Chastity (8 page)

    As for the Reverend Reed Farrell, she was done with him!

    Drawing back to admire his handiwork, Dr. Carr grunted. "Well, seems to me that if I hadn't gone to medical school, I would've made a damned good barber!"

    Reed ran his palm against his beardless cheek, irritation again rising. He had deliberately cultivated that beard, knowing that his face was becoming too familiar to too many outlaws in the area. He'd have to be damned careful now.

    Dr. Carr frowned. "It also seems to me that no parson should be as unfamiliar with the words 'thank you' as you appear to be."

    "Thanks."

    "I can see that came from the heart." Dr. Carr squinted assessingly. "You did a good job on that meal Sally brought up. You should be feeling a lot better."

    "As a matter of fact, I am."

    "That's what I thought. And I can see what you're thinking, so let me set you straight right now. You're not
better
just because you're feeling a little better. You've got a long way to go until that leg is healed, and only a short way to go before falling back into the same shape you   were in when you got here. You're going to have to take it easy for a while."

    Those cold eyes stared back at him, and Dr. Carr felt a familiar frustration inside him. Pulling out his pocket watch, he looked at it, his frown deepening.

    "Chastity's been gone for two hours. She hasn't spent that much time away from you in two days. You pushed her too far this time, I'm telling you. And I'm going to tell you something else, too. You'll only be getting what you deserve if she's already sitting on the train heading east."

    "She'll be back." Reed's icy gaze did not falter.

    "You'd better hope that she does come back, or you'll find yourself turned over to Sally for the duration." Dr. Carr sniffed. "Don't get me wrong. Sally's got a good heart, but she isn't half as easy on the eyes as that young wife of yours, and she won't let you get away with half of what Chastity let you get away with, either."

    Reed did not respond. The truth was that the full scope of his temporary physical limitations had become only too clear to him during the past two hours. He had eaten and was feeling stronger, but he had had the chance to get a good look at his leg, and the truth in what the doctor said was evident. He was also able to think a little more clearly, and an idea that had budded earlier in his foggy mind had come into full bloom. Yes, he had a plan. It might be difficult for him to follow through with it, but he   had suffered through difficult circumstances before.

    Looking up at the sound of a knock on the door, Reed prepared himself. The door opened to the sight of a short, middle-aged, heavily painted woman wearing a red dress so bright that he blinked from the glare of it. She assessed him in a manner so professional that he had no doubt, whatever her present occupation, that her past had been a full one. She continued her open scrutiny of him while addressing Dr. Carr.

    "I came for the
tray,
Doc. Looks like the parson here did a pretty good job on it this time."

    "Yes, he did." Dr. Carr squinted in the woman's direction,
then
turned toward Reed. "This is Sally Greenwood, the woman I was telling you about."

    Sally gave a short laugh as she approached the bed and picked up the tray.
"Pleased to meet you, Reverend.
Whatever the doc said about me, I don't suppose it was too good from the look on your face when you saw me in the doorway."

    "I didn't have anything to do with the look on the reverend's face when he saw you in the doorway, and neither did you." Dr. Carr raised his wiry brows. "The reverend's not the type to admit it, but he's been waiting for his wife to walk back through that doorway for the past hour."

    
"Can't say as I blame him."
Sally balanced the tray with a practiced hand, obviously willing to linger. "I don't know what's holdin' her up. She got out of the bath a while ago, and then she   walked up the street toward the train station. I figured the reverend sent her on some kind of errand or somethin'."

    Reed spoke for the first time. "How long ago did you say that was?"

    Sally gave him another appreciative sweep.
"About an hour."

    "An hour…" Reed frowned.

    "She's a real nice young woman." Sally was watching him too closely for comfort as she continued, "I told her that there ain't been
no
preacher makin' regular trips out into Injun Territory since Reverend Stiles died over a year ago. They've been waitin' for the replacement they were promised at the mission ever since. They're goin' to be real happy to see you come, especially with such a young, pretty wife and all."

    "At the mission…"

    
"Right.
That's where you're goin', ain't it? I told your wife that I couldn't understand why you came to Sedalia when it would've been faster to take the train direct to Baxter Springs and start out by wagon from there."

    "I had business here to take care of, first."

    "That's what I figured.
Of course, your wife didn't seem to know nothin' about it."

    "It wasn't necessary for her to know."

    "I suppose some men think that way." Sally allowed her gaze to linger a moment longer before she turned abruptly toward the door. "I'll bring you somethin' else to eat in an hour or so."

    "That's a good idea, Sally." Dr. Carr nodded. "The reverend here needs to regain his strength."

    Deep in thought, Reed was hardly aware of Sally's leaving as he considered the information she had imparted. A preacher and his wife were expected at a mission in Indian Territory. That was convenient. If he knew this country as well as he thought he did, the news had gotten around. Whatever direction he chose to go in, that story should provide him plenty of cover.

    His thoughts interrupted when another bout of pain viciously stabbed his thigh, Reed silently cursed.

    "I can give you a powder for the pain, if you like."

    Reed shook his head. He couldn't afford to have his thinking impairednot now. He would need his wits about him if he was going to turn things around when Chastity returned. But he'd handle her. He knew those church types. They were all the same.

    Where in hell was she, anyway?

    The train would depart for Kansas City in a scant half hour! She had to find them!

