"I'm sorry, Miss Josie."
My gaze flew up to see her aiming the weapon at me this time. "Nell! You don't want to do this!" I cried. "I didn't even tell you what John told me."
"I'll ask him myself when I see him again."
"Wait, Nell. Just … wait!" I was starting to cry again, my hot tears mixing with the cold rain. I needed time … my mind wasn't working. I didn't do well with stress when it came to tests and I did even worse with a gun pointed at me. "Can I have a minute to … pray?" Think, Josie, think! I screamed at myself.
Fighting Badger pushed at me, wanting me to run.
God, how I wanted to. But how did I leave the man who took out two people to protect me? How did I keep them from killing one another?
"Very well," Nell said without lowering the weapon.
"Thank you." I wasn't religious at all; I was desperate. I was stuck in the past, almost two hundred years from home, living in a house where four people had been murdered, John had died, and in a time where people like Nell and Fighting Badger existed.
I had never known how dark the world could get, and it hurt me to acknowledge it. Even so, I wasn't going to let Fighting Badger die alone or end up tossed in a well. In a place without much good, what little comfort or light I could provide was needed.
And I couldn't think of anything else to do right now. I was about to hyperventilate, two seconds from breaking down into sobs.
Kneeling beside him, I peeled off my coat and pressed it against his abdomen.
"You … must run," he wheezed.
"No. You helped me. I'll help you." Maybe I can give him the peace he's never known, if only for a minute or two.
"You have 'til the count of ten, Miss Josie," Nell warned.
If I were a braver, stronger, smarter person, I'd charge her or run or figure out how to do something. I shifted uncomfortably next to Fighting Badger, stifling sobs while mentally running in circles. Cold rain drenched us while lightning lit up the skies.
My cold hand hit one of the wooden boards Nell had pried off the well in anticipation of tossing me in. Choking on a sob, I moved my weight off it and lifted it. It wasn't going to help me with what I needed - a distraction - but if I had the chance -
"Josie!" Taylor's voice followed a crack of thunder. "Josie, where are you?" He sounded like he was headed towards us from the direction of the house.