Dorothy Garlock (24 page)

Annabel was so happy she was almost giddy. During the meal at the hotel she laughed often, teased Jack, and her eyes, shining green between a hedge of thick lashes, danced over Corbin’s face. Corbin wondered how it was possible that this slip of a woman, with her sweet smile and soft, musical laughter, could make him feel so damn good.

Nothing was said about the Carters until the three of them left the hotel dining room and were standing on the sidewalk in front of the truck.

“Jack, I’ve been thinking that I should follow you back to the house. Marvin Carter may know that you and Annabel came to town and plans to stop you on the way back.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. You may be right.”

“Annabel can ride with me. We’ll follow you.”

“I figured that’s what you had in mind.” Jack’s freckled face lit with a grin. “I’m going by the ice dock on the way out of town to get a chunk of ice. Maybe Annabel will make us some more ice cream.”

“Go ahead. We’ll be right behind you.” Corbin waited until Jack was driving away before he opened the door of his car for Annabel. “What do you think of my fancy maneuvering to get you alone?”

She waited until he came around and got in the car before she answered.

“Is that what you were doing?”

“I was going to follow you home; this way I can have you to myself a little longer. Boone will probably come barreling out and want to send me crackin’. I don’t chase easily, and he’s going to have to get used to it.”

“He’s been with my father for a long time and feels responsible for me when Papa’s gone.”

“As much as his attitude irritates me, I’m glad you’ve got him to look after you…when I’m not around.” He reached for her hand and held it tightly.

They followed the truck along the river road, staying well back to avoid the dust it stirred up. When they came to the place where the Carters had set up the roadblock, Corbin slowed the car, and they could see that the dead mule had been dragged away.

Corbin drove slowly up the lane to the house on the hill, his eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary. Jack drove the truck to the back and Corbin followed. Boone came out of the house and walked up to the car before Corbin could get out.

“What’re ya doin’ here?”

Corbin’s eyebrow lifted in an arch. “I’m running for governor. I came to ask for your vote.”

“Bullsh—”

“Watch your language,” Corbin said quickly and pushed open the door. Boone backed out of the way and Corbin stepped out. Annabel scooted under the steering wheel and stood beside him.

“Did you know the Carters tried to waylay Corbin last night?” she said.

Boone shrugged. “Must not have worked. He’s here.”

His low, emotionless voice irritated Corbin, but he tamped down his annoyance for Annabel’s sake.

“I hit someone on a mule. It could have been Tess.”

Boone’s head jerked around. When he saw the smug look on Corbin’s face, he snarled. “Gawdamn ya.”

“I got your attention, didn’t I? The sheriff isn’t going to do anything about your horses or about me hitting someone on a mule. You’re on your own out here. From what I hear, the Carters are clannish as hell and may pull in their kin. Annabel could be in more danger than you realize. I think you should consider letting her stay in town.”

“Her pa will be here tomorrow or the next day. He’ll handle the Carters. Seems like yo’re the one they want. If I was ya, I’d pull foot and hightail it out of here.”

“You’re not me.” Corbin swallowed his anger. “I’m staying as long as Annabel and Jack are here. You can like it or lump it.”

“Thanks for bringing me home, Corbin, and for the meal at the hotel.” Annabel’s throat was so clogged she could hardly speak. She loved Boone—he had been a second father to her—but she couldn’t understand his attitude toward Corbin.

Corbin saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes and reached for her hand. He pulled her to him and put his arm around her, looking over her head to Boone and silently daring him to make an objection.

“I don’t know what’s put a burr under your tail, but this girl has come to mean the world to me. I’ve got to leave her in your care until her father comes back. Then I’ll talk to him. Meanwhile, if your stubbornness causes any harm to come to her, I’ll come after you and not stop until you’re a bloody pulp.”

Corbin bent his head and peered into Annabel’s face.

“’Bye, honey. I’ll be here tomorrow. Meanwhile, stick close to this big bobcat with bristles on his belly. Don’t give Carter a chance to get to you. Before I go, I want to speak to Jack.” He glared at Boone. “Any objections?”

Annabel stood in the yard beside Boone and watched Corbin walk to the shed where Jack was getting the chunk of ice out of the truck. She dug into her pocket for her handkerchief.

“Why don’t you like him and accept his help? Why are you so mean about…things?”

