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Chapter 23

Kat grabbed tweezers from the medical bag, knowing it was rough medicine. But with no time to be more careful, she reached gently but much too deeply into the bullet wound.

"Who shot you, Uncle Patrick?"

"It was Sykes." Patrick's eyes flashed with pain and anger. He glared at Rutledge. "Your man, aiming for Katherine's husband, I'd guess. Was that always your plan? You knew she was married. You knew a husband put her beyond my control."

Kat's hands trembled with sickened rage as she looked away, for one brief moment, from her work. "You planned murder then. You probably hoped Marcus Colemen would do it for you."

Rutledge sniffed. "You're mistaken, Wadsworth. The bullets were all from Coleman's gun. He's a madman, much like my wife and your niece."

Kat, back working over her uncle, said, "I know you thought I'd gone mad after Jeremy died. But his death was strange, and I thought ... I thought..." Shaking her head violently, she clamped her mouth shut and drew a single blood-soaked bullet from deep in Uncle Patrick's belly. Kat set the bullet and tweezers aside and pulled a pad of bandages from the bag and pressed them hard against the wound.

Uncle Patrick groaned and held his stomach.

"I'm sorry. I know it hurts. But if I can get the bleeding stopped, then I can sew it up. You have a chance. Not all bullet wounds to the middle like this are fatal." Not all, but most. But Kat didn't say that.

"Katherine, look at me." Uncle Patrick pressed his hands down on top of hers, to help but also to draw her attention. "I need to tell you something."

"Save your strength. We can talk later."

"Hush now, there may not be a later. I sent you to the asylum because you seemed to be truly out of your mind. But you also set me to thinking, to looking closer at Jeremy's death. You were right. Not to accuse me, but his death was no accident."

With a gasp, Kat straightened and looked at Jeremy's uncle. Her grip never wavered on the bandage, but he had her full attention now.

"You checked into it? You found out what happened?"

"Yes, and you were right. I traced that carriage accident, the one on the railroad, to a ... a cabal on my board of directors. They knew Jeremy was my heir, and he wasn't a man they wanted to take orders from." He coughed and gasped for air. "They staged that accident. I have witnesses."

"Witnesses? Uncle Patrick, are you going to get the police to charge them?"

"I already have. They've been arrested. This last year, while you've been gone, I've sat through the trial. Watched them be found guilty. Three men, all sentenced to hang."

"Jeremy was murdered." Kat's mind churned at the thought. Her heart ached. "He was a good man. He deserved better than he got from his father and from you."

Patrick patted her bloodstained hands. His eyes lost their intelligence and faded as if he were looking beyond the train car into eternity. "I was only days away from coming to get you to set you free when I found out you were gone. I set my affairs in order to make amends to you. And now, with this gunshot wound, I think you will soon be the sole heir to my properties and shares in my company. I've left it all to you, to be managed by men I trust. Good men, Katherine. It's safe to go back to Chicago now."

"Did you know I married again? My husband was the man with me, the man Mr. Rutledge's thug Sykes and that jealous Marcus Coleman were shooting at. The men who, at least one of them, shot you."

"You're married?"

"Yes, I'm Katherine Jones now, and neither you, nor anyone here, has the power to lock me in an asylum. That's my husband's prerogative. If he survives this day." Kat threw a furious look at Dr. Horecroft.

He polished his fingernails against his suit coat.

"And I can see," Uncle Patrick said through a hoarse whisper, "by your skill caring for me that you in no way belong in an asylum. I've left all the correct paperwork in Chicago to ensure that your freedom is restored."

"Uncle Patrick..." Kat's voice broke as she looked at the man, the tyrant who'd so utterly destroyed her life when she was in the throes of grief over Jeremy. "Th-thank you." Tears streaked down her face as she studied the man who seemed to be slipping away from her just as she might have gotten to know him.

Uncle Patrick's eyes fell shut. His chest still rose and fell, but he lapsed into unconsciousness.

Kat fumbled for more bandages and wrapped them tightly around Uncle Patrick's waist. As she fought for his life, she saw Rutledge come to stand in front of her.

"I think, Horecroft, that this very wealthy young woman might be better left locked away." Rutledge's hand clamped hard on her shoulder. "I can help her manage her newfound wealth."

"What?" She looked up at him, and he slapped her so hard that she rolled across the train car and hit the wall, leaving her stunned.

