More Than Murder
© 1998 by Suzy
May not be copied without permission from the author.
Teaspoon sat astride his large palomino waiting patiently, occasionally moving slowly enough to follow Buck as he tracked the men responsible for more than a dozen murders within the last two months. Buck was the best Indian tracker in the territory, if anyone could track the latest tracks he could.
'Teaspoon its no use, the tracks aren't clear enough, the ground is too rocky, there is no vegetation to speak of and what little tracks that were here have blown away in the wind. I'm sorry,' he apologised
'Damn,' he cursed softly 'Thanks for your help Buck. I know you've done your best, and there ain't nobody could do better' he was quick to add . 'Better round the boys up, I'll need to talk to all of you. Tell Rachel she's included'
Buck spurred his horse into action and rode off in the direction of Rock Creek, Teaspoon followed more slowly, trying to piece together in his mind what he was going to do about this latest problem. He hated having to rely on the boys to help him out with his lawman duties, but there was none else in the town he could trust to help him out when he needed it.
Arriving at the Way Station just after dusk, he was pleased to find that the riders were all assembled and awaiting his instruction. He walked onto the bunkhouse porch, looking into the faces of all of his young charges. He had watched these boys, grow from green young orphans into men that he was proud to count amongst his friends. He watched them all for a short time, before he asked them to put their lives on the line, yet again. Kid the unofficial leader of his family of riders, quietly confident was possibly the best rider and marksman he had. A man of strong convictions and boundless loyalty sat with his back against the doorjamb. The smallest rider and only girl sat between his legs resting against Kid's chest enfolded in his loving protective arms.
Teaspoon still wondered why he hadn't seen Lou was actually Louise until that hot, fateful day at the waterhole. Throughout her time with her express family she had blossomed more and more every day, until now she appeared to be happy and comfortable revealing her femininity amongst the boys, all of whom he knew would lay down their lives for her. Seated on a chair at the end of the porch, his hat pulled low over his eyes, apparently catching a few extra moments sleep. Habitually dressed in immaculate buckskin Cody was the family joker and funny man. A person who could be depended on to day the wrong thing at the wrong time, but in a crisis you wouldn't want anyone else at your side, an excellent marksman and loyal to a fault, Teaspoon felt deep in his heart that one day if none other Cody would make a name for himself.
Noah, his newest rider, sat on the steps watching Teaspoon shrewdly. A free black man Noah, had a chip on his shoulder the size of the Territories, but he had found his own niche in the Rock Creek family, and for the time being at least was content to be there. Ike, the gentlest, kindest man Teaspoon had ever known sat beside Noah, signing something that made the whole family laugh. Robbed of both his speech and hair, by tragedy as a child Ike had made a place for himself here when outcast by most of society. Both kind hearted warm natured he had seen enough tragedy and heartbreak to turn any person into a cynical blackheart, but he also seemed to see the brighter side of life.
Buck, also an outcast within the town, Ike's best friend and possibly the most accepting of all his riders sat against the opposite side of the door to Kid and Lou. The Indian was the only one of his riders that he knew he could trust to keep his head and seek both sides of a story before flying off the handle. Torn between both of his worlds, Teaspoon had tried to counsel the boy to choose his own way in life.
Standing on his own at the other end of the porch, was the rider perhaps closest to Teaspoons heart. In him, Teaspoon saw a kindred spirit, a soul that was hurting, but not knowing what from. Teaspoon knew that Jimmy was tormented by his feelings for Lou but at the same time torn by his strong friendship with Kid. Teaspoon knew what that felt like, but Jimmy needed to make his own way in life. He could only hope that it was not by the gun.
That brought him to the last person on the porch. Rachel Dunne sat on the rocking chair beside Kid and Lou. A voluptuous Irish widow, Teaspoon had always been more than a little fond of her, at times she was the glue that held the family together. Lou's best friend and confidant, and once they got over their infatuations, mother figure to the boys she had fitted in perfectly after Emma and Sam had left for his new job.
