The Gunslinger (Barnett Ranch) (11 page)

             
The saddle was removed from the horse and the bedroll rolled out.  Jax took what little food he had out of his saddle bags and attempted to scrape together a small meal for them. 
Virginia
took the opportunity to go behind the bushes and relieve herself. 

             
Jax forgot all about his earlier worries.  Virginia tended to make him
forget things entirely.  He was lost in thoughts of her as he stirred the beans in the pot.  He’d let them get too hot and they bubbled up popping out of the pot and landing on his thumb.  It burnt like hell and he let out a loud cuss word. 

             
He popped the back of his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain then blew on it to cool it.  There was nothing he could do about it out here, so he had to grit his teeth and let it be.  He was a man and men didn’t cry about a little burn. 

             
Virginia came out of the bushes
and sit down on a log near the fire. 
“Are you
ok;
I thought I heard you yell out a cuss word.”  “Yeah I’m fine, just burnt my thumb is all.” 

             
“Did you hear that?” “What,” Jax asked.  “Nothing, I guess, I just thought I heard something.  It was probably just a squirrel.”  A stick cracked, “Listen,” Jax shushed her.  He pulled his pistol from his holster, grabbed his rifle and threw it to her.  She caught it in the air.  “I’m going to go check it out.  Keep the gun locked and loaded.
  Shoot anybody, that ain’t me.”  Virginia nodded her understanding.  She cocked the gun and held it to her shoulder.  Her finger rested over the trigger.  She held her breath waiting for Jax to return. 

             
Jax let out a loud yelp and then fired his gun, twice.  Virginia aimed her gun in the direction, of the next sound she heard.  An Indian came running at her with a knife.  She pulled the trigger and let it fire.  The Indian hit the ground, jerking.  Jax came hobbling out of the brush.  “Are you alright?”  “Yes, but your not.  You have an arrow in your leg.”  “Honey, I can see that.  I felt it when it went in.  I just wanted to be sure you weren’t hurt.”  “I’m fine, were there anymore?”  “Just those two, I need you to take this arrow out of my leg.  Do you think you can handle it?”  “I think so.”

             
Virginia pulled on the arrow, but it wouldn’t budge.  She looked at Jax.  He grabbed her shaking hands.  “Listen to me
honey;
you’re going to have to push it on through, the quicker the better.  You understand?”  Virginia hesitated
,
and then
nodded.  Jax squeezed her hands then released them. 

             
She snapped the arrow in two, looked around a minute, and then picked up a big rock. 
She used it to hit the arrow and hammer it through as fast as she could.  Jax let out a loud yell.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “Don’t be, it’s out.  Now get that bottle of whiskey out of my saddle bags.” 

             
Jax used his knife to cut the head off a led bullet, while she retrieved the whiskey.  “Here, use this here led, to burn the wound shut.  You’re going to have to stop bleeding all the way through.  Pour that whiskey through the hole, first.” 

             
Virginia followed his instructions, and done exactly what he said do, before he passed out.  She said a little prayer, that he’d be ok.  She worried about blood poison and gang green. 
She had seen
men die from both.  This country was wild and up until a year ago they hadn’t even had a doctor.  The doctor they had wasn’t very good, but he was all they had.  Any doctor was better than no doctor.

While Jax slept, Virginia worked on moving the dead Indian out of their camp, and went to look for the other one.  She hid them in the brush and covered their bodies with leaves and underbrush to cover them and keep them hidden. 

             
Reeves
rode out before daylight.  He was heading southeast after talking to the sheriff.  He found out that one of the men had been captured and revealed the location his sister had been taken.  He took the time to gather supplies and comfort his grandmother, but as soon as morning came he headed out.  He intended to find his sister if it was the last thing he did.  He didn’t know the man his grandmother had hired, nor did he understand why the man went after Virginia.  He’d heard one story after another about how dangerous the man was ever since he’d rode in.  That bothered him almost as much as the fact that she’d been taken. 

             
He
rode hard all day and half the night before making camp.  His horse was worn out, but he was a fresh horse.  He left his gelding in Chugwater and rented this one from the livery.

 
As he lay in his bedroll, his mind revolved around thoughts of Virginia.  He remembered the day she was born.  She screamed at the top of her lungs until their father laid her in his arms.  She took one look at him and quieted.  She’d been his shadow ever since.  He thought about her and
Craven
, when the Indians attacked, burning down their barn.  She was quiet and
Craven
huddled with her in the corner of the room, to stay safe.  That was the first time he’d ever killed a man and he’d do it again to save his loved ones. 

He drifted off and fell asleep.  As soon as it was morning he jumped up with a start.  He saddled his horse and rolled up his bedroll. He didn’t take time to eat
breakfast;
he just ate a piece of jerky on his way. 

He rode all day without a person in sight, so it took him by surprise when he came upon a fire that night.  He left his horse hitched to a tree, and taking out his rifle, he made hi way through the woods. He eased up
quietly, careful not to make any sound, so it caught him off guard when he heard the rifle cock behind him.  “Stop right where you are mister.  Drop that gun and turn around slowly where I can see you.” 
Reeves
knew the voice as soon as he heard it but he also knew he would have his head blown off if he didn’t do as he was told. 

He dropped the gun and slowly turned around.  “
Reeves
,” Virginia threw her arms around her brother.   “I can’t believe it’s you.  How
,
did you get here?”  “I had a gut feeling my sister needed me and I came back to find I was right.” 

Virginia picked up
Reeves
s rifle and
led him into the camp.  Jax laid
close to the fire wrapped in his bedroll, shivering.  “He has the fever, and I don’t know what to do for him.  We were attacked by two Indians last night and he took an arrow in his leg.  I’ve done all I know to do.”
  “I take it he’s the trusted man, Granny sent after you.”  “He is.”  “ Let me take a look at his leg.” 

