Chapter 19

Dirk

"You little bitch!" a man growled in pain as hard footsteps came into the kitchen, close to the back door.

Dirk kicked in the door and wrapped his arm around his neck. "Breathe wrong and I'll break it." He backed out through the door, pulling the man with him—and his back hit something hard. Dirk quickly spun around, dragging his captive with him.

It was Colton.

"Oh. Thank God!"

One corner of Colton's lips curled into a smile. "No, Colton, but thank you for the compliment."

Dirk smiled, despite himself. "Can you handle this for me?"

Colton shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, I'd be glad to."

"Good." Dirk smiled as he shoved the man at him.

The man made a move, and Colton pulled his revolver from its holster and pointed it at his nose before he could blink.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Colton pulled back the hammer of his gun and shoved it up his nose. "Go ahead, Dirk. I got this."

"Not alone, you won't," a low voice said behind them.

Dirk turned to see Daxton and smiled. "I've never been so glad to see you guys in my life."

Sheriff Clark's eyebrows pulled together in concern. "Let's save the warm greetings for later."

Dirk walked inside with his gun drawn, cocked and ready, when the cellar door came crashing open. "Hold it right there," Dirk ordered, pointing his gun at him.

The man smiled, his gold tooth gleaming as he raised his hands. "And what are you going to do about it… if I don't?"

Another man burst through the cellar door, shoving the first man into Dirk, sending them both to the floor. Then Dirk and Daxton both raised their guns, fired, and shot him point blank in the chest.

"Blake!" the man with the gold tooth shouted.

But it was too late. Blake lay on the floor with his eyes open, coughing up blood.

"Blake!" the man with the gold tooth screamed, running over to him. "What can I do?"

"Kill 'em," Blake replied as he coughed up more blood. "And kill that little bitch, too." Then he let out a slow breath, and his eyes became fixed.

"Don't even think about it," Daxton warned as he walked slowly over to him. "That is, unless you'd like to join your friend."

He gritted his teeth as his lips curled back, revealing his gold tooth. "He. Was. My. Brother!" His voice boomed in the kitchen, rattling the windows. "Yah!" In one sweep, he drew his gun, but Daxton shot him right between the eyes. He fell backward, and his eyes glazed over immediately.

Dirk ran into the living room and Gabriella sat in a chair, leaning over.

"Gabby!" Dirk gasped, grabbing her shoulders.

She raised her head and looked into his eyes. "Dirk, are you all right?"

Dirk leaned forward, his heart swelling with pride. "I'm fine. Are you?"

"I'm fine," she breathed, but then collapsed into his arms, unconscious.

"I'll get Doc Morgan," Harrison announced from the back door. A second later, the sound of horse's hooves beating against the snow rang out, and then grew faint in the distance.

Dirk swept Gabriella into his arms, carried her to the sofa, and then pulled off her coat.

Sheriff Clark looked away. "I think we got them all, but I'll look around to make sure."

Dirk nodded without looking up.

"Let me know if you need me to hold her down," Daxton added, and then walked out.

Dirk let out a deep breath, and then tore her shirt away to reveal her shoulder. There was a hole there, oozing blood. As carefully as he could, he raised her from the couch, pulled her shirt down from her shoulder, and sure enough, there was a hole there, too. From the look of it, one of them had shot her in the back of her shoulder and it came out the front. Dirk knew it would have to be cauterized on both sides, or else she would bleed to death. It was obvious that she had already lost too much blood. He felt her pulse, and it was weak. Dirk bit his lower lip, knowing they couldn't wait for Doc Morgan. It was up to him.

He had cauterized plenty of cowboys' wounds out on the trail before. But with a man, it was easier. Just the thought of ever hurting Gabby—intentionally or not—was appalling to him.

He hurried to the kitchen, and there was an indoor pump. He rapidly moved the handle up and down, hoping it hadn't froze up, but a stream of water came out. As quickly as he could manage, he flipped open the cabinet doors and found a porcelain bowl and a pitcher, and filled the pitcher with water. Then he opened a drawer and it was filled with clean washrags. He gathered everything into his arms, and rushed back into the living room.

