Maizy the Bear Charmer(Diving Creek Ranch 16)(139)

Heath nodded at Eli Wolf when he cast an assessing look around the room. He checked the receptionist quickly, gave directions to the other two EMTs with him, and went to Mrs. Dumphrey.

As the flurry of activity continued and the EMTs carefully removed the receptionist from blocking the doorway, Heath and the others led Maizy and her teacher friend from the chaotic classroom.

In the hallway, Maizy gestured to the woman at her side and said, “Guys, this is Jan Gaylord. She’s the first grade teacher and a good friend of mine.”

Jan chuckled dryly and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard good things about you, gentlemen, Mrs. Dumphrey is lucky you were here and saw there was a problem. Exactly what happened?”

After they’d explained briefly, Spencer grabbed their now-cold lunches from the table in the hallway where he’d left them, and took Maizy by the hand. “Let’s get Maizy fed before the bell rings. Jan, it was a pleasure to meet you. I wish it had been under better circumstances.”

They left the professionals to deal with the women, who were both still unconscious, and got Maizy settled with her class in the cafeteria. She talked them into telling the tale to the class, with some of the gory details edited out. “While you do that, I’m going to find a paper towel to wrap this nasty thing in, and to sanitize my hands very, very thoroughly.”

He had no idea why she wanted the rattle but didn’t mind giving it to her. None of them had much of an appetite, and when the mealtime was over, they gave her hugs and let her proceed with her day. As they walked out of the school, Spencer said, “It wouldn’t have mattered who the lady was, I still would’ve helped her.”

Cody said, “I might’ve had a choice word or two to share with her, if she’d remained conscious, but yeah, I would’ve helped her, too.”

Heath nodded. It wouldn’t have mattered who she was. A woman in danger was something he could never turn from, no matter the circumstances.



* * * *



Beverly Dumphrey reclined on the hospital bed in the Divine County Hospital emergency room, her head throbbing with each beat of her heart. Her limbs felt uncharacteristically weak. She’d been fit and strong all her life. She’d never been in a situation like the one she’d been in. She’d needed someone else to rescue her, a position she’d prided herself on never being in before. And what had she done? Screamed and fainted like a helpless ninny.

The memory of the horrid sound that rattlesnake had made vibrated in her head. A noise outside her curtain cubicle startled her and nearly made her jump out of the bed. Of course, she’d killed many snakes in her day, usually with a garden hoe and once with a gun, but she’d been completely defenseless against that evil-looking creature.

Her blood pressure had skyrocketed during the incident and it’d taken a while for her to return to consciousness. By then, she’d been at the hospital, and now they wouldn’t let her leave. She’d considered removing the monitoring leads stuck to her skin, putting on her clothing, and signing herself out, but the nurse kept coming back to check on her. She’d cautioned Beverly that she needed to let them do their job and they’d let her go home as soon as her vitals came back into normal ranges. Her husband was also rushing home early from a business trip, which irked her to no end. She hated feeling weak.

A familiar voice outside her cubicle made her heartbeat shoot up again and faintness assailed her. She lay back on the pillow and waited for judgment, feeling guilty as hell. This must be God’s way of punishing her for her complicity in this sordid mess. She’d allowed herself to be used to victimize an innocent woman and now the school district was losing a valuable teacher because of it. Her heart palpitated with something akin to grief.

Maizy Owen swept the curtain aside enough to poke her pretty head in, a look of concern on her face, and said, “Mrs. Dumphrey, are you awake?”

Beverly opened her eyes, taking deep slow breaths, and nodded. “Yes, Maizy.” She waited for the anger, the censure in the beautiful young teacher’s eyes but it never came even though she deserved every ounce of it.

Maizy produced a bouquet of flowers and a gentle smile instead. “The teachers all pitched in for flowers for you. How do you feel?” she asked as she gazed at all the monitors surrounding her.

“They have me hooked up to all of these infernal machines, telling me some nonsense about my blood pressure and my heart rate. It’s all silliness.” She tried for bluster but the weakness in her voice when she spoke told the story. “I cannot believe I fainted.” Dumphreys don’t faint.