Skeletons
By Aimee
Copyright 1999
Part Three
Rachel looked at Eli, who avoided her eyes. "It's okay," she said. "I already knew."
"You did?" Eli was shocked. "Why didn't you say anything to Teaspoon and the boys?"
"Well, I just figured you had your own reasons for your disguise. I guess I was right," Rachel looked out the window towards Luke.
"When I found out what he was up to, I threatened to turn him in. He beat me up and left me unconscious while he went to the saloon. When he came back, I was gone. He's been looking for me ever since. He doesn't want me to be able to witness against him. Are you going to tell Teaspoon now?"
Rachel just smiled. "Don't worry, if we can get out of this, your secret is safe with me. Although you might want to tell Lou. She can give you some advice on things like how to keep it a secret or how to deal with living with men. As for Teaspoon and the boys," Rachel laughed, "what they don't know won't hurt them. They were accepting of Lou, but she had already proven herself to them. Why don't we just wait awhile and see what happens. But something tells me when they find out you won't lose your job. Trust me though, they will find out eventually. But I promise it won't be from me."
"Thanks Rachel," Eli looked doubtfully at Sarah though.
"Don't worry," Sarah said, smiling. "I won't tell either."
Eli was about to respond when they were interrupted by a gunshot from the men outside. It shattered the window above her and lodged in the wall above Jimmy's bunk. The three women immediately began to return the fire, and for the next few minutes gunshots could be heard flying back and forth. The three women had the advantage of cover while the men didn't have much cover at all. When the gunfire finally stopped, three of the gang members were dead, and Luke was badly injured. None of the women had even been scratched. Rachel and Eli rushed outside to take Luke to the jail while Sarah checked on Lou. She was still sleeping soundly, not at all disturbed by the gunfire. Her fever even seemed to have gone down some more.
Rachel and Eli weren't having an easy time getting Luke to the jail. Even though he was injured, he still kept struggling as Eli tried to tie his hands.
"Be still!" she shouted at him.
He looked at her menacingly. "Nice disguise little sister," he spat. "Hope you know, if I go down, I'm taking you with me."
"What's he talking about?" Rachel asked, as Eli tightened the knots on the rope.
She forced Luke to walk towards the jail, not answering Rachel's question.
"Why don't you tell her?" Luke said. He spoke to Rachel. "Elizabeth here threatened to turn me in, but she helped me the whole time."
Eli jammed her gun into his back and pushed him into the cell. "Shut up," she said, locking the door.
"Face it little sis," he yelled as they left Teaspoon's office. "You're just as involved in this as I am!"
"What's he talking about Eli?" Rachel asked as they walked back toward the way station.
Eli didn't answer, but just kept walking swiftly toward the bunkhouse. Rachel hurried to catch up with her. "Eli, if you talk to me I might be able to help you. Nobody here is going to judge you, least of all me. I'm not proud of my past, but its still there. When Teaspoon and the boys found out I was wanted for murder, they got the story from me before even considering turning me over to the law."
Eli stopped walking and just stared at Rachel. She was silent for a few minutes, trying to decide whether she could trust Rachel or not. Finally she asked, "And they helped you even though all the evidence pointed toward your guilt?" Rachel nodded. "But there are some very powerful and important men involved. Everyone will be more likely to believe them instead of me."
Rachel smiled at her. "The men who were accusing me of murder were very powerful too. But that didn't stop the boys from believing me or helping me."
"Really?" Rachel nodded. "Maybe we should talk," Eli said.
"Are you boys ready?" Teaspoon asked, looking at the ragged group standing in front of him. They nodded. "Okay, let's go get them!"
Their plan was to sneak into the camp, much as Buck had to get Lou out; find strategic places from which to work; and bring the gang in. They were horribly outnumbered, four to twenty was not good odds, so they would try to overpower as many men as possible before making themselves known.
They snuck into the camp one by one from different directions. Each hurried to get their jobs done before Teaspoon gave the signal.
Buck headed to the tents where some of the men were sleeping. He moved silently, unseen by anyone as he entered the first tent. Three men were sleeping, whiskey bottles on the ground around them. He quickly tied them up and gagged them, just in case they woke up; but from the number of empty whiskey bottles he didn't think it would be anytime soon.
