"Hasn't Lou been through enough these past couple of months without the two of you fighting over her! Have either of you taken a good look at her lately? She hardly ever eats, her face is sickly looking and there are dark circles under her eyes. Did either of you notice how she looked at breakfast? Did you?"
The other riders exchanged uneasy glances behind the housekeeper's back. Jesse gazed at Rachel in open admiration, while Teaspoon fought a sudden urge to smile. Seldom did Rachel ever become so riled up over a dispute that any of the riders had. Usually she chose to remain neutral to either side, opting to let Teaspoon step in and resolve the problem if the riders didn't settle their differences themselves. Obviously, Kid and Jimmy's continuous bickering over the last couple of weeks and concern for the female riders' health had pushed Rachel's anger over the boiling point.
"How dare you continue to make things hard on Lou, Kid! Do you think you're the only one who has been hurting these past few months? Can't you see how miserable Lou is or have you been so absorbed in your own hurt to notice? For someone who claims to love Lou, you sure and the hell have a funny way of showing it!"
Kid hung his head as Rachel tore into him. The anger he had felt toward Jimmy had dissipated, shortly after it started, leaving him with a feeling of immense shame. He made no attempts to defend himself, knowing that what Rachel was saying was right. He hadn't really been paying too much attention to anyone's feelings lately, let alone Lou's. He could still see her standing in the barn the night that his world had fallen apart. Her velvet eyes had filled with tears as she handed the ring he had placed on her finger back to him.
"I can't marry you, Kid."
"Why?" he had asked, his voice hoarse with emotion.
"Cause I'm not ready to settle down yet. What are we going to do now?" She had answered, tears sliding down her face.
"Go back to the way things used to be, I guess." He had replied, not understanding then, just how hard it would be to act as if nothing had happened between them.
Lou had wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve and said, "Do you think we can?"
"I don't know." He had replied. Lou had flung her arms around his neck and held him close for several minutes, before he had torn himself from her embrace.
Thinking back on that night so long ago, he wondered if he would ever have another chance to hold Lou like that again. He recalled several attempts over the past few months when Lou had tried to talk to him. He could still see the hurt on her face as he made excuses or simply told her he didn't want to talk. He had tried so hard to convince himself that Lou had never loved him, and that he'd be better off without her. Never once had he ever bothered to ask her how she was doing or if she wanted to talk. Now, it looked like it was too late. Lou would probably never forgive him for the way he had been treating her, and he really couldn't blame her if she did.
"Kid? Kid? Are you listening to me? Have you heard anything I've said?"
The sound of Rachel's voice brought the Kid out of his reverie. He focused his attention and was surprised to see Rachel's angry face a few inches from his own. Obviously he had been so caught up in thinking about Lou that he hadn't heard the last few sentences of what Rachel had been saying. He shook his head in the affirmative motion, not wanting to her to know that he hadn't really been listening to what she was saying.
"Good! Glad to know that you were listening." Rachel said, sarcastically. She took a deep breath to calm herself, allowing Cody the opportunity he had been waiting for. He did not want to stay and listen to Rachel yell at Kid and Jimmy. There were better ways to spend a day, even if it meant working.
"Noah, isn't Widow Greysen expecting us over to her place? You know to, ah, help her with her.with her."
Noah looked at Cody with a startled expression on his dark face. For as long as he had known the Cody he had never heard the blond rider ever volunteer for any kind of work. Well, that wasn't quite right. He had never heard Cody ever volunteer for any kind of work that wouldn't enhance his image or involved rescuing beautiful women. Obviously the present situation in the bunkhouse was getting to Cody, if he was volunteering to help their elderly neighbor.
"Uh, yeah. She needs help with her, ah, with her.horse." Noah answered quickly. He had felt a brief twinge of sympathy for his Kid, as Rachel had torn into him. Mostly he was just glad that Rachel wasn't mad at him. From the outraged look on the housekeeper's face, he had the feeling that Rachel was busy reloading her mental gun in order to continue blasting his fellow riders with both barrels blazing.
He and Cody began backing up toward the door, hoping that Rachel wouldn't find anything to yell at them about. Cody nearly pushed Noah through the door in his haste to exit the bunkhouse before the next round of shouting started. Ike tugged on Buck's arms, his hands flying. Buck nodded, and the two riders began inching their way past Kid, Jimmy and Rachel.
Teaspoon watched with amusement as the two riders skirted around Rachel. "Boys, take Jesse with you. I don't want him to get caught in the crossfire."
"Ah, Teaspoon! Why can't I stay and watch! The fight was just starting to get good!" Jesse protested.
Buck and Ike grinned as Teaspoon pushed Jesse toward them. The grins slid from their faces as Rachel turned and leveled each of them with a deadly glare. Obviously, Rachel was not pleased with finding herself the object of their amusement. Hastily, three boys exited the bunkhouse as Rachel started in on Jimmy.
Buck looked at the others with a worried expression on his handsome face, as they headed toward the barn. "Do you think we should have left? What if someone draws a gun?"
"Are you kidding? Jimmy and the Kid wouldn't draw a gun in there! 'Sides, if they did, Teaspoon would shoot them both!" Cody exclaimed.
"Who said anything about Jimmy and Kid? I was talking about Rachel! She's so mad right now, she's liable to shoot them if they don't do what she says!" Buck quipped, a grin spreading across his face.
Cody, Noah, and Jesse burst out laughing. Ike's slender shoulders shook with silent laughter as he slapped Buck on the back good-naturedly.
"I want this fighting between you boys to stop, and I want it stopped right now! How can two people who claim to be best friends one minute, be at each other's throats the next! I suggest you wipe that smirk off your face, Mr. Hickok, before I do it for you! Don't think you're not just as guilty as making Lou unhappy, as the Kid is! You've used every opportunity you can to ignite an explosion between you and Kid, using Lou as the gunpowder! What kind of friend are you?" Rachel asked, turning her attention from Kid to Jimmy.
Jimmy had listened with great pleasure as Rachel had tore into Kid. It was about time someone besides him called Kid on the terrible way he had treated Lou. As much as he liked Kid, sometimes he just couldn't understand him. Lou had gladly given her love and herself to Kid, and yet, he wasn't happy enough with their situation. Kid's stubborn pride is what had gotten them all into this miserable mess anyhow. Instead of being happy with the woman he loved, Kid had allowed his sense of honor tear them apart. If it had been him Lou had fallen in love with, he knew that they wouldn't have been fighting right now.
The smirk slid from Jimmy's face as Rachel stepped into him. Kid and Teaspoon watched tensely, ready to pull Rachel out of harm's way if Jimmy went for his gun. Few people would ever dare to get that close to Jimmy, without having a gun drawn in their faces. They hoped that Rachel happened to be one of those people. Jimmy's steely gray eyes gazed into Rachel's glittering ones for several moments. They stood that way for several moments, before Jimmy finally stepped back. Teaspoon and Kid exchanged shocked expressions. Never would they have imagined that an unarmed woman could ever best "Wild Bill" Hickok in a draw down. True, neither had gone for a gun, but it had been a draw down just the same.
"Now, I expect you boys to apologize to one another, before you leave the bunkhouse." Rachel said, leveling a look at Jimmy and then Kid.
It was Kid who stuck out his hand first. Jimmy stared at the outstretched hand for several moments, before finally shaking it. Relief swept over Teaspoon's face. He hadn't known an argument between friends could turn so ugly.
"Alright, boys, we've got chores to do. Rachel." Teaspoon wiped the sweat from his brow, placed his hat on his head and headed out the door. Jimmy and Kid followed, Rachel watching them go with a look of victory written all over her face.
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