Chapter 6

CAST in this chapter:

Annie Hightower—Heroine

Arthur Harrison—neighboring rancher

Bill Akers—cowboy friend of Jack

Jack Highsmith—Annie's alias when posing as a man

Jake Blade—murderer of Annie's father

Bill's heart was in his throat when he ran to see how badly Jack was wounded. It was only a flesh wound on her right side just above her hip. Bill pulled her shirt up enough to see the wound, but not enough to expose her breast. There was a lot of blood, but the wound was only a deep scratch.

Hendly Pass now had a doctor, so he was summoned to look after the combatants. When he arrived, he looked at Jake Blade's wound first, since it was by far the most serious. Jake had been shot in the gut, just below the navel, and was beyond saving. The doctor gave him a dose of laudanum to moderate the pain, but there was nothing else that he could do.

He looked at Jack's wound and said that a little cleaning and sewing was all it needed; he could do the whole thing right there. The bartender was not unaccustomed to this sort of thing, so he had a pan and clean cloth handy. He put some water in the pan and handed them to the doctor. The doctor washed out the wound and made sure there was no dirt or shirt fibers left behind. He then had Bill pay for two shots of whiskey: one he drank and the other he used to wash out the wound one last time.

With a remarkably neat hand, he sewed up the wound and wrapped it with more clean cloths supplied by the bartender. Bill paid 50 cents to the doctor for his services and tipped the bartender the same. Jack also got a dose of laudanum for pain, and the doctor left. Jack continued to lie on the floor until the laudanum took effect.

Meanwhile, Bill tried to question Jake Blade, "Why did ya kill my friend's pa nine years ago?"

Around grunts as he struggled to breathe, he answered, "I don't know who ya're talkin' 'bout. But I will say that I ain't never killed nobody in this town what my boss didn't order me to. I'm a killer, but I earns my wages."

Bill was still thinking about that last statement when Jake Blade died. Somebody had already hunted up some of the Harrison ranch hands to take care of Blade, so Bill left him lying there while he arranged for Jack to be conveyed to their hotel room. Three helpers helped ease Jack onto a door they used for a stretcher to carry Jack to his bed. Bill tipped each man a dime and chased them out of the room.

Bill locked the door and carefully removed Jack's clothes. Jack was asleep, and Bill was careful not to wake him. Bill took off his own clothes and lay down beside his friend. He couldn't help thinking about what Blade had said before he died; he was sure that it was important, but he couldn't get a handle on it.

The next morning, Annie woke up before Bill and was busting to piss. She managed to squat on the chamber pot, but couldn't get back up by herself. "Bill, please wake up. I need yer he'p getting' offen this damned pot."

Bill woke up and looked at her sitting on the chamber pot, wearing nothing but her bandage more or less around her waist. He just couldn't help it—he burst into laughter. Annie did look funny with that white bandage and her dark pussy hair showing between her legs. She saw where he was looking and closed her thighs tightly together. "Bill, it ain't nice ta laugh at a lady while she's sittin' on the pot!"

He stopped laughing and apologized for laughing at her. His cock was about half hard when he woke up, and seeing her naked was all it needed to get hard the rest of the way. Bill walked to her side and reached down to grab her hand to pull her to her feet, but he never made it. Annie grabbed his erect cock as a handle and used it to pull herself to her feet. Of course, she didn't pull that hard, all she really needed was something to help her balance as she stood up. Nevertheless, Bill was shocked and let out a little yelp of surprise. Annie laughed at him and said, "Now ya know why it ain't a good idee ta laugh at a lady when she's on the pot."

Bill pissed in the pot, and they both got dressed. Annie was still too sore for anything else but going down for breakfast. Bill did stop off at the desk to tell the clerk that they would be staying for a while. Over breakfast, Bill told Annie what Jake Blade had told him just before the killer died. Annie agreed that the last statement was highly significant, but she, too, could not think of why. Anyway, they decided to drop the subject for now and think about it later.

Annie wanted to travel to Austin to tell her mother that Jake Blade was dead and how it had happened. She also wanted her mother to meet Bill, because Annie was intent on marrying him, though he might not know it, yet. Annie said to Bill that she wanted to wait two days for her wound to heal a little more. She thought that by then she could ride if Bill helped her onto her horse.

Two days later, Jack and Bill were on their way to Austin. Jack was still somewhat sore, so they didn't push hard. The slow travel meant that they took almost two weeks to get to Alice's boarding house. Alice was home when they got there, and she was delighted to see her daughter. She was also delighted to meet Bill, since she had about given up hope of ever seeing her daughter become attached to a man.

Alice was relieved to see her daughter still alive, though slightly wounded. By now, the wound had nearly healed, and Bill was scheduled to pull the stitches out in the next day or so. As it happened, Bill had been so concerned about the wound that he had refused sex with Annie, no matter how much he wanted it, too. Annie was ready days ago, so she was so horny by now that she was ready to climb a wall. Fortunately, Alice had a room available, so they moved into it right away. In fact, they couldn't wait, and Annie's moans of joy could be heard all over the house. However, none of the three was embarrassed by this, because it was still the middle of the afternoon, and none of the boarders were currently in the house. Nevertheless, Alice became a little jealous when Annie's moans seemed to go on and on. It was two hours later before they came back out of their new room.

Alice looked directly at Bill and asked when they were getting married. Bill looked surprised and nonplussed, but Annie spoke right up. She said, "We're gittin' married as soon as it kin be arranged. Ain't that right, Bill?" Bill nodded and lapsed into a stunned silence.

The wedding took place two weeks later in the Methodist Church that was just down the street. There was a reception, and Bill thought that the whole town of Austin must have attended. Even Alice was amazed had how many friends she had made since moving to Austin.

It took a week for things to calm down after the wedding, but the three finally had time to sit down and talk about what had recently happened in Hendly Pass. Bill repeated what Jake Blade had said, and they puzzled over what it meant. Alice said, "I don't understand. At that time, Blade worked for Mr. Harrison. Mr. Harrison wuz very kind ta me after my husband's murder. He wuz the one who bought the ranch from me, an' he paid a reasonable price. In fact, it wuz almost as much as he'd ever offered while he an' my husband were feudin' over the water."

Bill sat up straight and asked, "Ya mean that there wuz a feud over water rights at that time?"

"Well, yes ... Mr. Harrison had been trying fer two years ta buy our ranch. My husband refused ta sell. He said that Mr. Harrison jus' wuzn't offerin' enough fer the property. He said that the only way Mr. Harrison would git the ranch wuz over his dead body ... OH, GOOD LORD!"

Annie said, "It shore looks like Arthur Harrison finally found a way ta git the ranch. I'll bet that SOB paid Jake Blade ta shoot Pa. Yes, that must be it. There ain't no other explanation! Honey, it looks like we need ta make another trip ta Hendly Pass."

Bill said, "Yeah, I guess so. When ya gits that look in yer eye, there ain't no arguin' with ya. When do ya want ta go?"

"My time of the month just started, soz I'd like ta put the ride off 'til that's over. Let's make it four days from now. I got an idee of what I wants ta do, soz we needs ta make plans."

They rode back to Hendly Pass a whole lot faster than they left it a few months ago, an' they wound up stayin' in that same hotel room. Annie had gotten kind of attached to it. The first thing they needed to do was find out all they could about Arthur Harrison and his daily routine.