Jimmy and Cody were each doing the same thing. They were surprised at how many of the gang members were passed out drunk. It looked like they had decided that since the boss was gone, they were going to have a little fun. Between the three boys, they managed to secure fifteen of the men, all without firing a single shot!
They met near the corral where Teaspoon was standing behind a storage tent, watching the five remaining men rebranding the horses. They were apparently unaware that nobody was on watch in the camp.
"Okay boys," Teaspoon said as they joined him. "Watch this." He stepped out from behind the tent and addressed the men. "This is Marshal Hunter from Rock Creek! You are under arrest for stealing horses. Put you hands up where I can see them!"
The men immediately reached for their guns, but Teaspoon fired a shot in the air, and the horses began to panic. There were so many horses in the corral that the men were unable to get out. They began to yell for their comrades to help them, but of course, if any of them were even conscious enough to hear them, they were not able to help!
Buck and Cody began to calm the horses, and Jimmy and Teaspoon rounded up the men. Two of them were dead, trampled by the panicked horses. The other three were dazed, and didn't even try to resist as Jimmy took their guns.
"Jimmy, Cody, take them back to Rock Creek and lock them up. The jail's gonna be a little crowded, but I really don't care. Buck and I will round up the horses and bring them back to the station. One of you stay at the jail to keep an eye on them." Jimmy and Cody began to drag the men out of the tents, now conscious thanks to some prodding by the two boys. They forced them to start walking towards Rock Creek. Buck was glad Teaspoon had assigned him to the horses. It didn't look like Jimmy and Cody were going to have much fun.
"Rachel?" Sarah was instantly at Lou's side.
"Shh. Don't try to talk now. Rachel will be back soon; she had something to take care of."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Sarah Norman. I took care of you when you were brought to your father's camp."
"Aunt Sarah?" She nodded as Lou weakly reached out to take her hand. "I've longed to meet you. My mother told me a lot about you; she loved you very much."
Sarah's eyes filled with tears. "She was my best friend. I search for you after she died, but it was a few years before I even heard that she had died. I asked at many orphanages about you and Teresa and Jeremiah, but I couldn't find you."
"We were in St. Jo, but we used mama's maiden name."
"I know honey. I found out after I went to live with your father when my husband died. By then though, he wouldn't let me leave."
Rachel and Eli walked in and Rachel came over to check on Lou. "How are you feeling honey?"
"Better. My head hurts, but I'm not as tired as I was before."
"Are you hungry?"
"Yeah," Lou smiled. "I feel like I could eat more than Cody."
Rachel laughed. "Well, let's see what we can find."
Lou looked at Eli. "Who are you?"
"I'm Eli, the new rider."
Lou looked at Rachel questioningly. "Eli, huh? Is that short for Elizabeth?"
Eli laughed. "Guilty as charged."
"Do the boys know?"
"No..."
"Well, don't worry, I won't tell."
"Thanks."
"I just can't wait to see their faces when they find out though!"
Rachel brought a bowl of stew over and handed it to Sarah to feed to Lou. "How are your legs?" She asked, putting her hand on Lou's forehead. "Your fever is almost gone."
"My legs actually hurt! I can feel them, and they hurt bad."
"Can you move them at all?"
Lou tried to move them. "I can wiggle my toes."
Sarah smiled. "That's a good sign. Practice moving them everyday, work on getting stronger. You'll be walking in no time."
"Where's Kid?"
"He's gone to St. Jo with Ike. They went to make sure Jeremiah and Teresa are okay."
"Good. My father's probably going to go after them."
"Don't worry about them Lou. Kid and Ike will take care of them," Rachel reassured her. "Now eat."
"Do you see them?" Kid whispered to Ike. The two boys had never gotten to the orphanage. On the way they had stopped in a small town to eat and rest their horses. While Kid was taking care of Katy, Ike had decided to walk around town for a while. He had seen Boggs with the two children coming out of a restaurant. He hurried to tell Kid, and they had been following Boggs ever since. He had stopped to camp for the night, and now the boys were waiting for them to fall asleep so they could get the kids out.
