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suddenly exhausted. “I think I’d better lie down before I pass out. I’ve lost so much blood I think my body has given up trying to pump any to my head.”
    When she tucked him in, he caught her hand once more. “Promise you won’t leave me yet. I’d like to talk to you some more.”
    “I promise I’ll be here when you wake up.” She brushed his hair back. “Only once you’re asleep, I have to go check on my horse.”
    “The roan?” he said with his eyes closed.
    “Yes, Brandy Blue. I’ve had him for years.”
    “I have a horse I need to find as soon as I get out of here,” Andrew whispered almost asleep. “A pinto with front stockings. Everything I care about in the world is packed away in saddlebags tied to that horse’s saddle.”
    He closed his eyes, hoping she wasn’t lying about being there when he woke. She was the kind of woman he wanted to know better, not only so he could log her traits into his journal, but also so he could let her slip into his dreams.
    As he drifted into sleep, he heard her tell the man in the other bed that she’d get him some water. It crossed Andrew’s mind that she might be married to that fellow by the time he woke again.

CHAPTER 4

    A S B ETH M C M URRAY WALKED OUT OF THE WARD AFTER making sure Lamont was gone and Andrew slept solid, she almost stepped on a little boy sleeping in the hallway. He jumped up, wide-eyed and afraid.
    “What are you still doing here?” She reached to touch his shoulder, but he pulled away. “It’s far too late to visit. Are you lost?” He had a ragged, unkempt look about him.
    He gathered his blanket and shoes. “The doc lets me sleep here if I stay out of the way. I go get him if there’s any trouble, and he pays me for sweeping up.”
    “It’s after dark. Shouldn’t you be home?” From the look of him, no one ever worried about him.
    “My kin knows where I am. If nobody is staying in the ward, I sleep in the barn loft a block away. It’s warmer in here, but sometimes it’s quieter in the loft.”
    “What’s your name?” She’d seen children who managed to live in town on their own. The war and illness had left many families shattered.
    “Levi Hawthorne, miss.” He straightened. “I can write my name real proper and can read most of the words in the Bible. My father taught me.”
    Beth smiled down at him. “That’s wonderful, Levi. I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I’d pay you, of course.”
    “I’ll try, miss.” He tilted his head sideways as if measuring trust out by the ounce.
    “Did you see that tall man who came in here yelling at me about an hour ago?”
    He nodded. “The one with Sheriff Harris and the doc? Dressed all fancy-like but huffing and puffing like a steam engine.”
    “That’s him.”
    Levi shook his head. “I don’t trust him any more than I do the doc. He’s got cold eyes, like something’s already dead inside him.”
    She decided to let the boy’s judgment of Lamont pass for now. “Why don’t you trust the doc?”
    He looked around and whispered. “He don’t doctor to help people, he just does it for the money. If he thought your man couldn’t pay, he’d have him moved down to the nuns’ charity ward.”
    “Oh.” Beth didn’t doubt the boy’s words, but tonight she had all the trouble she could handle. “Between me and you, Levi, I’m kind of scared of the big man who huffs and puffs. I was wondering if you’d walk with me to a place where I could eat in peace and stay with me while I have some supper. I’d buy you a meal and pay you two bits for being my bodyguard. If trouble does come, all you have to do is run for the sheriff. You do trust the sheriff, don’t you?”
    “I sure do, miss. He’s a hard man, but not cruel.”
    “Good, then you’ll come with me?”
    “I reckon I could.” He sat down to put on shoes several sizes too big. Then he stored his bedding under a vacant cot, checked on the man tied to the bed half a room away from Andrew, and