Page 21 of A Groom for Millie
He leaned down on Tanner and urged the horse forward. Which way should he go?
The horse galloped until it came to the end of the road. There was a small church with a house off to the side across the road. A man and a woman were shoveling snow and they looked up at Robert as he approached.
The woman’s eyes flew open wide and she gave a shrill scream as she dropped her shovel and raced back towards the parsonage. The man fell to his knees and clasped his hands, raising them to the sky. Robert didn’t wait to hear the prayer the man was yelling, instead, he tugged on Tanner’s reins, guiding him down the road, past the park and fields, and further down the road out of town.
He could feel the blood pooling underneath his jacket. He needed to find someplace to hide and tend his wound. But where?
He passed a barn and a small house. There was a light on in the house, and he could see shadows moving behind the curtains. He needed someplace where no one would be. He urged Tanner forward, praying that he would find such a place before he passed out.
He rode past the next farms and started riding past a large field. He could see horses in the distance. He guided his horse across the field that was covered with horseshoe tracks. Tanner’s prints would mix right in. He slowed down as he saw a small cabin without any light coming from inside. There was a medium-sized barn that looked like the perfect place to hide.
“Whoa,” he said, tugging on Tanner’s lead. Walking around the barn, he saw several small animal tracks, but no animals. He wondered if the house and barn were abandoned after the blizzard.
The sound of wind filled his ears, but he didn’t hear or see anyone coming after him. His best bet would be to let Tanner go to join the other group of horses and hide inside the barn until he could travel again. The barn door was already slightly open. Sliding from the horse, Robert clenched his teeth as his leg hit the ground. The bullet didn’t hit the bone, as Robert could put some weight on it. He felt around where the pain radiated in his leg, but he didn’t feel any blood.
He needed to get inside before he passed out. Pressing his shoulder against Tanner’s saddle, he didn’t care that blood was covering the horse. Perhaps it would lend to the story that he fell off somewhere and died. With one hand, he unbuckled his saddlebags and they fell to the ground. Slapping Tanner on the backside, he watched the horse take off towards the far pasture where a cluster of horses stood.
Pushing the door open just enough for him to slip through, Robert lifted his saddlebags and put them over his good shoulder, wincing with the pressure. Once he was inside, he tried to push the door closed, but it was just too heavy. He decided it would just have to do, so he took a quick look at his surroundings. There was just enough light coming in from the door and window so his eyes could adjust to the dark interior and he could make out shapes within the barn.
Several empty stalls lined one wall, with a long bench along the other wall. There were sacks of feed that had been nibbled on by both chickens and rodents. The wall was lined with all types of farming tools. Robert didn’t know what any of them were for and he didn’t want to waste precious time thinking about them.
Moving forward the tip of his boot hit hard metal. He held out his good hand to feel in the dark. Most likely a plow or a harrow, he thought as he moved along. He wanted to get to the stall farthest from the door. He felt his way into the stall and felt his boots shuffling through hay or straw. He dropped his saddlebags, kicking hay over them. He prayed that the stalls had been mucked as he fell backward into the hay.
He needed to examine his wound, but it would have to wait until morning. He clutched his arm to his side as he felt for the bullet wound in his leg. His fingers traced his calf until he felt the hole where the bullet tore through his trouser fabric. He continued to feel around. The bullet was stuck in something, right next to his skin.
He gave a laugh, half agony, half joy, as he realized that the bullet was stopped by two coins he had sewn into the lining of his pants. He would have a bruise for sure, but now he only needed to deal with the wound in his shoulder.
He tried to take off his jacket, but his arm wouldn’t cooperate. Sighing, he felt his eyelids grow heavy and he fell into the straw, letting the darkness overcome him.
Chapter Seven
“My word,” Regina said, holding onto the side of the wagon bench. Her other arm was around her granddaughter, and she looked incredibly happy holding Mary Rose. “I can’t believe all that excitement.”
Linda and Mr. Darcy took off to see if they could find Mr. Taylor, while a large group gathered at the diner in town for supper. Millie, Mary Rose, and Regina joined them while they waited for Regina’s trunk to be unloaded from the stage.
The café was packed as the townsfolks tried to crowd in to speak to Millie’s mother. Of course, Regina relished the attention and made promises to visit the neighboring families and retell her grand adventure on the stagecoach. It was late by the time Holly Dawson shooed everyone from her café and flipped the closed sign in the window.
Mary Rose rubbed her eyes as she climbed into the wagon and it didn’t take much for her to snuggle under the lap blanket next to her grandma. Millie shook her head. It was already dark, and snow fluttered down, sticking to their jackets and blankets. The air had even seemed to warm slightly.
“What are you thinking about, Millicent?” Regina asked, rubbing her hand up and down Mary Rose’s arm.
“Honestly? I was trying to remember if I left the lantern lit at home.” There was a lantern hanging from a hook on the wagon, but it barely glowed in the falling snow.
“We should be alright. Look at how full the moon is,” Regina said pointing to the sky. The moon was shielded behind clouds, which diffused the light into the sky. The air was crisp, and Millie could see her breath each time she exhaled.
“You’re right. I’m just worried about nothing.” Millie didn’t want to tell her mother that she hadn’t been able to think of anything else except the dashing outlaw from earlier that afternoon. The way Regina described Mr. Taylor from the stage, he was a perfect gentleman. A cardsharp, perhaps, but not a murderer.
“In fact,” Regina continued, “Mr. Taylor was trying to diffuse the situation. When I think about what happened today, I could just… well, I don’t know. It was all very overwhelming.”
“Well, you are safe now and we’ll be home soon.”
They passed Heather’s farm. The midwife had stopped by the café to make sure Regina was recovered, then she needed to get home to her children. Holly had prepared supper in a basket for her to take home so Heather wouldn’t have to cook.
Millie thought it wonderful that Heather referred to Cecily and Arthur as her children. She knew her friend wanted a family so dearly. At last, she finally had one, even though it came about in extraordinary circumstances.
She glanced over at Mary Rose. The little girl was the perfect blend between Millie and George. Her chest tightened as she thought about her departed husband. She wiped a tear away on the back of her hand.
“Are you alright?”
