The Circle Eight: Tobias Read Online Free PDF Page A

 
    Tobias looked down, the sun shadowing his face making his expression unreadable. “With families who can give them what I can’t.”  
    She had seen the love Tobias had for them, the way they adored him. He could have given them what they needed, but something stopped him from doing so. It was none of her business and she had to curtail her curiosity. It didn’t stop his though.  
    “Why do they call you Doc?”  
    She kept her gaze on James’s back, unwilling to look at Tobias any longer. It was too hard to deny the effect he had on her. She thought she was stronger.  
    “I started by helping people on the ranch and learning all I could about herbs. I spent time with Indian shaman, midwives, and learned everything I could from anyone who would teach me.” She smiled at the memory of talking to one woman through the door to her cabin the woods. “I also helped Doctor Radicy in Briar Creek with his patients. He can’t get around much anymore so I still help out when he sends for me.”  
    Tobias made a chuffing noise. “Huh. You’re a busy fake doctor. What does your husband think about that?”  
    Rebecca didn’t want to tell him. It wasn’t embarrassing and she wasn’t the least bit ashamed either. She had no desire for him to know she wasn’t married and come to the conclusion it was because of him. It wasn’t. Not at all. “I’m not married.”  
    “Well, then, that’s a bit of news.” His tone was matter-of-fact, if not bored.  
    “No more talk.” James growled from ahead. “Let’s just get there before he dies from waiting for us to get there.”  
    The next four hours were as uncomfortable as her ride after that night five years earlier. Both of them revolved around Tobias. Rebecca would have abandoned the entire trip if it wasn’t for genuine concern for Will. He was the quietest of the bunch, someone who worshipped his older brothers. James’s concern was palpable, a living thing hanging in the air over them. They rode hard toward the injured Gibson.  
    When they neared the ranch, several ranch hands stopped to tip their hats. The mood grew more somber every moment they moved closer. Rebecca’s tension increased exponentially. She wasn’t a trained doctor, had no formal book learning on how to heal someone. She was driven by instinct and by listening to what her patients, and their bodies, told her.  
    What if she couldn’t heal Will? She didn’t know the extent of his injuries or whether he could recover. This was different than setting a young girl’s arm. His life was in danger and she was the guardian between here and the afterlife.  
    It wasn’t the first time a patient had been in dire straits, but the unknown of how alive, or dead, he was, weighed on her heavily. They rode up to a bunkhouse and a calm settled over her as it always did when she was faced with a medical emergency. This was her gift and she would call on every bit of it to save Will’s life.  
     

Chapter Three  
     
    Tobias didn’t have an ounce of spit left in his mouth. It was drier than a dust storm in summer. He tied the horse’s reins to the hitching post with trembling hands. It wasn’t the lack of whiskey in his veins, but flat out fear.  
    Will could be dead or dying and all Tobias could say was that he’d drank too much to be a proper big brother. There was no excuse for what he had or hadn’t done. The time was now and Will needed him to be there, so here he was. The Quad Four ranch seemed to be a well-respected outfit and the buildings were all in good shape. The sun was low in the sky, casting shadows across the yard.  
    James helped Rebecca down and then held her bag. Tobias should have thought to do that. He wasn’t a gentleman by nature but his brother was. Tobias stepped up on the porch just as James spoke quietly to an older man who emerged from the door. The stranger had bowed legs as though he had spent his life on a horse, with a craggy, lined face and steady brown