It had been a quiet week in Rock Creek. It had been too quiet. The silence was starting to worry Teaspoon.

“The gang has never gone this long without striking somewhere,” he thought. “The longer they lay in wait, the more time they have to spend plotting.”

The riders could all sense Teaspoon’s anxiety. It was palpable and starting to rub off on them. Petty arguments had continually broken out among them. Even Buck, the usual peacemaker, had been snapping at people.

“I wish this gang would just go ahead and strike. All this tension is enough to drive someone to drink,” Rachel said.

“I agree,” Lou replied. “Yesterday Jimmy and Cody were arguing over whose horse was faster. I thought they were going to hit each other until Teaspoon showed up.”

Rachel and Louise were sitting in the bunkhouse, drinking coffee and peeling potatoes for dinner. Lou’s mind, however, was not on the conversation. She was stuck on a certain pair of green eyes. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about them since their first meeting. Henry had become a frequent visitor to the station. He always claimed he was there to see Teaspoon or to help with the chores, but everyone could see the real reason he was there. They could tell from the way his eyes lit up whenever he saw Lou. They could tell by the way they always fell when he found out she was on a ride. They also noticed Lou’s reactions to him; the way her cheeks would flush when he complimented her, and the way she ducked her head when talking to him. The pair had spent a lot of time together lately. He had taken to helping her clean out the stalls. He made the job easier by telling her stories about his childhood. She in turn found herself telling him about hers. She even told him about her past, the experience with Wicks. He had listened and held her close when the memories became too much for her.

“I can’t believe I told him about that,” she confided to Rachel. “I never even told Kid about that!”

“Maybe this is just what you need,” Rachel said. “It’s been a hard year for you. You deserve some happiness.” Rachel reached over to squeeze Lou’s hand. “There is something else you need to think about though,” she continued. “Kid.”

Lou sighed. She had been trying to avoid thinking about him. “I care about the Kid. I always will,” she said “but when I’m with Henry I feel so free, so happy. He’s never told me I couldn’t do something because I’m a girl. He actually said he admires my independence. But…..”

“But deep down there’s a part of you that liked having that safety net Kid provided. It drove you crazy the way he was always trying to protect you. Yet you always knew he was there if you needed him,” Rachel said. “I think maybe you should just enjoy Henry’s attention for now and let Kid worry about Kid.” Lou smiled and continued to peel the potatoes.

Meanwhile, the Carson gang was camped on the outskirts of town.

“Boss, the men are getting tired of just sitting around,” Leo Michaels said.

“Tell them that patience is a virtue, and in this case one that will be greatly rewarded,” Ben Carson replied. Ben and Joe Carson were the leaders of the notorious Carson gang. Leo Michaels was their second in command. The gang had been laying low, planning for their biggest robbery to date. Representatives of all of the smaller banks around the territory were due into Rock Creek in a few days. Their job was to drop off the excess amounts of money from their branches’ safes. From there, a representative of the head office would come pick up the money, the idea being that it saved one person from riding all over the territory collecting large amounts of cash.

“In two days the Rock Creek bank will have more money in it than the St. Joe bank on payday. One man is responsible for it. He’s coming in on the stage to get in three days. That leaves us a twenty-four hour window to help ease the burden on the bank manager by taking it,” Ben remarked with eyes gleaming with greed.

“Unless the representative arrives earlier like the rumors we heard in town yesterday,” Joe replied.

“Oh, there is no unless Joe,” Ben said, “We WILL get that money.”

“And God help anyone who gets in our way,” Leo responded.

“Kid would you go out to the barn and see if Cody’s out there please?” Rachel said. “He’s due up for the next ride and I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Sure Rachel,” Kid replied. “Lucky guy,” Kid thought to himself as he walked toward the barn. “Sure wish I could get out of here for a few days.” Kid was having a hard time watching Lou and Henry get closer and closer. “I don’t know what she sees in him. He’s just a big geek prancing around in his badge. I bet he’s never even seen a real gun fight. He’d probably run and hide at the first shot.” Kid slowed down as he entered the barn. He heard a low voice talking. He was hoping it was Cody talking to his horse. “I’ll catch him and then he's in for it all those times he’s made fun of me for talking to Katie.” Kid had always suspected Cody of talking to the horses when no one was around but had never been able to catch him at it. As he got closer he realized the voice he heard wasn’t Cody but Henry, and he was talking to Lou. As he rounded the corner he froze at the scene in front of him. Lou was leaning against the stall door. Henry was in front of her leaning in very close.

