Chapter 31: Jake Meets Roy

~Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’~ —C.S. Lewis

Roy barked joyfully when he caught sight of Dannie, then pushed the door open with his body and ran to her.

“Roy, you naughty canine,” Dannie scolded the barking creature. “You know you’re not supposed to come in here.”

“That your dog?”

“Yes.” Dannie tried to get the happy dog to settle down, but Roy was determined to jump around his mistress and lick her hands. “Mack gave him to me about a month after I arrived. Reverend Simmens was kind enough to let him stay with us at their home.”

“And you named him Roy?” Jake looked surprised.

“Is there anything wrong with the name?”

“No, it’s a great name, just not somethin’ I thought you would name a dog.”

“What do you mean?” Dannie’s face twisted in confusion.

“Don’t get me wrong, but knowin’ your rich vocabulary, I thought you’d come up with somethin’, I dunno, more original.”

“I had to name him Roy.” Dannie’s voice dropped, and she gazed at the dog tenderly. This sudden change of behavior sparked Jake’s curiosity.

“What do you mean?”

“I promised him I would.”

“Promised who?”

Dannie slowly lifted her eyes, and they locked with Jake’s. “My little brother, Robert.”

“You have a brother?”

“Had,” Dannie corrected. “He died a long time ago.”

“How come you never mentioned him before?”

“There never was a need to.” Dannie sighed and cuddled Roy. “He was three years younger than me, and from the time he learned to walk, he just loved dogs. They were his favorite animal. All he could dream about was having a dog of his own—but Papa was allergic to dog fur, so we never kept one.

“He kept telling me ‘when we grow up, Dannie, we’ll get a dog, and we’ll call him Roy.’ You see, his favorite book was ~Rob Roy~ by Sir Walter Scott.”

Dannie shook her head sadly. “Only Bobby was never destined to grow up. He was born very sickly, and left us just three months after his seventh birthday. So you see, when Mack gave me the pup, I had to call him Roy. I owed it to Bobby. His death affected me deeply, and to this day I find it hard to speak of him.”

Jake stared at her a moment, then said, “You know, you were right, back then.”

“Back when?”

“Remember when we were hidin’ from the storm? You said that you understood what I had gone through, and how, though our lives were different, sorrow was sorrow?

“You were right. The stories are different, but I think the pain is somethin’ we share.”

Jake’s earnest gaze had Dannie lowering her eyes and glancing back at her needlework. She seemed to have grown more skittish since they last met.

A knock on the door broke the moment.

“May I come in?” Sophie asked as her head poked through the crack in the door. “I just had to see for myself that Jake is really alive. Lookie at that, he really is. I have to say, if there is one thing Jake knows how to do, it is to prove people like my daddy wrong. And I think he has great fun doin’ it.”

Dannie fought the desire to giggle while Jake tried to keep his cool. He wasn’t really happy about how Sophie had barged into the room and ruined his connection with Dannie. Sophie generally tended to annoy him; she talked all the time but never spoke any sense.

“Dannie,” Sophie kept on talking, hardly noticing Jake’s less than welcoming expression, “Grace is calling you to go and take in some food. And she won’t take no for an answer, said if you don’t come right now, she’ll come here and drag you to the table. Ah, I see Roy has found you. Did you tell him you were cheatin’ on him for Wade here?”

“Dearest Sophie, how very blunt you are,” Dannie laughed.

“Too blunt, if you ask me,” Jake added with a grunt.

“Just go eat. I can watch Jake while you are gone.”

Jake cringed. Be left alone with Sophie? No thank you. His protest against this arrangement was cut off by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Dannie called. The door opened, and Sam Carthwrite walked in.

“Howdy, Sam, come to see the invalid at last?” Jake joked, a grin appearing on his face.

“He lives!” Sam exclaimed, walking over and taking Jake’s outstretched hand. With his other, he gave Jake a hearty slap on the shoulder.

“Owww!” Jake grimaced. “Watch it Sam, I’m still in the healin’ process.”

“Right, sorry ’bout that. I got Miz Preston’s note sayin’ that you were awake. Came around as soon as I found a spare moment. Everyone back at the Cora Belle has been worried as hell. The boss in particular has been anxious, but duty keeps him tied to the ranch. How soon do you think it will be till you get back?”

“Day or two, I reckon.”

“Don’t be so sure of that,” Dannie cut in. “Mr. Martin said two weeks at least, could be more till you’re ready to leave. He wants to make sure there will be no infection. Infection is Jake’s greatest threat right now. We’ve already had to re-open the wound and clean it out once, remember.”

“Ah, where are my manners? Howdy, Miz Preston, Miz Martin.” Sam removed his hat and nodded to the two females. “Miz Preston, next time I meet with an accident, I’m gonna have them send for you right away. An’ there will be no more of that I-don’t-know-nothin’-about-nursin’ nonsense.”

“But I didn’t know anything,” Dannie protested, her cheeks coloring once again. “It was the first time I had even seen such an operation. People don’t go shooting each other in Collingham.”

“And don’t go on sayin’ you can’t stand the sight of blood,” Jake put in.

“I can’t! It makes me feel sick, but sometimes I have to put my fear aside.”

“Well, Sam, since you are here to keep Jake company, I’m takin’ Dannie to have a bite to eat,” Sophie said, pulling Dannie from the chair.

“That’s a right good idea, Miz Martin. I’ve got an hour or two to kill before I have to head back, so Miz Preston can have a nice, long break. Don’t know how you managed to put up with Jake this far. He’s somethin’ terrible when it comes to entertainin’ women.”

Sam chuckled at his own statement, but Jake didn’t find it very funny.

“It’s all right, I’ve long learned his bark is worse than his bite,” Dannie replied, and left the room with Sophie.

“She’s a right smart woman,” Sam said once the girls were gone. “A man is lucky if he falls into her hands when he is ill. She follows instructions perfectly, has a great head on her shoulders, and can think of things real quick.

“Reads a lot too. You know, Chris Martin has this huge library with all sorts of medical books in them, an’ she must have read them all durin’ the time you were out. I’ll bet she knows more than the average doctor about medicine now.”

“What I can’t believe is she managed to stand the sight of me covered in blood and still keep her head about her,” Jake said. “I cut my finger while I was bringin’ her here, and she nearly fainted just from the thought of it.” He shook his head in bewilderment.

Sam smiled knowingly but didn’t say anything.

“What about those men that attacked us. What happened to them?”

“Disappeared into thin air. None of us have been able to get any trace of them. Funny thing is, it seems you were the only one they were after. Got shot and beat up enough for all six of us together. I mean, I know you was born under unlucky stars…but still.”

Jake gave a nod. He knew he ought to be concerned about who had attacked him and why, but at the moment, all he could think about was Dannie Preston.

He wanted to know what she had been up to during this past year. How had she discovered that Mr. Martin was her father’s cousin? Did she live on the ranch now? If not, then why was she here? It couldn’t be just for him—could it?