to go home and he wasn’t inclined to wait until spring. Before he set out for Wyoming, he knew the weather could change in a flash and it wouldn’t be in his favor, but he was prepared. The weather wasn’t the only challenge travelers had to consider. As he’d just experienced, there were other dangers that could prove far worse and fatal. It was one thing for a man to travel alone under such circumstances, but he only had his own hide to consider, not a beautiful woman’s. The way he saw it, her husband was plain irresponsible for risking her life on such a foolhardy journey. Right now, he was thanking the Good Lord that those Indians hadn’t seen her long blond hair or he’d certainly have more trouble on his hands.
“It couldn’t be helped,” she answered. “I’m Lily Starr. Do you live near here?” She’d noticed he was traveling light, just a saddlebag and bedroll was on his horse.
“Thorpe Turlow.” He braced himself for the pain he was sure to feel when he mounted. “I’m headed to Wyoming territory. My ranch is there.”
Lily didn’t want to call him a liar, but he didn’t have supplies for such a journey. “Where are your supplies?”
Not only could she ride and shoot, she was also an observant woman. “I imagine those warriors have them by now. I had to let my packhorse go when they gave chase. He’s a fine animal and I didn’t want him to be shot.” He stroked Smoke’s neck. “I figured the two of us would stand a better chance of outrunning them, and if we got lucky, all three of us might survive.”
His answer satisfied Lily. She understood the way he valued his animals, she felt the same way about Blaze and her mule, Daisy. She jumped on Blaze in one fluid motion, and waited a minute for Thorpe to catch his breath once he was in the saddle.
When Thorpe could speak again, he said, “Thanks for helping me out. But what were you doing out here alone?”
“I heard the shots and thought I’d better check it out.”
He wondered why her husband didn’t come when they heard the shots, or another man in her party. “How many in your group?”
“Four.”
He’d expected her to be traveling with a much larger group. “And you haven’t run into trouble?”
“No, we’ve been fortunate so far.” She moved Blaze ahead so Thorpe had to follow. After winding her way through the trees, she pulled her horse to a halt to get her bearings and to see if Thorpe was staying with her. Considering the pain he was in, not to mention the blood loss, she was amazed that he was still in his saddle. “It’s just a little farther.”
Thorpe didn’t want to have lied to her about passing out, but he thought he was close. “We’d best hurry.” By the time three wagons came into view, Thorpe was gripping his saddle horn to stay upright.
“Jedidiah!” Lily yelled as she hopped off her horse and ran to Thorpe’s side.
A large man came running from one of the wagons with a huge dog beside him just as Thorpe started to slide from his horse.
“Help me with him,” Lily instructed. “We need to get this arrow out.”
Jedidiah was a muscular man, but he staggered backward from Thorpe’s weight. “Mercy, Miss Lily, he’s a big one.”
“Yes he is. Some braves were running him down, so we need to keep our eyes open. Take him to my wagon.”
Together they helped a nearly unconscious Thorpe inside Lily’s wagon and situated him on a feather mattress covered with hand-stitched quilts.
“Jed, I can twirl the shaft so I don’t think it lodged in bone. We can break off the shaft and push it through, or we can cut around the entry and pull it out carefully.”
“Break it off and push the dang thing through.” Thorpe could tell the arrow tip missed the bone and he wasn’t about to let anyone cut on him.
The sound of his deep baritone voice made Lily and Jedidiah jump. Lily collected herself and pulled Thorpe’s large knife from his scabbard and handed it to Jedidiah. “You can use this to push it through.”
“Lily, do you need help?” Isabelle yelled from the back of the wagon.
“What’s going on?” Dora asked.
Lily expected the two women would have a thousand questions, but there would be time to explain later. “Bring the whiskey, bandages, and make a yarrow poultice and boil some water. And bring a needle and some thread.”
