“Lynn it’s Lou.” No answer. “Lynn come on I got to talk to you. Mr. Sanes just came to my room and told me some stuff. I need to know if you’re backing outta this or are you still with me?” The door opened quickly.
“Sanes was up here! Come on in and tell me everything.” Lou assumed the role of good friend again and informed Lynn on everything. “So they screwed up. Kid is going to St. Joe and your brother and sister are coming here.”
“Basically. Also, we’re not going to have to do this all alone, some friends of mine are coming to help.”
“Great! So we get your brother and sister and then go get Kid.”
“Well that’s the hard part. You see if we got Kid first then we would be leading Wicks right back to the center of everything, Kid is also the easiest as long as Wicks doesn’t follow us.”
“Is Sanes on our side?”
“No.”
“Well then that just don’t make sense. It’s a trap Louise. Trust me it’s a trap.”
“When the boys come then we’ll see what they think.”
“Louise they’re not coming.”
“Yes they are JJ told me so.”
“Honey you were in and out of consciousness all night. You probably believe that’s true but it’s not.”
“You’ll eat those words when they arrive. They should be here soon and then we’ll figure out everything.”
The two girls headed downstairs but just as they got to the first landing…
“Lou!” Jimmy picked her up and gave her a big bear hug. Lou looked stunned as she was passed from each of the guys. Buck was the last to hug her and he set her down right in front of him.
“What was that for?” She asked.
“We were so worried. I got that message from JJ and I got real nervous.” Lou looked over to Lynn who stood with her mouth hanging open.
“First let me introduce y’all to Lynn and then I’ll get to the details. Lynn this here’s Buck Cross, Ike McSwain, James Hickok, you’ve already met Cody, but anyway this here’s William F. Cody, Noah Dixon, and where’s Jesse?”
“Him and Teaspoon are standing by at the waystation. If we really need them then we’ll wire them.” Jimmy explained.
“Have you guys eaten?” Lou asked. They all smiled. “Okay this way then.”
She led them to the restaurant downstairs and told them to order whatever they’d like while she filled them in.
Half an hour and twelve plates of steak and mash potatoes later everyone had the idea of what was going on.
“So what do you think we should do?” Lou asked as she put a piece of apple pie into her mouth.
“Let me see if I understand this.” Noah began. “They’re sending Kid to St. Joe to be with Theresa and Jeremiah, but in actuality those two are coming here because Sanes or whatever his name is screwed up.”
“Pretty much.”
“Boy oh boy oh boy, those folks sure don’t know how to pull off a kidnapping.” He smiled and leaned back in his chair.
“What do we do? I’m worried, you guys don’t seem to understand what Wicks is capable of.”
“It’s okay Lou, we’ll figure something out.”
“Why doesn’t half of us go to St. Joe to get Kid and the other half stay here and get Theresa and Jeremiah.” Cody suggested through his second helping of pie.
“Wicks will be watching, though.” Lynn spoke up.
“So, we sneak out in the middle of the night. Lou will stay here and make sure that Wicks doesn’t get suspicious and Lynn can go with me and Noah to get Kid.”
“I know St. Joe like the back of my hand and I’m sure I know places that Lynn don’t.” Lou contradicted.
“She’s right.” Lynn proclaimed. “ I stayed inside all the time and she went out whenever she got the chance. She hung around with a group of boys that taught her the back roads and the secret tunnels under the city. They helped her to “become” a boy.”
“I’m sure I could even get a few of those boys to help us even now. A few of them owed me.”
“So how are we gonna get you outta here and not have Wicks following us?” Noah asked.
Lynn sighed. This was definitely a dilemma. Then suddenly Ike hit the table hard and began to sign furiously.
“Wait, slow down Ike.” Lou complained. Lynn looked from each person waiting for someone to inform her on what to do. As the idea dawned on each of their faces she saw excitement grow.
“That’s brilliant!” Cody shouted.
“Would she do it?” Buck asked Lou.
“Of course.” Lou spouted back.
“I don’t know. It might be dangerous.” Jimmy said quietly.
“What? Who are you talking about?’ Lynn asked nervously. Everyone, but Jimmy, turned to her and smiled. Then Lou spoke up.
“Lynn, how would you feel if we cut your hair?”
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