There was only one faint light flickering through the window when he stepped up onto the porch. He knocked and waited, then knocked again. He heard nothing from inside, but with the way the wind was blowing and whistling down the street, it was no surprise. A peek through the small window on the front of the house showed him a dim light from a flickering lantern. It was hard to see anything, but he knocked on the windowpane until it rattled. “Liam, are you in there?” He heard the faintest noise and looked around the room again, glimpsing a hand sticking up over the back of a sofa. It waved back and forth before falling out of view.
Something was wrong. He found the door unlocked when he turned the handle. Sticking his head inside the room, he said, “Liam…it’s Clay.”
“Here, boy.”
The faint sound of his voice was muffled. Clay walked inside the house and shut the door behind him. Skirting an old armchair next to the sofa, he looked behind it, his eyes widening when he saw Liam on the ground, his right leg twisted into an angle that wasn’t natural. A bone poked through his pant leg, and a puddle of blood pooled underneath him. “Shit.”
Clay fell to his knees beside the old man and looked him over. He was pale, all the color leached from his face. He was panting for breath, and his eyes were glassy and filled with pain. “What happened?”
“I slipped on the porch this morning.” His voice was scratchy and barely audible. “Not sure how long I lay out there before I dragged myself back inside. I’ve been yelling all day, but no one has heard me.”
“There isn’t anyone out and about. The snow is too deep, and it's still falling.”
Liam nodded and closed his eyes. “I was trying to come get you and your girl. It’s too cold to be in the barn. I don’t have much room here, but it's warmer than the tack room.” He wasn’t lying. Even with nothing but hot coals in the fireplace, it was warmer than the barn.
“I appreciate the offer, Liam. I thought we'd freeze last night.”
“I’m sure you did, and for that I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize it was snowing until I stepped outside this morning, and well,” he glanced at his leg.
Clay looked around the room before asking, “Where is the doctor’s office?”
“Other side of town.”
“Alright, let me go get Daisy and the doctor, and I’ll be back.” He stood and grabbed a blanket that was lying across the sofa and laid it over Liam, then snagged a small pillow from the armchair and placed it under the man's head. When he was as comfortable as he could make him, he added a few logs of wood to the fireplace and left the house in search of a doctor.
For the second time that day, Daisy woke alone. She sat up and stretched, twisting her body at the waist to work out the kinks, then stood. The light filtering into the tack room was dim, which told her it was getting late. Clay was probably seeing to the horses again, so she ventured out into the main part of the barn. Except he wasn’t there.
She looked into the stalls. Not seeing him, she headed to the door and pulled it open. The snow that Clay had cleared away earlier had once again accumulated. A gust of wind cut her to the bone and forced her to shut the door. She glanced at the barn loft and yelled, “Clay? Are you up there?” She never saw him and blew out a breath. Maybe he went to find something to eat.
The mere thought of food made her stomach grumble. She wasn’t used to eating only one meal a day. She'd never been a big eater, but having regular meals had spoiled her. A solid thump against her back scared her, and she whirled around, surprised to see Clay. He’d hit her with the door.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. Just startled me.”
He walked into the barn and shut the door behind him. He looked tired, as if he’d been running all day long, and maybe he had. Guilt made her chest ache. He’d worked himself ragged while she slept like a princess without a care in the world.
“Where have you been?” she asked, then blushed at being so forward. She wasn’t his keeper, so the demand to know his whereabouts might have come across wrong. “I was worried,” she added, trying to soften the request.
He blew out a breath and took off his hat before running a hand through his hair, then put it back on. “I went to get us something to eat at Liam’s and found him on the floor of his house.”
“What?” she gasped. “Is he all right?”
“He will be,” he said before stepping around her and checking on the horses. Seeing they were still good on water and food, he said, “We need to get back to Liam’s. We’ll be staying with him from now on.”
The fact she had to trudge through the snow all the way across town dampened the excitement she felt at the prospect of staying in a warm house. Liam’s home was at the other end of town, and her feet were near frozen by the time they stepped up onto his porch.
Clay didn’t bother knocking. Instead, opening the door and ushered her inside without a word. The heat in the room was heavenly, and she smiled before noticing a man behind the sofa. He glanced their way when Clay shut the door.
“Come help me get him up,” the man said, standing to his full height.
Clay stepped around her and walked behind the sofa. She took a few steps to the side to see what they were doing, and her eyes widened when she saw Liam on the floor. He didn’t look good. His color was all wrong, and his leg was bent at an odd angle, his bone protruding him his pant leg. “Oh, my.”
A sheet lay beside him. Clay and the man both bent and picked Liam up, sliding him onto it. The old man’s mouth opened wide, his head thrown back, and Daisy knew he was screaming. She put a hand to her throat, watching as they got him settled in a new position before they both grabbed an end of the sheet and lifted it and Liam from the floor.
They carried him to a room off the kitchen. She followed them and watched from the door as they laid him on the bed. She realized a few minutes later that the unknown man was a doctor. He had Clay grabbing things for him before he glanced her way and said something, but turned his head too fast to make any of it out.
The doctor looked up when Clay spoke to him. When he once again faced her, he made eye contact and gave her a tiny smile. “Can you boil some water for me?”