'Teaspoon, are you going to tell us what you wanted or just stand there and look at us like that?' Lou called as he stood there watching
'Boys' he paused and looked at Lou and Rachel 'and Ladies. I have something I have to tell you.' he leaned on the railing and tipped his hat back further on his head.
'Yesterday I got word from Blue Creek that there have been over a dozen murders within the last two months, between here and Blue Creek. The last one two days ago. The Marshall there has given up hope, there is never any witnesses, he robs the victim and leaves them there always striking two or three days later. Buck and I have been trying to track them, but it's useless.' Teaspoon shook his head.
'What does that have to do with us Teaspoon?' Cody spoke from under his hatbrim.
' Two things. First, from this minute, any person leaves this station, you do it in threes. I will not have any of you in any more danger than necessary. And I most certainly do not want to find one of you bleeding or worse out on that trail. Do I make myself clear.' he watched as each of his riders nodded in agreement.
'Teaspoon, I think I speak for all of us when I say, we want to help you find them. What can we do?' Kid spoke
'They all happen at about the same place, which will help us. I need one of you to ride out for Blue Creek tomorrow, the rest of you will already be positioned in the high ground, we'll see if we can flush them out' he finished and watched them all as they took in what they had been told.
'Before you volunteer, I want you to know that this is more dangerous than anything else we've done before.'
'I'll do it Teaspoon.' Lou spoke
'I don't think thats a good idea Louise' Teaspoon replied
'Why not, you'll need Kid and Cody, maybe Jimmy for the high positions. If anything goes wrong you'll need Buck for tracking. I'm the only one who you can spare.' she spoke sensibly
'Okay, Lou you're it' Teaspoon stated flatly 'You'll ride out mid morning tomorrow, the rest of us will leave before dawn. If anything happens you are to fire two shots into the air, we will find you.'
Lou's expressive brown eyes filled with tears, but determined to show her strength in front of the boys she stood, shrugging off Kid's attempts to hold her and walked quickly to the barn.
'Why?' Kid asked looking at Teaspoon through his tearglazed eyes
'Kid, she pulls the same duty as anyone here, and she's right. You boys will all be needed for other places. She is the only one I can spare.'
'What do we do now?' Jimmy asked
'I think you boys need to spend some time in town at the saloon.'
'Not like you to send us to the saloon Teaspoon' Cody smiled at the irony of the situation
'Well you might like to mention the valuables that Lou will be carrying tomorrow.'
'teaspoon, you're baiting a trap with that little girl.' Rachel uttered
'Can't be helped Rachel, if we don't draw them out this will be for nothing.' teaspoon replied.
Kid stood and stalked away from the porch toward the barn, Jimmy shook his head in disgust and the rest of the boys sat stunned at Teaspoon's apparent disregard for Lou's safety.
'Don't take Kid to the Saloon with you, let the two of them have some time' Rachel stated as the boys all stood to make their way into town.
'Lou' Kid called softly 'Lou its me' he called finally spotting her sitting in front of Lightning's stall, her hands on her knees her head bowed. He respected her silence and sat beside her, content to be with her if she needed him.
'You don't have to do this Lou.' he turned his hat in his hands
'Yes I do. Just make sure that you keep up your end of the bargain' she threw herself into his arms
'We will catch them.' they sat there silently embracing for some time. The chill night air finally forced them to seek warmer shelter. The bunkhouse was empty when they returned and after undressing down to long johns, they both lay on Lou's bunk and slept entwined in each others arms.
When the others returned, they saw Kid and Lou's sleeping arrangements and realised that the two of them were spending the little time they may have left, together. Watching them sleeping in the semi darkness of the bunkhouse, Jimmy was perplexed by his feelings for Lou. Knowing that Kid and Lou were two parts of the one soul, he couldn't stop himself from deeper and deeper under her spell.
The boys were awake and ready to leave long before the sun rose. Kid had risen and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before dressing and going to the barn to saddle Katy. The boys were all assembled behind Teaspoon and ready to ride, when Lou burst from the bunkhouse. Her eyes glazed and wide with fear, thinking that they had already left.
