Conner's Contrary Bride by Barbara Goss (accelerated reader books .txt) 📗

“Are you certain?” Sheriff Babcock asked.

“Sir,” Bertie said, “I’ve worked for Dr. Van Gates for six years now, and he’s never disappeared without letting me or his wife know where he was going.”

The sheriff sat, tapping his pencil on the desk. “I’m wondering if this has something to do with the missing patient.”

Both Elsie and Bertie drew in a breath. Elsie started thinking about the wounded patient. The man—or men—who had taken the wounded bandit must have also taken Conner. Of course, the patient would probably take a turn for the worst, being jostled around like that.

Elsie asked, “Did you have any luck finding out who the three men are and where they’re from?”

“I planned to swing by later today to let you know. The sheriff in Salina knows of this MacDonald family. They live in an abandoned farm on the outskirts of his town. There are five brothers and several cousins living in an old house. He thought they’d moved on because no one had seen them around lately, but he checked the house, and their things were still there, so he’s fairly sure they plan to return.

“Now, with the injured patient carried off, and Conner missing—probably forced at gunpoint—I’d say the hideout is somewhere in this area. I’ll round up a posse and search all of Hays City and it’s outskirts.”

Now Elsie was even more scared. “What if the patient dies, and they kill Conner?”

Bertie’s hand flew to her face. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Now, ladies, let’s not jump to conclusions. We’ll find them and Conner.” Babcock put his hand on each woman’s back and led them to the door. “Go home and keep busy. As soon as we find Conner, we’ll bring him home.”

Elsie couldn’t relax once back home. She was pacing the floor when something dawned on her, and she ran into the kitchen where Bertie was trying to look busy, scrubbing a perfectly clean table.

“Bertie, I don’t think Conner has enough supplies in his bag to treat a patient for long as he just carries the basics—do you agree?”

The housekeeper stopped to stare at Elsie. “Yes. He wouldn’t carry more than a day’s worth of dressings or laudanum.”

“That means unless the patient is already dead, they’d have to come back to the clinic to get more supplies,” Elsie said.

 “And...” Bertie looked confused.

“We’ll hide and wait for them and follow them to wherever they’re hiding.”

“Oh, Elsie. That sounds dangerous.”

“Conner would do it for us. We’ll need another horse—do you ride, Bertie?”

 “Yes. How about you, Elsie, do you ride?

“Yes, though I’ve never ridden a nice horse like Conner’s. I have ridden some old nags back home—it was the only way to get around.”

Bertie said, “I’ll run down to the livery, get another horse, and hide it behind the house. You can saddle Conner’s horse in the meantime.

“We’ll need pants, Bertie. These skirts won’t do for what I have planned.”

“I’ll get some of Conner’s pants and shirts for us. We can tuck the extra length in our boots. Do you have boots, Elsie? I’ll borrow a pair of Conner’s old ones.”

“I have a pair. We should dress in dark colors, too.”

“All right. I’ll get the clothes ready and then get another horse.”

Conner worked frantically on Mac. The men harboring the patient had failed to change his dressings, their hiding place was filthy, and Mac had contracted an acute infection. Conner put carbolic acid on the wound and wrapped it in fresh bandages from his bag. The man had a raging fever, but all Conner could do was to sponge him off with spring water found near the old abandoned mine where the men were hiding.

The mine was a good five miles west of Hays City, and so hard to find that Conner hadn’t recognized it until he was right in front of it. The entrance was just a hole in the side of a hill, framed in old rotten wood. Someone had nailed boards across the entrance, but they’d been able to squeeze through. It was an old gold mine, dark and dirty. Conner had found Mac lying on a stone shelf. There were two men, and one of them held a lantern over Mac while Conner worked on him. Conner learned that one man was Mac’s brother. The two in jail were also brothers, named Gus and Pete. He wasn’t sure who the other man was, but the one called Moe, who was holding the lantern, seemed the most concerned.

Moe didn’t talk much, but when Conner first started working on the patient, he said, “If Mac dies, you die, so you’d best save him.”

After a few hours of sponging Mac, Conner told the men, “I don’t have enough supplies in my bag to do too much more.”

“What do you need?” one man asked.

“More laudanum to ease his pain and a lot more clean bandages and carbolic acid. I carry enough in my bag for emergency treatment, but not enough for lengthy ones.”

The men exchanged looks and shrugged. Finally, Moe spoke up. “One of us will take the doctor back to his clinic to get more supplies.”

The other man said, “What if someone sees us?” He turned to Conner. “Who lives with you?”

“Just my housekeeper and my medical assistant might be there.”

Moe grunted. “If you see either of them, tie them up and get back here with the supplies for my brother.”

Now, Conner knew that Moe was another brother of theirs.

Conner prayed all the way back to the clinic. Poor Elsie and Bertie. Elsie, his sweet, contrary wife. His heart throbbed in his chest, thinking of how frightened she’d be if the men tied her up... and for how long?

And Bertie, his sweet, faithful housekeeper, and