The Drifter. Сьюзен Виггс

for a drunken lumberjack who swore at her and refused to pay a “lady sawbones” for doing a man’s job.

      But Leah’s long day wouldn’t end until she paid a visit to her newest patient. She stood for a moment at the bottom of the wide hardwood staircase, resting her hand on the carved newel post and listening to the sounds of the old house at evening.

      Perpetua hummed as she worked in the kitchen, a little worker bee at the heart of the house. In the parlor, the boarders sat after supper, the men smoking pipes and the women knitting while they spoke in muted voices.

      This was Leah’s world, the place where she would spend the rest of her life. The light from the lowering sun filtered through the circular window high above the foyer, and to Leah it was a lonely sight, the symbol of another day gone by.

      She didn’t know how to talk to these people who lived under her roof, didn’t know what dreams they dreamed, didn’t know how to open her heart to them. And so she lived apart, working hard, keeping to herself, an outsider in her own house.

      She smoothed her hands down the front of her white smock. The starch had wilted somewhat during the day, and she knew the ribbons straggled down her back.

      Have a care for your appearance, girl. No wonder you haven’t found a man yet.

      Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up. She wished she could close out the memory of her father’s voice. She had loved him with all that was in her, but it was never enough. Even at the end, when he’d lain helpless and needy on his deathbed, her love hadn’t been enough. She couldn’t save him, couldn’t make him say the words she’d waited a lifetime to hear: I love you, daughter.

      Pressing her mouth into a determined line, she climbed the stairs, her skirts swishing on the polished wood. She tapped lightly at the door.

      “Mrs. Underhill? Are you awake?”

      The sound of a male voice—his voice—answered her, but she couldn’t make out the words.

      “May I come in?”

      The door opened. Jackson T. Underhill stood there hatless, his blond hair mussed as if he’d run his fingers through it. “She’s awake, Doc,” he said.

      No one had ever called her Doc. She realized that she rather liked the homey, trusting sound of it. She found herself remembering the incident in the bathhouse. What a shock it had been to see him standing there, naked except for a towel around his middle. Even without the gun belt slung low on his hips, there was something dangerous and predatory about him. Something she shouldn’t let herself think about. She forced her attention back to where it belonged—her patient.

      Evening light spilled through the dimity curtains framing the bay window. The glow lay like a veil of amber upon the reposing figure on the bed. Carrie Underhill wore the shroud of gold like a mythic figure. How lovely she was, the fine bones of her face sharpened by light and shadow, her milk-pale skin and fair hair absorbing the pinkening rays of the sunset.

      She turned her head on the pillow and blinked slowly at Leah.

      “Mrs. Underhill, I’m glad you’re awake.” Leah took the slim hand in her own. Immediately, the pathologist in her took over. The first thing she noticed was how cold the hand was. Too cold. “How are you feeling?”

      Carrie pulled her hand away with a weak motion. Her eyes, blue as a delft dessert plate, were wide and wounded. “I feel awful, just awful.” Her gaze sought Jackson, and she seemed to calm a little when she spied him. “Is this a safe place, Jackson? You said we were going to a safe place.”

      “You’re safe here, sugar,” he said. His voice was so gentle that Leah almost didn’t recognize it.

      “Hurts,” she said with a whimper, and her perfect face pinched into a wince of pain. “Hurts so bad.”

      A chill rose up and spread through Leah. Her suspicions, the ones she had been beating down since first laying eyes on Carrie Underhill, came back stronger. She moved the coverlet aside.

      Carrie clutched at the quilt. “Jackson!”

      “She doesn’t like being uncovered,” he said. “Likes being wrapped up tight.”

      “I need to examine her,” Leah snapped. Then, collecting herself, she turned back to Carrie. “I’ll be quick,” she promised. As gently as she could, she palpated Carrie’s abdomen through the fabric of a clean flannel nightgown.

      An outlaw who did laundry…

      What was a ruthless man like Jackson T. Underhill doing with this fey and delicate creature?

      The scent of laundry mingled with something sharper, an odor that was rusty and unmistakable.

      She looks to be about three months along…

      Leah’s hand touched the abdomen low. Carrie screamed. Her legs came up to reveal an angry smear of fresh blood on the sheets.

      “Jesus!” Jackson grabbed Leah’s arm and yanked her back. “You’re hurting her.”

      Leah drew him away from the bed and into the recess of a dormer window. Lowering her voice so Carrie wouldn’t hear, Leah leaned toward Jackson. “When did the bleeding start?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you call me?”

      “I didn’t know she was bleeding.” Fear edged his words. “I thought she was doing better, just sleeping.”

      “She didn’t tell you?”

      “No. She—I don’t think she knew, either.”

      “I’m afraid she’s miscarrying,” Leah said.

      “What’s that mean?” he demanded, clutching her arm, holding tight.

      Leah wrenched her arm away. “She’s losing the baby.”

      “So fix it.”

      The chill inside Leah froze into a ball of fear. “It’s all I can do to save the mother.”

      “So save her. Do it now,” he said, raising his voice above Carrie’s high, thin keening.

      “I don’t think you understand, Mr. Underhill. It’s not that simple. She might need surgery.”

      “Surgery. You mean an operation.”

      “I have to stop the bleeding.”

      His face paled. “Surgery,” he repeated.

      “Yes, if the bleeding doesn’t stop.”

      “No.”

      She could see the shape of his mouth, but she made him say it again. “I didn’t hear you, Mr. Underhill.”

      “No. You aren’t going to hurt her anymore.”

      Furious, she tugged on his hand, leading him out into the corridor.

      “You aren’t operating on Carrie,” he repeated, his voice low and threatening. “She’s not some critter for you to experiment on.”

      “How dare you,” she shot back. “I’m a healer, Mr. Underhill. Not a butcher. Believe me, I would give anything not to have to do anything invasive to your wife, and I will try to stanch the flow as best I can. But if we ignore the problem, the bleeding will continue. Toxins will spread through her body, and she’ll die. A slow, painful death.”

      He pressed himself against the wall of the corridor, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “Damn it. God damn it all to hell.”

      “Mr. Underhill, this isn’t helping your wife. You have to make the decision.” A thin wail of pain drifted from inside the room. “You have to make it now.”

      He moved so fast that Leah didn’t even realize it until he was clutching her by the shoulders, shoving her up against the wall. The desperate strength in his fingers bit into her upper arms. He put his face very close to hers. She caught his scent of bay rum and leather.

      “Look,