“Sheriff Haney used to let me look at the wanted posters when Papa and I went to town. I remember a lot of their names. I’ll go check Mr. Craig’s gear.” Davie rushed from the room.
Dr. Ross chuckled. “Boys and their enthusiasm can be hard on mothers.” He wound a fresh bandage around the patient’s head.
“I had no idea Ike let him study wanted posters. I guess it can’t hurt but it isn’t something I would encourage.” She didn’t approve now but she wouldn’t speak ill of her late husband.
Dr. Ross tied the bandage that he’d applied around Mr. Craig’s head. “I’ll be by to check him tomorrow or the next day. You need to watch for fever. I don’t know when he’ll wake. From where his head hit that rock, he’s lucky the fall didn’t kill him.”
As they went toward the front door, Charlotte stopped at her daughter’s room. “Susie, please sit in the chair in my room while I help Davie check Mr. Craig’s belongings. You can take a book to read.”
When Dr. Ross had ridden away, Charlotte walked to the barn. Inside she found Davie sitting on the floor going through Mr. Craig’s belongings.
“Davie, I don’t think we should pry but merely look for perishable food.”
Davie gave her an odd expression. “Mama, look what I found.” He held out a handful of gold coins and paper money. “I haven’t counted but there’s a lot here, enough to pay off the bank.”
Charlotte gasped and her heart bumped against her ribs. No, she couldn’t take the man’s money. Perhaps when he woke—if he did—he would let her borrow from him. She shook her head at her silliness and crazy thoughts. Why would Mr. Craig help them?
Fighting her desperation to save the ranch, she reminded herself as much as Davie, “It’s not ours, son. Put it back where you found it. Did you locate the food that might spoil?”
“Please, can I count it at least?”
She shook her head. “Money is not a toy and that money is not ours,” she repeated as much to herself as to her son. Pretending to supervise her son, her imagination ran wild. No, they couldn’t steal from a helpless man. But why would he be carrying so much money with him? Was he a robber?
Davie gestured to a pile. “I laid the food there. His gear is damp. Some of it, anyway.”
She gathered the food to take into the house. “We’d better air it out. Can you and Jimmy manage that?”
“Yes, we can do it, can’t we, Jimmy?”
Jimmy hopped from one foot to the other. “Can we set up the tent?”
She scanned the items laid out on the barn floor. “I suppose you’d better if you can. The tent will ruin if its bundled up wet but you need to wait until tomorrow. It’ll be too dark soon.”
Strange that all his gear looks new. And expensive. What was Mr. Craig doing with all new equipment and new clothes?
Once she’d returned to the kitchen, she stored the various foods properly. She figured they’d better eat the ham and bacon soon. Willing their patient to wake, she strode to the bedroom.
Susie looked up from her book and shook her head. “He moaned some but he hasn’t opened his eyes yet.”
“Thank you for sitting with him. If you’d like to go help Davie and Jimmy, they’re going to dry Mr. Craig’s tent. In the morning they’ll try to set it up in the yard.”
“A real tent? I want to see.” Susie raced from the room.
Shaken by Davie’s discovery in the barn, Charlotte plopped onto the chair her daughter had vacated. Were they harboring a robber? How could he have come by so much money honestly?
She knew it wasn’t working with his hands. She supposed he could own a business. But if he did, why was he traveling with so much camping gear?
He could have won the money gambling, she supposed. His handsome face had an almost sweet countenance in repose, as if he was kind. That didn’t mean he was a good person, though. She had to protect her children in case he was a bad man.
***
The next morning the children were involved with setting up the tent. Davie assured her he’d found instructions and could manage with Susie and Jimmy’s help. She believed Mr. Craig would prefer the children handle the tent rather than that it mildewed.
Checking on the patient frequently, Charlotte kept busy with her chores. Her curiosity was whetted. She wished the man would regain consciousness. When she checked, his forehead felt slightly warm but not alarmingly so. She bathed his face with cool water several times.
He had the appearance of someone wealthy. His unmentionables shirt was silk and wool blend—an expensive garment. Certainly he’d never done any physical work with hands softer than hers. She supposed he could have been a bookkeeper or law clerk, but she didn’t think so. Such jobs didn’t pay the kind of money he was carrying.
Davie rushed into the house. “Come see the tent. It’s like a tiny house.”
Charlotte followed him outside. “I’d like to see it. Did you have any trouble with it?”
“Not much because there were written instructions. If Jimmy was taller it would have helped.”
Jimmy braced his short legs and glared at his brother. “Hey, I did a good job helping. I can’t be blamed for my size.”
Davie laughed. “You did a good job and so did Susie. Not your fault you’re still short. You’ll grow.”
The tent was what Charlotte considered large at eight feet by ten feet. It even had a canvas floor and was fitted for a stove if used in winter. Mr. Craig didn’t have the stove with him but he had plenty of other supplies.
