Alafair Tucker 01 - The Old Buzzard Had It Coming

wound had stopped, and had dried on her scarf, making it stiff and scratchy. She didn’t think she was really seriously hurt, but she had a terrible headache that periodically made her nauseated with the pain. Then she would have to find some likely stump or rock or hillock and sit down with her head in her hand until her stomach settled. She was nearly frozen through. She had lost one of her mittens, and her bare hand was getting numb in spite of her efforts to keep it in her pocket or under her armpit as she walked. She had stopped feeling her toes long ago. The sky was lowering and gray. She had no idea how long she had been gone from the house. Had she been unconscious for hours, or only a few minutes? It was still daylight, but since she couldn’t see the sun, it could have been two o’clock or six, as far as she was concerned. Her stiff fingers could feel a lump rising on her head.
    She was back on her own property now, trudging grimly on, still not in sight of the house. Another wave of nausea hit her, and she sank to her knees, sure she was going to be sick right then and there. Her gorge rose, and she gagged, but it subsided, and she sighed and sat back on her heels, crossing her arms over her chest and chaffing her hands under her armpits. She was feeling sleepy. Her thinking was slow and confused, but she was sufficiently aware to realize that her problem was swiftly becoming less the bump on her head and more the frigid weather.
    “Got to move,” she told herself. But she didn’t move. She just sat there, chaffing her hands, thinking, “got to move.” It dawned on her that she was looking at a horseman coming over the hill. As he neared, Alafair’s bleary eyes made out a black horse with a white blaze on its face, followed by two black and tan hounds. It was Shaw. He had seen her. His heels dug into the horse’s side and he was riding toward her at a canter.
    Oh, good, she thought, I can go to sleep now. She closed her eyes and slipped into unconsciousness, dropping with slow grace onto the bare ground.
    ***
    When she came around, she was lying on her own bed, still fully clothed except for her outerwear and shoes. She was wrapped in quilts like a mummy, with hot water bottles and towel-wrapped hot bricks nestling against every edge and extremity of her body.
    “Mmmm,” she said, savoring the warmth.
    Suddenly three faces appeared from nowhere to hover above her. Dr. Addison looked glad to see her. Scott looked relieved and concerned. Shaw looked like he couldn’t decide whether to cry, kiss her or explode into a million pieces. Alafair almost laughed.
    “Alafair, honey,” Shaw breathed. “Thank the Lord. What in the cat hair happened?”
    Doc Addison’s arm appeared and grabbed Shaw’s shoulder. “Time for questions later, Shaw,” he admonished. “How are you feeling, sugar?” he asked Alafair.
    Alafair didn’t answer immediately, before she took a quick inner inventory of all her parts. “Not too bad,” she admitted, in a hoarse whisper. “Headachy, is all.”
    The doctor nodded. “You got yourself a nasty little bump on the head and a pretty black and purple bruise on your jaw. I don’t think it’s too serious. A small cut that bled a little. You have a big goose egg, but that’ll go down soon enough. I’m going to give you a powder right now. That should help your headache.”
    When the doctor left to get some water for her powder, Scott, now sitting in a chair beside the bed, reached out and put his hand on her arm. “What happened, Alafair?” he wondered. “Did you take a spill?”
    She turned her head to look at Shaw, who was standing on the other side of her. “What were you doing out in the pasture?” he asked. “When I came back to the house and you were gone, I couldn’t figure out for the life of me where you were. I hunted for you for most of an hour. It’s a good thing I thought of that path going to the Day place, or I’d have never found you.”
    “Where’s the kids?” she responded. First things first.
    “Still in town,” Shaw told her. “I saw Martha for a minute at the bank when I rode for the doc. I told her to gather the kids at Jack and Josie’s and I’d pick them up there.”
    “Did you tell her I was hurt?” Alafair asked, alarmed.
    “No, I told her that I had some errands and would be late. Didn’t want to scare them if I didn’t have to.”
    “Y’all can play catch up later,” Scott interrupted. “Did you hit your head on