Damaged Hearts (10 page)

~XVI~

They awoke the next morning to find James gone and a note telling them that he had left at first light to take the body back to town.  Their horses were tied close by and the fire had been carefully banked with a full pot of coffee on the edge, ready to drink.

“We’re going to have to keep him around.”  Rick attempted to laugh temporarily forgetting his injury then grabbing his side as the pain hit.

“If nothing else, he attempts to keep your butt out of trouble.”  Matt joked.

Together, Angel and Matt did the majority of the camp cleanup.  Kat and Rick were both even more sore after attempting to sleep the night before than they had been when the injuries had occurred.  The hard parts were yet to come though as they soon found out.

Kat let out a cry of pain as she pulled herself up onto Nugget.  Thankfully, the horse was well trained and didn’t so much as flinch as she settled her weight uncomfortably on his back.  Rick did not have as easy of a time.  Warlock stood and stomped one hoof irritably waiting as Matt attempted to help Rick into the saddle.  Midway up, the horse then shifted his weight throwing Matt off balance and almost sending Rick over the other side.  Grabbing his side and the reins, Rick righted himself and cursed the horse.  “I should have left you at home and took Magyc instead, you old hide.  Leave it to a horse to be mad for no reason.”

Matt and Angel mounted without and turned their horses, Matt leading, and Angel taking up the rear.  Rick was not happy with the arrangement but injured as he was, he resigned himself to riding in front of Kaitlyn daydreaming and devising ways to give her pleasure once they both healed.

Once they reached an area where the trees thinned out, Kat nudged Nugget up next to Warlock.  “Are ya making it alright?”  She asked, concern radiating in her eyes.

“Yeah” He grunted.  “Hurts like hell but I’ll be alright.  Damn flesh wounds all hurt like this.  How are you holding out?  Is the riding jarring you too bad?”

“It’s rough but I’ll handle it.”  Kat replied.  “It’s nothing that I haven’t dealt with before at one time or another.”

“Well, it won’t be happening again I’ll tell ya that.”  Rick stated.  “I plan on keeping you so busy with breeding stock and making babies of our own that you won’t have time to get into trouble.”  He grinned to soften the threat.

Kat chanced a look back at Angel, huffing in pain as she did.  “You should have known better than to try sneaking into camp last night.” She chastised.  “While I appreciate what you were trying to do, you could have gotten yourself and the baby hurt.  I’m not worth losing that baby over.”

Angel was about to argue when Rick broke in, “I don’t ever want to hear a comment like that again.  You are very important to Angel and me, both.  Yes, she took a huge chance that none of us is happy with but I don’t ever want to hear another word about your worth.  We all love you; even as stubborn as you are, and any one of us would take a chance to make sure you were safe.”

Snorting angrily, she kicked Nugget and almost immediately regretted her fit as the horse broke into a bone jarring trot instead of the smooth gallop she wanted.  Cussing herself and the horse both for causing pain so intense she almost fell out of the saddle, she decided that the he most definitely needed more training if he couldn’t distinguish her commands.  Kicking him again, this time he responded appropriately and she sailed past Matt taking the lead before slowing to a more tolerable pace.  She rode a while in silence until she cooled down enough to understand that Rick wasn’t faulting her for chastising Angel about taking chances, he was faulting her for doubting her own worth.

A warm, fuzzy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she, for the first time in her life, found comfort in a man giving her orders.  She slowed the horse, letting the other three catch up.  Falling back in line next to Rick again, she surprised him by apologizing and telling him she loved him.  Leaving him to pick his jaw back up, she dropped even further back and apologized to Angel for being so brash.

Knowing her sister as she did, Angel hadn’t taken what she said to heart anyway.  Kat was always loud and obnoxious when she was worried or scared.  “Don’t worry about it Kat.  I’m used to it and you needed to vent somehow.”  She said dismissing the apology.

They all rode in silence for a couple miles before hearing the worst racket any of them had ever been subjected to.  As the noise got louder, they could see dust from a wagon being kicked up and after a short time, they could identify the man on horseback riding near the wagon as Frank.

“Oh damn!”  Rick exclaimed.  “Kaitlyn, I am so completely sorry but I totally forgot to tell you about a new house guest that you have at the ranch.  It seems you have another member in your family and if I’m not mistaken, I believe she is the one driving the wagon and making that god awful wailing noise.” 

“Another family member?”  She asked, extremely puzzled.  “How is that?  As far as I know, Angel and I were the only children my mother ever had.”

“Well, if we understood her correctly, the man that fathered you decided to make a respectful life for himself, married a lady from out East and they had a child.”  Rick tried to explain delicately.  “I guess Marie Fairchild is that child.”

“A sister named Marie?”  Kat and Angel said in unison.

“A half-sister or stepsister or something like that.”  Rick hedged.  “Anyway, we were afraid to let her stay in her father’s home after overhearing him and George plotting your kidnapping so we had Frank take her out to the ranch.  Plus, she did try to warn you and when she ended up at the ranch too late, she came to town to find us.”

“I suppose the least we can do then is listen to her story and see what she has to say.  What do you think Kat; after all it sounds like she may be your blood relative.”  Angel jumped in.

“I suppose we’ll have to talk to her and if nothing else, temporarily give her a place to stay.  Where did you put her?”  She looked at Rick.

“In the room across the hall from you and Angel’s rooms.  I wasn’t sure where you would want her but figured she could always change rooms later if you needed her to.”  Rick answered hoping he had done the right thing.

They got silent as they watched her drive up in Kat’s wagon.  Frank had hitched Kat’s Belgian, Dab, for Marie and from the looks of things; it was probably good that he had.  Marie appeared to have no experience what so ever driving a wagon and Dab basically took his own route controlling the wagon and driver both.

