Catching Kent (2 page)

“
Stuck?” Kent asked. “How
could he get stuck in a barrel?”

“
Foolish kid thought it was
funny to jump in there. I told him not to, but did he listen?
Anyway, I can’t pull him out by myself. Will you help me? He’s just
down there.”

Kent glanced at the nearby alley and
nodded. “Alright.”

“
Thank you, sir. I sure do
appreciate it.”

“
It’s nothing.” When they
reached the alley, Kent went in first, the man close behind him. He
saw the barrel a few feet away and looked in it. “There’s no one
here.”

As he turned, he saw two men. The man
who led him to the alley gave him a swift punch in the jaw.
Stunned, he dropped his suitcase and didn’t have time to block them
from pinning him to the ground.

“
What are you doing?” Kent
demanded, fighting against them.

“
Get his pocket watch,” the
first man said to the second one. “It’s real gold.”

“
No!” Kent rolled to his
side but the first man kicked him several times in the
ribs.

He cried out in pain and the second
man slammed his hand over his mouth. “Now listen here. You want to
get out of this alive, don’t you?”

Even though the second man expected an
answer, Kent’s attention went to the first man who was going
through his pockets.

“
Money,” the first man
said, nudging his partner in the arm. “I was right. This one is
rich. You can tell by the suit.”

The second man nodded and grinned.
“We’ll take his suitcase too.”

Kent bit the second man’s hand,
getting only a mild sense of satisfaction as he pulled away and
yelled. He struggled to get to his feet, but the shooting pain in
his sides made him collapse to the ground. From there, everything
was a blur as the two men kicked and punched him. The world around
him spun before everything went black.

***

Dave Larson loaded the last box into
the wagon. “I think that’ll do, Jacob.” He turned to his
twenty-two-year-old son. “How’s it going with the
mercantile?”

“
Great,” Jacob replied.
“Thanks for helping me buy it from Ralph’s son.”

He chuckled. “I thought Ralph would
live forever. It almost doesn’t seem the same without
him.”

“
I know. It doesn’t. I hope
I can fill his shoes.”

Patting his son on the shoulder, he
smiled. “You will. Give it time and learn the business. Patience
and sticking to it will see you through.”

Eli came up to them. “Pa, what are
those men doing?”

Dave followed Eli’s gaze, his eyebrows
furrowed as he watched two men hop on horses and nearly run a
couple people over as they hurried down the street. “I don’t know,
but wherever they’re going, they sure are in a hurry.”

“
They came out of that
alley,” Eli said, gesturing further down the street.

“
If they were coming out of
an alley, then what were they doing with a suitcase?” Jacob
asked.

“
Good question,” Dave
replied, his gaze traveling to the alley between the butcher’s shop
and the bakery. The train station wasn’t too far from it. Something
told him the suitcase belonged to one of the passengers who got off
the train. “Eli, stay with your brother.”

“
What?” Eli didn’t hide the
frustration in his voice.

“
Those men were trouble,”
Dave replied. “Whatever’s in that alley, you don’t need to see it.
Jacob, watch after your brother.”

Jacob nodded and Eli
grunted.

“
Don’t be in a hurry to
grow up,” Dave told Eli, tapping his hat.

Glancing both ways, he jogged across
the street. He passed the butcher shop and turned down the alley,
stopping when he saw a man lying by a barrel.

“
Hello?” he called
out.

When the man didn’t respond, he
continued heading in his direction. The man was lying on his side,
his back turned to him. He picked up his pace until he was kneeling
beside him.

“
Sir?”

He gently rolled the man onto his back
and paused, shocked by the extent of the man’s injuries. Bruises
covered his face and he had a bloody lip and nose. Considering how
tattered his clothes were, Dave could only guess what injuries were
elsewhere. After checking his pulse to make sure the man was still
alive, he slid his arms under him. The man groaned in pain and Dave
reconsidered moving him.

“
Wait here. I’ll get help,”
Dave said.

Dave hurried out of the alley and
scanned the street. The two men who’d beaten the injured man and
stole his things were long gone, and there was no way of telling
where they went. He shook his head in aggravation. He should have
gone after them. They deserved to be in jail for what they
did.

“
Pa?” Eli called out from
across the street.

Dave motioned for him to come over and
when he did, he said, “There’s a man in the alley who needs a
doctor. Get your uncle Joel.”

With a nod, Eli hurried to the
doctor’s office.

Chapter Two

Rose swallowed the cooked carrot, her
gaze traveling to Harriett, Adam, and her mother who sat in
silence. Her mother left her uneaten food and made another trip out
of the room. Rose’s stomach tensed. By the looks on Adam’s and
Harriett’s faces, they were just as worried as she was.

When her mother returned, Adam asked,
“Any sign of them?”

Her mother shook her head and gripped
the back of her chair. “Your father’s never missed supper. He
should be back by now.”

He set the fork on his plate and stood
up. “I’m going to look for them.”

“
They were going to the
mercantile. If you don’t see them, ask Jacob if they stopped
by?”

“
I will.”

Rose glanced at Harriett who met her
gaze. “I’ll clear the table,” Rose offered. There was no way she
could eat the rest of her meal knowing her father and Eli could be
hurt, or worse.

“
I’ll help,” Harriet said.
“Ma, why don’t you watch for them, in case they come
home?”

Their mother indicated her agreement
and headed for the porch.

As Rose helped her sister clear the
table, she took note of the evening sun. The closer to dark it got,
the harder it was to focus on the dishes. “Do you think something
happened to them?” she asked Harriett as she scrubbed the
dishes.

“
Of course something
happened. It’s a question of what. If a wheel came off their wagon,
then they’re fine.”

