Page 42 of Wellspring

THEY MAINTAINED a tense, watchful silence the rest of the way to town, but they didn’t see any signs of JR men following them or of any other danger, not that Cade let down his guard.

Lutz might pretend otherwise, but Eldorado was a JR town as surely as if it were on JR land.

Oh, the townspeople didn’t all feel that way.

Most of them probably didn’t, when it came down to it, but they didn’t have the wherewithal to stand up to Reichardt as long as he had Lutz in his pocket.

When they got to town, they hitched the wagon in front of Miz Hart’s mercantile and left Javier to fill their order while he and Erick went in search of Miz Dawson.

She was in the middle of a lesson with a group of children ranging from toddlers to teens, if Cade was any judge, so they stood in the back of the classroom until she finished.

Cade was surprised by how much of what was printed on the chalkboard he was able to understand.

Seemed Erick was a better teacher than either of them realized.

“Mr. Heller, Mr. Webster,” she greeted them after sending the children outside to play. “I hope the books you borrowed proved helpful?”

Erick nodded with a small smile as he handed them back to her. “We found them most… effective. We are ready for something a bit more advanced, I think.”

“In that case, here are the primers.” Miz Dawson showed them a stack of books, “and if you think those are not advanced enough, here are the readers I use after the children finish with the primers.”

“We’re not getting to town too often at the moment,” Cade said. “Could we take one of each, and maybe even one after? So we don’t have to make the trip again right away.”

“Of course,” she said. “I’m happy to lend you as many as you want. I only wish my students were as excited about learning their letters.”

Cade hoped his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt at the thought of exactly how Erick had motivated him.

“Cade is most dedicated to our lessons,” Erick agreed dryly. “I thank you for sharing your resources with us.”

They found Javier waiting for them outside when they’d taken their leave.

“Lizzie is putting our order together, but we have some time to kill before it will be ready to load on the wagon. Let’s check for mail and see if Lutz’s in his office so we can waste our time reporting the JR crew’s harassment. ”

Cade rolled his eyes but followed Javier to the sheriff’s office cum post office. They picked up the mail, but Lutz’s desk was empty. “He’s probably in the saloon,” Tatum, the postmaster who doubled as Lutz’s deputy, offered with a twist of his lips. “He usually is, this time of day.”

Just what they needed. Then again, maybe if they told him what happened in front of witnesses, it would be harder for him to deny knowing about it later.

If they ever found an impartial person to listen to both sides of the story, anyway.

Laughter and the tinny sound of the out-of-tune piano poured from the doors of the saloon as they approached.

Nothing out of the ordinary, but Cade couldn’t help wishing he hadn’t left his bow secured to Nahnia’s saddle.

He tried not to carry it in town. The townspeople didn’t need any additional reminders of his unconventional upbringing.

But he was better with his bow than with his pistol, faster, and right now every sense he had was jangling, leaving him on edge.

The saloon wasn’t especially crowded, not surprising this early in the afternoon.

Jock, the blacksmith, was eating a plate of bacon and eggs at the bar, washing it down with a mug of beer and chatting with one of the Meier brothers about the first child he and his wife Sofía were expecting.

Lutz was deep in conversation with—no surprise there—the JR foreman, Frank Sanders, a half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table between them.

“JR’s men have been out of line,” Cade said with a glare at Sanders. “They’ve fired at our hands on Wellspring land and threatened our passing over JR land to get into town.”

“Anybody dead?” Lutz took a sip of his whiskey. “If not, don’t bother me. What’s the matter, is Wellspring too weak to take care of itself since old man Roarke died?”

“Well, that won’t be a problem much longer,” Sanders drawled.

“I feel almost guilty, staying here enjoying drinks with you, but Carter deserves a chance to prove himself.” He downed his shot with a sigh of satisfaction.

“Miz Roarke has been so reluctant to consider Mr. Reichardt’s suit that he’s decided to take more, shall we say, direct action. ”

“What the hell does that mean?” Cade demanded as Lutz chuckled and raised his glass in a toast.

“By the end of the night she’ll either have agreed to Reichardt’s proposal or, well. Let’s just say I’m not sure anyone would have her after the hands are done passing her around. Probably the best thing that could happen to the bitch.”

Cade was ready to flatten him for that, but Erick got there first, his punch knocking Sanders out of his seat onto the floor.

“You demean an honorable woman with your scurrilous implications,” he growled, casting a withering glare at Lutz before turning his back on them both.

“I think we should return to Wellspring with all haste.”

Before Cade could agree, Sanders levered himself to his feet and reached for his pistol. Cade scrambled for his own gun but Sanders fired before he could draw it, the shot knocking Erick to his knees.

A shout tore from Cade’s throat as he dropped to the ground at Erick’s side.

Blood pulsed from the hole in his back, staining his chambray shirt bright red.

The memory of Pahayoko falling from his horse with a similar wound flashed through Cade’s mind, stealing what little breath he still had.

