Chapter 4

Mike spent a few minutes during the evening turning the two spare blankets and the two poles into a stretcher so that they would be ready to leave first thing in the morning. The main problem was that the poles were just a little too short. Of course, one did what one could with the materials at hand. There were two ways to make a stretcher. One by folding the blanket around the poles and the other by rolling the blanket around the poles. He chose the later.

JJ cooked a simple stew over the campfire and took care of Donna. Neither one of them got much sleep during the night,. and They were not in the best of moods by the time the sun rose.

Mike looked at the sun and said, “It’s going to be hotter today than it was yesterday.”

“I don’t want to carry her in the heat of the day,” JJ said.

“If you aren’t that hungry, let’s get her to the wagon and have breakfast there,” Mike said.

JJ asked, “What do you want to do, Donna?”

Donna said, “Whatever you decide is fine with me. All I know is that I want to get back to Crossroads and collect my reward from Mike.”

“Don’t you mean, give Mike his reward?”

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Donna said staring at Mike’s crotch.

JJ rolled her eyes. Mike chuckled. Donna just continued to stare at his crotch.

JJ discovered it was one thing to say that they were going to carry Donna out on a stretcher, and quite another to actually do it. The first obstacle was getting out of the wash. They ended up with Mike having to take her out of the small wash using a fireman’s carry. Once there, they put her on the stretcher.

Then it was a long walk back to the wagon over rough ground. JJ lead the way, with Mike following. They had to go slowly since Mike couldn’t see the rocks on the ground. He more or less had to feel his way along. It was tiring, and backbreaking work, despite the fact that Donna wasn’t that heavy of a burden.

Donna wasn’t comfortable. The stretcher kept enfolding her. It was like being squeezed the whole time they carried her.

At one point, they had to stop to give Donna a chance to recover from the stress. Mike was worried that the blankets had started to work loose. He took a moment to inspect the stretcher. He realized that he might be able to put pieces of wood between handles to keep it from enveloping Donna. Mike was busy with the repair when Millie and Steve showed up.

Expecting to meet them back at the wash, Millie asked, “What are you doing here?”

“We’re taking her to the wagon,” Mike answered.

“Did you break your fast?” Millie asked.

“Not yet. We wanted to get her to the wagon before the sun got too high,” Mike answered.

“I guess I can see the logic of that,” Millie said.

Considering that Mike and JJ were already covered with sweat, she could see that now was a much better time than later.

Steve asked, “Can we throw her over my saddle and carry her out that way?”

“No. That’ll be too rough on her,” Millie answered.

Mike said, “She was in pain, just from me carrying her out of the wash.”

Millie looked around and said, “There’s nothing around here that we can use to create a travois.”

“Let’s get back to it,” Mike said. “The sooner we get to the wagon the sooner we eat and head out.”

“I’ll go back to the wagon and make something for you to eat,” Millie said.

“Good idea.”

“Give me your packs,” Millie said.

“Why?” JJ asked.

“So you don’t have to carry them, and the stretcher,” Millie answered.

“That’s a good idea,” JJ said.

Mike and JJ shrugged off their packs and handed them over to Millie before picking up the stretcher. The braces that Mike had put in worked nicely and Donna was much more comfortable. It was actually a little easier to carry her, also. Not having to wear carry their backpacks further lightened the load they were carrying.

A mile is not a long distance, but it can seem like it is. A person can comfortably walk four miles an hour. That would make a mile’s trip, just a quick fifteen minutes. Unable to see his feet, Mike and JJ were forced to a pace that was just barely a mile per hour. It took them nearly fifty minutes to reach the wagon.

Once there, Mike said, “Let’s get all of the blankets together and put them in the back of the wagon. They’ll serve as a cushion. This road is really rough.”

“Good idea,” JJ said.

Millie said, “Let me check her out before you put her in the wagon.”

“Okay,” Mike said.

Mike and JJ ate while Millie helped Donna eat a little food. Steve harnessed the horses.

Millie stepped over to him and in a low voice said, “She’s running a low fever. If it gets any higher, we’re going to have to stop and take care of her, where ever we are.”

“Can we give her any drugs?”

“I’d rather not. She’s a burner. and I don’t know what will be good or bad for her.”

Mike said, “Okay, we’ve got about seven hours ahead of us.”

“We might have to take some breaks along the way,” JJ said.

Donna said, “I just want to get to Crossroads.”

“I know,” Mike said feeling guilty that he couldn’t do anything to ease her pain.

He looked over at Millie and asked, “Can we give her some more opium?”

“I’d rather not,” Millie said.

Donna said, “I like that stuff. It’s reeeeal good.”

“I think you’re right,” Mike said.

After they finished eating, they loaded Donna into the wagon. She was resting on five blankets, each of which was folded in half. It wasn’t the best mattress, but it was a lot better than resting directly on the hard boards of the wagon bed.

