35
It took Troy Bowman longer to get back to town, find the doctor and secure a wagon then he thought. By the time he and the doctor and wagon had finally made it back to the shanty, Kitty was sicker than ever. Her temperature had risen and she was delirious. Jeff was sitting anxiously by her side, alternately wiping her brow with a cool, damp clothe and keeping an eye on the baby.
"How is she?" Troy asked Jeff as he came in followed by the doctor.
Jeff stepped away from the bed as Dr. Helm approached and shook his head. "She's bad." He said as the door opened again and Peter stepped in. "Parson?" He frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"Miss Russell is a friend of mine." Peter told him. "When the Sherriff said she was hurt, I asked to come along. I'm no doctor, but I know the greatest physician in the world. I figured perhaps I could speak to him on her behalf while Dr. Helm had a look at her."
Jeff studied him for a minute and then nodded. "Sure." He said. It wasn't that he didn't believe there was a God and he remembered several times in his life when he fervently sought the deity's favor, but for the most part, he tended to rely more on things he could see than what he couldn't.
Troy understood and even shared those feelings to some extent. But when it came to Kitty, he wanted all the help he could get. Besides, Troy wasn't blind. He could see that Peter cared as much for her as he did.
As Dr. Helm sat down next to Kitty and began to work, Troy, Jeff and Peter moved to the other side of the room and settled in to wait and pray and hope. The only one in the room, who wasn't concerned and worried, was Rebecca. She was content with the bottle and dry diaper that Troy had brought back from town.
For two long hours, while the three men sat, drank cup after cup of bitter coffee and took turns with the baby, Doctor Helm worked tirelessly to save the life of the grievously wounded woman. When he finally sat back, all three men stood.
"Dr. Helm?" Troy stood a step closer. "Is she…?"
"She's alive." The doctor answered. "The bullet was in next to the bone and it wasn't easy to get to. Took me a while to remove it and clean out the wound."
"Will she be alright?" Peter asked as he clutched the bible in his hand a little tighter.
Doctor Helm shrugged. "I'm not really sure. To be honest, I'm not sure how she's survived this long. The next twenty four hours should tell, though."
Troy looked over at Peter. "Guess it's a good thing you sent that wire." He said. "In case…"
"Yeah," Peter nodded. "He should know."
Jeff looked at both men, aware that he was missing something. "What are you two talking about? What wire? To whom?"
Troy and Peter exchanged glances, looked over at Kitty and then back at Jeff. "I sent a wire to Marshal Dillon in Dodge City, where she's from. I let him know what happened here, at least as much as I knew and requested that he come."
Realization sank in on Jeff and he suddenly knew who the other man in Kitty's life was. "I see." He muttered.
Just then Doctor Helm stood and stretched. "Could one of you men kindly watch over her for a few minutes while I step outside?" He asked.
"I'll do it." Peter volunteered.
"Thank you." Helm said as he headed for the door way. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
As Peter sat down next to Kitty, Troy looked over at Jeff. "Looks like we're gonna be here a spell longer. Why don't you and me go and see if we can catch something for supper?"
Jeff instantly nodded, realizing he needed to be out of the room right then. "Sure, not a bad idea."
Troy looked back over at Peter. "We're gonna see if we can get some meat for supper. We'll be back shortly."
Peter nodded but didn't reply, his eyes never left Kitty's pale face.
As the two started out from the house, Dr. Helm was returning. "Are you two leaving?"
"Just going to see about getting us some supper." Troy assured him. "We'll be back in a little bit."
"Alright." The doctor nodded. "If you can find some deer or antelope, the broth from that would be good for my patient if she…" He stopped seeing the look in the two men's eyes.
"We'll see what we can do." Troy assured him. "Let's take the horses." Troy said as they walked from the house, I know a place not too far where we might scare up some meat."
Jeff nodded and followed him out to where Jeff and Peter's horses were tied. "You take Peter's horse and follow me."
Silently Jeff mounted and the two men rode out, following the creek as it wended its way east. For quite a while the two men rode in silence as Troy watched the tall silent man beside him. Finally he shook his head with a sigh.
"You're hooked, aren't ya?" Troy asked as he looked over at Jeff. "You love her."
Jeff shrugged before looking back at the knowing expression on the Sherriff's face. "Yeah." He finally admitted. "Guess I do."
"Won't do ya much good." Troy said in a matter of fact tone. "Her hearts already spoke for."
Jeff nodded. "That's what I heard but it doesn't change how I feel."
"No, I don't guess it doesn't. Sure didn't change how I felt or Peter either for that matter. Truth be told, there's probably others along the way that felt that way about her. She's a pretty woman and a good one. I doubt there's too many she's touched that didn't develop feelings for her."
Jeff took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, guess you're right." They lapsed back into silence and rode a ways further, before Jeff spoke again. "How'd you know it was the Marshal?"
"He was here a few weeks back." Troy answered. "Neither one of them said much, but they didn't have to. It was clear."
Jeff nodded silent for a spell before once again speaking. "This Marshal. He deserve her?"
Troy pursed his lips thinking about that for a moment before shrugging. "She thinks he does. Tell ya the truth, I'm not sure any man deserves her. Like I said, she's an awful good woman. But I think it's more what she wants then what we think she deserves. And she wants Dillon." When Jeff didn't reply to that, Troy looked over at him. "Can't change what's in a woman's heart, Jeff. She loves Dillon and the only one who can take that away from her, is him."
Jeff sighed. "Well, then I guess, I'll just hope he messes up bad, then."
Troy shook his head, though. "Uh, huh. He won't. Dillon's as straight and true as an arrow. He won't mess up."
TBC