(Grrrrr!!!!!) Lou grit her teeth tightly together to keep from screaming out all her frustration and anger over her current predicament. Why had she thought it was safe enough for her to stop in Ft. Kearney for the night instead of continuing on? She’d known with every fiber of her being that they would come looking for her as soon as they found her note. It was something that she had been secretly hoping and dreading they would do all at the same time…Hoping because it would prove to her that despite everything that had happened between her and Kid that he still loved her…And that the others cared as much about her as she cared about them…And dreading it all the same because even though it mattered to her that they cared, she didn’t think that there was anything left for her to say to Kid. Anything left between them and she had wanted to avoid any heated confrontations like she had shared with the boys already. She hadn’t wanted to hurt any of them like she was already hurting, and besides, she had already decided not to tell Kid about the baby she carried within her.
(Damn Buck and his Kiowa tracking instincts!) She cursed inwardly. (Why couldn’t he have been out on a run or something!) She felt a momentarily twinge of guilt over what she had said to him earlier…but it was pushed aside as she continued to fume over her predicament. She tried her best to affix a calm persona under Jimmy’s eagle-eyed stare. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much his and Kid’s appearance had wreaked havoc with the plans she had made. She had already spouted off too much by revealed to them how much overhearing them make their little bet for her affections had hurt her. She had come too close to blurting out to Kid that she was pregnant! She was so glad that she had managed to catch herself in time…because telling Kid about the baby would have led to even more complications between them…and there were already too many to count as it was. No, her decision to raise their baby by herself was the best for everyone concerned…know matter how difficult it was going to be for her.
Lou couldn’t imagine it being much more difficult than helping to raise Jeremiah and Theresa. She had helped her mama give birth to Theresa since they hadn’t been able to afford to have a doctor attend her and her pa had been out on one of his binges. Her Mama had been pretty poorly throughout her pregnancy with Theresa…and even though she had regained some of her strength back after she had given birth, she had never truly been restored to the healthy woman that Lou had once remembered…Many of the chores of taking care of her younger siblings and the household had fallen on her young shoulders and she had managed them the best that she could within their dire circumstances. She hadn’t ever understood why having a baby could make a woman feel so poorly, but now she supposed she had firsthand knowledge. Her Mama must have been plagued something awful with the dreadful ‘morning sickness’ that she, herself, was now experiencing.
(Morning sickness, what a laugh!) Lou thought with a grimace. (It should be called ‘all day ‘ sickness!) As if the baby could understand its mama’s train of thought, Lou felt her stomach give a wild lurch. Hastily Lou choked back the bile that rose within her throat, couching a little and unconsciously clutching her tied hands against her abdomen in hopes that the simple contact would be soothing enough to calm her restless child.
(Please, little one now’s not the time for you to be making your mama any sicker! She’s got to keep her wits about her if she’s any hope of escaping from your pa and uncles.) Lou pleaded anxiously.
During this time, Jimmy’s eyes hadn’t strayed from Lou’s face since she had first turned to watch Kid walk away. He had almost chuckled at the smoldering look that she had leveled on Kid’s retreating back, but had refrained. He really didn’t want to make Lou even more upset with him than she already was. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Lou didn’t look at all well and he wasn’t about to make her feel any worse. From his angled position, he could see the perspiration still dotting her forehead…saw the flush of anger on her high cheekbones and then witnessed and odd expression come over her face and saw her tied hands go impulsively to her abdomen.
“Lou, you okay?” he asked her with concern.
Lou turned to stare at him coolly. “Just fine Jimmy. Never better. You needn’t concern yourself with asking polite questions about my health when it’s obviously you really don’t care about how I’m feeling.”
Jimmy scowled at her. “ Don’t tell me how I feel or don’t feel Lou.”
“Ooh, Look who’s getting all defensive now? You don’t like it much when someone makes light of your feelings, do you Jimmy? Now you know how I feel.” Lou taunted.
“I’ve never made light of your feelings and you know it!” Jimmy snapped, biting down on his lip to keep from saying anything else. Nothing he said right now was going to do any good. Lou was in too foul of a mood for him or Kid to talk any sense into. He fell silent once again under her steady glare and refused to let her goad him into an argument.
The reappearance of Kid, Buck and Ike leading their horses out of the livery caught Lou’s attention behind Jimmy and she fell silent once again. Jimmy’s gaze rested on her for a brief moment before turning in time to see Buck and Ike mount their horses, raise their hands in a brief wave and then kicked their horses into motion. Kid came to a standstill before Jimmy and Lou, his eyes darting from the steely gaze that she gave him to meet Jimmy’s irritated one. He handed Sundancer’s reins to Jimmy, who quickly mounted, then leaned over and drew up Lightning’s reins into his gloved hand as well.
Panic seized hold of Lou. They were really going to do this! They were going to take her back to Rock Creek against her will! “You can’t do this! You can’t make me go with you just because you want to Kid! It’s called kidnapping and it’s against the law!” Lou screamed, backing away from him and the horses.
“You aren’t giving us any other choice Lou! You won’t talk to us! You won’t willingly let us help you, so we’re going to do it forcefully!” Kid exclaimed stepping closer to her, reaching out to grab onto her arm as Lou continued backing up.
“I don’t have to talk to you or accept your help if I don’t want to Kid! “ Lou exclaimed, her voice becoming increasingly louder as she continued backing away from him.
Jimmy nudged Sundancer forward, effectively cutting off Lou’s intended flight path. “Don’t make this any harder on us or you than it has to be Lou!” he pleaded with her.
“If you think I’m going to just willingly allow you to take me somewhere against my will without putting up some kind of a fight, Jimmy, you don’t know me well at all! “Lou spat out as she set herself into a defensive stance and raised her tied hands up in front of her to ward off Kid’s attempts to grab her.
A look passed between Kid and Jimmy over Lou’s head. With a slight nod, Jimmy slipped off of Sundancer’s back and moved around him toward Lou, while Kid continued to advance on her from the front. Sundancer shifted position as his master dismounted and gave Lou the false hope of not being as caged in as she thought she was. Keeping her eyes trained on Kid and her tied hands in repeated motion before her, she began backing up again…right into Jimmy’s opened arms. Despite Lou’s valiant struggle to free herself from the grasps of the two male riders, she soon found herself astride Lightning’s back, holding onto the saddle horn as she, Jimmy and Kid galloped out of Ft. Kearney back towards Rock Creek.
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