By Kirsten
Copyright 1999
Carefully he touched her shoulder and tried to coax her towards the house. “Lou, are you feeling all right?”
She recoiled from his touch. Lou had absolutely no regard to the lack of reasoning in all of the things that she had said. “I’m fine!”
Kid shook his head and took a step away from her, “Well, you sure don’t act like it.” He knew that it would be futile to even attempt to take her inside and make her rest. One thing was certain though...this woman wasn’t talking in plain English at all!
With her small bag packed, and her riding clothes on, Marisa appeared in front of the barn before Lou had a chance to respond. She smiled weakly at Kid, “Are you ready?”
Groaning inwardly, Kid glanced from Marisa to Lou. This was not the type of condition in which he had wanted to leave. “Just give me a minute,” he replied, to which she acknowledged with a nod.
Lou looked as if she were going to be sick, and Kid placed a hand on each shoulder. “I’ll be back in five days, seven at the latest. Why don’t we talk about whatever it is you wanted to talk about then?” He mustered a faint smile, the type of smile that never failed to make her blush and look down at the ground.
There was no way that she could respond to him except by a quick gesture with her hand. Kid reached down and placed a kiss on her cheek and then lead Katy out of the barn towards Marisa. Lou watched with anxiety as he mounted his horse. Marisa did the same, and without looking back, they took off towards a destination that had not been precisely specified.
It was going to do absolutely no good to stand there feeling sorry for herself, so Lou decided to busy herself and take care of some chores. She headed out the back of the barn, vaguely noticing that Jimmy and Buck were standing outside discussing something which appeared to be of importance.
Instead, she was focusing on how she was going to blame Mark for the fact that his “brilliant” words of wisdom had only succeeded in confusing Kid...not helping him. “Some writer he is,” she mumbled under her breath before heading out to tend to the horses.
Mark glanced through his papers and books which were sprawled out across the bed. And, like with all good writers, papers were crumpled and carelessly tossed into the waste basket...evidence of many errors and dissatisfactions with his own work.
He stretched his stiff back and decided that instead of forcing himself to write, he would actually take the time to sit down and enjoy reading the words of someone else. Perhaps an inspiration would strike him as he was reading.
Reaching into his small bag, he pulled out the collection of newspaper clippings and articles that he had been accumulating through the years. It always helped to take facts from the real world and place them into his own personal fiction. After all, some of his greatest characters had been fashioned after real people.
It was probably the large bold text that caught his eye first. It was apparantly from one of the East Coast papers...most likely one from New York or Boston.
Curious with the impact of the words, Mark continued scanning down the article.
April 1858
Another murder has occurred for the fourth time this month. The woman responsible has finally been captured and the judge ordered her to be committed to an asylum for treatment. A Boston doctor has stated that such cases are not easily cured. The daughters of Lydia Hugh pleaded for her release and the judge expects to reopen the case in five years. Ezra Floyd was Lydia’s fourth and hopefully final victim.
Mark put the article back in its pile. That wasn’t exactly the type of lighthearted humor he was searching for...his story needed wit, charm, a few good laughs, maybe a good cry, and somewhere in there he was going to fit in a decent plot.
Now, it was just a question of answering the five “W’s”...who, what, when, where, and why.
“What did you just say?” Lou asked, finally tuning in to their conversation for the first time.
Jimmy looked at her, the concern plaguing his eyes with what he was about to tell her. “Some bad storms are headed this way. Cody’s horse just came back, and now Buck is getting ready to ride out after him.”
“You mean storms as in bad weather?” She asked, her fears instantly gripping tightly around her at the thought that Kid and Marisa had just ridden out into the mess.
Buck stepped forward and pulled himself up into his saddle. “Yes. Teaspoon just got a message that ordered all of us to stay off the trails unless we have to. They say it’s going to be the worst weather we’ve ever seen.”
She felt her mouth go dry and the powerful emotion of terror saturate the inside of her stomach...bringing about a nauseating sensation. If only she had been ten minutes sooner, and Marisa hadn’t arrived five minutes early...she would have had time to warn them both and stop this all together. “I hope Cody’s all right,” Lou stated, realizing that both men were staring at her, waiting for some sort of response.