“Ah…law! I do like him. I just can’t let things get out of hand while Murphy’s gone. But it looks like I done failed in that.”

“I like him. Hear? I may even
love
him. What do you think of that?”

“I’m thinkin’ it’s between ya and Murphy.”

“You’re wrong, Boone. It’s between me and Corbin.”

“Yore pa’ll be home—”

“What in the world—”

Boone followed Annabel’s gaze to see Tess running out of the woods toward them. She was calling to him. A feeling of dread washed over him.

Chapter
17

T
ESS SAT IN THE CHAIR AND DOZED. She had been up all night with Leroy. Bud had sat with her part of the time. At mid-morning, he and Marvin had left the house and hadn’t returned for the noon meal. The whimpers and groans that came from Leroy were like the sounds made by a small wounded animal. Tess went to the cot and bent over him. He looked up at her with one eye. She feared he might not ever see out of the other again.

“Do you want something, Leroy?” She leaned closer when she saw that he wanted to say something.

“I…hurt…so bad.” He could barely move his lips.

“I know you do and I wish I could help you. I really do.” She stroked the hand lying at his side.

His face was so raw and swollen he hardly looked human. It was a wonder to Tess that he could speak at all. She had thought his jaw was broken. During the night and this morning, she had squeezed water into his mouth from a cloth.

“Doc-tor.”

“I begged Marvin to let me go ask Mr. Boone to come take you in his car, but he won’t let me. I’m sorry, Leroy. I did the best I could.”

Tess saw a tear slide from the corner of his eye, and her soft heart filled with pity for the little boy she remembered. He had been cuffed and scorned by Marvin and Calvin because he was small for his age. He had tried to copy Marvin, thinking to win the respect of the family, and he had turned into a resentful, defiant, smartmouthed kid who gave the elder Carters even more of an excuse to browbeat and belittle him at every opportunity.

“I…hurt all over.”

“I’ll ask Marvin again when he comes in. I’m sure Mr. Boone would take you to the doctor in his car.”

Leroy closed his eye. “Marvin…don’t care ’bout…me. Nobody…does.”

“I care about you, Leroy.”

“Am…I goin’ to die?” His eye opened. It was blurred with tears.

“I don’t think so. But I’m not a doctor.”

“I’m sorry…for bein’ mean to ya.”

“It’s all right. You were doin’ what Marvin expected you to do.”

“I…don’t want to die—”

“Oh, Leroy…” Tears filled Tess’s eyes and ran down her cheeks.

“I wish…I wish…l’d not gone—”

“You didn’t have a choice.”

Marvin had been in a frenzied state last night, drunk and fiercely jealous of Corbin Appleby. He had forced Bud and Leroy to go with him to set up a roadblock. He had bragged that he would beat Corbin senseless, then drag him back to the Donovans’ behind his car. It hadn’t worked out as he’d planned, and he blamed Leroy and Bud.

“Marvin is mean to all of us,” Tess whispered angrily. “We shouldn’t have to be afraid all the time. Maybe when you’re better we can go off someplace—”

“No. I’ll…die here.”

“You won’t, if I can help it!” From somewhere came a surge of courage Tess didn’t know she had. “I’m going to get Mr. Boone. He’ll take you to the doctor. You’ll be by yourself for a little bit. I hate leaving you…but I’ll have to.”

She leaned down and kissed the top of his head, something she had not dared to do since he was a little boy.

“Sis…hurry—”

Tess ran out the door, fear giving wings to her feet. She didn’t care if Marvin beat her, and she was sure he would. She had to get to Boone and get Leroy out of the house before Marvin returned. She couldn’t let Leroy lie there and suffer, maybe die, without trying to help him. She ran through the woods as if the devil were after her. When she came out into the clearing, she saw Boone and Annabel standing beside Corbin Appleby’s car.

“Boone, Boone,” she called.

Boone ran to her. “What’s wrong?”

She was panting and could hardly get her breath to speak. “Leroy is hurt…bad. Please take him to the doctor. Please. Marvin wouldn’t take him and wouldn’t let me ask you to. I had to…had to—”

“Does Marvin know yo’re here?”

“No. He wouldn’t let me come this morning. He and Bud have gone off somewhere. Marvin doesn’t care about Leroy. I’m afraid he’ll die.”

Corbin’s long strides took him to where Tess stood in the shelter of Boone’s arms.

“Was Leroy on the mule I hit last night?”

