Kid rode towards his home station in Rock Creek where he lived with his family. His thoughts wondered to Lou, the girl of the Pony Express. He missed her so much. The two of them had been together ever since Kid had found out Lou was a girl in their first days of being apart of the greatest mail system to them.' Finally ahead of him he say the barn of his home.

'Yaw!' Kid yelled out to Katy his beloved paint mare. Katy whipped into a gallop and sped quickly towards home.

"Rider comin!" James B. Hickok better known as Jimmy hollered. Kid didn�t have any mail with him so that meant the station would have at least a week off before the next rider came through.

�How was the ride?� Lou asked coming up beside Kid and Katy as they stopped.

�Pretty good, Red Buttes had a fire at their barn and I helped them pull their horses out and stop it. One horse was killed,� Kid dismounted and laid an arm across Katy�s back looking into Lou�s eyes.

�Are you ok?� Lou asked worried automatically���

�I�m fine their all fine,� Kid brushed back a lock of his sweaty hair.

�Hey Kid,� Jimmy called out to him.

�Hey where�s Teaspoon?�

�He�s in town. Why?�

�Lou, Jimmy get your horses. I�ll get Jake so we can see Teaspoon,� Kid ordered leading Katy into the barn. He quickly unsaddled her and tied her in her stall.

He went to Jake�s stall, a tall black Tennessee Walking Horse and quickly saddled the colt. Jimmy, Kid and Lou rode out as Ike and Buck watched them in confusion. The glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders.


�Kid, Jimmy, Lou what�s going on?� Teaspoon asked as they entered his office. Teaspoon Hunter was the local marshal as well as their station master.

Jimmy and Lou looked straight at Kid. �I was shot on my ride to Red Buttes. It hit me right here,� Kid placed a hand over his stomach.

�Why didn�t you tell me?� Lou looked at him.

�Cause I didn�t want you to worry, but Teaspoon it hurts real bad,� Kid looked at his mentor.

�Why did it happen?� Teaspoon asked.

�I dunno,� Kid kneeled over then in pain and for the first time they all noticed the blood that covered the side of his shirt.

�Oh my gosh Kid yer hurt bad,� Lou put a chair behind him so he could sit down.

�I�ll get the doctor,� Jimmy hurried outside.

�Now Kid I need you to tell me if you remember anything?� Teaspoon gazed at him hating to see him hurting in any way.

�The man was a tall man with graying hair. He had black, hard eyes, with a black mustache, black hair and he wore a red suit. He had a tall muscular bay gelding with a star, and a white sock on his left front hoof and back right hoof. The man also had a scar running straight across his face,� Kid told them.

�I�ll get Buck, Cody and Ike to go and look for him,� Teaspoon started to leave but turned around. �Oh and Lou if you can get him back to the bunkhouse and take the doctor there to look at him.� Lou nodded and helped Kid up. She led him outside and he mounted Jake on his own. The doctor and Jimmy returned then.

�What�s going on?� Doc. Taylor asked.

Lou quickly told Jimmy and the good doctor what Teaspoon told her to do. The two nodded and they all mounted their own horses. They rode out towards the Pony Express station.

Kid groaned at Jake�s jolting movements earlier he�d only felt the pain a little now it was awful and he had to keep himself from falling out of the saddle. Lou glanced at him and frowned. She was worried, Kid wasn�t one to express pain he usually hid it from them. She hopped the bullet wasn�t still inside him.

Finally the station came into full sight and they were able to slow to a walk. Kid winced but didn�t say anything. He knew Lou worried when he rode out or got shot or something. But as a Pony Express rider he had to take the risks just like she did.

At the bunkhouse Kid stopped Jake and pulled himself down. Lou quickly got off Lightning and threw the mare�s reins over the post and helped Kid inside and to the single bed that was Buck�s but Kid would use it for now to let the doctor look him over. �Kid?� Lou asked softly as the doctor looked him over.

�Yeah?� Kid whispered looking her eyes. Lou�s heart went out to him at the pain she saw in his eyes.

�I will be here....When the laughter turns to cryin�,� Lou whispered brushing his hair from his forehead.

�I�m fine Lou it�s just a wound,� Kid looked at her puzzled.

�Is Teaspoon still here?� Dr. Taylor asked.

�Yeah,� Jimmy answered from where he stood looking out the window.

