By: M.L. Tankesly
Copyright 1999
Disclaimer:
The Young Riders don't belong to me, they belong to others, no copyright infringement is intended. This is all meant in fun and is used without permission. I promise to return them to their proper places when I'm done. No one was harmed in the process of creating this little monster, except possible history, which was probably butchered.
Language/Violence Warning:
Yes, there is both in this story. I tried to keep it clean, honest! Unfortunately, certain situations in this story just called for the appropriate response to be rather graphic and/or violent in nature. {Saying "oh yicky poo," just didn't seem to work.}
Additional Notes:
We all know that "Lou" is short for "Louise", however, the general populace of Sweetwater doesn't know this little fact. Naturally, these people will refer to Lou as a "he", I realize that it may become a bit confusing at times, but I will try not to complicate things anymore than they may already be. Also this story is set in an alternate universe, so don't worry if the story doesn't follow along with the series much. So without further ado, and if anyone is still with me, here's a little tale of the Old West not found in any history book. {Probably with really good reason! *g*} Questions, comments, and suggestions can be directed to Tankesly@rocketmail.com
The last thing Lou McCloud remembered was getting out of the buckboard to remove a fallen tree limb, that was blocking the road, and thinking that the path to the Widow Todd's place had the be the worst in the territory, not to mention being home to half the gophers in the mid west. With a silent curse to the gophers, and the thunderstorm that had obviously knocked the tree limb down, Lou gets to work removing the obstruction.
"Do you need any help?" Emma Shannon called out from the buckboard, where she was holding the reigns. Since the Widow Todd had invited her and Lou out to the remote farm, Emma could shake the uneasy feeling that seemed to settle in her gut. Something about the Todd woman unnerved Emma, she couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was the way the widow had treated the young Express Riders, entrusted into Emma's care, the few times the widow had been out to the Express Way station. Maybe it was the way the widow watched Lou during those visits that left both Emma and Lou with the willies.
"Ahh, no, I got it." Lou had replied absently, her attention focused on the tree and problem it presented. Reaching down to get a handful of tree branch, Lou never saw the figure step out form behind the tree or hear Emma's cry of warning, before her world exploded in pain and then there was nothing.
As Lou slowly regained consciousness, sometime later, she first became aware of a pounding headache and a sense of growing dread. Pushing herself to her feet she ignores the nausea threatening to over take her and looks around for her companion. "Emma!" She calls out, wincing from the painful sound of her own voice, finding no sign of the other woman or the buckboard the two were traveling in. Out of the corner of her eye she catches a reflection on the ground not far from her. Reaching for her gun, she finds is missing from its holster. 'Funny, I don't remember drawing," she says to herself as she walks over to pick up her gun lying in the grass along the side of the lonely little dirt road. 'Funnier still, how did it get over here.' She wondered, 'I didn't need it to move a fallen tree limb.'
Reholstering the gun, she takes a longer look around the areas, looking for something she may have missed before. A few moments later, she finds it, crouching down she examines several sets of tracks, one belonging to the missing buckboard. "Damn," she growls, the action sending thunderbolts of pain through her pounding head, after studying the tracks for several minutes. Closing her brown eyes for a moment she comes to a decision, rising, somewhat unsteadily to her feet, she turns around and heads in the opposite direction. Whoever kidnapped Emma wasn't even trying to hide the fact, either these were the stupidest bandits that Lou had ever come across or Emma was in big trouble. Either way, there were too many of them for Lou to try to take on alone, she needed help and she needed it fast. The best place to find that help would be in Sweetwater, it was closer than the way station and she was pretty sure that most of the boys would be there as well, goofing off as usual. Taking one last look behind her, she mutters another curse and starts off walking again, pausing to pick up her discarded hat on the way.
Lou had never been so glad to see Thomkins store in all her life, after walking for the better part of three hours, she would have ben happy to see the old geezer dressed ina bright red saloon dress, dancing on a table. Trying not to cringe at THAT mental image, and the fact that it really didn't seem to bother her that she was even having those mental images. Lou kept up her trek to the Marshal's office, unsure if she would ever be able to close her eyes again and not see Thomkins in that dress. Shacking her head to clear it of the unwanted image, she tries to gather her wondering thoughts as she approaches her destination.
"Lou!" A voice called out as she passed the saloon. Ignoring the voice she continued walking, the marshal's office within sight, even if it seemed to be moving about in front of her somewhat blurred vision. The pounding in her head had increased and it was getting hard to think straight, if the little image of Thomkins meant anything. However, none of that mattered, Emma was in trouble and needed help, that was the only thing that was important. She had to get Emma back and then she could give into the endless pounding in her head and that little voice that kept whispering *just let go* in the back of her head.
"Lou!" James Hickok called again from much closer this time. He had been on his way out of the saloon when he saw Lou walk by. Something was terribly wrong for Lou to be in town, instead of with Emma at the Todd place, and just where was Emma and the buckboard the town had left in earlier? "Lou?!" He questioned, grabbing hold of Lou's arm to restrain her, she was acting like she hadn't heard him. As she turned toward him, he got a good look at her face and tried not to cringe at the sight of the multicoloured bruise that had formed over her left eye and seemed to disappear into short dark brown hair. "What happened?," he asked slowly, seeing the slight unfocused look in the brown eyes before him, a knot forming in his gut as all sorts of possibilities for the bruise and Emma's absence raced through his mind.
"Have to find Sam, Emma's been taken," she replied jerking her arm free and starting off for the Marshal's office once more. She didn't have time for such silly questions, she had to get Sam.
