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Sunday: Back in the Bunkhouse
Kid asked, "Jimmy, where did you find her, again?" A question that had
been asked too many times to count since Thursday, and Jimmy wasn’t
looking forward to giving another answer.
"I told you Kid," he snapped and then realized his mistake. Kid’s head
jerked to glare at Jimmy…but all that showed were his reddened and
tired blue eyes. In a more calm but direct voice, Jimmy continued…
"I
found her behind the Wildhorse. She was out cold. Her face was all
bruised and her body was crumpled up behind the back stairs." Jimmy
paused. He had the attention of everyone in the bunk; just like
all of the
other times he had to tell the story. The riders couldn’t picture Lou
crumpled, and helpless. Buck cringed from the thought…and Kid had
stopped thinking a couple of days before. Every time he heard the story,
it got harder to listen to…every time Jimmy told the story it got harder
to
tell… "I yelled for Cody to go get the Doc. There was no sign of
no one.
Nothing weird, well, ‘cept for her." He remembered what he felt
when he
found her. His heart dropped. He felt sick to his stomach.
Her hair was
muddy and matted. A liquor bottle lay broken around her, and a few
pieces of glass had been discovered in her hair. How could anyone do this
to a woman, let alone Lou? Probably didn’t even know ‘he’ was a
‘she’.
Jimmy felt an overwhelming feeling of anger and rage…Cody interrupted
his thoughts.
"I ran as fast as I could, Kid, but the Doc wasn’t in. He was helping
Evan’s wife. So, we brought her back here, to Rachel. Washed her
up
good, and have been watching over her ever since," Cody added.
"She has only woken up once since she’s been here, but she is getting
stronger, Kid." Rachel now sat by Lou holding a damp cloth to her
forehead. The day was hard on Lou, all the riders asking questions.
Kid
walking back and forth in front of her bed, just waiting for her to wake
up.
"She finally kept some broth down this morning." It had been quite a
day.
"I shouldn’t of left until she came back. I knew it. She shouldn’t have
been more than an hour. I should’ve gone after her." Kid said, speaking
more to himself than anyone else, as he held his head in his hands.
"Kid, you couldn’t’ve known." Buck put his hand on his friend’s
shoulder.
Just then the sound of a fast horse was heard in the distance, and
everyone hoped it was Teaspoon with good news. Cody ran out the
door
as Ike and Buck followed. Teaspoon slowed his horse and carried
his old,
but spry, body to the ground.
"She any better?" He asked the three.
"She’s keeping down the broth, but not a spectacular recovery." Cody
answered.
"What did you find out?" Ike signed. "Any idea who did this to her?"
"Well, I asked around town. Questioned a few saloon girls. They said a
mysterious fella’s been there, McMasters."
"I crossed paths with a McMasters a coupl’a’months ago. Wasn’t a
friendly fella as I recall," Cody interrupted.
"He rode in about a week ago, got a room, and was ‘very’ friendly for the
first three days. But, they haven’t seen him since Thursday. They’ve
been knockin’ on the door, but he just tells ‘em to get."
"What about Tompkin’s?" Buck asked
"He said that he saw Lou come in and pick up Rachel’s order. Said she,
well he, was in a bit of a hurry, but that was it."
The four men walked quietly into the bunkhouse and noticed that the
attention had been redirected to the small woman on the bed.
"She’s been stirring," Rachel said.
"Lou, can you hear me? Come on Lou, please, wake up." Kid said softly
as he held her hand and brushed her cheek with his other hand.
Everyone in the room stood still, waiting for a sign….a sign of life that
existed behind the closed eyes of their friend. Something that they
all
found when they first met her. There was strength and agility hidden
in
those deep brown eyes, and they sadly wondered if it would ever
return.
She stopped moving, and fell into a deeper sleep. Finally, Jimmy broke
the cold silence.
"Kid, let’s get some fresh air."
Kid didn’t like this idea, but there was no way he could talk his way out
of
it. Jimmy grabbed their jackets, and headed out the door, toward
the
barn.
The silence was overwhelming. Their boots made crunching noises with
the sand, and a prairie dog could be heard in the distance; but
the night
took over, and the moon lit the sky. Jimmy wasn’t sure what to say,
but
he knew he had to say something.
"Hell of a fighter, isn’t she?" He figured this was as good of a line as
any.
Kid just nodded. Tensions had been high between Jimmy and him lately.
He wasn’t sure if Jimmy was a friend or competition. But, right
then, it
didn’t matter. He found warmth and compassion in Jimmy’s voice.
They
were both worried about Lou. Even though Kid and Lou broke up, he
still
cared deeply for her. He couldn’t believe he’d been surviving without
being with her. Kid found a seat on the bails of hay in the barn. Jimmy
stood at the open door, facing the never-ending darkness of the
night.
"Jimmy, I don’t know what I’d do if…" Kid couldn’t finish the sentence.
"Don’t even think about the ‘ifs’. She’ll be fine. She’s strong." His words
trailed off. Deep in his heart he wanted to believe that she would
be
fine…but he wasn’t sure.
"Besides, she’s with us. Together, we can survive anything," the two
were joined by Buck.
"We’re a family, and we can count on each other," Noah added, as the
rest of the gang followed.
"And we are all too handsome for Lou to leave us now. She’d miss my
smile." Cody chimed in. Not realizing the effects of what he said,
until he
got stone glares from the rest of the riders.
"Kid, you should get some rest. We’ll watch over Lou tonight. Nothing’s
gonna happen, she’s safe here," Jimmy said as they all walked slowly
back to the bunkhouse. Kid hadn’t slept, or even left the bunkhouse
since
he came back and heard about Lou. He finally agreed and slowly climbed
onto the bunk above Lou, where she had slept since she joined the
station. He settled himself, and then peered down at his sleeping love.
He
dozed off in less than five minutes.
The next mornin’, Sweetwater was a slow town getting up and around, but
it finally happened. Teaspoon and Barnette watched as the shopkeepers
opened the stores and posted their signs. However, the Wildhorse
was
still motionless when Teaspoon heard the shots.
"Comin’ from the saloon, Barnette, we’d better get on over there, get a
look see."