by P. Creeden
The man nodded quickly and jerked a thumb toward the back of the cart. “Actually, if you don’t mind giving my friend Linus a handout of the cart, that would be good. I’ll join him in the saloon momentarily, but first I need to return Bessie to the livery.”
With another laugh, Billy nodded. “Not a problem,” he said and then went around to the back of the cart to help out the older, singing, drunk man.
Like a three-year-old child, the man resisted Billy’s help for several moments, still singing. Finally, he gave in and sat up off the cart, and allowed Billy to help him down the rest of the way. Then the man stumbled, and Billy caught him, but unfortunately, the brown jug splashed against Billy’s shirt, wetting his chest.
“Whoa,” the man said with a chuckle and wiped at it. “Sorry about that. Hope I didn’t ruin your shirt.”
Billy shook his head. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
And then, after seeing the man off, Billy joined her side and offered an arm, which she took. Darkness was falling quickly over the town as the sun was completely gone over the horizon. The moon had started to make an appearance in the east, but it’s silver light was still dull in the dark blue sky. They walked together through the alley, and the faintest familiar smell reached her, and it took a long moment before she recognized the significance of it. Just before she reached the tent, she stopped suddenly.
Worry wrinkles formed in Billy’s forehead. “What’s wrong?”
She leaned forward and sniffed his shirt. Then her eyes widened as she leaned back, and her gaze met his. “It’s cider. Hard cider.”
He blinked down at her and then sniffed his shirt. “That’s what it smells like.”
She shook her head. “No. You don’t understand. Cider is almost as good as eating apples themselves, maybe better because it’s distilled and has a higher concentration of the nutrients of apples, and it keeps better.”
She started back toward the alley when Billy stopped her. “Where are you going?”
The smile she had on wouldn’t quit as excitement built in her chest. “We need to find Mr. Linus and find out where he got that brown jug from. If there’s more of it, we might be able to save the families.”
Billy
After blinking at Josie a moment, Billy finally had the wherewithal to stop her. “Wait. I’ll go. You’re tired. Go ahead and get some rest.”
She shook her head. “I’m not tired at all, this discovery has given me a second wind. If we can find a store of this stuff, I’d be willing to drive out to the farms tonight and deliver the cider.”
He took hold of her again. “Just a minute, Josie. I’m saying that looking for a man in the saloons is something that a lady shouldn’t be doing.”
She frowned up at him. “Are you saying that it’s all right for you to go drinking and gambling in the saloons every night since we got into town, but you don’t want me to even set foot in one?”
His heart sank to his stomach. “Is that what kind of man you think I am?”
For a long moment, the two of them just stared at each other in the fading light until it almost became so dark that they could barely see one another. Finally, she shook her head. “No, I don’t think you’re a drunkard and a gambler, but I’m still going to go do this. You can either come with me or let me alone, but I’m going to look for that man, wherever he might be.”
Billy licked his lips and then followed her. He knew that Josie was a spitfire but had no idea just how much gumption she had in her until now. A smile pulled at his lips as he followed her. She marched back into the gaslight lit street with her hands on her hips but once she got to Main Street, she relaxed a bit and strolled up onto the boardwalk. He caught up with her and offered her an arm to lean on. “At least let me escort you, Doctor.”
With a sigh, she looped her arm in his. They spied Mr. Butler heading over from the livery. Mr. Butler smiled wide when he saw them, too. “Hello, both of you! Are you heading out for dinner tonight?”
The smile on Billy’s face slipped as his stomach growled. He’d forgotten all about having to make dinner. But this was an even better solution. He nodded. “We’d like to. Where do you suggest we dine?”
He nodded his chin over to the hotel that sat next to the saloon where he’d been heading. “They have a good stew in the dining room of the hotel.”
“We’ll head there, then.”
Josie yanked his arm and frowned up at him.
He smiled and patted her hand and then lifted his chin. “Any chance that you’d join us for dinner? And maybe also your friend Linus? He looked as though he could use a good meal, too.”
