By Joanna Phillips
"Rider Coming!" Teaspoon's gruff voice sounded from the bunkhouse porch.
Lou sighed and gazed at her half-eaten bowl of stew, "It figures. The only time in his life Cody is early would have to be because he doesn't want to miss lunch."
The others laughed and nodded in agreement as Lou pushed herself up from the table, "I'll see you all in a few days," She smiled.
"Ride safe, Lou," Jimmy, Buck, and Noah chorused and smiled gently.
Even with the warm words from them, it was impossible to miss the absence of the Kid's usually predictable plea for her to be careful. Everyone glanced uneasily at him, but as was typical of him lately, he sat in stony silence with his lips pressed tightly together.
Lou sighed audibly, but Buck was the only one to notice. Things were about as bad as they got between the two of them. After Lou had refused his proposal, saying she wasn't ready for marriage, Kid had grown very cold and distant from her. Lou had never imagined he would be so very angry with her. After all, it was he who had fallen for another woman right away. If it hadn't been for Jimmy, she wasn't sure what she would have done. Jimmy had taken her away from Kid and his school teacher and had shown her a wonderful time in Willow Springs…at least until a ghost from Jimmy's past had shown up. The man kidnapped Lou and used her to try to kill Jimmy. He'd been no match for James Butler Hickok though and Jimmy had saved her. The whole experience had brought them closer together.
A fact Kid had not failed to notice. While he was angry at Lou, he held barely concealed malice towards Jimmy.
Lou turned quickly from the table, but Jimmy saw the tears forming in her eyes. Those lovely brown eyes had been so sad lately. Jimmy glared at Kid, willing him with a piercing stare to tell her to be careful, to watch herself, or just goodbye. Kid, although his eyes were every bit as miserable, said nothing.
And so Lou fled, no doubt to cry her eyes out halfway to the Redfern station.
When the door closed with a bang, Jimmy turned to Kid, "Would it kill you to muster the words to tell her to take care?"
Kid's light blue eyes snapped with anger, but his voice remained dangerously quiet, "I'm sure she's perfectly happy having you take care of her."
"What's that supposed to mean Kid?" Noah broke in.
"A month ago you would have called me out if I made the remark you just did," Jimmy pointed out, his voice lower now.
"You calling me out Jimmy?" Kid said angrily, rising from his spot at the head of the table.
Buck stood up too, ready to come between them if Jimmy proved as foolish as Kid.
Surprisingly, Jimmy stayed very calm and remained seated, a feat which they wouldn't have thought possible until a few months ago.
"I'm not calling you out Kid. I'm never gonna call you out. Even if you'd hurt Lou and the others that way, I wouldn't."
Kid was speechless, and they were staring at each other when Cody burst in the room.
"Bad news!" He exclaimed breathlessly, looking wild.
Knowing his habit of being melodramatic, no one was too alarmed.
"Maybe you could be more specific, Cody," Buck suggested, lifting an eyebrow.
"Indian trouble!" Cody exclaimed, "A pony express rider out of Willow Springs almost lost his scalp. They may have to call in the Army."
"Why are the Indians stirred up?" Noah wondered, "They don't just act on a whim."
"I imagine our government broke some treaty or another," Kid commented.
"Which tribe?" Buck asked tensely. His loyalties were painfully divided between the world of the white man and of the Kiowa, and he dreaded the day his two worlds collided. It was, of course, inevitable.
"Sioux," Cody supplied.
"Is Lou going to be all right?" Noah suddenly wondered, "She's heading in that direction."
Cody sighed, "I tried to warn her, I was yelling at the top of my lungs for her to hold up, but she acted like she didn't even hear me. Seemed kind of upset, so she took the pouch and ran."
All eyes turned to Kid, who squared his jaw defiantly.
"What!" He finally snapped defensively, causing all the riders to turn from him with disgusted faces.
Teaspoon strolled in about that time, "What's all this I hear about Indian trouble?"
"You eavesdropping on us?" Noah wondered with good nature.
"With Cody talking, I don't have to," Teaspoon pointed out, and the others nodded while Cody attempted to look hurt.
Cody turned to Teaspoon, "Yeah, it is the Sioux. One of their villages was raided, it was pretty much a massacre. They aren't interested in talking anymore. They are just a step away from declaring all out war."
"The pony express rider, did he make it?" Kid suddenly asked.