She sank onto the steps, not caring that she had run from the bunkhouse dressed only in her pale pink long johns.
'Were you leaving without saying goodbye' she spoke as Rachel sat beside her and hugged her
'We didn't want to wake you Lou' Buck spoke
'Just don't let me down boys.' Lou's voice trembled as she spoke
The boys rode up in a cloud of dust and Lou and Rachel sat on the top step in companionable silence content to watch the sun rise. Lou helped Rachel with some of the station chores before saddling Lightning. She walked Lightning to the steps of the station house where Rachel was waiting.
'Be Careful.' Rachel pleaded as she hugged her goodbye
Lou took three envelopes from her pocket and handed them to Rachel. 'Rachel if anything should happen, can you give these to the boys please.' Lou asked
'Sure, but nothing will happen.' Rachel was positive as Lou mounted Lightning and rode out.
'Ride safe Lou' she murmured as she rode away
Lou rode for almost two hours, every sound around her startling her, twice she had drawn on small creatures just for emerging from the scrub. She hadn't seen another human, when crossing a small creek and tired of sitting on Lightning's back she dismounted. Leading Lightning to the creek, she let him drink and then knelt down to scoop water to her own mouth.
'Hot day ain't it?' a deep male voice spoke
Lou spun around startled to find herself looking down the barrel of a gun 'Wasn't until a few moments ago.' she answered praying that the boys were watching over her.
'Here tell that you are carrying valuables.' a second man carrying a rifle spoke.
'Only the mail, I ride for the Pony Express' she answered
'Well I would like very much for you to give me that Mochilla.' the first man asked
Lou shook her head 'I'm sorry but I can't do that.' she answered
'That's not good enough, hand the bag over now boy' the second man drew the hammer back on the rifle and sighted her
Lou reached up and across Lightning's back, drawing the Mochila off and threw it to the man with the rifle.
As he caught the Mochila, a shot rang out hitting him squarely in the shoulder. The first man swung wildly in either direction trying to decide where the shot had come from. Deciding that he was caught in a trap, he rode forward and pulled a struggling Lou by the shoulder onto his horse. Hitting her across the side of her head with his pistol butt as she continued to struggle, he held her now limp form across his lap and spurred his horse into action.
Teaspoon hadn't counted on the killers taking a hostage, it took a few minutes for the boys to get to their horses and ride down the steep incline to where the second killer was writhing on the ground at the pain from Cody's shot. Noah and Ike took care of securing him, tying his arms securely behind his back, paying no heed to his shoulder wound. Buck, was instantly tracking, closely followed by a distraught Kid and Jimmy.
'Boys when we find them don't do anything stupid.' Teaspoon ordered them
'No the stupid thing was letting Lou be the bait' Jimmy sneered. Teaspoon ignored the venom in Jimmy's voice and turned his attention on the prisoner.
'Noah can you and Ike take him to Blue Creek please, we'll find the other one and meet you back at Rock Creek.' Teaspoon instructed him.
'Wouldn't it be better to keep him with us? He could show us the way to the hideout' Cody asked
'I'll never tell you anything. Family sticks together' the man spat at his captors
Cody jumped from his horse and dragged him by his collar until their faces were mere inches apart.
'And if one hair on that girl's head is harmed, neither of you will have family to speak of' he raged
'Cody leave him alone.' Noah pulled him off the prisoner and held him until he calmed a little.
Teaspoon watched warily as Noah and Ike secured their prisoner on his horse and mounted and rode off. He waited for Cody to mount up and then they rode off after the others. They reached them not long after Buck had tracked them to the base of a large rocky hillside. It wasn't long before the horses found the climb too hard going, so the boys continued on foot. Teaspoon had not often seen his boys so completely engrossed in anything that would keep them silent. However, not even the usually smart mouthed Cody had a smart quip to break the tense silence.
They had been following the trail for some time when Buck came to a complete stop.
'It's just stopped again, Teaspoon, it just stops' Buck shook his head his black eyes glassy with the fear of having lost Lou.
