An hour later Lou came back into the jail, now followed by her two daughters. Kid was calmer now and he hugged the girls, happy to see them. He looked up to see his wife standing by the door. "I’m sorry, Lou." He said, but she ignored him and went straight to Buck.

"I found a proof." She said in a low voice.

"What?" Buck didn’t want to get his hopes too high.

"I saw your horse in the Shuster’s stable." She said. "There’s a stain of dry blood on its neck. Like someone hit you and your head was hanging over there. Like from that wound." She pointed toward his forehead.

"But I don’t remember it, Lou." Buck said, his frustration growing.

"It can be from when he was brought in. he was lying on the horse when Shuster brought him here." Kid said from behind them, overhearing their conversation.

"Aren’t you going to arrest Shuster for beating Buck like that?" Lou asked.

"I can’t really blame him. If I’d find someone in my dead wife’s room…" he didn’t finish, seeing Jed was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and fear, suddenly he understood how it sounded.

"Buck," Lou started again, "how did you get there?"

"I don’t remember, Lou." He said sadly. "The last thing I remember before I woke up here is riding with my son."

"You have a son?" Lou suddenly felt embarrassed for not asking about his life sooner.

Buck nodded. "I married a woman from my tribe. We have two sons."

"I didn’t know." Lou said quietly. "You must miss them terribly."

He nodded again. "They don’t even know what happened."

Lou looked at her husband, blaming him for something neither of them understood.

"I’ll go there tomorrow morning." Kid promised. "There’s no pint in them suffering."

"Look for my brother." Buck said. "He remembers you and the others don’t know English."

"I’ll see you tomorrow, Buck." Lou said and left, taking the children with her.

"Kid," Buck started once she was gone. "I’m sorry things aren’t good between the two of you."

Kid stared at him for a moment and then left the jail.

Five men were gathered at the bedroom, hovering over the sleeping figure. Two more were standing outside the house, holding the horses ready.

The one closer to the bed kneeled and put his hand over the woman’s mouth. She jerked and was immediately wide-awake, fear in her eyes. All she could see in the darkened room was the shadows of five men, masks on their faces.

She tried to take the hand that covered her mouth away but one of the others grabbed a hold on her hands and all she could do was twist and kick to no avail.

"Now, listen to me, missy." The man above her whispered as his free hand pulled the covers off her, exposing her body that was clad now only in a thin white night-gown. "It’ll be shame if anything will happen to you and your perfect body. I wonder what people might think of the marshal, neglecting his beautiful young wife and kids."

At the mention of her children, Lou started fighting stronger than before.

"Drop your investigation!" the man ordered. "The Indian did it and he’s gonna pay for it."

Just then the door burst open and Lou saw one of her nightmares comes true when Jed stood there, stunned, watching the scene. "Mama?" he asked, not quite understanding what was happening, but too scared to move.

"He’s a cute boy." The man said. "Don’t disappoint him." With that, the men left the room, passing Jed at the door, patting his head.

Lou let out a sob that was followed by a full hysteric cry. Jed came closer to the bed, but thought better of it. He ran outside and to the stable, did not even bother to saddle Lightning as he galloped toward town and his father.

Both Kid and Buck awoke by Jed’s panicked shouts that started even before he dismounted Lightning. "Something happened to…" Kid started to ask but Jed cut him. "It’s ma." He said, tears in his eyes.

Kid was out the door in less than a second. He mounted Lightning and helped Jed up than raced toward his house.

Kid dismounted without even stopping the horse and ran upstairs. Lou was curled into a ball, covering herself with the blanket, shivering and sobbing. He sat on the bed and pulled her into his arms. He rocked her and kissed her head, whispering soothing words.

After a few minuets, Jed came to stand at the entrance of his parent’s bedroom. "I took Lightning to the stable." He said quietly.

Kid looked at him and smiled encouragingly. "What happened, Jed?"

"Is mama going to be alright?" the boy asked, his voice trembling.