"Luckily he had a fast horse," Cody said, "The horse came into the station with an arrow in his flank."
"Teaspoon, do you think Lou will be all right? And Ike's out too," Buck wondered.
Teaspoon sighed, "I wish I would have known this before I sent Lou out. I would have sent one of you boys with her. Luckily Ike is on the right side of the trouble. I don't think the Indians will venture as far as St. Joe."
"Two guns wouldn't make any difference against a party of braves," Kid pointed out.
Everyone was shocked into silence. Kid was either very convincing about his lack of concern over Lou since the break-up, or as they feared was genuinely detached from her now.
"I can't believe you just said that Kid," Cody said for all of them.
Kid got up and left the room.
Teaspoon stared hard at the door Kid had just walked out. Jimmy cleared his throat lightly to regain Teaspoon's attention.
"Should we ride after her or not?"
Teaspoon sighed and shook his head, "Much as I hate to say this, Kid's right. I just would have thought he'd be the last to admit it. I don't want to risk all of you. If Lou comes across those Indians, there is nothing you boys could do for her. I don't want to put all of you at risk."
"But Teaspoon!" Every single one of them began simultaneously.
Teaspoon held up his hands to silence them, "Boys, I don't know what else to do. I can't let you all go out and risk your lives. Lou will get through I'm sure, and then the station master will warn her of the danger. She'll stay in town until the trouble clears up."
Jimmy was already shaking his head in disagreement, "You forget Teaspoon, she's heading toward Redfern station. There isn't a town within miles of the station, and those boys are pretty crazy. I don't know that she'd be safe there either."
"Besides, that would mess things up for her, and she ain't gonna let that happen. Those boys would know she's a girl and they'd have it printed in every newspaper across the country. Even if she thought she'd be riding into danger she'd do that rather than stay," Cody pointed out.
Teaspoon sighed. He loved Lou as if she was his own, but then again he loved all the other boys too. He was caught between a rock and a hard place and it tore at his heart to know he had to leave one of them in danger in order to protect the rest.
"You boys aren't going after her, and that's the end of it. You just have to have faith that she'll be all right. Lou's the best rider out of all of you, if anyone could outride a war party it is her."
"If," Noah said grimly, "You said if…"
"And I meant it," Teaspoon said honestly, "If they happen to find her, there's a chance they might catch her."
"And we are supposed to just sit here and wait, while they catch her?" Jimmy asked incredulously.
"That is exactly what you are going to do," Teaspoon warned, seeing the look in the boy's piercing eyes.
"So if they catch her what happens?" Cody wondered, mainly out of morbid curiosity.
"You don't want to know," Buck supplied, and walked out of the bunkhouse.
Buck walked with his eyes downcast, not really having a direction. It could be so easy to hate the Sioux for endangering his friend, but he understood their plight like none of the others could. As a child he'd been dragged from home after home as the white man took up land that belonged to his tribe. He couldn't hate them.
Of course, Lou had done nothing to them, but there was no way the Sioux would see it that way. She was a trespasser. They all were. And anyone to cross their warpath now would suffer. Be it from a horrible, unspeakable death to what could be an even more gruesome captivity, Lou wouldn't fare well.
"Buck?" Came a voice that startled him from his unsettling thoughts.
Buck jumped, an unusual reaction from a young man who had a keen sense of his surroundings. He found Kid leaning against the entrance to the barn.
"Yeah?"
"I want you to tell me the truth, and I figured you'd know more than anyone…"
"What is it, Kid?" Buck asked patiently.
"Is Lou in danger?"
"I think you know the answer to that, Kid," Buck said quietly, then sighed. The look in Kid's eyes betrayed his attitude toward Lou. He seemed near tears now. Buck took a deep breath then nodded, "Yeah, Kid, she could be. I mean, that is if they are still in the area. They might not kill her, but if they took her captive she might wish they had."
Kid nodded, and wordlessly turned and walked back to the bunkhouse.
Buck had half-hoped he'd show some of the protectiveness that had driven all of them, especially Lou, crazy and leap onto Katy to ride after her.
He didn't, but similar ideas were stirring in another's head.
Lou looked at the stationmaster and sighed in frustration. "What do you mean Indians? Do you think the Sweetwater station would have let me ride out if there was real danger?"
He'd been arguing with her about her riding out for several minutes now.
