Nothing Sweet: Kid

Summary: A man can only take so much hanging in the breeze, no matter how much he loves a woman.  After Lou runs off yet again, when Kid needs her the most, he must decide if he should stay or go?

Author's Note:  This is the 11th installment of my Sweetwater Romance series, following Nothing Sweet: Lou (#10).  It comes toward the end of the third season episode, Presence of Mine Enemies.

Kid watched as Lou fled across the prairie, racing the wind as if desperate to escape its ever blowing presence.  He could feel his own tears of grief rolling down his cheeks.  He wanted so much to hug her close right now, assure himself that she was still there, that he hadn’t lost her, too.  But once again she was running away from her problems, their problems.

A sudden fury welled up from someplace deep inside him that he hadn’t even known existed.  He wanted to scream as this previously untapped well of pain and anger overflowed.  Inside he raged at her, wanting to shake her until she came to her senses, came back to him.  Unable to hold the anger inside anymore, he turned and punched his fist into the barn door.

“Ow,” he gasped, cradling his bruised and bleeding fist against his chest.  One good thing had come from his unexpected loss of control.  It had brought him back to his senses.  Not that that was a pleasant thing, but better than the uncontrollable rage that had controlled him for a moment.

Sucking at the throbbing, broken skin of his knuckles, he started walking wearily toward the bunkhouse.

“Where’s Lou goin’?” Jimmy asked as Kid stepped up onto the bunkhouse porch.  He didn’t look at Kid, his eyes clapped on the disappearing figure of the woman they both loved.

“Dunno,” Kid growled.  “What am I?  Her keeper?”

Jimmy turned at this to look at Kid, only slightly surprised at the barely suppressed hostility in his brother’s tight voice.  He thought they’d gotten past Kid’s jealous rages.   But then he realized this was much more than that.  He held up both hands in a gesture of peace.

“Whatever she’s done ta piss ya off ain’t my fault,” he said.  Although he tried to keep his temper and started off peaceable enough, his voice hardened as he spoke.  “So don’t be takin’ it out on me!  Tell her ‘bout it!”

“Don’t ya think I would?” Kid asked angrily, flapping his uninjured hand toward the horizon Lou was doing her best to disappear into.  “If I could?  But she’s runnin’ away.  Again!”

Jimmy deflated, sighing as his own temper let go of him.  He understood Lou’s tendency to react by running as well as Kid did.  And it frustrated him, too.  He reached out a hand and laid it comfortingly on Kid’s shoulder.  “You know she don’t cotton ta change real well, Kid.  Or loss.  Remember how she was after Emma and Ssam took off?”

Kid looked away, not answering.  Jimmy stepped closer and wrapped his arm completely around his friend’s shoulders. 

“Come on, let’s head inside,” he said quietly.  “Teaspoon’s waitin’.  She’ll be back in her own time.”

Nodding, Kid let Jimmy steer him toward the door.

“Hey,” Jimmy said.  “What happened to your hand?”

**********

Once again, Kid found himself standing in the barn door, eyes on the horizon.  Except this time he was waiting for her return, not watching her departure.

It had been a long night, one of the longest of his life.  Everyone was grieving.  And there had been that horrible moment when Buck had finally returned from wherever he’d disappeared to and they’d had to confirm what he’d already known in his gut.

They’d had to scramble to get that big hunting knife of his away from him before he’d started carving into himself in some bizarre Indian mourning ritual. 

After some quick talking on Cody’s part, they’d convinced Buck that that wasn’t what Ike would’ve wanted.  Buck had retreated to Ike’s bunk, where he’d taken out a picture Ike had drawn of himself and spent the rest of the night starting at it in dry eyed silence.

It had been a vigil no one had been willing to violate, so they’d all retreated to their own bunks without another word.

Kid had had a lot of time to think about things.  About who he was, who Lou was.  About what he wanted, what he needed.

At the sound of slowly plodding hooves, he straightened and took a couple steps forward.

Lou was half-asleep on Lightning’s back, leaning forward, her face buried in the animal’s mane, her fingers tangled in it.

Kid reached out and grabbed the dangling reins in one hand.  Without a word, he turned and led the exhausted horse and rider into the barn.  Inside Lightning’s stall, Kid pulled Lou off the horse’s back.  At first she melted into his embrace and he gloried in the feel of her in his arms.  But, as her feet touched the ground, her eyes fluttered open enough to realize what was going on and she pulled away.  Moving slowly, wearily, she dropped onto a nearby hay bale.

Kid smiled bitterly at the implicit rejection.  He took a deep breath to center himself and turned to take care of her horse.