A wide smile spread across Mr. Butler’s face. “You’re offering to treat us both?”
“Yes,” Billy said with a laugh. “That is, if your friend can refrain from his singing long enough to enjoy a good meal with us.”
“I’m sure he can! I’ll go fetch him and then meet you both at the dining area of the hotel,” Mr. Butler said with a lilt in his step. He removed his hat and bowed to them both. “I’m much obliged.”
“Nonsense,” Billy said. “It’s just one of the ways that we can pay you back for ferrying us back and forth to the farms.”
The man’s smile didn’t waver as he nodded and left toward the saloon. Then Billy’s gaze returned to Josie. She had her brows lifted toward her hairline. He blinked down at her. “What?”
“Cunning as always, Mr. Hogge,” she said with sparkling eyes and the slightest shake of her head.
“What do you mean?”
She smiled and squeezed his arm a little tighter. “I just mean you have a way with people. You can cheer people up when they are down, get them to tell you all their secrets, and even finagle it so that you get what you want, just because you’re quick-witted and handsome.”
Billy stared at her, his cheeks flushed, but Josie looked away like she’d said nothing of importance. But what she’d just said meant the world to Billy. Had she really just called him handsome? Yes, saloon girls had used the moniker for him, but they called everyone handsome. For Josie to do it really had significance. Then he suddenly realized he wasn’t breathing and had to take a deep breath as they headed into the hotel.
Chapter 13
Josie
Mr. Franklin, the owner of the hotel greeted them and led them to a table. He beamed. “I’m so glad to have you join us for dinner tonight, Doctor. Your prescription of tea and honey has helped my mother-in-law tremendously, and a grumpy mother-in-law makes for a grumpy household. I can tell you that much. Please, allow me to treat you and your husband to dinner tonight.”
“Oh no! That’s not necessary,” Josie said with a blush rising to her cheeks. “I can’t ask you to do that, and besides, we’re expecting two guests.”
The owner smoothed down his dark hair and his mustache while he peered over his round spectacles. “Then, by all means, allow me to give you half off your meal when the bill comes. I must show my appreciation by some means. I’ll be offended if you don’t at least let me do this much.”
Josie chewed her lip, considering whether she should deny the man once more, but while she thought, Billy answered for her. “You are more than generous with your offer, Mr. Franklin. We don’t want to offend you, so we’ll accept it just this once but allow us to treat you in some way next time.”
Mr. Franklin nodded, his smile growing wide as he guided them to a table with four chairs. It wasn’t long before Mr. Butler and Linus Woods arrived. They took the two empty seats beside each other with grins on their faces. At about the same time, Mr. Franklin returned with a tea service. He smiled. “Because our esteemed doctor has enlightened us on the benefits of drinking well-brewed tea during this drought, it’s all that we serve. Would you like raspberry tea, grey tea, or black?”
They each chose a tea, but Mr. Woods asked for just a cup and then poured the cider directly from his jug. Mr. Franklin gave him the side-eye but didn’t say a word. Josie took this opportunity to ask, “Mr
. Woods, That is a mighty fine jug you have there. Is that hard cider you’re drinking?”
His bleary eyes narrowed at her. “Yes ma’am. It is. There’s nothing wrong with drinking it. It’s good for my health.”
She nodded with a smile, since his words had the sharp edge of someone expected an argument. “You’re right. It is good for your health. With the drought, there could hardly be anything better for your health than drinking that cider.”
“Ha!” He hopped in his seat. “I told Eleanor that. She didn’t believe me. Now I can tell her the doctor in town said so.”
Mr. Butler laughed, patting his friend on the shoulder. “When you next go home, that is. If you’re in town now, that means that she kicked you out again, doesn’t it?”
Mr. Woods hung his head a bit and narrowed his eyes at empty space. “Yeah. But she just needs a day or two to cool off. Then she’ll be fine. I’ll try going home on Sunday. She’s always feeling a little more forgiving after hearing about how she should be after church.”
