We stormed into Yellowreach to the beating hooves of horses. Bill hollered for a doctor. He had been shouting before we had entered, and his voice was hoarse. The wagon halted. Farm animals voiced their grievances as they scurried.

"Help! Someone help! We need a doctor!" Bill shouted, getting off the wagon.

A few people gathered around, mostly men, women, and children. Their eyes looked lifeless, and some even looked interbred. They stared at us in their dirty tunics. With a whiff of the wind, they all stunk like pig shit.

"The witch is coming," the crowd whispered among itself.

"Who needs help?" a woman asked.

"My friend, she is in the back of the wagon. She has been shot."

There was a commotion outside before the woman got into the wagon. She was young. Unlike the villagers, she smelled like perfume. A veil covered her face, and her clothes were simple and appeared different from the others. Wrapped around her side was a gun. Was she a doctor?

The woman stopped short of me and appeared startled for a moment.

"You're going to stare at me all day? Move aside."

I moved from beside Laura.

"You going to, are you going to help me?" Laura asked. "Damn it burns."

The woman muttered briefly. Her eyes lingered on the snake oil and guns in the wagon before returning to me.

"Excuse me, excuse me."

Bill's face appeared beside the wagon after pushing through the people there.

"Well, don't just stand there. Get her up and follow me. Her bandages have to be changed."

"She already has bandages," I said.

"Don't argue," she replied.

"I am not."

"Do you have actual?"

Bill stepped in, and then another villager. He withdrew from his pocket his locket watch.

"Would this cover it?"

The woman held it in her hand and smiled. "It looked like it's worth quite a penny."

Could this woman help?

"Help me, Ron. Help me please," Bill said.

I exhaled and held on to Laura.

"Don't forget the whisky. I need it."

"Follow me," the woman said.

The woman stepped out of the wagon, and the crowd parted. The Bull Prosecutors looked on with skepticism.

"Witch," the crowd kept whispering.

I scoffed. It was nothing but silly superstitions between witches and wolves. These people were all crazy. How different would they be if they had been able to get educated?

We drifted further from the village. Heading towards a single hut, just shy away from the forest. Bill and I held Laura. Laura was heavy and weighing us down. If it was this far, why didn't she just let us ride there instead? Chicken passed by my leg, clucking as they went.

"Laura?" I called.

"I am here," Laura said.

"Good, well, you remain there. We aren't losing anyone else today," Bill said.

"How far are we going?" Laura asked.

"We are soon there," I said.

The woman opened the door to her hut. A strange sweet aroma took me. On the ceiling, many plants hung.

The room was small, with a wooden table, a chair, and a makeshift bed made from wood and leaves. A bow was upright with arrows in a holder beside the table.

The woman pointed. "You can place her over there."

We rested her down on a makeshift table bed. The peculiar scent had even taken Bill off guard.

"Herbs," the woman said.

"Smells nice. It's better than the people outside. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were the devil."

"I have heard far worse, but if I was the devil, why would you come so well into my house?"

"You're an Indian."

An Indian? I had never seen one before. Weren't they always supposed to be hostile and cannibalistic?

My hand shook.

The woman chuckled under her veil. She pointed to Bill. "Get some water from outside. I have cloth to change those bandages. They looked rushed just to hold the bleeding."

Bill headed outside, and the door thudded behind him.

"What can I do?" I asked.

The woman gestured with her thumb. "You just stay there for now. It's fine. I won't hurt any of you."

I took a seat in the chair. It was hard and uncomfortable, and I squirmed. The woman entered with bandages and observed the wounds on Laura.

"How serious is it?" I asked.

She didn't respond. Would she eat Laura if she died? Would we need to do some sort of trade with this woman or blood sacrifice? I tried to recall notes from home on the history and knowledge of Indians that I was taught at school. What did she have hidden behind that veil covering her mouth? Pincers to help feed her better? I shivered at the thought. The penalty for consorting with Indians was death. Anyway, I looked at it. We were dead men if the villagers talked, but then wouldn't she be too?

Bill opened the door with a bucket of water and rested it beside Laura.

"Well, it's up to her. She will need food to eat. I can assume you don't have any based on what was in your wagon. Can any of you hunt?"

I shook my head, and Bill did the same.

"These bandages are filthy, and the wrapping is poor. It's not completely sealing the wound. Amateurs, it's not applying enough pressure which could lead to an infection."

"An infection?" Laura questioned.

"Yup, which would mean I would have to amputate your arm. Were the bullets taken out?"

