Fired Up (21 page)

“I ain't been feeling poorly. No reason to see a doctor.” Lana went back to work, reducing a stack of potatoes to shreds. The woman worked magic turning a potato into breakfast.

Her shoulders seemed stiff. She'd turned so he could only see the side of her face.

Dare didn't know how hard to push her. If she wasn't the one who'd attacked him, then she had honest work and a fair amount of skill. Was she fragile enough that he could drive her away? And if so, where would she go?

Dare wanted to send everyone out of the room in the hopes she'd talk more freely with him if they were alone. But Vince-the-guardian wouldn't go, nor Tina-the-reformer, who was determined to guard the rights of the criminally insane.

Jonas wouldn't go, either. He wasn't of a mind to leave Tina and Vince in the same room. Glynna might go. She'd followed an order just a few seconds ago. But that still left the kitchen mighty crowded.

Considering that sharp knife, Dare wasn't sure he wanted them to go. “I've felt bad about how things ended last time you came in.”

The clatter of the chopping on the wooden tabletop stopped as suddenly as if Dare's hearing had quit working. Lana flexed her wrist around so the knife went up and down a bit as if she were aiming it. Slowly, Lana straightened from the table, still flexing the knife in eerie silence. Dare should keep talking, but his throat was bone-dry, especially since Glynna was a bit ahead of him, right in the path of the knife.

He caught Glynna by the shoulder and shoved her behind him as Lana began to turn, her knife still tipping up and down. Vince made a fast move and was at Lana's side and wrested the knife from her hand. It happened so fast, Dare hadn't even realized what Vince was doing until he'd done it.

Lana whirled and glared at Vince. “Give me back that knife.”

“I didn't like the way you were holding it.” Vince wasn't showing one bit of concern for Lana's tender feelings. “You seemed inclined to attack the doctor the last time you saw him, and I didn't see any reason to let you stand there, knife in hand, while you answered his questions. Dr. Riker wants to talk about how upset you were that night you
thought
you'd lost your baby.”

Flinching, Dare wished Vince wasn't so blunt. But then why not? If Lana wasn't a crazed killer, she'd apologize for how strangely she acted. Or maybe she'd get upset but in a rational way. If she was a raving lunatic who was currently
and tenuously clinging to good sense, it might be better to provoke her when there were plenty of witnesses—and she was unarmed.

“Lana, you understand now that . . .” Dare paused, then glanced sideways at Vince and Jonas. “You need to let me talk with Lana alone. This is private.”

“Nope.” Vince crossed his arms like a stubborn mule . . . well, a stubborn mule with arms. “I don't trust her, and I'm not leaving. Besides, there are more knives in here.”

There was no point in arguing with Vince. Instead, Dare walked right up to the freshly disarmed cook and spoke quietly. “You were confused that night, remember? You were never with child, but that night you seemed to believe there had been a child born and it had died.” Swallowing at the glint of rage in Lana's eyes, Dare decided to push harder by mentioning her now-dead husband. “When Simon came to me, he said you'd accused me of killing your son. There was no baby, so you couldn't have had a son. Your thinking wasn't clear that night, Lana. I'm still your doctor. I want to make sure you're all right.”

That was the absolute truth, but it wasn't all of it since the extent of how completely she was
not
all right might be connected with murder attempts.

Lana's eyes had a defiant sheen to them, but then she slowly closed her eyes and let her head fall forward.

It occurred to Dare that he couldn't read her expression bowed down this way. He wondered if that was on purpose.

“I know there wasn't a baby,” Lana said. There was deep hurt in her voice.

Dare rested a hand on her shoulder. “Your husband is
dead and you lost the dream of having a child. You've lost a lot of weight, and no one knew where you went for several weeks. You do a wonderful job cooking, but you never come out and talk to anyone. How are you?”

Again silence. Dare waited. He wanted her to talk to him, not just say a few words with her eyes averted. As the moments stretched on, Dare felt himself longing to move, to pace, to do something. Patience wasn't his gift.

Finally, Lana gathered herself and looked up, her shoulders square. “I'm fine, Doc. I've found a new man.”

Dare wondered who.

