Homecoming

"Yeah. Half of me is hopin' that Lou will come home as soon as she finishes, but another part hopes she stays at Doc's instead of tryin' to ride in this mess."

"You know that Lou can handle herself in this weather."

"Yeah, but that doesn't stop me worryin'. I wish she never had to take that job. But it's too late to worry about that now. Besides, babies can take a while to be born."

"There's somethin' else on your mind, isn't there?" There was something in Kid's manner that suggested he was preoccupied with more that just his wife's absence. One guess as to what that was. Mentioning babies only proved it.

"What makes you say that?" Kid smiled. "You're right though. I was thinkin' about Emily, and what Lou said."

"What did she say?"

"She said that she spent time with Emily after Ike died, somethin' that we never did. She's right. We never went to see how she was copin'."

"I'll tell you how she was copin'. She went straight to bed with another man, no consideration to Ike's memory. I knew she was gonna hurt him." Buck's tone was bitter.

"How do you know?" Kid asked in a near whisper.

"What?"

"How do you know that this baby ain't Ike's? We never saw her after it happened. We just forgot about her. Except for Lou. She is convinced that the baby is Ike's."

"How can it be? They only knew each other for about a week. How could it possibly be Ike's?"

"Remember the dance? Remember how when Teaspoon found her father, you had to look for them?"

"Yeah, I found them in the barn..." Realisation slowly dawned on Buck. "Ike did look a little worse for wear after that."

"They probably went in there for a little private dancin'. That was nine months ago. So..."

Buck held up his hand, a little uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. "I get the picture, thank you. How do you know so much about havin' babies anyway?"

"When Lou lost the baby we weren't sure she could have another, so Doc Seyton checked her out. He told us everythin' that we'd ever need to know."

"Do you think that the baby could be Ike's?"

Kid shrugged. "I don't know. What I do know is we owed it to Ike to make sure she was okay, and the only person who bothered was Lou. I don't think we have the right to judge what Emily has done since."

Lou looked up as Dr. Seyton closed the door behind him. "Any change?" she asked.

Dr. Seyton shook his head. "She's still in labour, but apart from that, there's no sign that the baby's comin'. And Emily is gettin' weaker."

"Is there anything wrong?"

"It's too early to tell. There could be somethin' wrong, but at this point, I just don't know." He shook his head. "Emily may know, or at least think that there's somethin' wrong. She's almost convinced that she'll lose the baby. I can't convince her otherwise."

"Is that bad?"

"Well, if she's convinced that the baby's gonna die, she may not fight, then..."

"Then the baby will die. Do you want me to talk to her?"

"Not right now. She's restin'...well, as much as she can at this point. Better leave it until the mornin'. Why don't you go home and get some rest. There's not much else you can do at the moment."

Lou shook her head. "I'd rather stay here. I owe it to the baby's father. When he died, I promised myself and him that I would make sure that Emily would be all right. He loved her so much, and I knew that she was blamin' herself for what happened to him. She never told me she was havin' a baby because she felt that I...we would think less of her, or that we'd think that it wasn't Ike's." Lou stopped, not wanting to mention that Kid and Buck's reaction was exactly what Emily had feared. But Dr. Seyton knew.

"It's not gonna be easy for her, that much is certain. A single mother alone in an unforgivin' world. I do know one thing. You won't be able to help her if you're totally exhausted. With the weather like it is, it's not safe for you to go back to your ranch, so I'll get that little cot, and you can sleep on that. I can get you if I need the help."

"All right, but..."

"I know how you feel, but you are not gonna do her any good unless you get some rest." He shook his head. "You can tell I'm tired, I just repeated myself. Come on."

It was still dark outside when Teresa found herself awakened from a deep slumber. Her eyes popped wide open, and she gave a little gasp, startled.

"Shh Teresa, it's only me, Kid," her brother-in-law whispered.

"What are you doin' in here Kid?"

"Wakin' you. I have a job for you. You know how you've been wantin' to start doin' some cookin'? Now's your chance."

"Louise ain't back yet?"

"No, but that's nothin' to worry about. Babies can take a while to be born, and she wouldn't have wanted to come back late at night."

"You should take your own advise, Kid, and quit worryin' yourself."

"And just how did you know I was worryin'?"

"You always worry about Louise. If what you just told me is true, then you don't need to worry. She'll be fine. Besides, I wasn't worryin'. When you told me that she wasn't back yet I figured she was still at Doc. Seyton's. There's no need to be worried."

"How'd you get to be so smart?"

"Easy, I'm Louise's sister, and MaryLouise McCloud's daughter. How can I go wrong?"

"Imitatin' your brother's sass, for starters. I'll see you in the kitchen."

Dr Williams stared at the ranch house in consternation. The place seemed abandoned, and that spelled trouble. Emily Metcalfe was nine months pregnant, so close to her time that there was no way she should be travelling. In fact, he had implicitly told her not to go anywhere until after the baby was born. She should be here. But the place was empty, and it had the feel of a place that had been empty for a few days at least. Something was not right.

Jeremiah stopped short. This was a vision he had not expected to see. "Teresa, what are you doin' in here? Louise'll tan your hide when she finds out."

Teresa smirked. "Louise ain't here, smart-mouth. She had to stay in town over night. Kid told me to fix breakfast this mornin'."

"And I hope you made it good," Kid commented, mock warningly as he walked into the kitchen. Teresa just turned her smirk on him and turned back to what she was doing.

Jeremiah however was far from satisfied. "Kid, how could you let her cook? She'll poison us all."

"That's enough of that. Teresa's probably a better cook than her sister."

