By Joanna Phillips
"Lou!" Jimmy screamed, and leapt off his horse. His knees buckled as he reached Lou and he crashed down upon them in the mud.
Lou did not move.
Jimmy's hands were shaking as he rolled her over, expecting the absolute worst, which at the moment was Lou minus her scalp.
"Thank God!" He cried out shakily as he saw the blood was not a result of a scalping but of a cut on her temple. He quickly searched her for broken bones or other injuries, and except for some bad bruising on her back, legs, and middle, found none.
"Let's get off this trail. No sense in us being sitting ducks," Jimmy muttered to himself and Lou, though she was unconscious.
He gathered her in his arms and was surprised at just how light she was. She didn't seem to weigh any more than his saddle.
He clicked his tongue at the chestnut horse he'd borrowed and the animal followed him obediently into a small cluster of trees, several of which were still smoking from the lightning that had struck them.
He lay Lou on the ground at the base of a tree that hadn't been hit, and then fetched his bedroll, doing all he could to make her comfortable.
He was gently cleaning the blood off her face when her eyes closed tightly and her forehead wrinkled in pain.
"Good! I was getting worried," Jimmy said softly.
At his voice, her eyes flew open in alarm and she sat straight up, staring at him.
"Where am I?"
The utter confusion on her face surprised Jimmy. He suddenly remembered that she'd taken a bad blow to the head. Kid had the same problem once, after falling off Katy and he hadn't even remembered his name.
It seemed like Lou could be affected the same way.
"There's no need to be scared. I'm Jimmy, your friend, I'm going to help you."
She had opened her mouth to say something, but after he said this she shut it abruptly and looked at him as if he'd lost his mind completely. She looked so baffled at him that it might have been funny under different circumstances.
Not sure what to do, but remembering how Kid hadn't even known who he was, much less any of them, Jimmy said softly, "And you are Lou, well Louise, but we call you Lou."
The look on her face clearly told him she thought he was a lunatic.
Finally she was able to find words, "What the hell are you talking about Jimmy? And what are you doing here?"
It was Jimmy's turn to be confused.
"You know who you are?"
"Have you lost your mind, Jimmy? What's wrong with you?" Lou asked, frightened by his behavior, "And you haven't answered me, what are you doing here? And where is here? All I remember is that damn horse falling on me…"
She was in a horrible mood, Jimmy discovered, probably because she was in pain. Her eye was blackening from the pressure of the knot on her temple. She held her arms gingerly against her ribs.
"I came looking for you to tell you there is trouble with the Sioux. We shouldn't be out here. I found you on the trail and brought you here, out of sight. What happened to you?"
"Redfern boys thought they'd be funny and give me a green horse. We got along fine until the storm came," She said angrily, then her eyes softened as she met Jimmy's, "It was the worst storm I've ever seen. There was hail and lightning streaking right above us. I got nervous and the horse spooked badly. He reared up and fell over on me."
Jimmy nodded, "Yeah I missed the worst of it, but it was still a mean storm. You're lucky, Lou, a fall like that could have killed you."
Lou nodded, and stared at the ground, at a loss for words.
"So there really is trouble with the Sioux?" She finally asked.
"Bad trouble. Cody tried to warn you yesterday, but you didn't hear him. And then we all were ready to ride out after you, but Teaspoon wouldn't let us. Said you were the best rider and you'd get through. But, I was worried so I decided I'd find you."
"That was pretty stupid," Lou commented, but there was no anger behind her voice. Still, Jimmy looked so hurt that she stretched to put her hand on his arm, "But I'm sure glad you did. Thank you."
Jimmy smiled slightly and watched as Lou's face clouded over. Then she was meeting his eyes, "You said you all wanted to ride out. Does that include Kid?"
Jimmy knew she wanted to truth, but he couldn't stand to tell her Kid had thought it pointless. He skipped around the truth.
"Everyone in the room wanted to ride after you, Lou." Well, it was the truth. The Kid had left the room at one point.
Her face brightened and it broke his heart. Then instantly she was suspicious.
"Everyone in the room, huh? Kid wasn't in the room, was he?"
Jimmy sighed, and wordlessly shook his head.
Lou looked so disappointed that Jimmy wanted to shout, "Hey, but I'm here! I want to protect you too!"
Jimmy looked up in surprise as Lou started struggling to pull herself up.
"Where do you think you're going?" He wondered.
"We should get going. The others will be worried about us," She mumbled, breathing heavily as she attempted to move her sore body, "Except Kid." She added the last part as an afterthought.
Jimmy shook his head, "No, Lou. It's too dangerous right now. We'll wait till night falls and go then."
"We really should get back…" She began and at the same time tears began rolling down her cheeks. Big tears that Jimmy wished he knew how to stop.