“Simon was nuthin' but trouble, and I'm too old to be caring for a baby. I'm better now than I was before I came to this town.” She seemed sincere, rational. Not a sign anywhere of wanting him dead, except maybe right at first.

Dare held her gaze for a bit, trying to see if she spoke the truth. If she was lying, she was very good at it.

And considering that she'd spent most of her life working abovestairs in a saloon, there was a good chance she was a dab hand at lying.

“Anything else you need, Doc?” For just a second there was that tone in Lana's voice that had been there before. She'd been in awe of him, devoted, almost worshipful. It had made Dare very uncomfortable.

“No, as long as you're . . . feeling better.”

“I'd best get back to my potatoes then, and I need to get the first pan of biscuits out of the oven. It ain't opening time yet, but go on into the dining room and I'll have sausage gravy on biscuits and fried potatoes out for you
in a few minutes.” Lana looked past Dare. “Glynna, you serve up some coffee while I get the meal on.”

More orders.

Dare half smiled when Glynna obediently went for the coffeepot. And why a man who had an unknown killer after him could smile was beyond Dare.

“You're sure Luke got all those stones knocked down?” Glynna watched the upper slopes of the narrow canyon like a hawk. No, she paid better attention than that. What hawk ever had to worry about something falling on its head?

Things still weren't friendly between her and Dare, but Glynna was finding a nice civilized place of peace with him.

She didn't want to marry the mangy, stinking polecat anyway.

Well, not
peace
maybe, but if the no-account backstabbing vermin blamed her for another's sins, she accepted it.

Well, maybe not
accepted
exactly either, but she'd found a way to endure it if the belly-dragging sidewinder wanted to kiss her one minute and then, when she'd taken a terrible risk by being honest about her deserting fool of a husband, decide Reggie's evil was her fault.

Fine then. She had no peace, no acceptance, and she wasn't enduring it well, either. She'd have strangled Dr. Swamp Rat right there on the buckboard seat if the children hadn't been watching.

Nope, things still weren't friendly.

They got through the canyon without a rockslide. Tina, Jonas, and Vince had all piled into the wagon, with Dare driving and Glynna and the children along. They made quite a crowd.

As they climbed down, Glynna saw Vince reach out to assist Tina in jumping down from the wagon. Glynna, in her no-nonsense black calico dress scattered with little white flowers, could climb down herself. But Tina wore a pink dress, the skirt wide with petticoats and flounces. She needed assistance.

Tina frowned at Vince's bright smile as she reached the dropped tailgate. But he caught her waist, and she reached to balance herself on his broad shoulders. Then Jonas shoved Vince sideways and Tina almost tumbled to the ground. Jonas caught her and set her on her feet, while Vince, shaking his head, lifted Janny down, mindful of her injured hand, which now was in a sling.

Glynna hopped down fast before she got a chance to see if Dare would help her. She doubted he would, and the truth hurt.

Ruthy was there to welcome them, wiping her hands on her apron, her red curls escaping from the bun at the nape of her neck. “I just took the turkey out of the oven. We'll eat in no time.”

Luke emerged just behind Ruthy and headed out to help the menfolk put the horses up. Paul stayed out with the men. Glynna kept hoping the boy would begin to admire the good qualities of Dare and his friends. Her son needed a man in his life who was worthy of respect.

Glynna headed for the kitchen, drawn by the wonderful aroma. “What can we do to help?”

Ruthy pointed at a stack of plates. “You could set the table.”

Tina was soon mashing potatoes while Ruthy whipped up gravy. Glynna frowned but didn't comment when Janny got a cooking job and she didn't. She was beginning to understand just how dimly her cooking was viewed.

Glynna and Tina told the news from town, including their talk with Lana Bullard.

Ruthy said, “Dare should have noticed that woman wasn't with child much faster. He certainly knew I was right away.”

“Congratulations, Ruthy.” Tina quit mashing and gave Ruthy a one-armed hug.

“He probably hasn't been around women much with his doctoring,” Glynna said.

“He told me he'd delivered only one other baby,” Ruthy said.

“Only one?” Tina's brows arched. “When was that?”

