Page 46 of Wellspring

THE FIRST time Erick awoke, the pain piercing through his chest was so agonizing that he welcomed sinking back into blissful oblivion.

The next time he woke, the pain was still there, but it felt as though all his senses were muted.

He could hear voices nearby but couldn’t tell if one of them was Cade’s.

He struggled to open his eyes but wasn’t able to force the lids apart.

He drew in a breath to call Cade’s name when the pain lanced through him so sharply that though he fought against it this time, he again lapsed into unconsciousness.

The third time he woke, it was to the sensation of fingers twined with his.

His eyelids felt crusted together, but he was finally able to pry them open, only to find not Cade but Michele sitting beside him.

He blinked, but the image didn’t change.

He didn’t remember much after being shot, but he remembered urging Cade to warn Wellspring of the JR attack.

Michele had been at Wellspring, so if she was here, at least some of Wellspring’s hands had survived.

But if Cade wasn’t here, did that mean…?

The thought was too dreadful to even finish.

He drew a shallow breath, just enough to rasp out “Cade?”

“He’s safe.” Michele squeezed his hand and brushed the hair back from his forehead gently.

“He killed Sanders, though, and Javier killed Lutz, after they both shot at us first, so Tatum has them cooling their heels in jail until Mac gets here with a new marshal. He’ll be thrilled to know you’re awake.

When the doctor gets back to check on you, I’ll go tell him. ”

“He got to Wellspring in time?” His chest burned when he spoke, but he needed to know his friends had survived.

“Of course he did,” she said, her fondness clear in her voice. “He would have killed himself and his horse getting there before he let us down. You know that.”

“How many hurt?” He couldn’t ask if anyone had died. How quickly he’d come to care for these men and women who’d been strangers only months before.

“Walsh took a bullet in one leg and cracked some ribs, and a bullet grazed Burke’s head, but they were the worst of it, from what I saw before we rode back to check on you,” Michele reported.

“The ranch took some damage from both fire and bullets, but buildings can be replaced. You just focus on getting well.”

Erick was sure the conflict had been worse than Michele was telling him, but before he could press her for more details, a stranger he could only assume was Dr. Lillard entered the room, a cautious smile on his face.

“I’m glad to see you awake. I’ve been cutting back the anesthetics, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to clear your body. You’re very lucky to be alive, Mr. Heller,” he said.

Michele stood and moved toward the door. “I’ll give Cade and Javier the good news. Don’t do anything stupid to set back your recovery or you’ll answer to me.”

“Your girl’s very devoted.” The doctor pulled aside the bed sheet to check the bandages covering Erick’s chest. “She’s barely left your side since she got here, except when Reverend Smithson came to pray over you.”

“She’s not—” Erick’s voice broke as the doctor peeled away the bandage and pain stabbed through his torso. Maybe it was better to let him and the rest of the town believe what they wanted.

The pounding of hooves on the street outside drew the doctor’s attention away from Erick’s injuries, and he stepped to the open window. “It’s that MacRae fellow, and it looks like there’s a marshal with him,” Lillard said.

Erick didn’t sigh, though relief flooded through him. Hopefully this marshal would be more honest than the last lawman and Cade would be out of jail soon.

CADE ROSE to his feet when the door swung open and Mac stalked in, followed by a tall man with short brown hair and a US Marshal’s badge. “What the hell are you doing in there, Cade?” Mac demanded.

Next to him, Javier stood as well.

“And Javier?” Mac added. “Tatum, where’s Lutz and what the hell is going on?”

“Lutz’s dead,” Tatum said with a grimace. “Trujillo blew him away with that big-ass gun of his. And Webster put an arrow through Frank Sanders’s eye. That’s what the hell they’re doing here.”

“Tell them the rest, Tatum,” Javier insisted. “Lutz and Sanders both opened fire on us first. And that’s after Sanders shot Erick Heller in the back. There are plenty of witnesses to both, if you’d had the stones to ask anyone.”

“I’m a postmaster, not a lawman,” Tatum protested.

