Strength of Will: The Calm Before The Storm

A/N: Sequel to Bedlam of The Mind.
Thanks again to Dee, who made this story so much better.
Jimmy stopped next to Buck and handed him the mochila.
“Lou’s sick.”
Buck sat atop his horse, his face stern, in an effort to end the indecisiveness that the others seemed to harbor on telling Lou what was going on around here. He knew that Jimmy and Kid had their reasons but enough was enough.
“What’s wrong?” Jimmy dismounted, ready to hurry to the house and check on her.
“Wait a minute Jimmy.”
Though Buck’s tone was enough to stop Jimmy in his tracks, his eyes stayed glued on the house. Buck continued, “Kid’s with her right now. But I have something to say before you haul off and go in there.”
“Well spit it out.” Jimmy looked up at Buck, who steadied his horse.
“Lou has been through hell and back. She doesn’t know you and me from a hole in the ground. All she has wanted from the time she got back here was to have someone fill in the gaps. She doesn’t know how to act or who she’s friends with. The girl is floundering. Not telling her anything is like adding fuel to the fire, Jimmy.”
“Buck...”Jimmy started.
“I’m not finished,” Buck cut him off. “She’s carrying your baby, I think she has a right to know that. She’s made herself sick with worry and the memory she has gotten back is enough to scare anyone to death. You should have been here Jimmy. It’s tearing Kid up just as much as you. It wasn’t right to leave it to him. And for the record, he hasn’t told her anything yet. She hasn’t been awake long enough for that.”
Jimmy starred up at him silently. He couldn’t think of what to say. He knew Buck was right and it cut him to the quick.
“Lou remembered the attack,” Buck paused for a moment letting the information settle for Jimmy. “From what she has told everyone, it was really horrible. She never made it to St. Jo. They had her for days maybe a week or more. And, when she remembered it, she went crazy It took Kid and Alex to subdue her, and I don’t think they could have kept her in there if she hadn’t passed out. She’s got a fever now and has been sleeping fitfully.” Buck looked down the trail where he would soon ride out then back at Jimmy. “Go make things right, please Jimmy. Just tell her the truth, nobody could ask for more than that. Try to keep her calm though. Doc said she could lose the baby if she doesn’t get some peace.”
Jimmy let the last bit settle into his brain. He had already decided on the ride back that maybe, just maybe, his intentions were more selfish than he had first realized. Now, listening to Buck tell him what had happened and by the weight of his own feelings, he came up short on the reply. All he could think to say was, “Thanks Buck.”
Buck looked at him in surprise. He had prepared himself for Jimmy’s anger but not his acceptance. Buck nodded back at him, as Jimmy started for the house, then spurred his horse onward.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cody looked out across the clearing leading his horse by the reigns as he walked. “You know I met this girl in St. Jo one time. It was about a year ago, I think...”
Ike knew Cody wasn’t as good a tracker as Buck but he still had more skill than Ike had. However, Ike wondered how Cody could possibly see anything with his mouth running nonstop. He wished Buck were with him instead of Cody, then, at least, he’d have some quiet. He had more than once contended with the idea of slapping his companion, just to get his mouth to quit working for a second. At least if they got into a fight, Cody might actually shut up.
Cody stopped talking and the silence drew Ike’s attention to his friend.
Ike dismounted and stared down at the ground where Cody had stopped. It didn’t take a tracker to see there had been a struggle, the grass was matted and a few saplings were bent. Or that shots had been fired; the bark on some of the trees was burnt. Luckily the ground had been muddy and the footprints were easily seen.
Cody picked up where he had left off as he led Ike away from the clearing into the trees. Ike knew he had heard this story. Everyone in the bunkhouse knew it. They had heard it a dozen times. They walked into the trees for about a fourth of the mile before they both stopped, for once there was silence.
There had been a large camp here. The fire had been long since extinguished and the people far gone by the looks of things. What had stopped them in their tracks, however, were the five fresh graves and the one gaping hole all in a neat row. Ike felt his stomach flutter nervously.
“Now why do you suppose someone would dig a grave and not put someone in it?” Cody wondered out loud. Ike had a sinking feeling.
*Can you track them?* he asked, as he stood at the foot of the hole. He starred down into it. It was deep for a grave. Like someone had kept going when they could have easily stopped. There had been no woman at the wagon site, as Lou had mentioned, so it couldn’t have been for her.
“I don’t think so. Lets look around here a minute and see if they left anything that could tell us who was here. Then we need to head on in to St. Jo and talk to the marshal. What are you thinking?”
*That we’re going to need Buck.*
“Yeah I thought we might but I didn’t expect to find this much out here. If anyone could follow that trail, it would be Buck. They headed deeper into the forest. That’s what’s going to make it difficult.” Cody turned his attention back down to the ground and began to search for anything he could find. “Well let’s get to looking.”
Ike followed his lead and, for a brief moment, he thought that there might be a moment of peace.
“You know I never would have thought that she was a working girl. I mean just to look at her you’d have thought she was royalty...” Cody started back right where he had left off.
Ike closed his eyes and shook his head wishing he could scream.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jimmy quietly opened the door to Lou’s bedroom moments after knocking lightly to hopefully rouse Kid if he were asleep.
Kid sat up in the chair where he had fallen asleep and blinked at Jimmy. He slowly got to his feet as both of them glanced at Lou.
She was sleeping soundly. Every now and then a shiver would race through her, strong enough that even they could see her small form shake beneath the covers.
Kid walked out the door and took Jimmy by the arm on his way. He closed the door behind him.
“I’m sorry Kid,” Jimmy got out before Kid could rail into him. Kid stopped and just looked at him, surprised.
“I know why you did it,” Kid finally said, quietly. “I just don’t think it was the right thing to do.”
“I know that now.” Jimmy took the licks to his pride in stride. He had beaten himself up enough over the last day and a half for leaving Lou like that even if his feelings were crushed. “I had a lot of time to think about it.”
“She remembered the attack. I couldn’t get much out of her, though. Seems it was the Simmons gang. Alex says they’re from back East. I’ve never heard of ‘em. He says they’re ruthless though. He looked like he had seen a ghost when he found out about it. He headed back to Blue Creek to find out what he could. He said they’d come for her.”
“Well they ain’t getting her,” Jimmy replied, matter-of-factly. Kid nodded.
“Yeah I told Alex that before he left.” Kid patted Jimmy on the shoulder. As much as the two of them tended to butt heads at times, when they did see eye-to-eye it meant a lot.
“I’ve got some work to tend to outside.” Kid started to walk out.
“Thanks Kid,” Jimmy called after him.
Kid paused, not sure he had heard him right.
“For looking after Lou.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” Kid called back over his shoulder and he continued towards the door.
Jimmy smiled to himself. He had expected as much. He lost his smile however as he walked into the room. Lou looked so weak. He would never get used to seeing her that way. She had always been strong. He had been her biggest advocate in that she could take care of herself. Now she needed someone and he wasn’t used to that. She wasn’t either, but she just didn’t know it yet. She stirred softly as he entered the room. Jimmy sat down in the seat still warm from Kid’s presence and watched her sleep. She shuddered every now and then tossing the covers off of her in the throws of the nightmares that plagued her feverish form. Jimmy cursed under his breath looking at his hands that trembled in his lap. How could he have done this to her?
Lou slowly opened her eyes. She still felt like half a person. She had remembered the attack and bits and pieces of her past but things were still confusing. She didn’t remember coming to the Pony Express or any of the riders, save the one episode with Kid. She reached with a shaky hand for the covers before she noticed Jimmy’s figure hunched over in the chair beside the bed. He was shaking almost as badly as she was but she had a feeling it was for a completely different reason.
