Five

People began pouring into the street from their hiding places. Randy knelt beside Jake and lifted his head, scooting close enough to rest it against her dress. Blood poured from a wound across the left side of his skull. At first, Randy thought that was the only injury he had, but then she noticed his shirt was soaked with blood. “Get a doctor!” she screamed. “Jake, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!”

He groaned and turned his head slightly, then passed out again. An older man pushed his way through the crowd and knelt beside Jake, ordering people to step back and let him do what he needed to do.

“Don’t let him die!” Randy begged. “I need my Jake!”

The doctor didn’t seem to notice her words. He moved his hands through Jake’s hair to find the head wound, studied it a moment, shook his head. He then ripped open Jake’s shirt and put a stethoscope to his chest. “He’s alive,” he told Randy after listening for a minute. “Looks like the bullet just creased his skull, but it didn’t penetrate. Taking a bullet to the skull is like being hit in the head with a hammer, and he probably has a concussion. Can’t tell about brain damage till he wakes up, if he wakes up. But it’s the wound in his side I’m most concerned about.”

The doctor ordered men to carry Jake’s body to his office just a few doors down. Six men scrambled to pick him up, forcing Randy to move out of the way. Terror filled every part of her mind. What would she do without her Jake? He was her savior—her protector—her lover—the man who would never again let something bad happen to her. He’d saved her all those years ago when she was dying at that awful trading post, back when she thought he’d ridden out of her life forever…but then there he was, holding her, promising her he’d not leave her again. It had been the same last winter. In spite of the horror, she hung on because she knew he’d come for her. And he did come…and she was in his arms again…and every time she asked him not to let go, he’d clung to her and promised he would always be right there for her.

The doctor hurried away, and Randy just sat there on the ground. She stared at the bloody dirt left behind as well as her own bloody dress, while people mumbled and whispered and talked behind her.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” one man said.

“We wanted a show of Harkner’s shooting skills, and we sure as hell got one today!”

A woman spoke up. “He grabbed my little girl and got her out of the way of one of those men’s horses.”

“He saved my wife’s life, but I about passed out from fear when he started shooting,” a man said. He seemed to be standing close. “I really thought Susan would die today.” A woman broke down and wept against her husband’s chest.

Men carried some of the dead outlaws away.

“Find another doctor,” someone shouted, “and have the deputy come keep an eye on this one after we lay him out. He’s still alive. He doesn’t deserve help, but we’ve got no choice.”

Someone groaned, “Help me! I’m shot! That sonofabitch shot me right in the gut!”

“You deserved it,” a man answered.

Voices. Voices all around. Crying. Gasps of shock. “Six dead,” someone mentioned.

Was Jake in trouble again? Would her Jake go to prison?

“Never seen anything like it!”

“What a shoot-out! Goddamn I wish we had pictures of it! This will make the news all over the country! Jake Harkner, of all people, stopping a bank robbery! And shooting those bastards while they stood there, hostages right in front of them! This is the most goddamn exciting thing that’s ever happened here! Boulder will be even more famous for this! It will help our fund-raiser!”

“Hey, if Harkner lives, maybe he could be our new sheriff. Ain’t nobody gonna mess with our town if Jake Harkner is in charge!”

Randy couldn’t tell one voice from another. People swarmed around, talking among themselves as though she didn’t exist. She was alone! Alone! Who would protect her? She needed to go to Jake, but she couldn’t find the strength to get up. She’d been through this too many times to count and wasn’t sure she could ever go through it again. Several people followed those who carried Jake and disappeared into the doctor’s office, but Randy remained on her knees, staring at the blood on her skirt. Others continued to swarm around the dead bodies of the men, and a woman rushed inside the bank, where she screamed and began weeping.

Must be the teller’s wife, Randy thought absently. Yes, those awful men had shot a teller. And they’d shot Jake! Would she be weeping uncontrollably herself before this day was over?

“Ma’am, do you need help up?”

Randy looked up at an elderly man. Susan stood beside him. She leaned closer, and both she and the man put out their hands.

“Ma’am, you need a doctor, too,” Susan told Randy. “Your cheek is bruised pretty bad.”

Randy just stared at her. “I…I need to go to my husband, but I don’t seem to be able to get up.”

Susan and her husband reached down, one on each side, and helped Randy to her feet.

“I’m James Bird,” the old man told her. “You already know my wife here, although it’s sad how you met.”