“Well, I am a lawman,” the man with MacRae said. “US Marshal Jonas Parnell. Gentlemen, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to stay here a bit longer until I can get to the bottom of this, but if what you’re saying is true, I won’t see any cause to charge you.”

“Get to the bottom of it fast,” Cade demanded. “I need to see if Erick’s still alive.”

Parnell looked at Tatum. “Where is this Erick now?”

“In Dr. Lillard’s surgery, just down Main Street,” Tatum replied.

Parnell pursed his lips, but before he could reply, the door opened again to admit Chel. “About time you got here, MacRae,” she groused. “Cade, Erick is awake and asking for you.”

“Then I believe that is where I should start,” Parnell said. “Since he is the most wounded party in all of this, barring the dead men, he can tell me his side of the story, and we can begin the process of uncovering the truth.” He tipped his hat in Chel’s direction. “Ma’am.”

She rolled her eyes at Parnell and turned to glare at Tatum.

“I’ll show you where the surgery is, Marshal,” Tatum offered.

Cade snickered. Tatum was a fool, leaving them alone with Chel and Mac. Although the new marshal seemed like a decent man, so Cade wouldn’t break out just yet.

Parnell glanced Cade’s way, like he knew what Cade was thinking. “You’d better stay here, Tatum. MacRae can show me where the surgery is.”

Cade’s opinion of the man rose another few notches. At least he wasn’t an idiot like Tatum, and he had to hope he wasn’t as crooked as Lutz.

DR. LILLARD had just finished putting Erick through a round of torture as he examined the wounds on his back and chest, had him breathe in and out as strongly and as long as he could, and rebandaged him, when the door opened.

Having it be Cade would be a fitting reward for his suffering, but instead it was MacRae with another man Erick didn’t recognize.

“Heller, this is Marshal Parnell,” MacRae said. “I told him about all the shit Lutz was pulling with the JR, and he agreed to come check things out.”

“And I understand Sheriff Lutz is dead, so I need to gather information on my own,” the marshal said. “I thought I’d start with you.”

“I didn’t see what happened to Lutz, but if Cade and Javier said they acted in self-defense, I know they’re telling the truth,” Erick said. It hurt to speak, but he had to convince this new lawman to set Cade and Javier free. He tried to sit up, but Dr. Lillard eased him back into bed.

“He’s recuperating from a life-threatening injury,” Dr. Lillard insisted. “He needs to rest, so be quick about it.”

“Can you tell me what happened before you were shot?” Parnell asked.

“We’d come into town to pick up the week’s supplies,” Erick began, speaking slowly.

He and Cade had hoped to spend the night away from prying eyes at Wellspring before the threats from the JR hands escalated, but he wasn’t about to volunteer that.

“We decided to stop at the Meiers’ for some refreshment while Miss Hart prepared our order.

Lutz was there, along with Frank Sanders, the foreman of the JR ranch.

” He stopped to draw a shallow breath, fighting to suppress the expression of pain it caused.

“Sanders said he was sorry we’d miss the excitement.

He made it clear that JR hands intended to attack Wellspring to seize the ranch’s water access. ”

“Because Miz Roarke wouldn’t agree to marry JR’s owner,” MacRae added. “Reichardt couldn’t get the ranch the easy way, so he decided to take it by force.”

“And Sheriff Lutz heard this?” Parnell asked.

“He all but drank a toast to JR’s success,” Erick said. “Then Sanders made a vulgar insult regarding Mrs. Roarke. I will not repeat it, but I admit I struck him, hard enough to knock him down.”

“Good for you, Heller,” MacRae said. “I’ve wanted to knock the sneer off that jackal’s face since the first time I met him.”

“Since the company was no longer congenial, we decided to return to the mercantile,” Erick continued. “Sanders shot me as we were walking away. I’m afraid I do not recall much after that.”

Parnell turned to Dr. Lillard. “Not to doubt Mr. Heller’s word, but is his wound consistent with his story?”

“Was he shot in the back, do you mean?” Dr. Lillard asked acerbically.

