The Christmas Journey (6 page)

Josie removed the rifle from his grasp, her brow furrowing. “How are you feeling?”

“Thoroughly useless.”

She patted his hand, as if he were some wet-behind-the-ears kid who needed comforting. “Sorry I lit into you that way—ain’t your fault you don’t like being stove up. My ma used to say that trying times were God’s way of keeping us humble and reminding us to look to Him for our strength.”

She leaned back. “Just think of it as taking a bit of time off from all that rushing around you’ve been doing.”

Belle! Hang it all, with everything that had happened he’d forgotten all about her cry for help. If only she hadn’t been so cryptic about what she needed from him.

“Can’t afford to take time off right now.” He shivered again. So cold. So tired. “Belle needs me.”

He closed his eyes to keep the spinning sky from drawing him into the maelstrom.

Belle. Josie. Different as night and day. In fact, the only thing they had in common was that they were facing big troubles.

And he was powerless to lift a finger to help either of them.

W
ho was Belle?

Jo tried to ignore her curiosity and concentrate instead on keeping Mr. Lassiter from passing out.

His eyes drifted closed again and she chewed on her lip. How serious
were
his injuries?

“Come on, Mister—Ry—try to stay awake. Just until help comes. It shouldn’t be much longer.”

His eyes fluttered open. “Sorry. Feeling drowsy.”

“Talk to me. Where you traveling from?”

“Philadelphia.”

“Hah! I knew you weren’t a rancher.”

That got a reaction from him. “Not calling me a liar, are you? I said I was
raised
on a ranch. My family’s still there.”

“But not you.”

“My grandfather lives in Philadelphia. I stayed with him while I went to law school.”

“So which do you call home, the ranch or Philadelphia?”

His face creased in annoyance. “Too many questions.”

She tried another tack. “So why were you in such an all-fired hurry to reach Foxberry?”

“Still am. Supposed to meet someone there, someone who asked for help.”

“You came all the way from Philadelphia to answer a call for help? Must be an awfully good friend.”

“She is.”

She? Was it this Belle woman he’d mentioned?

He lifted a hand, then let it drop. “Sounded urgent. Hadn’t heard from her in years. She must be desperate.”

He shifted again and winced. “What makes you so sure help is coming?”

Jo threw another stick on the fire. “Whenever Licorice gets spooked she heads straight for home. As soon as she shows up without me, Danny’ll put out the alarm.”

“And if she doesn’t get there this time?”

“My sister’s the worrying type. By now she’s started hounding the sheriff and won’t let up until he sends someone out to look.” If only she hadn’t told Danny she might be late. No point worrying him with that little bit of information though. “Don’t you worry, we’ll get you to a doctor soon enough.”

“Not worried. Just thinking we should make use of that horse.”

“We already talked about that. I’m not leaving you here alone.” She tugged on her ear. “I could try making a litter I guess. We have most of the materials—the bedroll, rope, leather from the bridle.” She glanced toward the shrouded body and shivered. “I could even use the horse blankets if we needed ’em. Just have to try to cut a few saplings for the poles—”

“Or we could ride double.”

She studied him. “Do you think you could mount up?”

His mouth tightened. “I might need a hand, but I could do it.”

“I don’t know if we should put you to the test until we have to. There’s still time for help to get here before dark.”

His jaw clinched and she could tell he wasn’t happy with what
he was about to say. “Look, I’ll be honest. Right now I believe I have the strength to do this, with your help. But I’m not sure how long that’ll last.” He stared at her with fiercely determined eyes. “So if we’re going to mount up, it had better be soon.”

Jo glanced toward the trail from town. No sign of help. The temperature had already started dropping and it’d be dusk soon.

She also didn’t care much for the flushed look of his face. If he developed a fever things could go from bad to worse in a hurry. He was right. Time to fish or cut bait.

The thing was, she wasn’t just worried about getting him up on the horse, though that was going to take more than a bit of effort. Was he really up to the long ride back to Knotty Pine? He’d admitted his strength was fading. His wound could start bleeding again, or worse, he could fall off. If that happened they’d be worse off than before.

