A broad-shouldered, dark-eyed young man in his very early twenties, dressed in an Eastern-style dark suit and hat, stepped from the noon stagecoach at the Sweetwater station, glancing around his surroundings. His trunk and carpet bag were unceremoniously tossed off the stage onto the station steps with two thuds. The young man tossed a coin to the driver and waved his thanks. A group of Express riders were gathered on the porch of the station, and started nudging one another curiously at the sight of the well-dressed young man, who stepped up the porch and spoke to them.
“Can any of you fellows point me towards the Marshal’s office? He was supposed to meet me here, but -”
Before they could answer, Teaspoon came rushing down the street and up to the young man. “Mr. Peters, I take it? I’m Marshal Hunter. Sorry I was late, but there was a little trouble down at the General Store I had to take care of that ran me a little late.”
Peters flashed a wide, bright grin and shook Teaspoon’s outstretched hand. “No need to apologize, Marshal. I appreciate your taking time to meet with me.”
Teaspoon turned to the riders, and introduced Jimmy, Cody, Kid, Buck and Ike in turn to the visitor. “This here’s Robert Peters, Esq., a lawyer from St. Joe. He’s going to be settling in Sweetwater for a spell. Going to be a special prosecutor on the Stevensen gunrunning operation case.”
Jimmy eyed the newcomer. “You look a mite young for a job like that.”
Teaspoon interrupted. “Not that it’s any of your concern, Jimmy, but Mr. Peters comes highly recommended for the post by the governor.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow. “I expect it is my business, Teaspoon. I did my share helping you run that gang in. Seems to me all this trial business is a waste of time. Now their lawyers are trying to get them off scott-free, and the other half of their gang is trying to bust them out of jail every other day. Would be a lot simpler if we just took care of them on the spot, if you ask me.”
Peters spoke up. “Mr. Hickok, you and I will have to agree to disagree about that. The law isn’t perfect; no one’s pretending otherwise. But shooting first and asking questions later isn’t a system of justice. I like to think that the law provides a chance to make sure the right thing gets done, based on the evidence and the judgment of a man’s peers.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Sounds like a lot of fancy talk, Peters. Guess you learned that in some high priced school, but out here in the real world, you’ll find out soon enough actions speak louder than words any day, especially when you ain’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”
Peters was about to respond, but trailed off, diverted by the sight of Lou and Rachel approaching. The riders smirked to one another. Rachel had that effect on men. But when Teaspoon introduced him to Lou and Rachel, oddly, Peters only tipped his hat briefly to Rachel, but continued to stare at Lou. Lou, in turn, seemed strangely affected by the newcomer.
“LouMcCloud?” Peters asked slowly, emphasizing the first name.
“Bobby?” Lou asked shyly. “It’s me, Louise, from Sister Amelia’s orphanage in St. Joe.”
Bobby exclaimed in surprise “Little Louise? But you’re all grown up!” With a sideways appreciative glance, Lou answered, “Well, so are you, Bobby.” The other riders exchanged curious looks at one another, and then at a discomfited Kid, as the two old friends shared a hug.
Of course Rachel insisted that Lou’s old friend stay to lunch. As the riders crowded around the table, Lou proudly told the others, “Bobby came to the orphanage around the time I did. He’s from New Hampshire, but came out West to work on the railroad when he was fifteen after his folks died. There was an accident and he broke his arm and a leg. He had nowhere to go. His foreman brought him to Sister Amelia’s to recover.”
“I thought I was too old and worldly-wise to stay in an orphanage, but Sister Amelia agreed to let me earn my board by teaching the younger kids history Louise was in my class.” Bobby said.
“The nuns let a fifteen year old teach?” Cody asked.
“I went to Phillips Exeter Academy back in New Hampshire. I’d learned enough there to teach the younger students some. My father went bankrupt in the Panic of 1837, but it was important to him that I go to the same Academy he did, so he managed to scrape together the money to send me. When he died I headed out west with the railroad.”
Louise beamed at her guest. “You were the best teacher I ever went to, even if you were the youngest.”
“And you were my best student, Louise,” he smiled back. “Top of your class if I recall.”
“I’ll always remember you taking us in to town to watch court when it was in session. I knew you wanted to be a lawyer, but how did you manage it so quickly?” Lou asked.
“Well, it didn’t seem quick at the time. Around the time you left, I started clerking for a lawyer in St. Joe. After a while, I qualified for the bar and started practicing about a year ago in his office. He’s a judge and he recommended me for this assignment to the governor.”
Bobby paused a moment. “And look at you! Looks like you’re doing all right for yourself… I never would have guessed you’d end up a Pony Express rider. Though in a way it makes sense. You always loved horses, didn’t you?” he smiled back at her.
