Train From Marietta (22 page)

Nothing can stop me now!

Chapter 20

K
ATE WAS SURE IT WAS THE LONGEST NIGHT OF HER LIFE.
She hovered over Tate and moved only when she needed to put more wood on the fire. During the night, she heard a coyote howling for its mate and listened to the hooting of owls. The crackle of the burning sticks was a comforting sound. At times, Tate moved restlessly. When she talked to him, it seemed to comfort and quiet him.

“Lie still, honey.” She wasn’t conscious of the endearment until later. “You don’t have to worry about Hayden. Go to sleep. I’ll be right here with you.” It felt good watching over him, as if he belonged to her. All through the night, she held his head in her lap and stroked his brow. “We’ve got a good fire going. In case something comes close, I’ve got the pistol, and the rifle is beside you. I’m not a bit afraid.” Kate stretched that last a bit. She
was
afraid. It was so dark and quiet. She looked up at the star-studded sky. It seemed to her that she and Tate were the only two people in the world. “Sleep, my love. Luke will be here in the morning, and we’ll get you to a doctor.”

During the night, he opened his eyes and looked up at her. His eyes stayed on her face for a long time. She wasn’t sure if he was seeing her or not until his lips moved. She cupped his rough cheek with her hand and bent her head to hear what he was saying.

“You’re pure hickory,” he whispered.

Kate wasn’t sure what that meant, but thought it was something nice. “So are you.”

She definitely heard what he said next because his voice was stronger. “You’re pretty and sweet, too.”

“Thank you. I can say the same for you.”

That brought a twitching smile to his lips. Kate hoped that the adhesive tape would hold the cut on his chin together. He would have a deep scar if the wound wasn’t closed.

“Are you cold?” she asked.

“Not too cold. How about you?”

“I’ve got my back to the fire. Go to sleep. Birds are chirping in the trees. It will be morning soon.”

“Have you slept? I’ll stay awake for a while and you lay down and sleep,” he murmured.

“You need the sleep more than I do.”

“Lay down here beside me for just a little while.”

Kate couldn’t resist the temptation to close her eyes. Just for ten minutes or so, she told herself. Tate folded back one of the blankets and lifted his head from her lap.

“Come on. Lay down.”

Being careful not to bump his arm or his side, she lay down on the blanket. He stretched out his good arm and pulled her head down on it. “Go to sleep,” he whispered in her ear.

“I might hurt you.”

“No. Go to sleep, you need your rest. We’re not sure what will happen tomorrow.” Tate moved his knees up behind hers and pulled her against him.

Kate moved slightly away from him, fearing that she would hurt his side. Here she was in the wilderness sleeping beside a man she had known for only a few days, yet she felt that she had known him forever.

When next she opened her eyes, it was near daylight. She lay still for a long time not wanting to move away from the warm body lying so close behind her. Suddenly she realized their fire was only glowing embers. She eased herself out from under the blanket and stood looking down at the man who symbolized all that was good and decent. She realized more than ever before what it took to be a hero.

After feeling his brow and tucking the covers around his shoulders, she moved away to put more sticks on the fire. She waited a minute to make sure it would catch. Soon it was blazing, and the smoke was drifting straight up. She took the canteen back to where Tate lay and lifted his head up to her lap.

“You need water.”

Tate took the canteen and shook it. “It’s only about half full. You take a drink. We’ll have to make it last until Luke gets here.”

Kate took a small drink, then lifted his head and put the canteen to his lips. “You need water,” she repeated. “And don’t argue.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“That’s better,” she replied. “Now drink more.” She tilted the canteen again, forcing him to drink. “That’s enough for now. I’d like you to eat something. What do we have?”

“More biscuits,” he said, looking up at her.

“I don’t think I could eat one if I were starving. How about you?”

“They’ll be hard as rocks by now. Let’s wait for Luke. He should be here soon.” He looked away from her. “I’ll be all right if you want to go behind the boulders.”

“Thank you, I would.”

As soon as Kate disappeared, Tate painfully turned on his side and unbuttoned his britches. Hoping she wouldn’t see him, he unloaded his bladder out into the grass, then restored his clothing. It was a blessed relief. He could not shock her sensitive ears by telling her he needed to do what she evidently needed to do behind the boulders.

