Page 19 of Cade’s Quest (The McIntyres #1)

Chapter Fifteen

T he following three days found them making more cheese, hunting, and teaching Bear some simple English. The boy seemed proud of himself, grinning from ear to ear. He followed Cade everywhere and kept begging to go back to the water.

“We can’t.” Cade knelt in front of him, the late afternoon sun reminding him he had to hunt for game before dark. “I promise we will before it gets colder.”

“Go now.” Bear tugged on his hand.

Cade shook his head. “You’ll have to wait.”

Rain laughed as she hung some wet clothes on a juniper bush to dry. “You’ve created a slave driver.”

Cade pushed back his hat. “I did, didn’t I?” He chuckled. “Guess it could be worse.”

“It always can.” She said something sharp to Bear in their native tongue and he dropped to sit on the ground, pouting.

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him to leave you alone and quit pestering.”

Suddenly, Bear began screaming. Cade got to him first and picked him up. As he did, a black widow spider fell from the boy’s arm. Cade ground it under his heel.

Panic echoed on Rain’s pretty face. “Quick, we have to get mud from the stream!” She ran for the small ribbon of water, scooping up some mud. She hurried back and put it on the bite. Bear continued to scream.

They took him inside the dugout in case someone riding by heard the racket and Rain held him in her lap.

“Do you think that mud will draw out the poison?” Cade asked.

She chewed her lip, smoothing back the boy’s hair. “I don’t know. It’s the only thing I know to do.”

“He needs a doctor.” He felt so helpless. The boy’s lips and eyes had begun to swell. Their only hope was a doctor.

“But they’ll catch you,” she said, worry in her voice. She reached for his hand.

“You, too. That’s a chance we’ll have to take. I’ll saddle Buck.” He didn’t stop to listen to any objections. The boy’s life was worth the risk. They had to save him. Already Bear was laboring to breathe. Just then, Bear vomited, and that settled it.

He put Rain and Bear on the horse with him leading it.

She hadn’t had time to change into the disguise Abigail had made and he hated that she’d have to go in her traditional deerskin dress.

The tick of a clock inside his head was loudly counting off the minutes and he cursed the delay.

Each step, each breath, was taking them closer to town to the danger that awaited.

They reached the edge of Clarendon as darkness fell. Few people were out on the street. Somewhere, dogs barked. Cade led Buck behind some houses, coming up the back way to the doctor’s office.

Thankful to have arrived with the boy still breathing, Cade took a limp Bear from Rain’s arms and helped her dismount. As they hurried inside, Rain muttered in her native language.

“Doc? Are you in here?” he shouted, placing Bear’s small body on a table. “Doc?”

Bear began to shake violently, and Rain tried to hold him down.

A man in his early fifties came from the next room, drying his hands. “McIntyre, I haven’t seen you in a while. What do you need?”

When Cade lived in Clarendon with his parents, Doc Blanchard had been a bit younger. His reddish hair was mostly vanished and he was almost bald. It was nice to find a familiar face.

“This three-year-old was bit by a black widow,” Cade explained.

Doc Blanchard jumped into action, grabbing a syringe and filling it from a vial. “This is potassium bromide and should stop the seizure.”

After Bear settled down, Doc washed and sterilized the wound, covering it with a bandage.

He followed that with a syringe that he filled with clear liquid from a little vial and shot it into Bear.

“This injection should help ease his pain and labored breathing. His seizures are gone, but he could have more. If none of this works, there’s nothing else to try. ”

Nothing else to try. The words rolled around in Cade’s head like so many marbles. If Bear died, Rain would probably never stop blaming herself.

“Let’s sit and let the doctor work.” He put an arm around her, and she sank against him. He took her to three chairs against the wall in the room and they sat.

“Are you the boy’s parents?” Doc asked.

“He is my nephew,” Rain replied.

“The next few hours are crucial. If he still lives, he’ll be fine.” Blanchard returned the vial to a cabinet. “There’s just not much else I can do. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, Doc. We appreciate this.” Cade rubbed Rain’s back. “He’s going to be fine,” he murmured into her hair. “He can’t die.”

They moved the chairs to the bedside and sat, holding hands, watching Bear struggle to breathe. At last, Cade rose and glanced out the window. Full darkness had fallen. “I have to move Buck before someone spots him. Can I get you some water?”

She raised her red-rimmed eyes. “No, nothing.”

“I’ll be back.” He kissed her forehead and ducked out into the night.

A soft breeze ruffled his hair as he untied Buck and led the horse from the doctor’s office. The church was bathed in moonlight and Cade decided it was as good a place as any.

He’d just left Buck and was on his way back when the faint rustle of clothing met his ears. Before he could turn or draw his weapon, someone stuck the hard metal of a gun to his back.

“Hands up,” the man snapped. “Be quick about it.”

Cade did as the man ordered, curious. He didn’t recognize the voice but knew for sure it wasn’t Maxwell, and it was also missing the gravel of Jones’s. Maybe he could draw, spin, and shoot before the shot tore into his back, but it was doubtful.

