"You fell off your horse."

She stopped struggling and turned her unbelieving gaze on him. "I never fall off my horse," she declared, wincing with pain. "You must have done something to me."

A flash of anger prodded Madison's temper, but he tamped it down before he could utter any more ill-chosen words. His anger sprang from guilt; he could only atone by accepting the responsibility for what he had done.

I said something I shouldn't. It made you too angry to watch where you were going. Your horse stumbled and you pitched forward into the creek. I wouldn't be surprised if you have a deep concussion as well as a few broken ribs."

"How do you know?" she asked, her eyes wide with trepidation.

"I checked."

"You handled me?" she asked, anger and fright mingled in her voice.

Madison didn't know why her reaction should irritate him so much. He couldn't expect her to like being handled by a stranger.

Yet it made him furious.

Because she made him feel guilty. And after struggling so hard to control his physical desire, he felt he deserved a little credit. If she guessed what he would have liked to do, she probably wouldn't wait to see him hang. She'd shoot him herself.

I touched you as little as possible."

"How dare you touch me at all!"

"What was I supposed to do? Ask a pa.s.sing gopher? Forgive me if I didn't follow the proper etiquette for a woman who dresses, acts, and expects to be treated as a man. You'll have to explain it to me sometime."

I don't want to see you ever again," Fern exploded. She pushed against his chest, then groaned with agony.

"You may have some broken ribs," Madison said, sympathy and concern battling with anger and guilt. "Stay still until I can get you to a doctor."

"Take me home," she cried.

"I did, but your father was gone."

"Take me back this minute."

"When is he supposed to get back?"

"I don't know. Maybe tonight. He's gone to sell to the drovers."

"Who'll take care of you?"

"I can take care of myself."

"No. You need a doctor to look at your chest to see if you really are hurt."

"No man is going to look at my chest!" Fern exclaimed. "Let me down right now."

But when she tried to break his hold, her face crumpled with pain.

"You wouldn't make it five yards. You'd collapse in the street."

"That's none of your concern."

"Ordinarily I would agree with you, but somehow it would get around town that I was responsible for your fall. Next thing you know, people would be saying I took you home and left you to die. By tomorrow every man in d.i.c.kinson County would be after my blood." "It wouldn't do them any good. I'm going to get it all."

Madison surprised them both by laughing. "Why don't you just relax and let me take you to a doctor? Which one do you normally see?"

"I haven't seen a doctor since I was born, and I don't intend to start now."

That shouldn't have surprised him. She was just the type to refuse to admit she needed any kind of help.

"Pick one."

"If you don't let me down, I'll scream."

"For someone wanting to be treated like a man, you sure are quick to use a woman's trick," Madison said.

"I'll use any trick I can to get away from you," she replied. "Now let me go."

For a moment, Madison was tempted to do just that. She wasn't his responsibility. But the pain in her eyes wouldn't let him.

"I will make a compromise with you. I'll take you to my sister-in-law. If she says you're okay, I'll take you home. If she says you're hurt, you're going to see a doctor."

He expected her to keep arguing. Her capitulation convinced him she was suffering a lot of pain.

"At least allow me to ride my own horse. I may let her examine me, but I won't be carried through town in a man's arms, particularly yours. I'd rather have all my ribs broken."

Madison was tempted to break her neck, but he decided it might be a little rough on George to have two brothers hang at the same time.

"Can you hold on to the saddle horn?" he asked.

"Of course. What kind of mollycoddle do you take me for?"

"Why don't you just answer my question?" "I can hold on," she said, subdued.

Madison slid from the saddle. Without his support, Fern swayed, but she managed to stay erect. "It'll be easier if you stay on Buster. I'll lead the horses."

She didn't like that arrangement, but she was finding that without his support, the pain was much worse. The increased discomfort took the steel out of her resistance.

"Don't take me through the middle of town," she managed to say through teeth gritted with pain. "I won't be paraded around like a circus freak."

"How am I supposed to get you there without using the streets? I'm not a magician with a magic carpet to transport you. I doubt whether Buster or your pony would ride on it if I did."

"For a grown man, you talk more foolishness than anybody I ever met."

"I'm sure my professors at Harvard are chagrined they allowed me to graduate first in my cla.s.s."

"I don't mean you're stupid," she said, "just that you say stupid things. I know you do it just to make me mad." She paused for a moment. "I guess I can't blame you. I never said anything nice to you."

Surprised, Madison turned and looked up at her.

"Even though you are the most miserable, lowdown piece of rotten cowhide I ever had the misfortune to come across, I probably shouldn't say so."

Madison swallowed. "Being such an extremely poor specimen of humanity, it would surely be unreasonable of me to expect your approbation."

