Jake (14 page)

Jake ran back to his camp. Becky needed dry clothes and fast. She always amazed him. She was so strong, yet vulnerable. He saw the way she looked at Liam with Hannah. She longed for a family and if they kept going the way they were, it wouldn’t be long before they had one of their own. Was that a good thing though, with him being a wanted man? What if he got caught or had to run? What then? Becky would have to raise the child alone.

His brothers, well Liam anyway, would always be there to help her. Hopefully Zach would, too but after all, he did have a bounty on his head. He hoped none of them would ever have to find out because he planned on remaining a free man, by beautiful Becky’s side. Loving her amazing body for the rest of his natural and hopefully, long life.

Jake was almost to their tent when he saw the men. Two of them leaving his campsite and headed to Billy’s. He stopped and crouched close to the ground watching them without being seen. They walked easily, like there was nothing to fear. As they approached Billy’s campsite he saw Billy come out of the tent. He talked to the men, argued was more like it. One of the men pulled his gun and Billy put his hands up. They ‘talked’ some more and the man holstered his gun. Billy put his hands down. All three of them laughed, though Jake couldn’t hear what they laughed about and he couldn’t see anything funny in what had just occurred.

The three men sat down around the campfire and he saw one of the men pull something from his pocket. What had they found in his tent of interest to Billy? He watched the man unfold a piece of paper.
Of course
. Jake wanted to slap himself on the head. His and Becky’s marriage certificate. Without it there was no proof that they were married. Deadwood was a no man’s land, there was no copies filed with the state, just the one they had, although the good Reverend Mr. Smith would vouch for them. Billy was up to something, Jake just didn’t know what. Yet.

He crawled on his belly to his tent, so low he could taste the dirt in his mouth. Easing into the tent as quickly and quietly as possible, he stood up once he was inside. Even if he hadn’t seen them, he’d have known someone had been through his belongings. Clothes, books and papers were everywhere. The men hadn’t been the least bit methodical but had torn through everything looking for what they wanted. And he was right. The only thing he could find missing was the marriage certificate.

He checked under the pad on the floor where he and now Becky, too, slept. They had buried her gold there and it was undisturbed.

Becky was going to be upset, but they’d go to the Reverend tomorrow and see if they couldn’t get a duplicate made. They’d have to go to
The Gem
for Mr. Swearengen’s signature, but based on his original feelings about Billy and Edgar Winters, Jake didn’t think he’d mind signing again.

Jake didn’t have time for this. Becky needed warm, dry clothes, quickly. He gathered her spare pants, shirt, chemise and drawers, picked up her dry socks. That’s when he noticed how worn they were. How her pants were close to being threadbare at the knees and the shirt at the elbows. Her chemise was frayed at the neckline and the string on the drawers had broken and been re-tied to itself several times. The socks—there was no saving. The holes at the heel and big toe were beyond repair, even if he knew how to darn socks and obviously Becky didn’t know how to either. The first thing they were going to do tomorrow was go to Deadwood and buy Becky new clothes.

Why hadn’t he noticed until now? He gave a sad little laugh. Because he was always in too much of a hurry to have her underneath him and sink into her sweet body to notice what she wore. He needed to take more time with Becky. Make sure making love was fun for her, too. They needed to learn to play. From what she’d told Jake, she’d never played much as a child. Maybe now was a good time for her to learn to play…adult games.

He gathered the money from under the pallet. They’d be back to check for what they missed when they saw him leave. Dashing out of the tent opening, he knew exactly when Billy and his boys saw him. They were yelling at one another and then he heard a shot pass him by. Thank God, they couldn’t hit the side of a barn. He laughed, just as the second shot hit his shoulder.

The pain made him falter and he nearly fell, but managed to keep on running until he was around the bend and they could no longer see him. Then he slowed to a walk and caught his breath. Liam and Zach met him, guns drawn.

“What the hell is going on? We heard shots,” demanded Liam.

