Sweetwater (Birdsong Series) Read Online Free Page B

felt weak and unsure of
himself.
    “Whoa, Doc. Just lie back. I think you’ve done quite
enough for one evening. Mind telling me what happened to set you off like
that?” She put her hands on his chest and gently coaxed him back down against
the pillows. “You really hurt him, Blake.”
    “He had it coming. How’s Cassie?” His memory was returning
in vivid detail and he knew he would have done it all, again.
    “Cassie? I don’t know. She was with Dora when I brought
you here to my room. Why? What has she got to do with this?” Emily was
afraid to hear what he might say. Emily assumed that Cassie was crying because
she came upon the two men fighting. She hadn’t noticed Cassie’s dress.
    “I was returning to my room, to get some badly needed
shut-eye, when I heard scuffling coming from inside a closet. As I drew
closer, I was certain a woman was in trouble.” He gritted his teeth and nearly
spat out the information.
    “I opened the door and Cassie fell out onto the floor . . .
with that bastard on top of her. He ripped her dress, wide-open, and she’d
been crying. I saw red, Emmie. He was trying to rape her. He practically
boasted about it. Told me to get lost so he could finish what he’d started. I
hit him. That’s the last I remember
    “Is he going to live?”
    Shocked at the revelation, Emily nodded. “Well, certainly.
You didn’t kill the man, Doc, and if what you say is true, he got what was
coming to him. Leave him to Dora and Whiskey. They’ll tar and feather him and
ride him out on a rail. But you, Mr. Donovan, need to relax and close your
eyes for a while. I’ll stay with you.”
    Blake did exactly as he was told. He closed his eyes and
allowed his lips to curl upward at the corners in a small smile of contentment.
His Emmie was there with him, at least for the moment, stroking his forehead
with her long cool fingers, and it felt like heaven. He didn’t even notice the
fiery pain radiating out from his damaged hands.
    It was late into the night when Emily finally left Blake,
softly snoring and deep in slumber. Tonight, she would share a bed with Patty.
Neither woman wanted to be alone.
    The sheriff had been summoned, and after Dora explained what
the man tried to do to Cassie, he arranged for the unconscious cowboy to be
carried away to the hoosegow and await the judge. He deemed Blake did what any
good man would have done in similar circumstances, and there was no need for
further questioning.
    “So, tell me, Patty,” Emily insisted, as she crawled into
the narrow bed. “What exactly happened?”
    “Didn’t Blake tell you?”
    “To be honest, he’s not thinking too clearly. I don’t think
he remembers much after throwing that first punch. He said Cassie fell out of
the closet and landed on the floor with that big galoot on top of her.”
    Looking furious, Patty informed Emily of the rest of the
story. “That snake pretended to be a
guest in the hotel. Of course, he is most definitely NOT a guest. He waited
for Cassie to pass him in the hallway, and stopped her, asking for more towels.
Naturally, she complied, unlocking the linen closet. She never saw him
coming. He pushed her in and shut the door behind them.”
    Emily gasped, “Poor Cassie.”
    “Oh, Em, it was awful. He tore her dress and camisole,
exposing her breasts. He put his filthy hands and mouth all over our Cassie.
I don’t know if she’ll ever truly recover. If Blake hadn’t been coming up
those stairs, at just that exact moment . . . I shudder to think what would
have happened to our dear girl. She’s very upset and scared to be left alone.
Dora is with her now.” Patty began crying softly.
    “Then Blake was right to punish the bastard,” Emily stated
unequivocally.
    Patty’s eyes widened with the memory of the violence she had
witnessed. “You didn’t see him, Em. The doc is not your common saloon
fighter. His fists are lethal. I believe he’s had professional training. I
think our kind doctor is a