Chapter Eleven
Will The Real Bad Guy Please Stand Up.
The brothers were dead drunk and sleeping under a tarp by their campfire. The rain hadn't fazed them in their drunken slumber.
Nathan looked around the shack seeking to find something he could use as a weapon. Suddenly the door was flung open. Expecting to see one of the brothers, he was taken aback to see a familiar face.
The person was Spurlock. Quiet as mouse, Spurlock shut the shack door and put a finger to his lips to indicate the need for silence. Nathan and Spurlock did not have the best rapport stemming from a previous incident when Rosemary had been thrown from her horse due to actions of an irresponsible man under Spurlock's watch. Spurlock had apologized for what had happened but Nathan remained suspicious of him.
Spurlock whispered in a firm voice "Nathan…I'm not here to hurt you. I wanna help you. These brothers that have you hostage are men I have been tracking. They robbed a bank in the town of Cattlefield. I'm an undercover agent. I assure you I am not a real agent for the Pinkertons although they might think so. I have no dealing with Pinkertons except for being undercover. These men have it out for anyone working for the Pinkertons which is why I have been posing as a Pinkerton. I couldn't tell you earlier."
Nathan glanced at the badge that had the Pinkerton logo and the name Spurlock. "Is your name really Spurlock? Why should I believe you?" Nathan nodded to the badge on Spurlock's clothing.
"Yes. Peter…Pete Spurlock. The Spurlock you are probably thinking of was a cousin of mine whom I have not seen since we were children. Let's get these guys apprehended and we can talk about this later.", he said while noticing Nathan was not actually tied up anymore.
Nathan gave a sideways grin and in a low tone said "My niece untied me before she snuck out and took my horse into town to get help. I'll tell you about it later. Like you said, let's get these guys tied up while they are drunk and sleeping."
"Where's your gun?, Spurlock asks.
"Not here unfortunately." Nathan winced when he took a deep breath. Silently, he figured he had some broken ribs.
Nathan and Spurlock snuck outside. The rain had stopped by then. In stealth fashion, they confiscated the brother's guns then incapacitated one brother with the butt of his own a gun. The other two brothers were subdued by tying their hands and feet. They then tied the brother that had been knocked out cold. Nathan and Spurlock dragged them into the shack securing them in a corner for safe keeping. Confused and still drunk the brothers grumbled then fell back to sleep not noticing they were caught and tied.
Darkness had set in by that time but there was light from the campfire where Nathan and Pete Spurlock stood talking.
"I don't know what to say", Nathan said to Pete. "I think I may have misjudged you but would you mind explaining yourself a bit further?"
"That's good", Spurlock said. "That means my undercover was working."
Nathan nodded in agreement with Spurlock and raised this eyebrows in thought. "Who do you work for then?", inquired Nathan.
"I work for The Bankers Association of North West Territories. Seems bank robberies have gotten all too common in these areas."
"Are you a bounty hunter?"
"No", Pete answered. "I am a paid employee in the Security Devision of The Bankers Association of North West Territories. Not a bounty hunter but I guess some would consider me as such. I don't much like the term 'bounty hunter' since I am a salaried employee."
They reached out to grab each other's hand for a handshake right about the same time Bill and Cyrus rode up. To Bill and Cyrus, in the darkness with little light it appeared that the man was going after Nathan. Bill yelled "STOP" and shot a bullet into the air.
Cyrus also yelled "STOP" at the same time and had also brandished his firearm.
Taken off-guard by the sudden gunshot and shouting, Spurlock took a step back then stumbled over a large piece of campfire wood causing him to fall backwards with his head making a hard landing on a large rock. Out cold he was, blood oozing from the side of his head.
Nathan put his hand up in the air as an indication to stop any further shooting and yelled "No Bill, it's OK. It's not what you think. There are three brothers tied up in the shack over there. They robbed a bank in Cattlefield and Spurlock was undercover to catch them. He helped me here."
Bill and Cyrus were off their horses by now looking a bit confused.
Nathan took his shirt off and used it to tie around Spurlock's bleeding head. While bent over, he spotted his badge halfway buried in the campfire ashes. He snatched it up and stuck the badge in his trouser pocket.
"Pete? Wake up. Can you hear me?", Nathan asked while gently shaking Pete's shoulder.