“Jimmy?”
She was surprised at the hoarseness of her own voice as she spoke wondering where Kid had gone and when Jimmy had gotten back. He looked up at her and she froze. He looked as if he had been fighting the losing end of a battle with himself for a long time.
“I love you, you know.”
She flinched closing her eyes under the weight of the memory that burned into her brain. She could see Kid looking up at her from the soft patch of grass beside the pond and she could feel her own smile as she wiggled back into her clothes. As she stood there in the cool breeze against her damp skin, the day turned rapidly to night causing her breath to catch in her throat.
The pond was gone and a fire crackled in front of her.
“I love you, you know. I always have even when I wasn’t suppose to.”
She looked down at the ground expecting to find Kid but it was Jimmy who looked back up at her.
“I mean, you know, not just as friends.”
He was stumbling over the words and she felt herself smiling in the memory. She was so glad to hear the words, at least the “she” in her memory was. She had sat down next to him and let him pull her close, having longed to feel his arms around her for so long.
As she watched the two happy people holding each other in her mind, she heard herself say that she loved him too as she turned around into the kiss they had both waited for. It had felt so right that night. She remembered that now. She remembered the fervor with which their clothing had been discarded. The frantic fulfillment of something that in that one moment they had no control over. She remembered lying against his chest until dawn.
“Lou?” Jimmy was kneeling beside the bed now his hands delicately pushing the hair off of her feverish brow. She looked up at him from where she lay on the bed and gasped. She felt something sinking inside her. She had been so wrong. She and Kid were not together anymore. It was she and Jimmy that had made the baby that was growing within her. How could he have let her think that? Why hadn’t either one of them told her?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she gasped, pushing his hands away.
Jimmy watched the pain that flashed across her face. This time it wasn’t from the sheer amount of confusion swimming in her head. It was his fault.
“I practically threw myself at...Oh my God.” She felt sick at her stomach over what Kid, or Jimmy for that matter, must have thought of her. She had hurt them both so much over the past few days.
“I should have told you, Lou,” Jimmy finally got out as Lou fought to catch her breath. “I just thought it would be better if you remembered on your own.”
“Jimmy, I’ve been tiptoeing over broken glass ever since I got back here trying not to hurt anyone and all I can seem to do is hurt the people I’m suppose to love. The people who love me,” she whispered. “A little help would have been nice, but I didn’t know who to ask.”
“I’m sorry Lou.” Jimmy reached for her hand.
She was going to pull away from him but as soon as she felt his fingers across hers, she stopped. It was a tender touch that sent warmth cascading up her arm. She had missed it, his touch, and hadn’t even realized it.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“I remember what I need to.” She finally drew her hand away from his. She needed time to sort this out on her own. “Please send Rachel in on your way out.”
“Lou,” Jimmy started but she silenced him with one look.
“Jimmy go.”
Jimmy got to his feet wishing he had done all the right things, wishing that he had done something right in the last few days. It felt like the world he thought he had known was crumbling around him. He didn’t know why but he had thought that once she remembered him everything would have fallen back into place. Jimmy turned away from her. She wouldn’t even look at him now. He tried not to take it personal but this time it was.
“Lou, I love you so much,” he breathed, after taking one step toward the door. He couldn’t seem to force himself to move any further. “I hope you remembered that.”
“I remember you telling me that you did and I remember the night on the trail but there is an entire history between us that I don’t remember. I remember the way that I felt that night. I loved you.”
Loved. Jimmy closed his eyes unable to get his lungs to respond to his need for air. It was as if she had squeezed all that was left out of them. He felt his insides ache like he had never felt before. It was worse then her simple having the wrong information floating around in her mind. Now she had some idea of what they had had, maybe not the entire picture, but at least something to go on and she was telling him that she didn’t remember enough to love him back.
Now.
He couldn’t force any words out and even if he had been able to, he didn’t know what to say.
Jimmy walked out of the bedroom and managed to make it to the porch where Rachel was standing, looking out over the yard at the setting sun. He still couldn’t speak. He felt like he was choking on that one word.
Rachel looked at Jimmy and saw that the color had drained from his face. He looked horrible. She knew he had been in with Lou.
“Jimmy? Is something wrong?” Rachel looked back toward the house fearfully. “Is Lou alright?”
“She’s fine,” he finally managed. “She needs you.”
Rachel turned to go back into the house but paused looking Jimmy over one more time.
“Are you okay?” she asked, clearly concerned.
“No, I’m not.” Jimmy stepped off the porch and walked toward the bunkhouse without giving Rachel a chance to say anything else.
He didn’t want to talk about it but he knew that if he lied she would have known. Jimmy flopped down on the porch beside Kid and stared out at the setting sun. The two of them sat in perfect silence each of them careful to respect the pain that the other was feeling.
“She remembered me,” Jimmy said softly.
Kid just nodded at the sun at the horizons edge.
“Looks like it didn’t go like you planned,” Kid replied.
Jimmy also nodded in the direction of the sun. They didn’t have to look at each other to understand the feelings they both had.
“Not at all,” Jimmy answered.
~*~*~*~*~
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” the drunken man was trying to be quiet.
In all actuality he was doing quite well in the endeavor. He just didn’t notice the silent Pony Express rider who had happened by the alley as he had been desperately looking for a place to relieve himself outside of the saloon in St. Jo. Ike was about to walk back in to continue his search when the man went on.
“That girl sliced him from brow to chin in the blink of an eye. Simmons said when he found her he would make her wish she had died that night.”
Ike wasn’t sure what they were talking about but he knew that it was something bad. He pressed himself against the wall knowing there was no way that he could get back into the saloon without making noise and alerting these men to his presence. He hoped that he could simply disappear until they decided they had had enough and left.
“She’s a bit used for my taste though. I mean every man in that camp had a go at her. Simmons though, you’d think he’d met his match, what with her slicing him up like that. I think in some crazy way the bastard liked it. He doesn’t just want to catch her. He wants to keep her.” The drunken man told his greasy looking friend.
Cody walked out just at that moment. Ike stiffened in fear and tried to pretend like he had also just stumbled out.
“Ike buddy where have you been?” Cody said so loudly that they couldn’t help but hear him.
*Tell them I’m deaf.* Ike took a moment to convey as quickly as possible before the two men who he had been listening to came over.
“Why...” Cody started in wonder not noticing the two until they stepped from the shadows and he stiffened in realization. Cody didn’t know what Ike had just heard but it had scared him. Cody straightened up with a smile.
“What have we here?”
Ike stayed with his back to the men approaching pretending to not hear them. He met Cody’s gaze one more time to make the point that this was important.
“How long your friend been there?” the drunkard asked suspiciously.
“Don’t rightfully know?” Cody shrugged nonchalantly. “Anything the matter?”
“We were having a private conversation.” The drunkard nodded. “Your friend was listening in.”
“Whatever you two said is still private,” Cody replied, with a flawless delivery. Ike thanked God that Cody was good at something. “My friend here is a deaf mute.”
“You talked to him when you came out,” the greasy man pointed out.
“Only after I turned him to face me so he could read my lips. He has to be right in front of me to understand. So whatever you two had to talk about is still just between you.” Cody still held his hand just inside the door and was about to start back inside when the drunkard stopped him.
“And what if I don’t believe you?” the drunkard asked in a tone that made Cody release the door and inch his hand toward his hip.
