Rosa's Land: Western Justice - book 1 (24 page)

Darrow said, “That little peashooter wouldn’t hurt nobody anyway.”

Riordan was aware that Rosa was beside him and wished she were not. He was willing to take his chances, but he feared for her. “You’re both going back to Judge Parker. You can go alive or you can go dead. Your choice.”

Darrow laughed, and he reached for his pistol. Indeed, he was fast, but before his gun even cleared the holster, Riordan drew and fired. Darrow was still standing, but there was a black spot in the middle of his forehead. He began to go down slowly as his muscles relaxed. He fell to the ground, kicked several times, and then lay still.

Boog Powell found himself looking right into the muzzle that had just killed one of the fastest guns in the Territory. “I ain’t shootin’,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Drop your gun on the ground, Powell.”

Powell did so, and Riordan got off his horse. He picked up the two guns and tossed them away saying, “Your friend there is going to Judge Parker dead instead of alive. You try to run away and you’ll arrive at the fort the same way, as I’ll get you, too. And there’ll be two bodies, each tied across their horses.”

Riordan turned quickly and walked to the woman who was struggling to sit up, but she was crying with pain. He saw that her face was battered and bruised and knew she had taken a bad beating rather than submit. “Be still, miss. You’re going to be all right.”

“My side. My side hurts so bad.” He touched her side, but she said, “No, no, don’t!”

“I think you’ve got some cracked ribs there. Hopefully they’re not broken. Have you got medicine in the wagon?”

“Yes, it’s in a box just beside the seat.”

He looked up at Rosa, who had come to kneel on the other side of the woman. “Get it, will you, Rosa?”

Rosa jumped up and ran to the wagon. She found the wooden box and brought the whole thing back. She took a brown bottle, opened it, and smelled the contents. “This is laudanum.”

“Give her a big dose of that. If it’s broken ribs, I know what that’s like.” All the time his glance kept going back to Boog Powell, who did not move. He gave the woman the bottle. She managed to gag some of the liquid down.

“What’s your name, ma’am?”

“I’m Hannah Bryant. I hired the Mexican to take me to the Blackwood Tribe school, and these men just rode up and killed him without saying a word.”

Rosa asked, “What kind of school?”

The woman’s face was twisted with pain as well as swollen with the blows. “I’m a Monrovian missionary.”

“Never heard of that church,” Rosa said.

“We preach the Gospel and teach it at the same time.”

Rosa exchanged glances with Riordan.

He said, “Not very wise for a woman to cross Indian Territory.” She did not answer, and he said, “I’ll be right back.” He went over to Boog Powell and said, “Tie your friend on his horse.” He waited until Boog lifted Darrow and placed him facedown on the horse, feet sticking out.

Boog started to argue, but one look at Riordan’s eyes changed his mind. “All right. Just don’t shoot.”

Riordan said, “Now put the man you killed on the other horse.” He waited until Powell had secured both men then said, “Turn around.” When Boog turned around, he said, “Put your hands behind you.” Quickly he pulled a cord from his pocket that he always carried and tied the man’s hands securely. Then he took the lariat off the rope, made a slipknot, and stuck it over Powell’s head. “I’m tying the other end to the wagon. You try to run, you’ll hang yourself and won’t have to hang on Judge Parker’s gallows.”

“You can’t do this!”

“You watch me.” He went back and saw that the laudanum had taken affect on the woman. Her eyes were closed, but she was still conscious. “I’ve got to put you in the wagon. We’ll make a bed up there. Would you see to that, Rosa?”

“Sure.” Rosa went to the wagon, found some quilts and blankets, and made a bed of sorts for the woman. “We’ll take her to our ranch. She’ll need a doctor.”

Riordan carefully picked the woman up and put her into the wagon.

“You’re stronger than you look.” Rosa grinned at him, got into the wagon, and spoke to the mules, but then turned to say, “This makes two men you’ve killed. I never saw anyone who could pull a gun as fast as you. It was the same with the snake. But you still don’t look like a gunman.”

“I’m not.” His words were spare. He saw this upset her a bit, as she said no more while she drove toward the ranch.

T
he sun was climbing higher in the sky as they rode on. But as Riordan stared down at the woman, she was crying out with pain.

“What’s wrong with her?” Rosa asked, her brow furrowed with thought.

“It’s the ribs. I had some broken one time. I know what to do for it, but I’ve never treated an injury like this myself.”

“How do you treat a broken rib?”

“You make some long strips of cloth out of a sheet or something. Then you put them around the rib cage as tight as it can stand it. It will still hurt, but nothing like it is now. You see, as it is now those cracked ribs are rubbing against nerves, but this would stop some of that.”

They dismounted from the wagon, and Rosa found a muslin sheet. She took a knife out, slit it, and made a long strip about two inches wide. “Is this about right, Riordan?”

“Yeah, tear up the whole sheet like that.”

Rosa finished all the strips, and he said grimly, “Let’s get back in the wagon. This is not going to be fun.” They entered the wagon, and he said, “You’re going to have to sit up, ma’am, while we wrap your ribs.”

“I can’t. It hurts too bad.”

“I know it does, but this will make you feel a lot better.” He found a box and lifted her up, paying no attention to her cries, until she was sitting. He was in front of her, and he started removing her dress.

She gasped, and her eyes flew open. “No, you can’t undress me!”

“Look ma’am, we’ve got to get your ribs tied up.”

“No, I can’t let you look at me.”

“Get in the back here, Riordan,” Rosa said.

