Same Old Song

Chapter Eleven

By Joanna & Kirsten
"the totally troublesome twisted traveling twosies..."

Lou paced back and forth behind the curtain backstage. She continuously glanced towards the door at every little sound, hoping that Alana's face would appear before her.

The final chords to the music that Louise had grown to know quite well in last night's performance and the earlier rehearsal were struck, and she knew that in just a few moments it would be her turn to step onto the stage. She gripped harms around her stomach, thinking that by pressing against her insides, it would help the stage freight flee.

Her skirts swooshed and swirled as her stride increased in speed. She was glancing down at the floor when she ran headfirst into someone that had just entered the building. "Sorry…I--" her voice cut off as soon as she realized who was standing in front of her. "Nathan!" Lou gasped.

She anticipated his questions, and interrupted him before his mouth had even opened. "I can't talk right now! Alana's not here, I have to go on, I can't sing, I don't even know the songs I…."

Nathan placed his hands on her shoulders, hoping that he could soften the news that he was about to bring to her. His eyes welled with tears that he refused to let flow. "Louise…"

Pushing away from him in fury, she watched as the girl before her curtsied and the applause filled the air. "Don't, Nathan. I don't have time for you right now!"

"She's dead Louise! She's dead. Do you hear what I'm telling you? Alana is DEAD! I saw them kill her, right there in the street, in front of the governor!" he spat at her, wiping the moisture from his eyes with one swift motion of his hand. He turned away from her, ashamed that he had broken down in front of her.

Lou felt as if someone had stabbed her through the heart and fingers clutched her throat. "What?" she whispered, picturing the loving face of the young girl she had come to love as a dear friend. "No. Tell me no. It can't be."

Nathan wished that it wasn't true, but he nodded, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

A million emotions passed through Lou at that moment. One of the first was that she wanted to rush over to Layla and strangle her for dragging such an innocent girl in to this mess. The other part of her wanted to be held so that she could cry for a precious life that had been taken at the hands of villainous men.

Her world was shaken once again, and Lou bolted from her chair, knowing that if she did not appear on the stage, the men would go on a rampage until they found her. "Oh my gosh, Nathan, I have to go on! If I don't show up those men will be after me."

"You can't Lou, you have to come with me. It's not safe for you to be here. They'll catch you!" he grabbed her wrist and began to drag her out of the theater.

Lou fought back and pulled away from her. "Either way they already know I'm an impostor! Don't you see what's happening here? I have to get on that stage or else more people will die."

Searching around for anything that might offer assistance in helping Lou escape, Nathan's eyes met up with a kerosene lantern and without thinking, he broke the protective glass and threw the oil-burning flame into the back of the curtain. In seconds a fire began to eat away at the velvet drapes and screams wreaked through the air as the pandemonium erupted into obdurate state of panic.

Baffled by his bold, and grossly illegal move, Lou stood with her mouth open and her eyes widened with sheer terror. She did not resist this time when Nathan grabbed her arm and whisked her out of the building before they were caught in the stampede of a horrified audience.

"Wait, where are you taking me?" Lou asked, her breath becoming raspy as she forced herself to run faster to keep up with his long strides. "I…I have…to…go…back."

Nathan said nothing, but took her to the one secure place that he could think of until the smoke cleared.

His office.

They took the stairs two at a time, Louise dragging along behind Nathan. Had it not been for the tight grasp that he refused to release, she would have sat on the steps and let the impact of the past fifteen minutes sink in.

"Here, you can sit down in this chair. I'll get us both some coffee," he stated, ushering her towards one of the largest chairs in the newspaper room. "Catch your breath, and we'll figure a way out of this mess."

"I can't believe she's gone," Lou whispered, taking the cup away from Nathan as he handed it to her.

Understanding her shock, he did not try to offer her words of encouragement, knowing that they would not help ease the pain.

"We have to figure out away to get you out of here," Nathan finally said.

Lou suddenly remembered herself, the boys, and the rescue mission that she was trying to complete. Staying here any longer would only end up risking Jimmy and Kid at the hands of Pete and Tobias. They would follow through with their promise to murder both of them. After all, they had proven themselves capable of committing such a crime, ruthlessly.

"I'm going back," she announced and stood up.

"You can't!" Nathan immediately protested.

Lou shook her head, "There's nothing else I can do. I have to finish this out. If those men kill Jimmy or Kid…I won't have anything else to go on for. I love them, Nathan, and I'm going to do all I can to save them."

He admired her deep dedication to these two men, and found himself envying the care and compassion that she showed for them. There would have been a time in his life when he would have given anything to have a beautiful girl love him as much.

"What can I do to help you?" he said sincerely.

