"....and then Jeremiah grabbed the drapes and they completely came off the window. You could only imagine how frustrated Sister Martha was!" Everyone at the bunkhouse dinner table was laughing. Stacy had seemed to win her way into the hearts of all of the riders in just the few hours she had been with them. Lou had the most mirthful smile on her face as she recollected the times they had shared in the orphanage.
"But she's not telling you all of it either!" Lou chuckled.
Stacy turned red. "Oh, no, don't even start with that!" She nervously snickered to herself. The two friends exchanged teasing glances.
There was an uneasy moment of silence before Buck leaned forward. He smiled at her gently. "How did you find Lou after all this time?"
Taking a deep breath, Stacy tried to figure out a way to keep it informative, but also keep the story as short as possible. Everyone at the table leaned forward, anxious to hear the story. "Well, when I left the orphanage, Lou was of course still there, and when I came back to visit a few months later they said she had left to go get a job. Of course then it occured to me that there probably wouldn't be too many different jobs that a young girl like her would take. But then, I always knew she was spunky!"
Lou giggled and looked at her friend. "Um, who was the one that used to torment all the boys??"
Stacy grinned, "That's beside the point."
Jimmy stopped chewing his food. This was one moment he had to take advantage of. "Oh, great, just what we need, another tough woman!" There was a chorus of laughter all around.
"You're just feeling defeated!" Rachel said rising to clear away the empty dishes.
Teaspoon was getting into the story and although he loved hearing the laughter of the others, he wanted her to continue. He gestured towards Stacy, "Now don't you boys go forgetting your manners, please continue." He smiled warmly.
She cleared her throat for a second go at it. "Now, is everyone finished with their remarks?" She gazed in a teasing stern manner at Jimmy. He looked away innocently. "Okay, so I asked the sister at the orphanage where she had gone, but they weren't exactly sure. I honestly didn't think that I would ever catch up with Lou, but I guess I did." Stacy knew she hadn't told the story right, in fact she hadn't really started looking for Lou until a few months ago.
She continued. "So then I just kept asking around, and finally after these years, I've found her." Stacy grabbed Lou's hand and squeezed it affectionately before she stood up to help Rachel clean up.
"I still say it's amazing you two even hooked up again." Noah pointed out before he also rose to tend to his last few evening chores. "But it's nice you're back together."
After seeing that Rachel had been assisted with the chores of cleaning up, Lou and Stacy gracefully excused themselves to take a walk outside in the dusk of the evening. It had taken quite some effort to escape without being followed by at least ONE of the boys. But Louise had gracefully begged them to stay behind. Each one of the boys apparently found Stacy quite attractive, which was all the more reason Lou thought it best to keep them all away, Cody especially.
They sat on the porch swing and admired the beautiful setting sun. Lou turned to her friend after a few moments. "Stacy, don't think I'm not glad to see you." She grabbed her hand. "But I can't help but wonder why you wanted so much to find me."
Stacy blinked back the tears. She knew this was going to be the hardest part of her visit with Lou; telling her what had happened only months ago. "You know Louise, you never could see past me, could you?" Stacy smiled gently at her friend.
Lou nodded in agreement. "What's happened?"
"It's so horrible I don't think I should tell you." Stacy looked out at the sky. She felt an arm touch her shoulder, which seemed to ease her spirits. "Lou, I witnessed something. Then some men came after us." She started to cry, but continued to fight it all back. Stacy had held it all in for so long, it was almost hard to face what she had been keeping from herself. She decided to let it all go at once, rather than try to play it out better than it was. "They killed Joe! Now they're after me."
Lou's face turned a sickly pale. Joey had been like a big brother to her. And the fact that murders were now after her friend scared her to death. "Oh Stacy! Who? How? Why?" She was too shocked to react with anything better than that.
"I came to you because I didn't have anyone else to go to." She spoke between sobs.
Louise rose to hug her comfortingly. "Shhh, it's okay. I'm here, and we're going to get you out of this. Just tell me what all happened."
Stacy dried her tears and looked into the eyes of Louise. "Thank you." For once in a very long time she felt a slight glimmer of hope.
On toChapter Three!