"Gabby, if you can hear me, I'm just going to clean your wound." He stopped, hating himself for what he was about to say. "But I have to stop the bleeding. I have to cauterize the wound."

She nodded, groggy. Then, her eyelids opened, revealing the most beautiful blue eyes Dirk had ever seen. "Dirk, I'm so sorry—"

"Shh," he breathed, bringing her to silence. "It is I who needs to apologize."

"No, please let me finish." Gabriella let out a deep breath. "I should have trusted you, told you… about me—"

"Shh," he cooed, stopping her. "None of that matters now."

"It does—"

Dirk shook his head as he placed a finger to her lips. A moment later, she fell unconscious. As quickly as he could, he pulled off his leather belt, and laid it nearby. If she woke up, she'd need something to bite down on. Then he hurried into the kitchen, threw open a cabinet door where he had seen a bottle of whiskey when he was rummaging through the cabinets, grabbed it, and rushed back into the living room.

First, he uncorked the whiskey and poured it over her shoulder on both sides. She was so far gone that she didn't even flinch. He didn't have much time, knowing she would die if he didn't act quickly.

In the fireplace, the iron poker was glowing red. Tremors ran through his body as he walked slowly over to the fireplace and picked it up.

"You can do this," he mumbled, willing himself to believe it. "You have to." Before he could talk himself out of it, he squared his shoulders, summoned his courage, and walked purposefully toward her. "Please, forgive me." Then he held her tightly and touched the wound with the hot poker, sealing it.

Gabriella was so far gone that she didn't even flinch.

Tears ran down his cheeks as he turned her over and saw her bared back and her blood-drenched shoulder. He wiped as much blood away from the wound as he could, not wanting to miss. The red of the poker was starting to diminish, but it was still hot enough to do the job. He took another deep breath as he held her shoulder steady, and then touched the wound with the poker, sealing it closed.

Relieved, he walked back over to the fireplace and hung the poker back where it belonged. He was finishing cleaning her shoulder when Doc Morgan walked in.

"How is she?" He opened his bag, eyeing the wound.

Daxton was standing just inside the door, holding his hat in his hands. "Colton and I are taking the prisoner in. We'll take the bodies out the back door, and we'll come back for them later." Then he nodded toward Gabriella. "Do you need any help getting her back to Whiskey River?"

Doc Morgan shook his head, working quickly on Gabriella. "I have my carriage. We can take her to my office in that."

Daxton nodded. "I'll come by tomorrow to check on her. Dirk, if you need anything in the meantime, just let me know."

Dirk nodded. "Thanks, Daxton. You and Colton arrived in the nick of time."

The sheriff gave him a weak smile. "Just take care of her." He nodded to Gabriella. "She's a good woman."

Dirk nodded. "Yes, she is."

The sheriff let out a deep breath. "Hell of a Christmas morning, huh?"

"Yes. One hell of a Christmas," Dirk agreed.

After Daxton left, only Doc Morgan was left. He had already cleaned and dressed her wound and was covering her with a blanket he found in the bedroom.

"Dirk," Doc Morgan said in a low voice. "You did a good job. You've obviously done this before."

Dirk nodded, never taking his eyes from Gabriella. "But I never dreamed I'd have to do it to a woman, let alone her."

Doc nodded. "Sometimes we have to do things we don't like in order to save lives."

At that moment, Dirk understood. "Doc, I don't envy you your job."

"And I don't envy you yours."

"Will she live?" Dirk asked as he watched her sleep.

Micah nodded. "Yes, thanks to you."

"I wouldn't say that." Then he looked in Micah's eyes. "You should have seen her, Doc. She was amazing."

Micah smiled as he raised an eyebrow. "A woman like her only comes along once in a lifetime."

Dirk nodded as a smile lit his lips, knowing that he was right.