done all you can. It’s probably all right to start for the fort doctor now.”
He dragged the back of his hand across his mouth, studying her face as if deciding whether to stop. “I’ll take you to Catherine. She’s closer and will know what to do. She’s a nurse.”
Josie nodded weakly. If they hadn’t acted quickly enough, it wouldn’t matter what a doctor or a nurse did for her.
Davis Lee dropped her scalpel in his saddlebag then moved to her side. “We’ll have to ride double.”
She nodded, so drowsy that she was hardly able to control the movement. Another sign of a poisonous snakebite. She tried to remain calm, knew she had to.
Davis Lee reached to button her bodice but her gaping corset prevented him. He cursed, grabbing hold of the stiff undergarment and dragging it off her body. “You don’t need this damn thing anyway,” he muttered.
Josie didn’t even care that he’d removed it; she only cared about breathing. He clumsily fastened several buttons, half of them in the wrong loop, but her bodice was mostly closed. She found his attempt endearing.
He stood, settling his hat on his head as he stuffed her corset into his saddlebag. “I’m going to lift you into the saddle then climb on behind.”
“I can stand.” Her tongue tingled.
“That’s a damn fool idea.”
“The important thing…is to keep the bite below my heart.”
“You’re fadin’ fast. We’re doin’ this my way.” He knelt and gathered her, blanket and all, in his arms, then gently sat her in the saddle.
Wobbly, she curled her fingers into the sleeves of his shirt. He gently pried them off and folded them around the saddle horn.
“Hang on,” he said.
“All right.”
He slowly released her then climbed up behind her, settling her in the cradle of his thighs. Her vision blurred as the drowsiness leeched her energy. Her head fell against his chest.
“I’ve got you. Don’t worry about trying to hold on.”
She snuggled one shoulder under his arm, her fingers closing weakly on the pommel.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
He turned his horse, moved toward hers to pick up the reins and they started for town.
“What about your cans?” she asked sleepily.
He looked down at her, sounding amused. “I can get more.”
Agony seared her leg and she felt herself waning, the green grass blurring as they moved. Davis Lee’s strong arm circled her waist and she leaned into him. He was hot. And hard.
The pain jumbled the thoughts in her head. Memories of her parents’ lifeless bodies. Of the first time William had kissed her. Davis Lee’s eyes glittering with suspicion.
With her cheek cradled against his broad chest, she felt safe. And torn. If she survived this, it would be because of him. She didn’t want to owe him. It would only complicate matters once she killed his prisoner.
Chapter Four
H e talked to her all the way to Whirlwind about everything from shoeing horses to whittling. A couple of times he thought she lost consciousness, and by the time they reached town, she had.
Dusk settled around them as he guided his buckskin up the main street and toward the Whirlwind Hotel. Davis Lee barely paid any mind to the attention he attracted from the few people who were still about. He saw Matt and Russ Baldwin coming out of Pete Carter’s saloon and hollered for both of them. The dark-haired brothers, easily the biggest men in Taylor County, hurried out to meet him.
Matt, the youngest by a year, reached Davis Lee first. “What’s happened?”
“One of you go for Catherine and one of you come help me!”
Russ, the quieter of the two, turned back and unhitched his bay mare then vaulted into the saddle.
“Tell her I need her for a snakebite.” Davis Lee thought he would never reach the other end of town, but he finally reined up in front of the hotel.
Matt met him there, taking the reins of Josie’s horse and flipping them over the hitching post. His gaze skated over her and interest flared in his eyes. “Who is she?”
“Her name’s Josie Webster.” Davis Lee shrugged off his annoyance at Matt’s fascination. The Baldwin brothers were well-known ladies’ men. “Here.”
When Matt came forward, Davis Lee handed her down carefully then swiftly dismounted.
“Why haven’t I seen her before?” The other man stared at her. “She’s a beauty—”
Scooping Josie out of Baldwin’s arms before Matt could even turn toward the hotel, Davis Lee took the steps at the end of the landing.
Matt hurried behind him. “Why are you bringing her here?”
“Her room is closer than Catherine’s house.”
“She sure is a little thing. Is it bad?”
“I think so.”
The other man opened one side of the double glass-front door. “I’ll take care of the horses.”
“Thanks.” Davis Lee glanced down, concern growing that Josie wasn’t waking. Beyond the staircase, three guests sat in the dining room. He stopped at the registration desk and hollered at the man behind it who was slumped and snoring in his chair. “Penn!”
The old man came slowly awake, blinking.
“Get Esther to meet me upstairs!”
Confusion slowly cleared from the clerk’s lined features as his gaze went to the woman in Davis Lee’s arms. Penn’s eyes widened and he pushed himself out of his chair. “That’s Miss Josie!”
“Yes.” Davis Lee rounded the corner of the desk and started up the staircase.
“What happened?”
“Snakebite,” he said tightly.
Penn shuffled toward the dining room. “Esther! Come quick!”
Davis Lee reached the second-story landing, then Josie’s room. The door was locked. He stepped back to lean over the wooden stair railing. “Get me a key!”
“Coming, Sheriff.” It was Penn’s wife, Esther, who answered him.
He heard frantic muttering, then saw her iron-gray hair as she breathlessly mounted the stairs. As round and soft as Penn was narrow and hard, Esther had a sweet disposition and good hearing, for which Davis Lee was thankful.