When Kate returned, she had a white cloth in her hand. She knelt down and placed the palm of her hand on his forehead. “No fever yet,” she said with relief, “but I need to look at your side and arm.”

“What have you got there?”

“You don’t need to know.”

He reached up and felt the soft, silky material. “It’s something of yours, isn’t it?”

“It’s something I don’t need right now. I’ve already used Luke’s shirt and most of yours.”

“You’ve been gutsy through this. You would have made a good pioneer woman.”

“It isn’t over yet.” She smiled down at him. “I might just burst into tears at any minute and blubber all over you.”

In spite of the pain it caused him, Tate grinned at her. “I don’t think that’s likely. If you were going to fall to pieces, you would have done it when Hayden had you.”

“Do you think Eddy and Squirrelly are waiting for him back at the cabin?”

“They’ll wait for a while. Neither one of them has the sense it would take to survive out here. If you are right that your father’s partner is ramrodding this thing, they will have to tell him that they let you get away from them.”

“Eddy hinted strongly that his uncle was forcing him to do this. He told me that he agreed so that he could see that no harm came to me. He has tried, but he’s not the type to stand up against Hayden and Squirrelly. As soon as we get to town, I’ll call my father.”

“Yes. We’ll head there. I’ll call Lyle if he isn’t already in Muddy Creek.”

“I wish Luke would come. I’m worried about how we are going to get you back to town.”

“Luke will build a travois when he gets here.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a blanket stretched between two poles and dragged by a horse.”

“He can’t drag you out of here on a blanket. I won’t allow it.”

“It isn’t as rough as it sounds. Leave it to Luke. He’ll know what to do.”

Tate leaned up on his good elbow and cocked his head to listen. “That’s the signal. He’s back.” He put his fingers between his lips and whistled. A few seconds passed, and Kate heard the whistle repeated.

“How will he know where to find us?”

“He has seen the smoke from the fire. He knows where we are. He whistled so we wouldn’t shoot him when he came in.”

Kate waited anxiously for the Indian boy to appear. When he did, she was surprised to see that he wasn’t alone. Three other Indian boys were with him.

“I’m back,” he said. “I send telegram.”

“Good.”

Luke brushed past her and went to kneel beside Tate. “You hurt? You going to be dead?”

“I sure as hell hope not.”

“Of course, he’s not going to be dead. We’ve got to get him down to a doctor.”

“We see nothing of Hayden.”

“Kate shot him. He’s back over there in the bushes.”

“Dead?”

“Dead as a doornail.”

Luke’s face creased in one of his rare grins. “Your woman did it?”

“I’m not his woman,” Kate said sternly.

Luke ignored her outburst. “You hurt bad, Tate? You going to be dead?” he asked again.

“No, you muttonhead.”

“Then why you lay down and let your woman tend the fire?”

“He’s got a hole in his side and one in his arm,” Kate said defensively. “He needs to see a doctor. How will we get him out of here?”

“I know. I no dumb Indian. I build good travois.” He turned and spoke rapidly to the three boys with him. One pulled a hatchet out of his belt and took off for a patch of trees; the others followed. “They get poles for travois.” Luke turned to Kate. “You done good to shoot Hayden.”

“He would have killed me if she hadn’t,” Tate said. “Hayden was one tough hombre. I’ll give him that.”

“Tough and mean,” Kate said. “Are we going to bury him? We just can’t leave him for the animals.”

“Why?” Luke said.

“Because we’re civilized, that’s why.”

“What’s ‘civilized’?”

Tate looked up at Kate. “Explain, Kate, what ‘civilized’ means.”

“Now, don’t you be giving me any trouble.” She put the palm of her hand on his forehead, then removed the blanket to look at his side.
Thank goodness it’s stopped bleeding.
Kate quickly and efficiently removed the bandage on his side. She held up the white cloth. “Cut this in two for me, Luke.” When he handed the cloth back, she folded one of the pieces and pressed it against the wound, then tucked Tate’s shirt down into his pants to hold it in place. The wound on his arm was still bleeding. She wrapped the other half of her petticoat around it and tied it into place. “You have to drink again, Tate.” Kate lifted his head and held the canteen to his mouth. She looked up at the Indian boy. “Do you have water?”

