The Secret Bliss of Calliope Ipswich by Marcia Lynn McClure Page B

horse—watched Tate, Dex , and Fox struggle to get him mounted—Calliope began to sob, whispering to herself in utter despair, “I may have just killed the only man I’ll ever truly love!”
CHAPTER SIX
     
    “Head wounds bleed much worse than others,” Doctor Gregory told Calliope as she sat in his office watching him stitch Rowdy’s lacerations. “But he’ll be fine, Miss Ipswich. I assure you of that.” Doctor Gregory paused to offer a reassuring smile to Calliope. “I wouldn’t want to see you come down with pneumonia or some such thing. You oughta run on home and get dried off yourself. ”
    “I will,” she responded , “as soon as I see the bleeding is stopped.” She shook her head and wiped a tear from one corner of her eye. “This is all my fault you see, Doctor Gregory. I—”
    “It ain’t her fault, Doc,” Rowdy mumbled. “It ain’t nobody’s fault, Miss Calliope. Things just happen sometimes, that’s all. And I’m fine. I’m a tough old dog.” He glanced over to her, grinning with encouragement. “You best run on home, before your family starts to worry.”
    “I will …when I’m certain you’ll be well,” she countered.
    “Well, I’ve got this head wound stitched up nice and tight, Rowdy,” Doctor Gregory sighed. He was a young man for a doctor—tall and lean, with sandy-colored hair and green eyes. “We’ll bandage up your head and then shave off that beard to get to the one on your face there.”
    Rowdy exhaled a heavy sigh. “All right, Doc. But—”
    “Calliope?” Judge Ipswich exclaimed, bursting into the room and giving everyone in it a start. He was frowning, and Calliope recognized it as his worried frown. “What’s happened? Fox Montrose came plowing into the courthouse like the whole town was on fire. He said you’d been hurt! Are you all right?”
    Calliope smiled as her father dropped to his knees before her, taking her face between his strong, warm hands and brushing her wet hair back as he studied her face.
    “I’m fine, Daddy,” she assured. “Mr. Gates saved my life out by the mill. I…I was walking, and I slipped on some moist soil and—”
    “You’re covered in blood, sweetheart! How can you be fine?” Lawson interrupted, however.
    “It’s not my blood, Daddy,” Calliope began to explain. “I told you, Mr. Gates saved me. And in the course of doing so, he was terribly, horribly wounded, suffering a gash to his head, and it bled on me when—”
    Her words were lost as her father gathered her into his arms and against his trembling body. Kissing the top of her head, she heard him say, “Thank you, Rowdy. I don’t know yet what happened, but I’m sure I owe you a debt I can never repay.”
    “No, sir, Judge,” Rowdy said, however. “It’s probably my fault for startlin’ her. I came up behind her, and she started to slip.”
    “But he grabbed me , and we sailed off the edge of the high bank by the mill…landing in the water,” Calliope interrupted. “Otherwise I would’ve been pulverized on the rocks of the bank when I fell, Daddy.” She paused a moment, wiping another tear from her cheek. “He saved my life, Daddy—he did—and now he’s all bloodied up and hurt. And he lost so much blood on the way back to town!”
    Calliope collapsed against her father then, sobbing as overwhelming guilt engulfed her.
    “I’m fine, Judge Ipswich,” she heard Rowdy say. “Ask the doc here. I’m just a bit banged up—no more than usual, really.”
    “I can see by your condition, Rowdy , that you are more banged up than usual,” Judge Ipswich humbly argued, however. “And I thank you for putting my daughter’s well-being above your own.”
    “Judge, I swear —” Rowdy began.
    But Lawson interrupted, “Please, Rowdy. I know you’re not comfortable accepting any sort of praise or thanks. Therefore, I’ll say thank you again, and we’ll leave it at that…as long as you don’t try to put off my gratitude, all