Jesse James knocked on the screen door as he waited for Lou to answer it, he heard voices coming from within. Moments later, Lou greeted him warmly telling him, “I’ve got a surprise for you, Jesse. Come on in.” Curious, Jesse walked into the living room and to his great surprise was greeted by Rachel Dunne, whom he hadn’t seen in over ten years. “Oh, my god! I can’t believe it’s you Jesse!” Rachel cried, hurrying to wrap the man in a warm embrace. Stepping back from the hug, Rachel held him at arms length, drinking in the sight of him. “My how you have grown! If it weren’t for those eyes of yours Jesse, I don’t think I’d have recognized you with how tall you’ve gotten, if we passed on the street,” she declared. “Good seein’ ya Rachel. I didn’t know Lou was expectin’ ya,” he told her, then threw Lou a questioning glance. Lou shrugged and asked if she could get him something to drink. Holding his hat in his hands, Jesse fidgeted, wanting to speak to Lou in private so he asked if her could help her bring out the lemonade she had offered her guests. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, Jesse,” she told the man. “Rachel, why don’t you relax on the front porch and Jesse and I will bring out refreshments in a moment?” Rachel smiled, “Sounds like a fine idea Lou,” and then headed for the wicker chairs Lou had set out front. Jesse followed Lou into the kitchen where he asked in hushed tones so that they wouldn’t be overheard, “What’s Rachel doin’ here? You didn’t mention she was comin’ or I wouldn’t have bothered you.” Lou placed cookies on a plate and three glasses on a tray. “You can carry that,” she said handing the tray to him. “I just found out a few days ago that she was coming for a visit myself.” Taking the tray he turned and set it down on the counter as she grabbed the pitcher of lemonade. Stopping her with a hand upon her arm, he told her, “I was comin’ to get you for a job, and it should only take a few days. Are you interested?” Lou looked at him, trying to decide if it was a bad time to leave with Rachel visiting. “Where?” she asked, wanting to know more. “Missouri Pacific Railroad,” he told her, waiting for her reaction. Lou let out a low whistle. This was a job that Jesse had been talking about for sometime and she knew that the haul would be a large one if they were able to pull it off. Gritting her teeth, she asked, “Where at?” Smiling, knowing that she was in, Jesse mentioned, “Rockey Cut, Missouri. Not all that far to go this time…” Biting her bottom lip, Lou thought about the job. Nodding, she said, “Alright. I’m in.” Jesse did a little jig behind Lou’s retreating form as she called out something to Rachel. Grabbing the tray he followed quickly behind. The trio visited for about an hour before Jesse stood up, stretched and mentioned, “Hate to cut this visit short, Rachel, but I got to get goin’.” Rachel was sad to see the young man go, having wished to have some time to talk to him about his lawless ways. Hugging him once again, she told him, “Don’t be a stranger, Jesse. Rock Creek isn’t all that far that you can’t visit.” Smiling he promised, “I will try Rachel. Maybe this the fall.” Turning to Lou, he raised an eyebrow in silent question and she nodded as he told her, “Meet you at the usual place?” “Sure. Just give me a little while, okay?” Rachel looked at the two of them, wondering what was going on but remained quiet as Jesse ran down the steps and to his horse tethered at Lou’s front gate. Waving, the women watched as he rode away. Gathering up the empty glasses, Lou went into the house and put them in the sink. Rachel had followed with the tray. “What was that all about?” she asked Lou, not missing the wary look that passed over the younger woman’s face. “Rachel, hope you don’t mind, but I have to go away for a few days. Please feel free to stay as long as you want,” and before Rachel had a chance to say a word, Lou fled up the stairs to her room. Within minutes, Lou was back downstairs, dressed in trousers and shirt and carrying her saddlebags. Confused, Rachel questioned her again on where she was going. “Why won’t you tell me Lou?” she begged not liking the thoughts that were beginning to run through her mind. Setting her hat on her head, Lou turned towards Rachel offering, “Best you don’t know Rachel. I’ll see you in a few days…” With that she was gone. