saw several broken limbs left from the heavy winter snows. It had to be enough, for she couldn’t risk dragging up pieces of wood from below. Using Morgan’s rope, she tied together a wooden frame between two trailing poles, then fixed his blanket on top. Tugging and pulling, she positioned the injured man onto the travois, certain she’d killed him in the process. At least in his current state, he couldn’t feel the pain. She covered him with her blanket and used her rope to tie him securely.
They had miles to cover, and she didn’t want to think about Morgan dying along the way. When they reached Vernal, Doc would tend to him. He boasted of a lucrative practice in mending the bullet-and knife-ravaged bodies of many men—good and bad.
Unfortunately, Jenkins also needed Doc to yank out a bullet and set his broken leg, and she sure didn’t need the outlaws getting there first. The thought made her weak, dizzy.
*****
White-hot pain seared every inch of Morgan’s body, as though he’d been branded and a fiery poker prodded at his open wounds. His mind swam in a haze that floated in and out. At first he fought the unconsciousness, but when his mind numbed, he didn’t hurt. Didn’t feel like screaming. Jenkins had succeeded in killing him. The outlaw had won. Only a breath of time stood between Morgan and God. He groaned. Whatever dragged him along had hit something. More torture? He tried to focus on what he could remember. The unseen outlaw . . . the anguish tearing through his body. His mind cleared slightly, long enough for the torture to wield its sword into his chest and leg.
Oh God, release me from this pain. Take me to You.
Casey O’Hare. He hadn’t cared what happened to her until he saw her courage in the face of death. All he wanted was a way to trap Jenkins. He’d banked on the outlaw agreeing to an exchange for her and stepping out in the open. The four-year search would finally be over, but the haunting in his soul told him he still wouldn’t rest. Hate had driven him for so long that he wasn’t sure he wanted the pursuit to end. He’d survived on revenge. Without it, he had no reason to go on.
What happened instead staggered him. They’d been trapped, and when she offered to stay behind, he realized he couldn’t send a woman to her death—not even an outlaw. How well he understood the price she’d pay for leaving Jenkins. No woman deserved his torture. Still, a nagging question needled him. Why had she stayed seven years with an outlaw gang?
Morgan struggled to talk. He had to warn her . . . persuade her to leave him behind before one of the Jenkins gang caught up with them . . . pray for her. He could do that. She needed help to start her life over. The kind of help only God could give.
Was she guilty of everything he’d read and heard? Didn’t matter now. He was heading to his Maker. Help her, I beg of You.
Blackness swirled in his mind, and he faded into blissful darkness.
*****
The trail to Vernal led straight south through dry canyons where nary a soul existed, not an easy path to venture with a badly wounded man. Time played an important part in whatever happened. If only she had medicinal herbs. She’d cleaned Morgan’s torn flesh with whiskey, then bound the wounds tight. Nothing more she could do.
A moan from Morgan caused her to stop and check on him.
“Don’t you dare die on me.” Casey wanted to shake him. “You’re a strong man. You can make it.”
In a distant but not forgotten corner of her mind, she recalled the frail figure of her mother praying over Tim’s fevered young body. He’d gotten pneumonia in the wet and cold while looking for their drunken pa. Ma had kneeled beside him for hours, and Tim had recovered.
Casey looked up into the late afternoon sky, a cloudless canopy of deepening blue. Tears flowed freely over her cheeks for a man who appeared more dead than alive. Could this be why the two of them had met? Did Morgan sense his destiny?
Oh God, I haven’t prayed since I was a little girl, and I don’t know if You have any idea who I am, but if You’re really there, would You listen for a moment? This man’s dying because he tried to help me. I’m not sure what