“Yes. His face is all busted up and his ear…is almost off.”

“I’ll take him to the doctor. I’m the one who hit him.”

“Ya’d better let me do it. Marvin would go crazy if he came home and found ya there. It’ll be bad enough if he sees me, but I think I can convince him to be reasonable.”

“Please hurry.” Tess was crying.

“Take my car. It’ll ride easier than the truck. Do you need me to help get him in the car?”

“No. Tess and I can handle him. Come on, Tess.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Annabel asked.

“Watch out for Marvin,” Tess muttered and got into the car.

“Stay close to Annabel,” Boone said as he passed Corbin. Then, “Sheesh! It’s like askin’ the fox to guard the hen-house.”

“Damn you, Boone—”

“I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“Next month would be fine with me.There’s a gun under the seat, if you should need it.”

“Thanks. There’s a rifle and a shotgun in the barn and a pistol in the house.”

Corbin, Jack and Annabel watched the car, a dust cloud trailing, go down the lane and wondered what kind of reception Boone would get at the Carters’.

“Which one is Leroy?” Corbin asked.

Jack answered, “He’s the young one. Boone said he was younger than me. Small, mouthy, mean as a cornered polecat.”

“God, I hate it that I hit the kid. I wouldn’t have cared a bit if it had been Marvin.”

Boone drove as fast as possible down the rutted road and turned up the path to the Carter homestead when they reached it. Tess sat on the edge of the seat, her hands on the dashboard in front of her. Her eyes scanned the yard for signs that Marvin and Bud had returned. She saw none, and when Boone stopped the car beside the back door, she ran into the house ahead of him.

“I’m back, Leroy. Mr. Boone is going to take you to the doctor.”

“l…thought ya wasn’t comin’ back—”

“I hurried. He brought me back in the car.”

He saw Boone and said, “I can’t…get up.”

Boone had seen a lot of things, but never had he seen such a pitiful sight. Leroy wore only a pair of drawers. Bruises covered his body, his skinny legs and his feet.

“Ya don’t have to, boy. I’ll carry you. Tess, get a sheet or something to cover him.”

Boone waited until Tess was holding open the door before he scooped Leroy up in his arms. The boy’s scream of pain shook him. He gritted his teeth, cradled Leroy against him as gently as he could and hurried through the door to the car. Tess ran to open the door and crawled inside. Boone laid Leroy on the backseat, his head in his sister’s lap. He covered him with the sheet.

As soon as they were settled, Boone started the car. He was anxious to be away. At that moment he believed he would take the gun from beneath the seat and shoot Marvin Carter if he came and attempted to stop him from taking the boy to the doctor.

On the way to town, Boone concentrated on avoiding the rough spots in the road and tried to close his ears to the pitiful whimpers at what must be excruciating pain coming from the backseat. After what seemed forever to Boone, they reached Henderson. He drove down Main Street, turned after he passed the mercantile and stopped at a big white house on the corner. He had seen the sign—JOHN H. PERKINS, M.D.—on a previous trip to town.

“Sit tight, Tess. I’ll see if the doctor’s in.”

Boone hurried up the walk and around to the office door. As he entered the small reception area, a man who looked more like a lumberjack than a doctor came through another door, wiping his hands on a towel. He was as tall as Boone and looked to be strong as an ox.

“You the doc?” Boone asked.

“Yes. What can I do for you?”

“I’ve got a boy in the car. His face is smashed up and he’s hurtin’ a-plenty.”

The doctor threw down the towel. “Bring him in.”

“He’s in bad shape, Doc. I’ll have to carry him.”

“I’ll be ready for him. Marlys,” he called. “Get ready for a patient.”

A slim blond woman was waiting at the door for Boone when he carried Leroy up the walk from the car.

“Go on through to the other room,” she said.

The doctor was waiting and helped Boone ease the boy down onto an examination table. Boone stepped back and removed his cap. The doctor looked closely at Leroy’s face, lifted his eyelid and gently turned his head first one way and then the other. Leroy made small grunting sounds. His one eye followed the doctor’s movements. If the doctor was shocked by the extent of the injuries, he didn’t show it.

“When did this happen?”

“Last night. A car hit the mule he was on.”

“Last night? Thunderation!” The doctor swore under his breath, then turned to the woman getting supplies out of a cabinet. “Get anesthesia ready, Marlys.”