No-one had time to answer as they dived for cover from a volley of shots. Buck wiped a trickle of blood from his face where a piece of flying stone chip had hit him after ricocheting from a bullet hitting the cliff from behind. Five faces paled as they scanned the hills looking for the source of the gunfire.
'Now what the hell are we supposed to do?' Jimmy asked furiously, looking to Teaspoon for guidance as they crouched behind rocks just outside of his firing range
'Kid!!Kid!!!' Lou screamed from somewhere further up to incline
All of them frantically searched the rocky cliff for signs of movement.
'There's a house up there Teaspoon.' Cody spoke pointing to the rock face
'Where Cody?' Teaspoon squinted
'He's right' Buck spoke 'It's a little mud house built against the cliff face.'
'Kid, can you climb down that cliff face without them seeing or hearing you?' Teaspoon asked
Kid looked at the cliff face and weighed up the possibility of climbing it. While he was surveying the cliff he realised the plan that Teaspoon was formulating.
'Sure, I can get up there and block the chimney, you lot can take care of him when he has to come out. That way Lou won't get caught in the crossfire.' Kid explained
'Well, what are you waiting for?' Jimmy asked.
Kid skirted around the other side of the hill and climbed down from the top of the cliff face. The climb was slow and labourious to avoid showering gravel down on the roof of the ramshackle little mud house. Reaching the roof he removed his jacket and covered the chimney. Quickly climbing back up the cliffface, he returned to his friends in time to see thick black smoke billowing from the doors and window of the house. As the five of them watched, the gunman emerged from the house, the riders were dismayed to find that he was using Lou as a shield. His arm around her neck he pushed her before him as he walked, her eyes filled with tears, her bottom lip trembling, but her body effectively shielding him from gunshots. The boy's guns all trained on Lou's abductor
'Leave her be!' Teaspoon called stepping fearlessly from behind the boulder he had been behind. The boys all followed Teaspoon's lead. Kid was closer than the rest of them and when he stepped from his cover, her abductor automatically without thinking turned his gun on Kid.
That was all the opening Jimmy needed, in the blink of an eye, Jimmy shot him, blood spurting from the bullet hole in his forehead. As he fell, Lou simply stood there too shocked to move. Kid raced to her side, pulling her into his tight embrace, murmuring soothing words as the hovering tears overflowed. He watched the other men approach over the top of Lou's head and as Jimmy reached their sides he extended a hand and shook Jimmy's firmly. No words needed to express his gratitude to his friend.
'Does anyone know him?' Teaspoon asked
Lou pulled herself from Kid's embrace, swiping at her tear and blood stained face, trying to regain the composure she knew that the boys expected.
'Their names are James and Lester Parkett. He was quite happy to tell me all about their life's work. This is the third time they have done this. That's Lester' she motioned with her pounding head. 'They thought they were above the law, they killed only for money and when the Law got too close they moved on.' her bottom lip trembled and Kid tried to pull her back into his embrace 'That house is full of people's things' she cried 'people they killed'.
She relented and sank back into Kid's embrace. Teaspoon stood back and watched his 'boys' with pride. Never prouder of them then he was at this moment, he knew they would brush aside any praise he bestowed on them, so he merely watched them speaking quietly, all happy that none of them were seriously hurt.
'C'mon boys' he spoke softly waiting until they all turned to look at him. Tears welled in his eyes at the affection he saw for each other in all their faces, warmed that he was indeed part of their small but tight family 'Its time to go home. Rachel will be worried sick.' As the boys walk in front of him, he gently hugged Lou as she stopped in front of him.Kid then swung her up into his arms and carried her, Lou for once content to snuggle her pounding head against his strong shoulder. Watching them with almost fatherly pride, he knew that as always they would have their fights and disagreements but though not united by a common blood bond, they were family and nothing could destroy that. Content with that knowledge he followed his boys to their horses and ultimately their home.
The End
'The Young Riders' is an Ogden/Kane Production. No breach of copyright is intended.
