Buck was not far from the overpowering desire to throw himself into a mild state of hysteria. Such a reaction, however, would do no good. In situations like this, one needed to keep their wits about them and find resolution to the predicament. Not further encourage the dismay by “what if’s” and other such pointless notions.

Breaking his steadfast gaze on the twister, he rushed over to Cody’s side, seeing no other option but to carry him to his horse. Then, he could only hope that with his horse’s frail condition...two riders would not slow her down to such an extent that attempting to escape would be futile.

Cody barely moved when Buck lifted him off of the ground. His state of unconsciousness remained steadfast...and Buck figured it was better that he was asleep if they were to be sucked off of the earth by fierce winds. He knew for a fact that he certainly would have preferred to be in Cody’s position at this point in time. Who wouldn’t?

“Come on girl, you’ve got to run...faster than the wind,” Buck prompted, not daring to glance over his shoulder at what might be directly on top of them at any moment.

His horse resisted for a fleeting instant, but then faithfully obeyed her master and trotted in the designated direction. It was almost as if she sensed the urgency of the circumstance...therefore did not defy the concept of removing herself from the area as swiftly as possible. After all, back home is where all of the best food was located...none of this stale grass and smothering rain business.

Buck clutched onto Cody’s frail and limp form, ignoring the stiffness in his own joints at having to hold so much weight. He was just relieved that there was still a chance for his friend to recover from the ailments, without too much impairment. At least none that a little of Rachel’s home cooking couldn’t cure via his stomach.

Feeling the wind die down, he allowed himself to glance back. The twister was still making its way across the ground...but it did no seem as close now as it had before.

“We’ve got to be past the worst of it,” Buck smiled...speaking to no one other than himself.

It is, unfortunately, a historically proven scientific fact that storms are indeed one of the most unpredictable forces of all. And, as it would seem...the worst was yet to come...in fact, it was only beginning.

“Kid!” Marisa searched around their surroundings, slowly raising her head for the first time since the last outburst of lightening activity. He was nowhere to be seen, and she was sure that he had left her there...sobbing in her own misery to die alone.

She stood up and dried her tears, glancing upwards at the sky...just to make sure that it had cleared. Maybe her behavior had scared Kid away?? Stomping her foot into the ground, she threw back her hair...sure that it was over. Now she would be stranded, out in the middle of nowhere...alone.

In all honesty though, could she possibly blame him for leaving her? Who wanted to be trapped in a thunderstorm with an excitable girl who spent fifteen straight minutes bawling her eyes out? If only she could take back those moments. She didn’t understand why she reacted so strongly at times...it just happened, and there was nothing that she could do to control it. Swallowing, she remembered that her mother had experienced the exact same problems. It was a complete loss of control of every emotion......

Just then, she saw Kid making his way back towards her. His horse following closely behind. She smiled. So it wasn’t over, she still had a chance to redeem herself. A chance to continue on with her endeavor still existed. But this time there would be one major difference...she’d do it right from here on in.

“I thought you’d dumped me for sure,” Marisa said, walking towards him. “Did you get my horse back too?”

Kid looked at her...the attitude that she displayed made him more than suspicious. How could she just ignore her conniption and drift back to the present as if nothing had happened. Granted, it was a scary experience, but her reaction was not normal. “The storm cleared enough for me to go out and try to find the horses. I figured you were better off where you were...you are all right, aren’t you?”

Marisa felt her face flush. Of course she was all right! Had there been any signs to indicate otherwise? “Yes, I’m fine...thanks. I guess I just get a little bit nervy sometimes. Did you find my horse?”

Shaking his head, Kid mounted Katy and reached his hand to her, helping her on behind him. “No. I was lucky to find her.” Waiting until he felt her hands grip securely to his waist, Kid spurred them westward. “We need to find a place to make camp, and then at first light, we’re heading back. We can’t travel in this, it’s too dangerous.”

Although she couldn’t voice her protests at this point in time did not mean that they weren’t there. Her mind raced, trying to think of all the different angles that she could use to keep him from heading back to the station. For now, it appeared that she would just have to wait it out, and play her cards right at the next available opportunity.

It had taken Mark and the rest of the boys to convince Lou that traveling out in the dark was not a wise plan. She was aware of that, but sometimes it took a little persuasion to get her to follow through with her own common sense.

Jimmy and Mark had already agreed to ride out with her. Joann practically begged...however, Rachel had successfully convinced her that she needed to stick close to the station. She was worried about the young girl’s pale skin tones, and visible lack of sleep. Besides the fact that they did not want her to be caught by her previous employer. There was no doubt that he would be enraged at Joann for leaving him “high and dry” as she had...not to mention betraying his evilest of plots.

