CHAPTER TWO "A girl?!" Teaspoon's face went slack with shock. Looking around the room at his friend's stupefied expressions, Cody
fully enjoyed the sensation their news had created. Even Jimmy had to admit
he was enjoying it a little. Think of the fun when Lou got home. Teaspoon was apparently not thinking along these lines. He sank down
into a nearby chair, took off his hat, and laid it on the table. With his
hand on his chest, he said, "You Pony Express riders will be the death of me
on day, and that's a fact. I swear you give me a heart attack with this one,
Cody." Then he rose to his feet majestically, pointed a shaking finger at
the few boys he had in front of him, wishing they were all around to hear,
and said, "I swear to God, if any of the rest of y'all is female, in any
way, shape, or form, I don't wanna know about it! I swear I would rather go
to my grave thinkin' you was all boys than know any differently." He sat
back down, hand at his heart again, his face comically distressed. "Now, boys," Rachel said carefully, "are you sure about this?" Cody and Jimmy exchanged looks and began to fidget. Their detective
work left much to be desired, but to trained male eyes nothing was quite so
obvious as that unique heaving of a woman's chest. Jimmy's collar suddenly became constrictive. "Well...ah,
Rachel...we, uh..." Cody broke in, all sly grin and twinkling eyes. "Rachel, let's just
say that there are certain curves a woman's got that a man, despite all
attempts to be gentlemanly, well...that he just can't help but notice." Wavering between embarrassment and amuesment, Rachel settled on
amusement, and pealed with laughter. "Well, it don't get much more honest
than that," she admitted. "You fellas go on out while I examine our visitor,
just to be on the safe side." Exiting like good schoolboys, in single file, the riders left,
murmuring to one another. They seemed to have easily overcome the shock,
surely thanks in great part to Lou, and were now tickled to death at the
discovery that there were others out there like their friend. Ike and Lou arrived back just as Rachel had finished her
examination. Jack Townsend's ribs were only bruised and not broken. All in
all, this was one lucky young lady. By an unspoken agreement, the riders kept silent when Lou joined
them on the porch. She could tell something was up, though -- they all had
that awful teasing look in their eyes. The look that usually meant something
was going on she should know about. Lou eyed them suspiciously. "What?" she demanded. Beside her, Ike looked puzzled also, but was
far more entertained by his friends' expressions, knowing it wasn't for his
benefit. Five pairs of hands raised in the air in "don't look at me"
gestures, but a snicker arose from one of them, though Lou couldn't tell
who. "Find anything out, Lou?" The Kid stifled a snort. "Noooo," Lou replied slowly. She cocked her head to one side and
studied the young men before her. "What? I got a fly on my nose or manure
on my pants, or somethin'? What the hell are y'all lookin' at me like that
for?" "Nothin's wrong with you, Lou. You look fine. In fact...," Kid had
to pause again to control himself. "In fact, you look real nice." "Yeah, Lou, pretty as ever," agreed Jimmy, giggling. "You boys been breakin' the rules and passin' around a bottle of
whisky? I don't look nice! I'm dirty and I'm sweaty, my glasses is bent out
of shape, and I ain't had a bath since day before yesterday! NOW WHAT IS
GOIN' ON?" "You're one of a kind, Lou McCloud," Cody said in mock admiration. Then he paused, as if thoughtfully. "Oh, wait, guess I'll have to take that
back." For some reason the boys found this too hilarious for words, and
they giggled like a pack of girls. Lou wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I'm
goin' to find Rachel. Least I'll get some sense out of her! That'll be a
nice change!" "Have a good time at the hen party," urged Noah. Lou slammed the door on their laughter. "Rachel?" Straining her
ears, she could hear two voices coming from down the hall. "Rachel?" "In here, honey!" Yawning, Lou trudged her way to the back, rubbing her neck and
cursing her friends. She loved them, but they tried her nerves in ways she
had never thought possible. 'Guess that's what comes from bunkin' up with a
houseful of men,' she thought ruefully. "Lou?" "Comin', Rachel." With another great yawn, Lou entered Rachel's spare room. She saw
Rachel first, sitting on the edge of the bed. She could see legs extending
to the foot of the bed, but Rachel was blocking the figure attached to them. Hearing Lou's footsteps, Rachel rose, and turned to her, a secretive <
smile on her lips. "Hello, Lou." When her eyes registered the figure on the bed, Lou stopped short. The hat was off, the hair brused back from dark blue eyes, and no
significant changes otherwise, but Lou needed no prompting to see that the
person before her was the rider from this afternoon, and suddenly the
familiarty she had felt earlier was clear as day: Jack Townsend was as much
a she as she herself was. What was more, Lou could see the realization
dawn in Jack's eyes when she looked back at her standing at the door. Rachel let the silence linger for a few moments. "Louise McCloud,
I'd like for you to meet Jill Townsend. Jill Townsend, this is Louise
McCloud. And now, if you two will excuse me, I have to get supper ready for
my hungry boys." Lou and Jack were silent a good five minutes after Rachel bustled
out of the room. Lou stood at the bed, turning her hat around and around in
her hands, shifting from one foot to the other. Jack apparently found her bandaged hand fascinating, and stared at it with all her might. Suddenly pulsing with adrenaline, Lou lifted her head and her wide,
warm brown eyes met Jack's. She leaned forward at the waist, and her voice
was sharp with excitement, "I thought I was the only one!" Jack's face lit up like a lantern and she sat up straight in bed. "So did I!" Without asking leave, Lou planted herself on the bed beside Jack,
tossing her hat to the floor. She curled her legs up underneath her and
couldn't speak for grinning. They regarded one another with great
satisfaction. Even without Rachel's introduction, they would have known each
other anywhere, for spirit had at last recognized spirit, and the bonds of
familiarity were established so quickly it may very well have taken place
