"Son, what is bothering you?" Teaspoon asked Jimmy. Jimmy was quiet the rest of the day, and seemed to be inattentive to the conversations that took place.

"I hope that Lou and Nathan made it back safe to Rock Creek." Jimmy answered in a voice of uncertainty. "I’m not doubting Lou’s ability to take care of herself, but I feel like we’ve been going around in circles. Why haven’t we ran into Frank, or why hasn’t he ran into us by now?"

Teaspoon pondered the thought. "You and I have been thinkin’ the same thing. We may have been had…"

Jimmy searched Teaspoon’s gaze. "Sure looks like it!"

Jimmy fixed his gaze on Joshua, who was sitting by the fire. Walking up to where Joshua sat, Jimmy grabbed Joshua by the shirt collar. "Now you tell me what you know, and you tell me now!!"

"Jimmy!" Teaspoon said.

Never taking his gaze away from Joshua, Jimmy shouted, "Let me handle this Teaspoon! It’s because of him that we are all in this mess!"

Suddenly Jimmy hit Joshua twice in the face. Hard.

"Dammit Jimmy! I said stop! This ain’t the way to do this!" Teaspoon ordered.

Jimmy pointed his finger in Joshua’s direction and said, "I have a mind to kill you right now!"

The sound of an approaching rider broke the commotion. "It’s an express rider," Buck said. "Looks like Noah…"

Noah rode into the camp, surprised to see Teaspoon and the others. "How long have you all been here? Rachel is worried sick." Noah asked.

"Son, we will explain all that later, but first we need to know if Lou and Nathan made it back to Rock Creek yet?" Teaspoon asked.

Noah’s expression turned to worry. "When did they leave? I just came from the waystation to run the mail, and haven’t seen either of them."

"That’s what I was afraid of. Com’on we are taking the same route Lou took. We better find them on time." Teaspoon said fighting the worried thoughts about what they may have already done to Lou and the youngster.

*********************************

"So she gave you a hell of a fight huh?!" The gang member asked Frank. Frank was nursing a few scratches on his face, and one on his neck. Frustrated by all the jokes from the others, he said "Hush up! Keep a close watch on her."

Lou placed a cool wet cloth on Nathan’s forehead. The youngster slept peacefully. She kept checking his temperature periodically, and noticed improvement.

The gang member with dark stains on his teeth walked up to where Lou sat. "How’s the boy doing?"

Lou cast a cold stare at the man and asked, "Why do you care!"

"Lady, I have a good mind to teach you a lesson. But first I’d like to have a little fun… with you." His stare made Louise very uncomfortable. Her stomach turned as she knew what kind of thoughts were playing in his mind.

Lou courageously met his stare. "Look mister! You lay a hand on me, or this boy; and you will die! If I don’t kill you first, believe me there’s someone out there who will!"

The gunman backed away slowly. Grinning. "All right I’ll leave you alone…for now anyway."

Joshua’s hands were raw with pain. Jimmy noticed him flinching from the discomfort. "Rope is a little too tight, huh?" Jimmy asked him.

Joshua looked at Jimmy. "Look my wrists are raw and blood streaked, will you please untie them. I am not gonna make a run for it. I really don’t have anywhere to go."

Jimmy cast a sarcastic grin. "All right." He untied the rope that held Joshua’s hands together. As soon as he released the rope, Joshua breathed a sigh of relief. The skin burned as he gently touched the wound.

"Thanks, I…"

Suddenly, Jimmy hit Joshua in the face again. Hard enough to knock him down to the ground. Jimmy took one of his pistols and threw it on the ground next to Joshua.

"Pick it up!" Jimmy ordered. He stood there with one hand on his other pistol, ready to draw.

Confused and surprised by what just occurred, Joshua said, "Look, I don’t want to fight. "

"Pick it up I said!"

Teaspoon saw what was going on and approached Jimmy from behind. "Son, I thought I told you not to do this! The devil is eating you up inside, and your doing things that you wouldn’t normally do."

Jimmy turned around and walked away. Teaspoon watched, and then turned his attention to Buck.

"See any tracks?" Teaspoon asked

"Yeah. We are heading in the right direction." Buck said. "As thick as these woods are, they have to be camped pretty close."

"Well, let’s keep going. We need to get them now!" Teaspoon ordered. He kept glancing over at Jimmy, who didn’t seem at all like the young man he once knew.

*********************************

Lou placed the blanket over her and Nathan. Over the past several hours his fever had left. Relieved, Lou made sure that the youngster had enough of the blanket to keep him from the chilly night air. Exhausted, Louise found herself drifting into sleep.

Sometime during the night, Louise awoke. She found the gang member who harassed her earlier, pinning her down on the ground with a knife in one of his hands.