Lou noticed the storm clouds brewing in the distance and smiled. It seemed as though mother nature was doing its best to accommodate her bad mood. She was ready for a really bad storm, full of lightning and thunder. She certainly had the energy to fight it.

    Then, she heard Jimmy yelling at her to stop. After waiting a few more minutes just to aggravate him further, she finally slowed down to a canter. Jimmy caught up with her.

    "You have something against these horses?" He asked, glaring at her. "Or just something against me?"

    She returned his glare with an equally scalding one of her own. "I thought I was doing you a favor, Hickok, by sparing you from my company."

    Jimmy stung from her deliberate use of his last name. She had always called him Jimmy.

    "Fine, Lou, if that's the way you want it, fine." He turned his horse away.

    "Wait a minute, don't turn your back on me!" Lou cried.

    "What do you want to do, Lou, argue some more?" Jimmy asked. "I'd rather just go to my sister's and start enjoying my vacation. Not to mention some peace and quiet."

    Lou frowned, trying to figure him out. "What's the matter, Jimmy?" She asked in a softer tone. "Are we not going to friends anymore, is that it?"

    "I don't know what you're talking about, Lou." Jimmy said.

    Lou persisted. "Things haven't been the same between us since that trip with Elias and you know it."

    "Lou, you're reading too much into things." Jimmy said dismissively.

    "Am I?" She asked, her temper sparked again by his indifference. "Then why do you go out of your way not to talk to me? And when you do, you've got nothing nice to say?"

    "I didn't know you were so thin-skinned, Lou." Jimmy smiled one of his mocking smiles.

    "And I didn't know your skin was so thick." She retorted. "Not to mention your skull."

    Jimmy just nodded. "Well, it was nice talkin' to you Lou." He turned again and began to ride South. "See you back in Rock Creek."

    "Where are you going?" She yelled after him.

    He barely turned around to reply, "I know a short cut. See you later."

    Lou glared at him. It was just like him to turn away from a fight. She turned and resumed her gallop, continuing East. She was so angry the rest of the ride to Wichita flew by, although she did her horse a favor and slowed down her gallop. By the time she arrived in town, her temper had cooled, but she was still furious with Jimmy. She didn't know if she ever wanted to speak to him, much less see him, again.

    She rode to the West side of town where the Pony Express station was, but there was no one to meet her. In fact, there was no one out at all. And there was a strange smell in the air…like smoke. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck as she surveyed the eerily quiet town. She drew her gun and held it in her lap as she paused, trying to decide what to do next. Then a shout shattered the silence. Lou tensed, but then watched in stunned amazement as a man came running towards her, waving his arms.

    "Go back! Go back! Leave! Go!" He was screaming at her. Then before she could react, a shot rang out and the man was flung to the ground, his screams cut short. He was dead, shot in the back.

    Lou felt her heart in her throat and she quickly turned around but she was too late. Trouble exploded around her. Windows crashed and gunshots flew out of them. She was in the middle of an ambush. Lou tried to fire back and get out of harm's way at the same time, but she couldn't see any of her enemies and the bullets were flying in all directions.

    She made it as far as the edge of town before she was hit. She felt a searing pain pierce her side and she felt like she was going to die. She tried to stay on her horse, but black spots were appearing in her vision and she felt like her hands were made of water.

    She thought she heard her name being called out, but there was a roaring noise in her head taking over everything else. The black spots got bigger and bigger and she finally couldn't hold on anymore. She slipped into unconsciousness.

Back at Rock Creek:

    Rachel couldn't believe her eyes. She had stepped outside to the porch to shake a rug and there was Cody working up a sweat fixing the corral fence while Noah simply stood by, looking on. "What's going on here? Noah, I thought you were supposed to fix that fence."

    Noah grinned ear to ear. "I was. But Cody here said he'd be happy to do it for me."

    Rachel paused as if not hearing him correctly. "Cody? William F. Cody? The same Cody who needs ten reminders to do his own chores?"

    "One and the same." Noah replied, still grinning.

    "I must be missing something." Rachel said, walking over to them, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth in anticipation of the story behind this one.

    Cody didn't look amused. "He had a full house! And a poker face that could've fooled even you, Rachel." He shook his head. "I swear, if I thought he had a winning hand I'd have never bet on chores. I have enough work not to do of my own!"