"Come here." Kid motioned his son to sit on the bed.

Jed reached a shaky hand to stroke Lou’s hair. She turned toward him in a sudden motion and hugged him tight, sobbing against his shoulder.

"See," Kid smiled. "She only wanted to know you’re okay."

"Jed," Lou finally spoke, "Will you please go check on your sisters." She asked.

Jed nodded and walked out; relieved his mother seemed to feel better.

Kid stroked Lou’s hair and gently kissed her brow. "Sweetheart, tell me what happened."

Lou looked in his eyes and felt somewhat safer. "Hold me, Kid, please." She hugged him tighter.

"I’m here, Lou. Nothing will happen to you." He whispered in her ear and then placed a little kiss there.

"I was so scared, Kid." She sobbed. "They said they’ll hurt the children."

"Who did, Lou?" Kid asked confused.

"Those men. They were in here and they told me to stop helping Buck. They said they’ll hurt the kids, and that man…he was looking at me… and I thought… and I was so scared…" she couldn’t continue.

Kid held her tight and continued stroking her hair.

After awhile Jed appeared in the door again. "Mary and Emma are awake." He said.

"I’ll go check on them." Kid said. "Lou are you going to be okay?" Lou just nodded. "Alright. Jed, please stay with her." Kid asked his son as he went toward the girls’ room.

"I’m sorry, Jed, that it got you so scared." Lou said after Kid left. "You know that your father and I will do anything to keep you safe, don’t you?"

Jed nodded and hugged his mother tightly. "It’s okay, mama. Dad’s here and will make everything okay again." He promised.

"Yeah." Lou had to smile at his naivete. I hope you won’t have to change, she thought.

An hour later Lou and Kid were sitting in the kitchen, nestling mugs of coffee in their hands. The children were getting dressed upstairs.

Lou was looking out of the window. "It’s still dark." She said.

Kid put his hand on hers. "I know, but I don’t want anyone to see us leaving."

"You ain’t coming too, Kid." Lou said, looking back at him.

"You can’t go alone, Lou."

"We can’t let them suspect anything, Kid. You have to be in town by morning." After a short silence she continued. "You think I’m doing the right thing?"

"Lou, I believe now that you are right about everything. About Buck… everything…" he lowered his eyes. "You take them to Jimmy, I’ll stay here, but I want you to send me a telegram the minute you get there."

Lou nodded. "I hope Jimmy won’t be angry about me dropping the kids on him like that."

"I still think you ought to stay with him too." Kid said.

"I can’t, Kid. I have to help Buck."

Kid nodded understandingly. "I just hope I could see the truth sooner."

Lou stared at him. "I hope it’s not too late." She said in a low tone.

The kids entered the kitchen, wide-awake with excitement reserved only for the young. Kid took the girls and sat them on his lap. "Louise, I’ll fix them something to eat. You go and get dressed." After Lou left Kid turned to his son. "Jed, you have to watch over your mother and your sisters now."

"Aren’t you coming too?" Mary asked.

"No, sweetheart, I have to stay here. But you’ll have fun with your Uncle Jimmy." Kid promised.

"But why can’t we go in the morning?" Emma asked.

"The sooner you go, the sooner you get there." Kid said and kissed his youngest child. "Now, remember that I love you." He said.

Mary hugged his neck.

"We love you too, dad." Jed said.

An hour later Lou was sitting on the driver’s seat of the buckboard, Jed by her side and the girls on the bed of the buckboard.

Lou was wearing her old clothes from the days when she was still a rider for the pony express. Even thought eight years had passed, they still fit her perfectly and Kid had to admire how alluring she looked in these old man-clothes, even in that early morning hour. He kissed each of his children and moved to stand by her side. He noticed the rifle that nestled under her feet, in addition to the two guns strapped around her waist. "Take care." He said, taking her hand.

Lou bent down and kissed his cheek. "Please tell Buck how sorry I am."

"I will." He promised. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but couldn’t form the words with the tears choking his throat. "You’d better go now." He said.