Lou blushed under his admiring gaze. Bobby continued, “Every chance this one would get, she’d be sneaking off to the stable to help with the convent’s old horse,‘Saint Barnabas’, wasn’t that his name?”
“The poor old thing,” Lou giggled. “He was so old and slow, I felt sorry for him. I used to ride all the time before my pa…” she trailed off, lamely. “Well, before I had to go to the orphanage. I had a lot of jobs working with horses after that, until I saw the advertisement for this job, and I decided to give it a try.”
“Must have been hard for you, cutting off your long hair and disguising yourself as a boy just for a job you might not even get.” Bobby sympathized. “You had the longest hair of all the girls in the orphanage, back when I knew you.”
Louise looked uncomfortable for a moment. She wasn’t prepared to admit she’d been masquerading as a boy for years, or, even worse, why. Fortunately, Bobby was distracted by a bombardment of other questions from the riders about what she was like back in the orphanage days.
After lunch, Lou walked Bobby to the hotel. “How long are you in town for, Bobby?”
“Couple months, I imagine. It’ll take that long to prepare the cases and try all the defendants you and the boys and Teaspoon rounded up. The territorial judge will be coming in for the trials in about a month.”
They paused at the hotel. “Though I won’t have to spend all my time working.” he said. “I guess you can’t be seen out dressed as a woman while you’re riding for the Pony Express?”
“No, if it got back to the company, I’d have to be fired.”
“Could you go somewhere in a town near here? The stage let us out for a minute while they watered the horses in Red Oaks. I heard some talk about a dance tomorrow night. That’d be only about half an hour by wagon. Would you do me the honor?”
Lou looked down, shyly. She’d had a crush on Bobby something fierce back when she was eleven and he was fifteen. Of course he’d taken no romantic interest in his little shadow then, though he was always kind to her. It was flattering to have him take such an interest in her now… and of course she had the right to see whoever she wanted, now that she and Kid had gone their separate ways. But part of her still felt that she would be “cheating” if she said yes. She shook off that creeping disloyal feeling. A kind-hearted, smart, good-looking young lawyer, an old friend in the bargain, was asking her to a dance. Of course she should go and have a good time; she needed to try to move on. Kid certainly had, Lou reminded herself.
“Thank you, Bobby. I’d love to.”
“I wasn’t sure you would be free. Tomorrow’s your birthday, isn’t it? Seventeen, right?”
Lou was startled that he would have remembered her birthday and her age all these years. Come to think of it, though, he had always had an uncanny memory for dates and facts, and the nuns had always made a big deal out of each child’s birthday. She had left the orphanage not long after her twelfth birthday. “That’s right. It is. But I didn’t have any special plans… and a dance would be a fun way to celebrate.”
Bobby nodded. “I’ll call for you at five, if that’s all right, so there’ll be plenty of time to get there beforehand.”
“That’d be fine. See you then.”
Bobby pressed her arm and said goodbye, turning to go into the hotel. She looked after him, suddenly uncertain, and walked back to the station slowly and a little forlornly.
Lou’s uncertainty evaporated the next day, after she told an excited Rachel about her first real dance where she would be going dressed as a girl. Rachel had been quite taken with Bobby, and was as thrilled for Lou as could be. Lou caught her enthusiasm, particularly when Rachel told her that she’d planned to give her a new dress for her birthday, but she might as well have it now.
“Rachel, you shouldn’t have! It’s so beautiful, but it’s too much,” Lou protested, when Rachel held out the new ball gown to her. It was a light blue silk, with short ruffled lace sleeves. The skirt was full and gathered with lace and ribbons toward the back, intended to be held out by a hoop cage; Rachel had even thought of slippers, and a head-dress, a wreath of blue velvet and silver cord. Lou’s eyes were full of tears as she thanked her friend. “But it must have cost -”
“Never mind that. I was bound and determined you were going to have a beautiful ball gown while you’re still young. I can’t tell you how glad I am you already have somewhere to wear it!” Rachel told her. “Try it on. I know it’s a little early, but I want to be sure they got your measurements right in case there’s any alterations we need to make. We don’t have much time.”
Lou threw her arms around her friend and rushed to try on the dress.
A few hours later, Bobby drove up to the bunkhouse for Lou. Teaspoon was seated on the porch steps, ostentatiously cleaning a large rifle, surrounded by the rest of the riders. Kid sat alone at the end of the porch. Bobby approached the porch carrying a bouquet of flowers for Lou.
“Evening, Marshall,” Bobby said, politely nodding a greeting to the assembled riders. “Is Louise ready to go?”
“She’s getting ready over at Rachel’s, I expect she’ll be down directly. Have a seat, son.” Teaspoon said, raising his rifle and aiming it toward a row of cans that “happened” to be lined up on a fence pole about 100 yards off. He casually stood and fired in rapid succession, hitting each of the cans dead center. “Well, I’ll be, I guess my aim’s still good at that, eh boys?”