Long moments later, the animal munched contentedly at the mixture of hot mash and oats Kid had put in his trough.  His coat shone in the morning sunlight after the good brushing he’d been given.  Kid took his time putting everything away, trying to find the calm to say what he had to say.  Finally, he walked out of the stall, passing Lou who still sat on her hay bale in a daze.

“You awake?” he asked without looking directly at her.  He couldn’t do this if he looked into her grieving, wounded eyes.  And he needed to do this.

“Sorta,” she mumbled.

“Well listen close,” he cautioned.  “Cause I ain’t gonna say this twice.  I walked away from you…. from us… once because I thought it was what you wanted, what was best.”

“I….” she started to say, but he held up a hand to forestall her.

“No, Lou.  You’ve had your say,” he said in a quiet, firm voice.  “You had it yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.  You’ve made yourself crystal clear.  Now it’s my turn.”

He took a deep, bracing breath and turned to face her.

“I love you, Louise McCloud.  I… Love… You.  And that means a lot of things.  But right now it means I need you.  I need you by my side to remind me there’s still good in this world, happiness despite the pain.  That not all is…. lost.”

Anger began to creep into his voice.

“When I needed you most, you were gone!  Runnin’ away again!”

Realizing he was about to lose control, he spun about on his heel and paced toward the door, where he paused, looking out at the Express compound.  He sighed.

“I’ve decided what I want.  Now.  Today.  Tomorrow.  For the rest of my life.  And that’s you, Louise.  Now you’ve got to decide what you want.  And if you can be there for me when I need you the most, like I’ll do my damnedest to be there for you.”

He turned to look back at her, over his shoulder.  “I’ll give you your space to think, to grieve.  But while you’re doin’ that, think about us, too.  You’ve got to decide if you’re ready ta stay, or if yer goin’ fer good.  I’m willin’ ta take things slow, but I can’t take this not knowin’ anymore.”

Tearing his eyes away from her, he added one last thing.  “But don’t take two long.  I’ll be waitin’.  But I can’t wait forever, Lou.  No matter how much I love you.”

Without another word, he walked out the barn door, toward the bunkhouse.  Lou watched him go, her eyes wide with shock at his unexpected ultimatum.  As he disappeared into the bunkhouse, she collapsed onto the hay bale in the fetal position, sobbing hoarsely.

Nothing Sweet: The Goodbye

Our Farewell, Within Temptation

In my hands

A legacy of memories

I can hear you say my name

I can almost see your smile

Feel the warmth of your embrace

But there is nothing but silence now

Around the one I loved

Is this our farewell?

Sweet darling you worry too much, my child

See the sadness in your eyes

You are not alone in life

Although you might think that you are

Never thought

This day would come so soon

We had no time to say goodbye

How can the world just carry on?

I feel so lost when you are not at my side

But there's nothing but silence now

Around the one I loved

Is this our farewell?

Nothing Sweet: Lou

Summary:  Sometimes a single loss can upset all you've worked so hard to gain, especially when you harbored a wounded soul to begin with.

Author's Note:  This is the 10th installment of my Sweetwater Romance series, following Sweet Song.  It comes toward the end of the third season episode, Presence of Mine Enemies.

The pale, skin, shiny with sweat.  The slow, shuddering, agonized gasps for breath.  The silence that made her ears hurt.

With a sudden gasp, she couldn’t take it anymore.  She turned and fled the room, unable to withstand the pain of watching him die, unable to accept the loss.

Dashing down the street, she heard none of the normal sounds of a day in Rock Creek.  Only the thudding of her own booted feet as they pounded out a rhythm on the boardwalk.  It was a rhythm repeated inside her own chest.  It felt like her heart was trying to beat its way out of the cage that was her flesh and blood body.  Or, maybe it was simply, desperately trying to beat hard enough to sustain two lives, just as her mind had tried so hard to will him to keep breathing, keep living, just one more moment, just one more second.  If so, just like her mind, her heart was destined to fail.

She skidded in the loose dirt as she slowed her forward dash long enough to wrench open the barn doors.

She gasped for a breath that wouldn’t completely come.  The walls of this place that was normally a refuge from the cares of the world suddenly felt like they were closing in on her.  She was back in that cage of pain, the one she’d thought she’d escaped when she’d joined the Express.  Except this cage turned out to be worse.  Much worse.  It was infinitely more painful to ache for someone else’s loss than to suffer one’s own.  How come no one had ever warned her?

