“Louise, face it, you are a woman living in the 1860’s when things are rough, and the West is one of the most untamed lands. And to top it off, you’re going around dressed as a boy doing man’s work. If any of the hooligans you come across found out you were a woman...well, let’s use our imaginations there. So now, you tell me...is that a reason not to worry about you?” Mark spoke to her sternly, one of the few methods he knew to keep her attention...and maybe, just maybe, the only way to get her to listen.

She sat stiffened, not being able to deny what he was saying, but honestly not wanting to fess up to the facts. The worst part about it was that she knew he was right, in fact he always seemed right and wise about everything. It didn’t seem quite fair. “There’s more to it than that,” she began, fumbling for the right words to express her feelings.

Taking her pause as the perfect opportunity to get his two cents in, Mark interrupted, “No, there’s nothing more to it...nothing other than the fact that you love him so much that it’s gone and made you too stubborn to even know what you want out of life anymore. You’ve done such a good job of convincing yourself that everything he does is only one more way of ‘caging’ you up for selfish reasons.

But in reality, you’ve caged yourself...and it’s not bound between the trail from St. Joseph to Rock Creek, or by the Atlantic to the Pacific,” he placed his hand across his heart and lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to look directly into his eyes. “It’s right here, and until you’re willing to admit that, you will always feel like he’s being overprotective and wanting to pin you up. It’s not all his emotions that make you feel this way, Louise, it’s your own...you just haven’t discovered how to accept them yet. Most girls would give their right arms to have a man like that care about them as much as he does you. You should consider yourself extremely fortunate.”

Mark pointed out towards the barn where they could barely make out Katy’s shadow as Kid saddled her. “A guy like that will never be able to change you, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be a little more flexible. If there’s a certain action or behavior that you know bothers him, don’t do it and vice versa. Make yourself more understanding and see where he’s coming from. Instead of always ratting at each other all the time, try being a little more supportive...don’t always go assuming everything...you’ll live longer that way,” he smiled at her.

Turning her head sharply away from him, Lou did her best to find the strength to be furious at Mark for saying such things. But instead, the reality of his truth won over. She softened her outward demeanor and bit her lip, wanting to follow his advice, although not quite sure where to begin. “What do I do?”

Standing up and gathering his things to head back to his hotel room, Mark decided to let her reason it out on her own. After all, in this particluar case, it was the only way. “That’s up to you,” he glanced at his pocket watch and then carefully closed it again. “And if memory serves me correctly, Marisa said she would meet Kid here at 3:30. It is now 3:07, so if my math is precise, I’d say you have about 23 minutes to figure it out.”

Gently he leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek, and then took her hand in his. “Unless I’ve missed my guess, I’d say that you’ll work it out in half that time...star pupils always do you know.”

Lou looked at him, gratefully, “Thank you.”

He shrugged, “No need to thank me. Just be here dressed and ready for dinner, because you and I have a date at 7 o’clock.”

Leaning against the railing, Lou watched as Mark made his way across the dusty road. Some of his words to her had struck so close to home that it was almost painful. However, at the same time, a lot of what he said didn’t entirely make sense. She wasn’t sure if she came out of their conversation more baffled than when she had gone into it. Either way though, there was something that she wanted to say to Kid before he left, and since Mark’s calculations had been so exacting, she figured she now had 21 minutes in which to do it.

Buck didn’t have to run all the way to Teaspoon’s office, instead the Marshal met him at a half way mark. “Teaspoon!” The younger man called out as he stopped face to face with him. “Cody’s horse just came back...something must have happened to him.”

Teaspoon walked briskly towards the station. The terror of the storms raging through the lands had been enough to cause quite a stir. At first he thought that perhaps everyone was overreacting...but now he knew there was due cause for alarm. If one of his boys were to get trapped out in one of those twisters...he’d never be able to forgive himself. “Did you see anything that might suggest where he’d be?”

Shaking his head, Buck did his best to speak calmly inspite of the fear rising within him at the idea of what might have occured to his friend. “No, only his horse and gear.”

Pulling a letter from his pocket, Teaspoon handed it to Buck. “This hear note says that some of the worst storms ever recorded are passing through the West. We’ve been ordered to remain on standby and keep all riders close to the station unless it’s absolutely necessary for them to leave.”

“Then Cody could be out there in it. We need to find him,” Buck responded, in his calm yet commanding tone. There was no way he was just going to sit around waiting for a storm to pass over when their comrade might be caught out in the worst siege of weather they had ever witnessed.