The blow to her head felt like an explosion going off.

And then she realized it wasn't the blow that was exploding.

Seb slammed a fist into Sykes's smug face. The blow, so unexpected, knocked him aside. Seb sprinted past him to get to Kat.

He shoved his way through the door, then across the space between the two cars, then into the next car in time to see Thaddeus Rutledge knock Kat into the wall.

Roaring, he dove across a body sprawled on the floor and tackled Rutledge.

"Sykes, get in here!"

Seb slammed him twice in the mouth, but before he could end the fight, someone shoved him aside.

Sykes, his eyes gleaming with the pleasure cruelty seemed to give him, wrapped his hands around Seb's neck.

With a twist of his body, Seb tossed Sykes over his head, then leapt to his feet in time to be grabbed from behind. A second man had been with Sykes. That man now held Seb's arms behind his back. Sykes punched Seb in the stomach with a force that showed the man had muscles of iron.

Then Sykes went over backward, and Seb saw Kat had thrown herself against his ankles.

Sykes's head hit the corner of a table just behind him. Seb jerked his arms free and turned to fight the man who'd held him from behind.

A wiry, bald man, young and vicious, threw himself at Seb and took him down on top of Sykes. The train car wasn't large. There was an unconscious man on the floor. A prim and proper man sitting, watching it all. Rutledge groaning as he tried to roll away from the chaos. And Sykes, groggy but still fighting. Now he had his hands on Kat, who was half his size. And the only thing stopping Sykes from doing terrible harm to Kat was Seb and the man attacking him being in the way.

Then a newcomer entered the fray. Huey Jessup charged into the train car, sized up the situation in a second, and grabbed the man attacking Seb, jerked him to his feet, and pounded his fists hard into the man. He grabbed his shirt, hauling him toward the door of the car, where he threw the man off the train and out onto the hard ground rushing past.

Seb hauled Sykes to his feet and pushed the man toward Jessup, who'd returned and grabbed the dazed Sykes in the same way. Soon the hired gun was tumbling on the ground after his partner.

Seb turned back to Rutledge, who backed away and shouted, "Stay away from me!"

Seb grabbed the lapels of Rutledge's fine suit, yanked him forward, passing him in the same way to Jessup. Soon the man was tumbling and sprawling on the ground. One remained. Seb rushed toward Horecroft, lifted him to his feet, and hurled him to the back of the car. Horecroft, knowing what was coming, pushed past Jessup, ran out of the car, and jumped to the ground on his own. His landing was only slightly less painful, and Seb rushed to the window to see all four men sprawled on the ground—some still, some writhing.

Beth looked around frantically for the source of the violent shaking. The entrance to their canyon was straight ahead. "Beth, Joseph, Yvette! Run!"

Jake roared at them, and Beth, instinctively trusting him, dashed straight to her right. Joseph picked left, and Beth let him go and sprinted just as a herd of mustangs stampeded into the canyon.

She screamed, waved her arms to ward them off, and ran hard. Just as she believed she'd reach the right side of the entrance and avoid the charging horses, she was hit in the shoulder and knocked to the ground by a gray stallion. A hoof grazed her shoulder again as a black mare leapt over her but didn't quite miss, and Beth glimpsed another horse bearing down on her, its eyes wild.

From the cabin she saw a flash of fur and heard barking. Their dog, the mama of the litter, bolted forward, snarling. The charging horse veered away from Beth as she and the dog slipped out of the way of the thundering herd. She stood unsteadily and pressed her back to the canyon wall, gasping for breath. She heard Jake shouting, the dog barking, Yvette screaming.

Still the thundering hooves of the mustangs rushed by—red, black, spotted, brown, every color surging past her. Looking frantically for Joseph, she saw him down in the worst depths of the stampede, with the horses leaping over him, Yvette tucked under him. A hoof kicked his shoulder and knocked him off Yvette, then he jumped back to cover her. She was screaming, clawing at him, beating him. She had her knife out, but a horse kicked it away.

Then the herd was gone, running deeper into the canyon.

Beth looked for Mama and saw her, arms full of babies, ducking behind the cabin.

Jake was sprinting straight for Beth.

"I'm not hurt. Help Joseph. Help Yvette."

Joseph rolled off Yvette, knocked aside by her lashing of him.

Oscar appeared, dropping to his knees beside his brother.