"Aw Lou," He said softly and scooted toward her where he put his arm around her shoulder, "You can't keep on like this. You'll make yourself sick."
"It's my fault he hates me. I used to get so mad at him for trying to protect me, and now sometimes I feel like I'd give anything to have him that way again."
She was crying hard now, the pain as new and fresh in her voice as the first night after Kid had shown an interest in Samantha. As he had that night by the campfire, Jimmy did his best to comfort her, but felt he failed miserably.
"Kid doesn't mean half of what he does. He's as miserable as you are, Lou. I can see it in his eyes. You just have to trust that things will work out like they are supposed to."
He added the last part as much for himself as for her.
Lou leaned her head against him and allowed herself to be held. It was nice, she discovered, and she felt somewhat comforted for the first time since she and Jimmy had returned from Willow Springs.
"Why don't you try to get some rest. It will be a long ride home," Jimmy said after several minutes, when Lou's shoulders stopped shaking.
The day dragged on. Lou slept most of the time while Jimmy attempted to keep a watchful eye out for Indians. He never spotted the first passerby. Everyone was staying clear of the roads, he discovered, and he couldn't blame them. He dozed several times, always to wake with a start and look wildly for danger.
"Hey, Jimmy, wake up," Cody growled as he climbed out of bed.
Teaspoon had banged on the door seconds ago, demanding they begin a long list of chores that he always kept in reserve. The fact that none of them had to ride out because of the Sioux trouble meant nothing to Teaspoon.
The others were stirring slowly also.
"Jimmy?" Cody said again as he peered into his friend's empty bunk. "That's strange. Never known Jimmy to be up before he had to."
"Maybe he couldn't sleep," Buck suggested.
"It took me forever to go to sleep," Noah admitted.
"Why?" Kid muttered nastily.
They didn't grace his comment with a reply.
At that moment the door swung open and Teaspoon bellowed, "Any of you happen to know why Jimmy's horse is gone?"
The riders were quiet. They'd never seen Teaspoon so angry.
"I made it very clear that you boys were not to ride out after her!"
"Teaspoon, can you blame him?" Buck wondered bravely, "We are all worried about her. It's hard for us to just sit here and expect everything to be all right. We know better."
"And you think Hickok is any match for a war party?" Teaspoon growled.
"Doesn't matter. Someone had to go," Noah pointed out.
"I would have expected this from you," He said, pointing at the Kid, "But I thought Jimmy would understand he couldn't go!"
"So, do we ride out after him?"
"No!" Teaspoon roared, "I've already got three riders out in this mess, and that's a belly full!"
"But Teaspoon…" Cody began.
"You listen good boys, if any of you sneak off in the night like that, you're fired, understand?"
"Teaspoon, you can't do that," Buck said, smiling slightly.
"You willing to find out?" He wondered.
Buck sighed and held up his hand, "I wasn't volunteering. Much as I want to go after them, I know there isn't really a point. But if they don't come back soon, Teaspoon, you can't expect us to sit here."
"That's right!" Noah and Cody chimed in supportively.
Kid nodded, "Teaspoon, they're right. We'll have to try and help them."
Everyone looked at Kid in surprise. For the first time in weeks he'd actually shown that he still gave a damn about any of them.
"Welcome back Kid," Teaspoon said simply and left the room. He was relieved to see Ike riding in, unharmed by the volatile situation.
"Hey Lou, wake up," Jimmy said softly, bending down to touch the sleeping girl's arm. Night had fallen. The on and off rain had stopped and the moon was slowly rising.
Lou's eyes opened slowly and she again seemed startled to see him. She quickly remembered their need to move quickly. She let Jimmy take her arm and help her to her feet.
"Are you going to be able to ride?" He asked with concern when he saw her grimace.
"Yeah, I'll be fine once I move around a little," Lou assured him, and attempted to stretch out her stiff muscles while Jimmy got the horse ready.
"Let's go," He said, and motioned her to the horse. He practically lifted her into the saddle, despite her protests that she could do it. He then climbed onto the horse in front of her.
"Won't make for good time, with us both on this horse," Lou commented.
"We'll get our horses at the station, hopefully we won't run into trouble before then."
"Hopefully we won't run into trouble at all," Lou corrected him quietly.
They began the long ride at an easy lope, and the horse carried them easily. Both of them kept their eyes peeled for danger.
They were a few hours from reaching their horses, which would almost certainly assure them safe passage when Jimmy felt Lou's arms tighten sharply around his middle.
"What is it?" Jimmy asked, even as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and a chill ran down the length of his spine.
"Up there," Lou whispered, and her voice trembled in fear.
Reluctantly, Jimmy turned his eyes upward, to a small rise. A lump of fear formed in his throat.
Silhouetted eerily against the silver moonlight were about twenty Indians on horseback. They were motionless, watching and waiting patiently.