Seeing the look of extreme distress cross her face, Jimmy put a comforting arm around her. “Cody will be just fine. I was going to ride out with Buck, but he insisted on going alone, and someone has to stay here and help hold the station together in case these winds do pick up.”
Lou smiled faintly at his attempt to lighten the mood with some mild babbling. She didn’t want to sound hard hearted or cold by telling them that it wasn’t Cody she was so worried about. Yes, she was concerned, but right now there was someone else on her mind...because all storms, rains, and twisters aside, she honestly didn’t believe that he knew what it was that he was riding into.
Gently moving away from Jimmy, she peered up at Buck one last time. “You take care of yourself out there.”
“I will.”
Without another utterance on the matter, Lou walked back towards the bunkhouse. She massaged her temple and tried to convince herself not to do something completely and positively foolish like ride out after them. This was one of those times when she was going to have to deal with it, and pray that once they hit the worst of the weather, they would turn back for shelter.
Lou looked up into the sky and swallowed hard when she saw the threatening clouds overhead. They had the full appearance of being out for vengeance against anyone or anything. Wrapping her arms around herself, Lou realized that she wasn’t cold because of the sudden drop in temperature...she was freezing at the deliberation of something dreadful or unthinkable happening when she might have prevented it.
Jimmy watched Lou with something more intense than a curious glare. She just hadn’t been acting herself for the past two hours, and as was customary, she refused to discuss it. He was tired of watching her re-tidy the same area over and over again. “Lou, you’re going to wear a hole right through that rag or your hand if you keep that scrubbing up.”
Without really hearing what he had said, she merely mumbled a short reply...one that he couldn’t quite make out.
“I’m serious, Lou. Something has really been bothering you, and if you want to talk about it, I’m here,” he offered with his usual sweet air of sincerity.
Not thinking about what she was saying, Lou snapped back, “Quit sounding like Kid! Honestly, you men just don’t know when to lay off.”
Had Jimmy been standing, he more than likely would have taken a step backwards at such a comment. Now he was certain that there was a deep inlaying problem that he wasn’t aware of. Along with that, of course, came the determination to find out exactly what it was.
“Lou, what’s wrong?” he remained with his voice soft and low. There was no way he was going to do anything that might irritate or make matters worse by coming on too strong. “Cody’s going to be fine. Buck will find him.”
She sank onto her bed and threw the rag on the floor. “Kid and Marisa rode out right before Buck left.” Once she said it, Lou thought about how stupid she appeared. If she knew, then why hadn’t she tried to stop them?
Jimmy could think of nothing better to say than the usual statement when reacting out of shock, “What!?” So many thoughts seemed to shuffle around in his mind...one of which was going out there to find them. But, he knew that such an action was not exactly the wisest to make...not when they would be up against more than they could hope to defeat.
“You aren’t thinking about riding out in that, are you?” Jimmy did his utmost to anticipate her immediate reaction...without making it look as if he were anticipating her immediate reaction.
“No. I may be silly, but I’m not foolish. I’ve just got to trust that they’re going to be all right,” she said softly, almost as if she were speaking to herself.
“Good,” Jimmy replied before reaching for his hat. There wasn’t anything he could do about the fact that his friend was out there somewhere. Not when the rain was beginning its rapid decent from the sky. It would be impossible to see through the falling water long enough to ride...much less try to find anyone. But at least he could go do something with his instant onslaught of nervous energy. Anything would be better than sitting around worrying. “I’ll be outside.”
Lou glanced at the antique watch that Mark had brought back to her. She gently picked up the treasured object and opened the case. It was 6:38...and time for her to get ready for dinner. Having dinner out on the town was not exactly her first choice of activities...especially considering the circumstances. However, perhaps being out with her friend would be good therapy, and at least a way to help take her mind off of the disaster at hand.
A potential disaster that she undoubtedly had no control over now...it was too late.
On to Chapter Nine
