Same Old Song

"For starters," Alana explained in her more dignified tone, "A lady in your position looks down to no one."

Lou looked confused, and voiced such, "But what if they're shorter than I am?" She wondered, beginning to dread the whole idea once again.

Alana did her best to stifle a laugh, not wanting to make Lou think that she was trying to get her to feel foolish. Understandably she wouldn't know what she had meant by such a statement. "No, Louise, I'm sorry. What I mean by that is you are higher in society than anyone else. You treat everyone you meet as if you were a queen."

"So basically I am one of those women that other women despise, right?" Lou asked, doing her best to be the perfect student. Alana nodded in affirmation and Lou added, "I have a feeling this is going to be harder than any run I've ever made. You girls must hate living like this." She further illustrated her point by pulling down on her dress as it crept up her waist and attempted to choke her stomach.

"Well, it's not all fun, but it is a living," the younger girl responded, helping Louise to fit the dress around herself once again. "There," she stood back and admired the work that she had accomplished, "you look just like a singer…only prettier if you don't mind me saying so."

Lou felt her face flush and she smiled, "Thanks. I just hope that I can pull this off," she glanced at herself in the mirror. "Those boys are depending on me, and I can't let them down." Quickly, she snapped herself back to reality, "Now, we're going to need a plan. So here's what I was thinking…."

Lou walked down the street in front of the building that she and Alana had discovered as the one which was holding the three prisoners captive. There was a window in the front, as well as the back…so the chances of the men seeing her were quite good.

She took a breath and walked briskly in front of the window. Clearing her throat, she began to sing out as Alana had instructed, with a high-pitched noise. Lou cringed at her own utterance….if one could even call it that. "La la la la la la laaaaaaa," she sang out at the top of her voice. "Do do do do do do dooooooo. Me me me me me meeeeeeeeee."

Oh please, please draw attention, Lou thought to herself. Otherwise I'm just making a complete fool of myself in the streets of Denver.

"I'm soooo bored. Do something to entertain me," Layla said, plopping to the floor as her dress ballooned around her. She didn't care if sitting with her legs stretched directly in front of her, and her that skirt snuck up above her knees. It was just growing so old to be stuck in a room with two men…one of which she was sure she was in love with, and nothing to do.

Kid had still not forgiven her for the whole bug-chasing scene and didn't care to go about wasting his time trying to keep the little brat happy. Jimmy, on the other hand, was quite willing to appease the lovely girl, and offered his services. "What would you like us to do for you?"

Nearly wanting to throw up yesterday's meal, Kid shot Jimmy a keep me out of this glare and then returned his attention to the wall straight ahead.

Layla wrinkled her nose and curled her lip up, "Not you," she stated, her voice full of disdain, "I meant him…the cute one."

Kid lost the little patience that he had. Layla had been driving him nearly insane for the time that they had been trapped. He almost would have rather been tortured or shot…that suffering would have at least been over by now. "For the last time, my name is Kid. Call me Kid. Not 'cute boy' not 'snuggle puss' not 'baby blue' not 'snookums' not 'sweetie poo' and certainly NOT 'sugar bear.' It's Kid, plain old and simple Kid. You got that?" He snapped.

She heaved a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah yeah, sure. Whatever you say." Layla looked down at her hands and then let out a shrill once again. "Oh my gosh! I broke a nail! Sugar, fix it please! Oh no, do you have any idea how long it takes me to grow one of these back!?"

Kid lost all composure, forgot she was a woman, and lunged straight for her throat before Jimmy jumped in the path of murder to stop him. "Kid, get a hold of yourself!" he ordered, pushing him back on his backside. "Now, we're in this together, so the least we can do is be nice to the lady. Besides, she's your fiancée." The last sentence was added with an evil grin.

Kid still looked on the verge of throttling both the girl and his friend when a sound from outside reached them, "Dooooo…Me me me me meeee…"

"Who is that?" Layla asked, "What a horrible voice!"