Grabbing a bridle, she stepped over to the first stall.  Too desperate to escape now, she didn’t pause to open the stall door, instead vaulting over it.  She landed with a thud next to the tall, black horse with a white blaze down it’s velvety nose who’d helped her outrun many a threat this last year.  Maybe he could help her outrun this one.

It snorted in startled surprise, backing away from her at first, ears flattening to its head in fear.  Then, with a whiffle, inhaled deeply and recognized her scent and anxiety.  Stepping closer to her once more, the animal leaned in, offering comfort.

She was frantically pulling the top of the bridle over the horse’s ears when the stall door opened behind her.

“Lou?” came the hoarse greeting.  “Are you alright?”

“What the hell do you think” she gritted out, clenching her jaw to keep from breaking into the tears building behind her eyes.  Tears that would soon build a new cage around her, one that came with frilly aprons, long skirts and screaming babies.  I’m a boy, she chanted to herself over and over again.  Boys don’t cry!  She refused to turn around and see the truth of her lie rolling down his cheeks.

“Please,” he begged, reaching out one hand to put it on her shoulder.  “Come on over to the bunkhouse.  Tea… Teaspoon wants ta talk ta us.  Says we need ta stay tagether right now.”

She stiffened.  No!  No more!

She pulled away from his touch, a touch that had, for the briefest of moments, relieved the seemingly unrelenting pain crushing her under its weight.  Turning her back on that comfort, on that need for another human being that just led to the risk of more pain, she instead flung herself up onto her horse’s back, not even bothering to saddle it.

Leaning down, across the animal’s neck, she hissed, “Stop hoverin’!  I thought I tol’ ya I needed my space?!  Now, back off!”

Clicking her tongue to her mount, digging her heels into its sides, she urged it forward at top speed, forcing him to jump out of the way or get trampled.

Soon, woman and horse were galloping away from the velvet barred cage of love and friendship that had suddenly showed it’s razor sharp iron teeth in the harshest of betrayals.

Moving in sync with her mount, alone out on the prairie, she raised her head toward the unjustly, brightly shining sun and howled her grief into the prairie wind, letting it rip the pain away out of her throat as it dried the hot tears that were melting away all the soft curves she’d foolishly allowed to develop over the last few months, leaving behind only jagged edges.

Solitude was safety.  Solitude was sanctuary.  Solitude was solace.

Nothing Sweet: Kid

Caged, Within Temptation

These are the darkest clouds

To have surrounded me

Now I find myself alone caught in a cage

Mad World, Susan Boyle

And I find it kinda funny

I find it kinda sad

The dreams in which I'm dying

Are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you

I find it hard to take

When people run in circles

It's a very, very mad world... world

TYR Video: Secret Smile by cigar0810

Starting Over, Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The two figures on horseback galloped down the curving road around the side of the fortified walls of the stockade, bypassing it entirely on their way to the large, two story white building on the west side of the square that was the main fort grounds.

They sped past the surprised guard standing along the edge of the entry road, who stared after them in frustration, knowing he’d get in trouble with his commanding officer for not stopping them and checking them in, but unable to figure out how he was supposed to do that without getting pounded into the ground.  Finally he just shrugged his shoulders and decided he wouldn’t mention them.  For all the captain knew, they rode in from another direction.

The horses came to a sliding halt in front of the wooden boarded walkway that separated the buildings from the parade grounds in the middle of the square.  Sliding off her horse, Lou tossed the reins to Lu and grabbed her carpetbag.

“See you inside,” she tossed over her shoulder as she dashed inside.

**********

Teaspoon, Buck and Teresa followed the other two at a more leisurely pace, their two prisoners trussed up like Christmas turkeys atop their horses.

“We’re war heroes,” Wolf blustered.  “Yer gonna get in big trouble messin’ with us like this.  Ye’ll see.  I fought with Captain Wharton.  You’ll see!”

“Would someone shut that blowhard’s mouth, afore I do?” Teaspoon muttered.

“Gladly,” Buck said, pulling a bandana out of his pocket with a grin.  Slowing his horse, he waited for the two outlaws to catch up with them and then roughly reached around to gag each one.  Neither was able to put up much of a fight due to the ropes tied so tightly around them.

“Much better,” Buck grunted once done.  Turning to Teresa he asked, “How’s that hand of yers doin’?  You didn’t get burned too badly when yer gun flamed out, did ya?”

“No,” Teresa said.  “But I still can’t believe I dropped the danged thing.  I been doin’ this almost since I kin remember and I ain’t never done somethin’ so stupid!”

