Chapter Sixteen

Louise came down the stairs and walked into the parlor, where the little activity that had been going on stopped. All eyes were on her.

“Jimmy?” she said softly, “Kid wants to see you.”

Jimmy raised his eyebrows and pointed to himself. “Me?”

Louise nodded.

Jimmy stood up slowly, unsure of what the “beckoning” meant. He and Kid weren’t getting along before Kid and Lou’s wedding, and they had barely spoken since the fateful day at Pierson’s. Jimmy brushed past Lou and headed up the stairs.

“Lou, honey?” Rachel said, placing her hands on the young woman’s shoulders. “How ‘bout that hot bath?”

“It’s okay, Rachel. Thanks anyway,” Louise answered.

“Well at least do us the favor of changin’ your clothes then,” Noah spoke up.

Lou looked down at herself and realized she still wore the same clothes that carried Kid’s dried blood - a constant reminder to everyone who looked at her of the day’s terrible events. She looked at Noah with apology in her eyes and he nodded back at her. “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea after all, Rachel,” she decided out loud.



Jimmy sat in the chair next to Kid’s bed. “You sure you’re up for talkin’?” Jimmy asked.

“Yeah,” Kid assured him. “I got so many thoughts runnin’ through my head right now. I need to get ‘em straightened out.”

“Like what?” Jimmy hesitantly asked.

“Like how come you killed Rosemary?” Kid plainly said.

“Did I have a choice?” Jimmy countered.

“You coulda just put her down, ya know, wounded her to stop the shootin’,” Kid answered.

Jimmy shook his head. “It wouldn’ta worked, Kid. She’da kept firin’ away, I know that for a fact.”

“How, Jimmy?” Kid asked. “How do you know for sure?”

“Dammit, Kid!” Jimmy argued. “‘Cause I’m the one that taught her to shoot!”

“You what?” Kid wondered aloud. “Why?”

“She said she needed to protect herself, that Isaiah never showed her how,” Jimmy explained. “So I showed her. Guess I’m a better teacher than I thought.”

Kid was quiet for a long time, too long for Jimmy’s comfort. “You want me to leave now?” he asked.

Kid shook his head. “No. But how could you shoot her when you loved her? There’s no way I could do that to Lou.”

“Kid,” Jimmy explained, “First off, I wouldn’t compare my feelin’s for Rosemary to yours and Lou’s. They ain’t the same at all. I didn’t love her. I cared about her, sure. But love?” Jimmy paused before continuing, “I think I was more...enameled with her than anything.”

“Enamored?” Kid clarified.

“Whatever,” Jimmy said in frustration. “I never knew a woman with such passion about somethin’, ‘cept for Alice I guess. Maybe that’s what drew me to her, ya know? Teaspoon told me this mornin’ that sometimes folks is so blinded by their good intentions, their bad acts don’t seem bad in their eyes. All I know is that I couldn’t just stand by and watch her kill you.”

Kid was silent again. Then he said, “I need to thank you, Jimmy.”

“Kid, don’t....” Jimmy answered.

But Kid cut him off. “No, Jimmy. I mean, the way I treated you...I’m just glad you showed up when you did. You saved my life.”

“Kid, you and me, we got our differences, but like Buck’s always sayin’, we’re family,” Jimmy replied. “A man’s gotta defend his family. I had no call comin’ down on you the way I did for wantin’ to go back to Virginia.”

“Well that won’t be happenin’ now,” Kid told him, explaining what the doctor had said. “So I guess we’ll be hangin’ ‘round Rock Creek for a while. Least ‘til we figure out what to do next.”

Jimmy smiled. “Teaspoon and Rachel will be real happy to hear that. Hell, I guess I’m pretty happy, too.” He held out his hand to Kid, and the two shook hands. They were family, come hell or high water.



Buck and Teaspoon were in the bunkhouse trying to figure out some way to rig the room to accommodate all the guests that had accumulated at the station. They were surprised to see Jimmy join them, his dark, brooding look replaced by a brighter, more optimistic one.

“Buck, you know he’s gonna just stand around and watch you try and rig together him damn fool idea,” Jimmy joked. “Why don’t you let us handle this one, Marshall. I think one o’ your injured citizens is lookin’ for you.”

“Kid?” Teaspoon asked.

“Now I know we got a bunch of shot up riders ‘round here lately, but Noah can leastways move around. ‘Course it’s Kid!” he answered.

“Well when I get back I ‘xpect you boys’ll have this bunkhouse ready for company,” Teaspoon declared.

Jimmy and Buck laughed. “I think we got it under control,” Buck answered.



Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18

Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Epilogue



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