AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“In a minute.”
“Now.”
“You never did as you were told.” He made it sound like a failing.
He swore as he tripped in a rut. She could smell the acrid sweat of his fear. Or maybe it was hers. There were a couple of things she was sure of in her life. One of them was she wasn’t prepared to die since she’d just discovered how much fun life could be. The other was she was done being tossed about like dandelion fluff on the capricious breeze of a man’s whim.
“I’m not going with you, Brent.”
“You might want to wait until you’re asked,” he grunted as her weight began to tell on his strength.
“I mean now,” she said calmly, sliding her hand into her reticule. “I’m not going any further with you now. You have to let me go.”
“Not likely.” He yanked viciously on her throat, hauling her to the left. “Seeing as how you’ve made a habit of ruining everything, I’ll be making the decisions.”
“No. You won’t,” she said softly before letting her body twist into his, closing her eyes, and pulling the trigger on the derringer she’d hidden in her purse.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Three things happened at once. Her gun went off. Brent jerked backward and the world around her exploded in a hail of bullets. When her shoulder slammed into the hard ground, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw were the worn soles of a man’s boots. Brent.
She closed her eyes, rolled to her side and retched violently. Hands on her shoulders tried to pull her back. She fought. They tugged harder. She moaned, but it was a soundless protest. She couldn’t hear anything beyond the ringing in her ears. The hands firmed their grip and willy-nilly, she went up and over.
Something hard propped up her shoulders. That was better. At least the world stopped spinning. Fingers patted her cheeks. She thought she told them to go away, but she couldn’t be sure if her lips just shaped the words or she actually said them. The annoying ringing persisted. God! Her head hurt!
She said so.
“I know, darlin’, but I’d be mighty grateful if you opened your eyes.”
She should have known it was Asa irritating her when she wanted to be left alone.
“How grateful?” she asked, keeping her eyes closed because the sun through her lids was enough to have her gritting her teeth.
Her perch bounced under her shoulders as he laughed, sending more pain shooting through her skull. She moaned. He was properly contrite, immediately stopping, smoothing her hair off her forehead, kissing her brow, whispering things she’d never thought to hear a man say. Sweet things. Ridiculous things. Love things.
She reached up blindly and wrapped her fingers in his hair. She pulled his head down and asked in a hoarse whisper, “Do I look a fright?”
“You look beautiful.” This time, his kiss landed on her lips.
“Save that for later, young man,” a gravely voice interrupted. “And lay that young woman flat. Don’t you know better than to disturb a patient with a head wound?”
As soft as thistledown, she was flat on the ground. She frowned. She’d have much rather had Asa’s lips than the cold dirt.
She flailed out with her hand. “Asa?”
“Right here.” Her fingers were wrapped in a rough, warm palm.
“My father didn’t kill my mother.”
A kiss as gentle as a breeze brushed her cheek. “I heard.”
“Save the kissing for later, young man.” That gruff voice could only belong to Doc. For a moment, a shadow blocked the painful light of the sun. She moaned with relief.
“Hello, Doc.”
“How are you doing, Elizabeth?”
“Where’s Asa?”
“Stuck like glue to that spot beside you, but that doesn’t answer my question,” he said in his usual gruff manner.
“My head hurts, but at least my ears have stopped ringing.”
‘Well, then, I’d say things are looking up.” She heard a rasping sound. It was familiar from her youth. He was opening his medical bag.
“No vile medicines,” she ordered as he picked up her wrist to feel her pulse.
Doc’s “We’ll see” was congenial. It overshadowed Asa’s “You’ll take whatever Doc says you’ll take.”
“Leave my patient alone,” Doc ordered, “or I’ll make you go wait a block south of here.”
No more commands were forthcoming from Asa, but she heard dirt shuffle beneath his boots as he stood. Elizabeth smiled, imagining indignation drove him to his feet.
“Does anything hurt besides your head?” Doc asked as he probed the side of her skull.
“My shoulder from where I fell.”
His touch on her head, though gentle, hurt like the devil and she winced.
“Hurt?”
“Yessss,” she hissed.
“I’m not surprised,” Doc answered, moving his fingers down her neck, manipulating gently. “That bullet creased you good, but I don’t think there’s any permanent damage.”
“Then why hasn’t she opened her eyes?” Asa demanded.
“I imagine she has quite a headache and the sun is hurting her eyes.” Doc’s fingers reached her collarbone. “No,” he warned. “Don’t tense up.”