They started off at a reasonable pace, but had to slow down when Donna started groaning. JJ had just about come to the realization that there was probably a reason why the group had left Donna behind. Trying to carry her out of there would have killed a small group who were running low on food and water. That didn’t mean they shcouldn’t have left someone there while they went ahead to get a wagon and come back for her.

It was a long slow trip back to town. In order to keep the jolts down to a minimum, the best pace they could set was just barely faster than a slow walk. Mike and JJ took turns getting out of the wagon and walking along beside it.

“There’s no reason for you to have put up with our slow pace. You can go back now,” Mike said to Millie.

“No. We have orders to help you rescue the lady. We’ll stay with you until we are told otherwise,” Millie said.

“Clayton wouldn’t appreciate it if we left you out here,” Steve said.

“So be it,” Mike said. “It’s just that I hate to waste your time when there’s not much you can do to help us.”

Steve was still bothered by the fact that Mike had spotted him following them the previous day. He had been sure that he had kept far enough behind not be to seen. He had gone off the road several times to watch from a vantage point in a direction from which they wouldn’t be expecting trouble. He didn’t know what he had done wrong.

Finally, he asked, “How did you spot me?”

Mike answered, “The dust from the road gave you away. It wasn’t much, but you learn to notice things like that. When we stopped for lunch, you got a little too close to us since you didn’t realize we had stopped. I knew that Clayton wouldn’t send Kyle out here after his fight yesterday morning. He wasn’t going to send the either of the two men with him. That left you as the likely candidate to follow us.”

“You’re good,” Steve said. “How did you know that I was following you and not someone headed in the same direction?”

“That was easy. Whenever you went off road, you moved a little faster and kicked up a little more dust. Someone making trip down the road wouldn’t have moved off of it.”

Millie asked, “How did you know Clayton would send him?”

“I told you. He didn’t trust me to be alone with you,” Mike said.

“Why didn’t he send Steve with us instead of Millie?” JJ asked.

Mike said, “Ah, that’s a good question.”

“So what’s the answer?” Millie asked.

“There are two reasons. First, you are well trained with field medicine. That medical kit that you carry with you isn’t typical gear for a scout. That’s your specialization isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” Millie said. “What’s the second reason?”

Mike smiled and answered, “Clayton trusted your abilities enough to believe that you would be able to get away from me if I did anything. He just didn’t want you have to fight me off alone if I went after you. Hence, he sent Steve to follow us so that he could watch your back.”

“You got all of that from one conversation with Clayton?” Steve asked.

“I know the kind of man he is,” Mike answered with a shrug.

The two members of the Merc clan rode ahead a little ways. Their heads were together as if they were having an intense discussion. Mike figured they were discussing him. After twenty minutes, they dropped back to where they were riding beside the wagon.

The day slowly passed. Mike was concerned about Donna and didn’t want to stop for lunch. They ate more cheese and sausage while traveling.

When it was about three hours before sunset, Donna asked, “How much longer?”

“An hour or maybe two,” Mike said.

“Will the bank still be open?”

“I don’t know,” Mike answered.

“Well, move faster,” Donna said.

Mike said, “I’m not going to take a chance of injuring you any more than you are. If the bank is closed, we’ll stay the night.”

“I want to collect my reward,” Donna said.

JJ said, “Don’t you mean, you want to give your reward to Mike?”

Donna said, “That depends on your perspective. I’ve heard that Heroes from Earth can go for as long as ten minutes in bed.”

Millie smirked. Mike looked around uncomfortably.

“Mike is good for longer than that,” JJ said.

“How much longer?”

“He can go for hours,” JJ answered.

Millie sat up straight in her saddle and mouthed, “Hours?”

“Hours?” Donna said saying aloud what Millie only mouthed.

“He wore Cat and me out one afternoon. We passed out from the pleasure,” JJ said.

“Passed out?” Millie blurted.

JJ said, “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

“He handled his caretaker and you? At the same time?” Donna asked.

“Yes, he did. You’re gonna need our help taking care of him. He’s a real stud,” JJ said.

Mike grumbled, “That’s enough talk about that.”

Donna looked at JJ and asked, “Are you a Hero Companion?”

“That’s right,” JJ said.

“This is so great! He must be a real stud,” Donna said. She would have been a bit more exuberant, but the wagon hit a pot hole and the jolt dampened her enthusiasm.

Millie said, “It’s all just a mating ritual, huh?”

“Yeah,” Mike answered.

Donna asked, “Is he big?”

“Oh yeah. He’s long and wide. He’ll fill you up,” JJ said.

“This is so embarrassing,” Mike said.

“So you’re big,” Millie said.

Mike said, “Maybe you want to ride ahead make sure that everything is okay up there.”

“There’s no problem ahead,” Steve said.

Steve was thinking that he was going to have a good story to tell Kyle back at camp. It wasn’t every day that you met a man who was bedding three women at once. It was even rarer to meet a man who was bedding three women who knew about each other, yet weren’t killing one another.

Millie was enjoying his discomfort. She said, “I thought you said you were just learning how to use a sword. According to JJ, you’re a pretty accomplished swordsman.”