"I'm serious Jimmy!" Buck's angry retort echoed through the quiet bunkhouse. His fellow riders stared at him in shocked surprise. It wasn't often that Buck ever raised his voice at any of them, but when he did he usually had a good reason. There was a concerned expression on his face and pain in his voice as he said, "Lou's gone. She's left Rock Creek."
A chorus of voices spoke around him, firing questions at him in rapid procession.
"What?" Noah and Cody exclaimed together.
(What do you mean Buck?") Ike signed rapidly.
"What are you talking about?" Kid asked, his heart sinking as he took in Buck's solemn expression.
"I swear, Buck, if this is some kind of crazy joke and Lou's really outside listening in while you scare us to death, I'm going to kill you both!" Jimmy said, through clenched teeth.
"I wouldn't joke about something like this Jimmy. I found this piece of paper lying against the basin on the lamp after I lit it. I read enough of it to know that it's from Lou telling us all goodbye." Buck told him, waving the sheet of paper around in front of him.
Jimmy rose from his bunk and walked over to Buck. He took the paper out of Buck's hand and quickly scanned the contents of the letter.
"It's from Lou alright." He said flatly, as he finished reading it. He handed the letter back to buck and walked back to his bunk. He sat down on the edge of the bunk and placed his head into his hands. The other riders watched with growing concern. Jimmy wasn't one to talk about his feelings, but they could clearly see that what Lou had written in her letter had really shaken him up.
"Let me see that!" Kid demanded, snatching the letter out of Buck's hand. It didn't make sense. He had thought things were starting to look up between him and Lou. It was true that they hadn't had the opportunity to talk yet, the ride Lou had agreed to go on had never taken place. Lou had still been asleep when Rachel had called all of them to supper. She had looked so peaceful while she was sleeping that he hadn't wanted to wake her up. He had figured that he had all the time in the world to make up to her all the terrible things he had said and done to her since they had broken up. Now it looked like he didn't have any time at all.
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