Unexpected Hope (Book 2 in the Red Valley series)

Chapter 37

Levi had just laid Hope down and checked her neck when Cole and Andy burst through the doorway. "What in the hell happened?" They asked almost simultaneously.

Levi stood, as if to walk out of the room and leave, Hope reached up and grabbed his hand. She was trying to breathe and trying not to cry, but she was unable to stop the tears that fell freely down her cheeks or the sob that erupted from her chest. "D- don't l-leave me! P-please!"

He sat down on the bed, pulling his wife into his lap, then wrapped his arms around her. Gently he rocked back and forth, kissing the top of her head as he told her over and over that she was safe, and that he loved her. Still cradling her, Levi looked over Hope's head toward his friends. "Philip is here, and he had her." He looked down at his wife. "Hope, what happened? Why did you go out to the barn by yourself?"

Finally able to get herself under control, she pulled herself from his lap and sat beside him on the bed. She took a deep breath and began. "Ellie came up to me and told me that someone was in the barn waiting on me and that it was a man. At first I was worried, but when I looked around for you to tell you about it, I couldn't find you. I thought it was you in the barn and that you had sent Ellie to get me. When I walked in, I heard a noise but didn't see you, so I walked further inside. And th-that's when he got me." Tears began to fall again. "Why did you come out there when you did? Did he send someone for you too?"

"No, it was pure luck. I was walking around the corner of the house and saw you enter the barn. I thought it would be a good place to have a little alone time." He said, loving the way her face flushed.

By this time Faith, Anne and Grace were standing in the doorway all wide eyed and listening to them. "Levi, what happened? Why did he let me go?"

"After Philip fell to the ground, I saw John standing behind him with a shovel in his hand."

"But, John left some time ago." Hope said confusion evident in her tone. Apparently the women had regained their ability to speak and now all three were talking at once. Levi turned to his wife, gently cupping her face, he tenderly wiped her tear stained cheeks with this thumbs. "Are you going to be all right? I really need to go back out there and talk to John." Hope nodded. He kissed her lips softly then stood and walked out with Cole and Andy. Once the men were gone all three women rushed to her side, clucking around her like mother hens.

"Don't move, or I'll hit you again, you sorry good for nothing dog! You burned my ma's hotel down and almost killed her!" John panted with rage as he stood over the other man still holding his shovel.

"I'm only sorry the bitch got out!" Philip unwisely spat.

Unable to help himself, John reared back and kicked Philip's hip as he lay face down on the dirt floor. Satisfied for the moment with Philip's howl of pain, John walked over and sat down on a bale of hay and waited for Levi to come back.

Levi, Cole, and Andy came jogging into the barn a few minutes later. "John! I'm not sure why you're back, but I am in your debt." The three men proceeded to pepper the boy with questions as Andy found a length of rope and tied Philip's hands together. They became so engrossed in their conversation that none of them noticed that Philip began to inch his way towards his horse that he left saddled in a stall.

Once he was close enough, he made a dash for the horse, threw himself into the saddle, and galloped out of the barn. Andy was the first to react and ran after him. He obviously wasn't going to catch him on foot so he and the other three men ran to their horses. John and Andy's horses were still saddled. Levi and Cole weren't going to waste time saddling horses, so they ran to the corral and grabbed two horses belonging to guests.

They'll never catch me, Philip said to himself as he galloped away from the ranch as fast as his horse would go. He held on as best as he could with his hands still bound. He had no idea where he was going. He thought he was headed away from Red Valley towards the neighboring town. Getting there and on the train was his only way out. He heard gunshots then felt a searing pain in his back and fell to the ground rolling and tumbling wildly, finally coming to a rest on his stomach. The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was four very pissed off men on horses charging at him in a full out run.

He awoke only to find himself lying in a bed. Philip cracked his eyes open just enough to allow him a glimpse of his surroundings. He was alone, and thank God, there was no pain. Not seeing anyone, he turned his head from side to side to get a better look around and noticed that he wasn't tied! Fools, he thought to himself. All he had to do was find some clothes and a horse or better yet get to the train. He'd be out of this God forsaken place!

He tried to sit up and throw the covers back. Nothing. He tried again. What in the hell was going on? His mind was telling his body to get up, but it would not move. He began to try harder and harder. He could raise his head some but that was it. Maybe he was tied down and just hadn't seen the ropes. Philip looked down again to see his hands folded peacefully on his chest.

Panic began to set in, perspiration formed on his brow as he did his best to thrash about and roll out of the bed. The door opened and an older man walked in. "What did you do to me, old man?" Philip snarled. Taken aback by the venom in his patient's voice, Doc Baker stood there in stunned silence. "Answer me dammit! What did you do to me?"

Another second or two passed before he finally answered. "I saved your life, but now I'm seriously questioning my judgment in doing so. They told me you were a mean and nasty person, but I thought they were exaggerating. I know now that they were not."

"What's wrong with me? Why can't I move?"

Doc Baker almost felt sorry for the man lying in bed. That would be his life until the day he died. But Levi and Andy had told him the horrible things that Philip had done and what he was suspected of doing. "You're paralyzed from the tops of your shoulders down."

"Well when will I get the feeling back in my body?"

"Never."

"What do you mean never?" His mind was screaming, no, no, no. This wasn't happening. It was a dream. That's it. It was a horrible dream and he was really lying in his soft bed in Savannah with a beautiful woman at his side.

"I'm sorry. You were shot in the back and the bullet severed your spine. You're lucky to be alive." Doc Baker said to his patient.

"ALIVE! You call this alive? Why didn't you just let me die instead of making me live like this?"

"I told him to do everything he could to save your miserable life. Death was too good for someone like you. You're going to pay for the lives you destroyed and the ones you took one way or the other. I figured this was justice." Levi said from the doorway. He and Andy had come to check on Philip and had heard the Doc and Philip talking. He just couldn't stop himself from butting in.

"You! You did this to me! You shot me in the back. I want to press charges against this man." Philip practically screamed.

"Well, that would be a little bit of a problem." Andy said as he walked around Levi and entered the room. "I shot you for trying to escape. I would have shot you from the front but again, you were running away. So I just don't think that any judge in this country would say a single word to me about shooting you in the back." He turned his attention to Doc Baker. "Can we speak to you in private?"

The three men walked into the front parlor and shut the door. "When will he be able to travel?" Andy asked as soon as the door was closed.

"Oh, I'd say a week or so. He'll have to travel laying down so there won't be much of a risk of the wound reopening."

"I just got word back from Judge Blackstone. He agreed with me, there's no point in having a trial. Due to the overwhelming proof we sent to him, he decided to just have Philip sent to state institution for him to live out his days, alone."