In Sickness and in Health
Chapter 3
by Alias
e-mail: [email protected]
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Disclaimer: Go look at chapter one.
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"Vin? VIN!!" Laurie shook the shivering man. He was getting worse.
It was all he could do to keep his legs moving, and his arms had been
loosening their hold on her.
"Still…still here girl. Jus’ keep movin’ till we find shelter." He
was trying not to let her see how bad off he was, she knew that. But
she also knew that he was holding her as tight as he was,not only
to get whatever body heat he could and what little protection he could
get by her trying to spread the coat around him too; but because he
could barely stand—much less walk—by himself.
"So, what are we looking for again?" She knew, he had already told
her several times, but it kept him talking.
"Li…line shack. Should be some up here. Ranchers have ‘em for cattle
drives. Small…chimney…look like they were put together in a hurry."
She was about to say something else when something in the distance
caught her eye. She squinted, trying to get a better look, and could
barely control her elation a moment later.
"Like that you mean?"
He followed the direction that she was pointing with his eyes, and she
saw him grin slightly.
"Yeah, just like that."
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Mary pulled the robe tighter around her as she went to answer the
door. Lighting a candle as she did so, she prayed that it was
one of the men, come to tell her that they’d found Vin and Laurie, and that
all eight of them were back and safe.
Her prayers were partially answered. She opened the door just enough
to let Josiah, Ezra, and Nathan in.
"Are the others back? Did you find them?" The three men exchanged
worried glances, and she realized that they had hoped to find them
here.
"No ma’am." Nathan answered. "Leastwise, we haven’t been able to
find them."
"Did you try their hotel rooms? The saloon?"
"Mrs.Travis," Ezra’s deliberately calm voice made her realize
that she had started to sound hysterical. She couldn’t help herself.
Every time a storm like this came up, she was taken back to when she
had been thirteen. Her brother Will had ridden off into a
similar storm after a fight with their father, and hadn’t come back.
"No doubt they have all safely found shelter and will return in the
morning."
"Do you think so?"
"I’m positive."
A moment later, a particularly loud thunderclap caused her to jump and
almost drop the candle she still held, but she felt Josiah’s large,
steadying hand on her shoulder as he gently took the candlestick from
her hands.
"Will you and Billy be all right if we go back to the hotel?" He
asked. "Yes, I’m sure we’ll be—" A cry from the bedroom caused all of them
rush in that direction, and Billy threw himself in his mother’s arms
the moment she entered, babbling incoherently.
"Shh, shh, it’s okay."
"No, it’s not." He spotted the three men behind Mary. "Is Chris
back?" He demanded.
"Not yet Billy, but he will be real soon."
"Are you sure?" He demanded of Nathan.
"If he doesn’t get back soon, then we’ll know that he and the others
found a place to hole up for the night."
"Chris has a habit of getting himself out of bad situations Billy,"
Josiah supplied, "I wouldn’t worry if I were you, he’ll be fine."
Several more minutes of that, combined with natural tiredness, and the
boy dropped back to sleep.
"We…should be going now Mrs. Travis." Ezra said. "Are you certain
everything will be all right?"
"Yes. Yes, we’ll be fine."
"G’night ma’am."
Mary watched the men leave. They would be fine, all of them. After
all, surely they’d been through worse than this before, right?
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Laurie pushed against the wind, finally getting the door closed and
bolting it. Quickly, she turned back to Vin, who had fallen to the
floor when she had pulled him away to close the door.
"Vin?" she shook him. "Vin? Are you still with me?" His blue eyes
focused on her, and he nodded as he covered her hands with his own.
"Good."
She searched the room with her eyes, finally finding the supplies that
Vin had said would be stored there. She pulled her hands free.
"I’ll be right back." She pulled the thin mattress over near the
fireplace and unrolled it. Probably wouldn’t be much softer than the
floor, it was so thin, but it would be warmer. The blanket wasn’t
much to look at either, but it would have to do. She went back to
Vin and started pulling him up.
"Hey, come on, keep talking to me."
"’N’ sickness…health."
She started to pull his shirt out of his jeans. She needed to get him
out of the wet clothes, and build a fire. She paused realizing that
he wasn’t wearing anything underneath the shirt. Well, most of the
wet clothes at least. But those pants were staying on, no matter how
wet they were.
"Death…do us part. ‘S my promise." His promise? To who? To her?"
She lowered him to the mattress and started pulling off his boots.
"May jus’ be words, but my promise. My promise Silver Rain, to you."
She froze. Silver Rain? Who the hell was Silver Rain?
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"I don’t care how bad it’s gettin’!" Buck was shouting at the top of
his voice just to be heard. "I ain’t leaving my sister alone out
here!!"
"She’s not alone Buck, she’s with Vin!!" Chris shouted back.
"We don’t know that! And I’m not gonna leave her alone out here with
him either!"
"Be reasonable Buck…"
J.D. rolled his eyes. He didn’t see why Buck was so upset about
the thought of Laurie and Vin spending the night together. It wasn’t like
Vin would take advantage of her or anything. Sure, Vin liked Laurie
and she liked him, but it wasn’t like they’d actually do anything
about it, just like Chris and Miz Travis probably never would. All
four of them would need to be knocked upside the head before they
figured anything out.
He pulled the jacket tighter around him. Great. Laurie and Vin were
probably just fine, and the others had probably gotten back to town
and were safe and warm in bed, and he was stuck out here listening to
Buck and Chris fight.
"Hey, kid, you coming?"
J.D. snapped back to attention, realizing that his mind had wandered.
Actually, he had just tuned Buck and Chris out, figuring that they’d
be at it for a while.
"Yeah, I’m comin’. Where we headed?" He saw Buck behind Chris. The
big man actually looked like he might be sulking.
"Back to the old cabin we saw a ways back, should give us shelter for
the night."
Looked like Chris had won that argument.
