Only 05 - Autumn Lover

softly to the baby, who had not made one sound during all the flight. A small fist emerged from the rags. Tiny fingers patted at the girl’s face. The smile she gave her baby was as radiant as the sky.
    “Are you hurt?” Case asked Elyssa.
    Elyssa’s mouth was far too dry to attempt speech. She simply shook her head.
    “Wait here,” Case said. “I’ll give the call of a horned lark when I return. You hear anything else, get ready to shoot.”
    She nodded.
    Case gave her an intent, searching look.
    “Hang on, Sassy. I won’t be long.”
    Numbly Elyssa nodded again.
    Sporadic shots sounded from beyond the marsh. Hooves made a distant drumroll that faded into the rustling of the dry, wind-fretted reeds.
    It seemed like a hour, but really was only minutes, before the call of a horned lark came softly through the reeds.
    “All clear,” Case said. “They’re running away like the coyotes they are.”
    Elyssa made a low sound as relief swept through her. On its heels came nausea and weakness. She swayed, shaking.
    What’s wrong with me? I wasn’t the one running for miles over the land like this poor girl .
    The answer came to Elyssa as she saw again the instant when the Culpepper threw up his hands and fell beneath the hooves of his racing mule.
    Grimly Elyssa swallowed and then swallowed again,trying to quell the rebellion of her stomach.
    As soon as Case emerged from the reeds again, Elyssa turned to the Indian girl. When she bent down to check on the baby, a wave of nausea hit her. Blindly she went to her knees and crawled away from the girl and the baby.
    Spasm after spasm of sickness convulsed Elyssa. She retched until she was too weak to hold up her head. Vaguely she realized she didn’t have to. Someone was doing it for her.
    Strong arms lifted Elyssa, turned her, cradled her. Gentle hands wiped her face with a cool, damp bandanna. She lay against a man’s chest and shuddered.
    “Hunter?” she whispered hoarsely.
    “Not yet,” Case said. “He’ll be along real quick, though.”
    “No,” she said, struggling to sit up.
    Case caged Elyssa against his chest with equal parts strength and gentleness.
    “Easy, little one,” Case said. “Rinse your mouth out with this. You’ll feel better.”
    “The girl—” Elyssa began.
    “I checked her. She didn’t catch a bullet. Neither did the baby. She’s nursing him right now. Or trying to. Poor thing had a hard time of it with those Culpeppers.”
    With a shuddering sigh, Elyssa took a sip of water.
    The sound of men approaching made her push weakly at Case’s arms.
    “Let me up, please,” she pleaded.
    “You’re still shaking. Give your nerves time to settle.”
    “No!” Elyssa said hoarsely. “I don’t want him to know what a weakling and coward I am.”
    “Coward?”
    Case looked at Elyssa in disbelief. Ignoring her small struggles, he resumed washing her face as though shewas a child. The gentleness of his touch was at odds with the bleakness of his pale green eyes.
    “You’re neither weak nor a coward,” Case said calmly. “A lot of men break and run at their first taste of gunfire and death.”
    Elyssa made a muffled sound.
    “I know,” Case said. “You don’t like remembering that you might have killed a man, even though that Culpepper needed killing as much as any man ever born.”
    The cool, damp bandanna smoothed over Elyssa’s forehead and eyes.
    “But you did what had to be done,” Case said. “You stood your ground and saved lives at the risk of your own. No soldier could have been braver.”
    Elyssa looked at Case’s eyes and understood all that he wasn’t saying.
    “It happened to you, too, didn’t it?” she whispered. “The—the shooting and the sickness.”
    “I got over it,” Case said matter-of-factly. “You will, too. You’re a strong woman, Sassy. A lot stronger than a man would guess from looking at you.”
    Reeds crackled as something brushed them aside. With shocking speed a six-gun appeared in Case’s hand.
    “It’s me,” said Hunter.
    “Whistle next time or it could be your last.”
    Hunter shoved aside the reeds and wondered what Case would say if he knew his brother’s mouth was too dry to whistle.
    It had been like that since Hunter had seen a rifle pointing at Elyssa and known with terrible finality that there was nothing he could do to stop a bullet from reaching her.
    “Thank you,” Hunter said in a low voice to Case. “I owe you. Again.”
    “I wasn’t the one who saved