The kids are asleep, Ike signed back to him. Let's go.
Kid and Ike snuck down closer to the camp. They circled around behind Boggs and snuck up on him. Kid put his gun in his back. "You're under arrest Boggs."
Ike took his guns and tied his hands. He helped him mount his horse, and signed to Kid, I'll see you in Rock Creek. He and Boggs took off.
Kid woke Teresa and Jeremiah. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.
"Kid?" Jeremiah said sleepily.
Kid nodded. "How would you like to go visit Louise?" he asked them, smiling.
Teresa smiled. "Can we really?"
"Yep."
"What about our father?"
"He's gone," Kid assured her.
"He's a bad man, isn't he?"
"I'm afraid so honey, but he won't bother you anymore."
"I'm glad. I don't like him," Teresa smiled at Kid. "But I like you." She slipped her hand into his. "I like you because you are going to take us to see Louise."
"What about you, Jeremiah? Do you want to go see your sister?" Kid asked unsurely. He remembered how Jeremiah had been so bitter last time Lou went to visit them.
Jeremiah smiled. "Sure! I miss her a lot."
Kid smiled back at him, relieved. "Well, why don't you guys go back to sleep, and we'll leave first thing in the morning."
"Okay," Teresa said happily. "Goodnight."
Kid watched as they went back to sleep then sat down by the fire to keep watch. He woke them up early the next morning and got their things together so they could leave. They were quickly ready to go, and Kid tied Katy behind the wagon. He handed the reins to Jeremiah. "Why don't you drive for a while?"
"Wow! Sure." They headed toward Rock Creek.
Epilogue
Over the next couple days things at the way station began to return to normal, or at least as normal as things ever got for the riders. Ft. Kearney sent soldiers to bring Boggs and his gang back for their trial. Luke Fowler had somehow escaped between the time Eli and Rachel left him in the cell and Jimmy and Cody brought the outlaws in. Wanted posters had been sent out throughout the territory, be he had not been seen. This was almost a relief to Eli; she wasn't really expecting him to come after her again. After all that would make it more likely for him to get caught, and now there were more witnesses to testify against him. Besides, if he wasn't caught, her identity would remain a secret. Although Rachel, Lou, and Sarah all knew, she wasn't quite ready for the boys to find out. So for now she put her brother out of her mind, but she knew that one day she would probably have to deal with him again.
Lou continued to recover from her injuries. She regained enough strength in her legs to begin taking a few steps at a time, but was still confined to her bed or sitting on the porch most of the time. Rachel and Sarah had to keep a close eye on her because, being Lou, she tried to do too much. She spent her time getting to know Sarah or talking to Eli. The two girls were becoming good friends, but they had to be careful whenever any of the boys were around. She was content to take some time off and recover, but at the same time she couldn't wait to begin riding again. Ike had only told her that the children were fine and Kid was going to take care of them. She had assumed that he would take them back to St. Jo before coming home, so she was surprised when Kid showed up with Jeremiah and Teresa. They stayed for a few weeks before Lou and Kid took them back to the orphanage. Jeremiah was no longer bitter at Lou. Instead he began to understand why she had to leave, and now he thought she had the greatest job in the world. Kid taught him how to ride and even let him ride Katy; and Cody taught him how to use a lasso. The only disappointment he had was that Jimmy, much to Lou's relief, would not teach him to use a gun. But Jimmy promised that when he was older he would teach him. So when Lou finally said good-bye to them she was very happy with their relationship.
Sarah was so happy to finally get to know her nieces and nephew. She couldn't bear to leave Louise so soon, so when Dr. Wallace offered her a job as his nurse she eagerly accepted. She even offered to let Teresa and Jeremiah live with her, but Rock Creek's school wasn't a very good one (Rachel hadn't started teaching yet:), and Lou felt that it was important they get a good education.
So their lives settled down for the time being; but of course, adventure would soon find them again. Word soon came from Ft. Kearney that Boggs had been convicted of leading the horse stealing operation and was hung. So both Lou and Eli were able to put the skeleton back in the closet where they belonged.
The End
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