“Then why don’t you! We can ride to Carson City and wait for help.”
“That isn’t going to help me get to the bottom of all this trouble,” Longarm argued. “I’ve never been scared off before, and I’m not about to be scared off now.”
“Use your head, Custis!” Megan cried, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. “You need help!”
Longarm began to pace back and forth. He knew that Megan was making a lot of sense, and yet … and yet it galled him no end to think about retreating from Bodie to seek reinforcements. He had always been proud of being able to handle any situation on his own, and he did not want to see that changed.
“We’ll leave now,” Megan said. “We’ll ride to Carson City and send that telegram. How long would it be before you could expect some federal officers?”
“Four or five days.”
“Well what difference would that small amount of time make!” Megan exclaimed. “They’ve been spilling blood in Bodie for years.”
Longarm wavered. There was a case to be made for backing off here and returning with help. Even great Civil War generals like Sherman and Grant had often retreated, only to regroup and strike again when the odds were more in their favor.
“You have nothing to prove,” Megan was saying as she walked over to the window and then turned to face him. “Getting caught in the middle of some power struggle between the miners’ union, the mine operators, the saloon owners, and Marshal Kane simply doesn’t make any sense.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Longarm finally conceded. “If they see me leaving town, that might just lull everyone into thinking that I’ve gotten cold feet. They might get careless and-“
Longarm’s words were cut short by the boom of a high-powered rifle and the shattering of their glass hotel window. A shout of warning filled his throat, but even as he jumped toward Megan, he knew that he was too late to protect her.
The impact of the heavy-caliber slug spun her completely around and threw Megan to the floor.
“No!” Longarm shouted, diving to Megan’s side.
The wound was ugly and bleeding heavily, but it was not going to be fatal. Longarm saw at once that Megan had been extremely fortunate, that the ambusher had not had a clear view but had fired only at a shadow on their curtain. Megan would live if he could stop the hemorrhaging.
“Oh, dammit!” he shouted, jumping over to the bed and tearing up a sheet. “Megan!”
She was conscious, but already pale. She tried to push herself erect, but he held her to the floor saying, “Just relax and lie still. I’m going to get this bleeding under control and then we’ll get you a doctor.”
“What … what happened?” she whispered as he pressed the bandaging to her shoulder. “Custis, tell me the truth, am I going to die?”
“No,” he promised. “I swear that you’re going to be fine. You were lucky, Megan. It’s just a flesh wound. I can’t tell yet, but I think the slug passed right on through the muscle and tissue without hitting any bone.”
“It’s numb,” she breathed. “It doesn’t even hurt. But I feel cold!”
Longarm pressed the bedding even tighter to the wound. He’d been shot a number of times himself, and he knew the feeling that Megan was experiencing and that the pain would come later.
“Just hold still.”
“Who was it?” she whispered. “Who shot me?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, “but I swear to God that I’ll find out.”
“Probably the marshal or his deputy.”
“Probably.”
Longarm checked Megan’s pulse, and was not surprised to discover that it was racing. “Megan,” he said, “we need to get a doctor up here.”
“Do you think there is one in Bodie?”
“Yes,” he said, “and next to the undertakers, they’re likely to be the most prosperous men in town.”
Longarm slipped his hand under Megan and said, “I’m going to roll you over easy so that your weight is on this bandage, and then I’m going downstairs to get us some help.”
Megan’s eyes dilated and her fingernails bit into his forearm. “Please,” she whispered, “don’t leave me. I could bleed to death all alone.”
“All right,” he said, deciding to carry her downstairs. “Just loop your arm around my neck and we’ll go find a doctor right now.”
Megan nodded. She was extremely pale, and Longarm was scared that she might actually bleed to death before he could get her real medical help. And what if there actually was no legitimate doctor in Bodie? Well, then, Longarm thought, I’ll find a needle and thread and sew her up myself.
She grunted with pain when he lifted and carried her out of their hotel room. Longarm descended the stairs carefully, and when he reached the lobby, he shouted at the desk clerk and everyone else in the place.
“This woman has been shot! We need a doctor!”
The desk clerk stared at Megan. “Oh, dear heavens! Was she shot in your room?”
“Yes, dammit! Someone tried to ambush me through the window and got my wife instead. Now, get a damn doctor over here!”