The horse approached with the wagon in tow, stopping when he decided it was close enough.  Marie stopped her bellowing long enough to allow Frank to carefully help her down before bouncing up to Kat and Angel.  “Hello.  I am Marie Fairchild.  You must be Kaitlyn.”  She announced, looking pointedly at Kat.

“I’m Angel, Kat’s sister.”  Angel started introductions.  “And this is Matt.  The man next to Kat is Rick.  It’s interesting meeting you.”  She said carefully.

“My, even more family.”  Marie clapped her hands together sharply, causing the horses to twitch their ears in annoyance.  “I am so happy to have met you all.  I met Matt and Rick in town at the dress shop; but I had not met either one of you before.”

Rick could already see how Marie would try Kaitlyn’s patience.  “We had better get moving if we want to get back to the ranch before dark.”  He instructed, not wanting to have to explain what he and Matt were doing in the dress shop.  Kat shot him an
I’ll get even later
look as she and Angel took the lead effectively setting the pace.  As soon as the wagon started moving, Marie graced them all with her
singing
once again.

Rick and Matt both flinched and glanced at Frank who had not said a word though the whole exchange of introductions.  He seemed totally oblivious to the discomfort Marie was causing everyone else and occasionally even sung along.

Matt, knowing that even if they all went deaf Rick would never utter a word of protest; hollered at Frank asking for a moment of his time.  When he approached, Matt attempted to speak bluntly but courteously “Frank, has she been doing that the entire time you’ve been traveling?”

“Well, n...no.”  Frank replied.  “She did s...stop singing for a while when the ro...road got really rough.  Don’t she s...sing like a little bird?”

“Well, I’m not sure we all find the same enjoyment in her voice as you do Frank.”  Matt tried again.  “Maybe you could talk her into saving her voice until we get back to the ranch, you know…..so the dust doesn’t cause any harm.”

“I c...could sure try Matt,” Frank answered.  “But wo...wouldn’t it get really quiet then?”

“Um Frank,” Matt said.  “That’s kind of what we are hoping for.”

After Frank spoke to Marie, they rode for quite some time in companionable silence, each alone in their thoughts.  Kat was on the verge of passing out from the pain but wasn’t about to utter a word.  Her face was pale and she had started swaying in the saddle when Rick called a halt, citing his own injuries as reason enough to stop.

After giving a telling look to Matt, Rick grunted as he attempted to dismount, quickly sending his brother and Frank to help Kaitlyn.  Knowing that the wagon would be much worse, Rick tried to decide which was the lesser of the two evils, staying another night under the sky without shelter or attempting to push on and hopefully make the ranch. 

“Kaitlyn, baby;” he whispered quietly.  She lay still as porcelain in the back of the wagon where they laid her.  “Wake up Hun; I need to ask you something.”

Kat shifted slightly grabbing her ribs as she did so.  “I can’t hardly breathe Rick.  It hurts too much.”  She confided.  “I’m not sure I can go on, but please don’t leave me here.  I don’t want to be alone.”

Rick was getting terribly afraid.  It was either shock or hysterics setting in and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know which one.  Seeing her like this was a huge strain on his already worn down body and mind. 

“Matt, come here a second.”  Rick requested.  “I um...need a tree.”

“Ok, out with it” Matt said as soon as they were away from the rest of the group.  “What’s got you so out of sorts?”

“I think Kaitlyn is going into shock or hallucinating.  She was clinging to me, asking me not to leave her.  While I’d love to think it was me she wants, I’m thinking more along the lines of it being her subconscious calling out.”  Rick said frustrated.  “What do you think we should do?  She needs medical treatment and we are still too far out to get her a doctor.”

“Here’s what we do;” Matt said, taking the rare opportunity to make a decision for his brother.  “We take all the bedrolls and attempt to make a soft nest of sorts in the back of the wagon.  We’ll put Marie up on Nugget or if all else fails she can ride with Frank.  You and Kat will ride in the wagon and Angel or I will drive.”

“Ok, that sounds reasonable.”  Rick agreed.  “Now we just got to get her moved to fix the bedrolls and then settled in again without causing any further injury to her.”

“Speaking of which, how is your side?”  Matt asked concerned.  “I can see your color isn’t the best and I’ve seen you flinch from time to time.  If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you and Kat were made from the same mold.  Neither of you will give an inch.  I know that if it wasn’t for her, you’d have never agreed to stop.”

Matt helped Rick back to the group and started taking all the bedrolls down from behind the saddles.  Angel, knowing that something had been discussed, went and silently began helping

Matt, following his lead until she could decipher the plan on her own without being told..

After building up the bedding in the back of the wagon, Matt assisted Rick into the back of the wagon before gaining Frank’s aide to lift Kat’s now unconscious form in beside Rick.  Taking advantage of the momentary lapse, Angel asked Marie how many petticoats she was wearing.

Giving a quite indignant look at Angel, Marie then realized why she was asked and quickly shucked her largest, fullest one eager to be of some kind of help to her newfound family.  After handing over the thick piece of clothing, Marie watched as Angel and Matt competently rewrapped her sister’s middle and immobilized her injured ribs more than what the strips of torn shirt had done.

After wrapping Kat, Matt turned to Rick and checked his side finding that he had broken his wound open again.  Turning to Frank, he asked the hand to go pluck a single hair from one of the horse’s tails.  Angel, anticipating what Matt was preparing to do, went quickly to Star and pulled a needle from a small pack she never left home without.  Returning to the wagon, she quietly asked if anyone had any spirits.  Matt looking incredulously at her pulled a small bottle from his saddlebag.