“Ike.” Cody looked directly at his friend and mouthed the words pointedly. “Tell these men that you can’t hear.” He turned Ike around. Ike tried to act surprised. He motioned with his hands as Cody had requested trying to explain to them that he couldn’t hear or talk.
Before Ike knew whether they were convinced or not the drunk drew his pistol and took a shot at Ike’s foot. Ike didn’t make a sound. He jumped back in fear covering the reaction that they might have noticed had he not moved away. Had the man not been so out of it, he may have noticed that Ike flinched at the noise.
Ike starred down at his foot in horror relieved that the drunkard had missed the mark.
The confrontation gave Cody just enough time to draw his gun and train it on the drunkard.
“I hope that’s enough convincing. We’ll be leaving now.” Cody hoped they understood that he was quite capable of shooting them both. He put his free hand on Ike’s shoulder and pulled him back to the door. Ike opened the door looking back at the men. Cody shoved him through the door and followed him, never taking his eyes off the gun still trained on him. When at last the door between them closed the two of them hurried through the saloon and out to the hotel. They didn’t stop to chat until they were in Ike’s room.
“What the sam hill was that about?” Cody finally burst out, as they closed the door behind them.
*They were talking about a woman who they had raped.* Ike couldn’t believe the sheer lack of emotion in the one man’s voice over such an act. *They mentioned a man named Simmons. They said the girl sliced him up. He’s looking for her.*
Cody watched carefully trying to make sure he understood everything that Ike was trying to tell him.
“So whoever they attacked got away,” Cody said both thinking out loud and letting Ike know that he had understood him. “You don’t think they were talking about Lou?”
Ike shrugged. He didn’t know whom they had been talking about. He hoped it wasn’t Lou. They had said that every man in the camp had raped her. He looked down at the floor disgusted with the thought.
*There are many of them and they follow this Simmons.* Ike had gotten that much from listening.
“I hope they were talking about someone else.” Cody thought back to the camp they had walked into and the open grave still there. He shuddered at the thought of Lou having been there. “Surely they wouldn’t have circled around and come back into town. They couldn’t be that stupid.”
*Or that smart,* Ike said. *Who would think that they would stay?*
“Good point.” Cody sat down. “If they did though, they would be laying low. Probably leaving soon.”
Ike nodded in agreement.
“We might not need Buck after all.” Cody looked out the window and watched the front of the saloon. Ike walked to the opposite side of the window and followed his gaze. Standing just atop the last step in front of the door to the saloon was a tall man in a black hat. He watched the hotel as closely as they now watched the saloon.
~*~*~*~*~
Alex leaned over the counter fidgeting nervously. He had sent the telegram to Montgomery two days ago. He couldn’t believe that Louise had escaped from them. There had to be some mistake. He only knew of one person who had escaped from Simmons and he had lost his sight and his right leg. James Corgan, the unfortunate survivor, had gone through hell for defending his lands. He was one of those people that was not suppose to make it. Simmons had done his job well. He had burned his farm to the ground and killed his family then tortured James until he signed his land over to him. He didn’t so much as escape as just beat the odds. He was left for dead and by all accounts should have died. He didn’t though, but he had remedied that two weeks later when he was able to get around. James killed himself the first chance he got.
Alex prayed that Louise was mistaken; that there was another Simmons gang in the West. He had been a total wreck ever since he had found out. He looked up when the door to the back room of the general store opened and the storeowner walked back out with the slip of paper.
“Here it is.” Mr. Hornsby, the storeowner handed him the paper and continued to close up the store. Alex grabbed the paper and read, feeling his heart sink with every word.
“They left two years ago,” he breathed, not meaning to say it out loud. He closed his eyes letting the reality sink in. They had left the South two years ago, headed west, and no one had heard from them since. They could be anywhere. He had wished to hear that they were still there, no matter what it meant for the people they were causing trouble for, because it meant that they weren’t anywhere near Blue Creek or St. Jo or Rock Creek. Unfortunately they could be in any one of those towns or the small outposts in between.
Alex folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket thanking Mr. Hornsby. He turned around and walked out of the store making a beeline for the marshal’s office. He was going to send Teaspoon the information he had received, then wait for Cody and Ike to return from St. Jo to see what else he could find out.
~*~*~*~*~
Rachel held Lou against her as she felt the young woman sobbing into her chest. She held her as any best friend would and just let her cry. Rachel knew the gist of it. Jimmy had hurt Lou by allowing her to believe that she and Kid were still together and then when Lou remembered Jimmy, she felt racked with guilt over the things she had been feeling. That and the already unstable moods from being pregnant was enough to throw anyone into a tizzy, let alone anyone that had just been through the vicious assault that she had undergone only a few weeks ago. Rachel wanted to cry with her, for her, but she held back her own tears trying to be strong for Lou.
“He said he loved me so much but how could he not tell me if he loves me like that?” Lou cried.
Rachel, stroking Lou’s hair as the young woman cried, wished she could do something. She could tell that Jimmy was just as torn up as Lou. All the angst going on around the station was enough to keep everyone on edge.
“I can’t tell him I love him when all I remember is one night, Rachel. It’s not enough. I know that I do but I don’t remember why or how or when. I ...what did he expect me to say?”
“I don’t know Sweetie.” Rachel tried to understand what Lou was going through but it was so hard. She couldn’t fathom the depths of the confusion that swam inside Lou’s head. “It’s going to be alright though. You just wait. You’re getting your memory back.”
“I wish I could just sleep until it was all back where it was suppose to be. So I wouldn’t have to hurt anyone. I don’t want to hurt anyone Rachel.” Lou wiped her face with the handkerchief that Rachel had given her.
“Everyone knows that Lou.” Rachel tried to sooth her but it didn’t seem to matter what she said. “They know you’re not whole yet.”
There was a knock at the door. Rachel excused herself. She let Teaspoon in who looked Lou over cautiously before turning to Rachel.
“Do you think she can answer a few questions?” he whispered.
“I don’t know. She’s already pretty upset,” Rachel whispered back.
“I can answer some. Besides I’m always upset here lately.” Lou leaned back against the stack of pillows on the bed having overheard the conversation. She sniffed back the last of a round of tears as Teaspoon turned back to her and threaded his hands under his suspenders.
“I just needed to find out if you have remembered anything else about the attack?” Teaspoon sat down in the chair beside the bed.
“I’ll go get some tea,” Rachel said quietly, hoping to get a little bit of nourishment into Lou.
“You know what Jimmy already told you I suppose. It happened right outside of St. Jo. Simmons caught me after I’d already killed five of his men. He dragged me back to the camp and had me start digging graves. He said I was going to bury all the men I had killed then dig my own grave...” Lou swallowed thinking back to the nightmare that seemed so vivid within her head. “I did too. I just kept digging. I dug for so long that they finally had to come get me out of the hole. Every time I got sick or tired they hit me until I passed out or got back up either one seemed to work for them. The first time I was to get beaten was when they found out I was a girl. Lenny ripped my shirt off and found the bindings...I was so tired Teaspoon.”
“It’s okay Lou.” Teaspoon felt sick inside listening to her recount what had happened. “Did this Lenny have a last name?”
“I don’t remember, I just heard them call him Lenny. That’s the way things were for so long. Dig, get taken, get beaten. Very little food or water. By the time Simmons pulled me out of my grave, I guess he figured I was broken.”
Teaspoon watched a small smile play at the edges of Lou’s mouth as she continued. He would have smiled in response but he was too shocked that she could find anything to smile about in the tale. As she went on, he understood though. It was her ability to overcome, to make it despite everything that had happened, that was shining through.
