Homecoming

Emily Metcalfe pulled the buckboard up outside the town, and doubled over in pain. She had no idea where she was, only that the stomach cramps had started a while back and they were getting worse.

Emily sighed. She had no idea what she was trying to do anyway. All she knew was she had been deceived, and that she'd do anything to keep her baby. Ike's baby. Thinking about the baby made her rub her swollen belly, which cause a thought to cross her mind. What if the baby was coming?

This revelation was accompanied by another cramp. Knowing that she was near a town, and therefore a doctor (she hoped), she picked up the reins and turned the buckboard toward the town.

"Why don't you and Teresa go home, Louise," Dr. Seyton said. "Things are a little quiet around here."

Lou thought for a moment. Normally she would stay until six o'clock, helping Dr. Seyton out as a nurse and such (although she had no nursing training). But on days like today, when no one got into trouble and things were quiet, it could get boring. Especially for her little sister, who would wait after school for Lou to take her home.

"If you're sure it's okay," Lou said uncertainly, glancing at Teresa, who was reading a book.

"Of course I'm sure. I can handle anything that should come up now. Besides, you look tired."

Lou smiled. "I'm all right, Doc. But I'll be glad to get home." She turned to Teresa. "Hey, Teresa, get your things. We're leavin' early today."

"Really?" Teresa's eyes brightened.

"Yes, really," Dr. Seyton replied. "There's not much to do today."

Lou shook her head as Teresa rushed to get her things. "I'm sorry, Doc. I really should teach her that it's not polite to be so..." Lou paused, looking for the right word to use.

"Not to worry, Louise." The doctor replied. "It must be dull for her here."

At that moment they heard a wagon pull up outside. Lou looked at Dr. Seyton. "Maybe you spoke too soon about it being quiet around here."

Dr. Seyton didn't bother to answer as he went to the door to see what was wrong. He found Emily struggling to get down from the buckboard, her face contorted with pain. He could tell straight away that she was in labour. "Oh Dear Lord," he said, "let's get you inside."

Lou appeared at the door. "My, Lord," she breathed. "It's Emily."

Dr. Seyton turned to her. "Do you know this woman?"

"Yes, I met her when we were livin' in Rock Creek. Do you want me to stay? Is there anything I can do?"

The doctor helped Emily over to a bed before answering. "Wait until I've examined her. If there's enough time, I would like it if you could take Teresa home, then come back and help me with the baby."

"And if there isn't?"

"Send Teresa across to Mrs. Collins and ask her if she would look after her for a while."

It proved that Emily was only in the early stages of labour, so Dr. Seyton told Lou that she could take Teresa home. "But hurry back though," he said. "Her contractions are coming sporadically. This could be a long and difficult one."

Meanwhile, back in Rock Creek, Nebraska Territory, a woman was banging on the door of a dark farm house. She was in her mid thirties, with a sharp face and a mission on her mind. She was going to take Emily Metcalfe's bastard child and raise it as her own.

Oh she knew that her actions would seem cruel, but in her mind they were fair. She and her husband had been trying to have a baby of their own for fifteen years, but to no avail. Emily was unmarried, trying to run a farm on her own, and contrary to what she said, probably did not even know who the father of the baby even was.

After banging for a good ten minutes, the woman concluded that Emily was not there. She went back to her husband, who was waiting by their wagon. "It doesn't look like she's here. Do you think she did a runner on us?"

Her husband shrugged. "Maybe. It's a little close to her time to be travellin' though, ain't it?"

"Yeah, that's what makes it suspicious. I'll come back in the mornin' to take a look around. It's gettin' too dark now."

Lou pulled the wagon up in her front yard. Her brother, Jeremiah, jumped off the porch to greet them. "Hey, what're you's doin' home so early?"

"Long story," Lou told her brother as he helped Teresa down off the wagon. "Where's Kid?"

"Right here," a voice said behind them. Lou started, and turned to see her husband. "What's up?" Kid asked as he picked Lou up and hugged her close before putting her down.

"I'll explain in a minute," she replied softly, then raised her voice. "Jeremiah, could you do me a favour and take care of the wagon, please. Teresa you help him."

"Why?"

"Because Kid and me need to talk in private."

"Sounds serious," Kid said as the children left to carry out their task.

"Not really, I just didn't want to talk in front of the children. Could you help me get a few things? I need to go back into town, and I'm not sure for how long.?"

"Why?"

"I'll explain inside."

Explain she did, and Kid was incredulous to find out that Emily was pregnant. "She didn't mourn for Ike, too long, did she?"

Lou hit Kid on the arm for being so callous. "Don't be so sure."

"What else could it be?"

"I know that Emily never went out with no man after Ike died, I spent a lot of time with her afterwards. She needed a friend!" Lou said defensively as Kid gave her a funny look.

"So how do you explain her bein' with child?"

"Who's with child?" Buck asked. He was passing Lou and Kid's bedroom, and overheard Kid' question.

"Emily."

"Who?"

"Emily Metcalfe. You remember. Ike fell in love with her."

Buck remembered all right. He did not have too many fond memories of Emily. "I knew she didn't really care for Ike," he muttered.

"Wait a minute," Lou turned to Buck. "How can you say that?"

"Well it's obvious, isn't it? She's havin' a baby and it can't be Ike's..."

"Why not?" Lou asked. "Doc. Seyton said that she was nine months pregnant, and Ike died nine months ago. Don't go jumpin' to conclusions 'til you've heard Emily's side of the story." With that, Lou grabbed her things and stormed down to the stables to saddle Lightning.

Kid cornered Lou in the barn before she rode back to Dr. Seyton's. "Are you sure you should be doin' this?" He asked.

She sighed. "Regardless of what you guys may think of Emily, she needs help. And what would you know about it anyway? None of you went to see her after Ike died. I know what she went through, so don't even ask that question. I've gotta go."