Nathan looked over at Bill and Cyrus's confused faces. "I'll tell you more later but right now we need to get Spurlock into the car and get him over to the infirmary. He's losing too much blood." Nathan had looked inside the car in hopes that the keys would still be in the ignition and luckily they were.
Seeing that Bill and Cyrus both still had puzzled looks on their faces about Spurlock, Nathan says "This Spurlock is not the Spurlock you are concern about. This is Pete Spurlock. Come on. Help me get him in the vehicle but be gentle and keep his head still."
Nathan bent down to lift Spurlock then let out a groan. Seeing that Nathan was obviously in pain, Bill nudged Nathan to the side then Bill and Cyrus carried the bleeding man and placed him in the back seat.
"I'll stay and guard the brothers until you can send help", says Cyrus. "Bill you go with Nathan to make sure Spurlock gets to the doctor quickly. He might be very confused and agitated if he wakes up on the drive so be aware. I'll be ok here. I'll gladly watch these guys."
About that time Lee and Jesse drove up in Lee's car. As was expected they were confused also when they saw Spurlock with a bloody shirt wrapped around his head in the back seat of Nathan's car. They still blamed him for causing Rosemary to fall off of her horse that day.
Standing bare chested and obviously beaten and bruised, Nathan quickly explained to all four men the situation about Spurlock and the brothers.
"Jesse and I can stay here and help Cyrus with these guys if you two are ok to take Spurlock to see Dr. Carter. Nathan…are you ok to do that? You look worse for wear.", Lee questioned.
"I'm fine. We'll come back with the prisoner transport wagon to get these guys loaded up."
With Pete Spurlock loaded into the back seat of the car, Nathan and Bill hopped in with Bill taking control in the driver's seat.
Nathan looked at Bill and said with a little light hearted sarcasm, "Bill do you know how to drive?"
Bill gently stepped on the gas so as not to jostle the wounded men and took off towards town.
"Do I know how to drive?", Bill scoffed while giving a hearty laugh as they drove away.
Nathan let out a barely audible groan and grabbed his sides when they hit the bumps.
"Are you ok Nathan?"
"Yea Bill. I think I have a few busted ribs but it's is no big deal. How is Allie? I've been so worried about her?"
"She is shook up but is being taken care of at Rosemary and Lee's house. She's one brave little lady."
"I know. I am so proud of her." Nathan moaned again as they hit another bump.
They drove right to the infirmary where Dr. Faith Carter had already heard she may be needed and was waiting. "Nathan are you ok?", she asks while noticing he did not have his shirt on.
"Yes, just a few sore ribs I think but I'm ok for now. I used my shirt to try to stop the bleeding from the back of his head." He indicated towards the back seat of the car. "He took a fall and hit his head hard on a rock. We haven't been able to wake him but he is breathing fine. Right now Spurlock needs your help. We'll bring him in."
"Spurlock!" Faith exclaimed. "Spurlock!", she exclaimed again while instinctively taking a couple of steps backward. Do no harm. Do no harm, she silently thought. That part of her physician vows came back to her.
"Not that Spurlock!" Nathan exclaimed. "Not the bad one Faith." This left Faith more confused than ever but she would take Nathan's word for it.
By that time Pastor Joseph Canfield and Ned had also arrived having heard about the attack. Seeing that Nathan was hurt, Joseph gently nudged him aside while he and Bill unloaded the big man and carefully hauled him inside the clinic.
Faith went into physician mode and cleared her mind of any confusion about who this man really was. She would attend to him and give him the care she would give any patient. She would do her best to get him well.
Minnie, Molly and Florence had also arrived and jumped right into offering their assistance to Faith.
Faith could see that the blood had come from a superficial tear in the skin on the right side of his head. He also had quite the goose egg.
"Molly could you get me that large brown bottle over there. Florence will you grab that gauze on the top shelf of that cabinet? Minnie, would you go to the saloon and get a bucket of ice?"
"Mr. Spurlock? Can you hear me?", Faith asked while patting his should gently. No answer back. Just a few groans. His vitals seemed to all be stable.
Meanwhile at Rosemary's house, Elizabeth and Rosemary were still comforting and calming Allie. What an ordeal she had just been through. Rosemary had made hot tea while Elizabeth tried to get Allie to eat something.
There was a sudden loud knock on the door. Rosemary opened the door to see a wide eyed Robert looking a bit ashen with Laura at his side.
