Free Texas Proud (Vincente 2) by Constance O'Banyon Page B

into the room, his dark gaze going directly to her.
"She's awake," he said to someone behind him.
    Vague memories flickered through her mind.
She remembered now she was at Casa del Sol.
She took a deep breath, allowing air to rush into
her lungs. Bits and pieces of memory fell into
place. She'd been swimming naked with Noble.
She clutched at the sheet, remembering how wantonly she had thrown herself at him. But after that
everything was a blank. No matter how hard she
concentrated, she couldn't recall how she got to
the Casa del Sol.
    Rachel cried out with relief when Dr. Nathan Stanhope came into the room. Calm settled over
her and she was comforted by the presence of the
doctor who had brought her, and most of the babies born in Madragon County, into the world.

    Rachel tried to rise but she didn't have the
strength. She tried to speak but her throat tightened and she couldn't utter a word. She wanted
to tell Dr. Stanhope that she was in danger in this
house. Again she tried to move but it felt as though
she were pinned to the bed. Her eyes were pleading as she said in a raspy voice that was hardly
audible, "Please... take me away from here, Dr.
Stanhope."
    The short, wiry, slightly balding man bent over
her, his soft gray eyes reflecting serenity. His
broad brow wrinkled as he smiled at her. Rachel
knew that his profession was his life. He'd never
married, so his devotion was to the babies he'd
brought into the world. Rachel looked into his
calming eyes, knowing she'd been rescued.
    "I'll have to examine your wound, Rachel, so I
can determine if you can make the trip to the Broken Spur."
    Rachel's eyes went to Noble and then back to
the doctor, her heart contracting with fear. "I
want to speak to you... alone, Dr. Stanhope."
    He turned to Noble. "Wait outside while I examine her. I'll call you if I need anything."
    Noble nodded grimly and left, closing the door
quietly behind him. He leaned against the wall
outside his bedroom, waiting for the doctor to tell him Rachel's condition. He hoped that by removing the bullet, he hadn't done her more harm than
good.

    Rachel's tongue darted out to moisten her dry lips.
"You have to get me away from here." She paused
to catch her breath. "Noble will.. .kill me."
    Dr. Stanhope's voice was compelling, his eyes
sympathetic. "Rachel, it just doesn't make any
sense to me that Noble would put a bullet in you
and later remove it."
    She closed her eyes, feeling more helpless than
she had at any time in her life. When she opened
them and looked at Dr. Stanhope, she tried to
sound composed and not like some hysterical female. "I saw him with a knife."
    He nodded and patted her hand gently. "You
saw him with the knife he used to remove the bullet from your chest." His winsome smile dug deep
crevices in his face as he dropped a spent rifle shell
into her hand. "The souvenir that Noble removed
from you."
    Rachel stared at the shell in confusion. "Are you
saying that Noble took this out of me?"
    "Yes, he did." Dr. Stanhope set his black bag on
the bed and opened it, removing his scissors. "Noble sent his foreman, Alejandro, to town to fetch
me. Unfortunately I was delivering Helen Simon's
baby and couldn't come right away. Her delivery
wasn't an easy one." While he talked, his scissors
deftly snipped at the bandage. "However, mother and baby are doing fine, and Gilbert is now the
proud papa of his seventh son."

    Rachel scarcely heeded the news of Gilbert
Simon's seventh son. She was trying to reach back
into her memory so she could keep a grasp on reality. "I still think Noble will try to kill me. There
was a woman here with Noble, a Mexican
woman-ask her what Noble tried to do to me."
    "That would be Alejandro's wife, Margretta." Dr.
Stanhope made the last snip in the bandage and
pulled it away. After a moment he nodded in satisfaction. "And a fine job Noble did too. I couldn't
have done better myself"
    Why wouldn't Dr. Stanhope listen to