�I need to talk to him,� the doctor looked at Jimmy. Jimmy walked outside.

�Teaspoon!� He hollered. Teaspoon opened the door to the house and looked out.

�Son, what is it?� Teaspoon asked.

�Dr. Taylor needs to see you,� Jimmy told him.

Teaspoon came over with Ike and Buck behind him.

*How�s Kid* Ike looked concerned.

�Dunno that�s what Dr. Taylor wants to see Teaspoon about.�

---

�What is it Doc?� Teaspoon asked as he and the doctor stepped out leaving the riders inside.

�It�s bad Teaspoon. Kid has internal bleeding, I�ve stopped it but it�s bad. Kid has a twenty percent chance of making it,� Dr. Taylor looked really concerned.

Teaspoon tried to hide his face. �No hope?�

�He might make it. He�s a strong boy but I highly doubt he�ll make it. I wish I had better news. Just keep him quiet feed him soups and do not let him stand up or roll over. He needs to stay on his back. I�ll come back to check him tomorrow. If he gets worse get me. A fever could kill him.� The doctor nodded at him and after mounting his horse rode out.

Teaspoon sighed and walked towards the house he couldn�t tell his riders yet that Kid, a wonderful person was going to die.� He just couldn�t believe it; Kid a person who had so much going for him and now he was losing his own life.

---

Kid drifted in and out of consciousness as his family sat around him. He didn�t know where he was. He remembered Lou saying that she would be there through everything. Oh how he wanted to wake up and give her a hug. What was happening to him?

Suddenly an angel appeared before him. The angel smiled at him and said
��Tomorrow mornin� if you wake up and the future is unclear,
I�,I will be here.
As sure as seasons are made for change, our lifetimes are made for years,
So I�,I will be here.

Kid I�m here you need to wake up they need you here on earth. When you wake up you�ll be healed and if you need me I will be here.�

---

�What�s he moanin�?� Cody grumbled.

�Boys, Lou, I need you all to come outside,� Teaspoon ordered.

�No I�m not leaving his side. What if he wakes up and I�m not here?� Lou sobbed laying her head beside Kid�s.

�Just for a moment Lou, please,� Teaspoon begged. Something in Teaspoon�s voice pulled Lou outside where the riders looked at Teaspoon. �Kid�s dying. The doctor said he only has a twenty-percent chance of living.�

�No!� Lou screamed breaking down. Jimmy instantly pulled her into his arms and she sobbed. Realizing these might be the last days she spent with Kid she ran into the room.

�What are we going to do?� Buck asked.

�Be here for Lou and pray that Kid�ll wake up,� Teaspoon looked grave.

�I just can�t believe it. Kid�s a good person he doesn�t deserve to die. After all he and Lou have been through it�s just not fair,� Cody fumed.

�I wish I knew, son,� Teaspoon muttered.

---

�Oh Kid if you can hear wake up. Don�t leave me I need you,� Lou whispered wiping a cool cloth on Kid�s forehead. Kid groaned and Lou saw his eyes flicker.

�Lou,� he moaned. �I. love. you,� he gasped out.

�Oh Kid come on open your eyes, I love you!� Lou cried to him. Kid opened his eyes wide and smiled at her.

�Hey Lou, why you crying?� Kid teased reaching up a hand to brush away a tear from her face.

�Teaspoon!� Lou shouted as she and Kid exchanged kisses.

The riders, Teaspoon, and Rachel all arrived to find Kid talking earnestly with Lou.

*Are you ok?* Ike signed.

�Fine don�t know what y�all are so worried about. Rachel I�m starved,� Kid looked puzzled.

They all laughed. It was so good to have Kid back.

Epilogue

� Months later Kid rode out on a ride. He had completely healed him and Lou were to be married and this was the last ride of the Pony Express for the Rock Creek station. Jimmy and Cody were leaving to scout in the army and Kid had declined to fight. Since his near death experience he�d realized that staying safe and being with his family was more important then memories.

These last two years had been the best. Only sad thing was Ike had passed on and Noah, another rider had joined and had also died. Buck had left to live in his Kiowa village to try and help to keep them where they were.

Rachel and Teaspoon had gotten married and were moving to Texas after Kid came back but he and Lou had bought the station and vowed to live there till their deaths.

Oh how good it was to be alive!

THE END