Free Lawman in Disguise by Laurie Kingery Page A

coolness.
    â€œOh, dear, Billy Joe, he’s burning up with fever! How long has he been like this? Why didn’t you come get me at the restaurant?” she cried.
    Thorn raised heavy eyes that wanted to remain shut to the boy hovering nearby and saw him flinch at the worried scolding in her tone.
    â€œI didn’t know, Ma,” Billy Joe told her. “He was sleeping when I came out to check on him a while ago, but I didn’t think nothing about it—you said he’d be sleeping a lot. I didn’t think to check for fever... Is he sick, Ma? Is he gonna...” Billy Joe’s voice trailed off, but Thorn could fill in what he hadn’t said.
    â€œBilly Joe, run and get the doctor, and tell him Mr. Dawson has taken a turn for the worse. Tell him I think his wounds got infected. Hurry now—don’t stop for anything!”
    â€œI’ll be all right...” Thorn protested, as the boy’s running footsteps died away down the street. He staggered to his feet as if to prove what he said. He barely managed to stay upright. “Just have to rest...sweat this out...” He was not altogether sure his idea of a remedy would work, but he didn’t want to worry her. The stall was spinning around him and he closed his eyes against the too-bright, flickering light of the lantern. “But have to lie down now...”
    He might have collapsed if she hadn’t assisted him back onto the cot.
    â€œI’m going to the kitchen to make you some willow-bark tea to get that fever down,” she said, and her voice rang loudly in his ears, even though he could tell she had only murmured the words.
    The ice was creeping through his veins again. “Bring me a blanket...please...when you come back...”

Chapter Five
    â€œM ust be s-some mistake here, Miss Lucybelle. I ordered...wh-whiskey... didn’t I?” Thorn mumbled, when Daisy returned and held the cup of warm liquid to his lips. The teeth of his upper jaw rattled against the crockery mug as a chill shook him, and the eyes that stared at her were wide, unfocused and overbright.
    He’s delirious , she realized. Oh, when will Dr. Walker get here? What if the fever goes so high that he has a convulsion? What will I do then? Oh, Lord, help me!
    â€œDrink this,” she ordered, in a firm but kind voice. “You’re sick, Thorn, and we need to get your fever down. And I’m Daisy, not Lucybelle. Do you know where you are?”
    He looked around him with reddened, bleary eyes and wiped his sweaty forehead on his shirtsleeve. “No,” he admitted. “But wh-wherever it is, it’s mighty hot—then sometimes cold as a blue norther. H-how’s it changing like that? You—you’re not Lucybelle? No, I... Now that I’m lookin’, I—I guess I see that you ain’t. You got...light...h-hair like her, but hers is more y-yaller— yellow than yours is, I reckon,” he corrected himself, as if he realized how slurred his speech was.
    â€œNo, I’m Daisy Henderson, and you’re in my barn here in Simpson Creek, Texas. You’re recovering from gunshot wounds, and you got feverish—that’s why you thought I was someone else.”
    â€œDaisy...” he said, reaching out a shaking hand and cupping her cheek. “You’re p-purtier than Lucybelle...but not’s purty as Selena. Don’t you t-try to t-tempt me. Cain’t s-stay here. Got to get back...to S-Selena.”
    Lucybelle had sounded like a saloon girl, since he was expecting her to bring whiskey. But who was Selena? Another saloon girl, perhaps? It seemed there were several women in Thorn’s life, Daisy thought.
    â€œI’m not trying to tempt you, Thorn,” she said agreeably. “I’m trying to get you well, so you can go back to Selena...or Lucybelle, as you wish. So drink the tea, so we can get that fever down. Then, once you’re recovered, you can figure out