“He had a proposition. He wanted me to stay alive and be his...” She couldn’t even say it. “When I told him no, he kicked me. I noticed he had a knife tucked away in his boot. I reckon he didn’t think I had anything left in me. The next time I smarted off though I knew he was going to kick me. I grabbed the knife and got to my feet, even managed to cut him from here to here.” She traced a line across her own face to show Teaspoon the extent of the damage she had inflicted. “He was so surprised, he couldn’t move. I made it to Lightning and cut the reigns loose. I don’t know when I fell off. The next thing I remember is waking up in Blue Creek.”
Teaspoon couldn’t find the ability to smile over the disgust of what had happened as he watched her. She was amazing. “Sounds like you marked him for life. Can you describe the men for me? Maybe remember some of their names?”
She nodded. She would gladly do everything she could to see that they got what they deserved.
~*~*~*~*~
Joseph Simmons stood on the porch of the saloon in St. Jo and watched the two sets of eyes that seemed to think he couldn’t see them high in the window of the hotel. Conner McTavish his second in command stepped up beside him and lit a cigar as he fitted his hat onto his head readying to leave.
“They know about us but obviously not enough or they’d have come after us by now.” Simmons only gave a small nod in their direction. “Two Pony Express riders out of Rock Creek snooping. They should be heading back soon. You head on before they leave and bring her back. They’re asking about her.”
“Yes sir,” Conner replied looking up to the place where Simmons had indicated.
“And Conner,” Simmons turned to look at him only briefly but it was enough to convey the severity of the situation. “If you don’t bring her back to me then you better not come back at all.” Simmons paused only a moment. “And if you don’t come back you better hope you’re dead.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Conner tried to hide his fear but Simmons was like a snake, he could sense it. He started to walk off the porch but Simmons grabbed his arm.
“If she is roughed up, I’ll take it from your hide.” Simmons calm threat was more terrifying than if he had growled it at him. Conner knew he meant it.
“Yes, sir.” He stepped off the porch as soon as Simmons released him. He wanted to be away from him. No matter how Conner had managed to move up the ranks in the gang, Simmons scared the hell out of him.
Simmons knew though that Conner would try his best. He had everything to lose if he didn’t.
~*~*~*~*~
“That’s got to be him.” Cody didn’t know why he whispered. He knew that they couldn’t hear him from so far away but for some reason he felt like he was under as much surveillance as the two men they were now watching. “That cut is mighty hard to hide.”
*It’s unmistakable.* Ike nodded.
“That big fellow with the cigar is headed this way. You reckon Simmons knew Lou was an Express rider?” Cody said suddenly, looking over at Ike.
Startled, Ike met his gaze. The information hit them both with the weight of a ton of bricks. If he knew, then anyone around here could point him in their direction.
“Geez... he’s been watching us since we got in town.” Cody rolled away from the window against the wall as if getting away from the pane of glass was going to provide him some sort of protection from what had already occurred.
*Everyone knows we’re at the Rock Creek station,* Ike replied frantically.
“I know. You don’t think we’re blowing this out of proportion do you? I mean we don’t even know that these are the same guys.” Cody thought out loud, looking up at the ceiling, as Ike drew the curtains and then sat down on the edge of the bed, placing his head firmly in between his hands in exhaustion. Ike gave him a sideways glance that seemed to speak volumes.
“I mean that camp was only a couple of miles from here and there had been at least fifteen men there. This Simmons, if he is the ringleader, has got some guts to come back into town if he had even stepped foot here before now. They could have set up outside of town without anyone knowing it from that location. We know that Lou was there but what about them?” Cody continued, talking to himself, reasoning it out. They needed something to link these men to the camp they had found. He looked over at Ike. “Why would they stay so close? It’s like they think that no one can touch them.”
*Arrogant,* Ike said with a shrug. *They’ve gotten away with everything so far.*
“We don’t know that. We know nothing about them except what that one man said. They had had a girl. We don’t even know where. She was a captive. She had been raped. She got away. We don’t even know how long ago he was talking about.”
*Pretty close though. All those things happened to Lou. She’s a fighter. The kind of person capable of putting a scar like that on a man.* Ike still didn’t want it to be the case though.
“These are the guys, aren’t they?” Cody said softly looking back at the ceiling in defeat. He had danced around it every way that he knew how. Everything they had to go on, though, was pointing in Simmon’s direction.
Ike met his gaze a moment later and exhaled sharply. He wished more than anything that he could convince himself that there was a chance that they weren’t right but inside he had a very disturbing feeling that they were watching the group of men who had only two weeks before terrorized their dear friend.
~*~*~*~*~
Simmons watched Conner walk back out of the hotel with his bag and make his way to the stables; the man would be out of town in a few minutes. He didn’t have high hopes for Conner’s succeeding but the plan gave Simmons a chance to move out of the area and bide his time. After a few weeks, they would let their guard down and with any luck he and his men would have disappeared into the wilderness.
Joseph Simmons reached up to his cheek and traced the raised scar with a faint smile. Louise was something else. He had never met a woman like her and he was determined to get her back. First he had plans to punish her for the mark but after that she would be his whether she accepted it or not. If he had to, he would kill her but he so hoped it didn’t come to that.
~*~*~*~*~
Lou stood up and fought the wave of dizziness that came again. Her fever had broken and she knew that she wasn’t suppose to be out of bed but she couldn’t stand the thought of staying there a moment longer. She was tired of running through her fragmented thoughts and staring at the walls.
She had given Teaspoon everything she could think of. She had given him all the names and corresponding descriptions. He thanked her and asked that she get better soon and she had seen the love he had for her in his eyes. She wondered how well they got along and had guessed that it had been pretty well considering the way he often looked at her. He felt like a father to her even though she couldn’t remember him.
Lou stood at the window and looked out across the yard to the bunkhouse. There was a light in the window and she could see Jimmy pacing the floor saying something. She didn’t know who he was talking to but she watched him carefully. He seemed wound up but at the same time heart broken.
Lou felt her hands tremble as she gripped the window frame kneeling down as if to get comfortable. Jimmy disappeared for a moment then reappeared again still highly agitated. It was then that she saw the book in his hand. He paused looking down at the book, as if he had gotten lost, then looked back up and Kid walked in front of the window, taking the book and reading the word for him. Jimmy then took over again.
He’s still not too good at reading, she suddenly remembered feeling for the first time a genuine smile cross her lips as she watched him lift his hand over his head to illustrate some point that he was making. Kid paused within her view and smiled. She felt her heart flutter after the both of them, as she watched, feeling as if she were doing something wrong.
Jimmy paused once more, smiled for just a moment, then tossed the book to Kid and shook his head over whatever they had just been talking about. Jimmy stepped in front of the window and suddenly looked right at her window. Lou ducked down farther wondering if he had seen her. He was still talking to Kid who now paced at his back.
Lou watched through the darkness unable to hide completely. She hoped he didn’t see her with her room still unlit. Jimmy slowly placed his fingers against the pane of glass as if reaching for her. Lou felt her breath catch in her throat. He spread his fingers out pushing against the still cool glass and continued to watch her window searching for something in the night that she wished she had to offer.
Kid was still talking at his back but Jimmy didn’t seem to notice. He had focused all of his attention across the yard and Lou had the strange feeling that perhaps he could see her. She felt a tremor go through her as she watched him, completely transfixed by the sight of him.
“Are you okay?” She didn’t look away as the vision of her life flooded in. Jimmy cupped her face in his hands and was wiping the tears from her face. She had nodded and then felt his arms wrap around her as she fell into his embrace. She had cried against his chest about Kid and his new girlfriend. Jimmy had been there to comfort her over Kid.