What a pickle!

Jo drew her shoulders back. Better to leave the hand wringing to Cora Beth. It wasn’t a great choice but it was the only one they had. The last thing she needed was to be caught out here after dark, with Otis roaming around somewhere.

“Okay, let’s give it a shot. You conserve what strength you have while I put out the fire and get the horse ready.”

He nodded.

“Just try to stay awake.” Grabbing the fallen branch she’d been using as a makeshift cane, Jo levered herself up. She’d probably be sore for the next few days but she’d put up with worse aches before. And it wasn’t anything like what Mr. Lassiter was dealing with.

She still had trouble thinking of him as just Ry. Funny thing how he’d insisted on addressing her as Josie instead of Jo. No one had called her that before. Ma had always used her given
name of Josephine, and her nieces called her Aunt JoJo. But to everyone else she was just plain Jo.

Josie. Kind of had a nice ring to it. Not too frilly or fancy sounding, but definitely recognizable as a girl’s name.

The thought struck her then that she would finally have a story of her own to add to her journal. Not that this was the way she’d wanted it to happen, but it was an adventure just the same.

Heavenly Father, I know I’ve been praying for an adventure and now that I’ve found myself smack-dab in the middle of a humdinger of one it don’t seem quite right for me to be asking You to end it so soon. But I guess that’s what I’m doing.

Mr. Lassiter don’t deserve to suffer just ’cause I want some excitement. Especially since he pushed himself so hard to save me. So please, whatever it takes, keep him safe.

Ry roused to the feel of a damp cloth on his forehead.

He opened his eyes to see Josie staring down at him, her face creased in worry.

“You sure you want to try this? We can always wait a little longer for help to come.”

“I’m all right. Just resting.”

Doubt flashed in her eyes at his obvious fib.

“Let’s see if you can sit up first,” she temporized.

Determined to reassure her, Ry steeled himself and pushed up with his good arm, doing his best to ignore the spinning sensation. He gritted his teeth, chafing at this unaccustomed feebleness. If he hadn’t had her hand at his back he might not have made it.

After a moment he felt steady again and took his bearings. He must have been out for more than the few seconds he’d thought. She’d managed to douse the fire without him even noticing.

“First we’re going to put that arm of yours in a sling and
secure it against your chest so we can keep from jarring it as much as possible. Won’t do to have you bleeding to death on me.”

Where had she found those strips of cloth? His eyes flashed to the blanket-covered body in sudden understanding. The woman not only had gumption but she was cannily resourceful.

“That was a mighty vicious kick Otis gave you,” she said, bringing his gaze back around. “You sure you can stand okay?”

That explained why his thigh hurt so bad. “I’ll manage.”

“Have you ever ridden bareback before?” she asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Good. ’Cause I figure that’s our best chance of getting the two of us on that animal.

Made sense. Riding double with a saddle was not a comfortable proposition.

“Problem is, without stirrups we need a mounting block. There’s a fallen tree over where I’ve tethered the horse. If you use me as a crutch, can you make it?”

He eyed the distance separating him from the horse. About ten yards. Might as well have been a mile. “I’ll make it.”

“Good.” She studied her handiwork with the sling. “How does that feel? Not too tight is it?”

“It’s fine.” Enough talk, time for action.

“Okay then. Whenever you’re ready, put your good arm around my neck and I’ll help you up, nice and steady.”

Bracing himself, Ry nodded and did as he was told.

By the time he finally stood upright, he was as winded as a racehorse after a gallop and drenched in sweat.

Josie supported him, not saying a word or clucking over him in useless sympathy. He appreciated her patience and restraint.

He was also determined not to lean on her one jot more than necessary. He just needed her to provide an anchor when the waves of dizziness hit.

He’d be hanged if he’d let any of his injuries stop him. It was imperative that he get her away from here, and it seemed the only way to budge her was to go with her.