“You’re hit,” said Zach as he holstered his gun.

“It’s not bad,” whispered Jake, though now that he knew about it, the wound hurt like the dickens.

“The hell it’s not. You’re bleeding all over Becky’s clothes. Give me those.”

As Zach grabbed her shirt from him, Jake heard the thin cloth rip. “Well, hell,” said Zach. “Might as well use this, she’s not going to be wearing it.”

Zach shoved the threadbare shirt at Jake. “Hold that tight to the wound. We’re going to have to get that bullet out of there.”

“It’s in my back, how am I going to keep the shirt on the wound? I didn’t even know I was bleeding much.”

“That’s because it ran under your arm and you couldn’t see it. Here I’ll hold it there while we walk.”

Zach positioned himself under Jake’s good arm and pressed the shirt he’d ripped on the wound, stemming the flow of blood.

The three of them went back to camp. Jake leaned on Zach while Liam, with his gun out, brought up the rear.

Becky saw them, threw off her blanket and ran to Jake.

“What happened?” she asked.

Jake tried to smile. “Nothing. Just a couple of Billy’s new friends.”

Becky took over from Zach, positioning herself under Jake’s good arm and helping him to one of the camp stools.

“I’ll kill him,” she said as she unbuttoned Jake’s shirt. “Let me see.” She peeled his shirt off and examined the gaping wound. “The bullet’s still in there. There is no exit wound. It needs to come out.”

“I know, but I’m not looking forward to it.”

“Becky,” said Liam. “I’ve done this before and I’ll take care of this, but it’s not something I want my children to see. Please take them to my tent and stay with them there.”

“No.”

“What?” said Liam. Obviously accustomed to being obeyed, he was surprised when she said no.

Her green eyes met his, glittering like an emerald but as unyielding as stone. “I’m staying here. Zach can go sit with the kids or they can stay by themselves in the tent, but I’m staying here. Jake is my husband. I’m not going anywhere.”

Liam stared at her for a moment or two and then nodded. “Fine, but keep out of the way. David,” he said without looking up from Jake’s wound. “Get one of your mother’s blouses out of her trunk for Becky.”

“Yes, sir.” He turned around and grabbed Hannah’s hand as he left. “Come on, Daddy needs for us to play in the tent now.”

Hannah popped her thumb in her mouth and walked with her brother to their tent.

David returned shortly, with a pretty green blouse, that he gave to Becky.

“Put that on,” said Liam. “You need dry clothes. What we don’t need is for you to catch a fever and not be able to take care of Jake.”

Becky accepted the pretty blouse and went to the cook tent to change. It was the nicest shirt she’d ever owned. She put on the dry clothes Zach had handed her and then the new blouse. It was a little small across the bust, but fit right everywhere else. She tucked it into her pants, pulled up her suspenders and rolled up the sleeves as she walked back to Jake and his brothers.

Jake whistled. “You look great. I should have bled on your clothes sooner.”

She wanted to hit him, but refrained because she knew it was just the pain talking. She wasn’t the least bit pretty. Billy had told her time and again that no man would ever want her. Until Jake, she’d always believed him. He said her hair was to red and it was unlucky. She had too many freckles but her skin was too white. Her eyes were green and that was wrong, too, somehow, though she wasn’t sure how. According to Billy everything about her was wrong. Undesireable.

Jake seemed to want her well enough. As soon as they were done for the day, he couldn’t wait to get her out of her clothes and make love to her. Sometimes several times before they finally went to sleep and always again in the morning upon waking.

She shook her head. She didn’t understand Jake. He seemed to genuinely care for her. He treated her with respect and as an equal even though she was just a woman.

“Becky. Becky. Stop your daydreaming girl and pay attention,” barked Liam.

Becky took a deep breath. “I’m here. What do you want me to do?”

“Take that knife you keep strapped to your leg and put it in the fire. Get it good and hot. I want to be able to sear the wound if needed. It’ll depend on how much he bleeds.”