“He’s rubbing her in my face,” she had sobbed, completely in shock after what Kid had pulled at the dance. He had actually asked Alice to dance with his poor friend Lou who couldn’t get a date because he was so scrawny. Lou had never been so hurt in her entire life. Kid had been so mad at her for turning down his proposal.
Lou pulled herself up, still feeling the warm embrace of Jimmy’s strong arms around her. He had rushed out of the dance after seeing the exchange and found her, in tears, near the barn. He had been so gentle with her. Lou remembered him holding her for so long until, at last, she had looked up at him all cried out and felt her breath still while looking into his eyes. For a moment, past all the pain of the confrontation and all the thoughts of Kid that had just flown out of her mind, Lou let all of it go, completely caught up in Jimmy.
Jimmy had looked down at her completely lost in her as well. They had kept their eyes locked on each other’s until, at last, his hand had taken hers, pressing her palm out flat against his. They had both pulled away at once when Teaspoon had cleared his throat behind them.
Lou eased out of the memory and focused on the hand pressed against the window across the street. Intuitively, she pressed her hand against the glass in response to the stirring deep within her. She had just remembered the first time that she had realized how much she cared about Jimmy. The stir of the emotions seemed to set off a fire inside her. And she wished that it were his hand there instead of the cold glass.
~*~*~*~*~
“The art of ballet can be seen with the fluid graceful... Geez where does Cody get this stuff?” Kid finally set the book on the table unable to read anymore.
They had mainly been looking at the illustrations and wondering how it was that people were able to get in those positions. There were a lot of hard words, some that Kid hadn’t even known. It had helped for all of five minutes in the task of taking their minds off of Lou.
Jimmy had long ago quit listening to Kid and now stood at the window looking to where he was sure that Lou was sleeping, wondering if she would forgive him. He had made up his mind, while sitting on the porch with Kid, that he would find a way to help her remember their feelings for each other, even if he had to start all over trying to court her. He remembered the way his hand had rested against Lou’s the night they had started falling for each other. It was ironic that it had been Kid that had pushed them together with that stunt at the dance.
Jimmy focused on the window, as his thoughts brought him back to that night. He longed to feel the way that they had felt only a few weeks ago. He wanted her so much.
All at once, he saw something pressed against the window across the street. The candlelight reflected from the window next to Lou’s cast a glow across the small hand that was pressed flat against the glass. Jimmy gasped as he watched her dark form gather herself up where she knelt next to the window.
Jimmy smiled at the hope that blossomed out of the dark of night between them. He stood there for ages unable to pull his hand away until at last Lou’s strength had given out and she withdrew from the window. Jimmy pulled his hand from the window and felt his wrist protest at the position it had been in for so long. He ignored the tiny threads of pain, though, and turned back to his bunk. Kid had already lain down and was now fast asleep. Jimmy felt his heart soar out of the pit it had sunk into over the last few days and fell into his bunk finding a strange sort of peace swell within him along with the hope.
~*~*~*~*~
“What!” Cody screamed, as Ike shook him awake the next morning. He jumped up at the frantic motioning of Ike. “Slow down. What is it?”
*They’re gone.* Ike was breathing rapidly clearly in a state of near panic. *All of them.*
Cody scrambled to his feet, cursing. He was in his clothes in the blink of an eye and following Ike out the door his pack in hand. Ike was already ready to go.
The two of them made their way to the stables and got their horses ready to ride in a fluster of frustration and silent berating for allowing them to get away.
“Which way did they head out?” Cody asked at last, as he mounted his horse. Ike followed suit and nodded in the opposite direction from which they were about to travel. “Stanton Ridge?” Cody asked in confusion. Ike nodded again. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Ike shrugged. Cody turned the horse in the direction of home and spurred him onward.
“We need to get back to Teaspoon and find out what he wants to do. There’s no evidence to hold them.” Cody said over his shoulder to Ike, who was following.
~*~*~*~*~
Lou sat at the table with Kid, Jimmy, Teaspoon and Rachel the next morning. An eerie silence lingered over the table until Teaspoon took it upon himself to break it with a short prayer over the food. Jimmy watched Lou watching him as they gathered food onto their plates. Teaspoon was talking softly about what had been going on in town and Rachel was replying here and there but the others were wrapped up in a silent triangle of emotional upheaval that came with change.
“Lou,” Rachel said, snapping Lou out of her trance. Lou looked up at her friend dazed. “You have to eat more than that. Think about the baby, Honey.”
“I can’t,” she said weakly, taking the moment to look at her half of a biscuit that sat alone in the middle of her plate. “My stomach still isn’t right yet.” She didn’t want to tell Rachel that she had had butterflies all morning thinking about Jimmy. She had a dream in the night that she was almost sure was a memory.
Jimmy and she had been out for a ride about a week before she had left for St. Jo. They stopped in a meadow not far from town and were eating lunch when it had started raining. It came out of nowhere.
Lou had been lying in the grass next to Jimmy starring up at the clouds as they lazily floated by. His right hand had been wrapped around her left and they had been snacking on a couple of apples having already eaten the rest of the food they had brought. Lou hadn’t felt the first few drops; she had been so wrapped up in the feeling of Jimmy’s fingers that had slowly trailed up her arm leaving her hand stretched out against the hard ground. The rain had shocked her out of the daring endeavor much to her disappointment.
Before she had a chance to cover herself, Jimmy had rolled on top of her, his face inches from hers. The rain had soaked into his back and had rolled off the brim of his hat onto the ground beside her. She had felt the cool droplets coalescing into tiny rivers and flowing swiftly across the palm she still had against the ground.
“What are you doing?” she gasped with a smile.
“Protecting you,” Jimmy said with a sly smile. He was getting soaked.
“I guess this type of protecting I could use a little more of,” Lou whispered feeling his breath against her lips as the pelter of rain soothed the heat that their bodies created between them.
“Glad to hear it.” Jimmy’s lips met hers and his hat tipped causing a cascade of rain to wash across their faces. He pulled her up, as the kiss deepened neither one of them shaken by the sudden influx of liquid. She gasped as she sat up folded into Jimmy’s embrace and the rain soaked into her hair and back, causing a shiver to race through her.
The sudden onslaught from the water caused her to break the kiss for a moment leaving them both breathless, drenched, and still oh so close. Jimmy pulled her back to him and their lips met once more........
“Lou?” Kid was saying at the table.
Lou shook off the memory she had been reliving for the fifth time since she had awoken this morning. “I’m sorry.” She finally heard him and pushed the memory away aware that she was now blushing. “What were you saying?”
“I asked if you were feeling better.” Kid said quickly seeing that he had finally gotten her attention.
“Oh...much,” she replied, avoiding looking at Jimmy, afraid that he could read the thought that was floating around in her head. “I was just...I had a memory,” she added when she realized that everyone at the table was looking at her in concern.
“What about?” Rachel asked cautiously, hoping that it had been a good one.
“Getting caught in the rain.” She couldn’t help but watch Jimmy’s face when she said it and she saw, with a smile, his eyes widen. He looked down at his plate and tried to hide the smile that played at the corners of his lips.
A few hours later, Lou sat on the porch wrapped in a blanket, as the weather was now turning much colder. Rachel had finished cleaning up after breakfast and doing a few chores inside the house, so she came outside to sit next to Lou.
“You seem to be in better spirits.” Rachel smiled warmly.
Lou looked over at her and returned the smile softly, wishing the recent memories could completely overwhelm the horror that had befallen her not so long ago.