“Thank you for your help.” Randy wanted to scream for Jake. She’d never been afraid of everything and everyone like this. She hated the constant panic, hated confining Jake the way she’d been doing, wanting him constantly with her. The only place she felt safe was in his arms. What if that could no longer be? Her whole life wrapped around Jake Harkner. No other man knew her like Jake did—physically, mentally, emotionally, intimately. No man loved her or ever would love her like Jake did. They were like one person. If she lost him, she, too, would be lost. She stood there a moment, trying to think straight, trying to get her bearings.

“Someone…please send a runner to the J&L. I need my son,” she told James Bird. “As soon as we get to Jake, please go get a messenger—someone who can ride hard and fast and get Lloyd here in five days instead of six. I mean…” Think! She felt so confused. “I mean, it will take someone two or three days to get to the ranch and another two or three to get back here.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll send someone.” James and Susan helped her walk to the doctor’s office.

Yes, it would help having Lloyd here. Her loyal, loving son would know what to do. He would at least be someone to lean on. He’d helped her, too…last winter…when those men…

Lloyd was so much like his father…strong and dependable. And having her daddy here would help little Tricia not be afraid. Maybe Lloyd would bring Evie, who loved her father beyond measure. She would want to be with Jake. Evie was such a faithful Christian woman. Her prayers were strong. She could pray for her father. She’d helped Jake through the awful ordeal back in Denver last summer, sitting with Lloyd when they thought he was dying. It was Evie who’d help bring Jake out of that awful darkness.

“I’ve never seen shooting like that,” James told her. “Never in all my born years.”

“I don’t know how he could be so accurate and fast when he was already wounded,” Susan added. “I saw blood at his side when he stepped out from behind that wagon.” She shook her head. “I saw those guns, and I thought my life was over. I felt that bullet whiz right over my head. It nearly parted my scalp!” She squeezed Randy’s arm. “He’s one heck of a man, Mrs. Harkner.”

Randy wanted to smile but couldn’t. “Yes, he is. He’s more wonderful than anybody knows. Most only think about the bad. Few see the good.”

Flash powder exploded as a man with a camera stepped in front of them and took a picture of Randy. She gasped and turned away. “Go away! Go away!” she screamed.

James and Susan glanced at each other uneasily. They didn’t understand like Jake would.

“I have to get to Jake,” she told them, starting to sob. “I have to get to…my husband.”

“Yes, ma’am, we’re almost there,” James told her.

They reached the steps to the doctor’s office, where people milled about outside. Randy hesitated.

“I…I left a hat box. I think it’s by the Silver Saddle. That’s where Jake was standing when…when…”

“I’ll go look for it,” Susan told her.

“Take it to the Gold Dust Hotel. Give it to my housekeeper, Teresa.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Someone brought Jake’s jacket to Randy. “Ma’am, he dropped this when he went runnin’ to the bank,” a nameless man told her. “A bunch of peppermint spilled out. I picked it all up and put it back in the bag and into the pocket of the jacket.” He held it out.

Peppermint! Jake had remembered the peppermint. She took the jacket and held it close to her heart, bending her head and breathing in her husband’s familiar scent. How many times had they shared a stick of peppermint in the morning, biting each end of the candy until their lips met? She raised her head and just stared at the door. “I’m afraid to go inside.”

“We’ll help you,” James told her. “Might be your husband is awake and needs you, so you ought to go in.”

Randy nodded. “Yes.” She took a deep breath. “Just go find the hat box and take it to the hotel, please. And send someone to the J&L. Thank you for helping me. I’ll be fine now.” She had to be brave. She had to.

The elderly couple looked at each other, James shaking his head. They waited while Randy walked inside on her own.

James took his wife’s arm. “We’d better go get a rider to head for the J&L.”

Susan shook her head. “Such a little thing. Her arm felt so thin.”

“I noticed,” James agreed. “The woman has been through so much, married to a man like that.”

Susan nodded. “I’ve read the book.”

James took a deep breath. “Well, that’s a lot for a woman to take, and think of all those headlines last summer. It looks like Harkner will make headlines again. But this time he’s quite the hero, don’t you think?”

“I suppose. But take it from a woman—this might be something his wife can’t handle. A person can take only so much.”

They headed for the train depot, where messengers for distant ranches could usually be found looking for work. Someone had to ride to the J&L.