**********

Lu pushed his way into the courtroom and found a seat near the front.  He set his hat down on the seat next to him to save it for Lou.  His eyes wandered around the courtroom, taking note of all the men in blue uniforms, some just loitering, others obviously standing guard near doors and windows.  Near the back door stood an oddly familiar man, tall, slender, slightly rough looking, his hat pulled down low over his eyes, his gun riding low on his hip in a gunfighter’s rig, sunlight sparkling off the star pinned to his chest.

A sudden stabbing pain in his head had Lu covering his eyes with one hand and lowering his head to get away from the sunshine that only seemed to make the pain worse.

“You alright?”  A wonderfully familiar soft hand came to rest on his thigh.  He could feel the warmth of her body pressing close to his as she tried to offer what comfort she could.

“Just wish these headaches would stop,” he muttered, grasping her hand in his free one, entwining his fingers with hers.  “Gettin’ damned tired of it.”

“Well, we just haveta get through today’s trial and then we can go someplace and rest up until yer feelin’ better,” Lou soothed.

He squeezed her hand tightly in gratitude.

**********

“Well, here we are, ladies and gents,” Teaspoon said, swinging down out of his saddle.  “Why don’t y’all hang out here with our ‘guests’ while I go find someone ta get them a room?”

“Sure thing, Teaspoon,” Teresa said, taking the reins to his horse from him.

“Ain’t like they’re goin’ anywhere anytime soon,” Buck smiled.  “Not unless they’re the Davenport Brothers!”

Teresa laughed at his quip.  Teaspoon just shook his head, smiling, and then turned and headed into the large white building behind him.

Passing through the front door he entered a long hallway that ran from one side of the building to the other.  Today it was crowded with a variety of people, many of them wearing the blue uniform of the U.S. Army, although not all by a longshot.  Those in blue though seemed to be moving at a frenetic pace, up and down stairs, in and out of rooms.  Pausing, Teaspoon watched as two young black men moved slowly down the stairs carrying an obviously heavy trunk between them.  Both wore the blue uniform as naturally as their own skins.  A pang of longing struck a sore spot deep in Teaspoon’s heart.  Noah would have been so proud to have been one of those Buffalo Soldiers, he thought mistily.

Shaking his head, Teaspoon reminded himself he was on a mission and began to look around for someone to talk to.  An officer walked out of a room toward the back of the hall, his eyes clapped tightly to a stack of papers in his hand as he moved briskly across the foyer.  Taking the opportunity presented to him, Teaspoon stepped into the man’s path, reaching out with both hands to brace him when he ran into him.

“Whoa there, young man,” Teaspoon said.  “You might wanta look where yer goin’.”

“If you’re here for the trial it’s in there,” the officer said, waving toward a door to Teaspoon’s left with one hand, even as he jerked out of the man’s grasp and continued on his way.

“Damned upstart,” Teaspoon muttered.  There’d been no call to be so rude about it! 

Turning, he stepped through the door and looked around.  Yep, it was obviously a communal parlor that had been rearranged to hold a trial, with chairs and benches set up in rows down the two sides of the room, an aisle leading between them.  A desk and chair were positioned at the front of the room for the judge, with a second chair on the desk’s side for witnesses.  Another grouping of chairs under a window nearby was obviously for the jury.

“Well, well, well,” came a familiar voice from behind him.  “I never expected ta see you here, old man.  Figgered you’d be too busy nappin’ back in Rock Creek, with yer feet up on yer desk.”

Teaspoon stiffened as the man behind him laughed at his own joke.  He whirled around to see U.S. Marshal Sam Cain standing there.  For all intents and purposes, Cain was his boss.  But he’d been Cain’s mentor first and he had a bone to pick with the younger man.

“You’ve been keepin’ secrets from me, ‘old man’,” Teaspoon growled.  “And I plan ta rake ya over the coals fer ‘em, too.  But first we got work ta do.  I got a couple men yer gonna want ta add ta yer haul.”

Sam straightened to his full height and sobered up immediately.  Motioning to two other men in badges lounging against a nearby wall, he said, “Let’s go.”

**********

“So, who’re these two and why do I want ‘em?” Sam asked as he saw the two men Teaspoon had hauled in.

“They’re just the two desperadoes that’ve been tryin’ ta keep Louise from gettin’ here to testify, that’s all,” Teaspoon huffed.  “The ones that’re still alive, that is.”

Sam nodded, and motioned to his two deputies to take the men into custody. 

“Make sure they’re nice and comfortable in the cell next to Lampton’s,” he called after them  as they frogmarched the men down the boardwalk.  Suddenly he froze and turned to Teaspoon, his face blanching.  “Lou…. Louise?”

