Westward Dreams (3 page)

              Dean eyed Owl as he came running up to Dean’s wagon at the feed mill.  He noticed that there was mud in Owl’s long hair.  “What happened to you?”

              “I saved lady from falling in mud,” Owl said and pulled off his muddy shirt.

              Dean rolled his eyes.  “There you go running around half-naked again.”

              Owl laughed.  “You are jealous since I am more handsome than you.”

              “Yep.  That’s right.  Are you gonna just stand there, pretty boy, or are you gonna help me load this wagon?” Dean asked with a smile.

              Owl frowned at Dean.  “What do you mean ‘pretty boy’?  Those words do not go together.”

              “I was just practicing that gentle shaming thing, Owl so that you would help me here.  Isn't that what I’m supposed to do with kids?” Dean said.

              Owl gazed at Dean as he ran the sentence through his head and saw how Dean was making fun of him.  “You think you are funny, huh?”

              Dean chuckled.  “I have my moments.”

              “I will get you back.  You have to sleep sometime and I move quiet like cougar,” Owl said as he picked up a feed sack and promptly dropped it again because his left shoulder wouldn’t hold the weight.

              Dean was concerned by the pain in Owl’s face.  “Are you ok?”

              Owl held up an index finger to Dean telling him to give him a moment.  Dean didn’t say anything.  He just went back to loading feed into the wagon.  His brother Seth had gone through the same kind of thing after his leg had been hurt and it had always been best to just let Seth alone until the pain had passed.  Dean afforded Owl the same courtesy.

              Finally Owl didn’t feel like he was going to pass out and was able to heft the bag without too much pain.  Dean knew better than to suggest that Owl leave the job to him.  Men were proud about stuff like that.  He decided to pick the conversation back up where they’d left off.

              “Yeah, well, you come in our room and bother my wife and I’ll be scalping you, pretty boy,” Dean said.

              Owl was grateful for Dean’s consideration and just laughed at Dean’s remark.

              The next day, Hannah went to the sheriff’s office to return Sammi’s boots.  The lady herself sat on one of the desks swinging her legs and looking bored.

              “Hello.  Are you Sammi?” Hannah asked.

              “Yep.  That’s me.  Can I help you?” Sammi replied. 

              Hannah held out the boots.  “These are yours.  Thank you for loaning them to me.”

              Taking them from Hannah, Sammi said, “You’re welcome.  I’m glad they were here so you could use them.  You’re the lady that got hoodwinked, huh?  I felt so bad when Jack told us about it.  You want some coffee?”

              “Thank you.  Yes, I’d love some,” Hannah said and sat at the table.  “Jack is quite the cook and host.”

              Sammi smiled as she poured their coffee and sat down with her.  “Yeah.  He’s something else all right.”

              Hannah couldn’t believe how beautiful Sammi was and how good she looked in blue jeans.  Seeing women in pants was as foreign to her as seeing an Indian man in person.

              “He was very kind to me.  I was in a very bad way the other night,” Hannah said.  “I can’t believe how foolish I was to answer an ad in the paper for a mail-order-bride.”

              “It’s not so foolish.  There are quite a few of us around here, actually,” Sammi said.  Her blue eyes held kindness as she looked at Hannah.

              “Really?  I had no idea,” Hannah said.  “You’re a mail-order-bride?  Who’s your husband?” 

              “The sheriff,” Sammi said.

              Hannah laughed and then saw that Sammi was serious.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  I thought you were joking.”

              Sammi grinned at her. “I can see how you would.  It does sound kind of like a joke doesn’t it?  I answered his ad and it was the best thing I could have ever done.”

              “So it’s worked out then?” Hannah said.

              “Yep.  I’m sorry it didn’t for you.  You could always just point him out to me and I’ll beat him up for you,” Sammi said with another smile.

              Hannah laughed.  “I could do that, but then I’d just have to patch him up again.”

              “Oh yeah.  Jack said you’re a nurse.  We could use a nurse in these parts,” Sammi said. 

              “It seems as if Jack is full of good information,” Hannah said.

              “So he already filled you in on our doctor situation?”

              “Yes.  In fact, if you would give me directions to the doctor’s office, I’d like to go meet him,” Hannah said.

              “Oh, sure.  You got it,” Sammi said as she took a sip of coffee.

              The door opened and Mitch came in. 

              “Hannah, this is my husband, the best-lookin’ sheriff in the state,” Sammi said.

              Mitch smiled.  “Last week it was the country.  What happened to that?” he asked and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

              “Mitch, this is Hannah Fairbanks,” Sammi said.

              He held out a hand to Hannah.  “Pleased to meet you.  Sorry about all your trouble.  I can’t believe Clive did that.”

              “Thank you.  It’s nice to meet you, too, sheriff,” Hannah said.  “It’s my own fault, really.  I should have known better.”

              Sammi cocked her head and said, “Sometimes when something doesn’t work out the way you hope, something better ends up coming along.  So don’t beat yourself up about it.”

              Hannah smiled.  “I’ll try not to.  Well, if you’ll just point me in the right direction, I’ll be on my way.”

              Doc Turner was what Hannah considered the best kind of doctor.  He was honest, caring, and wasn’t in the profession for money.  It was obvious that he was very dedicated to his patients and that they loved him.

              “So now, Miss Fairbanks, what in the world are you doing in Dawson?  The Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing is the premier nursing program in the country.  You could work almost anywhere you wanted,” Doc said.  His keen brown eyes looked over her resume.