Kid glared at her, "It's on key, which was more than I could say for you last night!"

Layla's gasping drowned out the voice from outside, although the singing was obviously strained from projected volume from an untrained voice.

"Shhh!" Jimmy growled at her, "I recognize that voice!"

"Hey, look at this!" one of the men outside the hostage's room suddenly said gruffly, "It's that other singing girl from last night!"

Kid quickly scrambled to the side of the wall, trying to peer through one of many knotholes in the wood, Jimmy right beside him. He pressed his face against the rough wall, knowing he'd be picking splinters out for a week…provided they lived that long.

"It's the girl from the store last night! Why in the world would she come here?" Jimmy muttered.

"Alana? Alana's here?" Layla screeched, trying to pull Jimmy back so she could see for herself. Kid turned around and gave her a scathing glare that served to make her back up and reseat herself at the table.

The girl in the pink dress turned, and although heavily masked with cosmetics and a jaunty little hat, Kid couldn't mistake the woman under it all for anyone in the world. The coloring was all wrong for the girl he'd met last night, although the identical pale face paint masked that. "Uh oh. That's Lou, Jimmy. Wonder what she's up to?"

Kid stood up and turned around, pointing at Layla, "You listen good. If she comes in here, you agree with whatever she says, got it? Not a word out of you unless me or Jimmy or Lou speaks to you, understand?" He tossed her one last nasty glare for good measure, "Or singing off key might not be the only thing you won't be able to do."

"But…" Layla began, brow wrinkling.

"Do it!" Kid hissed, and turned back to the wall, ignoring Layla's grumbling about how ungallant he was. He'd show her ungallant if anything happened to Lou.

Behind him he could hear the men in the other room scrambling to look out the window and he heard their conversation clearly.

"What is she doing back here?"

"Maybe she don't realize where she is?"

"Maybe she liked you Pete!"

Roars of laughter followed, only to be cut short by a gruff voice that Kid recognized as Lazy eye, "Well, go get her!"

Kid and Jimmy both tensed like strung bows and waited. Lou paced calmly, but Kid saw her hand tighten on her purse, and knew her gun was within it. He also saw her grip her parasol more firmly. Yet another weapon if she needed it. He prayed she wouldn't.

"Why doesn't she run?" Jimmy wondered, wiping the side of his scratched face with the back of his hand before resuming the same position. Two men covered the ground quickly, charging right at her.

"I'm guessing she intends to be caught. Why, I don't know," Kid sighed, "Let's hope she does."

Lou stood her ground as one huge man and another dirty looking character headed toward her.

"Don't move!" they cried.

She rounded her eyes and placed a lace covered hand on her chest, looking around, "Why? Am I in danger?"

Huge Belly reached her first and seized a hold of her arm. In reflex, more than in character, Lou swung her parasol and cracked it in his face. He brought his hand to his nose and fell on his backside in the dirt.

"Who are you! I demand to know the reason I am being attacked!" She ordered haughtily, remembering who she was supposed to be.

"I'm hurt you don't remember me darling!" Huge Belly growled, staggering to his feet, and letting his nose bleed freely. Lou wanted to look away, but remembered Alana's instructions. She could look down to no one.

"Oh, were you at the show last night? A fan perhaps? My apologies!" Lou extended a gloved hand for him to kiss, giving him an alluring smile, "Never can be too careful, you know. Especially with the outlaws who blew up the Treasury about. There was a rumor going around the auditorium that the Governor's daughter was kidnapped right from the streets of town after the explosion!" She covered her mouth gracefully and giggled, lowering her voice secretively, "Of course, that's no great loss for me. I really do despise that girl!"

The large one scratched his dirty hair with even dirtier hands and looked at her, "I thought you two was friends?"

"You know Layla? Did she tell you we were friends! Why that no good…" She stomped her foot once, raising a cloud of dust for show, "That hussy stole my beau!" She did her best to look wickedly indignant, hoping against hope they might take the bait.

