Love of a Bounty (Sequal to Unexpected Romance but can stand alone)

Chapter Eleven

Catherine looked down at Richard lying on the sofa and felt tears filling her eyes. He was pale and covered in blood.

"Is he dead?" Emmett asked and Catherine shook her head.

"Not yet." she replied.

"Oh." Emmett said sounding disappointed. Catherine slapped his arm.

"You ride into town and get something for pain and infection from the doc. I think I can close the wound up myself. Stop by at Bianca and Edward's house and tell them we have guests on your way." she said. Emmett nodded.

"You sure you can handle this on your own?" he asked. Catherine nodded.

"I'm sure." He bent down and kissed her hair.

'I love you and I'll be back as quickly as I can." he said and then he walked out of the house. Catherine stood and walked over to the liquor cabinet. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey and then grabbed her sewing kit off the floor. She laid everything next to the sofa and then walked into the kitchen. The stove was still hot from dinner and she walked outside and filled a bucket full of water from the well. She carried it inside and put it on the stove to heat.

She heard the door to the house open and she could hear someone walk into the sitting room. She assumed it must be the woman that had been with Richard. She wondered who this woman was to Richard and what exactly had happened to her friend.

Catherine waited until the water was warm, grabbed it and some washrags and walked back into the living room. The woman was on her knees beside Richard and had her head lying on his chest. Catherine cleared her throat and the woman looked up at her.

"Did you say your name was Tessa?" Catherine asked. Tessa nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes looking embarrassed to have been caught crying.

"My name is Catherine. Can you help me get his shirt off?" Tessa nodded and quickly unbuttoned Richard's shirt. Richard moaned but didn't wake up as she and Catherine both struggled to get it off of him. Richard's hat fell off in the process and Catherine and Tessa both gasped at the sight of his blood covered head and the wound above his temple.

Tessa had not known his head looked like this beneath his hat.

"You damn stubborn, fool headed man." she scolded him. Catherine wet one of the washrags and handed it to Tessa.

"Go ahead and clean his head off. I'll work on his arm." she said. She cleaned the wound the best she could with the water. Thankfully the bullet seemed to have went straight through and she didn't have to worry about digging it out of his arm.

"Hopefully he's unconscious enough he won't feel this." she said as she opened the whiskey bottle and poured the liquid over the wound. Other than letting out a moan Richard had no other reaction. Catherine opened her sewing case and pulled out a needle and thread. She took her time sewing both sides of the wound tight. And then she and Tessa both worked to clean as much of the blood from him as they could.

Once done Catherine looked over at Tessa and saw the blood on her as well.

"Are you hurt?" she asked. Tessa shook her head.

"No it's not mine." she replied. Catherine nodded.

"What happened to him?" she asked. Tessa sighed.

"It was my damn fault. I wanted revenge on a man and so Richard was helping me and then I got kidnapped and he came to save me and the bastards shot him." Tessa replied. Catherine looked at her wide-eyed. She was dressed like a man, was covered in dirt and blood, and cursed more than any other woman Catherine knew.