"Nothing," she began, "You've done so much." Without giving him the chance to protest, Lou left the room in a near trance…hoping that she would wake up at any moment and find herself back at the hotel. This entire experience, real or not, had been nothing more than a long strenuous nightmare.

Lou hustled across the street, dodging frenetic people as they excited the theater. She safely managed to avoid collisions with any of the screaming women, and found herself weaving a web through the back alleys.

Rounding the corner, she felt her heart leap into her throat as she saw a small figure in a calico dress sprawled across the ground with her hand across her chest. Lou rushed over to her side, knowing that Alana was dead, but hoping by some small miracle that she would still be alive.

Tears trailed her face as she cradled the girl's head in her lap and brushed the stray locks of hair from her brow. She looked around the abandoned street to ensure that no one had spotted her kneeling there. Lou forced herself to stand up, and as carefully as she could, she gently drug her friend's body out of the street.

There was nothing that she could do for her now, but when this was all over, Lou promised herself that Alana would receive the funeral that she deserved.

Tip-toeing into the back door of the captive's creepy den, Lou prayed that they had not yet returned and were caught somewhere in the hubbub of the arson so tactfully created by Nathan. She peeked her head inside, and smiled in satisfaction as she saw that it was clear for her to enter. Lou did not make it more than one step before she was jerked by the arm and rammed against the wall.

Tobias' eyes seethed of flames…much like the ones she had seen eat the theater's curtain. It was a look that Lou was not ashamed to admit scared her. "What do you think you're trying to pull, Lori? You think we didn't see past this? There's a woman out there dead in the street that proves you’re an IMPOSTER!"

Pete stepped out of the shadows, and Lou held her breath in repugnance as he leaned down into her face and blew out musty cigar smoke into her eyes. They stung with a horrid pain, but she forced them to stay open…daring herself not to let these men see her timid side. "I don't know what you mean," she faked staring at him straight on.

Tobias laughed and tightened his grip. "I'll bet not."

Taking over the moment, Pete snorted, "All right then, darlin', suppose you start coming up with a good story now. Or else someone might be getting hurt."

He nudged his head towards the door, and Tobias released Lou…his look threatening her if she moved. Pulling a key out of his pocket, he opened the door where the hostages were being kept. Louise held her breath, wondering what he might do, or if he would dare to kill another person today. Her questioning eyes sought out Pete's, but his only response was a nasty grin.

A few seconds later, she heard the familiar protests of a voice near and dear to her. "Kid…" she pleaded and tried to step forward towards him. A gruff dirt-blackened hand pressed her back, and she had second thoughts about moving.

Tobias emerged with Kid and locked the room securely behind him. He shoved a gun against his prisoner's temple for effect and clicked back on the hammer. Once Kid saw who was present, he stopped his struggle and let the man lead him across the floor to stand before her.

"You want to start talking fast before we persuade you do to so? You may have some hard feelings against your old sweetheart here, but you really don't want to see his brains spilled out on the floor, now do you?" Pete leaned in dangerously close. "Talk."

Lou would have looked at Kid for advice, but her only vision was that of the nasty face in front of her. She knew that Kid's command would be to save herself and get out, which was not an option. It was all of them or nothing.

"What makes you think he means anything to me anymore?" she shot back.

Much to her delight, Pete stood back and let her get a good look at Kid. "Nothing. Which is why Toby here won't have a second thought about killing him."

As if on cue, Tobias shoved Kid to his knees, his hands locked behind his back and the gun still firmly barring into the side of his head. He seemed ready to pull the trigger, but Lou shot forward and stood in front of Kid.

The blood from their previous "encounter" was dried on his face, and her eyes begged for forgiveness and she lifted her foot and struck him firmly in the stomach. He doubled over and coughed at the force of her striking him and Tobias smiled at her move. Lowering his gun back to his side, he seemed satisfied with her display of malice and gave Kid another kick in the side…successfully causing him to topple over.

"Did that make you feel better?" Pete puffed another billow of smoke.

"Sorta," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and watching Kid through out of the corner of her eyes. Lou felt secure that she had at least removed the danger of a deadly weapon pointing at his head…for now anyway. "All right, if you really want to know what's going on, I'll tell you."

Tobias looked at his boss with a wrinkled brow. They never had prisoners that were this willing to give in. He felt slightly disappointed that torture was now out of the question.

"Talk fast," Pete replied.

"You're right. I am an impostor. The governor put me up to this to get his precious little daughter out of harm. But after I got away from him, I realized how much I hate the man. I want to do anything I can to kill that him. His daughter stole every chance that I had life…and I hate her to. I thought that by working with you I could get even with them both," she closed her mouth and bit down on her tongue in anticipation at their response. She was afraid that they would not fall for her story…as truthful as it may have sounded.

