Christmas at Dove Creek Read online

  The contact surprised Thorpe since he hadn’t been touched in months. He might have jerked away, but her soft, cool hand felt good against his skin. Their eyes met again and held for several seconds. She definitely had the face of an angel, but her expression was serious. Her eyes flicked over his face and he wondered if she thought he was going to keel over. “I’m not going to pass out.”

  She smiled at his statement. She was worried about him losing consciousness. She didn’t want to leave him alone, but she didn’t know what else to do. That arrow needed to be removed and she couldn’t do it without some help. But if she left him and those braves came back for a second bite at the apple, he’d be at their mercy, and she knew they’d make sure he died a slow, painful death for killing so many braves. Coming to a decision, she reached for her rifle and stood. “I’d best get Jed. It won’t take but a few minutes, he’s not far away. Do you think you can stay conscious until I get back?”

  Thorpe didn’t want her riding out of the trees alone. Granted, he might not be in good shape, but he could still pull a trigger. He grimaced as he pulled himself to his feet using his rifle for support. Whistling softly, Smoke came trotting to him. “I’ll go with you. They may be waiting for us.”

  She knew he was in a lot of pain, but he was obviously a strong-willed man. “We’ll ride through the trees. Can you get on your horse?”

  He wasn’t about to ask her to assist him. She wasn’t even half his size, but she sure had grit, he’d give her that. “Yeah.” He figured Jed must be her husband, and he wondered why he’d allowed her to ride off alone. Thorpe handed her his .45. “Would you mind loading it for me?”

  She placed her rifle against the tree. “Of course.” She reached over, and without saying a word she started removing cartridges from his belt. When she realized she probably should have asked him before she touched his gun belt, she glanced up and found him watching her with intense dark eyes. She went very still.

  Taking the cartridges from his belt was an innocent move, but somehow it felt very intimate to Thorpe. Her head was right at his chest, and when she looked up at him, much to his surprise, he had the urge to touch her face. He hadn’t even thought about touching a woman in months. How long had it been? Five, six months? Thanks to his ex-fiancée, he’d found out just how deceitful women could be. He’d been angry with all women ever since, and he sure hadn’t wanted to put his hands on one.

  Lily’s mind was racing. The man was so attractive he practically took her breath away. She forced her eyes from his handsomely sculpted face, past his wide chest, and tried to focus on his gun. Opening the cylinder, she inserted the cartridges with shaking fingers.

  Thorpe noticed her delicate fingers as she pushed the cartridges in the chambers. It occurred to him he’d never seen a woman load a gun. Evelyn wouldn’t have touched a gun, much less known the business end. This woman handled the revolver like an expert. She was an unusual woman. “Do you live nearby?”

  “No, we’re on our way to Wyoming.” She snapped the cylinder on the .45 in place and handed the gun to him. Pulling a pistol from her waistband, she held it out to him. “If they come back, don’t take time to reload, use this.”

  When she turned away, Thorpe heard her say, “Blaze.” Her Appaloosa walked through the trees to her side.

  Thorpe tucked her revolver in his belt and reached for Smoke’s reins. “You’re headed to Wyoming this late in the year?” He was also going home, and he’d cursed himself for being the biggest kind of fool for not getting an earlier start. Having finished what he’d come to do in Missouri, he wanted to go home and he wasn’t inclined to wait until spring. Before he set out for Wyoming, he knew the weather could change in a flash and it wouldn’t be in his favor, but he was prepared. The weather wasn’t the only challenge travelers had to consider. As he’d just experienced, there were other dangers that could prove far worse and fatal. It was one thing for a man to travel alone under such circumstances; he only had his own hide to consider, not a beautiful woman’s. The way he saw it, her husband was plain irresponsible for risking her life on such a foolhardy journey. Right now, he was thanking the Good Lord that those Indians hadn’t seen her long blond hair or he’d certainly have more trouble on his hands.

  “It couldn’t be helped,” she answered. “I’m Lily Starr. Do you live near here?” She’d noticed he was traveling light; just a saddlebag and bedroll were on his horse.

  “Thorpe Turlow.” He braced himself for the pain he was sure to feel when he mounted. “I’m headed to Wyoming Territory. My ranch is there.”

