Abby's Last Stand (6 page)

Although she longed to be good and drunk before Barker and Stewart showed up, she was careful. It wouldn't do to be so drunk she couldn't hit the side of a barn. So she, Bear, and Snake occupied their time playing cards for wooden Indian coins.

In a small town like this, news travels fast, and it didn't take long for Barker and his companion to learn there were three gunslingers waiting for them at the saloon. They came in, and the place grew quieter than a three-man funeral.

Abby reached under the table and placed her hand on her gun. The metal was cool to the touch and reassured her. An 54

Abby's Last Stand

by Michelle Marquis

icy sense of comfort filled her as she realized she wasn't afraid to kill
or
die. Nothing was worse than the stifling repression she'd lived under before coming here. It was an amazing feeling to be able to speak one's mind and not be afraid of what someone might think of you. She no longer had to answer to anyone. Not a husband or a spinster aunt or anyone else who might want to weigh in. She could go where she pleased and do anything she fancied. She was reborn in these dull, gray clothes and this shiny new gun; she was a gunslinger.

Barker and Stewart moseyed up to their table with spurs jingling. They stopped a few feet away, and it was Barker who spoke first.

"Hear tell there're some sidewinders looking for a go at me," Barker said, fixing his steely gaze on Bear.

Bear lifted his dark brown eyes, and Abby could have sworn she saw skulls in them. "You heard right, Barker." He lifted his chin toward Abby. "We also got a friend who wants a reckoning with your boy there, too."

"Oh, is that right?" Barker sneered.

"Check it out," Stewart said with a sideways grin. He looked like a rodeo clown telling a really lame joke. "They got a woman with them dressed like a man." His features suddenly became very serious. He lifted a finger and pointed at Abby. "When this is all done, I get
her
."

A current of vengeful fury filled Abby. Hatred as clean and pure as the love she felt for Bear and Snake bubbled to the surface. It was dark poison and filled her heart with animal rage. She stood up and rested her hand on her revolver.

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"Why wait?" she asked. "Why not take me now? I'm
more
than ready for the likes of you."

Stewart let out a nervous laugh. "What's this? She can't be serious."

Snake gathered up the cards as if he were bored. He dealt another hand for the table. "She ain't one for foolin'. I figure she means ever word she said."

Stewart held his hands up in a mock show of surrender.

"Easy there, little lady. I don't know what I've done to offend you, but—"

"You offend me because you draw breath, sir," she said through her teeth. "You offend me because you're a maggot on the corpse of civility, and I'm aimin' to teach you some manners, good and proper."

Stewart made his eyes small and mole-like. "You got a lot of hate for a man that ain't never met you before."

"We've met before," Abby assured him. "We met after you tore apart my sister and damn near beat me half to death."

She nodded. "Yeah. I can see it in your eyes. You remember me now, don't cha?"

Everything seemed to stop, even the very breeze blowing through the door earlier. The barkeep ducked behind the bar, and all the patrons slipped out the back. Snake and Bear continued their game like nothing was going on at all. Abby couldn't have cared less if the Second Coming was happening all around her. She only had eyes for Stewart. The cowboy oozed with the stink of fear, which clung to his skin. It was a pungent, oily smell that made her sick and bloodthirsty all at once.

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In a twitch of movement, she saw Stewart reach for his pistol and felt herself clear hers. The revolver was heavy in her hand, and she was close enough to be sure of her target.

Abby heard the gunshots, three in all, and the sting of gun smoke burned her nose.

She blinked.

Stewart lay on the ground with two bullet holes right above his left eye. The third shot must have been his bullet for her. Bear had his gun trained on Barker, who was standing there stunned.

Snake knelt by Stewart's dead body and took his gun and bullets. He stood up and handed them to Abby, who was still too shocked to take them. She looked down at herself to make sure she hadn't been shot. There was no damage, but her head was spinning.

Snake shoved Stewart's weapon into her gun belt and flashed a devilish smile at Barker. "Taught her everything she knows."

Barker glared at Abby. "That's a one-way ticket to hell, young lady!"

"Then we're all going there together," Bear said. "Step outside."

Barker's face blanched. "You gonna shoot me down in cold blood, half-breed?"

"No. You'll get a chance to defend yourself, just like your buddy did."

Outside, the air was still, hot, and dry. Abby wanted to stick close to her two lovers, but Snake placed a gentle hand on her arm. "You wait here on the boardwalk. Barker is ours.

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You're a dead shot. We can't have you taking him out before we get our chance."

She swallowed, and her throat was dry. She wished she could be as nonchalant about this as Snake was.

Barker had no sooner reached the road when he yanked his pistols, turned around, and started shooting. Abby saw Snake fire off a shot then jerk once and fall to the ground. His shirt grew dark red. Complete and utter horror froze her in place. More gunfire. Through the smoke she saw Bear holding out his two guns and Barker go down. Gun smoke was everywhere.

Danger or no, Abby rushed to Snake. He was bleeding badly from a bullet hole in his side. Bear was immediately at her side. "Let me carry him inside." He picked up his brother effortlessly and brought him back in the empty saloon. Abby cleared off a table with her arm, sending empty bottles shattering to the floor. Bear lowered Snake onto the table and tore his shirt open. "It ain't too deep," he said. "I can dig it out, but he's gonna need stitches." He fixed his gaze on the few patrons huddled by the rear door. "Ain't there a doctor in this town?"

"I don't think there is. I can do the stitches," Abby said.

She grabbed a young boy who worked in the Saloon's back room. He'd been huddled behind the saloon piano not sure if the shooting was over. "Go to my room in the hotel and bring me my brown carpet bag, you understand? And you'd better be quick about it or I'll take a switch to ya."