She nodded and spurred Lightning. Kid stood behind, watching his kids waving good-bye to him, until there was no sign of them.

He stayed at the house until the morning came, so he could check for tracks the men might have left. He sat in the parlor, drinking coffee and contemplated everything that happened since buck came back into their lives. He missed his wife, having her by his side when they slept. Now he knew she was right about Buck. He knew his friend could never have done a thing like that. How could I doubt him like that, he thought. These men that scared his wife like that had something to do with it and he was positive one of them was the real murderer. Probably their leader.

"How’s Lou?" Buck asked as Kid walked into the jail.

"She’s fine." Kid said. He took a chair and sat just outside Buck’s cell. "I need you to tell me everything you remember." Kid said, looking Buck straight in the eyes.

"I don’t remember, Kid." Buck said. He wondered what made Kid so interested all of a sudden, but said nothing.

"You have to." Kid said, desperation clear in his voice. "Buck…" he started but was cut off by Shuster who came to talk to him.

"Marshal!" the man said. "Someone stole money from my house."

Kid was tired and the last person he wanted to see was the one standing in front of him. "What are you talking about, Shuster?" he asked impatiently.

"Your wife was hanging around my house a lot lately. Maybe she took it!"

"Lou is not a thief!" Kid growled at the accusations against his beloved wife.

"Or so you say." Shuster said. "Maybe you don’t know her as well as you think. After all, you thought that Indian to be your friend and he murdered my wife."

"I did not kill anyone!" Buck shouted.

Shuster gave them a look full of contempt. "If I were you, I’d look inside my own house. You weren’t there lately. Hope you won’t stumble over a lover…"

Kid’s fist hit Shuster, shutting him up and sending him to the floor. "Don’t you dare talk like that about my wife." He hissed. "Get out and don’t come back!" he watched as Shuster dusted his clothes and hat and walked out, his head high. When he was finally gone, Kid turned to look at Buck. "I’m sorry I doubted you." He said. "Lou was right all along." He looked shameful and didn’t know what else to say.

"It’s okay, Kid." Buck reassured him. "You did what you had to do. I don’t know if I would’ve acted differently."

"Of-course you would, Buck. You’re not as stupid as I am. Few are."

Buck smiled at that, but then turned serious again. "What happened to Lou?" he asked.

Kid looked at him, contemplating whether he should tell him or not, but then decided he owed him at least that. "Some men came into her room last night." He started. "They scared her pretty bad. Jed walked in on them, and when he saw how hysterical she was he came for me." Kid sat on the chair, his head in his hands. "If I was there this wouldn’t have happened." He said. "I should have been there."

"Kid, there was nothing you could have done." Buck said. "Besides, she’s the one that threw you out…"

Kid looked up at him. "They told her to stop asking questions about what happened. They threatened her and the kids. I guess they have something important they want to hide."

"Like the real killer…" Buck continued Kid’s line of thought.

"Yeah." Kid agreed. "I stayed there till there was enough light to check the ground for tracks but I couldn’t find none." He said.

"Didn’t Lou see their faces?" Buck asked.

"They were wearing hoods." Kid said.

"They planned it for quite some time, then." Buck said. "But why would anyone kill that poor woman? Lou told me about her. She said she was gentle and kind…"

"Maybe she found out something and they had to kill her to shut her up."

"Maybe…" Buck said. He had a feeling this wasn’t the case, but as of right now he was glad to have Kid on his side, and besides, this was their only line of thought for the moment. "So, where is Lou now? You haven’t left her alone with the kids, have you?" he asked.

Kid shook his head. He looked around to see no one was listening. "She went to pay an old friend a visit." He said.

"Oh, I see." Buck said. "That’s probably the best idea. No one followed her?"

"I don’t think so. She left in the middle of the night and it was dark last night. I covered the tracks leading from the house. I hope that’s enough."

"So do I." Buck said.

On to Chapter Five

Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Fan Fiction Main Page