Lord, let me make it to that horse without giving this woman more troubles than she’s already had
.

He let her lead him across the short patch of ground, focusing on placing one foot in front of the other. And on not falling.

When they reached the makeshift mounting block he paused, gathering every bit of energy he still possessed for the effort ahead.

Before he could move, she spoke up. “Now this is going to be the tricky part. I’ll need to ride up front so I can guide the horse. That means I should mount first. Can you support yourself while I do that?”

Ry nodded. It had to be done, so he would do it. He’d always prided himself on his horsemanship—time to give it a
real
test. Mounting with no stirrups and only one good arm would be tricky under the best of circumstances. Doing it while he was weak as a babe and she was already taking up a good chunk of available space would ratchet it up to a whole new level of difficulty.

He moved his arm from her shoulders to the horse’s back, aware that she kept her hand on him, ready to assist if he should fall.

“Steady now. Once you’re ready I’m going to let go so I can mount up. I’ll help you up after me as much as I can.”

He took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with.” Almost before he had time to draw a second breath she was up on the horse. She scooted forward then reached down. “I’ll hold the horse as steady as I can. Take my hand so I can help pull you up.

The next few minutes were fragmented splinters of motion. He grabbed hold of her hand, then found himself chest first over the back of the horse, pain clawing through his injured arm and
shoulder. The next thing he knew he had somehow gotten his leg over the horse without any memory of doing so, and was maneuvering himself into an upright position.

Which brought him face-to-face with his next dilemma.

“This isn’t the time to worry about niceties,” she said, obviously reading his mind again. “Ain’t no way you’re going to be able to stay on this horse without holding on to me. We’re not budging from here until that arm of yours is around my waist.”

She was right of course. Still, it felt like taking liberties he wasn’t entitled to. “Yes, ma’am.” He eased his right hand around her surprisingly trim waist, but managed to hold himself erect, keeping several inches between his chest and her back.

She set the horse in motion. “I’m going to try to keep a slow, steady pace. This probably won’t be the most comfortable ride you ever took, but it’ll be best if we go straight through without stopping.”

“I agree.” He swallowed an oath as the horse tossed its head before settling into a steady rhythm. “The sooner we get back to town, the better.” He wasn’t certain he could climb back up on this animal if he ever got off of it.

He’d just have to live with the fact that they were headed back to Knotty Pine and not toward Foxberry. For now, Josie’s needs would come before his, and even before Belle’s.

Jo wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet. Getting him up on the horse had only been half the battle. The other half would be keeping him there until they reached town.

The man had a lot of grit, she’d give him that. Not many would have managed to come through that ambush and lived to tell the tale.

She’d been well aware of his efforts to spare her during their walk across the clearing, and again when he’d mounted up.

Even now, with his hand around her waist, she could feel his effort not to lean against her. If she’d had reason to question whether he was an honorable man before, she could set her mind at ease now.

Probably be best to keep him talking so she could gauge how alert he was. Besides, she liked the sound of his voice. “Tell me about that family of yours back on the ranch.”

“I have a brother and a sister, Griff and Sadie.” His voice had slowed and deepened, his Texas drawl coming out. And she could feel the warmth of his breath stir the hair at her nape.

She told herself the shiver that fluttered her shoulders was due to the dropping temperature. “I said tell me about them, not name them.”

“What do you want to know?”

“The usual stuff. Are they older or younger than you? Are they married? What are they like?”

“Both younger—Griff by two years, Sadie by five. Neither is married.”

He paused and she wondered if he would give her any more information.

“Griff takes after Pa—a rancher through and through. Hawk’s Creek is in his blood and you couldn’t pry him away with a crowbar.”

So, was he implying that he himself wasn’t so tied to the land? She could sure relate to that. God had made this world way too big to limit yourself to one little patch of it.

“Sadie’s what you’d call impetuous. She’s a bit on the clumsy side, but she doesn’t let that stop her. She’s as comfortable at a barn raising as she is at a ladies auxiliary tea.”