The Horsemen Omnibus by Gary McCarthy

Author:Gary McCarthy [McCarthy, Gary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641197595
Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
Published: 2019-10-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

That night the wind came up and it blew hard. The grove of cottonwoods creaked as branches whipped leaves around like green snow. Ruff knew that there would be no risk in building a small campfire because the smoke would be windblown to forever. So, with Monica and the reverend both sick and feverish, they slaughtered the last of their Tucker goats and fed the children their first hot food in days. To everyone's surprise and dismay, the Reverend Tucker declined to eat.

"But you've got to eat," his wife pleaded.

Tucker shook his head. "I feel like I'm burning up inside but I'd gladly roast in hell forever if it would help poor Monica. How is she?"

Across their wind-whipped campfire, Anna, Ruff, and Dixie exchanged guarded glances. When it became clear that Anna could not trust herself to answer, Dixie said, "Monica is holding her own, Reverend. She's doing . . . all right."

The reverend studied his young daughter. Monica was as pale as soda. "She looks awful! Can't we do anything more for her?"

Ruff had repeatedly asked himself the same question. "If we had some whiskey or spirits—"

"No whiskey," Tucker snapped. "No demon rum for my angel girl!"

"Austin ought to have a doctor," Dixie said. "How much farther?"

It was the same question Ruff had been asking himself over and over. He ground his palms into his eyes. "I don't know. I'm guessing seventy or eighty miles."

Dixie touched Monica's cheek, then stood and motioned Ruff outside the circle of fire where she could speak frankly. "Ruff, the child is on fire! Her pulse is over a hundred beats a minute and her respiration is labored. The poison is affecting her heart."

"I know," Ruff said. "Dixie, we just have to accept that there's a good chance that she won't make it."

"But if she could see a doctor..."

Ruff stared at his sister. He was worried sick and this talk of doctors made no damn sense. "Say it out plain, Dixie. I've no patience for guessing games."

"I'm saying that that Monica doesn't weigh fifty pounds. You could hold her in front of you and race on to find a doctor in Austin. High Fire could be there by late tomorrow night even if Austin is a hundred miles away."

"And leave all of you behind?" Ruff couldn't believe he was hearing her correctly. Maybe the wind in the trees was playing games with their voices.

"We could stay hidden in this grove," Dixie argued. "The reverend isn't going to be able to handle a team. In three, five days at the most, you'll be back from Austin with help."

Ruff gazed up at the windblown branches tickling the belly of the starry sky. "It's a hard night and a ride like you're talking about might kill the child."

"But if we do nothing, Monica will die for sure. You know that as well as I do. And there's always the chance that Austin is less than fifty miles! Ruff, it might be only a few hours south."

"I don't think so.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.