"There you go again," she said, "always"

She never got to finish her sentence. Two dogs dashed across the street practically under Buster's feet. He came to a stiff-legged stop, causing Fern to be thrown roughly over the saddle horn and onto his neck. This broke her grip on the saddle horn. She slid off the horse's back into Madison's arms. Her cry of pain as she fainted banished all anger and uncharitable thoughts from his mind.

Ignoring the stares of everyone he pa.s.sed, Madison hurried along the street until he reached the house George had rented. A fence surrounded the yard.

Two little boys played on the porch. "What's your name?" Madison called out.

"Ed Abbott," the bigger boy responded, looking scared.

"Open this gate, Ed. Then run inside and get your mother. This lady has been hurt."

"Mama's gone," the boy stated. "She said I was to stay on the porch and not talk to strangers."

"Get Mrs. Randolph then," Madison said.

"She's taking a nap."

"Then wake her."

"Mama said not to," the boy replied.

Madison fought down a desire to throttle the child.

"Open the gate," he barked.

"No."

Madison wondered if the entire state of Kansas had banded together to thwart him. He had navigated the treacherous waters of New England society with far greater ease than he had endured twenty-four hours in Abilene. He bent down far enough to grasp the latch. Opening the gate wide enough to insert his toe, he kicked it open with his foot.

"Miz Randolph! Miz Randolph!" Ed screamed. The younger boy merely stood watching, a carved wooden wagon in his hands. Rose came through the front door as Madison climbed the porch steps.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Why is Ed yelling?" "Fern Sproull was hurt in a fall from her horse," Madison explained, ignoring Ed. "She's in a lot of pain."

"You ought to take her to a doctor."

I wanted to, but she won't go. I can't leave her at home because her father's gone."

Rose looked at Fern more closely. "I don't like the look of that bruise. Bring her in."

"I'm afraid she might have some broken ribs, too."

Rose led the way into the house and to a small bedroom with a minimum of furnishings. "Has she been unconscious since the fall?"

Madison smiled in spite of himself. "She was conscious long enough to give me a good blessing out just a few minutes ago. Some dogs startled her horse. She fainted when she fell off." Rose looked up, startled. "I caught her," Madison added.

"If she has any broken bones, I'm calling a doctor whether she likes it or not." Rose stared at Madison. "Well, what are you waiting for? You're going to have to get her out of those clothes. In my condition, I can't do it."

Madison felt heat rush over his body like a blast from an open furnace. He couldn't undress Fern in front of Rose. He didn't know what George would have done, but Madison knew that he would be mortified with the plain evidence of his l.u.s.t.

Chapter Six.

"She'll kill me if she finds out."

"Then I won't tell her."

She would find out. Women always found out the very things they shouldn't. At least he could take off her boots. That shouldn't give rise to any future desire to fill him full of bullet holes. But after he removed her boots and set them in the corner, he still faced a fully clothed Fern.

"Come on," Rose said impatiently. "I can help a little, but I can hardly bend over without falling."

If Rose fell, George would kill him. If Fern found out he'd undressed her, she'd kill him. Either way it didn't look like he had very long to live.

But there was no one else.

The moment Madison leaned forward, his hand extended to deal with the b.u.t.tons on Fern's shirt, he felt his body begin to tighten. It's absurd to become so excited over the thought of touching her. You're just going to remove her shirt. You're not going to touch her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Suppressing a strong desire to rush out and buy a ticket for the next train out of Abilene, Madison quickly unb.u.t.toned Fern's shirt. Leaning across her body and averting his eyes from the twin mounds of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, he slipped his arm under her and lifted her up just enough to ease her arms out of the sleeves.

The shirt wouldn't come off.

"Her hands are caught in the sleeve," Rose told him. "Hold her while I unb.u.t.ton her cuffs."

Madison lost all ability to concentrate. His face was practically buried in Fern's b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He lowered her back on the bed.

"I'll lift her after you've unb.u.t.toned her cuffs," he said, taking a deep breath to clear his head.

"You act like you've never touched a female," Rose said, a trace of a smile on her lips.

Madison didn't answer. If he didn't say anything, he wouldn't incriminate himself. But his body could. He fought down the surging desire while Rose had her back to him.

As soon as Rose unb.u.t.toned the second sleeve, Fern's shirt slipped off easily. But Madison wasn't done yet. He still had to remove her pants. He heaved a fatalistic sigh.

Rose, amused by his predicament, watched.

Even as he undid the b.u.t.tons to Fern's pants, Madison could feel a scalding heat surge through his loins. Wrenching loose the last b.u.t.ton, he tried to pull her pants off by the legs.

Rose couldn't completely hide her smile. "You can't s.n.a.t.c.h them off," she said. "They're as tight as a second skin. Here, let me help."