The sun came up, and Art again woke Minnie. She'd half expected someone to find them in the cabin before they had a chance to leave. When that didn't happen, she was relieved. Despite the briefness of their interlude at the cabin, she wanted to hold onto the feeling of being alone there with Art.
Something about spending that time with him had mended some of the broken hopes and dreams she'd been carrying around. The way he spoke to her, the way he treated her… in a lot of ways it was what she'd expected to have with William. It was how she'd always pictured husbands and wives treating each other.
She felt her ears heat at the thought and tried to blink away the image of her and Art as husband and wife. He deserved a lot better than her.
Art made sure the fire was out. Then he saddled Mutiny and mounted. Reaching down, he easily lifted Minnie, settling her into the saddle in front of him. "Remember what I said, okay?"
"As tired as I am at the moment, I don't think it'll be too hard to appear out of my mind," she said with a smile. Not too far down the road from the cabin, Minnie started to look around her. "Look at the snow, Arty," she said.
"Sure is something, isn't it?"
Snow covered every surface, and it sparkled, a field of diamonds in the morning sun. "It's breathtaking. Everything is so unspoiled," she said in awe. "I'd forgotten how perfect an Idaho snow storm can be."
"There's a verse in the Bible about snow," said Art lightly.
Curious, Minnie asked, "What does it say?"
"It's about sin, repentance, and forgiveness. I don't remember the whole verse, but the part I do remember says, 'though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.'"
Looking around her, Minnie said, "Do you think that's how it is with God? Do you think, in that moment that we ask His forgiveness for the wrongs we've done, and He grants it – do you think He looks at us and sees this?
Taking in the sight around them, Art answered, "I'd like to think so. When I look around at the land covered in a fresh snow with nary a track in it, I can't help but think the whole world looks new. I'd like to think it's the same with God. We come to Him, and because we do, we look fresh and new, too."
Minnie relaxed back down into her seat and said, "Maybe it is time I let God out of the corner."
She could hear the smile in his voice as Art said, "Maybe it is at that."
****
As they approached town, two riders met them. Mayor Smith and Samuel Livingston both had anxious looks on their faces.
"Is she all right?" the mayor asked.
Art nodded and said, "She's fine, Mayor, but I should get her to Doc Billingsly straightaway. She got quite a bump on the head."
"What happened?" asked Samuel.
Art kept his horse to a slow walk but continued on in the direction of the doctor's office. "Her buggy went over. She got thrown. I don't know how long she'd been there, but when I found her, she was buried in snow. If it weren't for the buggy and the tracks, I might not have found her."
"Tracks?" asked the mayor.
"The horse broke away from the buggy," said Art. "I found her a couple miles outside of town. She was on the side of the road with two broken legs." He felt Minnie tense in his arms and wished he'd told her sooner. His plan for keeping her reputation in tact depended on her seeming as sickly as possible, and a hysterical reaction to the mare's unfortunate demise would most definitely not help matters.
"Did you put her down?" asked Samuel.
Art nodded and then said, "I followed the mare's tracks as best I could back to the buggy. With the wind and snow it was no small task. Around the time I lost her trail, I spotted the buggy. It was so covered in snow I almost missed it. Starting with the most obvious direction for her to have been thrown, I began digging through the snow as fast as I could. Thank goodness I found her pretty quick. She was unconscious, and it looked like she'd been that way the entire time. There wasn't any indication in the snow that she'd tried to move from where she'd landed. With darkness falling and the road becoming harder and harder to see, it would have been foolhardy to try to make it all the way back into town. So we holed up at the old Riley place until first light. It seemed like the safest thing to do."
Concern in his voice, Mayor Smith asked, "Has she regained consciousness at all?"
Art nodded and said, "I didn't want her to sleep through the night, so I kept waking her up. Got a fire going there and examined her head as best I could. I can't say for sure how grave it is. You'll have to wait for Doc to examine her."
The three men arrived in front of Doc's office. The mayor jumped off his steed and then reached up to take Minnie.
Art handed Minnie down to her father and dismounted.
"Give me the reins," Samuel said to him. When Art glanced at him, Samuel added, "I'll go bed Mutiny down in his stall behind the sheriff's station. You can pick him up from there whenever you're ready."
With a nod of gratitude, Art said, "Make sure he's warm and give him some extra oats. He saved both our lives."
"Will do." Then Samuel turned to the mayor, who was stepping up onto the boardwalk, Minnie in his arms. "I'll let Mrs. Smith and Sarah know you're in with Doc Billingsly."
"Thank you, Samuel," the mayor said gravely.
****
Art waited in the outer room of Doc's office while Mayor Smith went into the examination room with Minnie. Mrs. Smith rushed through the door and passed by him to join her husband and daughter. Before long Sarah arrived with Ethan in her arms and Samuel on her heels. Reverend Green soon joined them as well. Less than twenty minutes had passed since they rode into town, and already Doc's waiting room was filled near to bursting.
