Prologue "Leave it to Jimmy to take a job in a town like this," Kid lay awake in bed, muttering unhappily. The sounds of Abilene nightlife filled the bedroom of the small house, even though the windows were closed. The sounds seeped in through the cracks it seemed, and could be heard almost as plainly as if there was no barrier trying to block them.
"Mmmm," Lou ran her hands through his hair. "I expect we'll get used to it before too long."
"Probably," Kid agreed. "But in the meantime, Jimmy's gonna have a tired deputy on his hands."
"You know Jimmy's just glad to have you here," Lou chided him.
Jimmy had written to his old friends not long after he'd been named marshal of Abilene, asking Kid to come work with him as his deputy. Kid had been loathe to bring Lou to a town like Abilene, but they were both anxious to leave Virginia. The War Between the States had destroyed Kid's beloved homeland, and the subsequent Reconstruction did little to repair the damage. Both found themselves yearning for the wide open spaces they had left behind in the west, especially Lou, who did not have the memories of Virginia before the war to look back on. They saw no opportunity for escape though, as their family from their Pony Express days had scattered all over the country. Rachel was married and living in California. Buck had a ranch in New Mexico. Teaspoon hadn't been heard from since he left for Texas just after the war started. Cody was scouting for the army still. And Jimmy had tried his hand at law enforcement in various towns in Kansas, until the citizens of Abilene had called him to be their marshal. And he had asked Kid to work with him, saying he needed someone he could trust. Kid had almost said no, knowing the kind of town that Abilene was. But his father's sordid past was catching up to him, as his father's old "friends" began to show up at the farm, thinking the man would still be there, even after all those years. It had gotten worse toward the end, as, for some reason, more and more men of bad character began to show up, looking for something. At first Kid figured they would eventually realize his father was gone for good and leave them alone, but he was proven frightfully wrong. Seven men had showed up a couple hours before dawn one night, and when Kid had met them on the porch with his shotgun, as had become his custom, they had started shooting.
Kid had managed to get out of the way, but not without being wounded in the leg, and all the windows in the front of the house had been shot out. The men finally left, but they promised to return in a week, with more men, ready to take the house, no matter who was still there.
"Lou, do you think we did the right thing comin' here?" Kid could not help voicing his doubts over the way they had left Virginia. He hated feeling like he had run away.
"Kid, we had no choice, you know that," Lou's words were spoken soothingly. "Kid, you know the bank was gonna repossess the farm, and you know we were looking for a way to leave Virginia anyway. Jimmy's letter just had good timing."
"I don't know, Lou," Kid protested. "I never would have agreed to come here if we hadn't been running away."
"Where else would we have gone, Kid? You know if we stayed, they would have come back. And even if they didn't, we would have had to go somewhere when the bank took the farm. It was a miracle we were able to hold onto it as long as we did."
Kid knew what she said was true. The Yankee carpetbaggers had taken over banks all over the south, and they were calling in loans just as fast as they could. Most of their neighbors had already lost their land.
"Besides," Lou snuggled into his arms. "If they came back, they would have killed you, and I can't live without you, Kid." She smiled to herself as one memory of that night came to her. "I guess them showing up that first time had its advantages though; well, one advantage anyway."
"What's that?" Kid wondered.
"I finally learned your real name," Lou stifled a giggle as Kid tickled her ribs.
Kid could not stop a smile of his own. That night, one of the men had recognized him as "Little Mikey Williams," and Lou hadn't let him forget it ever since.
"I still don't understand why you kept it from us all those years," Lou sighed. She had never gotten an explanation from Kid.
"Lou, when I first signed on with the Express, I was runnin' from everything that name had ever meant. I'd been called Kid my whole life, so it made sense to just keep goin' by that anyway. And then, well you and the boys had come up with so many ludicrous ideas of what my name was, I hated to disappoint you by having such a normal, boring name." Kid tickled her side again. "Besides, admit it. You liked the mystery of it all."
Lou chose not to acknowledge his last statement, true as it was. "Go to sleep, Mikey."
Kid groaned as she giggled softly. "That's Mike to you, Loulabelle."