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The afternoon of the fourth day since Jesse’s visit and Lou’s departure found Rachel in the living room, staring at the St. Joe paper that one of Lou’s few neighbors had dropped off the day before. Her fears where there in black and white for her to read in the newspaper. The headline read, “Missouri Pacific Railroad hit by James Gang!” It went on to detail the account of the robbery stating that on July 7th, members of the James gang had held up the Missouri Pacific near Otterville, Missouri. Accounts of the amount taken by the gang ranged from five thousand all the way up to fifteen thousand dollars. Rachel’s heart sank as she read the account of the robbery, dreading that Lou had been a part of it. It was bad enough that Jesse had turned to a life of crime, but Lou? Why? When had this happened? As Rachel set the paper down on her lap, the back screen door banged loudly as Lou called out, “Rachel?” Rachel cried out from where she sat, so relieved that Lou was back. Lou entered the living room and noticed Rachel’s tense face. “What’s wrong, Rachel?” she asked concerned as she let her saddlebags slid to the floor. Picking up the paper, Rachel held it out to her. “This! This is what’s wrong. Tell me you weren’t part of it, Lou.” Lou took the paper from Rachel, glanced at the headline and tossed it on the settee. When Lou didn’t deny her participation in the robbery, Rachel cried, “Why, Lou? How could you do that when you know how we all feel about what Jesse does?” Lou couldn’t look Rachel in the face. She was not proud of what she was doing with Jesse but circumstances brought her to it. Rachel sat crying. Lou closed her eyes and began to pace around the room, arms gesturing as her voice grew louder with each word. “Why? Let me tell you why. Because Kid never came home and I don’t know if he’s dead or alive. I was about to lose the house and my livestock and the mercantile had cut off my line of credit.” Turning to look at Rachel, her eyes pained, Lou continued, “I had no money, there were no jobs to be had, there was no food in the pantry. What was I suppose to do?” Rachel looked at the young woman, her heart aching at the suffering she had had to endure due to and after the War Between the States. “You could have come home. Teaspoon and I would have helped you…” Lou glared daggers at her. “I still would have nothing. I would have lost everything.” “But we are your family. We would have taken care of you.” “Jesse’s family too,” she stated picking up her saddlebags. Turning at the bottom of the stairs, she added, “And, he’s taken damn good care of me!” Lou could be heard stomping up the stairs to her room where she slammed the door so hard, the pictures on the living room wall rattled. Dropping her head, Rachel whispered, “Oh, Lou. What have you gotten yourself into?” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The next several days were unnerving for Rachel. Lou hardly spoke a word to her and refused to listen to anything she had to say. A few days after Lou’s return home, a young boy rode up to the house with an envelope for Lou from a Tom Howard. It was a name that Lou knew to be one of Jesse’s aliases. Thanking the boy, Lou hurried into the house to see what was so important that Jesse would risk contacting her. Inside the envelope was a newspaper from the day before. There was a scrawled message in the upper right hand corner that said, “Be careful.” The headline on the front page read, “Member of James Gang Caught”. The article went on to tell about Hobbs Kerry having been arrested after spending some of his share of the money from the heist. It also went on to mention that Kerry had disclosed the names of the other members of the gang who participated in the robbery. Lou’s heart began to race as she started reading the names of the gang members Kerry gave up. There were Jesse and Frank James, Cole, Jim and Bob Younger, Charlie Pitts and Bill Chadwell but nowhere did it mention her name. Lou wondered if no mention of her was intentional on Kerry’s part. Did he give her up and they kept it quiet that a woman was part of the gang? Was the law on its way to take her in? As panic began to rise, Lou paced around the living room, worried that this time she might not have been so lucky. Trying to calm herself, Lou began to talk out loud as she rationalized the situation. “Jesse told them all what would happen if they ever mentioned my name. It isn’t in the article, so Kerry didn’t tell them about me. That has to be it.” Lou’s head jerked up when Rachel’s voice startled her from the doorway. “What has to be it? What’s got you so worried Lou?” At first, Lou was not going to say anything to Rachel but when her friend pleaded with her she finally broke and let everything out. “Please, Lou. Won’t you tell me what’s wrong? I would really like to help, if you’ll let me,” Rachel told the younger woman, who looked like a startled animal about to run. Lou’s shoulders dropped and she sank into the closest chair while Rachel took one opposite her. Picking up the paper that Jesse had sent her, she handed it to Rachel to read. When Rachel was finished with it she set it on the table next to her chair and