A Conspiracy of Ravens Read Online Free Page A

to her lips as she saw that it was a minor cut that would require only a few stitches. A quick examination revealed that his shirt was torn, and his left side was bleeding profusely. His left trouser leg was soaked with blood, and through the rip in the cloth she could see the jagged wound left by the tip of the horn.
    She moved quickly across the room, brought several instruments back on a tray, and set them down on the table. With quick, efficient movements, she cut the shirt off rather than try to unbutton it. When she pulled it from him as gently as she could, he groaned slightly as she moved him. She pressed cloth bandages against the wound in his left side, and as she did, Dylan struck out involuntarily, uttering a small cry.
    Quickly she put her hand on his forehead and looked down into his eyes. “Can you hear me, Dylan?”
    A long moment’s pause, and then slowly his eyes opened, and he whispered, “Yes.”
    “You’ve been badly hurt. You must lie very still.”
    “What’s wrong . . . with my side?”
    “I’m looking right now. You have a bad cut. Does it hurt when you breathe?”
    Dylan took a deep breath and grimaced. “It feels like somebody . . . kicked me.”
    As well as she could, Serafina examined the ribs. “I don’t think they’re broken,” she said, “but they may be cracked. You’ll have to lie very still while I clean your cuts.”
    She worked quickly and efficiently and noticed that he had turned his head to one side and was watching her. “Is David all right?”
    “Yes. He’s fine. Father’s not here, so I sent for Dr. Goldsmith. But I need to get these wounds cleaned up. We don’t want anything to get infected.”
    Serafina cleansed his side with alcohol and then put a bandage on it. No matter how gently she moved, she saw him flinch as she touched his side.
    “You have a cut in your head. One of the horns probably struck you there.” She held up two fingers and said, “How many fingers do you see?”
    “Two.”
    “Follow my hand with your eyes.” She moved her hand up and down and then from side to side and said with relief, “You don’t have a concussion.”
    “How did I get out of there?”
    “It was Danny. He grabbed a shotgun loaded with bird shot and drove the bull away.”
    “Good thing he did.”
    “Very good thing indeed. Now, I’ve got to get your trousers off.”
    Dylan’s eyes opened wide. “What?” he gasped.
    “I’ve got to get your trousers off. Lie still.” She took the scissors and began cutting at the cuff. As she did, Dylan protested vociferously. “You can’t do that!”
    “This is no time for modesty, Dylan. You have a bad wound in this leg.”
    Dylan said nothing, and she quickly cut the trousers away and pulled them off. “That’s a bad cut. It’s going to need stitches.”
    “Can’t you give me something to cover up with?”
    “Don’t be foolish, Dylan,” she admonished him but took a large piece of cloth and handed it to him. “Here.”
    She began to clean the leg, and once when the towel slipped off, he grabbed at it, gasping at the pain in his ribs.
    “I didn’t know actors were so modest,” she said with a partial smile, then looked at the cut and shook her head. “If that horn had caught you an inch or so to the right, it would have been death for you. There’s a big artery that runs down the leg here. You would have bled to death before we could have gotten you here.”
    Dylan looked at her, and she met his eyes. “God was with me then,” he said quietly.
    “Yes, I think He was.” Her statement surprised herself and Dylan as well, for she had never said so much about God before.
    To cover her confusion, she whirled, went over to the medicine cabinet, and came back with a bottle. “This is ether,” she said. “It’ll put you to sleep.”
    He started to protest, but she shook her head. “It’s going to be very painful sewing that leg up. Now lie still. You’ll get sleepy and be gone almost at once. When you