As Ike ushered Doc Whitmore into the house he heard the sound of hooves pounding across the yard towards him. He turned to see Teaspoon and the others reigning to a stop in front of the barn.
"Ike! Why did the Doc just go in the house?" Teaspoon yelled to him from the barn.
(Callie was hurt. It looked bad, so Rachel told me to fetch the doctor.) Ike replied.
Teaspoon looked at him in confusion. "She didn't look like she was hurt when she left. In fact, she looked like she was doing just fine."
"Oh yeah, she was fine. She just collapsed because she wanted to come back here. Either that, or she wanted to be alone with Ike." Jimmy said sarcastically. Ike glared at him and Jimmy flashed him an arrogant grin.
(Funny, Jimmy. Very funny. She's hurt pretty badly, she lost a lot of blood.) Ike told Jimmy in angry, jerky movements.
"Oh, I didn't know it was that bad. How much blood has she lost?" Jimmy asked, chastised.
(Gee, I forgot to count!) Ike signed with a disgusted look on his face.
"All right now, boys. Just settle down. Let's all go inside and check up on her." Teaspoon said, laying his hand on Ike's shoulder. "Ike, what's going on with you? You're acting, well, not like yourself." Teaspoon whispered in his ear. (Later, Teaspoon.) Ike signed. "Well, okay. But I'm expecting you to tell me." Teaspoon told him. Ike smiled and they followed the others inside.
When Ike and the other riders walked into the house they were met with chaos. Rachel was running back and forth between the back bedroom and the kitchen carrying cloths that had just come out of a pot that was boiling on the stove. The cloths that she brought out of the back room were blood soaked. Teaspoon and the riders watched the commotion with worried frowns. Rachel didn't seem to notice that they were there and the doctor was still in back with Callie. Over the next hour the riders went to their respective bunks and sat down, Teaspoon sat down on a chair from the dining room and tipped it back against the wall. So far, there had been no sounds at all except for the swish of Rachel's skirts, the bubbling of the boiling water, and the riders shifting from one foot to another. It had grown so silent that that everyone was quite frightened to hear a scream come from the bedroom. Rachel dropped the linens she was carrying, Teaspoon fell out of his chair, Jimmy drew his gun, and Cody jumped up so fast he hit his head on the bunk above him. A blue streak of cussing issued from the back. Callie was NOT in a happy mood. She was awake and she was in pain. The boys, Teaspoon, and Rachel ran to the bedroom. When they walked in they saw a sight that would not soon be forgotten. Callie had the doctor by the front of the shirt and was shaking him and yelling. "WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME SOMETHING? HUH? SAY SOMETHING!" "I, um, well, I...." the doctor sputtered. He was definitely not used to being abused so by anyone. Certainly not a blind woman. Callie was in a fine state now. She was pacing back and forth across the room like a lioness. Her eyes glued to the spot where the doctor was standing. Once again, the eerie sensation that she was able to see struck everyone. Suddenly, she came to a complete halt. She glared at the floor and then laughed. "Sit down, Doc. I've got something to tell you. You too, boys. Just come and sit down." She said. Everyone looked at each other. They hadn't said anything to let her know that they were there. How had she known? When everyone had taken a seat, Callie turned in a slow circle. It was almost like she was looking to see where everyone was. When she had completed her rotation, she stopped and stared towards the wall. "Now boys," she said, "don't kill me for this." She paused rather dramatically. Everyone wondered what she could possibly be going to say. She took a deep breath and blurted it out in a rush; "I'm not blind." Dead silence hung in the room. All eyes were fixed on her. Cody stammered out, "What do you mean?" Callie hung her head. "I'm not blind." She whispered. "I lied to you all. I'm really sorry. I don't expect you to believe me, but I'm real sorry." She turned on her heel and headed for the door. Suddenly, a bullet slammed through the window and into the door just beside her. "CALLAHAN! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! COME ON OUT!" A man's voice bellowed. Callie's eyes went wide with shock, then they narrowed with rage. Her voice was dripping pure and deadly venom when she spoke. "Van Dahl." One word. That was all. But everyone in the room knew that Colleen Callahan had just hit her boiling point and all hell was about to break loose. Cody grinned. "Hold on fellows, the world's about to explode!"
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