The stationmaster was a short, heavy set man in his late twenties. He had an air of arrogance. His squinty eyes sparkled with his own self-love. "Told you, Sioux are acting up. Damn savages. I say we kill all of 'em!"
Lou almost rolled her eyes but caught herself. Was that what Cody had been shouting to her about as she urged Lightning to run away from the station? Why hadn't she listened? She was angry at herself for her stupidity.
"Look, why are you complaining? You ain't got to ride out of here, you can rest awhile. We got an extra bunk."
Lou cast an uneasy glance to where the boys of Redfern station were lounging lazily, and smugly, on the porch of the rickety shack. They were a wild bunch, one of the wildest bunches in the whole express, but they were good. They'd never liked Lou because of her (or as they thought his) small size. She didn't relish the thought of spending any length of time with them.
Besides, Lou had promised Teaspoon she wouldn't stay in other stations when she had an overnight run. That promise had been a relief to everyone at the station, including her.
"Look, Joe, just give me a fast horse okay? This stupid nag couldn't outrun a slug," Lou said, and forced a smile gesturing to the lazy chestnut she'd gotten at the way station while Lightning rested, "I've got to move on."
"It ain't worth getting killed over," Joe commented, then said nastily, "Too good for us? You think just cause you got Wild Bill at your home station you can turn your nose up at us, boy?"
"His name is Jimmy," Lou growled, but realized that was a fight she didn't want to pick. Thunder rumbled in the distance and Lou glanced at the sunset. The beautiful colors mingled with ominous clouds. It wasn't looking to be a nice ride back.
"Look Lou, I don't think you should ride out of here," Joe said.
"It's my business, Joe!" Lou snapped, her patience wearing out as she grew ever more uneasy about being forced to stay where she was.
One of the riders jumped lightly to the dust and swaggered out to where Lou was standing in front of Joe. He was chewing on a straw. He was a good-looking young man with sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes.
"Let him go, if he is so set on getting scalped. Sioux would probably throw him back anyway. No challenge in taking that runt."
Lou's eyes glinted angrily, but she said nothing.
"I'll saddle him up a horse," the boy said and turned toward the barn.
Lou nodded at Joe, feeling guilty because she was giving him the impression that she thought she was too good for them without meaning to at all. "Thanks for your concern. I just got business in Sweetwater."
Joe studied her, and if he'd had a thought in his head he would have seen her for what she was. Her eyes were a little wide in fear of what she was about to do. She didn't look like a boy anymore. But Joe was oblivious to anything but himself and he sighed, "Must be awful important business to be worth dying for."
Lou didn't say anything, and Joe walked away.
A few minutes later the rider swaggered out again in the same lazy manner, leading a bay colt by the reins. The horse looked half-wild.
"He's green, but fast. Think you can handle him?"
Lou would have died trying rather than admit she couldn't. It was a challenge he thought she couldn't measure up to, but he didn't know that she was quite adept on horseback. She felt confident that she could handle him.
"I can ride anything you can saddle," She said through clenched teeth.
He raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "We'll see."
Lou acted like she didn't hear him, and taking the reins and a handful of mane she leapt onto the horse gracefully. She was ready when he reared for the sky. She knew everyone at the station was watching her, waiting for her to fall off, to ask for help. She could only imagine how surprised they were when she skillfully brought the animal under control. He trotted docilely to the edge of the station yard, and then with a loud cry from her, was suddenly in a dead run.
"He can ride, that's for sure," Joe admitted to the boys, who reluctantly nodded in agreement.
Jimmy lay on his top bunk with his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling as he had been for hours. Horrible, gruesome images played in his mind over and over again, most of them ending with Lou's auburn scalp on the belt of some brave. There was no way he could sleep. The danger out there was real, and Lou was in the middle of it, and not up to her usual sharpness because of her worry over Kid.
And Kid wasn't doing his job of worrying enough for all of them.
Suddenly Jimmy knew what he was going to do. Despite Teaspoon's wishes and his own common sense, he was going to go after her…
He sat up in bed slowly and looked around. How the others had finally found sleep he didn't know, but now they all rested peacefully. Kid, the exception, tossed and turned fitfully in his sleep, and Jimmy imagined his dreams also involved scalping. Ever so carefully he let himself down from the top bunk, not worried about waking Cody, who snored loudly beneath him, but keeping a watchful eye on Buck.
He was out of the bunkhouse safely within minutes.