"I just heard Nathan and Bill are back and they have Spurlock with them.", he exclaimed nervously.
"Spurlock?!", exclaimed Rosemary and Elizabeth at the same time.
"Yea…I guess he's in bad shape at the infirmary and there's a whole bunch of people over there."
Laura piped in and said, "I thought you might want me to babysit?"
"Yes Laura. Thank you so much for watching Jack. He is sleeping right now and I will be back as soon as I can."
"What? Uncle Nathan is back?", exclaimed Allie. Without waiting for an answer, she bolted and ran out the door.
"Allie! Wait!", hollered Elizabeth but to no avail.
Allie was on a dead run to the infirmary. Robert, Rosemary, and Elizabeth were all running behind her too, unable to keep up with her.
As Allie approached the infirmary she saw several people gathered outside and she saw the shadowy figure of her uncle.
"Uncle Nathan," she cried as she ran towards him. "Uncle Nathan!"
Allie ran and slammed right into his waiting arms and hugged him tight. He let out a muffled groan and Allie looked up at him. "Are you hurt Uncle Nathan?"
"I just have some bruised ribs…well, maybe a bit busted I think, Allie. I'm ok and I am so glad to see your face.", he said as he kissed her forehead and hugged her as best he could.
Robert, Rosemary and Elizabeth were there by then. Caught by surprise, they were all shocked to see his bare chest and quickly could saw the bruises, scrapes and cuts on his body. He saw the shocked look on their faces and quickly explained that he had used his shirt to stop the bleeding on Spurlock's head.
"Spurlock!", exclaimed Rosemary. "That son of the devil!"
"Whooo….wait Rosemary. I have to tell you something. It is not as it seems but…for now…Bill and I have to get the prisoner transport wagon. There are three fugitive brothers we need to go pick up. They're restrained in that old shack and Cyrus, Lee and Jesse are guarding them so we need to hurry. Spurlock helped capture them and helped me too."
"Hurry back", Rosemary pleaded.
"I'll explain later Rosemary but for now just know that Lee, Jesse, and Cyrus are fine and are waiting for us and that this Spurlock is not 'a bad guy'."
Allie, "Uncle Nathan do you have to go? You're hurt."
"Yes…for now I do have to go but I promise I will be right back.", he stressed.
Elizabeth fought back the tears in her eyes. Her heart was so heavy and seeing Nathan's injuries broke her heart.
"Nathan! Wait. Before you go let me grab a support wrap for your ribs.", she says as she quickly ran inside and in a flash, back out with the wrap.
She started wrapping his chest with the bandaging. Her heart was beating out of her chest but she hid her feelings and wrapped until he was adequately supported. She looked up at him while standing just inches away. "Nathan, I will take care of Allie while you are gone…if that's OK with both you and Allie", she said as an escaped tear rolled down her cheek. She wanted to say so much more but now was not the time.
Nathan looked over at Allie to see if she felt comfortable staying with Elizabeth. Allie looked over at Elizabeth who had just wrapped her Uncle Nathan's ribs and nodded to him that she was fine with staying with Elizabeth.
Nathan looked down at Elizabeth and their eyes met. He could see the emotion as the tear ran down her cheek. "Thank you Elizabeth for wrapping my ribs and for taking care of Allie. I will be right back."
"We'll be waiting, " she said.
He felt that same old feeling in his heart again. He turned and gave a smile and nod to Allie and Elizabeth as he was walking away and caught a glimpse of Lucas standing right outside the saloon watching with hands on his hips.
Save it, Nathan thought when he saw Lucas watching.
Nathan and Bill started for the transport wagon which had already been hitched to the horses by Hickman and Fiona.
Robert ran up, "Wait Nathan. Here is one of my dad's shirts. I had it on but it's too big for me so you can wear it now. It's nice and warm.", he says peeling off the shirt, revealing another shirt underneath. "I dress in layers sometimes even if it's warm outside", he snickered.
Nathan thanked Robert and put on the shirt as he was walking away. The warm shirt made him realize just how cool it actually was outside but he had not noticed until now.
Elizabeth put her arm gently around Allie's shoulders. "You ready to go to my house?"
"Sure," said a quiet Allie.
Oh Lord. Help me help her. Help her to forgive me for hurting her…and Nathan, Elizabeth prayed silently as they walked off.