Read Online The Healer's Touch by Lori Copeland - Free Book Online Page A

wasn’t sure if she could ever wander out after dark again. Her heart was still beating like a war drum in her ears.
    â€œAnd you’re handing me over to the sheriff at first light?”
    She nodded. “He’ll have someone there to identify you. And should you awaken early, be careful to stay hidden. My younger sister is asleep, but she thinks you’re dead. I’d like to spare her the shock you gave me.”
    His eyes roamed his surroundings again. “You and your sister live here alone?”
    â€œMy sister and my mother…” She paused, checking her thoughts. He was crafty even in his impaired state. “And the big armed hired hand who sleeps in the barn. He checks on the house every hour orso,” she lied. “Nothing goes on here that he doesn’t see. He has a gun and he isn’t afraid to use it.”
    â€œDoes he know I’m here?”
    â€œHe knows—and he’s watching.”
    â€œWell—” The stranger pushed back from the table. “Much obliged for patching me up for the gallows.”
    â€œGallows?”
    â€œI don’t remember who I am or where I’m from, but I seem to recall they hang outlaws in most parts.”
    Hang. She hadn’t thought about that probability. She’d heard the hammers and saws a few times when the town built the gallows for a hanging. The event always left butterflies in her stomach, but she’d never known one of the men scheduled to hang. She tried not to think about the man who would face that platform soon. A smidgeon of doubt crept into her mind. What if this man wasn’t an outlaw or the bounty on his head didn’t amount to a hill of beans? When she’d gone to town she’d not seen one poster that even resembled the man sitting before her, though puffiness marred his features.
    If he wasn’t an outlaw there wouldn’t be a bounty. And without a bounty Rosie would go without a door on the barn—and Lyric wouldn’t have the funds to begin her new life when Mother passed.
    The man shook his head in an apparent attempt to clear it. “If you don’t mind, I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
    His voice brought her back to the present. “You won’t try anything, will you? If you sleep there, I’ll have to sit with you with my gun close by.”
    â€œDo I look like I’m capable of trying anything?”
    No. He looked like death warmed over, but she couldn’t throw caution to the wind just because she felt sorry for him. He could be telling a bald-faced lie. He might know exactly who he was and be looking for the moment to escape.
    â€œI’ll get a fresh blanket.” They both rose and she steadied him asthey slowly eased to the parlor. He was wounded but strong; she felt the tight muscles and sheer power in his arm when he leaned into her slight weight. “I wish you would eat something,” she fretted. “You’ll need your strength.”
    â€œIf I can’t make the climb to the noose I’m sure the sheriff will assist me.”
    The coming hours weren’t a pleasant thought—even less agreeable if she was wrong about his identity. It would be awful to hang an innocent person. She knew all too well what it was like to be wrongfully judged.
    She shook the unwanted thoughts away. Who else could he be but an outlaw? Didn’t Boots mention that Jim Cummins had been run out of the mercantile the same day this man destroyed her property? He could even be Cummins, though his poster wasn’t on the sheriff’s wall. Just because this stranger was weak as a newborn calf was no reason for her to go all soft and compassionate now. She settled him on the couch and then went for the blanket. By the time she returned his eyes were closed and soft snores met her ears.
    Tucking the warm blanket around him, she noted the pump knot on his forehead and winced. She supposed that after tomorrow morning he’d have