“
Do you think that’s why
they’re late?” she asked, needing something—anything—to give her
hope.

“
I don’t know, Rose. It
could be anything. I’m just thinking of possibilities.”

She handed her sister a clean plate
and bit her lower lip. “Well, I suppose one of the horses could
have suffered an injury to its hoof.” That was certainly better
than thinking of something worse, like Eli falling under the wagon
and—

“
They’re back!” their
mother called out in relief as she ran into the kitchen. “And
they’re alright!”

Rose dropped the plate in the water
and joined her mother and Harriett. She halted on the porch when
she realized there was someone lying in the back of the wagon. From
a distance, she couldn’t tell what was wrong with the man, but she
spotted a few bandages on him. Her father pulled the wagon into the
barn and her mother followed. She hurried over to Harriett and Adam
who were close by.

“
Do you know who’s in the
wagon?” she asked them.

“
Pa said he found him in an
alley,” Adam replied. “Said he was unconscious. Uncle Joel tended
to his wounds.”

“
Wounds? What happened to
him?”

“
Got beat up. Pretty bad
too, from the looks of it.”

Harriett shook her head and sighed.
“It’s amazing he survived. Whoever did that to him showed no
mercy.”

Rose shivered at the thought of how
much the stranger went through. “No one knows who he
is?”

“
There was nothing on him
but the clothes on his back,” Adam began, “and he’s not from around
here. Pa said he probably came off the train.”

“
Do you think he came here
to live?” Rose asked.

“
How can he know?” Harriett
replied with an exasperated sigh. “The man’s unconscious and Adam
just said he has nothing on him to tell us who he is.”

Rose studied her sister. “Are you
annoyed with me?”

“
Not annoyed. Just…” She
shrugged. “I don’t know. I spent all day running around to help Ma.
I’m exhausted. I don’t feel like answering a lot of questions, and
I’m sure Adam doesn’t either.”

Adam glanced at Rose. “We should wait
for the man to wake up and find out who he is then.”

“
Alright,” Rose agreed.
“I’m sorry I didn’t help you more today,” she told Harriett. “I
shouldn’t have spent all that time with the horse.”

Her sister rubbed her arm. “We’ve all
had a scare, what with Pa coming home late and all. Let’s just be
glad everyone’s fine.”

Rose nodded in agreement. Her sister
was right. Dwelling on what she should have done wouldn’t do any
good. When her pa called for Adam’s help, she resisted the urge to
run in and see what they were doing. She groaned. Sometimes it was
hard to stand by and wait while something important was going
on.

Eli ran out of the barn and Rose
caught him before he passed them. “What’s going on in there?” she
asked.

“
Pa and Adam are going to
carry the man into the house.” He yanked his arm from her. “I have
to open the door.”

He hurried to the house and Rose
turned her attention back to the barn in time to see her ma. Her ma
stopped in front of them. “A young man’s been seriously injured in
town today. Your uncle Joel said he has some broken ribs and a
fractured leg. It’ll take some time for him to heal.”

“
Where will we put him?”
Rose asked.

“
Adam and Eli’s bedroom. He
can have Jacob’s old bed.” Turning to Harriett, she continued, “Do
we still have clean bedding in the attic?”

Harriett nodded. “I’ll get the bed
ready.”

“
Good. Your pa and Adam are
going to carry him.” As Harriett hurried to the house, her mother
clasped Rose’s hand. “Will you get a pail of water? Our guest might
get thirsty in the middle of the night.”

“
Of course, Ma.” Before she
headed for the well, she asked, “Do you know anything about
him?”

“
I’m sorry, sweetheart, I
don’t. I’m afraid we won’t know much about him for a while. Joel
gave us some medicine, and some of it will make him
drowsy.”

It was probably good since the
injuries must have hurt. Rose’s heart went out to him and his loved
ones. Someone, somewhere had to be worried about him. For a moment,
she imagined what her family would go through if she’d been
attacked without mercy and rescued by a group of strangers who had
no idea how to get in touch with her family. They’d be heartbroken.
She pressed her hand over her heart, tears welling up in her eyes
as she imagined her mother and Harriett crying while her father and
brothers tried to console them.

“
Rose?”

Breaking out of her thoughts, her face
grew warm. “I’ll get the water, Ma.”

She filled a pail with water. When she
saw her pa and Adam carrying the stranger on a board, she followed
them. It was hard to get a good look at him, especially since his
bandages covered half of his face, but he looked to be about Adam’s
age.

“
Is he going to be
alright?” she asked, keeping pace with her pa.

“
He’ll be fine,” he
replied. “Just needs time to rest and recover.”

“
Where did you find
him?”

“
In an alley.”

“
What was he doing
there?”

They went up the steps and her father
sighed. “It’s been a long day, honey. We’ll go over all this
tomorrow.”

Despite her disappointment, she
relented and stopped asking questions. She followed them into the
house where her mother led them up the stairs and to Adam and Eli’s
room. Harriett finished making the bed and stepped aside. Rose
watched as the men transferred the stranger from the board to the
bed. The stranger let out a slight groan, making her wince in
sympathy, but he didn’t wake up.

“
The medicine Joel gave him
should make him sleep through the night but,” her pa looked at Adam
and Eli, “if he wakes up and needs anything, come and get me. I’m
sure he’ll have a lot of questions.”

“
Alright, Pa,” Adam
replied, adjusting the pillow under the stranger’s head.

“
We should leave the lamp
on,” her mother said as she lowered the wick, leaving a soft hue
throughout the room.

“
Good idea,” her pa agreed.
“Rose, you got the water?”