    Her eyes on the ground as she retraced her steps toward the train station for the third time, Chastity felt the nudge of panic. Things were not going well.

    Strangely, as she had reclined in her bath, she had begun to feel certain that the complicated morass of incidents that had deposited her in    Sedalia two days earlier would soon be settled. She had her ticket. The train was leaving in two hours, and she had finally made the decision to do exactly what the Reverend Reed Farrell had asked her to do from the firstleave him alone.

    She remembered the sense of well-being with which she had emerged from the bathtub. She had felt clean and refreshed, and donning her new underclothes, she had forcibly ejected the hard-eyed parson from her mind and begun brushing her damp hair free of snarls.

    That feeling of well-being had dropped the first notch when she had then donned the simple frock she had purchased earlier. Looking at herself in the mottled mirror Sally had provided, she had winced at the color. Aunt Penelope and Aunt Harriet had disliked light shades. They would have
frowned
their disapproval of the pale blue cotton, and of the square neckline that allowed a modest glimpse of the feminine flesh beneath. They would have called it undignified. As she struggled with the buttons on the back of the dress, however, she began to realize that the garment's color was not her only problem.

    Chastity raised her chin defensively at the direction of her thoughts. She certainly was not to blame for the fact that she had grown to the towering mark of seven inches past five feet. Nor was she to blame that because of her height, the selection of clothing available to her in Sedalia's only store was limited. And she surely could not assume responsibility for the   manner in which her womanly proportions, usually so carefully disguised, strained at the bodice of the dress, calling attention to rounded breasts which she had always considered too large for the otherwise slim line of her body.

    Chastity inwardly groaned. She had then looked again at her black dress. She had picked it up, determined to put it back onbut it had
reeked
beyond redemption and she had tossed it aside in despair.

    Reaching into the pocket of her simple frock, she had consoled herself by withdrawing the rail ticket she had put there, and by telling herself that she would soon be free of this disaster-laden situation into which she had somehow stumbled. It was when she had sought to confirm the departure time stamped on her ticket that she first missed her glasses. A few minutes of frantic searching had followed, after which she had quickly secured her damp hair at the back of her neck and started out onto the street to retrace her steps. She had been searching ever since.

    Chastity looked up at the hotel entrance as she approached. She swallowed with discomfort. The train would soon be departing. She could not leave without her glasses, and there was only one other place they could be.

    Chastity glanced toward the stairs as she entered the hotel lobby. She turned at the sound of Sally's voice beside her.

    ''The reverend's waitin' for you."

    She doubted it.

   "He ate real
good
. He's feelin' a bit better, but his mood ain't too fine."

    It never was.

    "He's good-looking', that man of yours."

    Chastity's smile was wan.

    Sally took a confidential step closer. "But he ain't got the eyes of a preacher. I'd keep a close watch on him, if I was you."

    Chastity paused at the foot of the stairs.

    "I'm sorry. I have to leave." His lined face sober, Dr. Carr regarded Reed for a few silent moments before continuing, "She's been gone over two hours. I'll check around town to see what I can find out, if you like."

    "That won't be necessary. She'll be back."

    "You're sure of that, are you?"

    "Yes, I am."

    Dr. Carr regarded Reed for a silent moment longer. "Well, I hope you aren't disappointed. In any case, Sally will be bringing you something to eat again soon. If you need anything, you can let her know."

    Remaining silent until Dr. Carr closed the door behind him, Reed cursed under his breath. He didn't like lying here, totally helpless. It was too dangerous. Nor did he enjoy the thought that his plans now depended on whether the annoying Chastity Lawrence possessed a spare pair of eyeglasses.

    The minutes ticked past like hours.

    Reed was suddenly furious. He'd be damned if he'd lie there waiting another second!

    Gritting his teeth, Reed ignored the spasm of pain as he labored to draw himself to a seated position in bed. Finally sitting upright, he breathed deeply.

    The absurdity of the situation suddenly striking him, Reed laughed.
Reed Farrell bounty hunter.
If anyone had told him a few years ago that he'd be in this hotel room today, with a bullet wound rotting his leg, and with blood money in his pocket that he had earned by tracking wanted men like animals, he would've called that person a liar. But then, he wasn't the same man he was those few years ago.

    He had loved Jenny from the moment he'd learned what the word could mean. He had held the world in his arms when he held Jenny. And when he lost her, he had been able to fill the void in only one way.

    Actually, it had started out nobly enough. When the law was ineffective in finding the rustlers responsible for Jenny's death, he decided he would find them himself. He trailed the gang relentlessly. He recalled the incredible satisfaction of the moment when he finally delivered them to the law. And he remembered the bitter irony in discovering that the gang he had captured was not the same one that had driven Jenny under the hooves of her own cattle.

    The reward offered for their capture was unexpected. With his funds running low, he accepted it, vowing to find the right men the next time… or the next. It had come to him during the dark hours of a lonely night years later that    he had not consciously chosen the path he had taken. Rather, it had chosen him.

    The acknowledgement that that path had led him to the hotel room where he now lay helpless was suddenly more than Reed could stand. He took another fortifying breath. He was through waiting. He didn't need Chastity Lawrence. He didn't need anyone! He'd get up and take a few steps right now. He'd take a few more steps tomorrow, and in another day he'd be on his feet and able to make his own contacts.