“You’d best be asking for that whiskey to pour down my throat,” Thorpe said. He tried to stay alert by reminding himself he’d been hit by an arrow before and been shot a couple of times, so he could handle the pain. If those Indians came back with more braves he didn’t want these people facing them alone. Did Lily say four were in her group? One man was in the wagon with them, and he heard two other women. That made four people, and that didn’t make him feel a whole lot better.
Lily smiled at him. “I’ll give you a hefty drink before we start.”
Seeing that smile of hers almost made Thorpe forget about his pain. Truthfully, it darn near made him forget his own name.
“Lordy be, I may take a swig ’cause I surely don’t look forward to causing you more pain,” Jedidiah said.
“Jedidiah, this is Mr. Thorpe Turlow,” Lily said. “Can you get his shirt off?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Once Thorpe was out of his shirt, Jed inspected his shoulder. “Mr. Thorpe, you sho’nuf got yourself in a real mess.”
“That I did, Jedidiah.” Thorpe figured Jedidiah wasn’t Lily’s husband after all.
“Miss Lily knew right away those shots we heard meant business. I thank God we was close by.”
“I’m thankful to Miss Lily myself. I thought the Lord sent an angel to help me.”
“And he surely did, yessir, he surely did. He sent this angel to help us all,” Jedidiah replied.
Thorpe wondered what the big man meant by that statement, but he didn’t have the chance to ask because the canvas flap opened. Thorpe whipped his Colt from his holster in one effortless motion and pointed it toward the opening.
In light of Thorpe’s weakened condition, Lily was awed by the speed he pulled his gun. She placed her fingers on the barrel of his pistol. “It’s okay, it’s just Isabelle and Dora. They are traveling with me.”
Thorpe holstered his pistol and looked at her. “Sorry, I guess I’m still edgy.”
Isabelle shoved the bottle of whiskey and other items through the opening. “We’re making the poultice now, Lily.”
“Good. Would you see to the horses for me?”
“Sure thing,” Isabelle said.
Dora leaned over, trying to get a look at the stranger, but Jedidiah was blocking her view. “Do you need some of my tonic? It’ll help relax him.”
Lily looked at Thorpe and he shook his head. He figured a tonic meant some sort of opiate and he didn’t want to be unconscious for a long time. “Whiskey will do.”
After removing the cap, Lily handed the bottle to him. “Here you go, Mr. Turlow.”
Thorpe clasped the bottle and looked into her eyes. “Here’s to avenging angels.” He took a long swig and handed the bottle to Jedidiah.
“No sir, I best keep a steady hand. I ain’t much for spiri
ts. But now you need to take another mouthful before we start.”
Thorpe did as Jedidiah suggested, and after he drained a good portion, he handed the bottle back to Lily. “Let’s get it over with.”
Lily poured some whiskey over his skin and the shaft that was going to pass through his shoulder. After she placed the bottle aside, she positioned herself in front of Thorpe and braced one hand on his right shoulder and one hand on his chest right over his heart to help hold him still. Her face was mere inches from his and she looked into his eyes. “Okay?”
Looking down at the small hand over his heart, Thorpe felt sure it had skipped a beat. His eyes moved back to hers and he gave a nod. Jedidiah didn’t hesitate taking the shaft between his strong fingers and quickly snapped off the end. He grabbed the knife and used the flat of the blade to push the arrow through Thorpe’s muscled shoulder.
Thorpe didn’t make a sound, nor move an inch when the tip of the arrow pushed through his flesh. He was staring into beautiful blue eyes before his head dropped to the curve of Lily’s neck seconds later. His last thought was, Miss Lily smelled better than any flower.
Under his weight, Lily fell backward with Thorpe on top of her.
“He’s bleeding bad, Miss Lily,” Jedidiah said.
Lily tried to push Thorpe aside, but couldn’t budge him. “Help lift him off of me so I can take care of it.” She’d noticed how tall Thorpe was, but when Jedidiah removed his shirt, she didn’t think she’d ever seen a more powerfully built man. His chest was broad with well-defined muscles, as were his arms. She estimated he had to weigh over two hundred pounds.
