Bridget (The Bridget Series) (13 page)

The next thing
Bridget remembered, Margaret Larsen, whose husband owned the hotel, was standing over her putting a cold, wet cloth on her head. “You hang onto your strength, Bridget. My husband, and every other man in town, has gone over to help.”

Bridget couldn’t speak. She could barely breathe. Her hand clasped the necklace David had given her.

“Rev. Caldwell picked up your Pa and they went with the rest of the men. Mrs. Vaughn is bringing your mother over here to care for you.”

The room was spinning. Bridget felt that she was watching everything happen from somewhere else. She knew her mother had arrived, and she knew her mother was distraught. There was nothing Bridget could do to help her. The feeling was surreal, as though she was outside of her own body, observing everybody fussing over her.

Then their faces started to come into focus. “The elixir must be wearing off,” Margaret Larsen said to Bridget’s Mother. Then to Bridget she instructed, “You take it easy, child. Just relax and keep breathing, nice and easy.”

“Where is he? Where’s David?” Bridget tried to get up.

“No, you lie back down,” instructed her mother. “They haven’t come back, yet.”

The commotion was
earthshaking as the men arrived with Dr. David Sullivan. Lying on a board taken from the damaged wagon, the men had made a stretcher using their belts to secure David in place. Then he was placed in Rev. Caldwell’s buckboard.

All the Carter boys were following behind carrying, pulling and pushing the remaining buckboard pieces back into town.

“He’s alive, but he ain’t kicking,” observed Doc who never missed a cycle of chomping on his chewing tobacco. “Don’t know what all is the matter. If it was a horse, I’d just shoot it, but this one I’ll try to fix.” He reached up and with his sleeve wiped off some of the tobacco juice dribbling down the corner of his mouth.

“He’s still with us because I prayed him alive,” voiced Rev. Caldwell.

“That and the buckboard didn’t land square on him. It sort of just covered him up. I think he’s got a broken arm, though. His face don’t look too good, neither.” Doc observed. “I’m gonna need some help on what to do. Is the telegraph still broken?”

“Yeah, Doc, sure is.” Rev. Caldwell looked at his watch. “The stage is due any time now. Isaac is always on time. He can get word to Dr. Schmidt.”

Doc got some of the plasters Dr. Schmidt had sent over and began wetting them and then wrapping them around David’s left arm. “His shirt is so badly damaged that I don’t even need to cut it off. It’s just kind of falling off on its own.”

“Where’s the horse?” asked Rev. Caldwell.

“If she wasn’t stolen, Nelly will back. She knows where the oats are.” Doc finished wrapping David’s arm and looked at him. “Okay, David, you know you can’t move that arm and don’t go puttin’ any pressure on it.”

Bridget heard David’s name being mentioned and tried to open her eyes.

“Relax,” instructed her mother. “David is alive. He’s here. He’s going to be fine.”

The warm, wet tears that flowed down Bridget’s cheeks were a relief. She had come so close to losing him. She realized that she didn’t think she could live without him.

“Here comes the stage,” yelled one of the Carter boys.

Rev. Caldwell raced out to speak with Isaac, who always kept to a tight schedule. Soon Rev. Caldwell and Isaac came into the room. “It’s Isaac’s lunch time, so he’s got a few minutes to eat his sandwich. He’s got some news.” Then looking at Bridget and David he said, “It’s not good.”

“You all heard about that man called Boxer that was causing trouble for a couple in Canyonville?” asked Isaac.

Bridget sat up. “Yes.”

David tried to sit up, but didn’t get three inches off the board before moaning and lying back down.

“That’s them,” said Rev. Caldwell nodding towards Bridget and David. “They’re the couple. He’s the poor fella I was telling you about, the one who had the accident.”

“That guy Boxer, he escaped out of Kansas City,” continued Isaac. “I heard they were trying to telegraph Canyonville but the telegraph is down. Oh, his first name is Carl. I don’t recall the last name. You two need to be careful. I got to get going,” declared Isaac. “That stage needs to be on time. I’ll get the word to Dr. Schmidt.”

Just then Doc, who had gone outside to meet the Carter boys and see what was left of his buckboard, came back into the room. “Hey, lookie over there, the wheels on the wagon. They’ve been tampered with. And, this strap. It was cut almost in two, so that the riding would cause the rest of it to come apart. Somebody did this on purpose. I thought somebody had moved that wagon.” Annoyed, Doc slapped his knee and spit out some tobacco juice. “I even mentioned that to Bridget this morning. Why, somebody was trying to kill Dr. Sullivan.”

“Boxer,” said Bridget under her breath.

“We need to get word to Sheriff Jasper in Canyonville and Sheriff Russell in Cripple Creek,” said Rev. Caldwell. “I’ll go tell Isaac.” He ran out the door to stop Isaac just as the stage was set to pull away.

“He’ll get the word out,” panted Rev. Caldwell as he raced back into Doc’s.

“What are we going to do with Dr. Sullivan? You’ll never get him up the hotel steps,” said Mr. Larsen. “I suppose he could sleep on that board in the inside entrance.”

“That don’t sound safe to me. He needs somebody watching him. If he tries to get up, stuff inside him might get messed up,” warned Doc. “He needs Doctor Schmidt to look at him real soon. And don’t nobody forget that there is that man who wants to kill him. We know he’s loose and he’s close by.”

Then to Dr. Sullivan he admonished, “You got to lie there until Dr. Schmidt can take a look.”

“I don’t want to sleep here on a board,” Dr. Sullivan whispered.

“At least he can talk and knows what’s going on,” observed Rev. Caldwell.

“His face and lips are so swollen you can barely understand him,” said Doc. “He can’t sit up in no train seat, neither,” Doc argued. “You’re gonna need care when you get back home.”

“I got an idea,” piped up Rev. Caldwell. “Instead of Bridget and David taking the morning train tomorrow, we can put the two of them on the evening train tonight. We can get David on board. All we have to do is carrying him on this stretcher we made. Then he can lie on it in the aisle until they get to Canyonville. Dr. Sullivan can take over then with his own stretcher or maybe a rolling chair.

“Everyone needs to understand David is going to need some care, a lot of care, and that should come from his wife,” insisted Rev. Caldwell. “I propose that I marry these two right now. Then they can come back when David is well enough and I’ll conduct the wedding they want in the church. Estelle can wear her fancy new bonnet and everyone can dance in the church yard afterwards. But right now, these two need to go home married all legal and proper.”

“Sounds good,” whispered David.

Bridget knelt down beside David’s board stretcher.

“I didn’t bring her wedding ring.” David struggled to get the words out. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“We’ve all had enough surprises for one day,” said Mrs. Vaughn.

“Never you mind, I have something.” Bridget’s Mother said as she took off her wedding ring.

“That’s a good idea,” said Pa, noticing what his wife was doing. “Then when you come back for the church wedding, you bring back your mother-in-law’s ring and give Bridget the one you bought for her.”

“Settled,” said Rev. Caldwell. “I don’t have my marriage book with me, but I remember most of it. David is in no condition to repeat long vows, so we’ll keep this real short.”

When Rev. Caldwell asked him if he loved Bridget, wanted to marry her and took her for his lawful wife, David tried to yell ‘yes,’ but it came out more mumbled than loud. When Rev. Caldwell asked Bridget the same questions, she answered, “With my whole heart.”

“Let me help David out with this,” said the minister as he took Estelle Hansen’s wedding ring, put it in David’s right hand and helped him place it on Bridget’s finger. “I now pronounce you man and wife,” declared Rev. Caldwell.

David took Bridget’s hand and kissed the back of it. Everyone in the room cheered.