waited for Lou to talk. The fear could be heard in Lou’s voice as she began to speak. “I don’t know if I can take this any more Rachel. When I read that Kerry named names, I thought my heart was about to explode. I’ve never been so scared in my life.” “But your name isn’t listed.” “I know. At first I was afraid that maybe he told them about me and they didn’t print it, because they are planning on taking me in. If that were the case I’m sure they would have been here by now. It has to be because of Jesse,” Lou told her sitting back and closing her eyes for a moment. “What does Jesse have to do with your name not being listed?” Rachel asked, confused. “He’s told everyone that he would ‘take care of them’ if anyone ever told my name or that I was riding with them. Everyone knows Jesse doesn’t make idle threats.” Shaking her head in disbelief, Rachel admonished Lou. “What in the world were you thinking Lou? You told me how you first got mixed up with Jesse, but that was years ago! After the farm was safe and you were going to be okay, why didn’t you stop?” Taking a deep breath, Lou knew Rachel would never understand in a million years her reason for staying with Jesse and the gang. “It’s hard to explain, Rachel,” Lou mentioned as she picked at the tassels of the blanket that was covering the chair she sat in. “Try me…” “Sometimes, I’m not even sure why. I have more than enough money now, so it can’t be that. At first it was the money. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get it and I didn’t have to do hardly anything for it.” Looking over at Rachel, Lou saw the dismay upon her face. “I know that it wasn’t right what we were doing. What I was doing, but after the first few times, I couldn’t help myself. I found myself saying ‘yes’ to Jesse every time he stopped by before I realized I’d said it. Then, I found myself looking forward to his visits because of what they meant – another job, as we call them.” When Rachel remained quiet, Lou became nervous at what she must think of her. “I don’t know how to explain it other than I found myself needing to do these jobs with Jesse. I just had too…” “Oh, Lou, honey. I wish I had known about all this. I would have tried to help you. I would still like to help you stop all this if you’ll let me,” Rachel told her tears flowing down her cheeks. Rachel stood up and walked over to Lou, enveloping her in her arms, giving her a hug that they both needed. After they had dried their tears, Rachel led Lou into the kitchen for a nice cup of tea. Lou sat nursing her cup, felling awful but didn’t know what to say. Rachel cleared her throat and Lou looked up at her, waiting to hear what she had on her mind. “I, ah...I want to ask you something. I may be way off here and you have every right to tell me so, but something you said the other day, made me wonder…is there something going on between you and Jesse?” Lou gulped, not meeting Rachel’s eyes as she sat silent for a few moments. “I know he’s married, but I just get this feeling that there’s something more between the two of you than just these ‘jobs’,” Rachel stated, studying the woman before her. Closing her eyes, Lou admitted, “Just once, in the beginning. I swear, Rachel, and never again. It was, I don’t know, maybe the euphoria after a big one that we had pulled off. One thing led to another, but afterwards we both knew it wouldn’t work between us…” Shifting her cup from hand to hand, Lou continued. “He’s appointed himself as my protector, Rachel. I don’t think I could change that now if I wanted to.” Sighing, Rachel just couldn’t understand how Lou could get involved with Jesse and his lawlessness. “Be that as it may, you need to stop doing these ‘jobs’ as you two call them. Luck may have been on your side this long, but that may not last. I don’t want you getting hurt or worse Lou! Please promise me you are going to quit.” Pushing the cup away, Lou looked into Rachel’s eyes. “I don’t know if I can do that Rachel. All I can promise is to try…” The two women spent the next couple of days enjoying Rachel’s visit before she had to leave. Neither brought up the subject of Jesse or the ‘jobs’ until Rachel was leaving. As Lou and Rachel stood at the train station, Rachel pulled her close and said quietly so only Lou would hear her, “Now remember, I want you to call it off with Jesse, Lou and I mean it! Promise me!” Lou knew that Rachel only had her best interests at heart, so she felt obligated to give her the answer she was seeking. “I promise, Rachel. I will try…” Planting a kiss on Lou’s cheek, Rachel smiled. “Good. Now promise, you will come see me soon?” Watching the conductor help Rachel step up onto the car she was going to be in, Lou waved and promised easily, “Soon. Ride safe!” Drop me a note and let me know what you thought!