    Rachel laughed and affectionately rubbed some dirt off Cody's cheek. "Serves you right. Although, Noah, it seems to me that the job would go a lot faster if you lent a hand."

    He looked indignant. "After all the chores I've done for him? Not a chance." He leaned back against the fence. "I'm enjoying every minute of this."

    Their attention was drawn to Teaspoon, who came in from town as fast as his stiff legs could carry him. Rachel frowned, knowing from the look on his face that something was wrong. "Teaspoon, what is it?"

    "There's been some trouble in Kansas." He said, his face sharp with worry and concern. "It seems there's a group of Southern sympathizers calling themselves the Springer gang that are raising all sorts of trouble down there. It's like they're trying to start a war of their own, runnin' rampant, accusing all sorts of people of being abolitionists and such. They're attacking everything down there, including the Pony Express."

    Cody's blue eyes were solemn. "And Lou and Jimmy rode right into it."

    "At least Kid's not here to worry himself to death." Rachel sighed. Kid had just left on a run and wouldn't be back for another two days.

    Teaspoon nodded. "Cody, you and Buck ride down there, see if you can help them."

    "I'm going with them." Noah said.

    "Noah…" Rachel protested.

    He wouldn't hear any of it. "My friends are in trouble. I'm going to help them."

    Teaspoon sighed, knowing he could sooner flap his arms and fly to Kansas than keep Noah in Rock Creek. "Just watch your back son."

    Noah and Cody nodded, then ran to the bunkhouse to get Buck and quickly pack. They had a long, hard ride ahead of them.

Outskirts of Wichita, KS:

    Jimmy felt like he couldn't breathe. He was almost to Wichita and he prayed he had beaten Lou there, although by the way she had been riding, he doubted it. He had run into his brother-in-law and his band of abolitionists just a ways from his sister's house and immediately had a bad feeling. When they told him Wichita was under attack by a bunch of slavers, Jimmy felt his heart sink. Jimmy told them Lou was riding into Wichita, and so they doubled their pace, hoping to get there before she did.

    They rode in from the South, cautiously, on the outside of the town. Things seemed pretty quiet, but then he watched as a man came screaming down the street. He turned around to see what the man was running towards, and Jimmy froze. "Lou."

    In the seconds it took Jimmy to charge towards her, the man had been shot and Lou had turned and was trying to escape. He rode towards her holding his breath, hearing the abolitionists behind him, engaging the gang in an all-out gunfight. But all Jimmy cared about was Lou. She was doing good, almost to the edge of town. But then he felt his heart stop as saw her body arch and he realized she had been hit.

    "Lou!" He screamed and charged towards her. Bullets hit the air all around him like deadly firecrackers, but his brother-in-law was covering him. Jimmy reached Lou's side in seconds. She was barely conscious, and about to fall off her horse. He felt panic and fear well up inside of him at the sight of her, but he didn't waste any time. He grabbed her off her saddle, pulled her in front of him, and galloped away. He looked back and saw the abolitionists were retreating. His brother in law caught up with him and waved for the rest of the men to follow.

    "Come on. Regroup!" He yelled. The gunfight had only lasted a few minutes, but it was enough to tell them they were outgunned and in no position to take back the town. The abolitionists galloped away, and didn't stop until they were halfway to Nathan's house.

    When they stopped, Jimmy tried to get a good look at Lou. She hadn't moved during the ride, and he had her blood all over his shirt. Jimmy held on to her tightly, and he was surprised at how fragile she felt in his arms. Lou was always so strong - Jimmy couldn't remember ever seeing her this helpless. "Dammit, Lou," Jimmy whispered to her, his head bent over hers, "Hang on! Do you hear me? Hang on!" Nathan rode over to him, and he shook his head. "He doesn't look good, Jimmy."

    Jimmy felt like he couldn't breathe, but he managed to say, "I need to get her to a doctor."

    Nathan was stunned. "Her? You mean-"

    Jimmy didn't have time for this. He clenched his teeth and repeated himself. "I need to get her to a doctor."

    Nathan nodded. "Yeah, uh, in the next town just north of here, there's a doctor, Doc Grayson. He lives on the west side of town." Jimmy had already started away. Nathan yelled after him, "And tell him I sent ya!"