I woke up to pain, which was nothing new. My head didn't hurt anymore but my eye, where I'd caught the table in my fall, certainly did. And I won't even tell you what my back felt like. I've woken up and felt worse, so I wasn't about to complain.
I was in bed rather than the exam table. Again, I wondered who'd done the moving. I was beginning to feel like a piece of luggage. Then it suddenly occurred to me – Rally Simmons and I could be roommates. Wouldn't he be excited to hear that?
For just a minute I thought I was alone, but when I paid attention to the sounds in the room, I could hear soft breathing. Odds are it was Maggie because there's no way my brother is ever that quiet when he sleeps. I twisted my neck slightly and, sure enough, a female head lying on my bed appeared, but it wasn't Maggie. It took me a full minute before I recognized the head as June Morgan's.
"June," I called, with no response. I tried a little louder. "June." My eye throbbed, but June heard me.
"Mmmmmmm," she mumbled as she raised her head. "Oh, Bart. You're awake. Good. I was worried."
"S'matter, June? Rally kick you out?"
She giggled, a sound I hadn't heard from her before. "No, silly, I just sat down with you so your brother could go get cleaned up. He was here when I got in this morning. I guess I just fell asleep."
"How's Rally this mornin'?" I asked her. And why hadn't she run from Bret in terror, the way she had the last time?
"A little better. He told me to tell you - let's see, what did he say exactly? 'Tell him to keep his nose where it belongs.' Do you know what he meant?"
"I do, and I thank him for the unsolicited advice. When you see him, tell him there's not a snowball's chance in hell. He'll understand."
I heard the door open, and my brother's voice. "Who'll understand what?"
I reached out with my right hand and grasped June's hand. "Go on back to Rally, June. And thanks."
She leaned over and kissed my cheek, then disappeared from my vision. Brother Bret moved into it. "Hey, son, how ya doin' this mornin'?"
"Starvin'," I told him. "Help me sit up, would ya?"
"You sure you wanna do that?"
"Sure." He grabbed my right hand and pulled me into a sitting position.
"Ouch. Thanks. Didja think to bring me a shirt that wasn't ripped?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Have you so little faith in me after all these years? Of course I did. Let's see what we can do about gettin' one off and the other on, hmmm?"
Between the two of us we managed to do just that. If I thought my back hurt before, it was nothing compared to the flair of pain that was there now. Bret saw the grimace on my face. "You wanted up, son."
"I know it. I also want food. Any chance of that?"
"Can you get up?" He held out his hand and I swung my legs over the bed and grabbed the hand. It was easier to stand up than to put the shirt on. "How about a coat?"
Actually he was referring to my suit coat, which would do until I could get another one. Then came the hard part, the thick winter coat. "Still freezin' outside, huh?" I asked unnecessarily.
"You know it is. It's gonna freeze until spring." He sighed, and I was certain that Bret wanted that as much as I did. Of course, spring would bring two more problems with it, named Dickie and Jed. "The hotel or Minnie's?"
"No question," I told him. "Minnie's. A little help here?" I asked him as I staggered a bit. Bret grabbed my elbow and held me steady as he guided me across the room. Just as he reached for the door knob it opened and the doctor stood before us.
"Where do you think you're goin'?" he questioned.
"To get breakfast, of course," I told him.
"I wish you wouldn't leave just yet," Doc answered. "I'd like to take another look at that wound."
"I'll make ya a deal, Doc. I'll come back after I've eaten, okay?"
"See to it that you do. How's the eye this morning? Any problems with vision?"
"Nope. Pain, yes. Vision, no."
"You got a hell of a shiner there, son," the doctor commented. I bet I was a beautiful sight.
"Yeah, but you should see the other guy."
That caused Bret to laugh. "Good thing you've got a sense of humor to offset that lack a brains," my brother added. Always pleasant when your relatives make fun of you.
We could hear the front door open and close, and in just a minute Maggie was standing in the doorway, looking horrified that I was out of bed. "Why are you up?"