“You heard me, alright,” Teaspoon growled.  “And here I’ve been askin’ ya ta keep an eye out fer any signs of her fer years.  When all the time ya knew exactly where she was!”

“Well, not exactly,” Sam muttered, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.  “And not all the time.”

“Don’t go splittin’ hairs with me, Sam Cain,” Teaspoon hissed, hauling back and letting his fist collide with a satisfying thump into Sam’s chin.  The younger man stumbled backward, coming to rest against the hitching post.

“Aw, hell, Teaspoon,” Sam said, rubbing a hand along his chin, moving his jaw back and forth to make sure it wasn’t broken.  “What was I s’posed ta do?  She threatened ta take off again if I told y’all where she was or even that I was in contact with her.  And we both know she’d a done it, too.”

“I know,” Teaspoon sighed, deflating.  “But ya know ya still had that comin’.”

Sam nodded.  “That ain’t nothin’ compared ta what Emma’s gonna do to me.”

Teaspoon dug into his saddlebag and pulled out two cigars, handing one to Sam.  Sticking the other in his mouth, he said, “You mean you ain’t tol’ her either?”

“Nope,” Sam shook his head mournfully.  “And, ta make things worse, she’s here.”

“What?!”

Sam nodded.  “I’ve been out here two weeks, and we’ll be here another three.  She don’t like it when I’m gone that long.  And with both the boys out of school, she figured this was as good a time as any fer a ‘family vacation’ or some such nonsense.  Anyways, she’s down at the sutler’s, cleanin’ out the store, I’m sure.”

“Last call, anyone wantin’ ta watch the trial needs ta come take a seat,” a young boy called from the door of the officers’ house.  “Trial starts in five minutes!  Orders of Judge Connor Thayer.”

“Come on in,” Sam said, clapping a hand on Teaspoon’s shoulder.  “I gotta be in there fer this.  They’ll most likely be callin’ me ta the stand, well as Louise.”

The two men moved toward the door in tandem.  Buck and Teresa, still seated atop their horses, watched them saunter inside with nearly identical strides.

“Are they always like that?” Teresa asked, not having ever really seen the two of them together before.

“Yep,” Buck smiled.  “Except when they’re worse.”

**********

Lu could feel his sense of reality wavering in and out as the sounds of shuffling feet, fluttering fans and whispering voices reached his ears.  Yet, they seemed to be filtered through a foot of water.  He shook his head, trying to clear it.  But nothing seemed to work.  And the pain just seemed to keep getting worse.

“Do you want to leave?” Lou asked softly.  “I kin do this on my own.  Won’t be the first time.”

“No,” he said, squeezing her hand again tightly.  “I’m stayin’ ‘til yer done.  I ain’t leavin’.  Not for nothin’.”

Lou smiled wanly at him.  She understood his reasoning, but right now she really didn’t agree with it.  Unfortunately, she was really trying not to make decisions for him.  Which meant she was stuck sitting here watching him suffer.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Connor Thayer, presiding,” came the shrill call of the bailiff who looked to be about 10 years old himself.

Lou rose to her feet, almost pulling Lu up with her as he leaned heavily on her to stay upright.  The judge, an elderly man in a stark black broadcloth suit, freshly pressed and contrasting sharply with his white, white shirt, shuffled in and took his seat. 

Nodding to the crowd, he said, “You may be seated.”

Lou sighed in relief and slowly sank back into her chair, keeping both hands wrapped tightly around Lu’s upper arm until he was safely seated once more as well.

Next came the shuffling sounds of a man walking slowly, in abbreviated steps, as if something was causing each step to fall short of its intended mark.  The shuffling sounds were accompanied by the clanking of a metal chain.  Lou watched as the guards escorted Cole Lampton into the courtroom and up to the front of the room, where he sat down next to his lawyer.

Her eyes narrowed in anger as she saw him move past her.  Her jaw clenched when he flashed her a wide, pleased grin, reaching up to tip an imaginary hat at her.  He was up to something and she wondered what it was.  She tried to shrug it off, all the evidence was more than enough to get him hanged.  But something about him kept niggling at her.

“We’re here to hear the case of the State of Nebraska vs Cole Lampton,” the judge intoned.  “I now call this room to order.”  He banged his gavel on the desk three times, causing Lu to wince with each thud.  Lou patted his hand reassuringly.  It was almost over.

**********

“We call Louise McCloud to the stand,” the prosecutor announced.

“I’ve gotta go now, Lu,” she whispered.  “You gonna be alright?”

