The Runaway Bride by Sandra Chastain

Author:Sandra Chastain [Chastain, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-81724-2
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2014-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

With one ear, Dan listened to the discussion of how the engineer intended to get the train and the passengers to Laramie as quickly as possible. The well-being of the passengers on the ledge was more pressing than the welfare of the men who’d been in the last car. With the other ear, Dan listened to Annie’s quiet voice of authority.

“I need someone to hold his shoulders,” she said.

“We have to telegraph the people back in Cheyenne,” the engineer said. “Otherwise, we’ll lose the next train, and more people will be killed.”

“How many were in that last car?” someone asked.

“I’m not certain now,” the engineer answered. “Someone saw a man inside when we left Cheyenne. He was carrying a bedroll.”

“Who was he?” somebody asked.

Nobody knew.

The discussion went on, unidentified voices making nervous conversation. “We’ve been lucky. Other than the Irishman, the rest of us only have a few cuts and bumps.”

“We’d better be quick,” another said, stamping his feet. “We’re going to freeze to death out here.”

“Can we walk out?” Dan asked. The lack of any response was answer enough.

“What about the Irishman’s leg?”

The answer Dan heard was chilling. “Well, it’s like this. You’d better hope that woman can fix it, because there ain’t no doctor ahead and unless somebody sprouts wings, we’re gonna have a hard time getting back to Cheyenne.”

Dan didn’t want to hear that. He’d come to appreciate Red’s loyalty and skill. He was a natural leader. The other men followed him. But more than that, Red was the kind of man you wanted as a friend.

Glancing over at the makeshift hospital, Dan saw that everyone was watching Annie silently. He started toward the circle of light. Then stopped to watch as well. With quiet authority Annie directed a passenger to hold Red’s shoulders. Then grasping the leg around the ankle, she jerked it hard, The unmistakable crack signaled that she’d snapped the bones back into some kind of alignment.

In amazement, Dan watched Annie examine the leg, pressing here and there with knowing fingertips. In a medical bag, she located a packet of needles and thread. After washing the wound with her bare fingers and water from a pot on the fire melting the snow, she filled the gash with some kind of powder and stitched it up.

Dan was only marginally aware of the engineer explaining a plan to uncouple the last cars on the train and try moving the others forward. If the bridge held, they might be able to continue. Nodding his agreement, Dan watched Annie’s face, furrowed in concentration. Finally, apparently satisfied that she had the results she wanted, she pulled back and wrapped the leg in muslin.

“Hand me the splints,” she said, taking a pole someone had cut in half. Lining the pieces up on either side of the leg, she held them in place. “Bind it with the strips of muslin,” she told Ginny.

“I don’t know how,” Ginny began. “What if I tie it too tight?”

“Just tie it. Once it’s steady we’ll swap places and I’ll finish.

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