"Are you all right?" Jake tore his eyes from her to see Joseph, sprawled on his back, bleeding from his head, his arms, his legs. Kicked to pieces, stomped on. Beaten by Yvette besides.

Yvette was beyond control.

"Stop screaming!" Oscar screamed a little himself. "My brother saved you. He may have died for you!"

Yvette quieted, her chest heaving. Still on the ground, she scooted away from Joseph and Oscar on her backside. Beth pushed herself from the wall and ran toward Joseph.

"What do you need?" Though Beth's shoulder ached, she shoved past the pain to reach Oscar.

Oscar looked hard at his brother. "He's alive." Furious, he eyed Beth and snapped, "Get that knife, and don't let her have it back!"

Beth grabbed it before Yvette could react. And Yvette didn't try to get to the knife. Instead, she looked at Joseph and fought to breathe. "H-he saved me, and I attacked him."

"Has he been cut or stabbed?" Jake was on his knees beside Joseph.

"No, I don't see any cuts. It's all damage done by the stampeding herd." Oscar dragged in a deep breath. "He threw himself over Yvette to protect her."

"Beth," Oscar said, "go to the house. Reassure your ma that you're not hurt. No one but Joseph is hurt." Oscar's voice broke. "Then get hot water and bandages. Take them to the cave house. Jake and I will carry Joseph there. I'll tend him."

Beth met Oscar's eyes and saw grief and a deep fear for his brother. With one firm nod of her head, she whirled around and ran for the cabin.

A voice behind them called out, "Hey, what's going on here? Jake?" Dakota Harlan, their old wagon master, came riding into the canyon. Behind him came the O'Toole clan, including Bruce, Oscar and Joseph's brother.

Bruce's eyes went straight to Joseph. He swung down off his horse and ran to his brother's side.

"Let me help." Dakota came up to Joseph, frowning.

Maeve O'Toole dismounted and ran for Beth.

"Come to the house with me. We need bandages." They ran full out. Beth's brain crowded with questions. She asked none of them. She kept her left arm tight against her body and didn't look at it.

They got to the cabin just as Mama stepped out holding both babies. Mama's eyes were wide with shock.

"Twins!" Maeve squealed in delight.

Then Fiona was upon them, reaching for a baby.

Soon Mama's arms were empty.

Beth rapped out orders. "We need hot water, bandages. They're taking Joseph to the cave house."

"Cave house?" Little Bridget O'Toole had followed her ma. "What's a cave house?"

Conor was a pace behind her. "You have two babies?"

"Yes, Conor." Beth rushed for the water they kept warm on the stove and poured it into a bucket with her right hand.

Mama was busy with a ragbag. "Twins. Two babies born at once." She looked at Fiona. "Can you tend them while we help Joseph?"

"I can. We were riding around, watching Dakota try and track your family. Bruce refused to help, though he came along. Then we startled a herd of mustangs, and they galloped away. We were enjoying the sight of them when they seemed to run right into a stone wall and vanish. Dakota shouted, ‘I think I've found Jake!' And he galloped right after those horses."

Beth hugged the basin to her body. "You've come at a good time. We need your help. Thank you."

"If Dakota hadn't come," Maeve said sharply, "he wouldn't have spooked those horses, and they wouldn't have stampeded into your canyon, and Joseph might not now be at death's door."

That reminded Beth that Maeve had taken a lot of her anger out on Dakota after her pa died. It seemed she still harbored some of it.

"Now, Maeve, hush. It was an accident. Let's pay attention to these precious little ones." Fiona smiled down at the baby in her arms. "I'm glad to get my hands on the little bairnies."

Beth rushed out of the house with her basin of hot water. It sloshed against the front of her dress, but she couldn't hold it away without using both arms.

She left Mama to fill a new pot to heat. They had water from the hot springs in the cave, too, and it was a fine warm temperature, but they always heated it more to wash clothes and do the dishes. And now to bandage wounds. Boiled was better if Joseph was to have a chance at survival.

By the time she reached the cave house, Mama was on her heels with the rags. Oscar and Bruce on either side of Joseph, with Dakota toting his legs and Jake keeping his head steady, came to the door. Mama got there just in time to swing it open for them. They moved inside, cautiously carrying Joseph.

Beth set the washbasin down, and it was only when she straightened that she gasped in pain.

Jake heard it, his head coming around fast to look at her. His eyes went wide at the sight.

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