The back door swung open just as Tina asked her question. The men trooped in.

“It was in Andersonville.” Dare looked straight at Tina, so Glynna knew he'd heard.

Dead silence reigned for a moment in the kitchen.

Glynna finally asked the question on all their minds. “How did you deliver a baby in a prison camp full of men?”

Dare looked from one of his Regulator friends to another.

Luke jerked one shoulder. “Of all the ugliness in that place, there was that one spot of hope. Tell 'em, Doc.”

“While we eat.” Dare waved a hand toward the dining room and its perfectly set table.

When the prayer was spoken and the food passed, Dare said, “This was after we got taken out of the prison population.”

“Why did you get taken out?” Glynna asked.

Dare shook his head. “A lot of the prisoners wanted us dead, simple as that. We were the Regulators. Heroes to some, the enemy to the Raiders, and a third group considered us traitors.”

“Why traitors?” Glynna thought of what a traitor her first husband had been and how cruelly Dare had judged her for that. He had a lot of nerve.

“We put a stop to the Raiders,” Vince said. “They were men who beat and robbed other prisoners.”

“But that's not traitorous,” Glynna said indignantly.

Vince shrugged as he cut his turkey. “It was Yankees stealing from Yankees, and we were charged with putting a stop to it. Some of our fellow prisoners appreciated it a lot.”

“Others, who were good men and good soldiers,” Jonas added as he scooped up a spoonful of potatoes, “thought we were in league with the Confederate prison guards and considered us traitors. Some of them thought killing one of us was an act of loyalty to the Union and figured God was on their side when they struck.”

“And there were the ones who'd worked with the Raiders,” Luke said. “Bad men and bad soldiers. We didn't begin to arrest all of 'em. They hated us for stopping their thieving. It made for a mighty mean place to stay once we
were teamed up as Regulators. The baby, though, was a bright spot. That's a Thanksgiving story.”

“A baby in Andersonville.” Ruthy rested a hand on her still-flat stomach and looked properly horrified. “That means there had to be a woman in there.”

“No one knew it, though,” Dare said. “I heard a sound one night of someone in distress.” He took a thoughtful bite of turkey and chewed as if remembering the sound. “That was nothing new. There were people dying daily of every disease imaginable. The moans of the sick and dying were like the wind blowing through the trees. You barely noticed it after a while.” Dare hesitated, frowning. “That's not really true. Getting used to it isn't the same as not hearing it. There was a feeling of black, ugly doom over everything, and that mournful noise was part of it.”

Glynna saw his mood dip. She didn't want doom at the Thanksgiving table. “What about the baby?”

“Well, I heard this sound and I couldn't help heading for it because it sounded like a woman. I got to this tent made out of nothing but a propped-up blanket, and I found a soldier inside, kneeling beside a second soldier who was writhing in pain. Turned out the soldier in pain was Mrs. Hunt.”

Tina said, “I've read about Andersonville Prison, and I heard about the starvation and violence—what villains the Raiders were and what it meant to be a Regulator. Because of Jonas, I took note of what was going on there. But I never heard mention of a woman, and certainly not a baby.”

“And Mrs. Hunt wasn't the only one,” Dare said. “There were a few others who came to light, maybe more who
were never found out. Mrs. Hunt and her husband were on a honeymoon cruise and had nothing to do with the war, although her husband was a soldier on leave who was captured in a boat. When Confederate troops overtook the boat, she was told to go back North, but she wouldn't abandon her new husband. It's said she disguised herself as a man, and she must have—that's the only way I can imagine a woman would escape being brutalized. But there were other women. I learned of them working in the infirmary. They'd get sick and need to be”—Dare glanced toward Janny before he went on—“well, the truth would come out.”

Glynna gasped.

“I'd been working in the infirmary for a while. This was after the Regulators had rounded up the Raiders and all of us had been sequestered for our own safety.”

“Not completely successful,” Vince said.

Glynna thought of the knife wounds in Dare's back.

“I was standing close to a window and could hear the usual sounds from the prison yard. Awful. And then the sound from one tent, one out of so many.” Dare shook his head as if to clear it. “I had to check.”

