Whispers In The Dark

Part 4

By Nesciri

Chapter 7. A Perilous Passage--Continued

Lou’s hands desperately tried to found support among the nearby rocks in order to drag herself away, since her legs seemed immovable. But it was no use, she thought desperately as her searching hand found a loose rock. Even in her upset mind she realized that a rock could be used as a weapon and using every inch of her strength she managed to throw the rock at this "creature" that looked like Noah. The rock hit him just above one eye and Barak lost his concentration for a second. Just enough for Lou to realize that for a second she was free. Unable to get to her feet fast enough, she simply threw herself backwards, rolling away from the dangerous presence of Barak. As soon as she felt she could rise she did and started to run. She didn’t care in which direction, as long as she got as far away as possible. She was trembling with fear and as she run she could feel herself being followed, but she didn’t dare to turn around, afraid of loosing precious seconds. She stumbled and fell hard on the ground, scraping her knee and her hands. But she didn’t feel the pain. Instead she was on her feet seconds later, running as fast as the stony ground permitted her. She looked for Lightning but she couldn’t see the horses anywhere, so she continued. She knew that she had to get off the plateau but that was easier said than done. It was a cloudy night and the darkness made it almost impossible for her to see where she was heading. Behind her she could hear Barak yell out his frustrations. Then she heard his voice in his head, calling her back. She fell to the ground again at the intensity of the call.

"Come back! I’ll find you and you know it! You can’t get away from me!"

Lou pressed her hands against her ears in an attempt to shut the voice out, but it was futile. Instead she tried to ignore it, how hard it seemed and just continue running. So she stumbled to her feet and continued until she was almost out of breathe. Then she sank down between two large rocks and reached for her gun. She couldn’t run any more. With hands that trembled from fear and the importance of getting everything right she loaded the gun. Twice bullets fell from her shaking hands and she couldn’t find them. Finally the gun was loaded and she sank down with her back against one of the rocks, waiting for Barak to show up.

As she sat there, trembling, she heard somebody approach her hiding. Slowly she rose her gun as she swallowed hard. She could not miss. Trying to steady her hand she heard a voice calling for her.

"Lou! Where are you Lou?"

"Noah?" Lou mumbled bewildered, then she realized that it was just a trick to get her out of her hiding. She would not fall for it and she rose the gun again. A second later she saw his silhouette.

"Lou? Please answer me – you make me worried!"

Lou bit her lip. It really sounded like Noah. But he didn’t exist anymore. Barak had told her so – this was just a trick. At least that was she tried to tell herself. Stop being squeamish, she thought, just pull the trigger and get out of here. Still she hesitated. What if Barak had lied to her? What if this was Noah? Could she really kill him? I have to, she thought desperately. Please God, help me. With that thought she took careful aim at the silhouette before her and pulled the trigger.

"You won't get away!" he called out into the darkness. "I’ll find you."

*******

Buck was tired. He was tired of the darkness and the pain but he knew he couldn’t get out. Not without loosing his soul. Suddenly there was another voice calling him, beckoning him. And then he saw the light. A soft light shining in the distance and he begun to move in that direction. He was almost there when it started to get dark and he made a last effort of reaching it.

*******

Kid sat by Buck’s side trying to get him to swallow some water. Rachel was sitting next to him, sipping coffee and Teaspoon had left his shack and was resting on Jimmy’s bed. None had heard anything from Jimmy or Cody, and they all hoped that they were all right. Kid turned to say something when a moan made them all turn to the bunk.

"Buck?" Kid whispered not trusting his own voice.

Buck moaned again and opened his eyes.

"Kid?" he said weakly. "Kid—"

"Don’t try and talk Buck, and we’ll get Doc over here—"

"No." Buck’s voice seemed weaker. "Lou—" Buck gasped for air." Lou’s—in danger. You – have to – save her – Noah." Buck sank back from the effort and closed his eyes.

"What are you talking about, Buck?" Kid asked, frightened as his words. But Buck had sunk back into unconsciousness and Kid’s question remained unanswered. But there were two words that was enough for him to act on – Lou and danger.

