The Lone Texan

CHAPTER 40

THE LITTLE BOYS AND SAGE MADE IT TO THE beginning of the pass before they heard gunfire. When it came, it sounded like thunder rolling off the hills.

Will looked up at her with his sad eyes. "Jessie's girls? Are they safe?"

"Yes," she answered, loving that he worried about others more than himself. "They know where to hide. They'll be safer when we are away."

"It's the men who want our blood” Andy said. "I was afraid they'd come again”

"Your blood?" Sage asked.

Will nodded. "Our father said there were bad men who wanted to wipe our blood off the earth”

"Why?" Sage didn't think the boys were making much sense, but they both seemed to agree.

"I don't know," Will said, "I just heard Father say to Mother that we had to keep moving, keep running, or they'd come."

The talk of blood gave her a chill, and she kicked her horse.

"Stay up with me, boys," she said, watching Andy closely. Will handled horses well, but Andy was still learning. She slowed her pace slightly. "We have to go get Miss Bonnie” If the men were looking for her and the boys, the second place they'd go would be the clinic.

As they climbed, she tried not to listen for shots being fired.

Drum and her brother were back there, and all she could do was outrun trouble.

Part of her wanted to ride back and make sure Drum and Teagen weren't hurt, but she couldn't risk it. Not now. If one of them had been shot or captured and she rode back, their sacrifice would have all been for nothing.

She led the boys down the pass and along the creek. Teagen had chosen the location of her clinic well; she could ride in now without anyone from town knowing she and the boys were there.

When she neared, she saw a man working on the door to the barn. He was tall, very tall, and lean, but he didn't stop his work when she rode in.

As the boys slid down from their mounts, Sage said, "Go pack what you can. A change of clothes, extra socks. I need to talk to Miss Bonnie.”

The boys hurried into the house.

Sage walked from room to room until she found Bonnie in the kitchen.

The nurse looked shocked to see her. "Back already? I thought you were staying for Thanksgiving.” Bonnie didn't give her time to answer. "What's wrong?"

Sage noticed the table was set for two. "Drum thinks the men who kidnapped me and the raiders who killed Will and Andy's folks were part of the same band. They're at the ranch now, looking for us."

Bonnie paled.

"We have to disappear, at least for a while.” Sage kept her voice low and calm so she wouldn't frighten the nurse. "How fast can you be ready to ride up to my grandfather's camp? The Apache will take us in."

Bonnie shook her head. "Doc. I can't ride. You know that. I'd only slow you down. Go without me."

"No." Sage could not leave her here. "We'll go slow. You'll make it fine. I can't leave you here alone."

"No," Bonnie said as she spread her hand across her middle. "I can't risk a fall.”

"I'll watch over her." A man's voice came from the doorway. "She'll be safer here with me”

Sage turned. The tall cowboy who'd been fixing the barn door filled the entrance. It took her a minute to place him. The man who'd bumped into them the first day in Galveston, the cowboy in the saloon at Shelley's place, the man Drum had talked to on the road one night who'd lost his brother. It made no sense that he'd now be here in her kitchen. His words were meant for her, but his eyes were on Bonnie.

He crossed the room to stand in front of the nurse.

Sage started to ask what was going on, when she noticed neither of them was paying any attention to her.

The stranger spread his hand over Bonnie's just below her waist. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"I planned to” Bonnie answered. "I wasn't sure how you'd react.”

They stared at one another. Sage shook her head, trying to get the picture before her to make sense. "Tell him what? Who is this man? What's he doing here? What's he doing touching you?"

Apparently everyone in the kitchen had gone deaf except Sage, who could still hear her questions echoing off the wall.

Finally, the stranger turned toward her. "I'm Bradford Summerfield, the father of this child"-he moved his hand over Bonnie's middle-"and you're not taking my family anywhere, Doc. They'll be safe. I'll give my life to keep them so”

There are times in life when the earth tilts too far on its axis for just a second, and everyone in the world is in danger of falling. Sage felt one of those moments. A dozen questions came to mind, like how did Bonnie, who never even talked to men, manage to find a family? Sage wanted to yell for her to stop allowing that man to put his hand on her, but about the time she opened her mouth, Sage saw the tears on Bonnie's smiling face.

The cowboy saw them too, and he pulled her into his hug. And there they stood, totally forgetting Sage was in the room all over again.

She didn't try to interrupt them again. She just stared at the pair, wondering why love couldn't come that easily for her. Bonnie couldn't have been with this cowboy more than a matter of hours. Neither of them looked like great talkers, but somehow they'd found one another, fallen in love, and started a baby.

He whispered something to Bonnie, then pulled away. "I'll water your horses, Doc, then you can be on your way."

While Bonnie packed them food, Sage drilled the cowboy on all she thought he should do. Tell the marshal Bonnie was in danger. Stand guard. Make sure she eats right.

Finally, they were ready to leave. Sage turned to Bradford and added, "If you hurt her, I'll shoot you.”

"If I hurt her," he answered. "I'll load the gun.”

"Fair enough." Sage took the reins and motioned for the boys to climb up. Bradford helped Andy, making sure his feet were in the stirrups.

Sage glanced back as they rode away. The cowboy had his arm around Bonnie. They looked like a settled couple. The only thing that worried her was that they seemed to have settled faster than water in a shallow well. She made a promise to herself to keep an eye on the cowboy.

Sage smiled. Both of them were old enough to know their own minds. If Bonnie wanted the cowboy, and he obviously wanted her, who was she to stand in their way?

She glanced back one last time. At the rate they were moving in the relationship, they'd have a half dozen tall, thin kids by the time she got back from the winter camp.