Just
when they thought that things were getting better, the sheep shed at
the Henry place, catches fire. Unfortunately, someone was in it when
it caught fire.
"You
think he's the one lit the fire?" Will asked.
"We
may never know," Squires said. "It's possible. Or it
might've been someone else as did it, hoping the fire would burn him
up enough we wouldn't find him."
Dollie
and Patty came over to where their men were standing. The deputies
tried to hold them back, but Patty pushed past them.
"I'm
engaged to Willem Henry and I'll see him now, if you please!"
None
of those men wanted to put a hand on a lady, so they let the girls
pass. Patty ran up to Will, throwing her arms around him. Dollie took
Lucius' hand, examining the bandage. It was a filthy, bloody
disaster. Some of the stitches had popped out. Worried, she held his
hand cradled in hers.
"We
need to have Doc look at this, Luke. It's a mess."
"Yeah,
I reckon."
"Do
you want another day like yesterday and today?"
"No,
I don't."
"Then
we're going. He'll understand under the circumstances, but if you
don't take care of it right away, he'll fuss."
"You've
got a point. Got so charged up by the fire...." He staggered
slightly.
"Sorry,
Sheriff," he apologized to Squires. "Ain't been myself."
"I
thought you looked pretty rough at the funeral," the older man
said. "Shame about your...."
Luke
held up his good hand. "Don't feel you got to say it, sir. We
both know what my old man was like. And neither of us misses him
much."
Squires
smiled, nodding. "Your hand's a mess, boy. Go have Doc look it
over. I can speak to your brother."
"Thank
you, Sheriff," Dollie said.
She
helped Lucius to the car and drove him to the clinic. Doctor Starbuck
had a sort of emergency room going. He had some of the wives and
older girls helping him. There were some cuts and a few minor burns
amongst the fire fighters, but nothing serious. When he saw Luke, he
frowned.
"Did
you mess up my hard work, Lucius?"
"Looks
that way. We had us a fire." He winked at the older man.
"Sit
down and let me look."
Doctor
Starbuck cleaned the hand after removing what was left of the
bandages. Clicking his tongue, he gave him a shot for pain and
removed the torn stitches.
"These
here won't hold as well," he warned. "The skin isn't as
receptive to the stitches after this amount of time, but we'll try.
I've taped it up too, to reinforce it. But if you tear that open
again, there's not much I can do."
"I
understand. Sorry about that, Doc."
"Son,
you had to protect your own, I understand that. Just be careful. I
don't want this to get reinfected and make you sicker. You were one
mighty ill fella when you came in. Now, I'm gonna give you another
shot just to be safe. Miss Belloit, if you'll kindly give us some
privacy, I got to give this shot in his arse."
Laughing
and blushing, Dollie walked out of the examination room, shutting the
door behind her. Mrs. Starbuck found her giggling in the corridor.
Worried Dollie was slightly hysterical, she led her to the waiting
room.
"You
all right, sugar?" Her Georgia accent flavored her words.
"I'm
fine, really. Just a bit startled." She told Mrs. Starbuck what
the doctor had said about the shot.
Giggling
herself, the doctor's wife rocked back and forth with mirth. "Men
say the most outrageous things sometimes. One thing I can say about
married life, it's never been dull."
"I
imagine I'll say the same after Luke and I are married."
"You
too?" Ethel Starbuck hugged Dollie tightly to her ample bosom.
"I'm so happy for you! Brad will be just delighted to hear
that."
"We
aren't really making it public just yet. His aunt's remarrying soon.
And Patty and Will. We didn't want to steal their thunder."
"Not
to mention what folks would think when you haven't courted all that
long."
"Exactly.
We met over a year ago, but it took him some time to ask me out."
"Luke's
always been like that. Will, on the other hand, has got to have it
right now. Luke always studied his options. I imagine he loved you
the moment you met."
"If
he did, he wasn't alone. I saw him and I thought, That's the man
I'm going to marry."
"I
felt the same way when I met Bradley. I knew he was destined to be
mine. I saw him and wouldn't have anyone else."
"What
she means is that she hated me on sight and it took me a solid year
to get her to go out with me. We met at a dance and I was in uniform.
She thought I was the handsomest man in the room...."
"Until
he spoke. Then, I thought he was the rudest."
"I
made an off-color remark about her—endowments," Doc Starbuck
said. "I didn't know she could hear me."
©
2019 Dellani Oakes
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