The Circle Eight: Tobias (14 page)

“They’re injured men who say this man tried to kill them.” Ellis pointed at Tobias with a snap of his wrist.

“Can they walk? Can they lift a spoon to their mouths? Are they able to piss by themselves?” Her voice raised in volume as she made her points. Tobias was proud of her. Hell, she was more of an adult than he would ever be.

Ellis looked surprised. “Uh, I guess.”

“Well Tobias can’t. I’ve been doing everything for both Tobias and Will because they were injured by those three upstanding ranch hands who did their level best to kill them. Tobias’s shoulder was out of his socket, his face beaten to a pulp, not to mention his cracked ribs. Will’s leg was broken and he was hit in the head so hard, he hasn’t woken in days.” She burned like an avenging angel, her face flushed. “I don’t know a lawman
who would look at this lopsided situation and accuse Tobias. Both my brother and my brother-in-law would never have made such a mistake as Texas Rangers.”

The room rang with the sound of her voice, which had gained in volume, but she never yelled. No, she kept control of the conversation, the men and, to his dismay, his heart.

The woman was amazing.

“Don’t dare tell me how to do my job, Miss Graham. I don’t care who your family has as lawmen. I’m gonna do my job. He goes to jail tomorrow.” Ellis looked ready to bite through iron, his jaw so tight Tobias heard a crack. “Donovan, you’d do well to get these Gibsons off your property as soon as you can. Bad blood in that family.”

Tobias wanted to shoot the man, scream or punch something. None of it had gotten him anywhere in the past but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it again. Frustration warred with fury.

“You got two more days for Will to heal up and then you move him off this ranch.” Donovan looked at Tobias. “Tomorrow he goes with Ellis. I ain’t letting this shit happen on my property no more.”

“I’ll be back first thing.” The weasel-faced deputy left, followed by Donovan.

Rebecca growled and Tobias turned to her in surprise. “That man should not be a lawman. He’s a fool.”

“I ain’t gonna disagree with you.” Tobias buzzed from the last five minutes. He didn’t know what to make of Rebecca’s passionate defense of him. He’d done nothing to engender her trust or her good nature. “Doesn’t matter. Ellis and Donovan will make sure I leave. I don’t belong here.”

Rebecca watched him with pity in her gaze. He hated that she pitied him. Hated it. He wanted to see love in her eyes, or at the very least affection, although he’d done nothing to earn it.

“I’m sorry, Tobias.”

“Ain’t nothing for you to be sorry about. You did more than most would.” He needed to change the subject before he said something really stupid. “Is that broth again? I’m mighty tired of it.”

She took a shuddering breath and refocused on the bowl of now forgotten food. “No, it’s stew. Mr. Donovan’s cook made some for dinner.”

Tobias’s stomach growled. Rebecca smiled and it hit him with the force of a punch. She was not for him, no matter what.

“Let’s get you fed and then I’ll get broth to spoon into Will’s mouth. He’s going to get weak if he doesn’t get something in his body soon.” She sat down and picked up the bowl.

Tobias would take her kindness and then he would go to jail. Didn’t matter though. If he went to jail for defending his brother, then so be it. He’d done what was right.

Rebecca tried to spoon some broth into Will’s mouth but he didn’t swallow since he was unconscious. It dribbled out onto the pillow beneath his head. Frustrated, she used smaller spoonfuls and rubbed at his throat until it moved. His whiskers were rough on her hand. It had been five days since he’d been injured and he’d grown paler with each day that passed.

“Will, you need to wake up.” She focused on dripping the broth into his mouth and making sure it made it down to his stomach. It was tedious and took her nearly an hour for a small bowl of broth.

She sweated beneath her clothing, trickling between her breasts and down her back. It had been a couple days since she’d bathed herself. Keeping them clean was more important but perhaps she should take care of her own stench. Helping other people meant she didn’t take care of her own needs as regularly as she would.

