PART 7
Nan sat upon her horse
thinking about her day assisting Colleen and Andrew as she rode back to
Michaela’s clinic. She needed time to
think. Time to be alone. She didn’t really know why. She just wanted to be alone. She left the main road that led to town and
took a longer, more scenic route.
As she was riding, she saw
the beauty of the west; the trees, the river, the flowers. She gazed up toward Pike’s Peak and smiled
at the mountain in the distance.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to live
out here,” she said to the rabbit that had hopped into her view. She laughed as she thought about what she
said to the animal. “You already do
live out here, I guess.”
Just then Nan heard
something sneak up behind her. She
turned her horse in the direction from which she had come. She gasped, “Hank!” Standing not even five feet from Nan was
Hank Lawson. He was pointing a gun at
her. It was obvious that he was drunk.
“Get off the horse!” he
yelled at her. She was frightened, but
she slowly did as she was asked.
“H-h-hank,” she
stuttered. “What are you doing?”
“Doing what I should have
done a month ago,” he said, a slur in his voice.
“Hank, you’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re doing,” Nan tried
to stay calm.
“I know exactly what I’m
doing,” he yelled at her.
Just then Nan heard a
gunshot.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *
“Dan, I haven’t told you yet
how good it is to see you,” Sully told him as they rode out to Colleen’s
medical clinic.
“It’s good to see you too.”
“Sounds like exploring the
west has been good to you,” Sully guessed.
“Yes, it has. I’ve been out west for four years now,” Dan
grew quiet, as he looked out in the distance.
“Have you thought about
settling down any?”
Dan glanced over at
him. “Yeah, sure, I’ve thought about
it. Just don’t know when I’ll do it,”
he grinned.
“What ever happened to
Bess?” Sully asked him cautiously.
“Bess? Not much,” Dan laughed at himself. “Bess and
I just kind of went our separate ways.”
“You used to be sweet on
her, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t meant
to be. She’s off in Paris anyway
according to Mrs. Jo. She went to
college there,” Dan told him. “She’s
found herself a beau in Paris, I guess.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No, not really. I’m happy for her. She wasn’t really my type after all.” Then he chuckled, “Not so
sure that Amy liked me anyway. I think
she wanted somebody more sophisticated for her daughter.”
Just as Dan finished the
last sentence, they heard a gunshot.
“That sounds like it was
close to here,” Dan said.
“Too close,” Sully told
him. “Come on. Let’s go check it out.” They rode off.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
As Sully and Dan rode up to
where they had heard the gunshot, Sully pointed at something.
“Look,” Sully said.
“It’s Nan.”
They rode over to Nan and got
down off of their horses. “Nan, can you hear me?” Sully asked. Nan moved slightly and made a little whining
noise. There was blood coming from her
left arm.
“She’s conscious, but
barely,” Sully said. “Dan, I want you
to pick her up, carefully; then after I get on my horse, hand her up to
me.”
Dan began to pick Nan up, so
as not to cause her anymore pain then she was already in. “I got her, Dan,” Sully said after Dan
handed her to him. “Ride back into
town. Tell Michaela to come out to
Colleen and Andrew’s. It’s closer than
taking her back into town. Get Nat too,” he said before he rode off with Nan in
his arms.
Dan got back on his horse
and rode back into town.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * *
“Hi, Nat, come on in,” Dr.
Mike said to the young man standing at the door.
“Hi, Michaela. Is Nan back from Colleen and Andrew’s yet?”
he asked
“No, but she should be back
any minute. She was supposed to be back
about 15 minutes ago. She must have run
a little late.”
“That’s OK. I’ll wait for her,” Nat smiled at her.
Just then the door
opened. Dan was there and out of
breath. “Dan, what’s wrong?” Nat asked
him.
“It’s Nan,” Dan gasped.
“Nan? What about Nan?” Nat got a worried look on
his face.
“She’s been shot.”
“What?” Nat practically yelled.
“Now, don’t overreact
Nat. What happened? Where is she?” Michaela asked.
“She was shot in her left
arm. Sully took her out to Colleen and
Andrew’s. It was closer,” Dan finished.
“Come on, Nat,” Michaela
said. The three of them headed out the
door.