“Not too smart going out into the yard with men gunning for you,” Luke said. “You should've at least come for one of us.”

“I know, but you were all sleeping. It was late enough, most everyone out there was asleep too, and those who weren't, the ones in pain, weren't up to doing much damage. And the worst of the predators had been cleaned out or put on notice.”

“A few of 'em still got a chance at you with a knife.” Jonas had quit eating, along with everyone else. Glynna had ruined the dinner with her question, and she said a quiet prayer that Dare would finish and still be able to give thanks to God, despite all he'd seen and done.

“I went to the tent, and they were both terrified to realize the noise had brought them outside attention. I saw what was going on and convinced them to trust me. Harry Hunt was the husband's name, and he'd hidden his wife for all those months. Thirteen months they'd been locked up together. Now, after so long hiding his wife, Harry was determined he'd somehow hide the baby. I've never seen a man so fiercely protective of his family. And the men in that prison, many of them had turned into animals. Starvation had about stripped them of their humanity.”

Dare swallowed hard. “So I helped. Mrs. Hunt was thin, but she was tough and got through most of it without making hardly a sound. Harry would cover her mouth when she seemed unable to keep quiet.”

“That poor woman . . .” Tina said under her breath.

Jonas patted her on the arm. “It's over, Tina. The woman lived, the baby lived. Of all the terrible things that happened in that place, one wonderful thing happened. It was a beautiful miracle.”

“And I got to be part of that miracle,” Dare said. “I saw life come into the midst of death. Up until then, I'd been working alongside the prison surgeon, Dr. Kerr. It was rough medicine. Mostly I tried to make men comfortable while they died. I helped sever limbs and gave out doses of laudanum—if we had some on hand, which wasn't often.”

Dare fell silent and he had tears in his eyes. “When I held that newborn baby in my hands, I started to think of doctoring in a different way. I realized I could save lives, not just stand by while men died. Seeing that baby born, that's when I started to understand what a doctor could be.”

“What happened to the baby?” Glynna knew it didn't really matter. It was long ago and far away, and she was frightened of the answer, and yet she couldn't help but ask.

“They kept their secret for a few days.” Dare managed a stifled laugh. “But babies are stubborn little things. They cry no matter how careful you are. They were found out, and the camp commander—”

“Wirz was his name,” Vince said, cutting off Dare. “He showed the only trace of human decency I'd ever seen from the man. He let the mother and child into the infirmary.”

“That's when we got to see him.” Luke sat at the head of the long table, and his eyes went to Ruthy, who sat at the opposite end. The look that passed between them spoke of love and another wonderful miracle on the way. “They stayed in the infirmary for a few days before Wirz let them move outside the prison yard and live on the grounds nearby in a tent. He even let Hunt go out and see them every once in a while. Wirz made sure the ma had a better share of food, too.”

“Thank God he did,” Jonas said. “That baby would never have survived in there. I think some of those men were cruel enough they might have killed it. Not to mention what might have become of Mrs. Hunt.”

“The Raiders.” Vince's jaw tightened. “They were lower than vermin.”

“Why would they be so evil to their fellow Yankees?” Glynna asked.

“They weren't loyal to anyone,” Luke said. “They were mostly men who'd just signed up for the Union army to get the bounty the Union was paying to enlist. They had no intention of staying to fight.”

“Luke,” Dare interrupted. “I don't think—”

“It came out when we rounded up about two hundred and fifty of them.” Vince clenched a fist on the table. “They were no-accounts who signed up intending to take the bounty and desert, but they'd been caught before they could. Inside Andersonville they joined with others like them. Men who'd betray their own country for thirty pieces of silver.”

“We should—” Dare began again.

“Hard to believe,” Jonas said, cutting him off, “they had family low-down enough to take that money. I'd have starved first.”

Dare looked at Glynna. “Let's not ruin Thanksgiving with such talk.”

She met his eyes and knew this was what he thought of her. The same anger that even kindhearted Jonas felt was burning in all of them. They'd had to fight for their lives against men just like her first husband, Reggie. And if they knew about Reggie and what he'd done, they'd all hate her. Dare was trying to shield her from the knowledge at the same time he hated her himself.