Page 70 of A Rugged Beauty
"I need to think," he told her as his stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten. There wasn't time for that now.
She moved toward the Fordhams’ tent as he stalked off.
He reached for his pocket, for the leather bound book that he needed to help him parse an answer. But the book wasn't there. He had left it on the wagon wheel when he'd arrived in camp and found Abigail absent.
As he strode into the small section of camp Abigail had carved out for the two of them, Owen approached from the opposite direction, Leo on his heels.
Hollis gritted his teeth as he reached for the logbook. He didn't even want to look at Owen right now. If there was any sign that this man was undermining Hollis's leadership, it was thathe hadn't delivered Abigail's message. If he'd been too busy to do it himself, he could've sent someone.
"We've got another two families sick," Leo was the one who spoke.
"Four more," a soft, feminine voice said from the shadows. Maddie, drying her hands, approaching from outside the camp. She must've been washing up at the creek.
Hollis felt the news like a physical blow.
"All the same symptoms?" he asked. There was no time for personal feelings in this moment. He had to put his frustration with Owen aside in favor of helping the company as best he could.
"Doc thinks its?—"
"Typhoid." Owen and Maddie spoke at the same time. Maddie scowled a bit—why? He didn't have time to figure that out, either.
He flipped to the small leaf he'd used as a bookmark earlier today. Read quickly from the page. "We're only two days from the fort," he said.
Owen was already shaking his head. "Doc says if we push too hard, folks won't get the rest they need. They'll die."
Fire licked inside of Hollis. "If we get caught on the mountains too late, we'll all die," he reminded his captain in a tight voice.
"There'll be folks to help at the fort," Maddie interjected.
Abigail had joined them, Hollis realized belatedly. She hung back near the wagon, a few steps from Maddie.
Trust Owen.
Abigail's words from last night blasted through his memory, but he rejected them. Owen didn't deserve his trust. Not now.
"This company is still under my leadership?—"
"What kind of leadership doesn't care whether you lose families to sickness?" Owen demanded.
"Hang on," Leo said, with a hand out to try and calm his half-brother.
"I do care," Hollis ground out. Ten lost. The number from his logbook was always on his mind. He didn't want to add to it. "That's why reaching the fort is imperative."
"Doc says?—"
"Doc isn't the leader of this company," Hollis burst out. "And neither are you. I won't let you stay on with my company if you keep challenging my decisions."
The words hung between them. Owen stared and Hollis held his gaze, determined not to be the first to look away.
Leo said something to Owen that Hollis couldn't hear. Hopefully asking him to see reason.
Owen scowled. He whipped his hat off and dusted it against his pant leg.
Hollis turned to Maddie, who was watching with wide, serious eyes. "You've been our camp nurse all these weeks. Can folks make it to the fort?"
She hesitated. It was small, but it was there. "I think so. They might have some medicine that will help. Food stores that some of the families need."
He'd learned to trust his instincts, and they were telling him that the right thing was to move. He caught Abigail's eye momentarily, quickly looking away.