In plain terms, she stank. And it had gotten worse with each passing moment she struggled to feed Will.

“I’m sorry I smell so bad. I promise I’ll wash as soon as we finish here.” She put more broth on the spoon and turned to Will.

His eyes were open.

Startled, she dropped the spoon and gasped. “Will?”

He blinked, his brown eyes guileless. “Who are you?”

She managed a shaky smile. “Rebecca Graham. Do you remember me?”

Will’s light brown eyebrows furrowed. “No.”

Tobias spoke from the other side of the room, his voice sharp. “Did he wake up? Will, are you there?”

“Toby?” Will smiled widely. “Is that my brother?”

A prickle of unease crept up her spin. “Yes, that’s Tobias. He’s just behind me in another cot.”

“Toby!” Will’s voice was high pitched and child-like.

Her unease grew. “Do you know where you are, Will?”

“In a room. With Toby. And you, pretty lady who stinks.”

Tobias snorted behind her but she ignored him. “You are on the Donovan Ranch and you were hurt several days ago. Do you remember being hurt?”

That small frown appeared again. “No. I got hurt?” He raised his arm and winced. “Ow! My chest hurts. And my leg.” Tears shimmered in his eyes.

“I’m sorry you’re hurting.” She took his hand. “Can you tell me what you do remember?”

Will scrunched up his face. “I played checkers with Jeb. Then Toby told us to muck the stalls. Oh, and Pops made cornbread for supper! That’s my favorite.”

The memories were those of a small boy, not a twenty-year-old man. Her suspicions were confirmed when he smiled at her, the bandages on his head making a parody of his innocence.

“Do you like checkers?”

“Yes, but I haven’t played in some time.”

“You’re in my bedroom.” He blushed. “I don’t think Pops would like that.”

Pops had been dead five years and Will a grown man—at least he was on the outside. That may be all he ever was.

“Let me get something to make your hurts feel better.” She had a few herbs that would help with pain, but that was all she could do.

Rebecca moved over to Tobias, who struggled to sit up. She pressed on his good shoulder. “Stay here. He can still hear you. Talk to him while I mix some herbs to help him with pain.”

Tobias’s brown gaze held hers. “What’s happening?”

She lowered her voice. “Something is wrong but I don’t know what yet. Talk to him.”

“That’s not good enough.” To her surprise, Tobias managed to sit up. The back of his hair was mashed flat from lying on the bed for three days. His whiskers stuck in different directions and he looked completely disreputable. However, his expression was one of love and concern. “Tell me.”

“Sometimes people who have head injuries don’t remember what happened.” She hesitated.

“Don’t stop there, Becca.
Tell me, dammit
.”

She scrambled for something to say. “He is confused, doesn’t know where he is or what happened.”

“He called me Toby. I ain’t heard that in at least ten years.” Tobias glanced at his brother. “You’d best tell me what you’re thinking. I’m done waiting.”

She wanted to admonish him for being his usual obnoxious self, but she couldn’t. Beneath the gruff words, he was worried. As was she. “He sounds like a child as though he’d lost years of his life. Lost it from his mind. He spoke of playing checkers and what Pops made for supper.”

“What does that mean?” Tobias peered around her as she spoke.

“I think the hit on his head might have damaged his mind.” She had read of such things but had never experienced them herself. This type of injury was beyond her healing abilities.

“You mean he’s tetched?” It wasn’t asked as an insult. His voice shook.

“He may never be the same or live as a man.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry, Tobias.”

She picked up her stash of herbs and looked to what she did know, which was the power of herbs and plants. Tobias talked to Will in the gentlest tone she’d ever heard from his mouth. Her throat tightened at the very real possibility Will would be a boy trapped in a man’s body.

“You broke your leg, Will. And you had a big bump on your head and ribs too. The Doc is fixing us both up.”

“You look awful, Toby. And old. You got a beard.”

“I do. It’s itchy and I need to shave it.”