He nodded at her, patting her hand as it slipped from his grip.  Straightening her shoulders, she stood up and moved to the center aisle.  Marching forward to the witness’ seat she paused as the young bailiff brought a Bible to her.   Placing one hand on top of the Bible, she raised the other and took the oath.

“I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”

“You may take a seat young lady,” the judge said, his eyes sparkling kindly at her.  This wasn’t the first trial she’d testified at where Judge Thayer had been presiding and he liked her, yet another point in her favor as a witness.

The prosecutor walked up and down in the small space between her and the lawyers tables.  Smiling softly he began to question her.  “Please state your full name for the record.”

“Mrs. Louise McCloud.”

In a matter of moments, Louise had calmly and clearly laid out everything she’d experienced working for Lampton, finding the evidence, her brother’s death, the attacks on her and her family after Lampton’s arrest, ending with the arrest of Wolf and Dick at Dobytown just that morning.

Lou leaned back in the witness chair, waiting for the defense to try to poke holes in her story, confident they wouldn’t be big enough to do any damage to the case.  Not this time.

The defense attorney held a quick whispered conversation with Lampton, then stood up, a lascivious grin plastered on his face.

“Mrs. McCloud?  Is that right?”

She nodded.

“Just how long have you been married?”

“Since October of ’61,” she said, sitting up straighter, wondering where he was going with this line of questioning.

“But you used the name McCloud even before then, didn’t you?” the defense attorney said in an accusatory tone.  “In fact, didn’t you ride for the Pony Express under the name of Lou McCloud?  Pretending to be a boy?” he ended on a sneer.

Lou shrugged.  “My husband, Kid, didn’t use a last name, didn’t want ta be associated with his family back East.  So when we married, he took mine.”

“And you say you’re still married to him?”

Lou nodded slowly, suddenly realizing just where he was going with this.  Against her will, her eyes darted to Lu, huddled miserably in the corner, then back to the attorney, who just grinned even more broadly at her.  If he managed to discredit her trustworthiness as a witness, he just might get Lampton off.

“But wasn’t he killed in the war?”  Lou opened her mouth to respond, but he kept right on talking, never letting her answer the question.  “And haven’t you been cavorting around with another man these last few weeks?  A Tennessean by the name of Louis Mallory?  Riding off across the prairie with no one but him?  Even sharing a room at an Inn with him in Grand Island?”

The defense attorney finally stopped his barrage of questions to just look down at her condescendingly over the rim of his glasses.  “Well?” he prompted when she didn’t answer immediately.  “What do you have to say for  yourself young lady?  If I can even use such a term for you without being in danger of perjuring myself.”

The assembled crowd laughed at his quip as it waited with bated breath for her answer.  Lou looked from the attorney to the judge to Lampton, then allowed her gaze to scan the crowd.  She had nothing to be ashamed of.  Sitting up a little straighter in the chair, she pulled her shoulders back and put her chin up.

“I’d say I’m havin’ a second honeymoon, Sir,” she smiled at him pleasantly.  “Which this trial is interruptin’.  So if you don’t’ mind, I’d like to get this over with so Mr. Lampton can pay fer his crimes and I can finish gettin’ reacquainted with my husband.

Chapter 24

Starting Over, Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Lou wondered at her own tension as she rode down the deeply rutted dirt road that led past Dobytown to the front gates of Fort Kearny.  It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done this dozens of times in the last few years.  But something was different.  Or maybe it was her.  Maybe she was different.  She had something extra to live for this time around.  Oh, it wasn’t as if she had ever been suicidal.  She couldn’t be, not with Teresa, Jeremiah and later Mary Kate to care for.  Knowing they needed her had kept her going so many times over the years.  But now?  Well, even with the recent complications, now there was an extra spark to her life.  It was a spark she hadn’t even realized had been missing.

She snuck a quick glance back at the ‘body’ draped across the back of the horse following hers on a leadline.  Lu caught her glance and risked a quick wink in her direction.  She knew he had a pistol hidden in his hands, his finger on the trigger.  But she also knew his position draped over the saddle, the saddlehorn digging into his belly, had to be one of the most uncomfortable positions in the world.

With a sigh, she turned her head forward again, taking the opportunity to scan the plains around her with an experienced eye as she did so.  No sign of anyone yet.  She could see the adobe buildings for which Dobytown was named on the horizon.  It was just three miles after that.  Only an hour to the fort.

**********

Buck crept across the roof of a cathouse, wincing at the sounds emanating from inside.  He crouched low as he moved into a position that let him see up and down the main street of Dobytown, as well as the approach from the river he knew Lou and Kid would be using.

