At Teaspoon's decision the others had run toward the barn, eager to get their quest under way. It had taken only a few minutes for the others to saddle their horses and prepare to ride out to find their missing friend. Rachel stood on the porch her heart breaking for the young girl who stood by her horse waiting with tears flowing down her pale clammy cheeks. Watching Lou's plight, and knowing how deeply she loved Kid Rachel had gone to Lou's side while the others were preparing their mounts. She had looked deeply into the face of the young girl she had come to think of as a daughter or maybe a younger sister and dragged her into a close embrace.
'Honey, if anyone can find him you can. Have faith in him. He wouldn't leave you alone. Not even the devil himself could take him from your side' she spoke as she wiped the tears from Lou's face with her thumbs
'Thanks Rachel' she spoke 'You understand why I've gotta find him don't you'
'I do and you will' she replied 'you will bring him back with you and you'll have that passell of babies that you want' Rachel smiled as they were disturbed by the sound of the others exiting the stable.
They rode for some time in sombre silence, the only sounds amongst the man occasional sob from the grief stricken Lou. All each of them wanted to do was to spare Lou the heartwrenching pain they knew she was feeling. The quiet hiccupping breaths that she drew were breaking the hearts of the men that rode with her, but not one of them knew a way to sooth her grief, except to find the man that she loved.
Buck rode ahead of the others carefully trying to track Katy's journey back to her home, there was no guarantee that she had come directly back to the way station, but at the moment that was the only clue that they had and they would have to play it out to its end. He would not rest until one way or the other he had found Kid for Lou, to finally put her heart at rest, he would not let her live with the indecision of Kid's fate clouding her own future.
As the sun sank low on the horizon, Noah beckoned to Teaspoon and hung back from the others, there had been no sign of Kid or any indication that he had actually been anywhere along the trails they had already covered all day and the boys were starting to realise the futility of their actions
'Teaspoon, How long are we going to keep this up?' Noah asked quietly tipping his hat back on his head to look into the older man's eyes
'As long as it takes Noah.' the older man answered not sure what he was being asked.
'Teaspoon, you and I both know that with the amount of blood that was on Katy, if he was alive, he wont last long. Do you really want her to find him like that?' Noah spoke
'Noah, she needs to know, one way or the other, and she's right, she can't see anything worse than she is already imagining.' Teaspoon explained to Noah 'until we know otherwise, we will keep looking for him.'
They rejoined the rest of the group and continued to ride until it was too late for any sort of reasonable tracking. Setting up a small camp site, they effectively and efficiently went bout their tasks. The horses tethered, building a small campfire they warmed a pot of coffee, passed around tins of food and strips of beef jerky they always carried with them. Too distraught to be of any use to anyone Lou sat miserably on her bedroll as the others went about making camp for the evening. They had never seen Lou like this before, the usually self assured feisty young woman they all knew and loved had retreated to within herself and nobody could draw her back from the desolation they knew she was feeling. One by one, they all knelt at her side and hugged her tightly, trying to give her some of their own strength, but not even that could help her come back to them from the thoughts that were milling in her mind. thoughts of what could be happening to Kid even as they searched for him.
'Boys' Teaspoon spoke as they sat around the small fire they had built 'I want someone on guard all night. Something has happened out here and there's no guarantee that we aren't being watched. I'll take first watch. If anything, anything at all doesn't seem right, wake the rest of us. I don't want any surprises' Teaspoon concluded
'I'll take second' Noah spoke
'THird' Ike signed
'Fourth' Buck stated
'I guess that leaves me with last then' Jimmy smiled tightly
The evening appeared to go smoothly, each of the riders waking the next for their stint at watch. Lou slept badly all night tossing and turning in her bedroll, her dreams filled with images of what could be happening to Kid. Each of them checked on her frequently during their watches, her unsettled slumber causing them to recover her often as she wriggled her way out of her bedroll. She sat up as the sun started to peak through the mountains and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Sometime during the night, she realised that her own misery was making this journey harder for each of her companions and even though her heart bled with the thought of what was happening to her beloved, she knew she owed it to the others not to make this journey any more difficult than it already was.
Seeing the still sleeping forms of her friends around the glowing embers of last nights campfire, she looked for Jimmy, she wanted to talk to him in private, knowing that he must be feeling the pain of Kid's disappearance just as deeply as she did, Kid was his best friend and this could not be easy for him. A little confused when she saw that his bedroll was still rolled beside Teaspoon, she shrugged her shoulders, thinking that he had gone to check the horses, she rose and walked to where there faithful steeds were tethered. A frown marred her pale face as she reached the tether line. Jimmy's horse was not there. Running back to the campsite, she knelt frantically by Teaspoon's side and shook the man she had come to think of as a father.
"Teaspoon, Jimmy's gone!!"
On to Chapter Four