He couldn’t let history repeat itself. Erick groaned, struggling to push himself up, his arm trembling with effort.

“Warn them,” he rasped, his voice breaking as his elbow buckled and he collapsed, unconscious.

Cade leaned his full weight onto the wound, trying to slow the bleeding.

He hadn’t been able to save his brother when the cavalry gunned him down, but he would be damned if he let Erick die.

The cries of fear and distress from the other patrons echoed around him without registering as more than sound.

He had eyes only for the labored rise and fall of Erick’s back.

As long as he could see that, Erick was still alive.

“Here.” Javier pressed a folded kerchief into Cade’s hands. “Use this.”

Cade pressed the pad against the wound and turned to meet Sanders’s gaze. “You’re a dead man.”

“Watch yourself, Webster,” Lutz blustered, but Cade ignored him as he pushed to his feet.

“Cade!” Javier’s voice cut through the rising anger that colored his vision. “Erick needs a doctor now if he’s going to survive, and I can’t get him there by myself.”

Cade shook himself free of the rage threatening to consume him.

Killing Sanders could wait. Erick had to come first. He bent again to find Javier holding the pad he’d just pressed against Erick’s back.

When Javier rose, he saw the cloth was already soaked with blood.

“Keep pressure on the wound,” Javier said as he lifted Erick over his shoulder.

Even pressing as hard as he could, blood seeped through the pad and trailed in rivulets down Cade’s arm.

How could Erick possibly survive this? His vision darkened around him, the red haze of blood all he could see, until Javier staggered up the steps to Dr. Lillard’s surgery and kicked open the door.

“We have an emergency here!” Javier shouted. Lillard hurried out from a back room, grimacing as Javier laid Erick on the examination table. “He’s been shot.”

“In the back?” Lillard looked horrified as he peeled the blood-soaked pad away, though Cade couldn’t tell if it was by the wound or the cowardice behind it.

“Sanders,” Javier spat out, just as disgusted.

“Can you save him?” Cade would deal with Sanders later—there was nowhere on earth he’d be safe from Cade’s vengeance—but Erick had to survive first.

Lillard cut away Erick’s shirt, shaking his head. “I’d have to operate to get the bullet out, and if it’s pierced a lung or nicked his heart, there’s not much I can do.”

Before Cade could insist that he couldn’t let Erick die, a young woman and man hurried into the surgery.

“We saw someone carried in from the street,” the woman said in a lilting accent.

“What can I do to help? No, Tim, you know blood makes you queasy,” she added, trying to push her companion back from the table.

“Lucy and Tim O’Neill are new in town. They’ve opened an apothecary next door,” the doctor explained.

“Lucy, get my surgical tools ready, please. O’Neill, I’ll need ether to keep him anesthetized.

Triple the usual amount—this will be a lengthy surgery, if he doesn’t die on us first.” He rolled up his sleeves and began to pump water at the sink to wash his hands.

O’Neill nodded, seeming relieved to have something to do that would take him out of the surgery. “Yes, sir.”

Javier tried to herd Cade toward the door after O’Neill, but Cade stood his ground. “Webster, let the doc do his job.”

“No,” Cade protested. “I have to stay. I have to be here if….” He couldn’t get the words out. He’d lost so much in his life. He couldn’t bear to lose Erick too.

“Come on, Cade.” Javier guided him out of the surgery, shutting out the sight of Lucy O’Neill laying down a variety of gruesome-looking tools for Lillard to use to cut into Erick’s back. “You have to warn Wellspring.”

“No, I can’t leave Erick! I—”

“Cade,” Javier said sharply. “Pull it together. You’re a better rider than I’ll ever be, and they have to be warned.

I’ll stay right here and I won’t let anyone get to Erick, but you being here won’t change whether he lives or dies right now, and you warning Wellspring could make that difference for all our friends. For Michele.”

And she was the one person Cade loved enough to leave Erick’s side for. “Fuck,” he muttered. “You won’t let Sanders get a second chance at him?”

“I swear,” Javier said. “I’ll get my gun from the wagon, and I won’t let anyone other than you come through that door. Now, go!”

Cade cast one more glance toward the surgery where Lillard was preparing to fight for Erick’s life.

He ached for a moment of privacy to give Erick one last kiss, but asking for it would give away their secret and take the doctor away from Erick’s side when time was critical—for both of them.

He turned and bolted for Nahnia, driving his heels into the horse’s sides as soon as his ass hit the saddle.

They raced down the dusty streets and out of town.

He blamed the wind in his face for the tears that blurred his vision and wet his cheeks.

Cade briefly considered crossing through JR land, since Sanders’s threats made it sound like everyone would be focused on attacking Wellspring, but if he had the timing wrong, he’d end up wounded or dead with no backup, and that wouldn’t help anyone.

He’d have to take the southern road and hope he could get there in time.