You shouldnt cuss, mister. We heard you way back in the canyon yelling out words Ive seen written but never knew how to pronounce.
Glad I could help with your education, kid. Any chance you have a cell phone or a leader?
Were not allowed to carry cell phones. It interferes with our communicating with nature. She shined her flashlight in his eyes one more time. Dont call me kid. Miss Adams says you should address people by their names. Its more polite. My name is Melanie Miller, and I could read before I started kindergarten.
Cody mumbled a few words, deciding he was in hell already and, who knew, all the helpers names started with M.
All at once the lights went jittery again, and every one of the six little girls seemed to be talking at once.
One thought he was too bloody to live. One suggested they should cover him with their coats; another voted for undressing him. Two said they would never touch blood. One wanted to put a tourniquet around his neck.
Cody was starting to hope death might come faster when another shadow carrying a lantern moved into the mix. Move back, girls. This man is hurt.
He couldnt see more than an outline, but the new arrival was definitely not a little girl. Tall, nicely shaped, hiking boots, wearing a backpack.
Closing his eyes and ignoring the little girls constant questions, he listened as a calm voice used her cell to call for help. She had the location down to latitude and longitude, and described a van parked in an open field about a hundred yards from her location where they could land a helicopter. When she hung up, she knelt at his side and shifted the backpack off her shoulder.
As she began to check his injuries, her voice calmly gave instructions. Go back to the van, girls. Two at a time, take turns flashing your lights at the sky toward the North Star. The rest of you get under the blankets and stay warm. When you hear the chopper arrive, you can watch from the windows, but stay in the van.
McKenna, youre in charge. Ill be back as soon as they come.
Another M, Cody thought, but didnt bother to ask. Maybe your name had to start with M or you couldnt be in this club?
To his surprise the gang of ponytails marched off like tiny little soldiers.
Howd you find me? Cody asked the first of a dozen questions bouncing around in his aching head as the woman laid out supplies from her pack. The lantern offered a steady circle of pale light.
Your cussing echoed off the canyon wall for twenty miles. Her hands moved along his body, not in a caress, but to a man who hadnt felt a womans touch in years, it wasnt far from it.
Want to give me your name? Know what day it is? What year? Where you are?
I dont have brain damage, he snapped, then regretted moving his head. My names Winslow. I dont care what day it is or what year for that matter. He couldnt make out her face. Im on my own land. Or at least I was when my horse threw me.
She might have been pretty if she wasnt glaring at him. The lantern light offered that flashlight-to-the-chin kind of glow. With her arms on her hips, she had a kind of Paul Bunyans little sister look about her.
Where does it hurt? She kept her voice low, but she didnt sound friendly. As soon as I pass you to the medics, Ill start looking for your horse. The animal might be out here, too, hurting or dead. Did she fall with you?
Great! His Good Samaritan was more worried about the horse than him. I dont know. I dont think so. When I fell off the edge of the canyon, Midnight was still standing, probably laughing at me. He took a breath as the woman moved to his legs. The pain came sharp suddenly. I tumbled for what seemed like miles. It hurts all over.
How did this happen?
The horse got spooked when we hit a patch of ice, he snapped again, tired of talking, needing all his strength to handle the pain. Cuss words flowed out with each breath. Not at her, but at his bad luck.
She ignored them as she brushed over the left leg of his jeans, already stained dark with blood. He tried to keep from screaming. He fought her hand now as she searched, examining where something had to be broken it hurt so much. He knew he couldnt take much more without passing out.
Easy, she whispered as her blood-warmed fingers cupped his face. Easy, cowboy. Youve got a bad break. I have to do what I can to stabilize you and slow the blood flow. Theyll be here soon. Youve got to let me wrap a few of these wounds so you dont bleed out.
He nodded once, knowing she was right.
In the glow of a lantern she worked, making a tourniquet out of his belt, carefully wrapping his leg, then his head wound.
Her voice finally came low, sexy maybe if it were a different time, a different place. It looks bad, but I dont see any chunks of brain poking out anywhere.
He didnt know if she was trying to be funny or just stating a fact. He didnt bother to laugh. She put a bandage on the gash along his throat. It wasnt deep, but it dripped a steady stream of blood.
As she wrapped the bandage, the starched cotton over her breasts brushed against his cheek, distracting him. If this was her idea of doctoring a patient with no painkillers, it was working. For a few seconds there, he almost forgot to hurt.
I dont have water to clean the wounds, but the dressing should keep anything else from getting in.
Cody began to calm. The pain was still there, but the demons in the corners of his mind were silent. Watching her move in the shadows relaxed him. She wasnt petite, but tall and built with curves that her trousers and mans shirt couldnt hide.
Cody, he finally said. My first name is Cody.
She smiled then for just a second.
You a nurse? he asked.
No. Im a park ranger. If youve no objection, Id like to examine your chest next.
Cody didnt move as she unzipped his jacket. I used to be a ranger, but I never stepped foot in a park. He could feel her unbuttoning his shirt. Her hand moved in, gently gliding across his ribs. I put in a few years as a Texas Ranger.
When he gasped for air, she hesitated, then whispered, One broken rib. A moment later she added, Two.
He forced slow long breaths as he felt the cold night air pressing against his bare chest. Her hand crossed over his bruised skin, stopping at the scars hed collected that night at the Rio Grande. The night he bled into the mud. The night he first heard the devils hiding in the shadows.
She lifted the light. Bullet wounds? she questioned more to herself than him. Youve been hurt bad before, Ranger Winslow.
Yeah, he said as he took back control of his mind and made light of a gunfight that almost ended his life. I was fighting outlaws along the Rio Grande. I swear it seemed like that battle was almost two hundred years ago. Back when Captain Hays ordered his men to cross the river with guns blazing. We went across just like that, only chasing drug runners and not cattle rustlers like they did back then. But we were breaking the law not to cross just the same.
He closed his eyes and saw his three friends. Theyd gone through training together and were as close as brothers. They wanted to fight for right. They thought they were invincible that night on the border, just like Captain Hayss men must have believed.
Only those rangers had won the battle. They all returned to Texas. Cody had carried his best friend back across the water that night three years ago, but Hobbs hadnt made it. Hed died in the shallow water a few feet from Cody. Fletcher took two bullets, but helped Gomez back across. Both men died.
Only those rangers had won the battle. They all returned to Texas. Cody had carried his best friend back across the water that night three years ago, but Hobbs hadnt made it. Hed died in the shallow water a few feet from Cody. Fletcher took two bullets, but helped Gomez back across. Both men died.
Ive heard of that story about the famous Captain Hays. She brought him back from a battle that had haunted him every night for three years. Legend is that not one ranger was shot. They rode across the Rio screaming and firing. The bandits thought there were a hundred of them coming. But, cowboy, if you rode with Hays, thatd make you a ghost tonight, and you feel like flesh and blood to me. Todays rangers are not allowed to cross.
Her hand was moving over his chest lightly, caressing now, calming him, letting him know that she was near. He relaxed and wished they were somewhere warm.
Youre going to make it, Winslow. I have a feeling youre too tough to die easy. The lights of a helicopter circled above them.
He didnt want to think about dying or being hurt. He pushed the ghosts who always followed him aside and focused on her. If I live, how about we get together and talk sometime? Any woman who has six kids, can handle injuries in the dark and recognizes bullet wounds is bound to be interesting.
She laughed. You got yourself a date, Cody.