The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,249

of the pan. The more he watched, the angrier he became. It wasn’t fair. He deserved a strike as much as the next man, but he kept coming up empty. He was beginning to believe he was cursed by the burden of his family. Oblivious to the fact that his life in all its ugliness was about to be revealed, he moved from a sitting to a squatting position. As soon as the couple moved back to their camp, he would slip away and come back after dark. A few minutes later he made his escape and headed back into town.

Letty felt the baby wheezing. She was scared to death it would die in her arms before she ever got to the doctor’s house. Alice was glassy-eyed and stumbling, which was no surprise. She’d been beaten so badly over such a long period of time that she had moved to a place inside her head where the pain couldn’t go.

The doctor’s house was up at the end of the street. When Letty saw his horse and buggy tied up at the side of the house, she breathed a sigh of relief. At least Dr. Warren was home. When she’d stomped out of her hotel room to berate her next door neighbor for making such a racket, she had never dreamed she would wind up involved in such a rescue.

To make things worse, there was always the danger that Alice’s husband would show up and try to reclaim his family. Letty hadn’t ever shot anyone before, but she was pretty sure she’d have no trouble pulling the trigger on Alice’s George.

“Okay, okay,” Letty murmured. “We’re almost there.”

Alice moaned.

The baby made a mousey little squeak.

Letty wanted to cry. Instead, as soon as they were inside the doctor’s front yard, she began to yell.

“Doc! Hey, Doc! Help us! We need help!”

The front door opened almost instantly. Letty recognized the doctor’s wife, Mildred. In seconds, Mildred’s expression went from questioning to shocked.

“Oh dear Lord,” she muttered, and yelled over her shoulder. “Angus! Angus! Come quick!”

She ran out the door and down the steps, catching Alice just before she pitched forward.

The doctor was only seconds behind, and quickly lifted Alice up into his arms and carried her into the house.

“What’s happened here?” he asked, as Letty followed behind, still carrying the baby. “Was there an accident?”

He laid Alice down on the examining table and motioned to his wife.

“Unbutton her dress. We need to see the extent of her injuries.”

“The baby… what about the baby?” Letty asked.

Dr. Warren turned, took one look at the child and paled.

“Give it to me,” he said softly, again directing orders at his wife, Mildred. “Make a pad out of that blanket and lay it on the table, quickly.”

His wife folded the blanket to fit the table, then laid a small piece of linen over it. Angus laid the baby down and then removed the blanket in which she’d been wrapped.

Her skin was so fragile, Letty could see the tiny blue veins beneath, and her limbs were hardly more than matchsticks. The baby was so lethargic it could do little more than squeak.

“Dear God,” Mildred said, as she looked from mother to baby and back again. “What’s happened here?”

Letty sighed.

“I’m not sure. I just got myself involved by accident. This lady and her family are staying in the hotel room next to me and my husband. We’ve been there nine days now, and I can count on my hands the number of hours of silence. Most of the time one or both of them have been wailing. Today I knocked on the door.” Letty’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry I waited so long.”

“Mildred! Warm up some milk. Fill one of the nursing bottles and bring it here as quickly as you can.”

Mildred flew out of the room to do his bidding, leaving Letty alone with Alice.

Angus Warren pointed to Alice’s dress.

“Would you please unfasten her dress for me.”

Letty nodded.

There were a few moments of silence as Letty undid buttons. Dr. Warren stood beside her, his expression unreadable.

“She’s been beaten, hasn’t she?” he asked.

Letty nodded.

“Her husband?”

“Said his name was George,” Letty added.

“Damned gold fever makes fools out of all manner of men.”

“Wasn’t a fool who beat Alice half to death. It was a devil.”

Dr. Angus sighed.

“They happen, too, sometimes.”

Letty bit her tongue to keep from saying anything more.

“Look here,” Dr. Angus said, as he moved the fabric aside on Alice’s dress. “Broken ribs. One is close to protruding through the flesh.