Lazy Eye, who'd appeared in the melee crossed his arms over his chest and gazed at her. Huge Belly looked at his boss and said, "She ain't even friends with the girl, boss. I don't know why they helped each other last night."

"What are you talking about?" Lou asked, doing her best to look confused.

"You imbecile!" Lazy Eye growled, "This obviously isn't the same girl!"

"Are you the men that took Layla?" Lou continued dumbly, looking terrified.

"Get her inside!" Lazy Eye barked and Lou wasn't surprised when hands clamped on her arm and started dragging her toward the rickety shack. She still put up a good fight, sending her slippers flying off her feet accidentally as she kicked at her captors.

She was shoved through the door and stumbled a few steps before flinging herself around and huffing indignantly, "How dare you!"

"Shut up!" Lazy Eye roared and pulled out a chair, pointing at it, "Sit down."

Lou chose to do so.

"Who are you?" He wondered once she perched on the chair, looking distastefully at the filth surrounding her.

"Why?"

"Answer me!" he roared, slamming his fist so hard on the table that Lou didn't have to pretend to be intimidated.

"Miss Glendaveeve Delorus," She said, praying she got the complicated name right and that she could say it again. Quickly she added, "But my friends call my Lori." At least she could remember that.

Lazy Eye eyed her with the eye that could focus on her, "And are we friends?"

Lou smiled, "You tell me."

"You're gonna help us, Lori."

"Why would I?" she asked evenly, twirling her purse in her fingers. She wondered if she was doing well to remain cool, or if she should become unglued. She decided to build his confidence in her wits.

"Because I'll kill you if you don't," he replied, his smile as lazy as his eye, "Besides, you might even enjoy it. Give you a chance to get even at your friend in there for stealing your boyfriend. Maybe a chance to get even with your boyfriend too."

"I don't want no part in anything where people get hurt!" She told him evenly.

"Who said anything about people getting hurt! You do your job, and help us out, and no one has to die. But you don't, and I'll slit their throats…and yours as well…which probably wouldn't be good for your career."

"Probably not," Lou responded quietly, although she was sure she was a shade lighter under the paint suffocating her face, "What would you have me do?"

"Act as a messenger to the Governor. Carry our demands to him, carry his to us. I want to know how much money he has. I don't care how you find out. And you'd better not be telling him where we are holed up, and you'd better make sure no one follows you!"

"I'll expect a cut of the money," she said idly, and repeated herself, "but I won't be a part of it if you hurt them! I don't hold with brutality, sir."

"Women," he hissed, glaring at her, "That's not all."

"Oh? Well then I suppose my price just went up. What else would you have me do?"

"Well, you're in good with the singing girls. There is one that is a friend of Layla's that saw us take her last night, probably knows where we are camped out. I want her. I can't have her ruining things for us."

"Will you kill her?" Lou wondered.

"I only kill when I have to. I'm a businessman."

"You might have killed people last night," she responded, "I saw the blast." Her chin tightened. She'd more than seen it. Her leg still hurt like hell where the nails had punctured her skin, and she'd been one of the lucky ones.

"I might have killed more people if I'd let the bomb go at noon today, which I could have."

Lou nodded, "How do I get this singing girl back to you? And what makes you think she'll be stupid enough to stay in town? Layla has lots of friends. It could be any of the girls."

"You're a smart girl, now aren't you? I'll leave it to you to find out. I'll give you a week. And I'll be at every show just to be sure you're doing your job. I'll wait for you afterward. You'll be staying here, with us. So I can keep an eye on you."

"All right," she agreed. The closer to the boys she was, the better she'd feel. "I want to see them. Make sure you haven't harmed them. I don't care what you threaten. If you do, I won't help you, and the girl will report you. If she hasn't already."

