Astounded: Day 6

Word Count: 36,032

Summary of Events:

Penrod visited Mr. Spracklin, a local rancher, and asked him some questions about rustlers' activity, but came up with nothing. Jemima thought Penrod was going about his investigations backwards and got mad at him. To soothe her like he did his fiancée, Penrod kissed Jemima's forehead, which startled them both and prompted him to leave hurriedly; he rode around to where Jemima's father kept her cattle and was shot at by a man hidden in the trees. Penrod's horse carried him back to Jemima's house and Jemima managed to get Penrod out of the saddle and onto the veranda where she tended to a bleeding cheek. After a time Penrod regained consciousness . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Cold was the first thing Penrod felt. He felt cold wetness on his legs, and bitter cold against his cheek, which also felt somewhat numbly sore as well. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked. There was wood above him.

His back hurt, come to think of it, like he'd been dragged up something that wasn't smooth. The wood came into focus and he found it was a roof. There was a wall to one side and a railing to the other.

Now he realised there were warm fingers pressing against his right cheek, and then he saw a figure. It didn't take long for recognition to dawn. Miss Vaughan was staring with intensity at nothing, her arms both angled toward his head.

He ran a lubricating tongue around his mouth, which was inordinately dry, before finally venturing to speak: "Miss Vaughan?"

Her face lit with a mixture of elation and surprise. "Oh Mr. Haskell, it's you, what happened?"

"I don't know," Penrod replied.

"Well, what do you last remember?" Miss Vaughan asked.

Penrod groped for a recollection of something. "I kissed you."

Miss Vaughan's face went tight and her expression darkened.

Penrod looked up at her. Even with her stormy countenance she looked helplessly beautiful. "I'd like to kiss you again."

Her jaw dropped and she stared with utter horror.

"But, I shouldn't," Penrod said. "It's not right."

Miss Vaughan closed her mouth and looked at him with a mixture of sadness and fury. "Surely something happened after that, it's been several hours."

"I forgot myself," Penrod said. "That's why I kissed you. I thought I'd been dealing with someone else. I realised after. I rode between the mountains then. A man, I never saw him. He shot at me."

Miss Vaughan gasped, alarm spreading across her features.

"He missed," Penrod said as the vivid memories rushed back to him. "I shot at him, and I think I hit him. I followed him then, and he stuck his rifle barrel in my face and we talked, then he fired again and . . . and then I don't remember anything."

"He shot you in the face!" Miss Vaughan exclaimed. "But you shouldn't have a head left!"

Penrod reached up and felt his face. It felt largely unharmed. She was right. Why in the world was he still alive if he'd been shot in the side of the head? He recalled the rifle barrel having been angled up under his cheekbone, surely it would've done major damage."