“Nice shooting, Teaspoon,” conceded Cody, who also “happened” to be busily cleaning his own firearm, as, coincidentally, were all the riders, except Kid. Cody leaned his rifle against the wall for a moment, however, at the sight of a small package in Bobby’s right hand. “What’s this?” he asked, retrieving the package in a swift movement. “A birthday present for Lou? Mind if I take a look?”
Without waiting for an answer, Cody opened the package. The riders craned for a view. Cody picked up the contents, holding aloft a cameo necklace on a long chain. Cody’s face darkened.
“Jewelry?” Cody said, disapprovingly. “Sorry Bobby, but you’re not givin’ her this.” He replaced the necklace in its box, and handed it to Teaspoon, who pocketed it.
“Afraid Cody’s right, son. I imagine you got this in town from Tompkins. I’ll get yer money back for ya.” Teaspoon told the confused lawyer.
“But why can’t I -”
Cody sighed. “I’m a little surprised at you, Bobby. Everybody knows, it ain’t proper for a lady to accept a present of jewelry from anybody except her intended. So if you don’t mind, I think it’s best if you don’t put Lou on the spot by offerin’ it to her. She might think you were intendin’ to take some liberties if she accepted.”
“And we all would be upset if we found out that anybody tried to take any liberties with Lou,” added Jimmy, as the other riders nodded in agreement, looking up from their gun-cleaning ominously.
Teaspoon explained, “Y’see, Peters, Lou may not have any blood relatives in town, but we all feel kinda like a pa and brothers to her, if you get my drift?”
“Perfectly,” said Bobby, who seemed more amused than annoyed at their interference. He was glad to see that Louise had found friends who cared enough to look out for her. “I thought with it being her birthday and me being an old friend, it would be all right. If you think she might be offended, then of course I’ll go along with whatever you think,” he said affably.
Just then, Kid sat up suddenly, with a slight intake of breath at the sight of Louise, proudly escorted by Rachel, coming across the yard toward them.
“And here’s my girl” said Teaspoon softly.
The riders silently watched their “sister” rider carefully navigate the yard in her pale blue dancing slippers, with Rachel helping her keep her blue skirt from trailing in the dust. She had never looked so lovely; Rachel’s dressmaker had fitted the dress perfectly, giving her a dainty, doll-like appearance. Her enormous eyes sparkled and her cheeks were pink with excitement. Rachel had disguised Lou’s short hair with the headdress, and no one could have looked more feminine and lady-like than this pretty girl approaching. All the riders but one wondered how this could be the same person they saw on a daily basis with the baggy boy’s clothes, hat pulled low over unkempt hair, and mousy glasses. Kid sadly looked on; he had always seen Lou’s beauty even when no one else noticed her, and the sight of her dressed up and looking more beautiful than ever, all for another man, tore at his heart.
For her part, Lou’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of Bobby waiting for her with outstretched arm and a bunch of flowers. He was so tall, so strong and handsome, like a hero in a novel. She had seen in the mirror in Rachel’s room that she was like a new person in her fancy trimmings, and was swept up in the excitement of the moment. She never noticed Kid standing back in the shadows at the end of the porch.
Teaspoon beckoned Lou to the side for a moment. “Here, Lou, take this,” he instructed in a whisper, producing a tiny pistol. “You can fit it in that reticule, can’t you?”
“Teaspoon!” Lou answered in an anguished whisper. “I can’t bring a gun to a dance!”
“No one will know you have it. Just take it,” he urged in a slightly louder whisper, opening her reticule and slipping the pistol in. Rather than make a scene, Lou grimaced at Teaspoon and tightened the strings on the bag. Repenting, she kissed the old man on the cheek tenderly. “Thank you, Teaspoon,” she whispered. “Be good,” he whispered back. She nodded.
Rachel handed Louise her gloves and handkerchief and hugged her, careful of the lovely new dress. The boys called out their goodbyes as the pair drove off to the dance.
Finally, Kid emerged from the shadows to watch them pull off into the distance. “She sure looked beautiful tonight, didn’t she?” he remarked softly.
Rachel put her hand on Kid’s arm understandingly.
Cody shook his head. “She sure did, Kid. Looks like we all missed the boat on that one. Especially you, I reckon.”
“Shut up, Cody,” Kid snapped, irritably.
“Now Kid, don’t go blaming Cody for your mistakes. I guess you thought no one else would ever notice Lou, so she’d be there for you whenever you decided you wanted her back. Probably a surprise to you that she doesn’t have to wait around on you, ain’t it? Looks like maybe you waited a little bit too long,” Jimmy said, pointedly.