Settling into position, he double checked his weapon, spinning the drum to ensure there was a bullet properly seated in each chamber, then snapping the whole thing shut.  Patting the pouch on his hip, he assured himself he had plenty of backup ammunition.

Feeling as prepared as he could be, Buck allowed himself the luxury of peaking over the false front of the building in search of the others.

**********

Teresa caressed the weapon in her hands as she assessed the street below her.  She was crouched in the window of one of the numerous saloons that populated Dobytown.  She’d paid the room’s inhabitant, a workworn saloon girl who’d long since said goodbye to the right to call herself a girl, the price of two hours company for the right to spend the rest of the morning sitting right here, undisturbed.  The soiled dove snoozed contentedly on the bed behind her, letting out an occasional snort.

Teresa knew the others hoped they’d defeated Lampton’s men once and for all.  She wasn’t so sure.  There was something about Cole Lampton that inspired some sort of insane loyalty in his men.  She’d seen it before.  If there was any possible way, they’d make one last try at Louise and this was the most likely ambush point.

Catching sight of Buck’s black head popping up over the false front of the building across the street and a few doors down from her, she smiled mysteriously.  She had a feeling Lou was about to retire from her current job with Uncle Sam.  All she’d ever really wanted was to settle down and live a quiet life on a ranch, preferably with her Kid.  Teresa wasn’t interested in quitting, though.  She loved the excitement of chasing after outlaws, outsmarting them, dragging them in and shocking the knickers off cynical sheriff’s and marshal’s that a woman had done what they hadn’t been able to, or wanted to.  She didn’t know how to keep doing things on her own though.  A great deal of their success over the years had depended not only on subterfuge, but on teamwork.  Then again, she glanced over at Buck again only to see his head disappearing back behind the false front of the building, maybe she’d found someone new to work with.

**********

Teaspoon paced back and forth in front of a saloon toward the end of the street.  He’d covertly watched both Teresa and Buck find their positions high above.  Lifting what appeared to be a whiskey bottle to his lips, he took a deep drag of the day old tea in it and winced.  At least the nasty taste of the tea made the drink convincing, he thought wryly to himself.

Deliberately stumbling, he ran into the next guy to step out of the saloon, who pushed him away roughly.  Teaspoon fake tripped over his own feet and landed right in the chair he’d wanted to sit in anyway.  It had the perfect view of the entire field of play.

“Watch where yer goin’, old man,” the roughneck grunted before continuing on his way toward the cribs at the other end of the street.

Good, Teaspoon thought to himself, lifting the bottle to his lips again.  That wasn’t who he was looking for then.

**********

“Good thin’ I found ya,” Dick mused, spitting on the ground, as he tied the bandage around Wolf’s chest.  “I don’t know’s ya’d’ve survived much longer out there on yer own.”

Wolf just grunted.  “All’s I wanna know is, will it hold long ‘nough ta get that tramp and her’s?”

Dick stood up and moved around to stand in front of Wolf.  He nodded.  “It’ll do that and more.  Ya keep it clean and ya should heal up jest fine.”

Wolf reached up a hand and Dick responded to the unspoken request, helping the other man to his feet.  Nodding at his compatriot, he said, “Ya always were a good doc, Dicky.  Don’t know why ya didn’t hang out a shingle after the war.”

Dick shrugged as he moved over to a water basin near the window and carefully cleansed his hands.  Toweling them dry, he finally said, “We fought together too long and too hard fer me ta jest abandon ya, I guess.”

“Well, I’m sure the Captain’ll be glad ta hear yer still alive and kickin’.  We’ve lost too many good men recently.”

“And if we don’t get a move on, he’ll be the next,” Dick said, pointing toward the door with his chin as Wolf fastened his gunbelt securely around his hips.

The two men walked out of the room, down the stairs and out the main saloon door on a lockstep motion reminiscent of their military days.  Stopping on the boardwalk, each looked in a single direction.  Then, Wolf nodded to Dick, indicated he should cross the muddy strip that served as the town’s main street and head up the road a ways.  Wolf began to saunter down the boardwalk on his side of the street, hand caressing the worn holster riding his hip.

Neither man took any notice of the old drunk lounging in a chair in front of the saloon, trying to suck down the remaining dregs of a bottle of rotgut.

**********

Teaspoon watched as the two obviously military men tried futilely to appear as if their movements were aimless.  Soon, they were holding up posts on both sides of the street, with a clear cross fire position down the road that passed Dobytown on its way from the river to the fort.  Enfilade.  That’s what they called it.  It was a military term meaning when two fields of fire crossed each other deliberately to increase the deadly effectiveness of all shooters involved.  It was very professionally done.