“Your eyes are so beautiful. They’re like windows through which I can see your every thought,” Henry was saying to Lou. Lou blushed. She and Henry had never kissed. They had flirted back and forth quite a bit but it had never progressed beyond words. Feeling him this close to her made her realize that was all she wanted. Blushing Lou lowered her eyes. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing. You may not want to know everything I’m thinking.”

“I like feeling like I know all your thoughts and feelings,” Henry said as he put a hand on her cheek and traced her lips with his thumb. At that moment with the feel of him on her lips and his body so close she could smell the soap he used that morning she decided to what Rachel suggested. She was going to take a chance. Rachel was right; she deserved some happiness in her life.

“Then what am I thinking right now?” she boldly asked him. Putting his other hand on her face as well, he tipped her head up so he could look deep into her eyes. He locked eyes with her for a long time. Her eyes burned with desire and his eyes answered with the same passion. Neither dared to blink and break the spell they seemed under. Henry leaned in closer to her so that their lips were inches apart. Looking deeper into her soul he answered her. “You’re thinking that it’s time for dinner,” he replied abruptly, letting go of her and stepping back.

Lou’s eyes, which had shut in anticipation when he first started talking, flew open in shock. “Wwwhat!” she stammered, not sure she had heard right. “He isn’t really that stupid is he?” she asked herself. Then she realized he was laughing. “Alright mister, two can play this game,” she thought.

“How did you do that? That is exactly what I was thinking!” she said in the most serious tone she could muster.

Henry stopped laughing and looked at her. “Was that really what she had been thinking? I was only playing with her trying to tease her by not kissing her,” he worriedly asked himself.

“I uh uh uh,” he finally got out. Then he caught her eye again and saw the laughter. “You little fake. Why’d you scare me like that?” He laughed.

“I just wanted you to get a taste of your own medicine,” she replied.

At that moment Henry reached out and grabbed hold of her, pulling her in tight to his chest. “I’ll show you the punishment for jokesters where I come from,” he said as he leaned in and caught her lips with his. A million bolts of electricity shot through Lou at that moment. She didn’t care if the sky fell in around her; she never wanted this moment to end. It was the most incredible kiss she had ever felt.

That’s not true,” a voice nagged at her in her mind, ”remember that kiss outside the dance with Kid?”

She quickly shoved the thought out of her mind and deepened the kiss. Henry responded back. As the kiss finally ended Lou smiled. “If that’s how you punish jokesters, I need to have a long talk with Cody later and get some ideas.” she mumbled against his chest.

“What was that?” Henry asked her.

“Nothing important,” she replied. It was then that she saw some movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see what it was but only saw a flash of blue as it bolted from the barn. She sighed; she would know that blue shirt anywhere.

“Something wrong? Was I too forward?” Henry asked her, concerned when he heard her troubled sigh.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking about some vanilla ice cream I had once,” she answered.

Henry looked at her confused. “Never mind,” she said, “Now where were we?” This time she made the first move, grabbing hold of his face and pulling him towards her. She banished everything else from her mind including the sound of hoof beats from someone riding away from the station as if the devil himself were chasing them.

Rachel had been outside hanging laundry when she saw Kid come stumbling from the barn. He looked like he was going to throw up.

“Kid, are you alright?” she asked him. “Was Cody in there?” Kid never answered her. He just stumbled to the horse that was saddled and ready for the next rider up. Swinging himself into the saddle, he took the mochilla from the rider coming up and took off out of the station. The bunkhouse door swung open and Cody came running out at the sound of the hoof beats. He was stuffing a biscuit in his mouth as he ran. “Sorry Rachel I was getting a snack to hold me over till the next way station,” he said. He then realized that the horse he was running for was gone. He looked around confused, and then saw the cloud of dust on the horizon where he should have been. Looking closer he saw the blue of Kid’s shirt.

“I wonder what’s gotten in to him?” he wondered. Then he heard laughter and saw Henry and Lou leaving the barn arms around each other. As they got closer he could see Lou’s hair was messed up and Henry’s shirt looked slightly askew.

“Oh,” he thought “I do believe things are about to get interesting around here.” Smiling he went back into the bunkhouse to finish his snack.

To be continued………