Kid sighed disgustedly and turned on Jimmy. “I always knew Lou could have her pick of the fellas if she had a chance, Jimmy. I ain’t surprised at all. If I couldn’t make her happy, I’m glad if she finds somebody who can.” He paused, looking down with a defeated expression. “Somebody like that… a nice fella who could give Lou anything she wants… he’s almost good enough for her. I’m glad for her.”
He sadly looked after the swiftly disappearing wagon. “All I ever wanted was for her to be happy.” Kid turned abruptly and walked off toward the barn, leaving a disconcerted group of riders behind him.
The boys, Rachel and Teaspoon sat up late waiting for Lou’s return that night. Eventually they heard the sound of wheels and hooves approaching.
“That’s them,” said Rachel. “Hope they had a good time- -”
The door opened, and an unfamiliar man wearing a Marshal’s badge came in, followed by a shaken Lou, her new dress torn and dirty, her face smudged with tears.
“Louise, what happened?” Teaspoon bounded up to the girl, catching her by the shoulders. “Did that Peters do anything to hurt you,” he started, ominously.
“No, Teaspoon,” Lou replied in a trembling voice. The strange man spoke up as Rachel put her arms around the girl and drew her to a chair. “I’m Marshall McGovern. I take it you’re Marshall Hunter?”
Teaspoon nodded. “What’s going on, McGovern? Where’s Peters?”
“There was some trouble at the dance in Red Oaks,” McGovern explained. Some of the Stevensen gang must have followed Peters there from the hotel here. They approached him when he was walking Miss McCloud back to their buggy after the dance. There were twelve of them … two held Miss McCloud and the rest took him in to the alley and beat him pretty bad behind the saloon.”
Marshall McGovern drew a chair up facing Lou’s. “I got to ask some questions, now that we’re back safe. Miss McCloud, tell me what happened to you, what you saw and heard. And don’t leave out any details.”
Lou cleared her throat nervously. “There was some moonlight tonight, but I only saw a few of them very clearly. They came around us as we walked to the buggy. The leader was an older man, with a long gray beard. He was missing part of his left ear and he had a scar on his cheek, here,” she said indicating on her own face.
“Sounds like Matt Stevensen, he’s the leader of that gang and the father of about six of the Stevensen boys.” Teaspoon said, rifling through some wanted posters he had brought home from the office, intending to discuss them with Bobby later. He held up one of them. “Louise, is this him?”
She nodded. “Before we knew what was happening, they’d grabbed me around the back and someone was holding a gun to my head. They were talking to Bobby about the trials. They were threatening him, and then they were saying, ‘let’s kill him’. The older man said, ‘we’d best make an example of him. Take him back in there and work him over first.’ He told the one who was holding me, and another one, to stay with me and keep me quiet.”
Louise was trying to remain calm, but her voice started shaking. “They pulled Bobby back into the alley near the saloon … the saloon was so noisy … I couldn’t see or hear anything. And the man who was holding me at gunpoint, said to the other man, let’s take her into the alley across the street and have some fun while they’re busy.”
Kid’s face was white, but he stayed in the background. The other riders looked almost as upset.
“There was an alley across the street between the bank and the mercantile. Both of them were closed, of course. I put up a pretty big fight, even though they were armed. Scratched, kicked, screamed, everything I could think of, but there were two of them. They were six feet tall and probably two times my weight or more. They wrestled me down. When they had me on the ground, I saw their faces. I would recognize them if I saw them again.”
Teaspoon laid out a series of wanted posters before Louise. “These two” she asserted, pointing to two particularly fearsome looking brutes.
“What happened then, Miss?”
She looked down at the two posters in her hands. “They decided this one would hold me down, and this one would go first,” Lou said, indicating.
Leaning back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest tightly, Kid winced.
“He stood up and dropped his pants, ripped off my stockings and pantaloons, and the hoop cage. All those things took a while to get through. He was trying to push my legs apart with his knees while the other one held me down by the shoulders. I … I’m pretty strong from… from riding so much, and it was harder than I think he expected.” She was speaking with difficulty.
Teaspoon interrupted. “McGovern, why does she need to talk about this? Hasn’t she told you enough?”
“Sorry, Hunter. Got to have all the facts to know what to charge everybody with. Go on, Miss.”
Lou paused a second, gathering her resolve. “I managed to get my fingers around my bag, and pull it toward me… got my hand in the bag and got out the gun Teaspoon gave me. They were paying attention to what they were doing, not my hand. I managed to cock the pistol and shoot upwards toward the one holding me. The one who was trying to push my legs apart was surprised, and he fell back. He went for his gun, and I shot him…. down there,” she finished, embarrassed. “I’m not used to firing that little gun. I guess my aim was a little off.”