Buck chuckled. "Don't let Lou hear you sayin' that. Besides, Lou can cook all right."

"Yeah, it's just a pity she never let on while we were workin' for the Express. She could have saved us from Hickok's porridge."

"She probably didn't want to havta cook for all you boys."

"She probably had a point, if cookin' in the bunkhouse was anything like this. Jeremiah, you'd better move before you get this bacon down your back."

Kid and Buck hid smiles as Jeremiah jumped to get out of the way. This was a side of Teresa that they had never seen before. Teresa was normally shy and taciturn. Maybe Teresa was finally coming out of her shell. Either that or she was growing up. She was starting to act a little more like Lou.

After breakfast, Kid took Jeremiah and Teresa into town for school, not so much because he didn't trust Jeremiah to look after Teresa, but because he wanted to see Lou, to make sure for himself that everything was all right. He didn't say as much to his brother- and sister-in-law, but he was worried, about Emily, and about Lou if something should happen to the baby. Losing her baby nearly destroyed Lou; she might not be able to handle it if this baby were Ike's and it was lost too…

However there was not much to tell when Kid got to Dr. Seyton's place. Lou was fine, if a little tired. Emily was still in labour, but there was no indication that the baby was going to arrive any time soon, and there was a lot of tension in the air. Kid drew Dr. Seyton aside and asked him about the baby's chances. Seyton maintained that it was too early to tell, but Kid could tell by his manner that the prognosis was not good. One close look into Lou's eyes, and he could see that she knew it to…and it was weighing on her.

"Lou are you sure you can handle this?"

Lou frowned. "What do you mean?"

Kid hesitated. He did not want to unnecessarily cause her any more pain by reminding her of the miscarriage. He didn't have to worry. Lou knew what her husband meant; and the same thought had been on her mind all night. She didn't know what to tell him. Emily's pain was bringing back all sorts of memories for her; memories that she could not shut out no matter how she tried. Memories that brought forth-another suspicion that made her unconsciously rub her hand across her flat belly.

She knew what Kid was asking. One word from her and he would tell Dr. Seyton that she wasn't up to helping out that day, and he would bundle her back on Lightning and take her back to the ranch. And while part of her wanted to do that—to get away from all the reminders of her lost baby; she could not do it. Emily needed her, and she owed it to both Emily and Ike to see it though.

"I'll be fine, Kid. I'm just tired is all. I had kinda an interrupted night."

Kid shot Lou a look that suggested he wasn't convinced that she meant it, but he didn't argue. It wasn't worth it when it would only serve to aggravate Lou further. He knew how stubborn the McClouds' could be. He just kissed her and bade her goodbye. He needed to get back to the ranch. Before he left, Lou reached out and held him close for a few moments. She never said a word, it was just a silent gesture of thanks that Kid understood.

Michaelson looked around furtively. It was about nine o'clock in the morning and there was no way he wanted to get caught snooping around on the Metcalfe ranch. He wasn't even convinced that Emily had even done a runner, being so close to her time and all. But his wife Jenny was convinced, and the fact that the place was completely deserted and looked like it had been for some time placed the odds in Jenny's favour. He desperately searched for some kind of clue, anything that might indicate where Emily had disappeared to.

The search was futile. There was nothing in the yard or barn, which showed where Emily went, and judging from Jenny's frustrated growls and yells inside the house, she wasn't having much luck either. He flinched. Jenny was determined to take Emily Metcalfe's baby to raise as her own. Their own lack of children had always been a sore point with her, making her think that she was somehow lacking as a woman; and no amount of convincing on his part could change her mind. It didn't matter so much to Michaelson. He loved Jenny whether or not she ever produced an heir for him. Not that he was completely opposed to the idea of children…which was why he was helping Jenny on this. Come Hell or high water, Jenny was going to find Emily Metcalfe and take the child.

"I'm worried Teaspoon."

Dr. Williams sat in the chair opposite the Marshal of Rock Creek's desk. Apart from himself and the Michaelsons, Teaspoon Hunter was the only person in Rock Creek who knew of Emily's condition. He wasn't supposed to know, Emily did not want anybody to know as people would talk and point accusing fingers when it was none of their business what happened between her and Ike McSwain. She especially did not want anyone from the Pony Express Station finding out, knowing that they would think that the child was a stranger's and she didn't really love Ike.

But Teaspoon found out by accident, and Emily had no idea that he knew. His reaction was initially one that Emily had feared, but when he thought about it he just knew that the baby was Ike's. His opinion of Emily never faltered, in fact it grew. He admired her spunk for trying to carry on under extremely difficult circumstances. He wished he could help her, but he was not going to say anything until she mentioned it first. But now…

"I know you're worried, Doc. I'm worried too. But there's not much I can do about it. Emily lost contact with most of the boys after Ike passed on."

"What about Louise? I know that she stayed used to go and she her."

"Yeah, before she and Kid got hitched. Lou hasn't seen Emily since before they moved to Lone Tree. And it don't know if Emily knows where Lou went."

"I told her. Emily was very lonely one day, and I suggested she get in contact with Louise, but she baulked. She was still uncomfortable about her condition, and what happen to Louise. But given that Emily was distraught enough to flee like this, I think she just may have tried to reach Louise after all."

"Do you know what caused her to do this at all?"

Dr. Williams shook his head.

"Well, Doc., there's not much I can do. I'll wire Lou and Kid and ask them to keep an eye out for her, and I'll wire the Marshals in Cottonwood, Big Sandy and some of the other towns too. Then I'll go to Lone Tree. If you're right and Emily did look for Lou, she oughtta be there about now."