Jimmy screamed as she almost walked into the path of a horse and rider galloping into town. The rider swerved to avoid hitting the couple and quickly stopped his mount.

"I'm sorry," he said to the trembling lady and sobbing boy. "Are you alright? I didn't see you walking there. Here why don't you sit down on this rock? You look a little pale." He led them to the side of the road.

Jimmy looked up at the bearded man and smiled, "Da, Da come. Da! Da!"

"No Sweetheart, this isn't Da, not yet." Slowly Lou regained her composure and she looked at the man standing beside her. "We are alright. I wasn't watching where we were going. I should pay attention better."

"You looked preoccupied. I wouldn't want to be whoever you were mad at. A pretty lady like you shouldn't have to get mad. Your husband, I hope he isn't the jealous type."

"I don't have a husband. I was trying to buy a house for us but the man selling wouldn't deal with a woman."

"It's getting late. Can I give you a lift into town? Do you live around here?"

"No that's alright. We have a room at the Stahlberg Hotel for now, and not that far to walk."

Jimmy pulled on the man's arm and said, "Horse. Me sit horse. Peese." His blue eyes looked into the man's blue eyes pleadingly.

"Do you mind if I give the boy a ride on my horse? How old is he?"

"Jimmy is just over two. If it's not too much trouble, he loves horses, especially paints. I've told him stories about his father's paint so he thinks every paint's rider is his father."

"His pa isn't here?"the man asked as he mounted his horse and she lifted the small tyke up to him.

"No, we're waiting for him to come home. Over a year ago he left his son," Lou answered as she walked along beside the riders.

He looked down at the woman walking beside them as he reined the beast to stop. Dismounting, he looked at the lady's face. "Do I know you? Have you lived here in Laraime a long time?"

The petite woman looked up at the bearded face, into the bluest eyes, and her own eyes grew large. "Oh my, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"What's the matter? You know who I am and.." looking at the happy toddler sitting on the horse and back at the woman, "Is your Jimmy, my Jimmy? My son?"

Tears streamed down Lou's face again. She nodded and said, "Kid we've been waiting for you to come home again."

"Da, Da wide horse. Come Da wide wit 'immy. Da! Da come!"

The man looked into her face and saw for the first time who she really was.

"Lou, I thought you were dead. That the Shosone killed you, but here you are. You are so beautiful." He reached down and held her tight. Tears flowed down her face and his eyes filled too. "Lou I never stopped loving you. If only I'd known, I'd have come for you. How did you find Jimmy? How long have you been waiting for me?"

"Da, Da ride.'Immy want ride! Oou et Da go an ride."

"Oh my. You had better give your son a ride on that horse. He has been waiting for you a long time," Lou said quietly."We can talk later. He needs you."

"So that's how I found Jimmy and found out that you were still alive, too. When Emma told me that, I was in shock. I already fell in love with Jimmy and was determined to keep him. I had no idea that he was your son. I always felt that he reminded me of someone but I couldn't put my finger on it. And now here you are alive and well." She leaned over and kissed him gently.

"You were going to wait with Jimmy until I returned? What if I never returned?" Kid asked. The couple sat next to each other in the hotel suite while Jimmy slept in the bedroom.

Lou took a deep breath before she answered. "Yes I was going to keep Jimmy until you returned, whether you came back or not. I was afraid that you'd be mad at me for taking your son. That you'd think I took your son to get you." She stopped talking and closed her eyes tightly. The tears were ready to fall.

When she opened her eyes, he looked deeply into them. Not hate or bitterness that she saw but pools of love that cared for and needed her as much as she needed them.

I never stopped loving you. Your ghost haunted my marriage to Deborah. I was as much at fault as she was in it failing. I thought you were dead, that the Shosone had taken all they could from you and then ..." He stopped and closed his eyelids.

After a short while he continued, "After I healed up I tried finding you. Buck helped too. We found the band that captured you but the chief said you'd been sold to another band. He didn't know where they were. I asked every Indian I saw if they had seen you. I never expected you to end up with the Lakota."

"They hid in the Black Hills. I never saw any whites except. .."

"Except who, Lou?" Kid asked.

She shook her head as the tears began again. "I can't." She whispered.

"Tell me Lou. Who did you see? Why can't you tell me?" He held her arms and pulled her close. "Don't hide from me."

She looked up into his face and told him, "It was." She paused, "It was, I had our baby in captivity."

She looked down at the floor, but Kid still held her. "What happened to it?

"A boy. They took him away when he was three months old and gave him to someone else. I never saw him again."

For the next few moments they held each other and thought about what the other said.

"Lou, we'll find him.I don't know how but we'll find out what happened to him. How old would he be?"

"Six. I don't know his birthday except it was spring and there was still some snow left."

"Lou, will you marry me now? No waiting. I don't want to loose you again. Please?"

"Yes."

To be continued...

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