  Lily didn’t want to call him a liar, but he didn’t have provisions for such a journey. “Where are your supplies?”

  Not only could she ride and shoot, she was also an observant woman. “I imagine those warriors have them by now. I had to let my packhorse go when they gave chase. He’s a fine animal and I didn’t want him to be shot.” He stroked Smoke’s neck. “I figured the two of us would stand a better chance of outrunning them, and if we got lucky, all three of us might survive.”

  His answer satisfied Lily. She understood the way he valued his animals; she felt the same way about Blaze and her mule, Daisy. She jumped on Blaze in one fluid motion, and waited a minute for Thorpe to catch his breath once he was in the saddle.

  When Thorpe could speak again, he said, “Thanks for helping me out. But what were you doing out here alone?”

  “I heard the shots and thought I’d better check it out.”

  He wondered why her husband didn’t come when they heard the shots, or another man in her party. “How many in your group?”

  “Four.”

  He’d expected her to be traveling with a much larger group. “And you haven’t run into trouble?”

  “No, we’ve been fortunate so far.” She moved Blaze ahead, leaving Thorpe to follow. After winding her way through the trees, she pulled her horse to a halt to get her bearings and to see if Thorpe was staying with her. Considering the pain he was in, not to mention the blood loss, she was amazed that he was still in his saddle. “It’s just a little farther.”

  Thorpe didn’t want to lie to her about passing out, but he thought he was close. “We’d best hurry.” By the time three wagons came into view, Thorpe was gripping his saddle horn to stay upright.

  “Jedidiah!” Lily yelled as she hopped off her horse and ran to Thorpe’s side.

  A large man came running from one of the wagons with a huge dog beside him just as Thorpe started to slide from his horse.

  “Help me with him,” Lily instructed. “We need to get this arrow out.”

  Jedidiah was a muscular man, but he staggered backward from Thorpe’s weight. “Mercy, Miss Lily, he’s a big one.”

  “Yes, he is. Some braves were running him down, so we need to keep our eyes open. Let’s get him to my wagon.”

  Together, they helped a nearly unconscious Thorpe into Lily’s wagon and situated him on a feather mattress covered with hand-stitched quilts.

  “Jed, I can twirl the shaft, so I don’t think it lodged in bone. We can break off the shaft and push it through, or we can cut around the entry and pull it out carefully.”

  “Break it off and push the dang thing through.” Thorpe could tell the arrow tip missed the bone and he wasn’t about to let anyone cut on him.

  The sound of his deep baritone voice made Lily and Jedidiah jump. Lily collected herself and pulled Thorpe’s large knife from his scabbard and handed it to Jedidiah. “You can use the flat of the blade to push it through.”

  “Lily, do you need help?” Isabelle yelled from the back of the wagon.

  “What’s going on?” Dora asked.

  Lily expected the two women would have a thousand questions, but there would be time to explain later. “Bring the whiskey, bandages, and make a yarrow poultice and boil some water. And bring a needle and some thread.”

  “You’d best be asking for that whiskey to pour down my throat,” Thorpe said. He tried to stay alert by reminding hims
elf he’d been hit by an arrow before and been shot a couple of times, so he could handle the pain. If those Indians came back with more braves, he didn’t want these people facing them alone. Did Lily say four were in her group? One man was in the wagon with them and he heard two other women. That made four people, and that didn’t make him feel a whole lot better.

  Lily smiled at him. “You can have a hefty drink before we start.”

  Seeing that smile of hers nearly made him forget about his pain. Truthfully, it darn near made him forget his own name.

  “Lordy be, I may take a swig ’cause I surely don’t look forward to causing you more pain,” Jedidiah said.

  “Jedidiah, this is Mr. Thorpe Turlow. Mr. Turlow, meet Jedidiah Clarke,” Lily said.

  “Pleased to meet you, Jed,” Thorpe said.

  “Jed, can you get his shirt off?” Lily asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Once he helped remove Thorpe’s shirt, he inspected his shoulder. “Mr. Thorpe, you sho’nuf got yourself in a real mess.”

  “That I did, Jedidiah.” Thorpe figured Jedidiah wasn’t Lily’s husband after all.