with that first eye contact. "No wonder you were such a fool about letting us examine you." Lou
shook her head at the thought. Jack laughed, then winced, holding her aching ribs. "I was in such a
panic," she admitted, her accent crisp yet friendly, the vowels rounded, the
consonants pleasantly uneven. Lou grinned. "I been in the same position, trust me, more than once. Got found out once, myself...obviously," she laughed, "but it turned out for
the best." "It was your friends here?" Lou nodded. "They're more like family, really. They've known almost
from the beginnin'. One day the Kid and I --" "The who?" Jack's eyebrows raised. "The Kid," Lou repeated, laughing again. "I'll introduce you. One
day I was wounded. Before I could stop him he'd unbuttoned my shirt, and
well...it would have been pretty hard to keep lyin' to him. We kept it to
ourselves for a while, but then eventually the rest of the boys and Teaspoon
found out. Emma had known all along, but she went away. She was our station
keep till she and the marshal got hitched and left. Then Rachel came, and
she knew right away, too." Lou shrugged. She knew she was rambling, but Jack
looked interested, and was hanging intently on every word. "We've all kept
it quiet now, and the boys and Teaspoon and Rachel, they're my family." "How wonderful," Jack breathed in admiration. Lou looked back at her. She'd never had anybody admire her before,
but Jack looked unmistakably sincere. Lou flushed. "Yeah, I guess it is." "No, it is." Jack nodded her head firmly, as if that put an end to
any question of it. "Trust me, Lou, it's wonderful. I hope you appreciate
how lucky you are to have so much support." Her eyes dimmed and she sighed.
"You're very lucky." "You mean no one knows about you?" Lou was incredulous. Despite the
fact that she had never intended for anyone to know about herself, it was
now incomprehensible that she could have managed so long without someone
else in on the secret. Jack managed a wan smile. "Jack Townsend is quiet and shy and keeps
to himself. When the other boys want to take a dip in the creek, he managed
to disappear, and they put it up to his being English and therefore very shy
and awkward." It was a bit disconcerting to hear Jack refer to herself in the
third person, but Lou realized that while for her, the identity as Lou
McCloud, Express rider, was an alter ego, to be taken off and put back on as
she chose, for Jack it had become a part she was forced to play and unable
to let slip for a moment for fear of discovery. "Isn't there anyone you can trust?" It came out a whisper. Lou's
eyes were wide, and she felt so much sympathy for Jack it nearly overwhelmed
her. "From what I've seen, no." Jack paused, blinking her eyes rapidly to
ward off the tears. "There was someone...once...I thought perhaps I could
trust him." She paused, swallowed hard. "But he died. He was killed before I
could tell him. I think he could have been trusted. But now there is no one.
Oh, it's not that I live with such a bad bunch," she went on, "but if they
had the slightest idea that a girl was riding with them, doing chores
alongside them, beating them at hands of poker, why, they'd turn me in just
on principle." Once more she cracked a grin. "They're good fellows, really,
but they wouldn't tolerate a woman in their midst. They sort of indulge me
because I'm the runt of the litter, and every so often they let me out of a
bit of work, but not often." "What about...certain...female things?" Lou waved her hand as if to
indicate everything from bathing to fancying a fellow to monthly
occurrences. "Let's just say it's amazing what a girl can do when she sets her
mind to something. We'll leave it at that." They looked at each other for a minute and then broke out into
laughter. "Rachel said your name's Jill." "That's right." "Mine's Louise." "That's lovely." A question occurred to Lou. She opened her mouth to ask, but as she
did she began to grin. Suddenly she knew the answer, and in a sing-song
voice, she began, "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown --" "And Jill came tumbling after!" broke in Jack as she leaned back
against the headboard, laughing. "Wait'll the boys hear about that," giggled Lou. "They thought I
was pretty creative to think of goin' by Lou." "You were. Some day, Lou, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren
will tell stories about you." Lou smiled and grew thoughtful. "Do you..." She looked down at the
bedspread and picked at it with her fingers. She was afraid to look Jack in
the eye to ask this question. What if she thought Lou was abominably vain
for asking? But she had to ask. No one else could answer it. "Do you ever
get upset...feel hurt...that people don't know you're a girl? Even though it
was be so much trouble if they did see it, does it bother you that they
don't?" Lou had hardly finished what she was saying before Jack broke in,
saying, "Always. It always bothers me, Lou." Relieved, Lou leaned back against the wall. Her tone became lighter
again. "Ain't it silly? I always feel so stupid when I feel that way. I
think the boys know when I do. Least, they always kinda try to cheer me up
when it happens, so somehow they must know. They're real good to me, Jack,
and they try real hard. But nothin' makes up for it, I guess, not really. I
used to think that it was because I wasn't pretty enough, wasn't special
enough, that dressin' up as a boy was all it took for Louise to disappear.
But I finally figured out --" "That people don't see what they aren't looking for," Jack supplied.
They nodded together. "Exactly." "I've never...I've never talked to anyone so easily before, Lou."
Their eyes met, shining at each other. "And it's been so long since I've
really been able to talk to another woman, I can't even remember. I'm sorry
if it offends you in any way, but I feel as if I've known you forever and I
could tell you anything." Lou reached out and took Jack's unbandaged hand in both of hers.
"Don't you feel one bit sorry. I feel the same. I feel like you're my best
friend, and I don't even know you real well yet." "It's the circumstances, I suppose," Jack grinned. "We're in the
same boat." But Lou shook her head in disagreement. "No, it ain't. You and me,
Jack, we'd be friends anyway." |
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