The leg was infected but it could be saved.  “We’ve got to get him to a doctor as soon as possible.”  “I know but he can’t ride like this.
”  “We’ll have to make a travois.  Help me find a couple of small trees to cut into poles.  Then we’ll take a few smaller limbs and tie them off making him a bed.  We
can lay my bedroll over it then put him on it.  The quicker we get it done the better.  We can’t waste any time.” 

Reeves
and Virginia worked through the night, building the travois.  It was nearly daylight when they finally finished. 
Jax began
talking in his sleep, mumbling things that made no sense.  They fastened the travois to Jax’s horse and carried him to it. 
Reeves
picked him up under his arms while Virginia grabbed his legs.  He mumbled something Virginia didn’t hear, but
Reeves
did.

He prayed what he heard wasn’t true.  He couldn’t let her reputation be ruined by this man, even if he did save her life.  He said nothing to his sister. 
There was no good in talking about it now.  They needed to get him to the doctor in Chugwater, and it was more than a day’s ride.

He
led Jax’s horse and Virginia rode on the travois with Jax, wiping his brow with a cool wet rag.  She dabbed it all over his face and squeezed it in his mouth.  She feared he would dehydrate.  
 

             
She was tender with him. 
Reeves
noticed it from the start.  He feared his sister had fallen in love with him.  He wouldn’t allow it if he could help it.  He knew beyond a doubt she could do better than a gunslinger.  Even if the man did save her, he was no good for her.  The words Jax mumbled in his feverish slumber, worried him.  “Can’t let them know, don’t tell them, I’m the Angel of Death.  Can’t let them find me, tired too tired” he mumbled.  

             
Reeves
knew very little about the man they called the Angel of Death, but the little he did know bothered him.  His sister had been with the man for no telling how long.  People would talk for sure.  He needed to come up with a cover story, and tell them he came upon Jax before he found and killed her kidnappers.  He hoped the townsfolk would believe that.  He knew that given the opportunity they would try to force his sister into a marriage with the gunslinger to protect her reputation.  He also suspected no one knew the man’s, own reputation. 

             
They didn’t stop long enough to make camp, preferring only to take five minute bathroom breaks and eating jerky instead of a meal.  There was no time to stop.  If they stopped, they might not make it back in time to save Jax’s life, and while part of
Reeves
didn’t care if Jax lived or died the other part, knew it was wrong of him to feel that way.  He didn’t really know the man, and he couldn’t let him die after he saved Virginia’s life.  He warred with his conscience, but his conscience won out in the end.

             
They rode straight through the night, not stopping to sleep.  They could sleep when they got to Chugwater.  Being raised on a ranch
Reeves
had gone without sleep before, and it was nothing new to him.   The only light they had was that which was put off by the moon, but it was a clear night and the ground was easy to see. 
Reeves
followed the North Star to Chugwater.  They would be there by late afternoon, the following day. 

             
Reeves
looked back at the pair on the travois.  His sister had fallen asleep and her head lay on the gunslinger’s chest.  “Damn,” he said aloud.  “Damn it all to hell.”  He shook his head furiously.  How could his grandmother allow it?  The woman had to be addlebrained to allow Virginia within ten feet of a man that dangerous.  What was she thinking?

             
The whole town came out to see the trio that had returned.  Everyone watched and stared in amazement that Virginia had been found alive.  They were even more astonished to find out the man who’d gone to rescue her was now lying upstairs in the restaurant, being treated by the town doctor.  As soon as word got around that it had been an arrow not a bullet that had found its way into his leg, people began to panic.  There was a fear of an Indian attack on homes on the outskirts of town. 

             
They imagined all kinds of scenarios.  What shocked them the most was Virginia’s attentiveness of the injured man.  Night and day, she stayed upstairs tending to his every need. 
Reeves
was angry about it and had words with her and their grandmother.  He didn’t like it.  

             
Mrs. Ellen, only smiled and watched as her granddaughter took on the duties of nursemaid.  It was exactly what she hoped would come out of it.  Her granddaughter had fallen in love with Jax, and she was ok with it.  She told
Reeves
to mind his own business.  “He’s a good man
Reeves
, and he deserves happiness just like you.  If your sister is the one who makes him happy, and vice versa, then so be it.  I will not stand in the way.”  “Are you out of your mind woman, or have you completely lost it.  I told you, he’s a gunslinger.  I heard it from him, when he was mumbling with the fever.  He’s the Angel of Death, the one we’ve heard so many stories about.”  “Don’t you think I know that?  I’m not stupid
Reeves
.  I suspected he was a gunslinger the first moment I laid eyes on him.  I suspect Virginia knows it too.  I found one of those dime novels, she claimed she bought for you and
Craven
.  It was stashed under the
bed.  It was all about the Angel of Death.  It gave a matching description of Jax and even went as far as to say, he’s never once killed in cold blood.” 

             
Reeves
raked his hands through his hair and blew a long breath from his mouth.  “I can’t believe this, my own grandmother, setting my sister up with an infamous gunslinger.  You really have lost your mind.” 

             
Reeves
stormed out of his grandmother’s restaurant and crossed the street to the saloon.  He mumbled under his breath the whole way.  People stared as they passed by but he paid little mind to them.  He was tired, irritable and frustrated.  There was no way in hell he was going to let his sister end up with a gunslinger.  He’d probably get her killed someday.  Some young fool would come along and call him out and Virginia would get in the way.  He just knew it.  It scared the living daylights out of him.