“You think I am like silly city boy? Course, I got water.”

“Good, because he’s going to need it before we get him to town.”

The three Indian boys returned with two long poles. They tied the ends together to make an A-frame. Luke quickly set to work building a platform on the end of the poles. After laying two blankets out, he pulled leather thongs out of his pouch, punched holes in the blankets with his knife, and tied the blankets to the poles. He worked swiftly, and soon the blankets were secure. He spread Tate’s bedroll on top, then lay down on it to test it. “It’ll do,” he said. Two of the Indian boys lifted the tied ends of the poles over the horse’s rump and secured them to the saddle, while the other boy positioned the poles that would drag.

“Can you move it closer to Tate?” Kate asked. “I don’t want him getting up and walking to it.”

After moving the travois over to where Tate lay, Luke nodded to the three boys. Each of them picked up a corner of the blanket Tate lay on. The four boys lifted him and placed him on the travois. Tate closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Kate knew he was in pain. While one of the boys was throwing dirt on the fire, she picked up her bag, the rifle, and the pistol.

“Give me the rifle,” Tate said. “It’s too heavy for you to carry.” She placed it beside him and handed him his hat.

Luke went ahead to pick the smoothest trail. One of the boys led the horse. The other two had disappeared, but Kate knew they were somewhere nearby. She walked along beside Tate, wishing she had something to ease his pain. He never made a sound, not even when the poles bounced over the rough ground. His eyes were closed, and Kate fervently hoped that he could sleep. When he called her name, his voice was weak. He held up his hand. She hurried to him and clasped it in one of hers. “When you get tired, tell Luke,” he said. “He’ll stop and you can ride on the horse.”

“Tate Castle, I’ll do no such thing. I wouldn’t think of getting on that horse.”

“You’ll be worn-out by noon.”

“Luke will stop and rest the horse. I’ll rest then.”

The sun, on its way to the zenith, was relentless. Kate trudged along beside the travois that carried Tate. His hat shaded his face, but she could see rivulets of sweat running down from his temples. She hurried ahead and called out to the Indian boy who was leading the horse.

“Stop. Tate needs water.”

The boy turned and looked at her, clearly not understanding her words. Kate signaled with her hand toward Tate and from Tate to the canteen that hung over the horse’s saddle. The boy got the message and stopped the horse. She carried the canteen back to where Tate lay. “You need water,” she said. She unscrewed the lid and held the canteen to his mouth. He lifted his head and took a mouthful of the water.

“You,” he said, and pushed the canteen toward her.

“I don’t need any yet.”

“Drink. You’re not used to this heat.”

Kate took a handkerchief from her pocket and wet it with water from the canteen. She lifted his hat and spread the handkerchief over his face and patted it down with her hand.

“That feels good,” Tate muttered. “But it’s a waste of water.”

She held the canteen to his lips again. “Take another drink. Luke says we have enough water.”

“There’s never enough in this country.”

Kate didn’t answer. She hung the canteen back on the saddle and motioned for the boy to go on. She walked beside the travois. Tate handed her his hat. “Put it on.”

She didn’t argue. After placing the hat on her head, she clasped the hand Tate held out to her. His fingers tightened around hers with surprising strength.

“When you get tired, I’ll whistle for Luke to stop,” he told her.

“We should keep going as long as possible. I want to get you to town. You need the care of the doctor.”

“You patched me up pretty good with your petticoat.”

“How did you know it was my petticoat?”

“Because it smelled like what fell out of your suitcase on the train.”

“You’re not going to let me forget that, are you?”

“I’m not going to forget it.”

“I’ll not forget it either. I’ve never been so embarrassed in all my life.”

She looked down to see that his eyes were closed, but he still held tightly to her hand.

“Will Luke stop at noon?” she asked him.

“Indians don’t eat three meals a day. They eat when they’re hungry. He’ll stop soon, or I’ll whistle.”

“Don’t you dare whistle on my account.” Kate turned to see the Indian boy trying to calm the horse. He kept repeating a word she didn’t understand.

Tate rose up from the travois. “He’s saying the devil steer is near. Devil steer is what the Indians call the longhorns.” Tate reached for the rifle at his side and grunted with pain. Kate grabbed it, jacked a bullet into the cylinder, and held it at ready.