meant shed have to look for the doctor inside. Sage opened the door during a prayer. How appropriate was that? Goodness knew, with the McCaws running rampant, the marshal and the whole town needed someone to come to their aid. The preacher, a wide-shouldered man who looked more like a blacksmith than a man of God, eyed her suspiciously.
She remembered the Colts strapped at her waist.
P arker hurt in places he didnt know existed. Not since his horse was spooked by a mountain cat and threw him into the side of a boulder had he ached so much that dying looked appealing. He needed to be cleaned up, not tended to like an invalid. Getting the doc made about as much sense as Aidens riddles of the night before. In fact, hed get up and show Sage Morrow that a little beating never stopped Parker Timmons. After filling his head and gut with determination, Parker attempted to sit. A stab of invisible fire burned through his chest, and a groan escaped his lips. The last time hed broken ribs he was twelve years old and fell out of a tree in Virginia. Come to think of it, hed been pitched around most of his life. But his tolerance for pain had fallen once he hit the back side of thirty. Age had a way of catching up to a man, and what did he have to show for it, except a keen desire to represent the people of this fine state of Colorado?
He closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to retrace last nights jailbreak. The gang had jumped him sometime after midnight, and he had no idea how many of them there were. Four distinct voices had filled the night, and far too many fists had been driven into his body.
We aint killin you, Aiden had said. This is a warnin. You and Sage have something we want. The two of you come alone. Never no mind where, cause were making sure you follow us. If you have any ideas about riding with a posse, forget it. Youll understand later.
In the haze of pain, maybe hed heard wrong. What could Sage and he have that Aiden wanted? Until recently, most of Parkers knowledge of the McCaw gang came from the wanted posters and newspapers. Now and then they kicked up trouble around the Rocky Falls area, but folks here didnt have much to steal, and none of the miners had made any large strikes. Parkers arrests were mostly locals, not outlawsgreedy men who allowed whiskey and selfishness to rule their choices and their fists.
He remembered something else Aiden said: Your brother made a stupid mistake. Id like to think youre the smarter one.
The McCaws had killed Frank. If his head hadnt hurt so badly, hed have tried to focus on what wasnt said. How could he and Sage ride into the mountains after them when they didnt know what Aiden wanted or which way to head? He could trail with the best of them, and Sage had advanced skills from her Indian ways. What mistake had his brother made? And what linked Frank, Sage, Parker, and the McCaws? Too much to think on when his whole body was bruised.
Parker fought to stay awake in an effort to think through the previous night. But every time he wrapped his mind around a possibility, his senses numbed, and he began to float away. He needed to talk to Sage about her connection with the McCaws. The thought of Frank bringing this misfortune on his family needled at him too. With all of Franks problems, getting involved in an outlaw gang didnt fit. Money never meant much to Frank. He enjoyed good times like fishing and hunting and a bottle of whiskey. Gamblinghad Frank gotten himself into trouble by owing what he couldnt pay? Parker shook his head. His brother had his faults, but lowering to associating with outlaws to pay a gambling debt wasnt one of them.
As soon as he rested a little, hed get this situation figured out. Until then, hed pray for guidanceand his ribs.
Parker struggled to open his eyes. He heard his name being called and tried to respond, but he felt like hed been dropped intoa well and didnt have a rope to climb out. Surfacing and having a doctor poke around on his body
Adele Huxley, Savan Robbins