"Why’d you follow me?” Jimmy demanded as he intercepted the blow meant for Lou. Protectively he guarded Lou from her assailant. The commotion caused by Joe’s arrival had captured Cody’s attention as well as Buck’s. Quickly they joined Hickok in the cause to protect Lou.

   Instead of answering her crush’s inquiry, Joe dashed around to the other side to offer Lou her hand to her face! “Why don’t you stop hidin’ behind these here men and fight!” Joe challenged. She tried to grab Lou by her hair, but the three men had formed a barrier around her. Lou seemed to be very puzzled by the woman’s behavior. She had never seen this rough woman a day in her life. Silently Lou observed the aggressive woman.

   “Leave!” Jimmy demanded. He drew away from the protective wall to encourage the woman to go. Seeing that she had no intentions of moving, Jimmy made the biggest sacrifice for Lou. “Come with me,” He encouraged. If he had escort her away he would, but he wasn’t gonna enjoy the company. He motioned for her to take his arm.

   “We’ll since you put it that way,” Joe agreed as she reached for Jimmy’s arm. “Let’s go.” As the two prepared to leave, the other riders breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, too soon. Before Jimmy could restrain the wild woman, her fist went sailing towards Lou once again.

   “Ouch!” Buck cried as he came between Joe’s fist and Lou. His jaw ached from his brave deed, and he glared up at the woman from the ground in pure disgust. Jimmy tried to grab the woman from behind, and Cody made an attempt to restrain her from the side. Neither were very successful. “She’s meaner than a mad bull, ” Buck noted to himself.

   “Come here you!” She bellowed at Lou. Fighting off the men, she began trampling over Buck to get to a stunned Lou. This woman really wanted to hurt her.

   “Joe!” Jimmy barked before an elbow collided with his chin.

   “What the hell is wrong with you?” Cody demanded. He too received a forceful strike to the face.

   Buck, finally growing tired of being trampled on, hugged the woman’s legs. His actions took her by surprise and she fell to the ground.

   “Let go of-” With a determined blow, Lou silenced Joe’s protest. The woman lay quietly sleeping where she had fallen.

   “Thank God for Rachel’s belief in soaking pans,” Lou noted as she held up the dirty pan. The pan had contained last night’s super that she had tried to cook. Rachel did her best to guide Lou through the process, but to no avail. None of the boys ate more than a small spoonful. So, Rachel suggested she give the rest to the stray dog that had adopted them, and soak the pan overnight. Because the pan emitted an unpleasant odor due to Lou’s notable cooking skills, her fellow bunk mates suggested it remain outside. “Looks like it came in handy,” Lou thought to herself.

   “What do we do now?” Buck asked as he raised himself from the ground. They couldn’t just leave her there.

   “I’m taking her to jail,” Jimmy said matter-of-factly. “Who all wants to press charges?” A unanimous vote emerged, and the riders began hauling their rough visitor off to jail.

MEANWHILE AT ISABELLE’S

   “Something bothering you, Kid?” Isabelle inquired after noticing how little he ate. “I hope it ain’t my cooking,” Isabelle joked.

   “No, the food’s great,” Kid reassured. At Isabelle’s joke, Kid found himself thinking about the meal Lou attempted to make last night. He’d eat the whole smelly meal himself if it would win Lou’s hand. Somehow he had managed to convince himself that courting somebody else would make his love for Lou fade. But it hadn’t. What he was doing wasn’t fair to Isabelle.

   “Got a lot on your mind, huh?” Isabelle noted. She realized exactly who it was too. Lou, Lou, Lou. A sigh escaped her lips as she retrieved dessert. “How about a slice of apple pie?”

   “No,” Kid said quickly. “Thanks. I best be heading back now.” Sometimes thinking is best done alone. However, heading back to the station wasn’t the answer. Instead, Kid decided to ride out towards Larkin’s Creek. There he could be alone to truly sort through his emotions.

RETURNING TO THE TASK OF JAILING JOE

   “This woman weighs more than I do,” Cody stated in protest to their feat.

   “It ain’t that far,” Jimmy scolded. “You’ll live.”

   “Maybe we should put her in the horse trough first?” Lou suggested. “For Teaspoon’s sake?” The woman clearly didn’t see bathing as a priority in her life.

   “I ain’t carrying her any farther than I have too,” Cody said firmly. “Teaspoon’ll just have to suffer.”

   “You two want to hold up your end?” Buck suggested. Jimmy and him had her by the arms, while Lou and Cody had her legs. At the moment, it felt like Lou and Cody had it the easiest.

   “We are,” Cody snapped.

   “Don’t feel like it,” Jimmy said heatedly. The riders stopped in the middle of the street, and rested their load on the ground. The citizens of Rock Creek eyed them curiously from a distance, but the riders failed to notice. They were too focused on bickering.