Kid rose and quickly left the bunkhouse. Rachel followed him and stopped him on the porch.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I’m going after Lou."

"Why?"

"You heard Buck. She’s in danger."

"We don’t know that."

"Buck seems to think that. It’s enough for me." Kid run over to the stable and only seconds later he rode out from the stable at full speed on Katy.

*******

As soon as she had fired the gun Lou started running again. She knew she had missed. She had not been able to kill Noah – or Barak. Not until she could be sure that Noah would be all right. She didn’t know what kind of hold this Barak had on Buck either. If she killed him, she might be killing Buck as well. So he kept running. It was dark and she fell several times over loose rocks, scraping her hands and knees. Running through some bushes with sharp points gave her numerous scrapes and scratches in her face and on her arms. Nothing of this bothered her. She was obsessed with one thought and that was to get off the mesa before dawn. As soon as the sun was up, she would be able see where she was going and then she could find Lightning. At least the voice n her head had disappeared, something she was grateful for. She almost thought that she actually had got away and stopped to catch her breath when she could her Barak behind her. Desperately she chose a small path leading upwards and started to run again.

She thought she had run for an eternity but still she continued as fast as she could. The haste was almost her undoing, when the moon broke through the clouds and a spectacle so unexpected and so alarming met her eyes that a gasp of despair left her lips as she recoiled from it. The ground in front of her dropped sheer for how long she didn’t know. It was pitch-dark at the bottom that made it hard to decide. For a moment she dropped to her knees, in her mind thinking that this was it, there was nowhere to run. For a moment or two she remained still, fighting the feeling of hopelessness, angry that she had succumbed to it. Taking herself in hand she tried to find a way out of her predicament. She heard Barak closing in on her and when she turned around he was almost upon her. To her astonishment there was no sign of any wound on his body except a small patch of red on the shirt.

"Don’t so that," he said sternly and rose his hand as a soft red light seemed to light up the scene before him. Lou felt how she started to loose control over her movements again, and in one last effort she turned to the steep. She closed her eyes. "I’m sorry, Kid, but this is for you," she mumbled into the dark night and prepared to let herself drop all the way down the steep.

Kid rode as he had never rode before. At first he hadn’t really known what to make of Buck’s words, but then he had heard the urgency in them and whatever had caused Buck to utter them it was too much for him to let them be ignored. As the sun disappeared at the horizon he continued, trusting Katy to find her way even through the darkness. There were two ways to Ft. Kearney and he desperately hoped that Noah and Lou had taken the safe route. That would mean if he took the way over Thunder Mesa he might catch up with them just after dawn. It would mean a more dangerous way but he didn’t care. He had full confidence that he and Katy could handle it.

"Come on, Katy, I know we can do this," he mumbled as they continued through the darkness. Slowly the surroundings changes and Kid was forced to slow down as he encountered narrow trails along steep cliffs and trails covered with loose rocks in which Katy easily might slip and threw him off. Trembling with frustration he slowed down. More and more he had this feeling that Lou was in serious danger and unless he reached her he might never see her again. That urged him to push Katy harder despite the risks. A few times he had a feeling that he was close to an edge and one mistake would send him over it, but Katy continued steady up the mesa. He had almost reached the plateau when a high-pitched scream sounded in the night. Kid abruptly halted Katy, causing the horse to object. He knew that voice. He’d recognize it anywhere – it was Lou’s.

******

Jimmy held in his horse. It was too dark to continue to Ft. Kearney and reluctantly he decided to make camp just below the hill. He looked up at the cloudy sky and hoped that it wouldn’t be any rain or hard winds during the night. He could use a good nights sleep. He unsaddled his horse and wrapped the blanket around him. He sat down, hoping to get some eyes-shut before dawn. He had almost dozed off when a sound reached him and he immediately got to his feet. It had sounded as if somebody had yelled out in pain. He stared up the hill but when he didn’t see anything he returned to his place.

"Must have been an animal of some sort," he mumbled as he sank down, his back at a tree. He sat listening for a while in case the sound returned, but when he didn’t hear anything he dozed off.

To be continued Chapter VIII