“What do you want?”

When he started to turn, the man barked, “Eyes straight ahead.”

Knowing the time to act was at the beginning of a holdup before the guy got the upper hand, Cade swung and slammed a right fist into the gunman’s jaw.

He followed quickly with his left fist and the ruffian went down.

Sparing him a glance, Cade stared at the face of a stranger.

From the amount of weapons on the man, he assumed it was someone Jones had brought in.

Quickly stripping away the weapons, Cade tossed them into some bushes growing along the side of the church and made tracks back to Rain. The close call had set his hands shaking and heart pounding, no matter how much he tried to hide them.

He couldn’t fool her though as he slid into the chair beside her. The truth was in her dark eyes.

“What happened?” she asked quietly.

“I almost got caught. He had me dead to rights.” Cade blew out a large breath and removed his hat, running his hand across his eyes.

She chewed her lip. Standing, she gently laid a wet cloth to the boy’s forehead. “What if they find Buck? Should you go move him?”

At the moment, Cade couldn’t give her an answer. One problem at a time. “How is Bear?”

“The same. He still sleeps.”

Worry filled her dark eyes and he wished he could hold her. “Why don’t you let me take you to Miss Farnsworth at the newspaper office where you can rest?”

“The hour is late. If Bear is no better at daybreak…” her voice broke.

“He will be. We have to have hope. Has the doctor come in?” Cade stared at the little one who’d wormed his way into his heart. His blue, swollen lips had gotten worse.

“Several times but he didn’t stay long. He told me to think positively and pray.” Deep sadness colored her voice. “I do not like it here. I wish we could go home.”

“Me too. I long for the quiet of our dugout.” Where they had found happiness, even if it was as fleeting as the wind.

They sat beside Bear the long night through.

The doctor bustled in at daybreak. He listened to the boy’s heart and checked his pulse.

“I’m surprised he still lives. I wouldn’t have given you anything for his chances last night.

” Doc Blanchard took off his stethoscope.

“Now that he’s survived this long, I think it’s a good sign he’ll pull through.

The situation looks more hopeful with the sunrise. ”

“You hear that, Rain? A thread of hope.” Cade squeezed her small hand. She had dark circles under her puffy eyes. “Now let me take you to Miss Farnsworth. I also need to check on Buck and decide what to do.”

Moving the roan might be more dangerous than leaving him behind the church. Either way would involve a great deal of risk. But he had to do something. Buck would need water soon.

Rain shook her head. “In a while. I want to be here when he wakes up.”

Cade wanted to tell her that might not happen, but he couldn’t force the words out and send her smile running. “I’ll be back soon.”

A quick scan of the street revealed few people.

With luck maybe Jones and his army got drunk last night and were still sleeping.

Cade slipped out and wove behind the store fronts until he reached the church.

The man he knocked out was gone. At the corner of the house of worship, he listened for sounds that would indicate Buck had a visitor.

Nothing. He proceeded and found Buck still there. The roan raised his head at Cade’s approach.

“Hey boy, did you have a good night?” Cade patted the horse’s side. Buck nuzzled his hand then tried to put his muzzle in a pocket. “Sorry, boy. I have nothing for you. Maybe soon if I can manage it.”

Now, what to do? The urge to move Buck was strong. But where to put him? Esther Baker’s barn? With her passing, no one was living there and maybe Cade would find a bit of grain to feed Buck. Quickly deciding, he removed the hobble and led the faithful horse.

Every nerve ending stood as he moved out onto the street. So far, no one paid him any mind. He walked slowly as though in no hurry even though his gut screamed warnings. When the first alley appeared, he turned into it and increased his steps.

At the end of the alley, voices alerted him. He pressed against the building in an effort to make himself smaller. His heart raced and then when another gentleman, older by far, turned into the alley, he pulled his Stetson down lower.

“Good morning there,” the man said cheerfully. “I’m taking a shortcut.”

“Morning,” Cade mumbled, squatting down to lift Buck’s front leg. He stayed there until the man vanished.

Without further incident, Cade arrived at Miz Baker’s barn and opened the wide door, thankful to find it empty. Putting Buck in a stall, he opened a bin tucked against the wall and found oats. He gave a portion to Buck and filled a dry trough with water.

That accomplished, Cade breathed a little easier and thought of food.

Rain needed to eat. Halfway back, a door swung open as he passed the boardinghouse.

He ducked into some large lantana bushes.

A young woman stepped onto the wide porch.

Something in the way she walked drew him.

He moved a large cluster of yellow flowers out of the way to get a better view.

The sunlight struck her auburn hair, and she turned.

Summer.

His heart leaped with joy to see her, then in the next moment he wished she’d heeded Maxwell’s warning. But then his big sister had always charged straight into danger as though either it didn’t affect her or she believed she could neutralize the threat.

What if the vigilante lawman got it in his head she had aided the brothers in the bank robbery?

Or even worse, tried to use her to draw Cade out.