Two Brides Too Many by Mona Hodgson Read Free Book Online Page B

held nothing but heartache for her.
    Feeling a bit lightheaded, Kat blinked back the tears that pricked her eyes. She raised herself up into a sitting position. When a twinge of pain pinched her shoulder and traveled down her left arm, she rolled onto her right side instead. The piece of glass must have done more than just cut her skin. She shouldn’t be surprised. Nothing about life in Cripple Creek had been easy so far.
    Why, Lord, why?
    She’d done all she knew to do. She’d even rescued a little girl from the fire. Rosita was probably reunited with her mother by now, while she lay here all alone, wearing a ripped dress that smelled of smokeand dried blood. Drawing her knees to her chest, Kat let the tears fall.
    “You waked up.”
    Sniffling, Kat dried her face on the sheet and rolled to her left side, wincing against the ache in her shoulder. The little girl she’d found sat up on a blanket against the wall. “What are you doing here?”
    Rosita crossed her heart. “You ’member?”
    Kat sighed. She remembered everything, but why was the girl still here?
    “Now we find Mama.”
    Why hadn’t someone reunited this child with her mother?
    “Rosita, have you seen my sister?” Kat said, trying to peer around the curtain. “Her name is Nell. She’s about my size, but with blond hair.”
    The little girl shook her head, sending a drape of black hair over her narrow eyes. “I only seen Doc and the Black Sack Sisters.”
    The Black Sack Sisters . Kat felt a smile tug at her. Apparently that was Rosita’s name for the nuns.
    Rosita toddled over to the bed. “You better. We find Mama now?”
    Before Kat could respond, she heard footsteps approaching and turned onto her back, hoping to see Nell walk in. Instead, a tall man pulled on the curtain and stood at the foot of her bed while Rosita scurried back to the blanket.
    “I’m Doc Hanson.” He fiddled with the stethoscope curled around his neck. “It’s good to see you’re awake.”
    “Thank you. Kat Sinclair.” Kat rolled to her right side, then sat up. A much less painful feat from that angle. “I know a piece of glass cut me, but why am I so sore and groggy?”
    “Ma’am, it was a pretty good-sized piece that dove into the deeptissue near your shoulder blade. I used six sutures. You lost some blood, so we gave you a sedative to help you rest for a couple of hours.”
    Kat rubbed her brow. “That explains my lightheadedness.”
    He scratched his bald head. “The fire wiped out thirty acres and left thousands of folks homeless.” He glanced over at Rosita, who had her thumb in her mouth. “I’d count yourself among the lucky, Miss Sinclair. You’ll be fine.”
    The man was right. The injury could’ve been a lot worse, and here poor Rosita was stuck with some stranger when all she wanted was to find her mother.
    “Doctor, I found Rosita looking for her mother during the fire.”
    A shadow crossed his face, deepening a scar above his right eye.
    “I thought she might be—”
    “Her mother’s name was Carmen.” He’d whispered it, and Kat wasn’t sure she’d heard him right, but before she could say anything, he’d turned toward Rosita. “Come here, child.” He opened his arms to her, but the little girl shook her head and turned to the wall.
    “Was?”
    The man nodded, and Kat’s throat tightened.
    “Sister Coleman found Carmen’s body just twenty feet out behind Sunny’s brothel where she worked,” he said, his eyes sad. “Had weak lungs, and the smoke was too much.”
    Acid burned Kat’s throat, and she swallowed hard. “Her father?”
    “Don’t know anything about him. Nobody left here ’cept the other girls.”
    “Surely they could—” Kat gestured at Rosita.
    “With their building gone, might be a while before they could do anything.”
    “The sisters?”
    His chuckle sardonic, the doctor shook his head. “Ma’am, we’re all going to be tied up caring for the injured for a long time. You’ll have to find someone