"Taken?! By Who?" Hickok questioned, hurrying to catch up with Lou. By the time he did, she was at the steps of the Marshal's office, where she had paused to catch her breath near the water troth.
'When did they put the Marshal's office up a mountain?,' She absently wondered, dunking her head in the troth to remove some of the dirt and grim she had collected in her trek through the country side. Taking a moment to gather her thought and concentrate on not passing out just yet, 'Not 'til Emma's safe,' she forcefully told herself.
"Taken? Who's been taken?," another voice demanded as Lou raised her head out of the troth, trying to remain up right and not fall flat on her face. "Lou?? Why aren't you at the Widow Todd's Place?" Teaspoon Hunter asked as he gave the youth a quick once over. The littlest, if not the youngest, of the Express Riders statined just outside of Sweetwater, Lou had the appearance of a young man barely old enough to carry a gun, and as far as Teaspoon knew, Lou didn't even shave and if he did it was probably once every couple of weeks, if that. Although, Lou may have been the "runt" of the Sweetwater team, he was probably the meanest. In Teaspoon's vast experience, it was the little ones what you had to look out for and he was thankful that Lou seemed to be able to control his temper. Teaspoon was too old to be looking after both Hickok and Lou, otherwise, he thought noting the young man's haggard appearance. Lou looked like he had been ridden hard and put up wet. His clothes were sweat soaked from the long walk and he wsa coverd in dirt and grim from the road. The bruise just above his left eye looked painful, 'rifle butt' Teaspoon noted automatically, having seen enough of them in his lifetime.
"We never made it. There was a tree limb in the road, I got out to move it...and, I..I'm not sure what happened, everything went black. I woke up a couple of hours ago and came back here." Lou reported trying not to dwell on the fact that Teaspoon and the man beside him seemed to have gained twins somehow.
"Lou, you better sit down," Sam Cain finally spoke from Hunter's side. "Cody, get the Doc and bring 'em back here." This said to the group that had gathered behind Lou. Like Teaspoon, he had noted Lou's somewhat rocky condition and wasn't sure how the boy could still be standing after the blow he took, however, Cain was thankful nevertheless.
Once inside the Marshal's office, Lou was seated in the chair Teaspoon had vacated when the boy first arrived and was surrounded by his fellow Riders. Kid seemed the most concerned, almost hovering over the young man in the chair. Cain has strike once again at the soft spoken Kid's protectiveness toward Lou and had written off as "big brotherly" affection. Being the littlest, Cain assumed the other Riders at the station naturally thought of Lou as their "little brother" and looked out for him accordingly. Cain even found himself wanting to take the boy under his wing and be the father he obviously didn't have. "Now Lou tell us again what happened?" Cain asked leaning against his desk, trying to hide his fear for Emma. The boy had been with her and it didn't strike Sam that Lou was the type to leave her out on the road if she was in trouble or something.
Before Lou could reply the Doctor entered the room, aided by a not-so-gental push by Cody. While the Doctor worked, "We were stopped on the road by a downed tree limb. I got out to move it, and....I don't know, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and the next thing I know I'm waking up with a splitting headache and Emma's gone. I looked around and found some tracks, a lot of'em. Figured there were too many of'em, so I came to get you." Lou explained absently wondering why the Marshal insisted on yelling, 'at least, there's not two of him anymore,' she thought taking slow even breaths, it seemed to help the pounding in her head some. 'But if this guy doesn't quit poking me, I'm going to horse whip him.' She mentally added, giving the doctor a dirty look.
Letting the Doc continue his examination, Cain pulled Teaspoon outside to talk. "It doesn't make any sense? Why kidnap Emma and just leave Lou lying out there?" Cain wondered running a hand through his dirty blonde hair in frustration. "Maybe its a trap."
Before Teaspoon could reply the Doctor stepped out of the building followed closely by Cody and Hickok. "How is he, Doc?" Sam asked shoving his hat back on.
Taking a deep breath, trying to ignore the two grim faced young men standing beside him. "The boy has a mild concussion. However, he seems to be alert and his reflexes are okay. Given bed rest he should be all right in a couple of days." The Doctor reported, wondering for the one hundredth time why he ever came to Sweetwater in the first place, when he could have had a nice quite practice back east, anyway from the rowdy Express Riders. "I'd also take that gun from him, if I were you." He added before departing.
"What was that all about?" Teaspoon commented turning his attention to Cody and Hickok, who were fighting laughter, and losing, at the Doctor's obvious discomfort.
"Lou threatened to shoot him, if he was confided to bed rest," Cody replied with an evil grin. "Said something about turning him into a gelding if he didn't leave him alone, he had to find Emma. Buck and Kid are trying to talk some sense into him now." He continued, glad that he was outside and not in there, trying to reason with a determined Lou McCloud. No Cody wasn't stupid, a bit slow at times, but not stupid. About that time Lou came shoving her way out of the Marshal's office, Buck and Kid close behind her still trying to talk her into taking it easy for a while, and right past Cain and Hunter.
'Hmmmm, still has the gun.' Teaspoon noted, 'going to be a long day, I just know it.'
"Okay boys mount up, Buck go get a horse for Lou." Hunter spoke up, realizing that getting Lou to stay behind would be about the same odds of him yelling a thunderstorm into submission. Although, the thunderstorm would probably be easier to reason with.
On to Part Two
Next up the Widow Todd's place and the beginning of a nightmare.
