“Not too many armed women in Dixie,” Jake reminded me. “Specially not ones in pants.”
“Maybe they’ll think I’m a boy,” I said.
Finally, I’d said something Jake thought was funny. He laughed long and hard.
Walking to the tent was an adventure. The ground was hummocky, and it didn’t stay put, thanks to my head. Each step had to be careful and slow. But I got there.
I stepped into the tent without anyone looking interested, though I had drying blood everywhere on my shirt and my head. I felt invisible. I’d been that for a while on my last job. It was weird.
The shade of the canvas was welcome. There was a lot of movement inside, nurses in their uniforms and conscripted men (all black—these must be the farmworkers who’d taken people out of the cars) helping with the wounded as needed. The lucky ones were on canvas-and-wood cots.
I went from bed to bed, looking at the faces. Finally, I spotted Rogelio. I wasn’t at all surprised to see a nurse in a starched white uniform, complete with a white apron, squatting by him. How did she keep the apron and her white stockings clean?
Rogelio looked past her and saw me coming. To my amazement he smiled. He could see me. That was good.
The nurse looked over her shoulder to see what Rogelio was grinning at, and she could not hide her surprise that it was me.
Since Rogelio was going to so much trouble, I smiled back. The bump on the back of my head throbbed.
“Hey, Rogelio,” I said, when I came up to him. His broken nose was all swollen up. Maybe he was smiling because his looks were no longer perfect and he felt obliged to make an extra effort.
I nodded to the nurse, being polite. I thought about kneeling to talk to Rogelio closer—felt like I was shouting down at him—but wasn’t sure I’d be able to stand.
“Lizbeth.” Rogelio reached out to pat my calf, which was all he could reach.
“How you doing?”
“I think some of my ribs are cracked, and my arm is banged up. Only thing broke is my nose. This lady has been taking good care of me.”
Thus acknowledged, the nurse turned red.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I said. No one minds having respect, I figured, though she wasn’t much older than me. She had a fuller body and strong shoulders. She was wearing a name tag on her uniform. It read FINCH.
“Do you want me to see if I can find your luggage?” Nurse Finch said to me. “So you can change?” The nurse seemed sure that that was something I needed urgently.
I couldn’t understand what she meant. Then I realized she thought I was a scandal, had maybe had to wear someone else’s pants while my dress was being mended by a maidservant, or something. Ha!
“Don’t worry about it,” I assured her. “I got a friend guarding my bag. These are my clothes, and I intend to keep wearing them until I get to a hotel. In my line of work, dresses are not practical.”
Nurse Finch stared at me like she’d stare at a snake crawling from under a rock. “Oh, my Lord, honey, what do you do?”
Probably the guns should have been a big clue. “I’m a shooter,” I said. “A gunnie.”
Nurse Finch shrunk away from me like I’d told her I had the plague. Rogelio smiled wider. “Lizbeth is a famous shooter,” he said. “She’s the best.”
“Why, thank you, kind gentleman,” I said, fluttering my eyelashes.
He laughed again. Probably a record. “You had some drugs, Rogelio?” I had figured out where the cheer was coming from.
“Maybe they gave me something for the pain,” he admitted.
“I suspected that was the case. You gonna ride to Sally in the wagon?”
“If Maddy can come in the wagon too. She don’t need to be on that leg for long until she’s had some days to heal. It’s worse than she thinks.”
Not only had Rogelio smiled, he was thinking of another person. Had the real Rogelio vanished in the wreckage, and another one been substituted? I wished he were on pain medicine all the time.
“Would that be okay?” I asked Nurse Finch, since she was still standing there with her mouth open.
“Okay to…?”
“Bring our crew member, Maddy, over here to get on this wagon to ride into town,” I said, holding on to my patience with both hands. “Better if a stretcher team went and got her. Her wound is pretty bad.” I was trying to be patient. I hadn’t had any pain medicine, and my arm was throbbing with my heartbeat, felt like.
Might have shown on my face, because Nurse Finch said, “You got hurt in the wreck.” Her eyes went from the dried blood on my face to the bloody bandage around my right arm.
“I got hit on the head.” I felt around for the wound on my scalp. Wasn’t but a lump.
That was too much for Nurse Finch. She mumbled something about telling someone and hurried off.
“Sorry to scare your friend away,” I said to Rogelio, only half-joking. “You need something?”
I could see him open his mouth to make a joke out of that, and I could see him change his mind. Which was good.
“Can you get Maddy over to the wagon?” he asked instead. “I don’t see any men who aren’t already busy, and if you can help her, she’d be able to leave for the hospital now.” Sure enough, I could see two big men raising up a stretcher from the ground, which was a hard task, and loading it onto the wagon.
“I’ll try.” I trudged back to the tree and told Maddy that Rogelio’s deepest wish was to have her by his side when he rode into Sally.
She laughed, but she flushed, too, and I could tell I’d embarrassed her. “Sorry,” I said. “He is sure different when he’s full of drugs.”
“Good,” Jake said. “Because he’s been a pain in the ass on this trip.”
“He’s not always like a sore bear?”
“No, and I thank God for it. Maybe getting hurt knocked something off his shoulders.”
I shrugged. “Okay, Maddy, let’s do it again,” I said, trying not to sound as tired as I felt. Once again, I pulled her to her feet. I left my rifle and bag with Jake, because I figured I’d come back to get him and the crate.
I hesitated for a long moment. Maybe I should get Jake to the wagon first. Jake’s color was bad. But I’d already gotten Maddy up, and I couldn’t see repeating the process.
After ten halting steps with Maddy’s arm around my shoulders, I knew I needed help.
But there was none. I had to keep my eyes fixed on the ground to avoid any rocks or ruts that would upset our wavering progress. The sweat was running down my back. My arm throbbed worse and worse. I glanced up to see the tent was not as close as I had hoped. I forced myself to lurch ahead, Maddy hanging on to me silently as she struggled.
“Do you need help?” an accented voice asked.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked to my left, real slowly, not breathing, which didn’t help a bit. There stood someone I’d been sure I’d never see again.
CHAPTER FOUR
I felt like someone had struck me in the chest. I sucked in air from deep in my middle.
Maddy said, “Is this guy okay?” She began to reach for her gun with a trembling hand.
“He’s a friend,” I said, my eyes fixed on his. “Maddy, this is Eli Savarov. I worked with him a few months ago.”