a distance, quaking at the sight. “Bonnie, rip a strip of my petticoat for a bandage.”
Bonnie shook her head.
Casey wanted to scream at her, call her a coward. “Bonnie, please!”
Still, she refused to budge.
Casey stared into the face of the Mexican man kneeling beside her. Jocelyn had introduced him earlier during the noon meal as Jesse. “I need your help.”
“What do I do?”
“Tear my petticoat into a long enough strip to go around him at least once.” She turned her attention back to Rafael, not once giving Jesse an opportunity to refuse.
“Gracias, senorita, for helping my young friend.”
Rafael’s boyish face twisted in pain. “You’re going to be just fine,” she said in Spanish. “What did you say to make that bull so mad?”
Rafael attempted a feeble smile. Casey lifted her blood-soaked hand and placed the makeshift bandage over the wound. “Can you lift him?” she said to Jesse.
Wordlessly, he obliged. She slipped the cloth under and around Rafael’s chest, covering the puncture. Thankfully, his slight frame permitted her to double the remaining portion of the bandage over the wound. Already, the bandage seeped red.
Gratitude radiated from Rafael’s dark eyes, and Casey grasped his hand, knowing the touch of another often gave hope. “I will pray for you,” she said.
A rider raced toward them.
“Senor Grant,” Jesse said. “He help us.”
Casey heard the respect in the man’s voice. She realized he considered Grant an equal, not a boy.
Soon Grant kneeled at the injured man’s side. He spoke to Rafael in Spanish and reassured him that a rider had gone to fetch the wagon. “You bandaged him?” Grant said, then glanced at her. “Of course you did. You have blood all over you.” He peered up at her. “I wonder if I should carry him. The jostling of the wagon might do more harm than good.”
“Can you manage?”
“He’s small, wiry. I could at least meet the wagon midway. Better than sitting here doing nothing.” Grant bent to examine the bandage before picking him up. “Looks good and tight. Jesse, would you bring back my horse?”
“Sí,” he replied.
Grant swung a gaze over his shoulder. “Thank you, Shawne. You probably saved Rafael’s life. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She glanced ahead several feet to Bonnie, who hadn’t taken a step since the ordeal began. “Your sister’s not well, though.”
Grant hoisted the man into his arms. “She can’t tolerate anything.” His voice echoed in disgust. “Can’t depend on her at all.” The rumblings of a wagon came from the distance. “Guess I won’t have to tote him far.”
“I’ll take care of Bonnie.” Casey wiped some of the blood from her hands onto the grass, then stood and ventured toward Bonnie. The stains on her dress would have to stay until she got back to the parsonage.
Bonnie’s lips quivered, and she glanced beyond Casey’s face. “Will he live?”
“I believe so,” Casey said. “Although he’s lost a lot of blood. Take a few deep breaths until you feel better.” God, help me. I’d like to slap her, and I know that’s not the way You want me to be.
“I’m sorry. I simply couldn’t move.” Bonnie wrung her hands. “How ever did you take care of him?”
“Comes natural, I think. Are you able to walk back?”
Bonnie nodded and avoided Casey’s scrutiny. “Usually I faint, but this time I didn’t look at what was going on.” She broke into sobs. “Oh Shawne, if left to me, poor Rafael would have died. Mama will be so angry and disappointed. I am so weak—and the rest of the family will be frightfully upset with me.”
At the sight of Bonnie’s tears, Casey’s heart softened. She had no right to judge the younger woman’s reaction to the injury. What if Bonnie knew the life she’d led with a gang of outlaws? “Some folks handle things differently than others.”
Bonnie lifted her dainty chin. “I’ll tell Mama about what happened. Not that she’ll be surprised.”
The two walked back to the house in silence. Obviously the sight of blood still shook Bonnie, for she quietly wept. How odd for a girl who grew up on a ranch to become so upset over a little blood.
At the house, Bonnie told the story to her mother word for word, leaving out nothing. Casey listened with no desire to add any of her own reflections. Later, after Jocelyn had tended to the wounds and Grant had rode after the doctor, Jocelyn pulled Casey aside.