“I was remembering some of the time Jimmy and I had spent together,” Lou confided as she looked after where Jimmy had gone off into the barn. “I also remembered a few things about me and Kid. I have a feeling that my life was confusing even when my memory was intact.”
Rachel chuckled quietly, realizing that there was a subtle wisdom that had come from taking a look at Lou’s life without her memory to guide her feelings.
“Jimmy’s my best friend isn’t he?” Lou asked, realizing that some of the memories she had been wading through were not when they had been romantically involved.
“You two have been close for a long time, Lou. Even when you and Kid were still together, Jimmy has always been there. And as far as I can tell, you are one of the best things that ever happened to him. Jimmy’s got a bit of a reputation and I think that he lets it affect the way that he views himself sometimes. But you always let him know that no matter what any one else thinks, you know the real him.” Rachel patted Lou’s hand as she spoke, so glad to see Lou appearing happy for once. She hoped that she could help her remember just by talking about what everyone else had been tiptoeing around.
“I wish I hadn’t hurt him or Kid.”
“You and Kid had been doing some hurt to each other before now. I think seeing you like this has helped him grow up a little,” Rachel consoled her. “And Jimmy ...well, he’ll be alright. I think he’s just waiting to see if you still want him or not.”
“I do.” The sudden exclamation surprised Lou as much as it did Rachel. She had realized after the memories, which were happening much more frequently, that she did still love him and, with every new remembrance, her love for him was growing. Rachel smiled brightly at her.
“Those must have been some good memories.” Rachel laughed and watched as Lou shook with the laughter that overcame her at the statement.
“You have no idea.” Lou stopped herself when Jimmy walked out of the barn and looked up at the commotion on the porch. He tipped his hat at the two of them causing them to break into another fit of laughter.
Jimmy made his way over from the barn hoping to sate his curiosity and stopped on the other side of the porch rail. He paused looking up at them. “What’s got you two so chipper?” Jimmy was so glad to see Lou so happy.
Rachel rose to her feet, careful not to let the porch swing move to much as she got up. She patted her spot offering it to Jimmy.
“Why don’t you two talk about it while I get started on lunch.” Rachel watched as the color drained out of Lou’s face, her laughter suddenly sounding nervous. She placed a reassuring hand on the young woman’s shoulder before she walked into the house. Lou straightened up as Jimmy eased himself into the seat next to her.
“So what were ya’ll talking about?” Jimmy had so much hope but he didn’t know how to broach the topic of their relationship after what had happened the night before. Lou looked up at him shivering in the cool air. Jimmy without thinking reached out and wrapped the blanket around her tighter.
“You shouldn’t be out in this air,” he barely whispered, as his hand grazed her fingers that held fast to the blanket.
“It’s not the air.” She met his eyes, wide-eyed from the sensation that coursed through her from the simplest of touches.
Jimmy opened his mouth in shock, feeling as if the real Lou was sitting in front of him at last.
“Jimmy, I....” she trailed off as she reached for him.
He reached for her at the same moment and their hands collided, pressing together, palms flat against each other, just as they had that night at the dance and the night before across the grand expanse that had separated them in the night. They both gasped looking down at their hands.
Jimmy pressed against her weak hand and wrapped his fingers around the small palm she had extended. Lou tried to speak but she couldn’t get the words out over the emotions that now took over her senses.
“I love you, Lou,” Jimmy managed under the weight of the desire that enveloped the two of them, despite the small distance between them. “I can wait...I…”
“Jimmy,” Lou cut him off with her soft reply.
“I know you don’t remember Lou you don’t have to...”
“I remember enough. I love you too.” She tightened her grip on his hand and refused to take her eyes from his. “The rest will come back soon enough but I know I never quit loving you. Even when I couldn’t remember you, I still dreamed about you.”
Jimmy watched the smile that crept across her face and found himself pulling her to him. She welcomed the embrace now knowing that she had longed for it since she had awoken in so much confusion.
“God, I missed you.” Jimmy breathed next to her ear, closing his eyes tightly so thankful for their reunion. Lou buried her head into his strong chest breathing in the familiar scent that the dreams had refused to allow her access to. She wrapped her arms around him not caring what the rest of the world thought right now.
“I missed you to,” she replied. He felt her tears soak into his shirt and still the pain that so many tears in the past few days had caused.
~*~*~*~*~
Days Later
Cody and Ike sat at the saloon eating some dinner, both exhausted from the pace they had set from St. Jo. They had made it to Blue Creek and were hoping to get back to Rock Creek before the week was out.
Ike motioned to Cody, who was shoveling food into his mouth at an unhealthy rate. Cody looked over his shoulder at where Ike was pointing and saw that Alex was surveying the crowd having just entered the establishment. The deputy spotted them and headed over.
“What did you find out?” Alex asked, skipping the pleasantries.
Ike looked him over in concern. The man looked as if he hadn’t slept in a week. Cody had to finish chewing the mouthful of food before he could get a discernable word out. Ike however had begun to sign what he could but Alex only watched in awe not understanding.
“What did he say?” he asked Cody. Cody was just swallowing the last bit of food. Cody put a lone finger in the air to garner another moment and quickly took a drink to clear his pallet.
“He said that we found the camp where she was held and that we met up with some rather unsavory people who may or may not have been her attackers. Either way, they headed out one way and we headed the other. We need to find out what Teaspoon wants to do,” Cody translated for Ike and then got a good look at Alex. “You look horrible.”
“Who were these people?” Alex continued, as if he hadn’t heard a word about his own health.
“A whole bunch of men following a guy named Simmons. We don’t really know though if they were the one’s or not,” Cody said, watching him closely. Alex knew something that he hadn’t revealed yet.
Alex cursed under his breath.
“What’s going on?” Cody asked, exchanging a glance with Ike.
“Lou named them after you left. It was Simmons and his men,” Alex finally said.
Ike closed his eyes, no longer hungry. He felt sick to his stomach. The uncertainty had given him hope that a less sever attack had befallen Lou but, with this new revelation, the words of the drunkard in the alley came back to him with dizzying intensity. Cody had a similar look of disgust on his face but neither of them matched the utter hatred and anger that showed on Alex now.
“I’m going back with you.”
Alex couldn’t believe this. All of his worst fears were being confirmed one by one. He had hoped to never hear anything about Simmons again. Alex felt his heart sinking slowly. His father had been working the James Corgan case back East and had met a horrible end because of it. Simmons had come after him even after James had killed himself and, with him, any chance that it would have gone to trial. Simmons was a monster and he deserved to be brought to justice. The one thing that Alex had always feared though was how many people were going to have to die for it to be done. Alex still remembered the look on the hard man’s face at his father’s funeral. He had the gall to show up there and had even smiled and spoken to Alex’s mother who practically had a breakdown over the incident.
“Suit yourself but they headed towards Stanton Ridge.” Cody sighed. If only they had known. “We would have followed them but we didn’t know they were the ones at the time.”
“Doesn’t matter, they’ll come for her in Rock Creek,” Alex replied knowing all to well that Simmons wasn’t about to let Lou get away. He didn’t know how long it would take but they would come for her and he planned on being there when it happened.
~*~*~*~*~
Conner rode into Rock Creek weary from head to toe. He would have been in town sooner but he had gotten delayed half a day in Blue Creek after his horse had thrown a shoe. He had ridden like mad after that. He was so hoping to get there before the others in case they had a chance to warn his unsuspecting victim. Now looking at the town in the dead of night, he sighed in relief. He could rest for a while. He would sleep the rest of the night and find her in the morning. Conner didn’t lie down to rest until he had located the Pony Express station and had formed a tentative plan for the next day.
