Lou found him in the shadows at the mouth of the cave. He looked a desolate figure, his legs akimbo, hands on his hips, his head bowed. Wanting to ease his pain, she put a hand gently on his shoulder. Encouraged when he didn’t shrug away as he ussually did when he was annoyed, she moved to slip her hands around his waist and hug him. Her face rubbing against his back, she breathed in the familiar earthy scent of him before she spoke.

‘I’m sorry Kid, I should have been more careful’

‘Lou you shouldn’t be here, I can’t protect you.’ he turned and drew her into his embrace. Tilting her head back, he placed gentle kisses on the bruised area on her face. He held her tightly for a few more moments before he spoke again. ‘Lou I want you to go back to Sweetwater, we can handle this.’ He spoke.

‘No. I won’t be ordered to go back. I can take care of myself’

‘Lou. I’m not ordering you to go. But you must know that I can’t think clearly while I have to worry about you. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you.’

Lou reached up to hold his face between both of her hands ‘Don’t you realise that, that is why I can’t go back to Sweetwater. I need to be here with you. You are the one in danger, not me. I need to be near you,’ She paused. ‘All of you.’ She added looking back into the cave towards the dim light from the fire.

Kid hugged her tightly to him, when he finally released her he took her by the hand, leading her back into the cave.

Jimmy, had been sitting by the crackling flames of the fire, worried about his two closest friends. This situation was hard on all of them, but it was doubly hard on the loving young couple. As much as his own feelings for Lou confused him, he knew in his heart that the two of them belonged on a farm somewhere surrounded by children. The reality of the danger they were facing, evident in the beating Lou had obviously received, could not be denied. He was relieved to see them walking back toward the fire hand in hand. Turning back to the other boys, he could see the relief clearly written on their faces. This was a hard enough job to tackle without having to fight Kid or Lou, or both, every step of the way as well. The others waited until Kid had settled on the ground with Lou pulled tightly into his embrace before they spoke again.

‘We’ve been talking it over. We think that we should go home’ Jimmy spoke quietly. Tears welled in Lou’s eyes as she realised what the others were doing for her.

‘NO’ she shook her head ‘If we look after each other, we can do this Sam is depending on us.’ she explained.

‘What do we know?’ Kid asked softly.

‘I think that the Saloon owner will push one of you to get involved in the extortion racket’ Lou spoke softly. ‘ I have been instructed to make Kid pliable enough to take orders from Donovan.’ she stated.

‘Well, isn’t this interesting!’ Simpson spoke loudly from somewhere in the shadows at the front of the cave.

‘What do you want Simpson?’ Cody asked calmly, as if he had expected him to arrive. ‘God dammit,’ Simpson cussed spitting a stream of tobacco juice on the floor as he emerged from his hiding place with a gun trained on Lou. ‘I knew something was going on. Throw your guns over here, or she gets it.’ He pulled Lou from the floor by her hair. Each of the riders cringed at the cruelty Simpson practiced when he dealt with Lou. Lou pliantly followed him, desperate to keep her boys safe. Knowing that any one of them was liable to jump to her defense and get their fool selves killed.

‘You don’t want to do this Simpson’ Kid started ‘Help us and we can help you.’

Lou watched Ike as Kid spoke and distracted Simpsons attention. Ike’s hands quickly outlined a plan for the observant Lou. Jimmy shuffled unobtrusively closer towards the front of the cave and Lou’s captor. Sensing his approach, Simpson turned the gun on Jimmy, that was all the time that Lou needed, she brought her hobnailed boot heavily into the top of Simpson’s foot as he doubled up in pain. Kid rushed forward, gun drawn to pull Lou into his arms. Pausing only as he heard the hammer of a gun cocked behind him. Thinking he was about to be shot in the back, he stopped reluctant to move further and possibly put Lou in the line of fire. However, a sickening sound of slicing flesh and a groan from behind him, turning he saw Buck’s knife protruding from Simpson’s chest. Simpson quite obviously dead.

‘Thanks Buck’ Kid thanked him, Buck shrugged his shoulders as he reached over to pull his knife from Simpson’s chest.

‘Well what do we do now?’ Jimmy asked

‘One of us will have to take him back to Sweetwater, Donovan has no idea where he is We can just return to the plan.’ Kid almost thought aloud.

*I’ll take him back* Ike signed.

‘Thanks Ike. We should be going now, I suppose?’ Lou questioned.

They both went to the front of the cave and mounted their horses, they rode almost silently into town and when they arrived at the front of the saloon, they both dismounted, knowing that Donovan would be waiting decided to put on a show for him.

‘Thank you for a wonderful evening Miss Louise’ he spoke loudley

‘No thank you Kid,’ she brushed up against his side, leaning up she placed a long wet kiss on his lips. ‘So cowboy will I see you tommorrow?’ she asked.

‘Certainly, I thought you might like to take a picnic lunch with me.’

‘I would love that Marshall.’ She placed another kiss on his cheek as she turned and walked into the salloon

Kid walked slowly back to the Marshall’s office, knowing that the others had already returned to their small rooms above the Marshall’s office. He unlocked his office door and after lighting a lamp he checked that nothing had been disturbed in his absence. Extinguishing the lamp, he was about to leave the office when three shotgun blasts breaking the silence of the town, shattered the office windows.

On to chapter five

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