Lazy Eye reached for her hand and jerked her to her feet, looking her in the eye and growling, "I'm the boss here. If I want to kill them, or you, I'll do it. Don't think you're not replaceable. Any singing girl will do."

She laughed at this, "You know as well as I do that that's not true. How many of the girls who go on stage would sit here with you and not burst into sobs? You might want to think twice on that. I like to think of myself as your partner." Her grip on his hand tightened and she shook it fiercely, making it a deal. "Now, the prisoners?"

Lou sighed in relief when he smirked in what could have been either admiration or irritation, or more likely, a little of both, and led her to the back of the shack, motioning a guard to open the door. Lou pulled her face into a disinterested stare and biting the inside of her lip, followed him into the dank room.

Kid, Jimmy, and Layla were instantly on their feet, staring at her with wide eyes. At least their surprise was somewhat controlled, Lou thought. They must have heard her voice.

She prayed they would keep up the charade she'd overheard them start. Perhaps they'd even heard her lie about Layla stealing Kid from her. It looked that way as Layla moved close to Kid and looped her hand through his arm, her eyes boring into Lou's triumphantly. She seemed to be enjoying her role, a little too much for Lou's taste.

"We meet again," Lou said, voice tightly controlled. Her eyes narrowed and glittered into the girl's green ones. Layla fought the urge to release the tense arm she clung to. Lou, she realized, was not acting.

Her eyes shifted to Kid and she blinked at him, seeing the gash on his head, and the matching one on Jimmy's. They appeared otherwise unharmed.

"Looks as if you've gotten yourself into trouble. I told you it wasn't worth it," She said, speaking in code and knowing that though Lazy Eye surely thought she was speaking of taking an interest in Layla. Kid and Jimmy both recognized her anger at them for going out and getting caught in this mess. And, they had a feeling, she was also going to see that they suffered some mild "punishment" in the process. It was plastered all over her face.

"Well, sometimes things don't work out like you plan," Kid responded quietly, giving Layla what might be an endearing glare. Lou understood instantly. She'd caused their capture someway.

"Is there a message you'd like to send to your father? Either of you?" Lazy Eye asked Jimmy or Layla, "Your friend has graciously offered to help me."

Jimmy looked at Lou, then turned his face to Lazy Eye, "Yeah. Tell him to shoot you first chance he gets."

Lou glared at Jimmy, but could do nothing as Lazy Eye stepped forward and brought a fist across his jaw. She looked at Kid with urgency wondering if he had a plan that would work better. She knew he wasn't happy with her being there, but his face was blank. He didn't know what else to do either.

"I have a message for the Governor," Kid said suddenly, when Lazy Eye started to pull Lou from the room. He looked straight at Lou, "You tell the Governor to do whatever they tell him too, I wouldn't want him to get hurt."

Lou felt tears start in her eyes at the plea for her to watch herself. She nodded, "We wouldn't want any of you to get hurt either."

Layla looked at the small girl, oblivious to the fact that deeper messages were involved, "You better tell my father to bring the hole army down on this man! Tell him I want them drawn and quartered, beaten, whipped, mauled, thrashed, scalded, and I want them stoned…and…"

With a last look at Kid that let him know how sorry she was to leave him with the creature still shrieking acceptable punishments, Lou walked from the room.

The plan was in motion, she thought as she left the shack with the promises that if she tried anything funny they'd all be killed.

If she kept her wits about her, she'd get them all out alive. If not, three lives hung in precariously balanced scales.

Contrary to what the books and stories she had read…this rescue mission stuff wasn't as easy as it all sounded. There would be no simple raid of the building with guns-a-blarin' and marshals shouting out orders. No, this mission was going to be a little more complicated, and as Louise crossed the street she remembered that she still had to perform tonight. And, she added at her own terror, there was another obstacle that would come before her plan to save the boys….stage fright.

Lou closed her eyes and shook her head, "Kid and Jimmy, I must really love you boys," she groaned.

To be continued...Chapter 9