It was almost noon when Kid and his companions arrived a short distance from Carley Point. He stopped Katy and dismounted. "I guess this is where we split up."
"Let me go up on this ridge and see if I can spot them from here." Buck offered.
"OK, sounds good. Me, Jimmy and Cody will check out that point over there." Teaspoon said motioning to a small hill which overlooked part of the canyon.
"I'll go with Buck." Kid said.
As the other three riders left, Kid and Buck began their short walk up the ridge. When they reached the top they both looked around at the surrounding area.
"Look, there's the camp." Kid followed Buck's finger which was pointing at four horses which were standing near a stream.
"I don't see any signs of Lou or the kidnappers, just the horses."
Buck placed his hands on his hips and turned to Kid. "They're probably over somewhere behind those rocks. Good place to hide."
"Then I guess we should head back down and wait for the others. I'll get down there and find Lou." With that they headed back down to their horses.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Well, from what I can tell there's about four men down there." Cody stated.
"Did you see Lou"? Kid asked. All he wanted to hear was that she was safe.
"No, but it was hard to tell much of anything. They could have her sitting on the other side." Jimmy quickly added at Kid's sunken expression.
Teaspoon figured that Kid would have a plan of what he wanted to do, so he turned to ask him. Instead Kid beat him to it. "I'm going down there alone. If something goes wrong just make sure nothing happens to Lou, and that she's taken care of." His focus was mostly directed to Jimmy who nodded.... understanding what he meant. Their friendship was based on a mutual agreement, and more often than not, they would just exchange an expression rather than words.
"Kid, I know there's no convincin' you to let us go with you, so be careful and don't let em' get the upper hand on you." Teaspoon looked fatherly at Kid.
"They already do Teaspoon, they got Lou." With that he mounted his faithful horse and started down to meet the men whom he so greatly detested.
Buck waited until Kid was out of earshot, "Aren't we going to help him"?
"Of course, we just gotta wait till he gets down there. We're going to spread out and surround them. But before any of you boys go shootin, make sure Kid or Lou won't get caught in the crossfire." He paused and watched as Kid disappeared from sight. "OK boys, let's go."
Kid couldn't remember feeling so alone in his life as he did at this moment. To him the entire world seemed to stop, and time or place had no meaning. He slipped out of Katy's saddle and walked her across the stream. As he came closer to the camp his knees became weak as the dirtiest man he'd ever seen approached him. The man had a look that could kill, and a gun that would do it. Kid slowly raised his hands.
"Drop your gun....real friendly like." The main growled. Kid did as he was instructed and threw his gun at the man's feet.
"You must be the long lost husband Louise's been cryin' for." His evil grin caused chills to run up Kid's spine. Henry looked around. "Where are your friends you were supposed to be bringin'?"
He pursed his lips. "They're a few days behind. Where is she"?
Henry brought his gun closer to Kid's head, seeming to accept the answer. "First the money, than the woman." Kid thought his heart would stop. He wasn't sure how he was going to pull this one off. Not having the money that they wanted, he had to delay as long as he could. "Not until I see that she's alright."
Jed walked over to his brother and whispered something in his ear. Henry grunted. "OK, you get TWO minutes. Then I get my money or you both are gunna die! I'll start with the woman."
Pushing Kid's shoulder he lead him at gunpoint to one of the rocks on the other side of the ridge. Kid froze as he saw the back of a petite woman whose dress was covered in dirt and torn in several places. She was huddled hugging her knees.
"Remember, you got TWO minutes." Henry stepped over to where his brother was calling him. He backed away slowly not taking his eyes off of the two people he now had as hostages.
Lou heard what Henry was saying but she was unsure as to who he was talking to, so she kept her back turned....fearing the worst.
Kid stayed back for a moment, trying to let the realization that she was really in front of him sink in. Not wanting to scare her he called softly. "Lou."
She turned slowly. "Kid"? Her face lit up as she saw him standing there gazing into her eyes. She tried to jump up as fast as she could but she was so sore with all of her cuts and bruises, which made it difficult. She tripped over the torn skirt that was hanging down, but caught herself. Kid rushed to her. She stood up and hugged him tightly.
"I thought I'd never see you again." She quietly sobbed.
