Travis chuckled. “You should see Boston.”
“Oh, yes.” Ella nodded. “This is nothing in comparison.”
Cody couldn’t wrap his mind around that. “Thank God for country life.”
His wife smiled at him. “Indeed.”
They stopped in front of the stall with Cody’s nameless horse. Ella cooed at the animal, then looked at Cody. “Who’s this?”
“I don’t know his name. We switched horses in Clancy so Preston and Blaze didn’t injure themselves.” He opened the stall. “What’s the matter, boy?”
The horse held his left foreleg aloft. Ella watched from outside the stall as Cody bent the leg to look at his hoof. “His shoe is loose.” He shot a glance over his shoulder. “Where’s the stable boy?”
“Here, sir!” The kid slid down from the loft, landing with a thud outside the stall.
“Can you find me strips of cloth? I need to wrap his hoof.”
“Yessir.” The boy skidded off.
Ella leaned into the stall. She patted the horse’s muzzle. “What’s the cloth for?”
“I’m gonna bind his hoof so the shoe doesn’t fall off. In the morning, we’ll need to take him to a blacksmith to get it nailed on again.” He sighed and patted the steed. “Sorry, boy. I pushed you too hard.”
The horse nickered, nudging Cody’s shoulder with his nose. The stable boy returned with strips of white cotton. Cody wound the cloth under the shoe, then wove it around the horse’s leg and tied it securely. “There you go.”
Once the stall was locked again, he looked at Travis. “All well with your horse?”
“Yep.” Travis handed Cody a sugar cube. “The kid provided a couple of these as a treat.”
With a chuckle, Cody fed the cube to his horse. It snuffed his hand, searching for more. “I’ll bring you another one in the morning, okay?”
Ella covered a yawn.
Travis nudged her. “A little sleepy?”
She smiled, but lines creased around her eyes.
Cody slipped an arm around her. “Let’s head back. You need a good night’s sleep.”
“So do you,” she countered, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I can’t imagine how fast you and Travis must have ridden to get here so quickly.”
“It was fine.”
Her lips quirked. “Such a man thing to say.”
Cody opened his mouth to retort, but Travis halted suddenly and held up a hand. “Where’s Quincy?”
The man was nowhere to be seen. Cody’s gaze darted about. People walked all over, but the marshal had disappeared. His body tensed. Cody pushed Ella behind him even as he came up behind Travis.
A moan sounded on the other side of the stable door. Travis pulled his gun. They looked around the door. Quincy lay on the ground, a gash covering much of his forehead. Travis hollered for the stable boy. The kid didn’t come.
Premonition sliced through Cody’s heart. He gripped Ella’s hand. “Should we find the doctor?”
Travis knelt at Quincy’s side. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it to the wound. Quincy groaned but didn’t wake. Travis looked up at them. “Yeah. And hurry.”
Ella jogged to keep up with Cody’s long strides. “Where will we find the doctor?”
“The bellhop at the hotel should know how to locate him.”
