Texas Twilight by Caroline Fyffe Page A

again
and perhaps they’d give the boy’s team one up. There was a lot
going on at the ranch these days.
    Skimming the pages, Charity reminded him that
she was ready for a visit. Now that he was out of school she wanted
to come and stay for a few months. He knew she was going to be
upset seeing his face. Knowing her as he did, he knew she’d take it
hard.
    No. He wasn’t quite ready to have Charity see
it. He’d write and postpone, at least for a few months. By then, it
was conceivable the bright crimson two-inch line would fade a
little and be easier for her to take.
    He read further. She thought Brandon was
going to propose to her soon. She wasn’t sure what she’d say. John
looked up at the ceiling, perplexed. Why couldn’t she see how much
he loved her? More importantly, why couldn’t she feel it? They were
a perfect match. Brandon was totally devoted to her. And Charity,
even if she didn’t recognize it, set the sun by him.
    The last paragraph was a complaint about how
their ma and pa still wanted to send her to a finishing school for
three months in Denver. She couldn’t fathom why their parents kept
saying that in this day and age a woman needed to know more than
shooting and riding. Someday Charity might be put in a position of
power and would need some “social skills”. She didn’t want anything
to do with it. A vague comment about running away finished the
letter. John knew his dramatic little sis would never go as far as
that, but it was her way of getting attention. They’d work it out,
and hopefully while they did it would take the pressure off him for
a while.
    He laid the letter on the quilt and slung his
arm over his eyes. He needed to send a telegram to Emmeline and
tell her he’d arrived safely. Regret pinched his insides as he
thought of the others who’d been killed. He’d meant to send a
message first thing yesterday when they arrived into Rio Wells and
had forgotten in the aftermath of the attack.
    Emmeline had been persistent about announcing
their plans to marry. He would have preferred to keep their plans
to themselves for a while longer, at least until he was settled and
had some money coming in. Unfortunately Emmeline wouldn’t listen to
reason. His lips turned up remembering the night she’d practically
begged him to let her tell her parents. He’d felt uneasy since
they’d not been courting for long.
    Rolling over, he reached for his book on the
bedside table and withdrew the picture he’d put there for
safekeeping. He held it above his head, just looking. She was
beautiful, without a doubt. He did worry a little about her age.
Eighteen was usually a perfect age to marry, but she was immature.
He’d noticed right away, but he’d been charmed. When the day came
for her to join him in Rio Wells, how would she handle leaving her
family? Her friends? Her social life? How would a rough cattle town
like Rio Wells compare to Boston? A sharp rapping on his door made
him jump.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    “D r.
McCutcheon,” a voice called, “you there?”
    John rolled from the bed and hurried to the
door. Opening it, he found a sandy-haired boy, perhaps fifteen or
sixteen years old.
    “Doc Bixby sent me to find you. He wants you
to come over to the office right quick. He told me to tell you it’s
urgent.”
    “Absolutely, just let me pull on my boots.”
That done he followed the boy down the stairs and out the front
door of the Union Hotel. They turned left into an alley, between
the hotel and the saloon, where piano music pounded.
    “It’s faster this way,” the lad called over
his shoulder. It was only then that John noticed that the cuff of
the boy’s left shirt sleeve hung empty, dangling loosely where his
hand should have been.
    After emerging from between the two
buildings, they turned right and hurried past the back of the
sheriff’s office where two horses hitched to a post dozed in the
warm sun. They took the steps into the back door of Dr. Bixby’s two
at a