McGovern grinned mischievously. “I’d say your aim was right on target, Miss. And he won’t be bothering any other women, not ever from what I saw when I got there.” He paused, awkwardly. “I hate to ask you this, Miss, but do you have any bruises, or anything to back up that you were being attacked?”
Kid glared at McGovern from the corner, furiously. Louise nodded, pulling up her skirt. Her legs were bare and scratched, and there were large bruises on her thighs. Taking off the men’s coat she now had on over her dress, he showed McGovern the angry bruises on her wrists, and indicated more bruising on her neck. Kid blanched still further at the sight, but still said nothing. The other riders looked away, in anger at the experience their “sister” had to go through that night.
“How’s Mr. Peters?” asked Rachel, stroking Louise’s disheveled hair.
“They worked him over pretty badly. Broke his arm, strung him up a few times, but Miss McCloud came to get me and we got back in time to stop them before they finished him off. Got him patched up and brought him back to his hotel. Most of the gang got away in the confusion, seven of them. Miss McCloud injured those two that attacked her, and we got another three in the alley. The rest ran off, and I figure they might take another shot at him. Got a deputy watching him there, but we’ll need to get back to Red Oaks. He’s hurt too bad to defend himself right now.”
Teaspoon nodded. He turned to the others. “I reckon we ought to put at least three men on him, boys. One on each entrance and another outside the door of his room.”
Kid spoke up immediately. “I’ll go, Teaspoon.”
Everyone looked surprised, but Kid simply started out to the barn without another word. Teaspoon said, “I’ll go out too. Who else wants to take a shift?” It was decided that Ike would go, and at dawn three others would come to spell the first three.
After Rachel helped her get changed back into her men’s long johns, Louise went back and wearily clambered up to her bunk. She was surprised to find a wrapped package on her bed. Hesitating for a moment, she finally opened it.
The package contained a beautiful music box, highly polished. It was imported and finely detailed. She opened the lid, and a tiny china couple popped into view, dancing to a tinkling German waltz. Lou ran her fingers over it wonderingly. It was really too nice of a present. She’d seen and admired it in a shop in St. Joe, and mentioned it months before to Kid in passing. It was so expensive, two weeks’ pay. She’d never dreamed of anyone spending that much money for her on a trinket. It was awfully nice of the boys, she thought, looking affectionately around the room at their sleeping forms. She noticed there was a drawer in the bottom of the music box, and she opened it. To her surprise, there was a small folded card inside.
“To Louise, wishing you happiness on your 17th birthday. Love, Kid.”
Her eyes smarted with tears. Oh, Kid. He’d bought her this lovely thing, that he really couldn’t afford, and left it for her even though … She looked again at the dancing couple, and blushed, unwillingly recalling their secret meaning for the word “dancing”. Lou shook her head to clear her mind of such thoughts, and slid down, stiffly, from her bunk to place the treasure in her trunk.
She pulled out a small packet of letters Kid had written her; not very many, since they lived in the same bunkhouse. Mostly little notes he’d left behind for her when he went on runs without the chance to say goodbye, and that special one he’d written when he’d left to help Teaspoon save Amanda O’Connell. But each one precious to her. She’d kept them all, tied with a thin pink ribbon. She slid the letters into the drawer of the music box, re-wrapped it carefully, and placed it in her trunk. Climbing back up to her bunk, she fell into an exhausted sleep, amid thoughts of the blue-eyed man she couldn’t seem to forget.
When the rest of the Stevensen gang was not readily rounded up, it was decided that Bobby would come to live at the station for his own protection. The rumor was spread around the town that he had given up and gone home to St. Joe, and that another prosecutor would be appointed in due time. Meanwhile, he was secreted away at the station.
The first few days of the new arrangement were a bit awkward, until the riders grudgingly came to respect and even like the young lawyer working in their midst. They were impressed at how he diligently worked on his papers and books and files throughout the day and long into the evenings. Because Bobby’s dominant arm had been injured too badly to write for the time being, Lou helped him with his case by taking longhand dictation, a laborious process. The other riders listened, with growing interest, to the briefs and motion papers Bobby was preparing for his cases against each of the Stevensen defendants.
One evening, Lou interrupted the dictation. “In limi- what?” she asked, confused.
Bobby paused. “In limine”, he repeated, before spelling it. “It means ‘at the threshold’ in Latin. It’s a special kind of motion that’s made at the start of a trial.”
“Why don’t they just call it that then?” Lou asked innocently, busily writing without looking up.
Bobby laughed and looked at her affectionately. “Good question, Lou. I guess it’s a fifty-cent word lawyers like to use so other folks can’t understand us.”
“Peters, I have to admit, I’m impressed with all this work you’ve put in. I don’t see how the Stevensens have a chance,” Jimmy said, surveying the mounds of books and papers.