“Yes, absolutely. The bullet entered between his shoulder blades, hit his lung, and barely missed his heart. And while I couldn’t leave my patient this morning to see the gunfight that resulted in Lutz’s and Sanders’s deaths, I heard the shouting, which included Sanders threatening to finish Webster off since Carter hadn’t done it, and heard them shoot before Webster and Trujillo. ”

“How do you know they shot first?” Parnell asked.

“Because Trujillo uses a seven-barrel Nock shotgun that makes a very distinctive roar,” Lillard explained. “Any other shots were fired before Webster did.”

“A gunslinger, is he?” Parnell asked with a frown.

“Not quite,” Erick said. “He uses a bow.”

“Although he’s as good or better than any gunslinger you’re likely to meet,” MacRae added.

Parnell raised his eyebrows but let it go. “So as far as you are aware, Mr. Trujillo and Mr. Webster acted only in self-defense.”

“Yes,” Dr. Lillard said. “And good riddance to the other two. I have their bodies in back if you’d like to take a look at them.”

“Perhaps later. Thank you for your information, gentlemen,” Parnell said. “I believe my next step should be to speak with the—Meiers, was it?”

“They run the Lone Star. Best saloon in town,” MacRae said. “Only saloon in town, actually. I’d be happy to show you the way. I might even buy you a drink.”

“Trying to influence my decision?” Parnell asked with a wry smile.

“I won’t need to. After everyone tells you the same story, only an idiot would keep Javier and Cade locked up.”

CADE ROUSED from a light doze when the door to the sheriff’s office opened again and the marshal entered, Mac one step behind him, a grin on his face. That boded well.

“Mr. Webster, Mr. Trujillo, you are free to go,” Parnell announced. “Everyone I spoke with agreed you only defended yourselves against an unprovoked attack.” He pulled the ring of keys from the hook on the wall above Tatum’s desk and opened the door to the cell.

Javier was saying something polite to the marshal, but Cade didn’t have the patience for it.

He bolted the second the door opened, needing to see Erick for himself.

Sure, Chel had spent the past few hours assuring him Erick was alive and even awake, but until he could see that with his own eyes, he wouldn’t completely believe it.

He barreled his way through the townspeople going about their business and crashed through the door to Dr. Lillard’s surgery.

“Slow down, boy,” Dr. Lillard scolded. “Where’s the fire?”

“No fire.” Cade panted for breath. “I just need to see Erick.”

“He’s resting at the moment,” the doctor said. “Speaking with the marshal tired him out more than he’d like to admit. It’s going to take quite some time to build his stamina back up to where it was before.”

“I’ll be sure he takes it easy,” Cade assured him, though he privately thought Erick would try to be back on his feet far sooner than Dr. Lillard would like. “We need him back at Wellspring.” I need him back.

“Well, you can go sit with him ’til he wakes up. Do him good to see someone besides that girl of his.”

“Girl?” Cade had to smother a laugh when he realized the doctor was talking about Chel. “I hope he won’t be too disappointed that it’s just me.”

Dr. Lillard clapped him on the back. “I’m sure he’ll be glad you’re out of jail. Just don’t wear him out.”

“I won’t,” Cade promised as he headed toward the room the doctor indicated with a wave of his hand.

He walked in on silent feet, glad he wore his moccasins and not heavy boots, even if Lizzie Hart had brought a change of clothes for him and Javier after their first day in lockup.

Erick needed his rest and Cade didn’t want to disturb him.

He just needed to see . He trusted Chel—of course he did—but he trusted his own eyes more.

Once he’d seen for himself that Erick was still alive, he could let go of the fear and tension that still hadn’t left him.

With the curtains pulled, the room was dim, but Cade didn’t need more light to see Erick on the bed, pale against the white sheets, his chest rising and falling slightly in the rhythm of his fitful breathing.

Cade collapsed into the chair next to the bed, catching himself in time to keep from making a noise that might wake Erick.

He was alive. Barely, maybe, but he was alive.

Cade buried his face in his hands to muffle the sob that threatened to choke him.

Erick was alive.

He took a deep breath and then another one, forcing down the bile that rose in his throat. Sanders hadn’t succeeded. Erick was going to live.