"I wasn't going to stop until I found you." He said brushing hair from her face. He stopped as he felt something sticky. Kid pushed her away from him gently and examined her abused face. "What did they do to you!?"
She grabbed his hand. "I'm going to be OK, Kid. It only hurts a little." Lou gave him a reassuring smile. She knew he wasn't satisfied with that, but he pulled her closer. "We're going to get out of this. Teaspoon, Jimmy, Cody, and Buck are here with me."
She tried to conceal her shock with a gasp. "All of them!?"
Kid tried to keep his voice low. "When I couldn't find you I rode into town to get the marshal, he told me you had been kidnapped by the Crawford gang ....so I rode to Sweetwater to get help from Teaspoon."
"Kid, the marshal's in on it. I heard them talking."
"What!?!?"
Their precious time was over much too quickly. Henry and his brothers came stomping over. "I've had enough. Now where's my money? And where are them friends of your's"? Henry pushed Louise away and grabbed Kid's arm firmly. Lou looked at Kid and mouthed, "I love you." She knew this could be the last time they had together alive. He gave her a reassuring smile, "I love you too," he whispered.
"I'm getting tired of waiting!" Henry growled. "Now talk!!" With that he hit Kid across the side of his head with the butt of his gun.
"Kid!" Lou exclaimed as he fell to the ground. She started to rush over to him, but Bud caught her and pulled her away.
Kid coughed as he inhaled some dust off of the ground. "You ain't going to get it like that." He stated pushing himself up.
"You refusing to pay"?
"Nope, I just don't like being slugged around is all." Kid said regaining his balance.
Gregg spoke up. "Henry, I'm gettin sick of this, I came here to my money and I want it!"
Henry smiled through black teeth. "Then I guess we want the same thing, don't we little brother"? He turned to Kid. "Now, am I gunna get it....or do I hafta kill her to persuade you"? He pointed his gun at Lou and waited for Kid's response.
"You ain't going to kill nobody. Not till I'm finished with them anyway." Everyone turned to see a tall figure behind them....a tall figure wearing a badge.
"It's about time you showed up, Jake. Me and my brothers have been sick of waitin all this time. I was just about 'persuade' them to give me the money."
Jake took a few steps forward. Every ounce of his arrogance and hatred oozed out. "You'll be waiting a long time. They ain't got much money. That's not what this was really about."
"What are you talkin about!?" Gregg exclaimed. If this had all been for nothing, he was going to kill somebody dead for sure.
Jake walked over to Kid and circled around him, like a predator waiting to strike. "This man owes me....and now after all of these years he's gunna pay."
Kid looked at him disgustedly. "I don't owe you anything. We only met a few months ago."
He laughed, "Ah, that's where you're wrong. Don't tell me you could have forgotten my brother after all of these years? Seems he was shot by you, and you don't remember? You're getting senile, Kid."
"You mean we didn't do this for money?" Henry's patience was quickly wearing thin.
"No, you captured the man I wanted. I needed someone who could bring these two away from town so I could settle an old score. Seems to me it worked to cuz after the Kid suffers for a while, I'm going to shoot em' both. But it ain't going to be a quick death. I figure three shots for each of them."
Jake's evil smile gave Lou chills and she felt herself shiver. "Kid never killed anyone unless he had reason to! So you got no right to make these accusations."
The look of venom that lingered on Jake's face made both Bud and Louise back up as he came towards them. "See ma'am, that's where you are wrong....DEAD wrong, that is." He chortled. "Your husband here rode with a posse lead by Teaspoon Hunter and that friend of your's, James Hickok. They chased him down after he robbed the bank at Ft. Laramie and murdered him in cold blood before he'd even had a trial. Kid here was the one to pull the trigger."
Instantly the memory of that horrible man they had hunted down so many years ago hit back to Kid like a flash of lightning in a desert storm. "He shot Jimmy, and almost killed me. I fired in self defense."
"I don't care, you still killed him and now you're gunna pay! I'm going to start with the woman." Raising his gun to fire at Louise, Kid screamed, "NO!" He tried to lunge at Jake but was too late and the gun fired a shot which echoed through the whole canyon. All Kid saw through his panicked eyes was Lou fall to the ground and roll on her side.