She put her leather glove on, took the knife and stuck it into the hot coals.

“Zach. Get me that bottle of whiskey you keep stashed away. We need to clean the wound, then get me my kit from the cook tent.”

Zach nodded and went to his tent and the cook tent, coming back with the items Liam requested.

“Okay, little brother, I won’t lie to you, this is going to hurt like crazy. I want you to take three or four big swallows of this whiskey—” He handed the bottle to Jake who put it to his lips and gulped, coughing when he was done. “—good.”

Liam grabbed one of the gold pans and poured the alcohol into it, then placed his knife, a pair of forceps and a large needle into the liquid.

“Okay, you ready?” he asked Jake.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Becky get that blanket you were wearing.”

She ran to get it and brought it back.

“Lie down on this flat on your stomach. Zach, hold down his shoulders. Becky you get on the other side of him and Jake, I want you to look only at Becky or close your eyes. You understand?”

“Gotcha.” His words were a little slurred. The whiskey was taking effect.

Liam poured some bourbon into the wound.

Jake came up off the blanket and looked like he could kill Liam. “Jesus Christ! What are you doing to me?”

“I’m cleaning the wound. It’s less likely to fester this way. Stop being a baby. Zach, I told you to hold him down.”

“Sorry,” said Zach, waiting for Jake to settle back down.

Jake frowned at Liam, closed his mouth tight, looked at Becky and settled back onto his stomach. He squeezed her hand and she smiled encouragingly at him. He squeezed her hand tight, almost to the point of pain, but she wouldn’t let him know that. He could squeeze it until the circulation stopped for all she cared, as long as the bullet came out and he was all right.

Liam began probing the wound with his finger. Bright red blood, its metallic smell hitting her nose, covered his fingers and ran down Jake’s back. She did her best not to notice. Losing her breakfast all over Jake wouldn’t be appreciated by any of them right now.

Liam finally pulled his finger out of the wound and said, “The bullet’s not deep and that’s a good thing. There should be no lasting damage. Now just give me another minute and then I’ll stop torturing you. You should be back to panning gold in a week or two,” said Liam. “But you’re not going to be able to mine the cliff. You won’t have the strength to work the rope or haul the buckets.

He sounded convincing though Becky knew better. She’d treated a wound like this on Billy once and he was more useless than usual for two weeks, unable to use the arm to lift much of anything, including a bottle of whiskey.

Jake just nodded and continued to watch Becky. His pupils were big and he didn’t appear to be in much pain. She knew the whiskey was doing its job of numbing his senses. She’d seen Billy with his mind dulled often enough, she recognized the signs.

She let her mind wander away from the pain she saw on Jake’s face. The pain he did his best to shield from her. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her. Did he see the plain woman Billy told her she was or did he see someone else. Someone, perhaps, desirable.

Jake tightened his hold on her hand when Liam pressed the hot knife to the wound to sear it. It wasn’t going to be a pretty scar. Becky didn’t care. Jake was the most handsome man she’d ever known or ever would know. The stitches were big and just enough to close the wound.

“Sit up,” commanded Liam.

With Becky’s help, Jake sat up and Liam wrapped a cloth bandage around his chest and shoulder.

“Change this every day. It’ll seep a little bit. If there’s a lot of blood, come back and we’ll put in a few more stitches.

“I can do that, we don’t need to come here just for that,” said Becky.

“Fine. As long as he gets the stitches, if he needs them, I don’t care who puts them in.”

She nodded. “Agreed.”

“Now, you two are going to have to be on your guard. I think you should sleep here tonight.”

Becky didn’t want to be away from her home, tent though it may be and she wanted to care for Jake. “No. We’ll be fine. I’ll stay up with him anyway. He’s not going to be comfortable and as soon as the whiskey wears off he’ll be awake. I have my gun and I’m not afraid to use it.”

Liam looked her over and lifted an eyebrow. “You’re quite the woman.”