~*~*~*~*~
Lou tossed and turned, finally sitting up drenched in sweat from the dream that had plagued her. She could still feel the man’s hands all over her. She stifled a cry and stilled her trembling form wishing that the pieces of her memory that had been surfacing recently, would stay buried. She looked to the empty chair at her bedside. It had been a week since anyone had slept next to her in the uncomfortable chair and Jimmy was due back the next day from his ride.
She had told everyone that she was fine and she had wanted to believe it, as she had made everyone else believe it, but she couldn’t with the constant bombardment of dreams that had been assailing her for the last three nights.
Lou tossed her covers aside and got to her feet, slowly getting into her clothes. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep any more tonight. She grabbed her shawl off the back of the bedroom door, as she quietly walked through the house trying not to wake anyone. She bundled up and walked out onto the porch to sit in the swing. She needed the fresh air.
~*~*~*~*~
Buck sat up in bed, hearing a door close through the open window of the bunkhouse. He looked out the window and, with the light of the full moon, noticed a small form sitting in the swing across the yard. He crawled out of his bunk and got into his clothes, looking over at Kid who was the only rider besides him occupying the bunkhouse tonight. They were still waiting on Cody and Ike to return from St. Jo and Jimmy would be back tomorrow.
Buck quietly went out the door, hearing a startled yet quiet gasp from Lou on the swing as she heard him coming. Buck had returned almost three days ago and found that Jimmy and Lou were doing much better. Kid seemed a bit more distant but Buck couldn’t blame him. He knew Kid would probably always have feelings for Lou.
“Something wrong?” Buck noticed immediately that she was fully dressed as if waiting for the day to begin and it was still hours before daybreak.
“Can’t sleep,” she replied, barely able to look at him.
“What is it?” Buck sat down next to her. He could tell she had been crying.
“Nightmares about what happened outside St. Jo,” Lou sighed. She wished she could move past it but it was still so fresh in her mind. There were constant reminders all over her body too. She had scars that she was sure would never completely heal.
“You made it through Lou.” Buck reached for her to put a hand on her shoulder in comfort and was shocked when she flinched. He quickly reprimanded himself for not thinking about it and settled his hand back at his side. “No one here is going to let anything happen to you.”
“I’m sorry.” Lou caught herself for flinching. She hadn’t meant to. It was just a response from the dream that had woken her.
“Don’t be,” Buck told her quickly. “I understand.”
“It’s just so hard to sleep with all of these dreams. I have them all the time and when I’m not dreaming I’m having these flashes of memory during the day. It’s like my mind isn’t my own anymore.” Lou wanted everything to just snap in place.
“You’re one of the strongest people I know, Lou. You’re going to get through this,” Buck tried to reassure her.
“I know it’s going to get better...I mean it already has, some.” She thought about Jimmy wishing he were back already. “A lot actually.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t notice the two of you being involved like that.” Buck smiled, knowing that she was thinking about Jimmy.
“I didn’t know we had been keeping it a secret.” Lou sighed.
“Well it was probably because of Kid.” Buck thought about how Kid had been acting when he and Alice had first started going out. It was as if he were using the other woman to get back at Lou.
“I suppose it was a bad break up.” Lou noticed Buck nodding out of the corner of her eye. “Was it really bad?”
“There was a whole lot of tension around here. It was starting to get to everyone.” Buck looked down at his hands. He didn’t know if he should be telling her all of this. “Even after Kid started seeing Alice, there was a lot of hostility.”
“So I guess it just made sense to not tell everyone when me and Jimmy started courting,” Lou thought out loud. Buck nodded again.
“I can understand why you would want to keep it private.” Buck smiled softly at her. “So you planning on staying out here all night?”
“I just couldn’t stay in there by myself after that last dream. Somehow being out here makes me feel better. Less confined.... I suppose it sounds silly.” Lou looked up at the bright moon overhead. “I wish Jimmy was here.”
“I’m sure he does too.” Buck patted her shoulder and this time she didn’t flinch. “If you want I can stay up with you ‘til you fall asleep.” Thinking better of the offer he added, “Or I can wake Rachel she wouldn’t mind either.”
“I’ll be fine right here.” Lou was tired but the thought of disturbing anyone else didn’t sit well with her.
“Well I’ll stay up a little while then. I’ve been looking to catch up with you anyway.” He smiled.
“Good you can tell me all about the stuff I can’t remember about you.” Lou smiled back.
~*~*~*~*~
Lou stood in front of Lightning and rubbed her horse’s nose while silently thanking the horse for getting her to Blue Creek. She hadn’t been able to make it to the barn since getting back on her feet, so the reunion was well over due. She had been right outside the stall talking to Lightning, as if she were her best friend, for a couple of hours now feeling for the first time some relief over being able to share her feelings without the fear of hurting someone.
Lightning had in turn shown her affection with a few nuzzles and nods here and there while Lou sat and talked. Lou was still talking when she heard Buck call out that a rider was coming.
Lou said a soft goodbye to Lightning before she moved to exit the barn to greet Jimmy when a hand clasped down hard over her mouth and she heard a gun cock behind her and then felt the barrel press into her back as she was pulled back into a man behind her.
“Don’t move or you’re dead,” Conner McTavish whispered into her ear in a harsh, gravely voice. “And keep those hands where I can see them.”
Lou froze, gagged by the stench that rose from her captor, and held up her hands fearfully to show him that she was unarmed and not trying anything. She racked her brain thinking of how she was going to get out of this but nothing was coming to mind. She heard Jimmy pull his horse to a stop outside and felt her captor dragging her backwards into one of the empty stalls. He closed the door and ducked down so they would not be noticed when Jimmy came in.
Lou felt like she was in one of those nightmares she had stayed up to avoid the night before. She tried to remain still, as the tears ran down her cheeks, her fear more than a little apparent. She felt the gun against her back and was terrified to move.
“Need some help?”
She heard Buck ask Jimmy, as he followed him into the barn. She felt a burning pain from the gun boring into her as her attacker continued to make the point for her to be quiet.
“How’s Lou?” Jimmy asked as Buck followed him to one of the nearby stalls.
“She’s doing okay. I stayed up with her for a little while last night. She couldn’t sleep, been having nightmares about the attack outside St. Jo.” Buck paused for a minute as Lightning whinnied softly and turned her head with a huff. Buck kept talking as he began to look around. “She’s doing a whole lot better though.”
Jimmy shook his head as he listened to Buck recount what had happened the night before. Without thinking about it he balled his fist in anger. He had really kept himself in check since he had found Lou, the fight with Kid not withstanding. He wished to high heaven though that he could make the people responsible for what had happened to Lou pay and not just with jail time. What he wanted was more violent. He just didn’t want his actions to hurt Lou even more.
“Has she gone to the doctor yet?” Jimmy asked, changing his train of thought along with the subject. He couldn’t remember whether her appointment was today or tomorrow. He had really wanted to go because the doctor was going to check on the baby and he wanted to be there for her. “I hope the baby is okay.”
“No, it’s tomorrow,” Buck replied. “I’m sure the baby is fine. Lou’s been a lot calmer the last few days.”
Lou was crouched down in front of her attacker listening intently to the normal conversation the two friends were sharing as she tried to keep her balance. She almost lost her footing when Conner placed his hand that had been covering her mouth on her belly at the talk of her having a baby. ‘No...oh no,’ she thought, trying to quietly push his hand away from her baby. She felt the gun cut a little more into the tender flesh of her back from his carelessness and heard the labored breathing of her attacker against her ear but she hadn’t made a sound. More silent tears spilled over her cheeks but her hand rested against the door keeping her still as the two outside kept talking. Lou prayed that Jimmy realized she was there or that Buck knew she had been heading to the barn.