              Hannah told him her story and he grew angry.

              “What a damn dirty thing to do to somebody, and especially a nice lady like you,” Doc said.

              Hannah laughed.  “You’re very sweet, Dr. Turner.”

              “Just call me Doc.  Everyone does.  So you’re lookin’ for work, right?” Doc said.

              “Yes.  I was hoping you might have room in your practice for someone with my skills,” Hannah said.

              Doc said, “You know, Nurse Fairbanks, sometimes the good Lord drops just what you need into your lap and I think He did that in this case.  We don’t get a lot of real complicated stuff around here.  A lot of farming accidents and colds and such; that’s pretty much it.  Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

              Hannah nodded.  “Yes.  I’m also experienced at delivering babies.”

              “Perfect!  We can use someone else who can handle that,” Doc said.  “Now let’s talk about the money part.”

              An hour later Hannah left Doc’s a very happy woman.  The pay wasn’t very high compared to what she’d made in Cleveland, but she felt that it would be enough for now and she knew she’d be making a real difference in Dawson.  Doc was quite a character and Hannah liked him immensely already.  He’d told her a lot of stories about Marcus and she couldn’t wait to meet him. 

              On the way back to the hotel, Hannah suddenly saw Clive.  She stopped to see which way he was going so she could walk in a different direction.  He saw her and started walking her way.  Hannah decided to stand her ground.

              Clive reached her and said, “Look, Hannah.  I’m sorry about everything.  I shouldn’t have tricked you like that.”

              “That’s right.  You shouldn’t have lied to me.  I left everything to come here because you painted this perfect picture for me.  You told me what I wanted to hear and I should have realized that it was too good to be true,” Hannah said.

              “You’re right.  Let me make it up to you,” Clive said.

              “You can’t, Clive.  I have no respect for you now.  I’ll never be able to trust you, either,” Hannah said honestly.

              Clive began getting angry.  “You came here to marry me and that’s what you’re gonna do, Hannah.”

              Her brows drew down and she backed up a little.  “I’ll do no such thing and there’s no way to make me.  There was never any contract and I do not want to marry you.  If you don’t leave me alone, I’m going to notify the sheriff that you’re harassing me.”

              Clive made another move towards her and she backed up again.  “You think you’re smart with your fancy education and all, don’t you?”

              “Leave me alone,” Hannah said loudly. 

              “I’m warning you,” Clive said.

              “Is there a problem, here?”

              Hannah hadn’t noticed Sammi ride up behind her.  “Yes.  Clive will not leave me alone.”

              Sammi turned her ice-blue eyes on Clive and said, “So you’re the idiot that thought he could get away with tricking a nice woman to come here under false pretenses.”

              “This is none of your business, deputy,” Clive said with contempt.

              Sammi said, “That’s where you’re wrong.  You’re harassing Hannah and I’m not gonna let you keep doing that.  That’s my job.  So you can either move on and not ever bother her again or I can get down from this horse and arrest you.  Just so you know if you choose the second option, I hope you resist arrest so I can kick your ugly can and slap cuffs on you.  What’s it gonna be?”

              Clive had seen Sammi make good on those kinds of threats when she was working at the Watering Hole and had no desire to come up against the deputy in the middle of town.  He threw scathing looks at both women and walked away.

              Hannah breathed a sigh of relief.  “Thank you, Sammi.”

              “No sweat.  If he gives you any more problems, you just let us know and I’ll make him sorry,” Sammi said.  Then she shouted something out in a different language and waved.

              Hannah turned in that direction and felt like the wind was knocked out of her.  Her rescuer from the day before rode in their direction.  She tried not to stare but it was hard not to.  As he neared, Owl said something to Sammi and she laughed.

              “Hannah, this is my good friend, Owl.  Owl, this is Hannah.  She’s new here,” Sammi said.

              Owl smiled at Hannah and said, “Yes.  I remember.  Pretty lady from…” he looked at Sammi for help.

              “Earlier?” Sammi said.

              “He means ‘yesterday’,” Hannah said.

              “Yes.  Yesterday,” Owl said.

              “Oh.  What happened yesterday?” Sammi said.

              “Hannah almost fell in mud, but I catched her,” Owl said.

              “You mean ‘caught’ her,” Sammi corrected him.

              “Yes, I caught her,” Owl said.

              Hannah said, “Thank you again.”

              “No problem,” he said and scanned the sky.  “It will rain again tonight, I think.”

              Sammi said, “He’s the best weather forecaster you’ve ever seen.”

              “I’m sure that shoulder feels it first,” Hannah said.

              Owl’s gaze sharpened.  “How did you know?”

              “I’m a nurse and I’ve treated all kinds of injuries.  People with severe injuries that heal often say they have more pain when it’s going to storm,” Hannah said.

              “Nurse?” Owl asked.

              “Sort of like a doctor, but not quite,” Hannah said.

              Owl nodded.  “I see.”

              “Do you get cramps in the muscles?” Hannah said.  She suddenly saw Owl from a practitioner point of view.

              “Yes.”

              Hannah asked, “Has anyone ever tried massage on it?”

              Owl frowned and looked at Sammi. She translated for him.  Just as Owl was learning English, Sammi was learning Lakota.

              “No.  What will that do?” Owl asked. 

              “I’ll show you, but not here,” Hannah said.

              “Let’s go to the office.  I’d like to see this massage stuff,” Sammi said.

              Owl gave her a doubtful look, but followed Sammi’s lead.

              Jack was just coming out of the storeroom when the threesome came in the office.