The Pony Express

Chapter Nine

We sped along on the horses. I was about five feet ahead of Dane. Suddenly, my horse stopped. I fell off the back.

Dane stopped right behind me. "Are you alright?" he asked, jumping to the ground and offering a hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine- Oh my god!" I saw why the horse stopped. A big, black cobra stood in front of it. "Dane, don't move."

I slowly stood up, trying to be as quiet as possible. Dane gently pulled his horse back. The horse responded well, backing away silently. My horse, on the other hand, was jumping around and yelling.

"Shhhhh," Dane reached for the horse's reign.

Suddenly, the cobra shot at Dane. It hit him in the left shoulder. Luckily, he was able to pull the horse back with his right hand, and shoot the snake with his other.

"Dane!" I yelled. Oh no, oh no, oh no. He fell to the ground.

I had no idea what to do, so I used my all to push his body onto his horse, and tie him in so he wouldn't fall off.

I grabbed ahold of both reigns, and kicked the horses' rears, and we were off. Luckily, this was our last stop, and we'd be switching riders. We were well over halfway there.

The horses stopped when we arrived at the stop. Daniel gave me a confused look.

"Cobra. He. Got. Hit." I barely choked out.

"Oh." I climbed off and Daniel carried Dane inside. The other man took the mail from our horses onto theirs.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. Try cutting of circulation in his shoulder until the doctor arrives. I'll tell the guys at the next stop." Daniel hugged me. I'm so glad that he was here to help me.

And like that, the two men rode away. I began working immeaditely by rippimg his shirt off so I could see the wound. It was fairly deep.

Well, Daniel said to cut off circulation, so I tied his shirt next to the wound, seperating it from the rest of his body.

"Dane," I hummed. Hopefully he would wake up. "Dane."

He stirred, so I stood up to get my canteen. I poured some of the water on his shoulder. Blood ran down and I cringed.

Dane's hand reached up, and rested on my cheek. Tears found their way out of my eyes.

"Don't cry," Dane whispered. All it did was make me cry more, knowing that he was doing alright. I rested my head on his bare chest.

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"Miss, wake up."

I opened my eyes to see an old man carrying a doctor's bag standing above me.

I was still laying on top of Dane. He was holding me, just looking at me.

"Sorry," I muttered, and stood up.

"Pardon my asking, but what are you doing here and where is the other rider, Austin Woods?"

"Oh, he, um, he died. I am his cousin, Emma Woods."

"Okay." The doctor pushed me aside, and bent down to examine Dane. "Well, the bite isn't extremely severe, however, once I inject the antidote, he will need lots of rest and care. Do you think you can manage that?"

"Yes. I can take care of him."

"Alright. I will notify thw supervisors of the Pony Express that he will not be working for a while. A few weeks at the most. And that he will need a new partner."

"New partner?!" I choked.

"Yes, since Mr. Woods is no lknger living. Oh, and I have a letter for you. I was supposed to deliver this to Austin to give to you," the doctor said. He handed me a plain white.envelope.

"Thank you." I never recieve letters.

"Now, I will escourt you two to my office in town to recieve the antidote. Then, I'm sure the local hotel could spare you a room to stay in." The doctor nodded, pulled Dane up, and wrapped Dane's arm around his shoulder to help support some of his weight.

I took Dane's weak hand in mine. He smiled, and kissed my jawline, as the doctor leaned down to pick up his bag.

A lot of stuff happened in this chapter... Anyway, thanks so much guys!!! Love yall