Meleah's Western - Part 40

Welcome Wednesday Western Readers,
I
didn't think I'd get time to get on here and post today, but as you can
see, I do or I did, or something. My brain is not all the way here, I
think.
What with tornadoes on Sunday, rain, thunderstorms and babysitting Monday,
helping clean up some friends' house Tuesday and then spending several
hours waiting during a tornado warning last night after we had just
gotten to bed, and now waiting for those friends to get their pass to
let us back into the damaged area to clean up some more, my brain just
isn't working.
But, here is the Western. Enjoy!


Part 40


“Got ta get Par saddled,” Ty muttered feebly, trying to push back the bed clothes. “We’ll never make it at this rate, Carson.”

“Easy, Ty,” Jack was beside the bed with one hand on the sick man’s
pulse. “Par is just fine right now. You need to rest.” As he spoke,
Jack had laid his cool hand on Ty’s flushed and feverish face.
“Carson? Dan!” Ty’s words were growing excited. “Dan, where’s Carson? Ya saw him last! Where is he?”
“Carson is out riding, Ty, there is no need for alarm. He’ll be back.”

Momentarily calmed by Jack’s soothing words, Ty’s eyes closed and his
tense shoulders relaxed. Jack began bathing his face with the cool
water which Mrs. Fields had brought. Sally sat in stunned silence. Ty
had awakened but hehadn’t said one word to her. And who was Dan? Why did Ty talk of him instead of her?
As though in answer to her thoughts, Jack told her softly, “He’s delirious, Sally. He doesn’t know where he is or what is going on.”
“What can I do? I have to do something!” her voice was frantic and full of suppressed emotion.
Jack glanced at Joe who stood near the distressed girl, nodded at her and then jerked his head in the direction of the door.

Understanding his brother’s unspoken order, Joe gently pulled Sally to
her feet. “Come on,” he whispered sympathetically, “we can talk out
here.”
Before Sally really had time to comprehend where she was
being taken or to resist, Joe had her out of the sick room and seated
in a rocking chair near the table. She shook her head when offered
something to drink and attempted to rise, but Joe pushed her gently
back down.
“Sally,” he said softly, looking into her tired face,
“you have to eat. You must,” he added when she shook her head, “if you
want to help nurse Ty. Jack won’t let you back in the room unless you
eat.”
“He has to, he’s my brother,” Sally swallowed hard and her chin quivered.

Resolutely Joe shook his head. “Ty is also Jack’s patient. If there is
a sick person, Jack is in charge and what he says is law. You have to
eat something if you want to go back in there.”
For a moment Sally
looked like she was going to continue to resist, but just then Mrs.
Fields pulled a fresh loaf of bread from the oven. The tantalizing
aroma was too much for Sally and after one more longing look at the
closed door, she nodded slightly, sure, however, that shecouldn’t swallow a mouthful.
“Good girl,” Joe sighed getting to his feet. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if she had insisted on not eating.


Having managed to eat two slices of the fresh, hot bread, Sally begged
to go back to her brother, and Joe nodded assent. Ty was sleeping when
they entered the room. Quietly she sank down in the chair beside him.
“What can I do?” Though still fighting back tears and fright, Sally
managed to speak calmly. The food and glass of fresh milk had seemingly
given her new courage. Jack let her bathe Ty’s face and hands while he
and Joe stepped to the far side of the room.
So intent on her brother was Sally that she didn’t hear their low-toned conversation.
“How is he?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t like the look of his shoulder. I expected
a fever, but I’m afraid it is going to go much higher than it is now.
He is already weakened by lack of blood not to mention a long journey,
and if the fever lasts too long, well . . .” his voice trailed off
significantly.
“We’ll keep praying.”
“That’s all you can do
right now. That and try to keep his sister from completely wearing
herself out. We don’t want her sick too. If you can keep her resting
and eating, I’ll do all I can for her brother.”
“I told her you wouldn’t let her back in the room if she didn’t eat,” Joe smiled slightly.
“Glad you thought of that.” And Jack looked over at the dark haired girl beside the bed. “Maybe it will help her to keep up.”
Ty began to mumble and move restlessly, and Jack left his brother to hurry to the bedside of his patient.

All that day Sally remained by her brother’s side. Leaving only for a
few minutes at a time when Joe, with persistence and skill, made her
eat a little. Thankfully shedidn ’t see Jack’s face when, as the
afternoon turned into evening, Ty’s fever continued to rise making his
delirium worse. He muttered and talked, called for Carson and kept
trying to get up. Never once did he call for his sister or seem to
notice her. When he saw Jack, he called him Dan and ordered Joe away
from his horse which he fancied was in the room with him.
During
one of his cries for Carson, Sally, with sudden terror grasped Joe’s
arm and whispered hoarsely, “Carson! Where is he?” She had just at that
moment realized that hehadn’t been around all day.
“Come out here and I’ll tell you.”

Seeing that Jack and Mrs. Fields were both with Ty, she followed with
pale cheeks. Once they where out of the sick room, Joe told her of the
search to find those who had shot her brother.
Sally turned even
more pale and clutched at her locket. She began to shake and her breath
came in gasps while she looked at Joe in wild eyed terror. “No!” she
gasped out. “No! Not Uncle Bob too!” A wild burst of sobbing broke from
her and had not Joe caught her, she would have dropped. With great sobs
shaking her, she buried her face in her hands unmindful of the
encircling arms while she continued to cry, “Not Uncle Bob! No, not him
too!”

Questions?