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leg,” Sally said, jumping from the wagon seat.
    “Just don’t think you can pull on him like a wishbone,” Letty said. “We want him fully functionin’ when he wakes up.”
    Honey rushed to help Daisy from the wagon seat. The woman swayed and put a hand to her mouth.
    “You gonna be all right?” Honey asked. A crash from the back of the wagon had her rushing around to find the sheriff sprawled on the ground. “Oh Lord, you’re gonna kill him for sure. Then where will I be?”
    “We’ll help ya hide the body,” Letty said.
    “The point is I don’t want him dead. I don’t even want him hurt.”
    “Then why’d you kick him?”
    Frustrated and wondering why she was the only one sober in the group, Honey picked up a heavy leg. “Come on, ladies. Since we’re already criminals, we might as well make the man comfortable.”
    Sally, Letty and Honey wrestled with his deadweight, managing nicely until they reached Honey’s narrow stairs. By the time they had him at the foot of the stairs, sweat plastered Honey’s forehead and her shirt was wet beneath her arms. The other ladies weren’t in much better condition.
    Honey gently lowered the leg she’d carried and wiped sweat from her forehead. “So how are we going to get him up those stairs?”
    “Maybe we could just make him a pallet here under the trees,” Daisy said.
    Exasperation sharpened Honey’s words. “For anyone who might come by to see? I don’t think so.”
    “Get a blanket,” Letty said. “We’ll lay him on it and slide him up the stairs.”
    Honey found her oldest threadbare blanket, and they rolled him onto it. Then Letty took position at the top of the steps, squatting with her legs spread wide. She gathered the end of the blanket and began to pull.
    The sounds of stitches popping had Honey rushing to pull on the sides and help ease the sheriff up the steps. His head hit the steps with each pull.
    “Lordy, that man’s gonna have a headache,” Letty said. “Deserves every knot too.”
    “If the overdose of the potion doesn’t kill him,” Honey mumbled, her breath rasping with exertion. “I’ll be hung for bludgeoning him to death.”
    “Don’t be such a sourpuss,” Letty said. “Wait until we get him nekkid—you’ll be happier then.”
    Honey shook her head forlornly. She’d be the one left to explain why he was in her bed with goose eggs on the top of his head and bruises over every other inch of his skin. Tar and hen feathers were looking pretty good now.
    Daisy and Letty settled him onto her narrow mattress. Because it had been her father’s bunk before his death, the sheriff’s feet stretched to the very end of the mattress with only an inch to spare.
    “Let’s make him comfortable and get the hell out of here before he wakes up,” Letty said.
    “Getting nervous now? Need a little more port?” Honey asked, acid in her voice.
    Letty gave her stare. “You got a mean streak. Never noticed that before.”
    When Daisy started unbuttoning his shirt, Letty reached eagerly for the waist of his trousers.
    “Letty,” Daisy said, her tone holding a warning. “The man is incapacitated. Remember, you are a Christian lady—and married.”
    “Doesn’t mean I cain’t look.”
    “Just be quick about it. We shouldn’t take any joy in this.”
    Daisy had managed to strip away the shirt and Letty had the placket of his trousers unbuttoned when Sally sighed. “My word,” she said breathlessly as the pants opened to reveal the sheriff’s substantial…manhood.
    Even resting, it was a beautiful sight to behold—at least to Honey.
    Sally’s eyes widened, and she looked more than a little frightened.
    “Sally, you go step outside,” Daisy said. “We’ll have a talk about the birds and the bees on the way back to town.”
    Sally fled without a backward glance.
    Letty seemed to take her sweet time dragging his trousers and drawers down his long legs.
    “What are you going to do if he opens his eyes and sees who’s