The inner door at last opened and Doc Billingsly stepped out, ushering Mayor and Mrs. Smith into the waiting room. "Sheriff," he said, "I need to have a word with you. Could you please join me?" It was unorthodox for him to be allowed in the exam room while Minnie was still in there, but Art nonetheless stood and followed the doctor back through to the inner room.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Doc Billingsly said, "I want the truth, Art. What was her condition when you found her, throughout the night, and this morning?"
Minnie, who had been lying down on the exam table sat up and dangled her legs over the edge. Speaking before Art could get any words out, she asked, "Doc, how long have you known me? Have I ever lied to you?"
Giving her a piercing look, he said, "I delivered you, Minnie, and I've never known you to be dishonest. Outlandish, yes. Dishonest, no. Now tell me what's going on."
Sighing, Minnie pushed her ebony hair back and said, "The buggy lurched to the side. That's the last thing I remember until I was on Sheriff Paulson's horse with him. I think I came to once or twice while we were looking for shelter. It's all quite fuzzy. He took us to the old Riley place rather than into town. My head hurt so much I was afraid to open my eyes. I could have sworn someone was trying to drive a stake into my skull. I couldn't even remove my own shoes because my fingers wouldn't do what I told them."
Art wished she'd left that last part off. He wasn't sure giving the doctor that particular mental image would work in their favor.
Minnie continued, "Sheriff Paulson took care of me by making sure I was warm and safe. He bandaged the wound on my head. I slept off and on most of the night. I know he woke me up at least a couple times. My head still throbs, but I do feel a lot better this morning." Her hand went to her midsection. "I'm kind of nauseated, but that might be hunger."
Art noted Doc's expression before questioning, "Why do you ask?"
Doc turned his piercing gaze on Minnie. "I couldn't even get you to sit up while your parents were in here. Why?"
This time Art jumped in before Minnie could answer, "I asked her to do that, Doc. Everything she said is correct. When I held up two fingers for her last night, she thought I was holding up three. Her speech was slurred. She was unsteady on her feet. I was pretty sure she had a concussion."
Feeling a bit like a kid being called to the front of the classroom, Art added, "I'm thankful she's doing so much better this morning, but, Doc, the truth is, if I brought her into town and she was smiling, laughing, and acting fine, we'd be getting married by the end of the day, and you know it. Neither of us did anything wrong, and I didn't think it was fair for her to be forced into marriage simply because she bounced back so well from a head injury. I'm trying to protect her. That's all."
"Sheriff Paulson was a perfect gentleman the entire time, Doc. I give you my word."
Doc Billingsly looked back and forth between the two of them. "You want me to lie for you?" His voice gave nothing away.
They both shook their heads no. "I'd never ask you to do that, Doc," Art said.
"Then what do you want?"
Minnie, who was looking worse for the wear, lay back down on the exam table. Answering the doctor, Art said, "All I'm asking is that you don't throw her to the wolves."
"Oh come now," Doc said. "Calling them wolves is a bit extreme, don't you think? They're more like hens. Peck, peck, peck."
"Follow your conscience, Doc," replied Art, certain the man understood the townsfolk as well as he did. "You've got to do what you think is proper."
****
Minnie fell back to sleep before Doc and Art exited the exam room. As they stepped out into the waiting room, Doc addressed the growing crowd and said, "I believe Minnie will make a full recovery. Miraculously, I don't see any signs of frostbite, but she does have a concussion. I need to stitch up the wound on her head, and she'll need several days at home to recuperate. It's important she get plenty of rest, so please be understanding if visitors get turned away for a spell."
Then, speaking to Mayor and Mrs. Smith, he said, "Be sure to wake her up at least twice during the night for the first few nights and make her answer simple questions – name, age, where she is. If she can't answer, come get me immediately. You'll also want to limit her food, as she's experiencing some nausea. Soup, bread, the basics. Make sure she can keep that down before you give her anything more substantial."
Still addressing the Smiths, but speaking so that everyone could hear, he said, "I'll be by again this afternoon to check on her. We want to watch for pneumonia. All I can say at the moment is that we all need to thank God for the resilience of youth." Turning his attention to Samuel, he went on to say, "There's a horse out there in need of burying and a buggy that should be retrieved to town. Perhaps you could gather up a couple men and see to it?"
Samuel nodded and slipped out the door. Turning to Art, the doctor said, "Sheriff Paulson, I'm ordering you to stay home and rest today. You can return to your duties in the morning."
With that, the aging doctor went back into the exam room with Minnie and loudly shut the door.
Art had to give him credit. The man hadn't said a single lie but hadn't given them away either.
After saying a general, "Good Day," to everyone in the room, Art stepped out through the front door and went in search of Mutiny.
He and his horse, it seemed, had both earned a day off.