Chapter Thirteen
The morning air was suddenly still, the gunfire ended. Kid’s soft groans of pains and Louise’s hysterical sobbing broke the silence. Louise pushed herself up on to her hands and knees and crawled through the dirt to her injured husband. Cradling his head in her lap, she sobbed, “Somebody help us! Please!” Kid was already half unconscious.
Teaspoon and Buck scurried out from behind the bunkhouse as Jimmy walked towards the pair. Rachel came racing out of the house, bandages already in hand.
“Buck, go and git Doc Barnes,” Teaspoon directed.
Buck ran towards the doctor’s office, silently hoping the man was in his office and not out with some other sick or injured soul.
Rachel tried to assess the damage to Kid’s wounded body. Blood poured from his shoulder, and his knee wound look particularly nasty. “Jimmy, Teaspoon, help get him inside. Good Lord, this place is becomin’ a haven for shot up riders,” she said in frustration.
Jimmy and Teaspoon bent down to pick Kid up and carry him into the house, but Lou’s hysterics continued. “NO!” she screamed. “Don’t take him! You can’t take him! I need him!”
Rachel wrapped her arms around the despondent girl, who was covered in her husband’s blood. “Louise, honey, we’re gonna help him. We just gotta get him inside. You wanna come inside with me?”
Lou’s cries softened to sobs as she buried her face in Rachel’s chest. Rachel helped lift the young woman off the ground and led her into the house after Jimmy and Teaspoon.
“We moved Noah down to the parlor,” Cassie said helpfully. “You can put Kid up in the guest room. I’ve got an extra dress for Louise if she needs one, too.”
Rachel smiled graciously at the young woman. No wonder she doesn’t like Rock Creek, Rachel thought. It’s startin’ to leave a bitter taste in my mouth, too. “Thank you, Cassie,” she replied. “The doctor’s prob’ly gonna need some hot water. Would you mind startin’ some to boil?”
“Right away,” Cassie answered, glad she was able to help in even a small way.
Rachel led Louise up the stairs to the guest room, where Jimmy and Teaspoon had laid him on the bed. Lou sat in the chair next to the bed, leaned towards her husband and grasped his hand, never taking her eyes off him.
Rachel started cutting off Kid’s shirt, one that had been a gift from Lou. Her sobs began in earnest again.
Jimmy and Teaspoon stood back, unable to deal with the heart-wrenching scene in front of them. Both were heavy with guilt; Jimmy because he’d brought Rosemary to dinner in the first place, and Teaspoon for not shooting the woman when she’d first fired at Kid.
“We best take care of Rosemary,” Teaspoon said to Jimmy.
“Don’t you say her name!” Lou shouted impulsively. “I don’t wanna hear her name ever again, you hear me?”
Rachel could tell Louise’s emotions were out of control. “Jimmy, on your way out, ask Cassie to come up and take Lou out for a breath of fresh air please.”
Jimmy nodded, but Lou cried, “No, Rachel! Please! I gotta stay here! I can’t leave him! He wouldn’t leave me!”
“All right, Louise,” Rachel said sternly. “But you have got to pull yourself together. You can’t be breakin’ into hysterics every time you hear somethin’ you don’t wanna hear. Doc Barnes should be here soon and there’s no way he’ll let you stay if you keep actin’ the way you are. You understand me?”
Louise nodded softly, then turned her attention to Kid. She buried her face on the bed next to him, whispering a silent prayer that he’d be okay. Now she truly knew what he felt each time she’d ridden out of the station on a run. She’d thought he was crowding her; now she realized it was just pure love.
Jimmy and Teaspoon left the room and went outside to where Rosemary’s body lay face down on the ground.
“I’m sorry you had to do it, son,” Teaspoon told Jimmy as they stood over her. “It shoulda been me.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Nobody shoulda had to do it.” Pausing thoughtfully for a moment, he then asked, “Why’d she do it, Teaspoon? How come?”
“Son,” Teaspoon told him, “Sometimes there’s no good explanation for what folks do. I can’t say as I rightly see one here.”
“Did she do it to punish me for not lovin’ her like she wanted me to?” Jimmy questioned. “Or did she really believe that hurtin’ Kid would help her cause?”
“Sometimes folks is so blinded by their good intentions, their bad acts don’t seem to bother them,” Teaspoon replied.
“I still don’t...” Jimmy’s voice cracked as his voice filled with emotion. He turned away to hide his tears from the marshal.
“I s’pose we best send for the undertaker then,” Teaspoon decided. “You wanna handle the arrangements, Hickock?”
Jimmy shook his head and walked away, bewildered by all he had seen, heard, and said since Lou and Kid’s wedding.