"I must be insane. I could pass her in the night and not even know it, and then we'll be in the same situation, but with me missing," He said out-loud, and his horse twitched his ears.
Dawn was still hours away when he rode out of the station at a quiet trot. Once out of hearing distance he urged his horse into a flat run, with only the silvery shadows of the moon ahead of him.
Night had fallen when the worst of the storm unleashed. Lou was weary to the bone from fighting the young horse. Unfortunately, the horse had a never-ending source of energy. One day he'd be a great horse, Lou was sure, but at the moment she was considering shooting him.
The sun had set a few hours ago, and the only light she had after the colors faded had been the occasional flash of lightning. She thought the darkness her friend though, and hoped if there were really any Indian braves out, they couldn't see any better than she.
The storm, which had held off nicely, was suddenly very threatening. Thunder clapped in her ears until she wondered if she'd ever hear again. Her horse spooked badly, nearly unseating her. Luckily, she hadn't dropped her guard and hung with the animal.
Lighting began splitting the sky in jagged streaks that seemed closer than any Lou had ever encountered. She gasped as she saw a streak escape the sky and destroy a tree not far from her at all.
Thunder again roared in her ears, and then the rains came. It seemed as if a million pounds of pressure drove the sudden downpour onto Lou and her horse. Snorting, the horse reared for the sky suddenly, and Lou almost lost her seat again.
Lou tried to gather her wits and calm the horse, but with lightning streaking all around her, she became very frightened, and the sensitive horse knew it. If he'd been wild before, he was quickly becoming ferocious, rearing and bucking as if he'd never had anyone on his back.
And then the hail started.
Lou cried out in pain as ice the size of pebbles pelted her arms and back. Three or four hailstones bounced off her cheek. The horse snorted and pitched his head between his front legs, bucking mightily as the hail stung him also.
Another streak of lightning split the air right over their heads, and both Lou and the horse screamed in terror. Then the colt was reaching for the sky, trying to fight off the lightning with flailing hooves. He seemed to reach upwards forever and Lou pushed her weight forward, trying to force him back to Earth.
Suddenly something was going horribly wrong. The horse had gone too high and struck out too hard and had lost his balance. Lou realized with a jolt that the horse was coming over backwards, on top of her.
Too late, she freed her feet from the stirrups and jumped, but wasn't fast enough to escape all harm. She landed split seconds before the horse and only had time to move her upper body before he crashed down on her legs and middle.
For what seemed an eternity, but was actually only a few agonizing seconds, Lou lay underneath the stunned colt.
Then he thrashed his legs, and Lou felt the air from his sharp hooves whoosh by her face, and knew he'd missed her by inches, if that much.
The colt fought for his feet, slipping in the mud. Lou gasped, trying to regain the breath that was knocked from her.
In a flash of lightning she saw the horse above her, and then tried to duck as the horse wheeled. She wasn't fast enough and his hoof clipped her temple. She was aware of the horse's hooves retreating and the ground trembling.
She slowly closed her eyes and welcomed darkness there in the open trail amidst serious danger, as the rain beat mercilessly upon her.
Jimmy was frustrated and hopeless. He'd been riding all night, and he hadn't found Lou yet. Dawn was just streaking across the sky. It was proving to be an equally nasty morning, a steady rain still fell. He was drenched to the bone and cold, and still the rain kept coming. He'd never seen a storm like the one he'd just ridden through. At least the Sioux wouldn't be out prowling, he thought. No one in his right mind would be out in this.
He'd stopped for only a few minutes at a small way station for a fresh horse. He'd spotted Lou's horse Lightning in the corral. An uneasy feeling ate at him. Lightning had a habit of taking care of Lou, no doubt, the horse loved her. That had been hours ago, and the fresh horse Jimmy had finally convinced the sleepy stationmaster to give him was growing weary.
He was only a few hours from the Redfern station. He would feel so foolish if she'd stayed there after all, he thought grimly. He could see those cocky boys laughing at him now as he rode up, soggy and worn out, to the rescue of a rider that had been safe all along. He was willing to face them, and in fact hoped desperately he would have to.
The thought disappeared as he saw something on the trail ahead.
He could feel the color drain from his face as he spurred the tired horse into a gallop.
Lou was lying face down and motionless in the mud right on the path in front of him, and her whole face was streaked with blood.
Blood that came from her scalp…
To be continued…
Copyright 1998-This work is not to be reproduced without the permission of the author