  “Miss Lily knew right away those shots we heard meant business. I thank God we was close by.”

  “I’m thankful to Miss Lily myself. I thought the Lord sent an angel to help me.”

  “And he surely did. Yessir, he surely did. He sent this angel to help us all,” Jedidiah replied.

  Thorpe wondered what the big man meant by that statement, but he didn’t have the chance to ask because the canvas flap opened. He whipped his Colt from his holster in an effortless motion and pointed it toward the opening.

  In light of Thorpe’s weakened condition, Lily was awed by the speed he pulled his gun. She placed her fingers on the barrel of his pistol. “It’s okay. It’s just Isabelle and Dora. They’re traveling with me.”

  Thorpe holstered his pistol and looked at her. “Sorry, I guess I’m still edgy.”

  Isabelle shoved the bottle of whiskey and other items through the opening. “We’re making the poultice now, Lily.”

  “Good. Would you see to the horses for me?”

  “Sure thing,” Isabelle said.

  Dora leaned over, trying to get a look at the stranger, but Jedidiah was blocking her view. “Do you need some of my tonic? It’ll help relax him.”

  Lily looked at Thorpe and he shook his head. He figured a tonic meant some sort of opiate and he didn’t want to be unconscious for a long time. “Whiskey will do.”

  After removing the cap, Lily handed the bottle to him. “Here you go, Mr. Turlow.”

  Thorpe clasped the bottle and looked into her eyes. “Here’s to avenging angels.” He took a long swig and handed the bottle to Jedidiah.

  “No, sir, I best keep a steady hand. I ain’t much for spirits. But now you need to take another mouthful before we start.”

  Thorpe did as Jedidiah suggested, and after he drained a good portion, he handed the bottle back to Lily. “Let’s get it over with.”

  Lily poured some whiskey over his skin and the shaft that was going to pass through his shoulder. After she placed the bottle aside, she positioned herself in front of Thorpe and braced one hand on his right shoulder and one hand on his chest over his heart to help hold him still. Her face was mere inches from his and she looked into his eyes. “Okay?”

  Looking down at the small hand over his heart, Thorpe felt sure it skipped a beat. His eyes moved back to hers and he gave a nod. Jedidiah didn’t hesitate taking the shaft between his strong fingers and quickly snapped off the end. He grabbed the knife and placed it against the shaft and pushed the arrow tip through Thorpe’s muscled shoulder.

  Thorpe didn’t make a sound, nor move an inch when the tip of the arrow pushed through his flesh. He was staring into beautiful blue eyes before his head dropped to the curve of Lily’s neck seconds later. His last thought was Miss Lily smells better than any flower.

  Under Thorpe’s weight, Lily fell backward with him landing on top of her.

  “He’s bleeding bad, Miss Lily,” Jedidiah said.

  Lily tried to push Thorpe aside, but couldn’t budge him. “Help lift him off of me so I can take care of it.” She’d noticed how tall Thorpe was, but when Jedidiah removed his shirt, she didn’t think she’d ever seen a more powerfully built man. His chest was broad with well-defined muscles, as were his arms. She estimated he had to weigh over two hundred pounds.

  Lily and Jedidiah finally slowed the bleeding just as Isabelle returned to the wagon with the poultice. Once they had Thorpe’s shoulder cleaned and stitched, Lily held the poultice to his wound as Jed wrapped the bandage around his shoulder. Jedidiah tied off the bandage and together they lowered him to the mattress.

  “I ain’t seen too many men bigger than me, but Mr. Thorpe shor’ is, Miss Lily.”

  “He’s going to need every ounce of that strength considering the amount of blood he’s lost.” Lily unfastened Thorpe’s gun belt and Jedidiah lifted his hips so she could pull it off. She placed the gun right beside him so it would be within reach if he awoke. The flap opened again, and Dora and Isabelle poked their heads through.

  “Who have you brought back this time, Lily?” Isabelle asked.

  “She done went and saved Mr. Thorpe here,” Jedidiah answered. “Had an arrow through his shoulder.”

  “Indians are close?” Isabelle questioned.

  “We shot all but three and they left,” Lily said quickly so they wouldn’t be alarmed.