Lou turned away to mount Lightning, but Kid gently took hold of her arm. The look in her eyes showed that she wasn't going to change her mind, so he just tilted her head and kissed her softly. "See you later," he said, releasing her so she could mount Lightning and ride out of the barn.

"How is she?" Lou asked when she got back to the doctor's.

"About as well as can be expected. Her contractions are still coming sporadically, she's alert, but not all that lucid."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well she keeps talking about a man named Ike, and that she can't let Jenny take her baby. Do you know what she's talking about?"

"I don't know anything about Jenny, but I think Ike was the baby's father."

"You think?"

"She did a good job of hidin' the pregnancy, I didn't even know about it. Anyway, Ike was a friend of mine, and I met Emily when they fell in love. Ike died about nine months ago so..."

"I see." Dr. Seyton looked into the room where Emily was resting on a bed. "Why don't you go in there and talk to her. It might cheer her up to see a familiar face."

"Hey, Lou," Emily said tiredly as Lou sat on a chair beside the bed.

"Hey, Emily," Lou squeezed Emily's hand. "Why didn't you tell me about the baby? I would've loved to help you."

Emily shook her head. "You couldn't have done anything. Anyway, I wasn't sure if you 's would believe me if I told you that the baby's Ike's. We didn't know each other for that long. I know how it looks, Lou. Do you think the other's would've believed me?"

Lou kept silent, thinking of the Kid and Buck's reactions to hearing that Emily was pregnant. Her silence confirmed Emily's suspicions. "Besides," she continued, "when Doc Williams told me that you had lost your baby, I didn't want to rub it in. I'm sorry, Lou."

"Thanks."

There was a tense moment of silence. "So, how come you're here in Lone Tree anyway?" Emily asked to break the silence.

"I could ask you the same question." Lou countered.

Emily paused as she felt a contraction coming. "Sorry about that," she said when she could talk. "Anyway I asked you first."

"Point made." Lou conceded. "When the Pony Express finished, Kid and me found a good ranch about two miles from here. We liked it, so we bought it."

"So why were you and you sister here earlier, and why are you here now? Don't tell me it's just because you care because I know there's somethin' else goin' on."

"You make it sound like I'm up to somethin'." Lou smiled. "No, you're right. There was a storm shortly after me moved here, and we lost the barn. We didn't really have the money to spare to fix it, and it looked like we were gonna lose everythin'. Anyway, one of the men accidentally got shot, and I tended to him before we came to let Dr. Seyton check it out. Doc liked the way I tended to him, and asked if I wanted a job helpin' him out during the days. We needed the money, so I said yes. I'm kinda like a nurse."

"And Kid lets you?"

"Well, he's not too fond of the idea, but we need the money. We had to borrow from the bank, and..."

"You have to keep payin' the bank, whether you can afford to or not, I know. I have the same problem back in Rock Creek."

"Why'd you come here, anyway. It's not exactly the best time for you to be travellin'."

"I know," pain crossed Emily's face. "After you moved on, I was very lonely. I didn't like goin' into town because of the looks people would give me, so I took to takin' long walks. Doc Williams said it would be good for the baby. Anyway, one day I accidentally walked onto someone else's place. The people who owned it were very nice to me, and we got to talkin'."

"Who are they?"

"The Michaelsons'. I don't know if you know them."

"Vaguely. The Express trail runs close to their land. We used to see Michaelson workin' in his fields."

"Well, Jenny Michaelson and I became friends. I was closer to you, but she kinda filled in the gap you left when you moved. I thought Jenny was bein' very nice."

Lou was shocked at the bitterness in Emily's voice. "What happened?"

"About a week ago, Jenny told me that they planned to take the baby."

"What?"

"Apparently, Jenny and her husband have been tryin' to have a baby for fifteen years, but nothin's happened. Jenny thought I was a God-send, because was I with child and unmarried. So she thought she'd be kind and take my baby to raise as her own. She kept sayin' that it would be better for the child, not to have the stigma of bein' a bastard, they could look after it better than I could on my own. They didn't even believe that I knew who the father was."

"Em, I hate to say this, but a lot of people would agree with what Jenny was sayin'."

"I know, but I just can't do it. I can't give up Ike's baby. It would make his death meaningless."

Lou frowned. "How do you figure?"

"When Ike died, for the longest time I felt that it wasn't fair, that he didn't deserve to die 'cause of me, 'cause of my father..."

"He died to save you. Ike loved you, Emily."

"I know that, but it didn't make me feel any less guilty. If Daddy hadn't been playin' poker that day, none of this would've happened."

"And you might not've met Ike." Lou pointed out gently.

"Yeah, but you can't deny that if I hadn't gone after Neville, Ike would still be alive. Anyway, when I found out that I was havin' a baby, I felt that there was a reason he died. It wasn't just to save me. It was to save his child."

"I suppose that's one way of lookin' at it."

"But do you see my point? Can you see why I can't give the child up?"

"What are you gonna do?"

"I was gonna stay and work Papa's ranch, but when Jenny said that they were gonna take the baby, I had to leave. I couldn't stay to fight her because the town would side with her."

"Why didn't you go to Teaspoon for help?"

"And tell him what? He doesn't know about the baby. I didn't even tell you. I didn't know if I could trust anybody."

"Oh Emily, I'm so sorry. What are you gonna do now?"

"I don't kn...augh!!!" Emily let out a long, guttural cry that chilled Lou to the bone. She watched helplessly as the contraction gripped Emily. beads of sweat forming on her forehead. The contraction seemed to go on longer than the others, and Emily clenched the sheets so tightly that her hands were white. "Somethin's wrong!" Emily gasped finally.

On to Chapter 2

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