By Kirsten Page
Copyright 1999
It was around midnight when they finally saw some sign of the young man that had departed earlier in the afternoon. Awhile after the others had gone to bed, Jimmy had finally resolved to at least rest on his bunk, when Kid quietly walked into the room. Jimmy was relieved to see him, and finally rolled over to try to get some sleep. The exhaustion and reality of the past day finally sunk in with the emptiness that he felt inside. Her presence was so missed, and once things had settled down, he was determined to go out and find who had done this to all of them.
Kid carefully set down his things, tucking her journal in a safe place before he crawled into bed. He stared at the bunk above him and reflected on the deep and intimate thoughts that he head read. Sorrow filled his heart as he remembered what she had written about the first time that they had broken up. He had never meant to hurt her as he did, but by the way she acted about the whole situation, nobody would have ever known the pain she felt.
Then, he smiled to himself at the last few entries that she had written. At least he could go on from this point knowing how happy and in love she was. The way she had described their relationship was so poetic, and quite romantic. In her deepest moments she had told about how she knew that he was the only one for her.
Kid was glad that the others were asleep. It would give him more silence time to himself, but even more than the serenity, he was thankful for the darkness which would hide the tracks of his tears.
Think rational, think rational, Lou repeated these words to herself over and over through the entire night. It was a way to stay awake, but also it was a way to try and control the anger that was growing inside of her. She was mad at herself for being responsible for Ellie’s death, and she was furious that such evil people resided on the face of the planet.
There wasn’t much chance for an escape, and after the conversation that she overheard, it didn’t sound like there would be much hope for one any time soon. Kid, Jimmy, and the rest of them must be going through a trial of hell thinking that she was dead. She only knew how she would feel if the same thing had happened to one of them.
She pushed the thoughts away from her mind and went back to a plan of escape. If I knew where I was, maybe I could steal a horse and make a break for it. No, my injuries are too great. I wouldn’t make it more than a mile. Still, a mile would be better than nothing...
Just then, she heard a jinkling sound outside of her door. The rattling of the lock being turned caused her to glance in the direction. Lou hoped that it wasn’t Wayne coming in to...no, she wasn’t going to think in that direction.
He stepped into the room and smiled, it was a sickening smile, “Well, how’s my little lady.”
She tightened her jaw, “I’m not your lady.” Lou whispered to herself, realizing that perhaps it would be better not to speak her mind and press her luck.
Wayne came over and sat on the edge of her bed. Lou pulled away from him the best that she could, but he took his strong arms and forced her to sit up. “There, see, you’re doing much better already.”
Lou’s eyes were so defiant that he didn’t even notice her blink or flinch as her muscles and injuries fought back with all their might. “What do you want with me?”
Rising to his feet, Wayne walked over to a closet door that she had not even noticed before. Wordlessly he stepped into it and pulled out a dress for her. Actually it was anything but a dress...in Lou’s opinion. He stepped over to her side once more and threw it on the bed. “Put this on.”
She stared at the immodest costume and scowled at the sight of it. “Why?”
There was a two second pause before he quickly bent down and his face was once again in her’s. “Because I said so. That’s ALWAYS reason enough. Don’t forget that.” He took his finger and traced the outline of her lips. She resisted the urge to grab his arm and thrash with every means possible, because that’s exactly what he would want.
“I’ll be back in three minutes and I’ll expect you to be dressed and ready. No excuses.” As hastily as he had entered, Wayne left. Lou eased herself up and swallowed the sickness back down to her stomach. As it stood now, her only chance for any type of a breakaway would be to play along.
Rachel had seen too many funerals in her time. Yet with all that she had been to, including her husbands, there was something about this one that was worse. Perhaps it was because it was the death of the young woman that she had considered a daughter. She was determined to stay strong though, the boys needed her now.
Teaspoon had persuaded Jesse to go. After he found out what had happened to Lou, he hadn’t spoken for three days. The young boy had formed a strong attachment to the female rider, and loosing her was something that he, like every one else, wasn’t sure how to handle.
Most of Rock Creek had made their presence known. Many of them were still unaware that “Lou” was in fact “Louise”. A majority of the residents just realized what a good service the rider had performed for their small town. The church was crowded and the front row had been reserved for her closest family.
Cole had not made his appearance at the funeral as he had said, but that didn’t surprise any of them, nor were they disappointed.
Jimmy took a deep breath as he looked at all of the flowers that had been brought for her. If this was some sort of nightmare, he wished that he would wake up now, because it was not amusing. He or Kid had not slept for days, and it was beginning to show. It was starting to feel like they were in a fantasy land rather than reality. Somehow this was a stage and everyone surrounding them merely actors...it couldn’t be real.
Kid on the other hand was very much in tune with his feelings. He went to the front and carefully placed the flowers he had brought amongst the others. Slowly he took a seat next to Rachel and she took his hand comfortingly.
They all knew that if they could just make it through this service, they would have overcome a monstrous barrier in their lives.
After the service, Teaspoon went back to his office while the others went back to the station to take care of their usual duties. Kid came strolling in a short time after. His face was solemn, and Teaspoon feared the worse.
“Kid,” he said softly, knowing that the reason the young man was here was because there was something on his mind. “You know I’m doing everything that I can to find out who did this.”
Kid nodded, “Yes, thank you,” he hesitated knowing this was going to be hard to say. “That’s not why I came though.”
Teaspoon set the papers he was holding down on the table and offered him a seat.
Kid shook his head and remained standing. He cleared his throat and looked at the older man intently, “I’m giving you my resignation, Teaspoon, I’m leaving next week. I’ll finish my last run the day after tomorrow and help train my replacement.”
On to Chapter Fourteen