She would most positively be on his black list...

Rachel settled back into the house, offering Joann a comfortable room, with silence and luxury she had not experienced in years. She settled under the cold bed sheets and wrapped a blanket around herself. It felt wonderful to be normal again...to share emotions with a “family” and to see how powerful their love for each other was. Even in spite of these terrible circumstances, they drew closer to one another.

It wasn’t as if Joann had been abused physically...it was more the feeling of being mentally trapped with no way to escape. There were days when she sometimes would have preferred a few slaps across the face rather than the emotional torture.

Maybe staying with these wonderful people would prove to be a “healing” time of sorts. A break from the struggles she had experienced, and a chance to make a new start...perhaps even reclaim her true name once things had improved.

But that wouldn’t be for a while...quite possibly a long while.

In the shadows of the bunkhouse, Louise McCloud stood, her arms crossed as she stared out the window. The moonlight was dampened by the fog...but that didn’t stop her from being able to see the wind rustling through the trees. She stood there...knowing that she would be standing there all night, just waiting for the sun to rise so that they could embark on their journey.

Had her dearest friend asked her what precisely was on her mind...Louise couldn’t have told them. She wasn’t even sure why there seemed to be a garble of confusion tumbling inside herself.

Unbeknownst to her, Mark was having the same difficulty as he paced the streets in front of his hotel. He’d reviewed his notes a hundred times and still it all didn’t add up. There was so much more to this that he wasn’t seeing, and it was making him crazy just rehashing it in his mind...all the while getting no further in his deliberation.

Before he had realized where he had headed, Mark was walking back and forth in front of the bunkhouse. Almost ready to accept his lack of thinking skills, Mark looked up to start back to his hotel room. He spotted the outline of a figure in the window of the building that he instantly recognized as the bunkhouse.

Inert, and frighteningly paralyzed stood the one woman that Mark would have known from a mile away. His heart went out to her...knowing that she was dealing with some of the same pent-up confusions that he was. It would be a sleepless night for both of them, so they could at least endure it with a little support from each other.

Silently, he climbed up the steps and lightly tapped on the window. Lou nearly leaped from the ground, not prepared to have a human being come face to face with her on such an evening. After gripping the edge of the sill to help stop racing heart, she smiled and motioned that she’d be out in a minute.

Taking the afghan off of her bunk, she tip-toed across the squeaky floor boards and opened the door.

“Hey,” Mark said, helping her wrap the warm blanket around her shoulders. “Sand Man missed you, huh?”

Lou grinned at his efforts to help cheer her downcast disposition, “Yeah and it looks like he passed over you as well.” They both sat down on the porch swing and rocked it gently.

“Are we making a mistake?” She said, finally admitting part of the nature of her distress.

Mark couldn’t answer her right away...not without being 100 percent honest. The question certainly was a legitimate one. Were they? Or could it just be the natural uneasiness which was customary before venturing out on this type of expedition? “Is it?”

Lou turned to him, angry that he would turn her own inquiry around on her like that. She was asking him, not wanting a counseling session. “That’s what I want to know.”

Easing himself back into a more comfortable position, Mark stared out at the pitch black horizon. “We are both concerned about Kid’s safety, correct.”

“Yes.”

“We both heard the proof that he is in danger, correct.”

“Yes,” she replied growing a little more frustrated.

Mark pressed further, “Then we both believe that in order to preserve his safety, we need to counteract the danger, correct?”

Lou pulled her blanket tightly around herself, shutting out the chill of the breeze that seemed to penetrate through her skin...causing chills through her entire body. “Yes, but what is your point?”

“Well, if we want to see him safely back home and away from danger, and seeing as going after him is the only way...then I’d say we’re not making a mistake,” Mark looked over at her for the first time since they had sat down, and placed an arm around her, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.

She leaned into him, “I guess you're right....I...” her voice illustrating how sleepy and exhausted she was from all of her fretting.

“Shhhh,” Mark said, gently placing a finger on her lips to silence her. “Get some sleep.

Not arguing with him, Lou settled herself contentedly beside him and within moments, drifted off into a tranquil sleep. The last thing she remembered was Mark placing a kiss on her forehead and pulling her covers securely around her to shut out the brisk nighttime air.

She smiled with her eyes tightly shut. For the next three hours, Louise managed to forget about her troubles, and would continue to do so until the sun rose bright and early the next morning. And then, the exploit would begin...

On to Chapter Twelve

Feedback is welcome!

Fan Fiction

Main Page