   “Jimmy, do me a favor,” Cody began in clear annoyance. “Next time leave your admirers where you found em’.”

   “Especially if they’re like this,” Buck added. His jaw still ached from the woman’s vicious right hand, and Cody’s black eye looked just as sore.

   “I did!” Jimmy said defensively. He wished they’d stop arguing with him. His bottom lip still thrived in pain.

   “Don’t look like it to me,” Lou joined in as she noticed how badly the woman had whooped them. “By the way she’s acting, I said she was a lot more than an admirer!” Joe had obviously formed a strong liking for Jimmy and a great disliking for her.

   “Hickok’s secret love,” Buck teased. The others found his words to be slightly amusing, but Jimmy didn’t.

   “Enough!” Jimmy ordered. “She ain’t gonna stay out forever.”

   “Jimmy’s right,” Lou agreed. Once again the riders resumed their task. The last thing they needed was Joe displaying her love for Jimmy again. “This is just my luck,” Lou noted to herself. Now she had another woman to contend with.

   Cody, leaning close to Lou whispered “It’s just like Jimmy to jail his woman,” he joked. Lou couldn’t help but giggle softly. Jimmy would have pounded Cody senseless for comically referring to Joe as ‘his woman’.

   “What was that, Cody?” Jimmy demanded after noticing Lou smile.

   “Oh, I was just telling Lou I couldn’t wait to jail this woman,” he lied.

   “Better have been,” Jimmy warned.

THE ARRIVAL

   After Kid’s departure, Isabelle busied herself with the clean up. Her beau had been distracted during the entire time they were together and his behavior was very upsetting. His thoughts were easily read. He was thinking about precious little Lou. Isabelle was having a difficult time accepting that Lou was a threat to her relationship with the Kid. “She doesn’t even behave like a lady!” Isabelle thought in a huff.

   “Why darling, what ever is the matter?” a young southern man inquired from her door way.

   “Drake!” Isabelle cried. She was very startled by his unexpected arrival. “What are you doing here?”

   “Well, I just had to see my honey suckle again,” he admitted as he crossed the room. Isabelle in panic tried to rush past him. “Now that ain’t a proper greeting,” Drake informed her as his arm circled her waist and pulled her close. “Not when it took so long for me to find you.”

   “Leave me be!” Isabelle cried.

   “I can’t do that,” Drake said heatedly. “Not when you have something I want.”

   Isabelle froze in terror.

BACK AT THE JAIL

   “Let me outta here!” Joe demanded. She glared at Lou from behind the bars, continuously rubbing the bump on her head. “I ain’t through with you missy!”

   “Ma’am,” Teaspoon began firmly. “I need you to settle down.” Lou and the boys had brought the woman in unconscious, but it wasn’t long until the big boned woman woke up. Jimmy, at the first sign of Joe’s waking, fled the scene. Cody, Buck, and Lou managed to tell their stories before the rough woman began growling at her situation.

   “Her name’s Joe,” Cody informed Teaspoon.

   “What’s your full name?” Teaspoon asked politely.

   “Joesphine Wheatley,” the woman answered in a pouty tone. Obviously she didn’t think she deserved to be jailed. “Marshal are you gonna let me outta here?”

   “Well, Miss Wheatley-”

   “Joe,” the caged woman corrected. “Suits me.”

   “I’ll say,” Cody commented secretly to his bunk mates. “So does the cage.”

   “Heard that!” Joe spat. “If these bars weren’t here-”

   “Save your breath,” Cody suggested as he departed. Buck and Lou quickly followed. Teaspoon was on his own with this one.

ISABELLE’S PREDICAMENT

   “Aren’t you suppose to be in prison?” Isabelle inquired nervously. “Twenty year sentence?”

   “It didn’t suite me well,” he answered. “Now about that jewelry box I gave you.”

   “What about it?” Isabelle questioned. Although pretending to be confused, she knew why he desired it.

   “I want it back,” he informed her. “It’s very dear to me.”

   “I don’t have it anymore,” Isabelle lied. “I gave it to a close friend.”

   “Who?” Drake demanded. He grew very angry and his grip on her tightened.

   “Louise. Louise McCloud,” Isabelle informed him. Surprisingly Drake believed her lie.

   “Well, I suggest you convince her to give it back,” Drake suggested. “Or something terrible might happen to you both.”

   Isabelle knew why Drake wanted the box so bad. Under the velvet lining, Isabelle had discovered a map to the treasure he had stolen. After he was jailed, Isabelle claimed the money as her own. If Drake discovered the map missing, he’d kill her for her thievery. She didn’t mean to get Louise involved in her predicament, but it was the only thing she could think of. Now, they were both in danger. “If only I’d kept the map!” Isabelle thought to herself. Then she could just hand over the box, and disappear before Drake knew any better.

On to Part Three!