The young man tripped over his own feet as he rushed out the door.

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Abby shredded Snake's discarded shirt to make bandages.

Using one of the bandages, she put pressure on the wound, hating herself for causing Snake so much pain. She cleaned the wound as best she could and, with the help of two other men, held Snake down while Bear dug the bullet out.

The stock boy returned with her carpet bag, and Abby went to work threading a needle and sewing up Snake's bullet wound. When she was done, she leaned back to admire her handiwork. A wave of frantic worry filled her. She just hoped they'd done enough.

"We've done all we can," she said to Bear. "Now he just needs a quiet place to rest until he can recover."

"I got the perfect place," a man's voice said behind them.

They turned around to see the sheriff and two deputies with him. The law was pointing guns at them. "How about we take him down to the town jail? And you two outlaws can keep him company."

Bear glared at them. "What's the charge?"

"Murder."

* * * *

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After the sheriff took statements from all those who'd seen the gunfight, he let them go. Seemed obvious to most folks what went down was pretty much self-defense. Snake was still unconscious and very ill so they took him back to the hotel and made him as comfortable as they could. By nightfall he was running a fever and Bear was pacing the room with worry.

Abby felt Snake's forehead. He was even hotter than the last time she'd checked. She rolled up her sleeves. "We need to get him in a cold tub to bring down his fever. I'll get old man Tucker to watch him while you and I bring up some water from the pump."

All Bear could do was nod. Funny how such a strong man was reduced to following orders when someone he loved was in danger.

For the better part of an hour they filled bucket after bucket of water from the pump and dragged them up the steps to the bathtub. To Abby's surprise, quite a few of the other hotel guests helped, too, making their work a little easier. When the tub was full, Bear helped her undress Snake and get him to the bathroom.

He was mumbling and feverish. He kept telling them over and over again how much he loved them both. Snake's confessions upset Bear even more. His dark eyes looked softer than she'd ever seen them.

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"He's gonna be okay," she told Bear while undressing to get into the tub. She was gonna have to hold Snake up so he didn't sink under the surface.

Abby slipped into the tub while Bear picked up his brother and placed him in front of her. She wrapped her arms around Snake and hugged him close. Bear took a seat on a nearby chair. He lowered his head and raked his fingers through his hair. "What does this do?" he asked miserably.

"It'll cool him down and make him feel better."

Despite how cold the water was, Abby kept Snake in for a long time. When he felt cooler, Bear helped her lift Snake out of the tub, dry him off, and carry him back to bed. She cleaned his wound once again and made him comfortable.

Snake stroked her cheek and gave her a weak smile. "You're a real nice lady, Abby."

She kissed his hand and tucked it back under the covers.

"You hush now and try and sleep. You need all the rest you can get."

His face became very serious. "I love you. I never told a woman that before, and it feels weird. But I want you to know I mean it with all my heart."

Abby fought back tears. "I know you do. I love you, too, Snake."

Bear came up behind Abby and hugged her shoulders. She had almost expected him to get jealous, but he didn't.

Jealously wasn't Bear's way. "We both love you, boy. Now you do as Abby says and get some sleep. We've got a lot of mischief to get up to. We can't stay in this town forever."

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Snake's face grew very serious. "You think I'm gonna die, Bear?"

"Not with such a great nurse looking after ya," Bear said with a warm smile. "Get some rest."

Snake closed his eyes. "I think I might be feeling a little better." A moment later, he was snoring.

* * * *

"What?" she said, disoriented. "What's going on?"

"I think his fever broke."

Abby came over and felt Snake's forehead. It was finally cool. She lifted the sheets and examined the wound. It was light pink but looked much better and had stopped bleeding.

"I'm afraid to say it this soon, but he looks to be getting better. All we gotta do is keep doing what we're doing.

Hopefully, we'll be able to give him some solid food for lunch."

Bear kissed her. "Ain't you a wonder? How come you know so much about nursing? I thought all you did was mend clothing."

"I volunteered at a hospital most Sundays after church when I was married."

"You don't talk much about that. How long were you married?"

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"Only six months. He was a good man, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't love him. After my sister got attacked and lost her mind, I wanted to feel safe again so bad. Blane was a kind and gentle man who went to the same church I did. So, when he asked me to marry him, I jumped at the chance.

Unfortunately, a few months later, he was thrown from a horse and broke his leg. It didn't mend right, and he died of infection."

"I'm real sorry to hear that. But it still don't explain how you come to end up here. I remember you talked about avenging your sister, but you could have paid a bounty hunter to do the job for you. Why take on all this by yourself?"

Abby took an extra blanket off Snake and folded it. She placed it at the foot of the bed in case he got feverish again.

"I was living with a mean ole aunt and visiting my sister every weekend. I tried to bring her back to her senses, but it didn't do no good. No matter how many times I went, she never knew me. It was like she died inside after what happened to her. Every time I went there, I got madder and madder until one day I decided it wasn't fair. The man who done this to her was walking around living his life and my sister was, well, for the most part, dead. I had to take a stand.

"So, I collected what little money I had saved up and came to the worst town I could find. This place was perfect for two main reasons—it was full of outlaws and Stewart was rumored to work on a cattle ranch nearby. I knew if I was here, it was 63

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only a matter of time before we met up. And the rest of the story you already know."

Bear ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair. "By my reckoning, we done the world a favor by ridding it of them two."

"I'm inclined to agree with you."

"I'm glad everyone's in agreement," Snake said as he struggled to sit up in bed. "But I'm more concerned about when I'm gonna eat."

Abby and Bear laughed.

"Guess he's feeling better already," Bear said.