Johnny couldn’t remember the ride back to Our Lady. He remembered hands reaching up and pulling him off of Barranca and then he remembered waking up on a couch in the office. Sister Mike was cutting away the bandage that Kate had wrapped around him and Murdoch was leaning over him.
“How are you, son?”
Johnny reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, “Oh, I’ve been better, Murdoch.” He tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by several hands.
“Oh no you don’t, brother. You just stay right where you are.” Scott was leaning over the back of the couch.
“Where’s Kate and Isabelle?”
“They’re right over there. They’re both fine thanks to you,” Scott pointed to where Kate and Isabelle sat together talking to Jess and the Reverend Mother.
Johnny relaxed back into the soft couch and closed his eyes. He felt cool water and a soft cloth washing the area where the wound was, but was too tired to open his eyes and watch.
“It’s pretty deep. It’ll need stitches, but it’s not bleeding too much anymore,” Sister Michael was saying. “All we can do until we get him to a doctor is to clean it and keep it tightly wrapped. She did exactly that, but Johnny would remember none of it. He sank back into the darkness and let the others handle things for awhile.
Chapter 50
“Is he gonna be alright?” Jess asked as he kneeled by the couch where Scott sat with his brother. Johnny was covered with a blanket and slept.
“He’ll be fine. It’s not life-threatening.” The exhaustion they all felt was most evident in Scott’s drawn features.
“Uh,” Jess started. “Well, I just wanted to thank him for bringing Isabelle back.”
“You can tell him yourself later, Jess.”
“Yeah.” Jess rose. “I will. I’m gonna go back outside. It’ll be dawn soon.”
Scott nodded and watched him go. He watched Johnny for a moment, and then rose to go join the others outside as well.
Kate appeared beside him, a rifle in her hand. Scott stopped and put both hands on her shoulders. “No, Kate, you need to stay inside with the others.”
“Scott, I’m just as good with a rifle as any of you, and I want to help. I can’t relax inside with all of you out here.”
Scott held her eyes, then nodded resignedly and took her hand.
Outside, the sky was just beginning to turn pink on the eastern horizon. Scott settled behind the barricades next to his father with Kate and Slim on his other side. The sense that they had done this all before was strong and he glanced at his father, who returned his look knowingly.
“How’s Johnny?”
“Still asleep. Sister Michael’s with him.”
Murdoch nodded and returned his gaze to the rolling hills surrounding the compound that were just beginning to appear in the pre-dawn light.
Waiting was the hardest part. They had waited for days for Pardee to make his move. When it finally happened, it was all over in a few minutes. Elizondo was bigger, stronger and more organized. Murdoch hoped he’d brought enough help. He’d had to leave a large enough force behind to protect Lancer if the need arose.
The law was outclassed in this and had dropped out early in the game. Murdoch had taken a few minutes in Green River to wire the commander of Fort Grisham, but expected no help to arrive for several days, if at all. It was a long shot, but one he felt may payoff, but it was doubtful. The army was too far away to be effective out here. There’d been little need for them here until now.
Chapter 51
When they finally came, it wasn’t at all like Pardee. Elizondo rode up to the arch with thirty or forty men keeping a distance behind him; a show of force to be used if needed. Elizondo fancied himself a civilized man.
“Lancer! I know you’re in there. Come out here so we can talk.”
Murdoch handed his rifle over to Scott and rose. “Murdoch! You can’t go out there unarmed.”
“It’s alright, Scott. I know this man. He’s mad, but he has a code of honor. The killing will come later.” Murdoch stepped from behind the barricade and walked toward Elizondo.
Elizondo dismounted and waited for Lancer to approach. Time was on his side. He had but to stall for a little while.