The older man sighed, he knew that none of them would be getting a moment’s rest until they found out what had happened to Cody. He hated this side of his job because it was always a struggle of sacrificing the good of one for the good of many. “Buck, I don’t know that I can let you or anyone else venture out in this. It could be dangerous. Cody’s an excellent rider, and he knew what he was getting into when he signed on for this job. We gotta trust that he can take care of himself.”

Buck smiled, Teaspoon was somewhat convincing in his words, but he was lousy at acting as if he sincerely meant it. “I’m not going to wait around for you to tell me it’s all right, I’m going with or without your permission. We can’t leave him out there...what if he’s hurt?”

There was hardly a moment of silence before Teaspoon patted him on the back. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he replied, proud of the unsurpassed loyalty that each of them shared.

The young girl pulled her shawl securely around her shoulders. In the distance she could hear the roaring thunder roll through the sky. Although as frightening as it may have sounded, this storm was the least of her worries. It was almost as if she could hear the curses and threats from one man that she knew would be after her. He’d brought her near death too many times, and had violated and destroyed the lives of innocent people. That’s why she rode now, harder than she ever had in her life. She’d spent several years wishing the difficult times away...and now it was time that she did something about it.

His face was so clear to her...the eyes, the soft expression, and the way that he had studied her every feature in return. It was as if he gazed into her eyes and in a few short seconds drew out every secret which rested within her. He was acutely aware of the distress that she was in, but there was nothing that he could do to stop it, nor did he know to what degree it extended. All she knew was that she had to warn he and his friend about the impending danger that they were up against.

Nobody would ever even dare to imagine what was being schemed here. Not only did the man from her worst nightmares know how to plan the perfect setups, murders, and robberies, he was also capable of inconceivable forms of treaturty.

If she was successful in saving at least one of their lives in this horrific mess, she could die in peace...knowing that she had made an attempt to dissolve her employer’s evil misdeeds. Grimly, she reminded herself that any desire to put an end to the peril which had been created firmly rested in the ability to make it there in time, before it was too late for all of them...

The words caught in her throat the moment that she approached him and he looked at her with his tender, calming eyes. Everything that she had wanted to say vanished from her mind, instantly. Now she felt idiotic, foolish, and nervous. Mark’s advice was scrambled in her mind, and she couldn’t remember the order of his statements.

Kid adjusted his saddle and patiently waited for her to speak. He honestly didn’t have the energy to talk to her about this anymore....especially if she once again tried to persuade him into either staying or taking her along. It was a dead end subject...one that he had refused to even discuss. “Is there something you wanted, Lou?”

She fumbled, restrained by her own tongue, choked up by confusing emotions, and perplexed by her own inability to even make up a stupid excuse as to why she was standing there experiencing all of the above.

“I...well, actually Rachel asked me to bring in something.” She spun around, looking for anything that she could get her hands on. Spotting a shovel, and without thinking, she picked it up. “There,” Lou smiled nervously.

Kid stared at her, confused at the prospect of Rachel using a shovel in the house. I mean sure, things got messy, but they were never that sloppy. “She needs a shovel in the house?”

Wondering at this point whether or not she’d be better off just smacking herself in the head with it, Lou dropped it back on the floor. “Nevermind,” she said, before turning on her heels and walking out.

Watching her with something more powerful than a bewildered expression, Kid shook his head and decided to leave it be. However, he didn’t have the chance to let it rest completely, because no sooner had she headed out when she was right back in again.

If Lou was going to be able to say this, it was going to have to be all at once, and extremely fast. Or else, she knew that she would probably end up forgetting the whole thing.

Here goes...one, two, three, she primed herself. “Kid, I know that we’ve had our disagreements, but I just wanted to say that doesn’t mean we can’t work together. You’ll never be able to change me because I’m stuck on a road from the Atlantic to the Pacific...and I know you’re probably between here and St. Joe. I can’t change you, but I’m willing to become a little more flexible about the whole thing. In spite of the cages.”

“The what?” Kid asked with perplexity pasted across his face.

“Cages. We’re both in cages, can’t you see that!?” She snapped, not aware that every single thing she was saying had absolutely no sense behind it. Lou knew what she was trying to tell him, it’s just that he didn’t have a clue. But seriously, what was his problem anyway...I mean wasn’t it perfectly obvious?

On to Chapter Eight

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