He saw what she intended and instantly got up. He took his place behind the woman. He also made sure Boog wasn’t looking her way either.

Rosa said, “Look, Miss Bryant, all the men can see is your back, so let me take your dress down and we’ll get you tied up. You’ll feel better.”

The woman whimpered, but she nodded. Rosa took the remnants of the dress down, and she said, “Pass me the end of one of those strips, Riordan.” She took it and lapped it over, and then holding it tight, she passed it under the woman’s arm.

The woman cried out more than once, but the two kept at it.

Riordan said, “It’ll have to go up over her shoulders to hold it in place.”

Rosa brought the strip up between the woman’s breasts and back down her back, and finally her whole body was, more or less, encased. Rosa tied it off.

Riordan said, “That’s good. Take some more of this laudanum, and you can lie down.”

The two got her lying down, and soon her breathing became uneven and short, but at least some of the pain was gone.

They got down off the wagon, and Rosa said, “I didn’t like doing that.”

“I didn’t either. Broken ribs are no fun. Could you drive the wagon back?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll keep track of our friend out there. You want to go as slow as you can. You can’t avoid all of the holes, but just do the best you can. All right?”

“Sure.”

He turned and then suddenly said, “You know we’re closer to your ranch than anywhere else. We can’t get her to a doctor in Fort Smith. It’s too far.”

“No, we can make the ranch by tomorrow sometime. Maybe the medicine will help until then.”

“Let’s hope so,” he said.

They made their way as slowly as possible. From time to time, when Hannah Bryant started moaning with pain, Rosa stopped the wagon and gave her a little more of the laudanum. “I hope I don’t kill her with this.”

“A broken rib makes you feel like you’re dying. I remember that about it.”

That night Riordan said he would keep watch on their “friend.” As he kept his eye on the outlaw, he couldn’t help but be impressed with Rosa, as she stayed near Hannah the entire night, offering as much comfort as she could. She was certainly a woman with many different sides to her. And he found he was interested in learning more about all of them.

It was almost dark the next evening when they arrived back at the ranch. Ringo and Ned came running out. “What’s wrong?” Ned cried out. “Who is this hairpin?”

“He’s under arrest for murder,” Riordan said. “Lock him in the smokehouse. If he tries to get away, shoot him in the head.”

Everyone in the house came out then, and Rosa explained, “We came across two men. They’d killed this woman’s driver and were attacking her.”

“Who are they?” Ringo demanded.

“The live one is Boog Powell. The dead one is named Darrow.”

“Darrow?” Ned said, “He’s a bad one! He’s killed more than one marshal, and he’s faster than a snake.”

“How did you get the woman away from them?” Ringo asked.

Riordan said nothing, and when Rosa saw he was silent, she said, “He told them they could go in alive or dead, and this man Darrow went for his gun.” She shook her head and said in a strained voice, “He never even got it out of his holster. Riordan here pulled his gun and shot him right in the forehead. Darrow was dead before he hit the ground.” The scene played over in her mind of how he pulled his gun with incredible speed and shot the man exactly where he intended for the bullet to go. She had never seen such a thing in her life, and it made her wonder more about the strange man that had come into her life.

“You shot down Darrow!” Ned said. He whistled. “Judge Parker will be glad to hear that. He was a bad ‘un.”

“We’ve got to get this woman in the house. Her name is Hannah Bryant,” Riordan said. “She’s a missionary.”

“Bring her right on in,” Chenoa said. “We’ll make a bed for her in the back room where we can take care of her.”

Hannah moaned as Ringo and Ned extracted her from the wagon. Ned took her gently as he could, and they walked toward the house. When they were in the room, Chenoa said, “Put her on the bed there.” She turned to Rosa. “What happened? Who did all this bandaging?”

“Riordan and I did it,” Rosa said. “We need to send for a doctor.”

“I’ll do that,” Ringo said. “He ain’t far from here. He had a case over at the Wilsons’ ranch. I’ll be back in two hours with him.”

“All of you get out of here,” Chenoa said.

But as they were leaving, Hannah opened her eyes and said, “Please don’t leave me!” She put out her hand toward Riordan.

He hesitated then went to her and sat down. He took her hand and said, “You’re all right, Miss Hannah. You’re safe now.”

“Don’t leave me, please. I’m so afraid!”

“You just go back to sleep. I’ll be here.” And with that he sat down, determined to stay with the woman.

Rosa was watching. She left the room with the others, but later she came back with some cloths. “Her face is going to be swollen, but this cool water might help a little.” She began to wet the small pieces of towel and hand them to her mother. When Chenoa put them on Hannah, the missionary opened her eyes and said, “Who are you?”

“My name is Chenoa. You’re at my family’s ranch. Don’t worry, Miss Bryant, you’re safe now.”

“What about those men?”

Rosa said, “They won’t bother you anymore. You just try to sleep.”

“Could I have some water, please?” Hannah asked.

Rosa left and came back with some cool water from the springhouse.

“Let me help you sit up,” Riordan said. He put his hand behind her back, and she cried out, but she sat up long enough to drink thirstily.

“That’s so good,” she whispered then lay back. She took some more laudanum, and soon she started drifting off to sleep, but she held on to Riordan’s hand.

Chenoa said, “I’ll go into the kitchen and fix something she can eat. Call if you need me.” She left the room.

Rosa saw Hannah still holding Riordan’s hand, and her eyes narrowed. “Looks like you’ve made a friend.”

“I know. She’s scared.”

“She’s a missionary,” Rosa said. “That’s kind of a preacher, isn’t it?”