©1997 by Kathy.
Kid lay silently in the darkness, waiting to hear again the sound that had woken him. He only heard soft footsteps creeping towards his bed. He tensed, then sprang, knocking the intruder to the ground.
"Hey Kid, I only wanted to say goodbye!" Lou's fierce whisper sounded loud enough to be a shout. "Did'ja have to jump so hard?" Light from Emma's lamp flooded the scene.
"What's goin'..? Lou, is that you?" Emma lowered the shotgun she was holding. "You alright." Her brown eyes twinkled as she realised what had happened. "I'll, er, leave you two alone." Emma headed back upstairs to finish dressing. Her boys were going into danger, but they wouldn't go without a hot breakfast and something to go on with later.
"Lou, what are you doing? I could have hurt you!" I would have, without thinking about it. Does this mean I'm cruel? Mean? A bully? Kid pushed aside the questions as he listened to Lou.
"I told you, Kid, I just wanted to say goodbye!"
Now Kid was really puzzled. Emma insisted he say goodbye to everyone last night so he could sleep in this morning. What was going on here? "Yeah, well, goodbye," he said diffidently.
"Kid? Is that it? I was kinda hopin' for, well.." Lou inched closer. Puzzled turned to worried as Kid realised that Lou wanted a kiss. How am I going to get out of this one? He froze as he realised what this meant. Lou had come in here expecting to be kissed - this must be what he usually did; kiss Lou goodbye?
It felt all wrong; he didn't think he generally kissed boys goodbye; did he? Oh, dear. And Emma knew and didn't mind? Suddenly he felt as if he'd just better get out of there, and fast.
"Kid?" Lou saw the look on Kid's face. "What's wrong?"
"I, uh, I don't think this is a good, I mean..." His voice trailed off as he suddenly grabbed for his trousers. "I, um, have to, I." He started to run out the door, when he heard Lou's scream of laughter.
"Kid! You think! I mean, you thought! You forgot!" Lou wasn't just laughing now, he was rolling on the floor.
"What?" Kid asked.
"I'm a girl, you silly! And you thought, I mean you," and the laughter started again.
"You're a girl? Girls are allowed to ride for the Pony Express?"
Lou sobered up instantly. "No, and Teaspoon doesn't know. Kid, you cain't say anything or I'll get fired. Promise?"
"Emma knows though?" This was crazy! A girl going out to ride after the most dangerous criminals in the area? His protective instincts kicked in. "You can't go out after the Wiltshires. You're a girl!"
He couldn't understand why Lou started laughing again. "Kid, we have this conversation every time I go out. For the last time, Kid, I been doing this just as long as you have, and I'm just as good as you are. Now, I got to go." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek., then softened when she saw the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Kid, I just didn't realise how much you'd forgotten. Better remember me when I get back, though."
"I will." Just then, Teaspoon's voice came loud and clear.
"Lou! We're leaving! Now!"
"Coming! Bye Kid." She ran out the door, leaving a very bemused Kid behind.
<<Thought you said a five-year-old Kiowa could follow this trail.>> Ike joked.
"He could, but not after all you whites came and messed up the tracks." Buck tried to joke back, but after hours of concentration, looking for the slightest clues and then hoping he was making the right guesses, he was tired and it showed.
"Anything, Buck?" Marshal Sam Cain asked.
"That Apache's good, Sam. I'm only guessing, but I think he's taken Wiltshire somewhere east, heading toward Coyote Canyon."
Teaspoon shook his head. "Don't make no sense, Sam. That canyon's big enough to hide anyone, but there's only one way in or out. If'n we just wait long enough, we'll get'em for sure."
"I agree, Teaspoon. Buck, I ain't sayin' you're wrong, but could Cold Eyes have mixed up the trail somehow?"
Buck sighed. "It's possible, Sam. I gotta admit, all that soft living in Sweetwater has gotten me out of practice a bit."
<<Soft living? Wish I was living soft.">> Ike tried to keep the situation light, but it didn't really work.
"I just don't have to track as often, and I don't get the time I'd like. It's always rush, rush to get anywhere. I'm sure as I can be that that's where they're headed."
"Well, how sure's that?" Sam's impatience was showing. Buck just looked at him.
"Son, you know this territory better'n anybody I ever knowed. Is there a way out of the canyon I don't know about? An old Indian trail or something? It just don't make sense Wiltshire goin' there otherwise." Teaspoon was frustrated too, but he knew better than to waste that energy on hurting his friends. He'd much rather spend it on hunting his enemies.
"I don't know of one, Teaspoon, but that doesn't mean there isn't one there."
<<If there is, we'll find it,>> Ike's confidence showed just as clear as any tone of voice.
"We better rest up, then go a couple more hours before sunset." Sam spoke to Buck quietly as they dismounted. "I didn't mean to contradict you, Buck, its just that..."
"I know."