Lily and Jedidiah finally slowed the bleeding just as Isabelle returned to the wagon with the poultice. Once they had Thorpe’s shoulder cleaned and stitched, Lily held the poultice to his wound as Jed wrapped the bandage around his shoulder. Jedidiah tied off the bandage and together they lowered Thorpe to the mattress.
“I ain’t seen too many men bigger than me, but Mr. Thorpe shor’ is, Miss Lily.”
“He’s going to need every ounce of that strength considering the amount of blood he’s lost.” Lily unfastened Thorpe’s gun belt and Jedidiah lifted his hips so she could pull it off. She placed the gun right beside Thorpe so it would be within reach if he awoke. The flap opened again, and Dora and Isabelle poked their heads through.
“Who have you brought back this time, Lily?” Isabelle asked.
“She done went and saved Mr. Thorpe here,” Jedidiah answered. “Had an arrow through his shoulder.”
“Indians are close?” Isabelle questioned.
“We shot all but two and they left,” Lily said quickly so they wouldn’t be alarmed.
“They’ll be back with more,” Isabelle warned.
“Oh my, would you get a look at him, Isabelle,” Dora said, her eyes roving over the man lying prone on the mattress.
It seemed to Isabelle that he almost filled the entire interior of the wagon. “Merciful heaven! Look how big he is!”
“He’ll eat a ton,” Dora added.
“I got a feeling Mr. Thorpe can be a big help,” Jedidiah commented. He figured any man who pulled a gun as fast as Thorpe was a man who could probably deal with a whole lot of trouble.
“And he told me he was headed to Wyoming. He said he had a ranch there,” Lily told them. “It would be helpful to have someone along that is good with a gun.”
“You mean if he doesn’t die,” Isabelle said.
“He is not going to die!” Lily said. “Don’t even say such a thing. Quick, say a prayer.” She didn’t know what it was about Thorpe Turlow, but she could tell he wasn’t a man that one arrow could fell.
Dora and Isabelle rolled their eyes at her. “You pray enough for all of us,” Isabelle said.
Lily gave them a stern look as if they were two misbehaving children.
“Okay, we’ll pray for him,” Isabelle said to satisfy Lily.
Jedidiah laughed. “You should know that Miss Lily has a direct line to the Almighty. Why, even Mr. Thorpe said he thought she was an angel came to save him.”
Dora couldn’t take her eyes off the big man on Lily’s bed. He had a striking face and the broadest chest she’d ever seen. “At least this injured critter only has two legs,” Dora commented. “And I have to admit he’s much more handsome than Blue.”
“I guess that’s a matter of opinion,” Lily said. She wasn’t really thinking about Thorpe’s handsome face. The comment about Thorpe’s appetite forced her to consider their limited supplies. “I have to leave for a little while.” She glanced up at Jedidiah. “Look after him, Jed. Make sure he stays put if he comes around.”
“I’ll get those wet pants off him,” Jed told her.
“You just said Indians are roaming around out there,” Isabelle said, fear creeping into her voice.
“Keep your guns handy. If you see anything just start firing. I don’t expect I will have to go that far,” Lily told them. “And I’ll leave Blue here to alert you if trouble is coming. Start packing up camp because we need to keep moving for a few more hours.” She didn’t want to say she expected those braves to come back, just like Isabelle said, but that was what she was thinking.
“Miss Lily, it don’t sound safe for you to be out there wandering around by yourself. Where are you going?” Jed asked.
“Mr. Turlow had a packhorse that he had to release and he seems fond of his animals. I’m going to see if the Indians captured him.”
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2016 by Barbara Scarlett Dunn
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ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3893-1
ISBN-10: 1-4201-3893-6
ISBN: 978-1-4201-3893-1
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