"Yes, a man took them out for us," I said.

"Okay, I will double-check to be sure."

She changed her wounds in silence. When she was done, she rested the dirty bandages aside.

"Alright, you two wait here," her hand reached for her bow. "Hopefully, I will get something quickly."

With that, she opened the door and left without even looking back.

"How did you know to come here?" I asked.

"A woman had told me about this village and that it had a witch."

"You mean you believed in this too?"

"It's not that I believe. I didn't know what better else to do. Anything or anyone would do. You heard what the man said. I figured if it could save her life, then it's worth a try."

"I guess we will all have to wait and see," Laura said. "Wait and see, thank you, Bill."

My stomach grumbled. "I hope she brings back food for three."

"If you're that hungry, maybe you should have gone hunting too."

"Trust me, I tried. I am not at all good at it. Have you?"

"I never had to. I usually carry enough with me to get by."

Laura chuckled. "You, too, would never survive out here. I had to learn to hunt from a young age. I am sure those inbreds out there could, too."

"You noticed that, too. What are we going to do about the Bull Prosecutors?" I asked.

"Well, we can't leave right now with Laura here. We all have a common cause of the southerner. If he talks, we are all wanted men. I don't want that, and you would also be guilty by association."

I leaned back in the chair. "True."

"Ruling out those things, it leaves us with two. Flee which we can't or work with what we got, and that's what I am doing. If Manto's alive, he has gone to Black Water."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"The sheriff, for one and two, it's where he can get some smokes or if he thinks we are alive, he will pop up by the Gentleman's Den."

"The sheriff?"

"Yeah, it sounds crazy, but if you're being chased to death. It might be the safest measure to get the heat off."

"True then, how do we get —"

Bill placed a hand on my mouth. Horses' hooves pounded outside as they came to a stop.

"Bill, you in there!?"

"Yes," Bill responded.

"Alright, we will wait outside. Bring your wagon up here too!"

"Thanks!" Bill replied.

Laura grimaced as she tried to sit up. "Even here too, I can't move my arm, Bill."

Bill's hand reached for Laura's. "Relax and don't strain yourself. I can't lose anyone else. Just wait for the lady to come back."

#

It was a few hours before the door opened. The woman entered, holding two skinned rabbits in her hand. Was that all she brought? That wouldn't be enough for all of us. She closed the door, and our eyes met as she moved to a makeshift stove.

"I brought nothing for the two of you. One is for the girl that you're paying me for, and the other is for me."

Bill began, "You could of at least —"

"Did you pay me to be your hunter or to ensure the girl's survival?"

"No, you're right," Bill said. "Can we leave her here with you?"

"Yes, she is fine here until she is better. How far do you plan to go?"

"Black Water," I said.

"Black Water." The woman bent down by the stove and started a fire. "That's about a two days ride just to get there. Are you going to give me more to bury her?"

"I won't die, lady. My wounds might burn, but I will survive. I have to."

"We will see."

"Laura, my name is Laura. I heard you were a miracle worker in the rumors back in the town."

The woman smiled. "A miracle worker, it's nothing but old medicine that you people have forgotten. If you want me to wait, I can, but..." Her eyes lingered on my pocket watch.

"I can't give this to you. It's personal to me."

"Your eyes are pretty shrewd for a villager. Most villagers don't even recognize or are even interested in golden pocket watches. They are more interested in the feel of actual in their hand because it's tangible," Bill said.

"Who was to say I was a villager? I am merely a traveler that's set up camp here and plying an old trade."

"Where are you from? I have never heard of that accent before."

"Questions, questions?" Her tone lowered. "I haven't asked you any on why this girl's shot, why outside my door you have Bull Prosecutors up to no good."

Sweat ran down my back. Did she know?

Bill was silent. Laura was stunned.

"I knew from the time you came. Sorry to be so blunt, but I don't like many questions. I am a woman doing my trade as a traveler out here. Let's just leave it at that."

"It's okay, apologies. We were just curious. Laura means a lot to us all."

"We are ready, Bill!" One of the Bill Prosecutors shouted. "We recovered the item for your job."

Bill sighed and placed a kiss on Laura's forehead.

"Bill," Laura responded.

"Please do whatever you can to keep her alive." Bill walked towards the door, and I followed.

"You both might need luck more than she does." the woman said without looking up.

We exited as I gave Laura one last wave. Would she be okay?

Standing outside were the Bull Prosecutors with glee-filled smiles. If this all goes wrong, this could be the end of me.