They laughed as the waiter came and set plates of stew in front of each of them with a plate of soft bread rolls in the center. After eating a short bit, Josie gave it another try. “So, Mr. Woods, can I ask where you came by the cider? Is there more where that came from?”
He lifted a brow. “Does a lady like you drink hard cider?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No, sir, not exactly, but the health benefits can’t be denied.”
“Elenor denies them...” he said, staring off again.
Billy cleared his throat. “I’d like to get a jug for myself, Linus. Where can I get one?”
Mr. Wood straightened and took a bite of his stew. “My farm backs up to the Apache tribe’s land. They aren’t having any trouble at all through this drought, and they’ve been helping me make sure my livestock has plenty of grazing. They have the cider and trade it to me for a good price. I can get you a jug if you’d like.”
Josie met eyes with Billy, excited. Billy nodded once toward her before turning back to the man. “Linus, would it be possible for you to introduce me to the Indians you’re getting the cider from? I might like to get more than one jug if you can introduce me.”
Both Mr. Wood’s eyebrows shot up, but he stuck out his bottom lip and nodded. “I guess I can do that.”
“Tomorrow?” Billy asked, and Josie’s heart soared for how her partner was getting things taken care of quickly. He seemed to understand her urgency without much more than what he’d seen today.
The man flinched a bit at the thought and then slowly shook his head. “As long as it’s in the afternoon. I got plans for tonight and don’t intend to be getting up early for any reason.”
Mr. Butler nodded and chewed around a bite of stew. “I’ll get the cart and Bessie ready around one o’clock in front of the general store if you like. You’ll definitely want a ride out the the tribe.”
“Thank you both,” Billy said with a smile, and then they all tucked into a hearty dinner. Josie breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they could get ahead of this disease faster than she realized. If that were so, then it would be an answer to her prayers.
Billy
“No, I’m not one to tell a woman what she should and shouldn’t do, but in this case, I’d like it if you’d trust me and not go on this trip out to the Tribe today,” Billy said, trying his hardest to keep his voice soft. Over breakfast, when he’d finally got his thoughts in order, he confessed what he had learned the day before from the farmers about the uprising.
“See,” Josie said with her hands on her hips. “This is what I was talking about yesterday. You are clever and know exactly how to phrase things so that I’ll look like the bad guy—as if I don’t trust you—if I continue to demand to go.”
With a deep breath, Billy collapsed into the chair at the table in their tent. Arguing first thing in the morning was not his way. Billy was the peace-loving sort. He would let Josie have her way in everything she wanted normally, but this was a potential hazard to her safety, and that was one thing he had no intention of bending on. “Look, Josie. Let’s not forget what we’re here for. We are not here to save the town or the farmers outside it. We’re here to stop an uprising and potential massacre. Yesterday, I discovered who the orchestrators of the uprising are. Now we need to stop it. It just so happens that the best way to stop the uprising is to help save the farmers’ lives.”
She frowned at him. “Right. That’s why I need to be there.”
“No,” Billy said, shaking his head. “You don’t need to be there. I can take care of this leg of the journey, myself.”
Her eyes narrowed at him, her hands remaining on her hips. She whisper-shouted, “Am I not your agent-in-training?”
He darted his gaze around as if he could see through the tent flaps and spot if there was anyone listening in. He nodded but kept the frown on his face.
“Then it’s my job to face danger, the same as you. This is exactly what you’re supposed to be training me for. How will I ever solve a case on my own if you keep holding me back?”
She was right, and he knew it. But he didn’t like it one bit. His hands fisted and unfisted as the anger continued to heat his face. Then finally he let out a long exhalation. “Fine. Come then but be very observant of possible dangers and stick close to me so that if something goes wrong, I can at least try to protect you.”