“You look like an old man! I almost didn’t know you. Did you get in a fight?”

“Yep.”

“Did you win? ’Cause it looks like you lost.”

“We both lost. The Doc is fixing me up too.”

“Is she smart?”

“Really smart.”

“Good. A doctor is supposed to be smart. She’s pretty too, even if she’s stinky.”

Rebecca smiled into the mortar and pestle as she ground the herbs. Will was still the charming brother even if he was a man-sized boy.

“She’s stinky because we needed doctoring.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Can we go home now? Is Pops here? And Jeb?”

Rebecca wanted to help but this was between the Gibsons and she had no place answering Will’s questions. The air in the room had gone from confused to heavy, prickling with discomfort.

“Pops isn’t here, and Jeb likes to be called James now. He’ll be back soon.”

“What about home? I want to go home to my own bed. It smells funny in here.”

“I think that’s the doc.”

This time Rebecca did chuckle. Neither of them appeared to notice.
 

“I still want to go home.” Will sounded like a scared child. She was very glad Tobias was there to comfort him.
 

“Soon, Little Bit, soon.” Tobias’s voice had thickened.
 

Rebecca guessed Little Bit was Will’s childhood nickname. Tobias had sounded wistful when he used it. She had had a nickname too, but all nicknames had ceased being important when her parents had died.
 

“I’m scared.” Will’s confession was barely a whisper but in the quiet of the small room, Rebecca heard it clearly.
 

“Me too. We can help each other.” Tobias had genuine affection in his voice, a glimpse of the big brother she remembered from so long ago.
 

Rebecca sprinkled the herbs into some water and turned toward the brothers. Tobias looked ready to fall on his head and Will had shrunken against the pillow so much he looked half as big as he was. His eyes were wide with fear and shock. Tobias was haggard and pale.
 

It was going to be a long night.
 

As promised, or threatened, Deputy Ellis appeared right after the sun. Tobias sipped at coffee while Rebecca coaxed Will to eat some eggs. Ellis swaggered in, his copious ego filling the room. He wasn’t a bad looking fellow, but his self-important stupidity made him ugly.
 

Tobias wanted to punch him.
 

He represented all that had gone wrong in Tobias’s life. The law hadn’t protected Pops when Vaughn Montgomery stole his deed and money. Then Pops grew ill and died, leaving his foolish oldest son in charge. The law didn’t protect the little ones when Tobias failed to be a good substitute father.
 

The law sure as hell didn’t protect Will from the bastards who tried to kill him. And now the law was there to arrest Tobias for protecting his brother. It was twisted, the way the law worked. And Tobias was damn sick and tired of it.
 

“I’m here to take my prisoner into custody,” Ellis announced to the room.
 

Tobias slurped the hot brew. “I ain’t your nothing.”
 

Ellis frowned. “The agreement was you’d go to jail in the morning. You going back on your word?”
 

“I didn’t give my word.” Tobias slurped again, enjoying the annoyed expression on the other man’s face.
 

“Somebody gave me their word. I ain’t leaving here without you in custody.” Ellis’s hand itched to touch the butt of his gun, but even beaten and weak, Tobias could take the man’s weapon in a blink. The lawman knew it and so did Tobias.
 

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t go with you.” He was being a complete jackass and he knew it. This time it was deliberate and satisfying.
 

Rebecca frowned at him but he ignored her. Right about then, he didn’t need female interference, not that he ever needed it, but sometimes it might be welcome.
 

“Now you’re just being ornery.” Ellis hitched up his britches and straightened his shoulders.
 

“You don’t know how true that is.” Rebecca set the plate down on the table. “I think that’s enough foolishness.”
 

“No it ain’t.”
 

“You’re upsetting your brother,” she hissed.
 

Tobias peeked at Will, who stared at the lawman as though the boogeyman had come to life. After an evening of trying to keep his brother calm, Tobias had gone and stupidly undid all of it. He shouldn’t be allowed to be around people he could hurt.