Peripheral movement brought his attention to the mother, who had apparently spent the night watching over him. She stiffly climbed out of the rocker and gave him a weary smile.

“You must be feeling better this morning.”

His stomach chose that moment to voice a loud protest about being empty. A hot flush crawled up his neck. “I feel better. Thank you.”

She turned away. “I’ll fix some breakfast. Then we’ll see about gittin' you to a doctor.”

“I don’t think I need to see a doctor.” He looked at the girl. “Could you give me a ride to someplace where my cell phone would work?”

She nodded. “Sure, if you feel up to a ride.”

He didn’t feel up to a ride, but he needed to contact his uncle as soon as possible. He was supposed to call him last night. He gave her a wry smile. “Do I have a choice?”

“Sure. You can walk.”

“Mary Jo!” Her mother barked. She shook her head. “Lan' sakes that girl has a mouth.”

Barrett dug in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Plucking some bills from it, he handed them to the mother. “Here you go…Mrs. Spencer?”

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She shook her head. “Just call me Ma. That’s what everyone else calls me. You keep that. We don’t take pay for helpin' folks. In these here mountains, neighbors help one another.”

He shook the money. “Take it. I would have had to spend that much on a room and food. That doesn’t even count the nursing.”

Ma shook her head, but her gaze never left the money. “I can’t take it. If you'da took a room in town, you'da had 'lectric and a hydrin with city water in yer room.”

He frowned. "What's a hydrin?"

Mary Jo rolled her eyes. "A faucet."

Yes, he would have had electric and plumbing - and an inside toilet. He would have talked to people who spoke English, too. Regardless of the accommodations, these people had gone out of their way to assist him. The fact that they didn't have any of the luxuries provided by a hotel only made their efforts more valuable.

He shoved the money at Mary Jo. “You take it, then. Just think of me as one of those despicable timber people. You shouldn’t have any trouble justifying taking money from the likes of me.”




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