There was an eerie silence as Pete contemplated her words, and her trustworthiness. She had certainly proven to them that she despised their prisoners. He figured there was nothing to lose by at least giving her a chance to prove herself. If this girl was for real, she would be a valuable asset in obtaining them the money that they wanted.

"Okay, Lori. We'll give you another chance. But I'm warning you, that if there is so much as a hint of deceit from you, or the interference of another person, I won't only kill our captives…I'll personally see that you die a long, painful, and slow death." Pete said, slicing his finger across his throat in illustration.

She agreed to their dictation, knowing that it was the best she would get out of this situation. Tobias picked Kid up off of the ground and threw him into Lou's room before shoving her in as well. "We'll have a message for you to deliver personally to the governor himself. So don't go away," he winked.

"NO! Please, I'll kill him if you lock him in with me! I swear it!" she screamed, exhilarated that she would be alone with Kid…even if only for a few minutes.

"Too late," Tobias said, slamming the door behind him and turning the lock.

Lou waited until she was sure that they had walked down the hall, and she rushed over to Kid, who had seated himself in one of the chairs. She nearly tripped on her own feet to get over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Kid, I'm sorry," tears clouded her eyes, and she leaned back, hurt that he had not greeted her with the same affection.

"What's wrong?" she studied his face intently and stood up to her full height, afraid that she had enraged him for her earlier action.

"I'd be happy to return the favor, Lou," he said, referring to the hug, "But I can't exactly move my arms."

He turned sideways and she spotted the ropes around them. She helped him stand up and began untying the loose knot. When his hands were free, he turned around and met her face to face, clutching onto her tightly. "When the gunshots went off, all I could think about was that you…"

She put a hand across his lips, "Shh, don't say that Kid," she ordered, "I'm fine, I promise."

Lou gripped steadfast to him, "But I should be the one dead, Kid. It's all my fault…Alana's gone and I might as well have killed her myself."

Kid put his hand on the back of her head and closed his eyes, willing away her inward pain. He had known what it felt like to believe that you had been responsible for someone else dying. "Lou, stop talking like that. She knew what she was involved with. Alana died for what she thought was right."

"She was murdered, Kid! She didn't die for any cause at all…she didn't stand a chance!" her voice began to grow slightly hysterical.

Pushing her back and shaking her shoulders, Kid forced her to stare at him directly. "Lou, stop it! You're doing the best that you can. Alana died, and it's terrible, but you must go on! The governor needs you to free his daughter, Jimmy needs you to help him escape," he brushed the trailing tear from her cheek, "and I need you to get me out of this so that we can be together again."

Kid's frown curved into a smile. "It's not exactly easy to pretend to be in love with Layla. She primps all the time, and snores worse than Cody."

Lou laughed and rested her forehead on his chest. "If you two want to make some sort of understanding, I'll step out of the picture."

Sitting back down in the chair, Kid motioned for Lou to come over to him. She placed herself in his lap and put her arms around his neck, content to rest her head on his shoulder and close her eyes. It had been nearly three days since she had slept, and the exhaustion was taking its toll.

"Kid," she began, raising her head to meet up with his eyes, "if something should happen, I want you to know that I love you, and that everything I've done here is for you and Jimmy. Tell him that I love him."

He hated to hear her talk as if her life were going to be over by the end of the day, but he understood and admitted that he would have said the same in the reversed position. So he did not allow himself to protest. "I love you too, Lou. I always have and always will. And I want you to know that no matter what goes on here, I haven't doubted you for a second. I'm proud of you," he framed her chin with his hand and felt it rise with her smile.

"Why do you have to be so wonderful?" she did not give him the chance to respond before her lips gently met up with his and remained there for several minutes until parting. Tenderly she licked her finger and wiped the blood from his cheek…once again feeling guilty for causing such an injury.

He brushed her hand away, reading her thoughts. "It's fine, I promise," Kid echoed her typical response.

She smiled and kissed him again, "We shouldn't do this here," Lou whispered, turning away suddenly.

"Why?" he asked, feeling a bit offended.

"We're supposed to hate each other, remember?" Lou smirked and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Kid leaned back and rested his head against the wall. "I guess you're right. You better go sit over there in case they come back," he teased.

Lou raised an eyebrow. "If the Pony Express starts riding to China, I will...but in the meantime..." her lips brushed against his once more and they both laughed softly as the handle to the door began to move at the impostion of an intruder.

She jumped to her feet and reached the opposite end of the room in two strides, just as Pete burst in.

To be continued...