Lee came back to earth out of a nightmare of pain due to the smell of the iodoform. He swore weakly at a burly doctor for hurting him. The doctor merely grinned in response and caused him pain again when he stuck a needle of some kind into him. After that, he slept.
He awakened in a shadowed room, feeling weak and puny, but otherwise fairly good, except for his right shoulder, which hurt with a throbbing, devilish persistence. Occasionally a gray-haired woman appeared who fed him a thin broth and made him take pills. Then he would sleep again.
It went on like that for days, it seemed, though each time he awoke the pain in his shoulder was less severe.
Finally, one day when he opened his eyes, it was to see Buck Theodore and Jack Dhu.
“Where you jiggers been?” demanded Lee in a weak anger.
“Handy all the time, boy,” answered Buck. “You scared the hell out of us. Recollect what happened?”
Lee nodded. “Rotten mess, wasn’t it?”
“Cleared the air a heap though,” Jack Dhu assured Lee. “We didn’t ask for it, Lee … they did. Don’t go to brooding about it.”
Lee looked up. “You saved my skin, Jack.”
Jack’s answering smile was faint, but it warmed up his face immensely. “You did all right yourself. But don’t you worry about nothing for now. Just you hurry and get well, so I can enjoy myself cussing you. Now you two got things to talk about. I’ll be around later.”
Jack moved away and the door closed softly.
Buck Theodore moved in closer to the bed, commenting: “There goes one damned good man, boy. Sure glad he’s going to stay on with us out at the ranch.”
“The ranch? We ain’t got no ranch, Buck. Now that Tasker Scott’s dead, we can’t make no deal for it.”
Buck sat on the edge of the bed. “We got our ranch back, Lee. And a check for all the cattle Scott rustled from us. Lucy Scott saw to that.” Buck let that sink in before he continued. “When things quieted down again after that ruckus, Lucy sent for me. She handed me the deed to our old spread and a check for the cattle. Said she wanted to right some of the wrongs she felt she was equally responsible for with Tasker Scott. We’re all set for the future, boy.”
Lee lay quiet for some time. Finally he stirred a little. “How did she seem to feel about what happened to … Tasker?”
Buck shrugged. “Got a lot more courage than I thought she had, Lucy has. I’ve been doing a lot of apologizing to myself for things I’ve thought and said about her. A strain of pretty good color showed up in her when the chips were down. She’s gone away on a long trip. I doubt she’ll ever come back, for I understand she’s left all her affairs in the hands of the banker to liquidate for her.”
“Wherever she is,” Lee said softly, mostly to himself, “I wish her luck.”
“Speaking of luck,” said Buck. “You got more than you deserve, young fellow. It’s waiting right outside the door of this room.”
Buck gave Lee a small squeeze on his good shoulder and scurried out of the room.
Lee twisted his head at the sound of a soft step and watched as Kip Vail crossed over to his bed. And by the look on her face he knew that Buck was certainly right about his luck.
She stood for a moment looking down at him. Then she dropped on her knees beside the bed, put her face in her hands, and started to cry.
“That terrible day,” she whispered brokenly. “I … I saw it all from the door of the store. Those … those guns hammering. Men going down … and you one of them. Oh, Lee … Lee!”
With his sound left hand he patted her tear-wet cheek. “Anything that brought you to me is worth it, Kip,” he told her gently.
Presently she got up and sat on the bed.
He smiled at her. “Lot of good dawns to face together. I’m thinking of one dawn right now … just you and me beside the river. Remember?”
She leaned low and kissed him. “I remember,” she murmured.