A smile spread across her lips, and his heart fluttered even though he was angry. The sparkle in her eyes mesmerized him, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she might be the cunning one who knew how to get what she wanted from him. She nodded. “Okay, I’ll go do my morning rounds and make sure Ruth has good care of my patients today, and then we’ll meet in front of the general store at one. That’s what Mr. Butler said, right?”
He nodded and then she waved him over to escort her to the hospital that morning. The sun was out but a good breeze blew. Some clouds sat in the sky, which was a good sign since almost every day so far had been cloudless, but it didn’t seem like any of the clouds were big enough or heavy enough to hold the rainstorm the town really needed. At the entrance to the hospital, Billy and Josie said their goodbyes. He wasn’t much of one to hang onto anger, but this time, she was planning on doing something that he really didn’t approve of. His job was to keep her safe, and she’d be much safer staying behind, in town than she would be at an unpredictable Apache tribe’s camp.
Every step he took made his worry grow, but he had chores to get done so that they’d be ready to go promptly at the appointed time. After getting his shopping done at the general store for dinner supplies, he headed back home to their humble tent so that he could straighten things up and clean. When he was upset, cleaning always calmed him and made him feel better... at least, it usually did. This time, not as much. By the time he checked his pocket watch again, it was already less than a quarter hour before he needed to meet up with everyone in front of the general store. He finished up and rushed out the tent. By the time he got there, the cart was already waiting, and Josie sat in the cart seat with Sam Butler. Linus Woods was sitting in the back of the cart, but instead of his legs hanging over the end, like they did last time, he sat up at the front of the cart with his back against the seat area.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Billy grumbled as he pulled himself up into the last remaining spot on the seat. Once he settled in, he gave Mr. Butler a nod, and Mr. Butler got Bessie going.
Josie leaned in toward him. “You’re not late, everyone else was just early.”
He shrugged, unsure how to respond to her giddiness when he was still in a temper and not yet ready to let go of his disgruntled feeling. The breeze continued to lick the sweat off Billy’s brow as they made their way down the dusty road. Instead of continuing west toward the farms where Josie had been doing her rounds, they rode north, following a trail that went directly upriver. Mr. Butler pointed toward an abandoned set of buildings. “That’s the old camp. Camp Lincoln. We moved out of that camp and started V
erde because of the malaria outbreak. It even killed Doc Winston, God-rest-his-soul.”
Billy bowed his head and said a quick prayer for the people who had died and in the hopes that malaria would stay away from Camp Verde. He swallowed hard and looked Josie’s direction. As infuriating as the woman was for constantly putting herself in danger, Billy also thanked God that she was still alive, right now, in this moment, and that she was willing to be beside him. He was grateful that she had chosen him instead of Ben Mercer. She was a treasure, and Billy fully appreciated her. Finally, the anger that he’d been harboring all day started to slip away. His great-aunt Renee had always said that turning to the Lord in prayer could settle one’s heart. He knew it was true, but somehow seemed to forget when he was harboring an unsettling thought that it was the best time to turn to the Lord.
Mr. Woods leaned over the front of the seat. “Pull up here. The trail is too narrow for a cart, so we’ll have to go the rest of the way on foot. It’s a little more than a mile, so it won’t be too bad.”
Wrinkles formed over Josie’s forehead, but she nodded and allowed Billy to help her dismount from the cart. Her dresses were heavy, and it was a hot day. She’d be exhausted by the time they got there, but she still clutched her medical bag to her chest. Billy frowned. “Are you sure you don’t want to leave it here, on the cart, while we go?”
She shook her head and smiled. “A good doctor is never without his or her medical bag.”
He nodded and then reached for the handles. “Please allow me to carry it, then? At least for a while?”
After pulling the bag away from his fingertips, she shook her head slightly, but her smile remained unwavering. “I’ll carry it for now, but if you see me getting tired, I’d appreciate if you offer to carry it again.”
His heart fluttered in his chest. She surely had a way of making him feel as if he was important to her. She could even turn him down but make it seem like he was still needed.