"Whooee, Rachel! Something sure smells good in here!" Teaspoon exclaimed as he began washing his hands and face at the wash basin.
Rachel glanced over at the grisly stationmaster and smiled. "Thanks, Teaspoon. Breakfast will be ready in a few moments. If the rest of you gents plan on eating you better wash up."
The riders and Jesse hurried to comply. Cody waited until the other riders had finished, before taking his turn at the wash basin. Then he took his place beside Noah at the table.
Jimmy watched the blond rider silently for several moments, a frown upon his face. Usually Cody would have been laughing and joking around with the rest of the riders as they waited for Rachel to finish cooking. Obviously his teasing had upset Cody more than the blond rider was willing to let on.
"Look, Cody. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was only joshing you, I didn't mean anything by it." Jimmy said quietly.
Cody raised his head and looked over at Jimmy in surprise. Although he was waiting to hear an apology from Jimmy and the others, he hadn't really thought he would get it. Jimmy wasn't someone who apologized very often. He scrutinized Jimmy's face carefully for any signs that the hotheaded rider was trying to pull one over on him. Instead, all he found was open sincerity.
"Thanks, Jimmy." He said finally, flashing the other rider a smile.
Rachel placed the platter of pancakes onto the table, then went back to the stove for the plate of sausage patties and bowl of fried potatoes. She grabbed tow jars of applesauce off of a shelf, opened them and poured their contents into another bowl.
"Jesse, Ike, would you go get milk, butter and cream out of the cold pit?" she asked.
Ike and Jesse immediately rose to do as she had requested. By the time they had returned to the bunkhouse, Rachel had finished slicing peaches into a bowl and taken her seat at the end of the oblong table. The two boys placed the requested items onto the table beside the rest of the food and took their places. Teaspoon said a quick prayer over the meal, before they all dug in.
"Do you boys have any idea where Lou might have gone?" Rachel asked as they ate.
Kid chased a bite of pancakes down with a long swallow of milk before answering. "No. We're hoping Buck will be able to pick up her trail. Otherwise our chances of finding Lou will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack."
"Thinking like that's not going to get you anywhere Kid." Teaspoon said. " My mama always told me that believing you can do something, is almost as good as doing it."
"I know, Teaspoon. It's just that Lou could have gone anywhere. Who knows how long it's going to take us to find her." Kid replied. Much as he hated to admit it to anyone, there was a very strong possibility that they would never find Lou.
"You boys take all the time you need. I'll hire some temporary riders to take up your runs during your absence. That way you can concentrate on finding Lou and bringing her home." Teaspoon told him.
"Maybe Lou went to St. Joe. You know, to see Jeremiah and Theresa." Jesse suggested.
Jimmy wiped his mouth with the edge of his napkin. " I don't think so Jesse. Lou wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of sneaking out of Rock Creek in the middle of the night, only to go somewhere she knows we'll look first."
"Jimmy's right. Lou's not going to make it easy for us to find her. My guess is she's not going to go somewhere she's likely to be identified as a rider either." Buck added.
Silence filled the bunkhouse as everyone thought about what Buck had said. There was no way that Lou would go to all the trouble of sneaking out of Rock Creek, only to head somewhere that she would be recognized as a Pony Express rider. There were twice as many little settlements and outposts as waystations along any of the express trails out of Rock Creek. Lou was bound to pick one of those smaller towns to hideout in, finding out which one she had chosen was going to be the hard part.
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