Bobby sighed. “Unfortunately, their lawyers will have some things to say too, I imagine.”
“Seems like you’ve thought of most anything they can come up with, Bobby,” Lou protested.
“We’ll see.” Bobby stretched uncomfortably; his broken right arm was still aching badly but he didn’t like to use the pain medication the doctor gave him until it was time for bed. He needed to be alert to focus on the case. Lou noticed the movement and stood, coming over to him with a concerned expression. “Your arm hurting you again?”
Bobby flushed. “It isn’t so bad-” he started until Lou, still concerned, began to massage his shoulder and still-swollen right hand. “Well,” he wavered, plainly enjoying the contact, “I guess maybe it is a little sore, at that. Thanks.” The other riders looked on, amused at Bobby’s transparency.
Just then, the door opened and Kid entered. At the sight of him, Lou’s hands dropped from Bobby’s arm. She backed away and resumed her seat, picking up her pen again. “Bobby, did you want to finish this in limine motion tonight?” she asked.
Noticing Kid’s hurt look and Lou’s discomfort, Bobby answered slowly. “No, Lou, you must be getting tired, working all day and then being a secretary for me too. Why don’t we take a break, go for a walk maybe?”
“Okay, if you think so,” Lou hurriedly answered, thanking heaven inwardly that this would give her an excuse to get out of the bunkhouse and away from Kid’s mournful look. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Kid gave her signals that he still cared, but never went so far as to approach her about getting back together. If Kid wouldn’t make a move to get back together, he had no business making her feel guilty for being a good friend to Bobby, she thought uncomfortably. But she still hated to see him looking hurt; she knew full well how it felt to be the one on the outside looking in when he was seeing Samantha.
As the door shut behind them, Kid asked, “You think someone should go along with them? What if somebody sees him back in town, and it gets back to the Stevensens?”
“I think they will be okay, Kid. They’re probably just going to walk around the station a little,” Rachel said.
Kid nodded, glancing around the bunkhouse aimlessly, and started to pace restlessly with his arms crossed over his chest. The others looked at each other. How long can the two of them keep this up? Jimmy wondered. Good thing the trial is coming up soon, and Bobby can go back to St. Joe, and things can get back to normal around here.
Finally, Justice James S. McAlister arrived to set up court in the town's meeting hall. There had been increasing reports that the Stevensen gang intended to disrupt the trial, and possibly assassinate the judge and prosecutor. Teaspoon appointed each of the riders as deputies, and they took turns when not on their runs, standing guard at the makeshift courthouse. On the first day of trial, Kid, Lou and Jimmy were on guard in the courtroom, with Cody and Noah stationed outside with rifles, Cody on a nearby rooftop and Noah outside the doorway.
Court was called to order by the judge's clerk, and Bobby called Amos Jackson to the stand. Jackson was a shuffling old dirt farmer, who'd been trying to eke out a living on a small patch of land near town for years, as one of the earliest settlers in the town. Bobby was had spent a great deal of time preparing this witness for trial; he was surprised that for some reason Amos refused to look in his direction as he trudged up to take his oath.
Bobby glanced down at his papers briefly, reflecting without any outward reaction, that Amos was the key witness in his first trial, against Matt Stevensen's brother Josiah Stevensen. He hoped that Amos was just nervous, as he started his direct examination.
After the preliminary questions, Bobby asked Amos, "Where were you on the afternoon of December 3, 1860?" as he had numerous times in practice sessions with this witness.
Amos, not looking up, muttered, "I can't rightly recall that right now."
Bobby stiffened slightly, but otherwise showed no reaction. "Weren't you at Faulkner's Bluff outside Sweetwater, on the date in question, Mr. Jackson?"
The defense attorney stood up. "Objection, your Honor. Leading."
"Sustained. Rephrase, counsel."
Amos, not waiting for another question, blurted, "I wasn't at Faulkner's Bluff, I know that."
Bobby studied the little man intently. He knew where this was going, now. Someone had gotten to Amos, whether by a bribe or threat, he didn't know. After a pause, he asked, "How do you know that you weren't at Faulkner's Bluff on that date, Mr. Jackson?"
Amos shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I … I recall it now. I was visiting some friends in Nebraska that week."
"Mr. Jackson, didn't you give a statement to Marshal Hunter to the effect that -"
Defense counsel was on his feet again. "Objection, your Honor; hearsay, and leading, and improper impeachment of his own witness, and compound."
"Sustained on all four grounds. Counsel, what are you doing? Is this your first trial? Ask a proper question," the judge snapped, irritably.
"Permission to treat the witness as hostile, your Honor."
"Grounds, counsel?"
Bobby nodded toward the miserable looking Amos. "This witness is giving testimony that is contrary to statements given to this prosecutor prior to trial. I believe he's been intimidated," Bobby began, as the defense counsel rose in high indignation from his seat.
