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He had no idea why she wanted the rattle but didn’t mind giving it to her. None of them had much of an appetite, and when the mealtime was over, they gave her hugs and let her proceed with her day. As they walked out of the school, Spencer said, “It wouldn’t have mattered who the lady was, I still would’ve helped her.”
Cody said, “I might’ve had a choice word or two to share with her, if she’d remained conscious, but yeah, I would’ve helped her, too.”
Heath nodded. It wouldn’t have mattered who she was. A woman in danger was something he could never turn from, no matter the circumstances.
* * * *
Beverly Dumphrey reclined on the hospital bed in the Divine County Hospital emergency room, her head throbbing with each beat of her heart. Her limbs felt uncharacteristically weak. She’d been fit and strong all her life. She’d never been in a situation like the one she’d been in. She’d needed someone else to rescue her, a position she’d prided herself on never being in before. And what had she done? Screamed and fainted like a helpless ninny.
The memory of the horrid sound that rattlesnake had made vibrated in her head. A noise outside her curtain cubicle startled her and nearly made her jump out of the bed. Of course, she’d killed many snakes in her day, usually with a garden hoe and once with a gun, but she’d been completely defenseless against that evil-looking creature.
Her blood pressure had skyrocketed during the incident and it’d taken a while for her to return to consciousness. By then, she’d been at the hospital, and now they wouldn’t let her leave. She’d considered removing the monitoring leads stuck to her skin, putting on her clothing, and signing herself out, but the nurse kept coming back to check on her. She’d cautioned Beverly that she needed to let them do their job and they’d let her go home as soon as her vitals came back into normal ranges. Her husband was also rushing home early from a business trip, which irked her to no end. She hated feeling weak.
A familiar voice outside her cubicle made her heartbeat shoot up again and faintness assailed her. She lay back on the pillow and waited for judgment, feeling guilty as hell. This must be God’s way of punishing her for her complicity in this sordid mess. She’d allowed herself to be used to victimize an innocent woman and now the school district was losing a valuable teacher because of it. Her heart palpitated with something akin to grief.
Maizy Owen swept the curtain aside enough to poke her pretty head in, a look of concern on her face, and said, “Mrs. Dumphrey, are you awake?”
Beverly opened her eyes, taking deep slow breaths, and nodded. “Yes, Maizy.” She waited for the anger, the censure in the beautiful young teacher’s eyes but it never came even though she deserved every ounce of it.
Maizy produced a bouquet of flowers and a gentle smile instead. “The teachers all pitched in for flowers for you. How do you feel?” she asked as she gazed at all the monitors surrounding her.
“They have me hooked up to all of these infernal machines, telling me some nonsense about my blood pressure and my heart rate. It’s all silliness.” She tried for bluster but the weakness in her voice when she spoke told the story. “I cannot believe I fainted.” Dumphreys don’t faint.
“It’s understandable,” Maizy said empathetically as she removed something from her pocket, frowned down at it, and then returned it to her pocket. “I came here because I wanted you to know who saved you. My reasons now seem…”
Beverly cleared her throat, determined to say what needed to be said. “Dear, I know who saved me. I was scared but not scared stupid. When I looked up and saw that big tattooed giant of a man standing in the hallway, I recognized him.”
Maizy’s cheeks colored brightly and she looked down at her hands but said nothing.
“When I heard Mr. Ketchum’s voice behind me, I knew who was rescuing me. To be honest, I think my condition has more to do with the realization that I’ve harmed good people than with any fright I suffered at the mercies of that old rattler. If it hadn’t been for your men doing what they so bravely did, I might be in much, much worse shape and possibly even dead.”