  “They’ll be back with more,” Isabelle warned.

  “Oh my, would you get a look at him, Isabelle,” Dora said, her eyes roving over the large man lying prone on the mattress.

  It seemed to Isabelle that he filled the entire interior of the wagon. “Merciful heaven! Look how big he is!”

  “He’ll eat a ton,” Dora added.

  “I got a feeling Mr. Thorpe can be a big help,” Jedidiah commented. He figured any man who pulled a gun as fast as Thorpe was a man who could probably deal with a whole lot of trouble.

  “And he told me he was headed to Wyoming. He said he has a ranch there,” Lily told them. “It would be helpful to have someone along that is good with a gun.”

  “You mean if he doesn’t die,” Isabelle said.

  “He is not going to die!” Lily said. “Don’t even say such a thing. Quick, say a prayer.” She didn’t know what it was about Thorpe Turlow, but she could tell he wasn’t a man that one arrow could fell.

  Dora and Isabelle rolled their eyes at her. “You pray enough for all of us,” Isabelle said.

  Lily gave them a stern look as if they were two misbehaving children.

  “Okay, we’ll pray for him,” Isabelle said to satisfy Lily.

  Jedidiah laughed. “You should know that Miss Lily has a direct line to the Almighty. Why, even Mr. Thorpe said he thought she was an angel that came to save him.”

  Dora couldn’t take her eyes off the big man on Lily’s bed. He had a striking face and the broadest chest she’d ever seen. “I’m happy this injured critter only has two legs,” she commented. “And I have to admit he’s much more handsome than Blue.”

  “I guess that’s a matter of opinion,” Lily said. She wasn’t really thinking about Thorpe’s striking face. The comment about Thorpe’s appetite forced her to consider their limited supplies.

  “I have to leave for a little while.” She glanced up at Jedidiah. “Look after him, Jed. Make sure he stays put if he comes around.”

  “I’ll get those wet pants off him,” Jed told her.

  “You just said Indians are roaming around out there,” Isabelle said, fear creeping into her voice.

  “Keep your guns handy. If you see anything just start firing. I don’t expect I’ll have to go that far,” Lily told them. “And I’ll leave Blue here to alert you if trouble is coming. Start packing up camp because we need to keep moving for a few more hours.” She didn’t want to say she expected those braves to come back, just like Isabelle said, but that was what she was thin
king.

  “Miss Lily, it don’t sound safe for you to be out there wandering around by yourself. Where are you going?” Jed asked.

  “Mr. Turlow had a packhorse that he had to release and he seems fond of his animals. I’m going to see if those braves captured him.”

  Chapter Two

  Lily led the wagons until she found a spot that she thought would be easily defensible should they find themselves under attack. Before she helped Jedidiah with the animals, she jumped into the back of the wagon to check on Thorpe. He was either asleep or out cold, and when she placed her hand on his forehead, she thought he felt feverish. She nudged his shoulder. “Mr. Turlow.” Receiving no response, she pulled another quilt over him before she left the wagon.

  “Jed, would you help me unpack his horse? That poor animal needs some rest. We’ll put the supplies in our wagon so he won’t have to carry that weight tomorrow.”

  “Yes, ma’am. How is Mr. Thorpe doing?”

  “He feels feverish. I hope he wakes up soon so we can get some fluids in him.”

  “He will be happy you found his horse. You didn’t have any trouble, did you?” Jedidiah had listened for gunfire when she left to find the horse, but he hadn’t heard anything. When she returned, she was in a hurry to get moving and they didn’t have time to talk.

  “That horse is one smart animal. I think he was following us. I didn’t see Indians, but I think the two of us best keep watch together tonight.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Once they cared for the animals, Lily took a pail of fresh water into the wagon with her. Blue jumped into the wagon behind her and plopped down next to Thorpe’s side. It was unusual for Blue to take to strangers. He’d been with her a year and she’d never seen him show affection to anyone but her. He was young when she’d found him near death’s door with a gunshot wound. She’d nursed him back to health and he’d been by her side from that day. Blue was wary of most people and generally people were afraid of him. “So you like him, huh?” She figured Blue recognized when someone cared for animals, like Thorpe.