Choices

Written by Wendy

Disclaimer: This story is in no way meant to infringe on the rights of the creator of the series The Young Riders, Ed Spielman and Ogiens/Kane. All other characters are copyrighted by the author.

Lou waited until she was sure Ike had turned down another road, before she darted out of the alleyway and raced down the sidewalk toward Treva's boarding house. She ran up the front steps, let herself inside and quickly closed the door behind her. She leaned heavily against the door for a moment or two while she caught her breath, and then hurried across the lobby and up the stairs to her room. It wasn't until she had reached the privacy of her room, that Lou let her swirling emotions surface.

"Darn it! Why'd they have to come looking for me? Why couldn't they just accept that I left Rock creek cause I wanted to and left it me alone? Don't they know it was hard enough on me to leave Rock Creek, without forcing me into a confrontation with them?" Lou exclaimed angrily, as she paced back and forth in her room.

(Because they love you Lou.) A voice whispered at the back of her head.

"Love me? Them boys don't know what love is; otherwise they'd let me be! They'd let me live my life the way I want to without any of them trying to change me into something I'm not, tie me down or smother me with their protectiveness! I can take care of myself and this baby and I don't need anybody's help, especially not Kid or Jimmy's!" Lou vented.

(You know that's not true, Lou! You don't know the first thing about caring for a baby. Do you really want to raise yours up alone, without him/her growing up to know whom his/her papa is? Is that fair to Kid or the baby?) The voice whispered again.

"Kid's made it plain that he doesn't want to have anything more to do with me, so why should I worry about him or his feelings! This is my baby and I'm going to take good care of it and to hell with Kid wants!" Lou continued.

(But Lou-) the voice began again, but Lou angrily cut in before it could continue. "Oh, shut up already!"

Lou stopped her angry pacing and sat down on the edge of her bed. She placed her hands lovingly over her stomach. " Little one, you don't go fretting none. Your mama's gonna take right good care of you. I've just got to find away to get out of town without your papa or uncles finding me."

Lou smiled as her stomach moved in answer to her talking to it. Then she sobered. It was going to take some doing to get out of town without Kid, Jimmy and the others finding her. Especially now that she knew Ike had discovered Treva's boarding house. It was only a matter of time before one or more of her fellow riders returned to the boarding house for the night and she needed to be out of there by then. Lou got up from the bed and started repacking her saddlebags. Just because the boys had come looking for her, didn't mean Lou had to sit around and find her.

Chapter 58

Send Wendy FEEDBACK

Return to The Wild West Book Store

HOME