Hauling himself to his feet, Teaspoon began to make his own, much less obvious way toward the end of the street, signaling to Buck and Teresa along the way. 

He could feel the tension building inside.  Soon this would all be over and he could take his kids home.  All of them.  He couldn’t lose them now.  Not after all these years.  Not when he finally had them back.

**********

“Here we go,” Lou muttered, ostensibly to herself, but in reality as a warning to Lu, who couldn’t see much more than the road disappearing beneath their horses’ hooves.

Switching the reins to her left hand, she slipped her right hand stealthily under her jacket to rest on the butt of her revolver, ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice.

“Ready or not, here we go,” she added, trying to project a calm she only partially felt.  Clicking her tongue to her horse, she urged it to a faster trot.  She’d avoided the higher speed so far in an effort to spare Lu the pain of being bounced unceremoniously around on the animal’s back.  But now, she needed the speed too much to worry about it.

Bending low over the horse’s neck, she tried to make herself as small as possible as they approached the end of the main street in Dobytown where it crossed the river road to the fort.  This was the biggest danger point.  And, almost as if cued by her thoughts, shots began to ring out, whizzing over her head as she sped past.

She pulled her gun with one hand, while releasing the leadline to Lu’s horse with the other.  She continued to direct her own horse with the movement of her thighs and knees.  She and Lu began to fire wildly in the direction of the incoming fire as they ran the gauntlet.

**********

Dick cursed as the supposedly dead rebel soldier suddenly sprang back to life and returning fire along with his whore.  Damned Johnny Reb.  Couldn’t even trust one to stay dead!

**********

Buck’s job was to make sure there were no more men waiting in the wings that they hadn’t already identified.  But that took only a matter of moments.  Then his eyes moved to the window across the street where he knew Teresa was waiting.  He watched her take aim at the outlaw on the boardwalk beneath him.  She took one shot, then her gun jammed and flamed out in her hand.  She dropped the weapon rather than suffer major burns and Buck could see her cursing even from his position.

Looking back down to street level, he noticed Teaspoon sneaking up behind one of the outlaws, his weapon drawn and cocked.

Making a sudden decision, Buck broke cover and jumped over the false front of the saloon, sliding down the sloped roof of the porch cover over the boardwalk, then grabbing the edge of the roof in both hands, he let himself dangle off the edge, over the muddy street below.

**********

Wolf grunted in pain as each shot he fired jarred his injured shoulder.  But, like the good soldier he’d once been, he didn’t let the pain slow him down.  Instead, he continued to lay down fire, even as the stubborn tramp managed to evade all his bullets.

“Damned rebel whore,” he muttered as he stopped firing long enough to rapidly reload.  Raising his arm once more, he took careful aim and began to slowly pull back on the trigger for a smooth shot that would send a bullet flying right between her eyes.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you,” a gravelly voice whispered in his ear, as the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed into the back of his neck.  “You pull, I pull.  And I guarant-damn-tee it you’ll die first.  Now, drop it!”

**********

“Ow,” Dick growled as the two seccesh bastards out there managed to get a bullet through and lodged it in his leg.  He reached down to quickly wrap a handerkerchief around the thigh to stop the blood.  Then, picked up his weapon and took aim once again.

Only, instead of squeezing off another round, instead he felt the impact of two boots in his back and was suddenly flying of the edge of the boardwalk to land face first in the muddy street.

Even as he pushed himself up on two hands, he heard the thump of someone landing hard on the boardwalk behind him and the ominous click of a trigger being cocked.

“I’d do that real slowly,” a voice growled at him.  “And make sure ta keep yer hands well away from that gun.”

**********

Seeing that both remaining gang members were under control, Teresa cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “We got ‘em.  Ride on through!  See ya in court!”

**********

Hearing her sister’s shouted message, Lou raised a hand in salute.

Lu grunted and slipped his gun into its holster while trying to rearrange himself in the saddle more appropriately.  Lou slowed her horse to give him a chance to get situated.  When he looked settled, she grinned at him.

“Ready ta ride?”

“Lead the way,” he grinned back.  Then winced slightly and rubbed a hand across the back of his head, coming away with a smear of blood.

Lou, already leaning low over her horse’s neck, never noticed as she urged it into a full on gallop.  At this pace they could cover the remaining three miles in a few minutes.

Lu dug deep and urged his horse after her, despite the headache that was re-awakening at the back of his skull and his suddenly fuzzy vision.

Chapter 23