Page 19 of In Honor’s Defense

“I’ll throw on some shoes and grab my medical basket.”

Nathaniel nodded to her, his blue eyes brimming with gratitude. “I’ll hitch the wagon and meet you out back.”

Damaris didn’t take the time to dress. She simply threw a long coat over her cotton nightgown and buttoned it to her throat. Then she shoved her feet into stockings and low-heeled half boots. After retrieving her medical basket from the high shelf in her wardrobe, she headed for the door but stopped, her gaze catching on the gun cabinet in the corner. Should she?

The idea of wielding a gun made her slightly ill, but if the men who had threatened Nathaniel and attacked Mr. Davenport returned, she’d need a way to defend against them.

Determination gripping her, she set her basket on the edge of the bed, then threw open her jewelry box and dug out the key. She moved to the cabinet and flung the lacy camouflage out of the way, then plugged the key into the keyhole and twisted until it clicked. Without letting herself think too much about what she was doing, she snatched her brother’s shotgun from the case along with a box of shells. She stored the shells in the basket with her bandages and salves, then grasped the shotgun by the barrel and headed out to meet her nephew.

Nathaniel had the team hitched to the wagon by the time she arrived. His eyebrows arched when he saw the gun in her hand, but the nod of approval he gave her boosted her confidence in her choice.

They both climbed onto the wagon seat, but Nathaniel took the reins. Thankfully, the night was clear. A half-moon shone brightly in the sky, allowing them to see at least a few feet in front of them as they set off. Nathaniel steered the team north, away from the road.

“Where are we going?” Damaris asked as she gripped the bench seat, the uneven ground tossing her about.

“The northeast corner of Grimes’s land.” Nathaniel’s mouth pulled tight. “There’s a cavern that joins his land to ours. It’s too narrow for the wagon to pass through and too short for the horses, but we can get through with the blankets and supplies. I brought a lantern and the travois my pa used to cart deer carcasses when we went hunting.” He tipped his head toward the wagon bed. “Mr. Davenport’s a big fella, but with two of us pulling, we should be able to drag him back to the wagon.”

Damaris said nothing about the location. The moment his call had awakened her, she’d known Nathaniel had been up to some kind of mischief with their neighbor. Why else would he be running around in the middle of the night?

“Here,” she said, holding out the shotgun with one hand and reaching for the reins with the other. “I’ll drive. You load.” She nodded toward the basket on the bench between them. “The shells are in there.”

Heaven knew he would have a better chance of getting the ammunition in the proper chambers than she would. She wasn’t sure she could figure out how to load the gun in daylight. At night on a bumpy wagon? Threading her sleeve through one of her embroidery needles would be easier.

Nathaniel took the gun and had it loaded in less than a minute. He handed it back to her and reclaimed the reins, urging the team to a faster pace. Damaris couldn’t help but be impressed by his skill with both driving and weaponry. Perhaps locking her brother’s guns away was an unnecessary precaution.

Holding the gun across her lap, Damaris peered at her nephew’s profile. “What type of injuries has he sustained?” Best to mentally prepare for what waited on the other side of that cavern. She’d need as much time to fortify her nerves as possible.

“It was hard to tell in the dark. I think he was stabbed a couple of times. Maybe more. I did my best to slow the bleeding by stuffing my handkerchief and his in the two holes I found. One in his side and one on the back of his leg.”

Damaris closed her eyes against the nausea building in her stomach. This was no time for maidenly sensibilities. A man’s life was at stake. A man who’d forfeited his own safety to protect her nephew. She owed him everything, and she’d give everything she had to keep him alive.

Unfortunately, the everything she possessed was rather scanty. Her medical experience consisted of mixing tonics and administering smelling salts to her great-aunt. She could make chicken soup and bathe a brow. Dab salve on a burn and wrap a sprained ankle. But tend to a man beaten so badly that he couldn’t move? One stabbed at least twice and likely lying in a pool of blood?

Damaris swallowed and begged the Lord for strength.

It seemed to take a lifetime to reach the rocky hill that marked the cavern entrance, but Nathaniel finally drew the team to a halt. Once the brake was set, he jumped down and ran around to the back of the wagon to collect the travois and lantern.

Damaris tied opposite ends of one of the sheets together to form a sling, loaded it with the other linens, and fitted it over her head and one arm so she could keep her hands free. She slid the medical basket into the linen pouch, then swapped her shotgun for Nathaniel’s travois, grabbing the two wooden poles and dragging the ladder-like frame behind her as her nephew led the way with the light.

As they moved through the cave, they had to hunch over in several places as the passage ceiling lowered. When they reached the end of the tunnel, Damaris nearly ran into her nephew’s back when he stopped suddenly. He turned down the lantern wick, casting them into near darkness.

“What is it?” Damaris whispered, coming up alongside him.

“Nothin’. Just wanted to make sure none of Grimes’s men were about. Davenport got off a shot early in the fight, and I fired a round at the end to scare the rustlers off. It’s possible one of the hands on duty heard.”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

Nathaniel shrugged. “For Davenport, yeah. For me, not so much.”

Because he’d been trespassing. Causing trouble. That was why he’d come to her for help instead of alerting Mr. Grimes. He wouldn’t have been able to explain his presence without implicating himself. And if Nathaniel was right about Mr. Grimes killing Douglas, he could have signed his own death warrant by showing up at the man’s house in the middle of the night. Damaris shivered. Thank the Lord Nathaniel had chosen to fetch her instead.

“I had to come back,” Nathaniel said, his voice small. “I had to know for sure if they’d found him. If no one heard the shots, he’d be alone until morning.” He turned, his expression haunted. “I don’t think he’ll last ’til morning.”

Damaris touched his shoulder. “You did the right thing.” She offered a reassuring smile, then studied the dark landscape in front of her. “I don’t hear any activity out there, but I think I see a horse.” She pointed at the large shadow standing a short distance away.

“That’s probably Titan. I found him after Davenport told me to run.” Nathaniel peered into the dark for one more moment, then turned up the lantern and hurried forward.

Damaris followed, the travois bouncing along behind her.