The Wandering One

Chapter 4

Terrin stirred, slowly waking. As she opened her eyes, she saw that she was still in the cursed bed. The tall, thin man with dark hair who had introduced himself as Adam, was sitting in a chair, about five feet away from the bed. He glanced up from his copy of Moby Dick and smiled gently before returning to reading. Terrin took this opportunity to study him carefully. He looked to be in his late twenties, hair as black as coal, short and well kempt. Stubble was beginning to show on his face and his eyes were brown and gleamed with intelligence. Terrin made a mental decision that as long as he stayed where he was, she could relax just slightly.

Terrin decided that she wanted to be able to take in her surroundings better and began to try to sit up. She kept a sharp eye on Adam as she did so. When she first began to move, Adam started to rise to his feet, but stopped as she froze with fear flitting through her eyes briefly. He sat back down and Terrin carefully and painfully managed to get herself into a semi-sitting position. She leaned back gratefully against the headboard and let out a long breath, trying to control the pain the movement had caused. Now settled, she scanned her surroundings.

She was in a beautifully furnished guest room and through the open doorway she could see a Chinese man approaching her room carrying a tray. His face split into a huge grin as he saw that she was awake. Terrin was hesitant, but the little man seemed to understand that she was nervous. He stopped in the doorway before addressing her, "Hopsing make you soup. Help you get better! May Hopsing bring to you?"

Terrin took Hopsing in, studying him carefully before nodding cautiously. He carefully and slowly approached and set the tray down so she could reach it, but not so close that he would touch her. He quickly backed up a couple steps and bowed. "Hopsing hope you like! Hopsing hope Lady feel much better!" He grinned at Terrin one more time before disappearing back into the kitchen. Terrin glanced over at Adam and saw that he had been carefully observing her and Hopsing's interaction. He met her eyes and smiled asking, "Do you need help with the tray or eating?"

Terrin shook her head quickly. The cheerful cook had been one thing, but Terrin didn't trust anyone else further than she could throw them. Doing so had been the cause of many of her problems. She carefully and slowly manoeuvred the tray onto her lap, miraculously not spilling the bowl of chicken soup that was on it. She carefully grabbed the spoon with her left hand. It took her several tries, but eventually she was able to eat. After about ten bites, Terrin pushed the tray away, slowly. She then slowly managed to lie down, albeit with several sharp intakes of air as the movement cause hot, sharp pain to shoot through her ribs and shoulder. Terrin tried to stay awake, keeping a sharp eye on Adam, who still sat and read his book but eventually fell into a deep slumber.

Adam lowered his book five minutes later. He had been pretending to read, to help put the young lady at ease and help her get used to his presence, but had secretly been studying her. He was eternally grateful that Hopsing at least, could approach her without her trying to escape through the window again. He gathered up the tray she had abandoned, and brought it to the kitchen while considering everything that he knew about the girl. Adam felt like he had a bunch of puzzle pieces in hand, but had no idea whatsoever of how they fit together. Why was she so scared of Pa, Doc, and himself? Why wasn't she as afraid of Hopsing? Who had shot her? Is that why she was scared? Could she even talk? He heaved a sigh, realizing that the only way he was going to get any answers to his questions would be by waiting and slowly winning the girl's trust.

Ben popped in to check on the two of them later that day. "Supper Adam. Come eat."

Adam saw that the girl was still soundly sleeping and followed his Pa to the dining room. He sat down next to Hoss and dished up asking, "Any luck with the girl's horse?"

Hoss shook his head. "Naw. Darn critter still wont let any of us near it and if we try an' rope him, he takes off quicker'n a bolt of lightning. The funny thing is that he always comes wanderin' back and parks himself in front of the front door. I ain't never seen anything like it."

All four men shook their heads in disbelief. They fell to eating relatively quietly afterwards, a few comments about the cattle and work that needed doing the next day being exchanged half-heartedly. After supper, Adam returned to the girl's room and sat with her until Ben forced him to go to bed in his own bed at midnight.