Page 79 of A Rugged Beauty
When she inhaled, he felt the slenderness of her shoulder. "I was hoping the wagons—Owen's part of the company would have made the fort last night," she admitted. Her eyes didn’t quite meet his.
He felt the hit of hearing his former friend's name. He'd been watching for the other wagons too. Today marked the sixth day since they’d parted ways. Even if Owen and the others had stayed to rest and heal, they should've arrived yesterday. Shouldn't they?
"You need the doc?" he asked.
Her lips formed a stubborn line. "No."
But she still seemed so fragile.
"When was the last time you slept?" he asked.
She started to open her mouth and then pressed her lips together, shaking her head. She wouldn’t say? Or she didn't know?
Worry tangled his gut in knots. Maddie might not have a medical degree, but she had been caring for patients since the beginning of the journey. The company would be lost without her compassionate nursing.
"Go and lie down. I won't hear you argue," he said when she opened her mouth to protest. "You sleep for a few hours. If I see you out of your tent, I'll set a watch on you."
Another tear slipped free, and she gave in reluctantly. He watched her cross the expanse of grass and then slip inside her tent.
Only after the canvas flap closed did he run a hand down his face. What now?
Sixteen lost.
And it was his fault.
He stole another look at the fort as a dry wind fluttered against his face. There had to be soldiers inside who could help them. Even if the fort doctor had no medicine for their illness, having men to help provide food and tote water, feed his company, help care for the ill... it might've made all the difference.
A shrill whistle caught his attention, pulled it toward the east. Galloping hoofbeats soon followed.
Two riders on horseback.
Hollis recognized Leo's horse and his heart went into his throat. He crossed through camp, aware of the couple of men who followed him out from between the circle of wagons.
It wasn't Leo on that horse.
It was Alice. And... Robert Braddock?
They were riding in a straight line toward the fort, but when he hailed them with both arms waving, they changed direction slightly.
Alice reined in as she neared him and was off the horse before the animal had stopped. She threw herself into Hollis's arms. Shocked, he hugged her for a second before she pushed back.
Braddock remained on his horse. He was hatless and hunched in the saddle as if he were seasick. He was as pale as Maddie had just been, but his nose and the bridge of his cheeks were pink from the sun.
"Please tell me you've a doctor from the fort and everyone is recovered." Alice gestured to the circled wagons wearing an expression of hope. One that Hollis hated to destroy.
Sixteen lost.
He shook his head and her expression darkened.
"Your company isn't faring well?" he asked.
He saw the worry in her expression, felt the concern that Braddock seemed to echo from horseback.
"We need help."
He wanted to ask her how it was that she could ask for help when her stubborn half-brother could not.
"Owen and Leo might've been hit the hardest of all," she said, "but every member of my family is ill and—" She cut herself off, shaking her head.
