“I’m sorry,” he apologized.
“Don’t be, Buck,” Lou replied. “Not you’re fault I wasn’t paying attention.”
“If you want to be by yourself, I can . . .”
“No, please stay,” she told him. “I could use some company.”
The stood in companionable silence for a few minutes before Buck spoke again.
“So, tomorrow’s the big day.”
“Yup, it sure is,” Lou agreed.
“Guess you’re all pretty much ready for the wedding?” Buck asked.
“Ready as I’m going to be,” the woman affirmed.
“You two belong together you know?”
“I know, I know.”
Turning to face his friend, Buck reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his eyes.
“If you’re so sure, what are you doing out here?” he demanded.
“I don’t know,” Lou confessed. “I guess maybe everyone who’s doing what I’m doing has some doubts that what they are doing is right.”
“If you have doubts, maybe you shouldn’t get married right now,” Buck suggested. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait and make sure?”
“I can’t back out now, Buck. If I delay the wedding, Kid will head back East and it’ll never happen,” she exclaimed.
“That’s not the right reason for doing it though . . . “
“I love Kid, Buck,” Lou interrupted. “I want to marry him more than anything in the world.”
He watched her in silence, waiting for her to say more.
“I’m just scared,” she confessed.
“Scared? Of what?” he asked.
Lou paused, then answered in a rush. “That my loving him isn’t going to be enough.”
Suddenly a lot of things became clear to her friend. Kid had been talking off and on about going back to Virginia. The war that was brewing had been weighing heavily on all of his friends. Cody was preparing to go join the Union Army and even Jimmy had spoken about doing the same. About the only ones who hadn’t declared themselves one way or the other were the two standing together in the moonlight.
Though against slavery in principle, Buck had no intention of going to war against those who did. He suspected that there would be a time when he would have to choose sides in a war but it wasn’t going to be this one. The trouble that already existed between his Kiowa people and the white settlers took more precedence. His fear that things were going to get much worse before they got any better had resulted in more than a few hours by the fence.
Lou abhorred slavery. She’d been scared early on that Kid felt differently, but had discovered, after much discussion, that it wasn’t slavery Kid would be willing to fight for, but the right of the states to decide for themselves. She’d finally been able to put aside the fact that “deciding for themselves” meant allowing the enslavement of others because she knew Kid didn’t and wouldn’t own slaves.
Still the fact that he wanted to go back to his old home and join in the war they all knew was coming had worried the young woman. The fact that he hadn’t been saying much lately had eased her mind some but there was still that doubt.
And doubt was what brought her to the corral.
“Maybe it won’t be,” Buck said softly. “Kid is a pretty stubborn man.”
“I can be pretty stubborn, too,” Lou reminded him.
Buck laughed at that remark. “You most certainly can,” he agreed.
Becoming more serious, he continued, “You know you don’t have to go through all this alone, don’t you? We’ll all be here for you—no matter what happens.”
Lou met his eyes again. “That’s kind of hard to believe—what with Cody leaving soon and Jimmy saying he’s thinking the same thing. Even Teaspoon is talking about Texas . . .”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” Buck told her firmly. “You can always count on me.”
~~~~
Count On Me
Written by Don Reid
Sung by the Statler Brothers on their Four For The Show album
I can tell by looking you’ve got fears in your heart
You’re hoping no one else can see.
But you can’t hide feelings from someone who cares
Open up and let it out and count on me.
Count on me—for doing my share
Count on me—you know that I care
Count on me—I’ll always be there
Count on me.
Count on me—when others won’t hear
Count on me—when there’s no one else near
Count on me—I’ll be right here
Count on me
I hear the sounds you’re making
But the words don’t ring true.
There’s something here that didn’t used to be.
If there’s something wrong inside you
Tell me now what you need
And together we can heal it—count on me.
Count on me—when others leave you
Count on me—when they don’t believe you
Count on me—I’ll always be true
Count on me
Count on me—for doing my share
Count on me—you know that I care
Count on me—I’ll always be there
Count on me.
You can count on me!
Written by Don Reid
Sung by the Statler Brothers on their Four For The Show album
I can tell by looking you’ve got fears in your heart
You’re hoping no one else can see.
But you can’t hide feelings from someone who cares
Open up and let it out and count on me.
Count on me—for doing my share
Count on me—you know that I care
Count on me—I’ll always be there
Count on me.
Count on me—when others won’t hear
Count on me—when there’s no one else near
Count on me—I’ll be right here
Count on me
I hear the sounds you’re making
But the words don’t ring true.
There’s something here that didn’t used to be.
If there’s something wrong inside you
Tell me now what you need
And together we can heal it—count on me.
Count on me—when others leave you
Count on me—when they don’t believe you
Count on me—I’ll always be true
Count on me
Count on me—for doing my share
Count on me—you know that I care
Count on me—I’ll always be there
Count on me.
You can count on me!