By Melissa
Copyright 1999
“Come on, move it! We don’t have all day here!” Harrison grumbled as he pushed one of the slaves forward towards the mine.
“Mr. Harrison?” asked a timid voice.
Harrison turned and looked at the slight woman who was speaking to him. “This had better be important.”
The woman bowed her head. “My little girl is very weak, she can not work for much longer without food or water.”
Harrison’s eyes hardened. “Nobody rests until I say so.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “But-“
“Back to work!”
Without another word, the woman returned to her place on the chain gang.
“Somethin’s happenin’ down there,” Jimmy observed as he watched the interaction between the woman and Harrison.
Tricia squinted and tried to make out what they were saying by reading their lips. “That’s my mother he’s talking to, but I can’t understand what she is saying to him.” She watched as her mother lowered her head and walked back to where her father and little sister were standing. Her sister was very pale and looked ready to pass out any minute. Her mother shook her head sadly at her father and began to cry. He enveloped her in his arms and tried to soothe her. Tricia felt lumps rise in her throat while fire burned through her veins at the same time. She felt a hand on her arm, and when she turned around she found Lou staring at her with compassion in her eyes.
“Tricia?” Lou asked gently. “You think you can handle this?”
Tricia fought back tears and nodded. “I want to make him pay for what he has done to my family, and everyone else.”
Lou smiled softly. “I understand how you feel.”
As Lou turned away, Tricia grabbed her arm. “Lou, I want you to know that I-“
Lou shook her head. “It’s over. It’s in the past. We all make mistakes, and I think my biggest one was almost losing the most important person in my life.” Her eyes traveled to where Kid was crouching, watching Harrison with a hawk eye.
Tricia smiled. “He loves you a great deal.”
“I know he does. And I’ve been a fool to push him away like I’ve been. That’s why when this whole thing is done and over with I am going to tell him that I have changed my mind.” Lou grinned.
Tricia’s eyes widened. “You mean?”
Lou nodded. “I am going to accept his marriage proposal.”
Tricia’s eyes lit up with happiness. “Lou, that’s wonderful! You’re going to make him the happ-“ Tricia was cut off by the sound of a shrill scream.
All eyes turned towards the scene below where a little girl lay motionless on the ground.
“Sarah!” Tricia screamed as she watched her mother run over to where her baby sister had dropped.
“Hey! Who’s up there?” A gruff voice boomed from below.
“Uh oh, we’ve been spotted!” Cody called out.
“Everybody take cover!” Teaspoon ordered as he stood up. “Harrison! This is Marshal Hunter!”
Harrison looked up at Teaspoon for a split second before raising his gun and firing off a shot. Teaspoon ducked down and barely missed being hit with the bullet. “Nice to meet you Marshal!” Harrison laughed sarcastically as he walked over to Tricia’s mother and pushed her out of the way. “I told you no one rests until I say so!”
“Get your hands off of her.” A cool voice came from behind him. During the exchange with Teaspoon, Tricia had managed to climb down from the rocks and position herself behind Harrison.
Harrison turned around slowly and found himself staring into the barrel of Tricia’s revolver. “Don’t you know little girls shouldn’t play with guns? It ain’t very ladylike.” Harrison cackled.
Tricia’s eyes turned to ice. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Lou screamed out to her.
“Tricia, look out!”
But Lou’s warning came too late. Tricia didn’t see the man creep up behind her. She felt the impact of the bullet in her back, and then a fiery hot sensation travel down her spine. But before everything went hazy, she took one last look at Harrison’s face and squeezed the trigger of her gun. She had the satisfaction of seeing him drop dead to the ground before she herself collapsed.
“Tricia!” Kid screamed as he watched her fall. The other riders climbed down from the rocks, surrounded the remaining outlaws, and ordered them to drop their guns, while Kid and Lou ran over to where Tricia was lying, cradled in her mother’s arms. Tricia’s mother was humming a soft melody to her dying daughter, rocking her slowly like she used to do when she was a baby.
When Kid reached her side, he kneeled down next to her. It had happened so fast, he hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye. He reached forward and closed Tricia’s eyelids, all the while trying not to cry. Lou walked over to him and kneeled down next to him. She took his hand in hers, just like she had done to Tricia only a few minutes before.
“It’s going to be okay.” She told him softly.
Teaspoon walked over and laid a hand on both Kid and Lou’s backs. “You two alright?” Both nodded silently. “Mrs. Llandry?”
Tricia’s mother looked up at Teaspoon with devastation in her eyes. “The only thing I am grateful for is that she didn’t have to suffer here with us.” She turned and looked towards Kid and Lou. “Were you her friends?”
Lou and Kid glanced at each other before turning back to Mrs. Llandry. Kid spoke quietly. “We always will be.”
The next day, on the way back from Tricia’s burial in Serenity, the mood was somber. Even though most of the riders had only known Tricia for a couple of days, she had made an impact in their lives.
Arriving back at the waystation, Kid walked Katy into the barn and began to brush her down. He didn’t hear Lou’s soft footsteps as she walked in after him. She walked over to him and gently wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. Kid turned around so that he was facing her and hugged her tightly.
“Are you okay?” She asked him softly.
“I am now.”
Lou picked her head up and stared into his eyes. She reached out and gently caressed his cheek. “Kid, I’m sorry I’ve been acting like a fool.”
Kid shook his head and started to say something, but Lou placed her fingers over his lips.
“No, I have to say this.” She looked sternly into his eyes. “It wasn’t until I almost lost you that I realized how much I needed you. When I saw you with Tricia, it almost ripped my heart out.” She stopped to swallow back tears that were starting to form.
“Lou-“
Lou shook her head. “Seeing you with Tricia made me realize how lucky I was to have you to love me, and I knew from that moment on that there was nobody else for me.”
This time it was Kid that swallowed back tears. “Even Jimmy?”
Lou smiled. “Even Jimmy.”
Kid pulled Lou to him in a tight embrace and kissed the top of her head. “Lou, I love you so much.”
Lou sighed contentedly and hugged him back. She had been afraid that there would be no working things out with Kid, that she had finally gone one step too far. She was filled with such relief and happiness. Suddenly she had an impulsive thought. She pulled out of Kid’s embrace, much to his dislike and stepped back, still facing him.
“Lou? What are you doing?” Kid asked, a perplexed look on his face.
Lou grinned at him, tucked her hair behind her ears, took a deep breath and dropped down on one knee. Kid’s eyes widened with intrigue as she took his hand in hers and giggled nervously.
“Kid. Will you marry me?” She finally managed to ask.
Kid’s eyes filled with happy tears as he pulled Lou to her feet and picked her us in his arms, spinning around at the same time. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” He shouted ecstatically, as the other riders came running into the barn to see what the commotion was. Kid leaned down and kissed Lou deeply, his tears mixing with hers.
Teaspoon came wandering into the barn after everyone else and scratched his head in confusion and bewilderment. “Did I miss somethin’?” He asked Noah.
Noah grinned and patted Teaspoon on the back. “I think this day is turning out right after all.”
Kid finally stopped spinning and put a dizzy Lou down on the ground. She looked up at him with adoration in her eyes and kissed him quickly. “Now, now Kid, we’ll have plenty of time for that later.” She turned and smiled at the other riders, Rachel and Teaspoon. “For now we have a wedding to plan!”
