Coal Black (Book 5)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Early Morning Surgery in the Barn

The sun radiated in the east, and a gentle breeze swept through the barn. When the prisoners disappeared into the distance, Jonas and Ethan closed the back barn doors. Ethan laid the bar across the door and turned to Jonas.

"I need to check on my family and then we will tend to that leg."

"Are you sure she is going to accept our arrangement? I don't want to cause any more problems for you. But if I know Dauber and Nunez, they will travel at first light. We ran all night to get this far. They are going to be on horseback."

"They could be here by noon, so that gives us a few hours to patch you up and then find a safe hiding place."

"I'll need two splints for my leg. That is what Doc Palmer did, but I had to take them off that morning before going to trial. I guess they thought we could use them as weapons."

"I'll get the supplies and bring my wife to the barn. I never lie to my wife, so I will tell her the truth."

"I understand."

Jonas hobbled over to set on a milking stool with his wounded leg straight. He leaned against the wooden post and knew Ethan was right. He needed to tell the women the truth.

Ethan found a couple of scrap boards at the bottom of his wood box and handed them to Jonas for size. Then Ethan walked over to his bench and saw that two knives were missing, but his hammer and chisel were still laying on the bench.

"Can you whittle?"

"Sort of. But if you are inferring whether I can take off the rough edges, hand me a knife."

Ethan look around and found a small jackknife in a drawer.

"This is the best I can do for now. They took two of my knives from the bench."

"Be sure you write a list of what they took, and I will try to make it right to replace every item, even if takes me the rest of my life."

"I believe you will. I need to check on my wife. She must be frantic with worry."

Ethan scurried to the house, leaving Jonas in the barn. He opened the jackknife and began whittling away the sharp end of the first splint. Ethan's words echoed in his mind as he contemplated the idea of a new life. But the nagging thoughts of Dauber and Nunez on his trail made him nervous as he worked the knife on the wooden edges.

* * *

When Ethan entered the back door, Rachel flew into his arms and kissed him all over his face.

"I'm so glad you are safe. I was so scared, Ethan."

"The prisoners are gone. They took the horses and left."

"No, not the horses. What are we going to do?"

"And they took two apple pies, your clothes, food from the pantry, along with your shotgun and ammunition," said his sister-in-law, Grace.

His wife let out a sob, knowing they didn't have the money to buy more horses.

"Don't worry. We'll get through this. But right now, I need your help. There is a wounded man that stayed behind, and his leg needs medical attention. Get your medicine kit. Bring warm water, bandages, and hot coffee."

Ethan went to his bedroom and opened his trunk in the bedroom. He pulled out his hunting clothes. He stripped down and washed his arms, face and smoothed back his long sun-streaked hair. Ethan pulled on his buckskin breeches and shirt.