Lou opened her eyes as the early morning sun brilliantly shown into her hotel window. She groaned as the now-familiar feeling of nausea struck her. She quickly jumped out of bed and ran towards the chamber pot that was located across the room. After she was done throwing up she rolled her eyes, Well, at least I’m getting used to it. She grimaced as she thought of breakfast, but that thought soon gave way to the more pleasant one of seeing Jonathan again.
She giggled to herself as she thought of how sweet he had been last night and how nice it was to be able to spend a night on the town without worrying that one of the town’s finest young ladies was going to try and make eyes at you. While she was thinking this she began to get ready for the day ahead. She had brought one of her old dresses with her so she pulled it over her head and began to hum to herself as she began to anticipate seeing Jonathan again.
She had just finished pinning her hair up when a knock came at her door. She opened it and saw the clerk who worked at the front desk downstairs holding a large bouquet of tulips, her favorite flower.
“Ma’am, these were dropped off for you at the front desk earlier this morning, but I didn’t want to disturb your rest so I didn’t bring them up until now.”
“That’s perfectly fine”, Louise smiled as she took the flowers from the clerk, “Thank you very much.”
“It was my pleasure miss. Have a nice day.”
The clerk was halfway down the stairs when he stopped and turned around. “Oh by the way, Miss McCloud, breakfast is being served at 8 in the common room.”
“Thank you very much.” Lou replied as she tried not to think about food. When the clerk had gone back downstairs Lou started to arrange the flowers in a vase that had been left in the room by a previous lucky guest at the hotel. She unwrapped the flowers and noticed that there was a note included with the package. Her heart skipped a beat as she opened the envelope and began to read:
“Miss Louise, I greatly enjoyed our conversation at dinner last evening and was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the town dance at the church tomorrow night and also to a picnic lunch this afternoon. If you find these plans to your liking meet me in front of the hotel at 11 o’clock. Sincerely Yours, Jonathan”
After reading the note, Lou sat down and composed herself. She thought of the trouble she’d gotten into the last time she had dinner with a strange man. She shuddered as she thought of Tyler DeWitt lying dead in the dirt after she had taken his life. She thought about Tyler and then she thought about the Kid. She still loved him, but she knew that he wasn’t the right person for her. She could still hear his voice say, “I guess we go back to the way things were.” Of course it hadn’t worked out that way. Within two weeks he had a new girlfriend and seemed to be dealing well with the breakup. “If he can move on with his life and be happy, I deserve to let myself do the same thing and there is no way Jonathan is anything like Tyler. Jonathan is a gentleman. He’s kind, gentle, loving, and trustworthy, which is everything Tyler was not. I will go to the dance with him tomorrow and I will go on the picnic with him this afternoon.”
Her mind made up, Lou smoothed her hair, patted her skirts, and walked down to the general store to pick some small toys up for her brother and sister.
At 11 o’clock Jonathan stood in front of the hotel, nervously wondering if Louise was going to show up. He had thought a lot about her the previous night. He trusted her and that was something he didn’t feel about everyone. He had almost given up hope of her actually meeting him when she stepped out of the hotel door and apologized for being late.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jonathan said, “I would have waited forever.” Lou blushed and Jonathan smiled at her.
“Come on, I borrowed a buggy and made a picnic lunch. Unless of course you’d rather just ride out.”
“I think I would rather ride out with you. My horse probably needs the exercise.”
“Alright, lets go saddle up.”
Together Lou and Jonathan walked towards the stable. Jonathan cautiously reached down and grabbed her hand. Lou jumped at first, but then Jonathan smiled at her and she smiled back.
“It’s so nice to be escorted anywhere by a real gentleman. Especially one who’s just so sweet and gentle and handsome.”
When the horses were saddled, Jonathan and Lou mounted. Because of her long skirts Lou rode sidesaddle, hooking her right leg over the saddle horn. Together they rode through the main street in town. When they reached the town limits Lou devilishly grinned at Jonathan and said, “Race ya.”
“Are you sure you want to do that Louise? I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. What I’d worry about would be catching up.”
With those words spoken Lou urged Lightning on and she sprang forward. Jonathan laughed and spurred his horse onwards. They raced across the plains until they found a secluded spot in which to have their picnic. The both dismounted; laughing, dusty and slightly out of breath.
Jonathan grinned as he asked, “So who won?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it was me”
“Louise, I’m not so sure about that, but I’ll let it go this time.”
Thinking he was serious, Lou narrowed her eyes at him. Jonathan noticed the look and smiled.
“I’m just kidding darling. Don’t get your temper up.”
Lou blushed and smiled and began helping Jonathan set the picnic up. He had thought of everything when he was planning the day. He had brought sandwiches and various drinks and for dessert he had brought what Lou thought was the most heavenly chocolate cake she had ever tasted. They passed the time talking and finding out about each other.
“ …. So when I was twelve, I ran away from the orphanage and started living on my own. The plan was to earn enough money to buy some land out here and to get my brother and sister out of that orphanage.”
“Wow, that must have been so hard. You were so young! What did you do after you ran away?”
“Well, I mostly traveled around looking for odd jobs to do. I was pretty much just trying to survive. I eventually got a steady job when I was thirteen and … “ Lou’s voice faltered and she hesitated.
“And what Louise?”
“Let’s just say that it ended badly.”
Jonathan saw the pain in her eyes and was angered at whoever had put it there. He had a pretty good guess what had happened, just from the fact that she tensed up and wouldn’t look him in the eye. He gently reached over, lifted her chin up, and kissed her on the forehead.
“Don’t worry Louise. It’s alright now.”
She nodded and then decided to trust him.
“After I left my job there I caught a stage to St. Louis and … well….”
“Well what?
When she didn’t answer Jonathan looked at her and said, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. You know that.”
Lou nodded, “Well, you see, I cut off all my hair and started dressing and acting like a boy.”
Jonathan was shocked that the gorgeous woman beside him could ever have been mistaken for a boy.
“Wow, Louise, how long did you do that for?”
“Actually Jonathan… umm … I am currently an employee of Russell, Majors and Waddell. I ride for the pony express.”
“I’m.., I’m… Well… umm… I’m at a loss for words. I don’t know how anyone could mistake you for a boy. You’re one of the most gorgeous women I’ve ever met. My goodness. How…. I mean… What do you call yourself?”
“When I’m working I go by Lou.”
Jonathan looked at his lunch companion with a newfound respect.
“I am so impressed, Louise. Every other woman I’ve ever courted has had someone to take care of her all her life. Not a one has been independent or self-sufficient. Maybe that’s why I’ve thought you were special ever since I first laid eyes on you.”
“Thank you Jonathan, but I just did what I had to do. If you don’t want to see me anymore I’d understand, though.”
“Louise, this just makes me want to see you more. You’re a very special woman.”
Lou just smiled. She really appreciated his acceptance and appreciation of her life. “Now why couldn’t Kid be so understanding,” she wondered, but all thoughts of Kid were quickly banished from her mind as Jonathan began to speak again.
“I guess it’s only fair that since you told me your secret, I should tell you mine.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I mean, if you don’t want to you don’t have to worry about….”
“Louise, I want to tell you. You’ve been so honest with me and you deserve the same amount of honesty in return.”
“Alright.”
“This is going to be hard for me to tell you. I’m not very good at sharing thoughts about my past with anyone. But here goes.”
Jonathan paused and took a deep breath as Lou waited for him to continue.
On to Chapter Seven
Main Page