"Your Honor, I'd like to note for the record my personal outrage at the suggestion that any witness tampering has occurred in this matter. I-"
"Duly noted, counsel. Sit down." The judge turned to Bobby. "Counsel, do you have anything to back that up?"
Bobby started. "For one thing, there has already been an attempt at intimidation by an assault on the person of this prosecutor, by associates of the defendant. What's more, this witness has changed his statements --"
"Never mind the out-of-court statements, counsel," the Judge warned, waving the defendant's attorney to his seat. "I'll give you some leeway, but not much."
Bobby came out from behind his table and faced Amos. He had noted when Amos came in, that despite the unseasonably warm day, the little man was wearing his coat with the collar buttoned and turned up. "Mr. Jackson, it's a warm day and you're pretty buttoned up, there. Is there something you're covering up on your neck today?"
Counsel for the defendant jumped up again. "Your Honor, this is preposterous," he blustered. "Counsel is grasping at straws now -"
"Overruled. Mr. Jackson, unbutton your jacket."
"Your Honor - " protested the defense counsel.
"One more word out of you, Mr. Waters, and I'm holding you in contempt. I told you, Mr. Jackson, open that coat up."
Amos, shaken, unbuttoned the collar, revealing bright red rope burns around his neck. Bobby involuntarily put his hand to his own throat, remembering how he'd felt dangling from the end of a rope at the hands of the Stevensens.
"One or more of the Stevensens strung you up, to convince you to give false testimony here today, didn't they, Mr. Jackson?"
Mr. Waters faintly objected, and was overruled. "Answer the question, Mr. Jackson," the judge instructed the witness.
Amos stubbornly shook his head. "I don't know what you're talkin about, Mr. Peters. I ... I had an accident is all."
Jimmy, in the corner, gave a faint grunt of disgust. Lou, standing at attention at the side of the witness' chair, looked at Bobby, also thinking about the same night he was, when he'd almost died and she'd almost been raped by the Stevensens. She knew how hard this must be for him. Bobby's eyes flickered to hers for a moment. Keeping his composure, he pressed Amos.
"What kind of accident, Mr. Jackson?"
"I… I got tangled in the reins when I was plowing, I think."
Bobby finally lost his temper. "You think? You're in a court of law, under oath, Mr. Jackson." Jimmy, Lou and Kid were alarmed as the courtroom seemed to erupt. The onlookers were openly jeering at Amos; the defense counsel was shouting; the judge was rapping with his gavel; Amos was talking rapidly, making no sense; and Bobby was yelling at the defense counsel and the witness. As the judge managed to restore some order in the onlookers, Bobby shouted furiously at Amos, "Damn it Amos. Are you going to live your life on your knees or stand up and do what's right like a man?"
The silence in the room was overwhelming as Amos, tears in his eyes, stared back at Bobby pleadingly. "I want to live, Mr. Peters," he answered, simply. "That's all. I don't know nothing about this case," he asserted, stubbornly. "You can ask me about it till doomsday I ain't gonna change my mind on that." In the courtroom, Laura Jackson, Amos' wife and the mother of his ten raggedy children who were back at their little farm, was weeping loudly.
Bobby looked back at Amos. "Anything else, counsel?" asked the judge. Bobby shook his head, numbly. "No your Honor. No further questions," he said, before turning back to his table in defeat. A grinning Mr. Waters said, "no questions for this witness, your Honor."
"You're excused, Mr. Jackson," advised Justice McAlister. Amos, looking ashen, rose from his chair and shamefacedly shuffled toward the door. His gray-haired wife embraced him and the two of them left the courtroom.
"Call your next witness, counsel."
Bobby replied, "She's not here, your Honor. I… I expected the direct and cross on Mr. Jackson to take most of the morning. I expect her around eleven."
The judge nodded. "We'll stand in recess until she gets
here." He rapped on the bench and stood. The onlookers stood to go out
as well; in the confusion, Lou spotted a gray-haired, clean shaven man
with a hat low on his eyes, near the front row, reaching under the seat
in front of him. She saw as he bent that he had a piece missing from
his left ear. She shouted, pointing as she pulled her own revolver,
"Jimmy, Kid - - that's Matt Stevensen - -" even as he retrieved a
pistol secured under the seat and rose, firing in a blaze of smoke and
fire.
Jimmy had a clearer shot at Matt Stevensen, and drew
like lightning, dropping him where he stood; but not before Stevensen
had gotten a shot off towards Bobby. Kid, who was stationed
behind the prosecutor, dove sideways between Bobby and Stevensen; as
Kid returned fire, he was struck square in the chest by the bullet
intended for Bobby.