********
"Wake up sleepy-head." Lou opened her eyes to see Kid staring down at her. Even after ten years of marriage, she still loved waking up to the sight of him.
"Is it morning already?" She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm afraid so," Kid replied. "I've got to go."
"Don't you want breakfast?"
"Already got it. And here, my love, is yours." Kid handed her a plate of bacon and eggs.
"Oh, Kid! Breakfast in bed?" Lou grinned at him happily. Kid had mastered bacon and eggs in the course of their marriage, and every so often he would get up early and serve her breakfast in bed. "What's the occasion?"
"Do I need one?" Kid leaned down to kiss her. "I just wanted to tell you how much I love you."
Lou marveled, as she did every time he did something like this, at how thoughtful and loving he was. She counted herself blessed beyond measure to be married to him.
"What are you thinking about?" Kid smiled tenderly at her. She was just as beautiful as the day he met her, maybe even more so, he mused.
"Just counting my blessings," she replied. "Now you get out of here. You don't want to be late."
"Oh, I'm sure Jimmy would understand," Kid mumbled as he bent down to kiss her again. "I love you, Lou."
"I love you too, Kid."
"I'll see you tonight."
********
"Been a long day," the young deputy remarked from his position at the desk.
"Sure has," Kid agreed, locking the cell door on yet another drunk cowboy, come to town to spend his wages on cheap whisky and women.
"Why don't you go on home Kid," the other deputy caught the keys Kid tossed him. "Eat supper with that pretty wife of yours, and try to get some sleep tonight."
"Do I really look that bad?" Kid remarked wryly.
"It's hard to get used to all the noise here, and it shows for a while. Don't worry, before long, you'll wonder how you ever lived in the peace and quiet."
"If you say so," Kid said, unbelievingly. "Alright, I'm heading home now. You know where to find me if there's any trouble."
********
"Marshal Hickok!" The young man burst into the Alamo Saloon, where Jimmy could usually be found. Sure enough, he was there, playing cards at his customary table. He sat facing the door so he could see everyone who came into the saloon.
"Marshal Hickok, Phil Coe just shot up the Diamond Saloon, and he's threatening to shoot up the rest of the town," the messenger panted, out of breath.
Jimmy silently set his cards face down on the table, downed the shot of whiskey in front of him, and stood up. His actions were slow and deliberate - a far cry from the hot-headed young man who had first signed on with the Express.
"Gentlemen, we'll finish this hand in a moment." His voice was soft, but his tone left no room for debate, and the other players at the table knew better than to try to cheat by looking at his cards. He walked out of the saloon and down the boardwalk toward the other end of town. Gunshots sounded from inside the Diamond, and a few seconds later a rugged man burst through the doors and into the street, waving his gun and shooting into the air.
"Phil Coe!" Jimmy hollered, his commanding voice easily carrying across the street to the man.
"What do you want?" Coe sneered at the sight of the badge Jimmy wore. "This cow town's got a marshal? Well, it won't for long." He spat, the tobacco juice hitting the ground at his feet. "What's your name, Marshal?"
"Hickok," Jimmy's tone was even, his gaze unwavering. "Wild Bill Hickok." Coe was momentarily startled, and Jimmy knew he would be able to take the troublemaker.
Coe quickly hid his surprise though and sneered again. "Wild Bill, huh? I've been lookin' to meet up with you."
"Let's get on with it then. I've got a card game to get back to," Jimmy moved his coat aside to reveal the two ivory handled navy colts strapped to his hips."
"Not tonight you don't," Coe snarled. He pulled his gun, but before he could get a shot off, Jimmy, with the lightning speed which had made him famous, had drawn and fired. Coe fell, dead before he reached the ground.
Jimmy shook his head, long past any remorse he had once felt when he was forced to kill a man. Coe never even stood a chance.
The next moment would haunt Jimmy for the rest of his life. He heard footsteps running up behind him and a voice yell "Hickok!", followed by the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking. Thinking Coe must have had a friend in town, and that friend was trying to avenge Coe's death, Jimmy spun around and fired. He was greeted by the look of shock on Kid's face as, his gun drawn and the tell tale red stain spreading across his chest, his best friend fell to the ground...
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