"Do you think they see us?" Lou hissed, burying her face into Jimmy's back, leaving only her eyes to peer over his shoulder.
Jimmy placed a hand that was beginning to shake on hers, and found it damp and shaking wildly.
"I don't know. But, I'm sure they will see us any minute," Jimmy said.
He felt her head press further against his back and her arms wind more tightly around him.
"Dear Lord, what is going to happen to us? Oh, Jimmy, I can't believe I've done this to you," She was close to hysterical.
Jimmy's voice was strong, and he squeezed her hand hard, "Lou, don't you do this right now! Get a hold of yourself. We're gonna have to work together to get out of this one."
He could hear her breathing become slower and more controlled. Bless her heart, she was trying, although nameless terror was eating at her, just as it was him. Jimmy couldn't imagine any other woman being able to bring herself under control so easily.
"Jimmy, I want you to listen to me, and I don't want you to argue. You have to leave me here. This horse can't outrun them with both of us on his back, but with one, he'll make it. If you leave me here, they probably won't kill me. Then, you can go get help and come and find me."
For one cowardly moment that Jimmy could never completely forgive himself for, he considered it. Then he glanced into her huge brown eyes, glassy with tears, and knew that there was no way in God's name he was leaving her anywhere.
"That's the stupidest thing you've ever said, Lou," Jimmy said shakily.
"What do we do then, Jimmy?" She pleaded softly for an answer.
"I don't really know. But we do it together, got it? No more of this 'leave me behind' stuff from you, promise?"
She sighed. "All right, but we'd better decide quick. They are going to see us. They are looking for something, anything…"
As if they'd finally decided to end the torment of the two people below them, the Indians let out a collective whoop. The earth shook as their horses began plunging down the hill.
"Hold on!" Jimmy screamed at Lou, and bashed the horse mercilessly in the sides with his boots, "We're gonna try to outrun them."
Lou didn't make the comment that both of them knew to be true. There was no way to outrun them with double the weight on the horse.
Jimmy headed for the foothills, hoping to lose the Indians in the heavily wooded area that surrounded the river. He could only pray they couldn't track at night.
"Oh, Jimmy, they are breathing down my neck!" Lou cried into the wind. She'd again buried her face in his broad shoulder blades, unable to watch.
Jimmy prayed fervently that they wouldn't draw their bows.
Amazingly, the little horse they rode had a heart of gold, and actually opened the gap between them. They climbed a small rise into the foothills, and then Jimmy veered off the trail, heading at full speed into heavy undergrowth. They both cried out as branches and briars clawed at them.
The horse was soon covered in a white lather and blowing heavily. Jimmy knew the animal could go no further and live.
"Lou, the horse has had it. We have to go on foot," Jimmy declared.
Lou was off the horse in an instant. Grabbing his saddle bags and slinging them over the shoulder, Jimmy took Lou's hand firmly and began leading her at a mad pace through the underbrush on foot.
They seemed to run for hours. Lou did her best to keep up with Jimmy's long stride, and long after her strength left her, her fear and will to live kept her pushing. But there were limits to those too, and at one point Lou's knees buckled and she crashed to the ground.
Jimmy's hold on her hand was so tight that he nearly dragged her after she fell.
"Go on Jimmy, I can't go any further," She wheezed.
Sweat streamed down Jimmy's face, and he couldn't find Lou's eyes in the pitch darkness, "Damn it Lou, we already discussed this! We are sticking together. Get up, we have to keep moving!"
"Jimmy!" She half snapped, half sobbed.
Rather than mince words, Jimmy reached down, grabbed her under her arms, and hauled her to her feet.
"Come on," He growled, "If you want to live, come on!"
Lou squared her jaw and nodded to herself. He was right. She couldn't give up now. If she gave up, then she gave up not only her own life, but Jimmy's.
And so they kept moving through the night, with no idea where they were going, but knowing that any way was safer than the way they came.
It seemed like years before they staggered to a stop, the river stretched before them.
"There's water," Jimmy panted.
"Think its safe?" Lou wondered, her thirst making her nearly insane.
"I haven't heard or seen anyone since we left the horse," Jimmy said.
"Maybe they gave up," Lou dared to voice her hope.
"Maybe," Jimmy said reassuringly, but he knew better.
"We can only take a quick drink, then we take cover again," Jimmy warned her.
They stumbled out on jelly-like legs and flung themselves down on their knees at the water's edge. Both took in water as if they'd been wandering the desert for months.
Then they heard it, a soft crunching sound all around, nearly indistinguishable from the rustle of the leaves in the wind, but growing steadily closer.
At the same time, they threw their heads back in alarm, but it was too late.
Sioux braves on foot surrounded them, every one of them was painted up for war…
To be continued…
Copyright 1998-This work is not to be reproduced without the permission of the author
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