For Lou, the next events slowed to a standstill;
feeling as if she were under water, she was dimly aware she slumped
downward to her knees, that the bystanders were rushing madly toward
the doors; that Bobby was kneeling over the Kid’s bleeding body; and
that Jimmy was shouting toward Noah to bring Doc Barnes, now. Her
eyes were fixed on Kid, but she couldn’t move, or breathe, as she
watched him struggle to speak to Bobby.
Bobby, kneeling beside the Kid in the now almost
empty courtroom, tried to quiet him. “You’ve got to hang on, Kid, the
doctor’s coming. Save your strength,” Bobby tried to tell
Kid. But even with blood running from the corner of his mouth as
well as spreading across the floor from his chest, Kid was trying
desperately to tell Bobby something. “Kid, thank you - you saved
my life -” Bobby started.
Kid gasped, with difficulty. “Promise
me.”
Bobby looked at Kid. “What, Kid?”
“Look out for Lou,” Kid managed, though he clearly
was having trouble breathing. Bobby nodded as Lou started weeping
silently, still unable to move from her knees by the witness
stand. If he dies, my life will be over too, she thought
desperately. “Promise,” Kid said insistently. Bobby said,
“I promise, Kid.”
Willing herself to move, she crept to Kid’s side,
and looked down into his eyes, stroking his face tenderly.
Kid looked up at her. “He’ll take care of you
if anything happens… Please … let him?” He weakly added, “I love
you,” before closing his eyes.
Lou leaned down and kissed his pale gray face,
crying. “I love you too, Kid,” she wept frantically. “Hold
on, help is coming.” But she knew, as Kid’s breathing slowed to a
faint rattle, that they were coming too late.
Over the next several weeks, despite the turning of
several witnesses, Bobby managed to get convictions of the half of the
Stevensen defendants who survived the gunfight in the courtroom.
It was time for Bobby to go home, and Lou went out to the bunkhouse to
say goodbye.
He was surrounded by Teaspoon and the boys, who were
saying their goodbyes to their new friend as well. “Kid said to give
you his best regards,” Rachel said, “of course he can’t come down
to say goodbye just yet, though he’s doing much better. He’s
asleep right now and I think we should let him get his rest.”
“Good job on the case, Bobby,” Jimmy said.
“Though you have to admit, my brand of justice came in pretty handy
after all, didn’t it?”
Bobby laughed and shook Jimmy’s outstretched hand.
“You got me there, Jimmy. I’d say we made a pretty good
team.” The other riders patted Bobby on the back and shook
his hand as well, seeing him off, before Rachel, clearing her throat
and raising her eyebrows, said, “Well, I reckon you boys ought to get
to your chores, now,” indicating Lou’s direction. The boys
slowly caught on and filed out, followed by Rachel.
“Subtle, huh?” Lou said, laughing.
Bobby nodded, laughing too, and said, “Just the
same, I am glad to say goodbye to you alone.” He took her
hand. “I promised Kid I’d take care of you if anything happened,
you know. Looks like he’s going to be all right. That means
that he’ll want to do the taking care of you himself now, I
suppose? How do you feel about that?”
Lou looked down, shyly. Bobby put a finger
under her chin and raised it. Looking at him, Lou thought how
handsome Bobby was, as his dark eyes looked searchingly into
hers. Perceptive as ever, Bobby silently read her feelings
in her eyes; though she and Kid hadn’t had the chance to actually say
the words to each other, that was only a formality now. The two
of them would be together again before long, she knew. Stroking
the side of her face, Bobby said, “You don’t have to tell me, I can see
the answer. But tell me, can I ask a favor?”
“What is it?” Lou asked.
“Well, don’t tell Cody, but I’d like to take a
liberty if you don’t mind,” Bobby smiled.
“That depends on how big a liberty, I guess,” Lou
answered, chuckling.
Bobby’s face turned serious. “A goodbye kiss,”
he responded. She blushed, nodding. “A goodbye kiss, then,” she
consented, and he leaned in, his mouth touching hers softly. He
slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, deepening the
kiss. Since this was goodbye, she gave in to temptation and
returned the kiss from her handsome friend for just a moment, then
breathlessly pulled away. He looked at her with twinkling
eyes. “Change your mind? Come on, that was some of my best
oral argument,” he teased. She rolled her eyes, laughing,
“Objection, counsel,” and he relented, grinning.
Picking up his valise, he turned at the door.
“That promise I made Kid still stands, Louise. If Kid ever stops
taking care of you, come look me up.”
She nodded, smiling.
He looked back at her wistfully, adding, “If he has
any sense, though, that’ll never happen,” before turning and leaving
with a wave.
“I hope not, Bobby. I hope not,” murmured Lou,
as she followed out the door and crossed the yard to Rachel’s house,
where her Kid was waiting for her.
THE END.