"Because my stomach's askin' why I'm still not fed," I replied. "Good mornin' to you, too, Miss Sawyer."
She stepped up to the side I'd been shot. "Can I take your arm?"
"Gently," was my answer. "Shall we go visit your new employer?"
And the three of us made our way carefully out the door and down to Minnie's.
XXXXXXXX
It was just as I'd feared. When Bret had taken Maggie to dinner at my insistence last night he'd filled her full of tales of our childhood. And she had the same question most people had – who set the chicken on fire?
"Cousin Beau," I answered.
"Cousin Beau," Bret echoed. "Of course – "
"I did not," I interrupted. "Didn't you tell her anything reasonable last night?"
"Nope. Just warned her what a scalawag you were. I thought that was the least I could do for her. Oh, forgot to tell ya, I took yer place at the Lady last night. Figured that was the best thing ta do."
"Gee, thanks. Bet they'll be glad to see me back."
Bret laughed between bites of bacon. "Yeah, they will. Good group there. They were all concerned. Especially Calvin. Said he didn't want ya as a customer."
"Nice to know somebody missed me." I must have looked morose, because Maggie reached over and took my hand. I gave hers a squeeze and reached for my coffee with my left hand. Bad move. And both my companions saw that on my face.
"Brother Bart – "
"I know, I know. Ya just got shot, idiot. I got it."
We were almost done eating when Dan Manning came in, and I knew right away he was looking for me. "I was right," he said as he shook off leaves and snow. "You two been nothin' but trouble since ya got here. Maggie, best be careful around these boys. They're either bad news or bad luck, and I ain't sure which."
"I'll take my chances, Sheriff." She accompanied that statement with a big smile, and like everyone else in the vicinity, he was dazzled by that and the sparkling blue eyes.
"What happened?" The question was directed at me, of course.
"Don't know," I answered. "We were goin' back to the hotel and somebody started shootin'."
"And it just happened to be at you?"
I couldn't shrug my shoulders without causing pain, so I told him, "Just lucky, I guess."
Manning turned to Maggie "And you were there?"
"I was with Bart at the time, yes."
"Did you see anything?"
Maggie shook her head. "I heard the shot, Bart shoved me into the doorway and protected me, then he returned fire while I ran for the hotel. I got inside with Bart not far behind me, but he was hit. That's all I know, Sheriff Manning."
"And where were you two comin' from?"
"My house."
Manning kept asking questions. "And before that?"
Even Maggie was getting frustrated with him. "We were there all day, Sheriff."
"All day?"
"Since about six-thirty in the morning."
"Oh."
"Any more questions, Sheriff?" I asked.
"Not for now. I'd say don't leave town, but you ain't goin' anywhere."
Bret hadn't said a word during the whole exchange, but as Manning walked towards the door he finally remarked, "He doesn't much care for us, does he?"
"He's that way with everybody," Maggie explained. "But he's got a big heart."
"Would be nice ta see some of it," I told her. "Well, Miss Maggie, you should go home. I'll come by later, assumin' I'm still on my feet. Brother Bret, how bout we grab one a my other coats before we go back to see Doc?"
"We can do that, as long as you let me go up and get it."
"Don't worry, I have no intention of climbin' those stairs just yet."
Breakfast was paid for, coats were gotten on, and we left Minnie's. Bret took Maggie home after I promised to wait for him downstairs in the hotel. I wasn't moving real fast, but at least I was moving. And by the time I got to the hotel I was more than ready to sit and wait for big brother to get back. I felt better by the time he came through the hotel doors.
"Which coat? Any preference?"
"Anything black," I answered as he started upstairs.
It was more than a few minutes before he came back, and there was a worried look on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked as he got within earshot.
"Somebody was in our room."
"You sure?"
He gave me that 'poor younger brother touched in the head' look. "Of course I'm sure. Everything looks alright, and I couldn't find anything missin', but things were moved around. Whoever was in there was careful."
"Can't imagine what somebody was lookin' for."
"Maybe it was who rather than what."
That was something to think about. If Dickie and Jed weren't in Sioux Falls, who else was after me?