Lightning whinnied again and stomped her foot to get their attention and this time even Jimmy noticed the horse’s unease. He turned slowly, realizing that Buck had already been surveying the barn from the previous outburst and he put one hand on his right Colt, while he moved to Lou’s horse and placed his other hand lovingly on her nose trying to calm her down.
“Whoa girl. It’s okay,” Jimmy said softly just as the sunlight refracted off of something metallic in the closed and empty stall to the left of Lightning’s stall and the beam flickered briefly over Jimmy’s face.
“If that horse gives us away...you’re dead,” Conner breathed into her ear so quietly that she almost didn’t hear it.
Lou knew that horses could sense when things were amiss better then people and she took a deep breath trying to still her nerves. She had to get her head on straight or she wasn’t going to make it through this. She may not have remembered her entire life but she remembered her sheer determination to live when she had been digging all those graves. Some things were more instinct than memory and she was now letting that part of her take over. She let go of the fear and heard Lightning start to calm down.
“I wonder what got into her,” Jimmy said to Buck who also had his hand on his pistol nervously. “Don’t know. I thought Lou was going to come out and see her this morning. She must have fallen asleep though. Last time I saw her she was pretty out of it, she was so tired,” Buck said quietly as he looked over the barn one more time. Something didn’t feel right but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He noticed the dance of light across Jimmy’s face and looked to the stall that it came from.
Conner’s hand trembled under the weight of his own unease. He had seen Lou in action when she had taken that last boot to the ribs and then sliced his boss up, leaving Simmons in a stupor. She should have been near death at that point but she had still kept going and he had never seen anyone do what she had done.
Lou saw her captor’s shaking hand, and she realized he was scared. Not just scared, scared of her and she felt so helpless despite it all. She tried to think of ways that she could use that to her advantage but all she could think about was how close salvation was and the fact that Jimmy and Buck had no idea that she was in there.
Lou sucked in a deep breath when she saw Buck’s hand rest on the top of the stall and felt Conner readying to pull the trigger at her back. Just then there was a commotion in the yard, the sound of more horses riding into the station. Lou watched as Buck’s hand slid off of the stall door and he turned toward the sound. She sighed both in relief and disappointment.
She heard the two men start to leave and felt Conner pull her to her feet, his hand landing over her mouth again as his other stayed poised at her back ready to fire. Jimmy and Buck were just outside the barn, when Conner finally opened the door and started for his horse through the other exit dragging Lou along with him.
Jimmy heard Lightning whinny again and slowly turned catching sight of the two figures out of the corner of his eye. Buck looked down as Jimmy’s hand went to his hip pulling the gun from his holster in a blink of an eye and whirling around to face the scene behind him.
The first thing that Jimmy saw was Lou being dragged backwards by a man he had never seen before in his life. She was silenced by a hand that rested over her mouth and he was sure that there had to be a gun trained on her or she would have been free by now. Buck drew his weapon as well and the two of them took a step back toward the barn.
“Drop ‘em,” Conner called out, his voice fearful as he watched his plan crumbling with the unexpected visitors. “Or she’s dead.”
“You kill her and there won’t be a place on earth to hide,” Jimmy growled. He had the shot, he knew he did, but if this idiot happened to get lucky then it wouldn’t make a difference.
Buck looked off to his right at the onlookers climbing down off of their horses. Cody, Alex, and Ike looked from Jimmy and Buck to the side of the barn wondering what was going on in there. The three of them had their weapons in hand in a flash and were moving to the back of the barn to head off whoever was there.
Jimmy contemplated whether or not he should drop his gun.
“You drop them right now or you’ll be burying her.” Conner wasn’t so convincing.
“Yeah right next to you,” Jimmy replied.
Suddenly Conner heard the guns cock at his back.
“You drop it and step away from her,” Cody hissed at Conner’s back.
“Do you want her to die?” Conner asked the whole lot of them. He regained his composure remembering the conversation he had with Simmons before he left St. Jo. “If I don’t bring her back to Simmons then I might as well be dead so I assure you I will take her with me. Either to Simmons or to hell.”
This time Jimmy believed him.
“Drop ‘em.” Jimmy said, his anger in the face of this impossible choice starting to bleed through into his voice.
“You can’t be serious!” Alex screamed from behind Conner, his aim wavering as he looked around Conner and Lou to get a good look at Jimmy on the other side of the barn. “He’s one of Simmons’ men.”
“You got to the count of three,” Conner yelled out.
“One.”
“Drop ‘em!” Jimmy yelled, as his own pistol hit the ground. He had looked into Conner’s dark eyes and knew that if the man went down, he was taking Lou with him. Buck heaved a deep sigh and dropped his gun.
“This isn’t going to work Hickok!” Alex screamed.
“I said drop it Alex. Now you drop your weapon!” Jimmy screamed back at him
“Two.”
Cody watched the fire burning in Jimmy’s eyes, as Cody let his pistol fall from his hand against his better judgment. Ike soon followed, trusting that his friend knew what he was doing.
“Alex...you drop that gun or I’ll kill you myself!” Jimmy screamed, watching as Conner started to open his mouth to say three.
“Three.”
Everyone seemed to hold their breath as Alex’s gun hit the ground. Jimmy stood there catching Alex’s enraged glare from the other side of the barn, meeting it evenly with a fire that burned hotter then Alex’s ever would.
“Now move away from the exit,” he called the order to the three at his back and began to inch backwards still dragging Lou. Conner smiled at the way things were turning out.
Jimmy and Buck stood perfectly still watching as the others began to move out of the way to allow him to cart Lou away unhindered.
Conner finding no other threat out of them made the one mistake he could have. He pulled the arm that held the gun into view from behind Lou’s back. Jimmy saw the glint of the gun as it moved to her side while Conner began to turn it. Jimmy drew his second colt faster then anyone Alex had ever seen and fired one shot. As soon as the shot rang out Ike jumped Conner from behind and grabbed the gun from his hand. Conner, unable to speak, slumped to the ground dead at Lou’s feet.
Alex watched Jimmy who looked as if he wanted to kill the man a few more times. Both Alex and Jimmy stood rigidly still from the overwhelming tension that was slowly dissipating in the air. Cody leaned forward his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath and Buck started across the yard half stumbling to where Conner had fallen. Ike straightened.
*He’s dead,* he said as Buck heaved a sigh of relief.
At the pronouncement all eyes turned to Lou, who looked just as shocked as everyone else still trying to catch her own breath.
“Lou!” Jimmy, coming out of the spell of animosity that had hung so heavy over the lot of them, crossed the barnyard frantic. “Are you okay?”
When she didn’t answer right away, Jimmy started looking her over even more hurriedly.
“Lou?”
She threw herself into his arms and he caught her, closing his eyes tightly in sweet relief as he realized that she was just fine.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Jimmy said and then repeated it several times as she trembled against him.
“Not likely,” Alex finally hissed, his anger with Jimmy clearly still present.
Jimmy felt Lou stiffen in his embrace at the words that Alex spoke.
“Not now,” Jimmy said through clenched teeth, nodding to Lou, who he desperately wanted to shield from anymore bad news. She had been through enough.
“It’s okay,” Lou said and slowly turned to Alex as Jimmy repositioned his arms around her waist protectively.
“Simmons isn’t done and that was just his grunt,” Alex began. “When he brings the fight to us all bets are off...and that was some gambling you was doing Hickok.”
To Be Continued
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