By Kirsten Page
Copyright 1999
Kid rode back towards home, not able to shake the morose feeling that was inside of him. There was something about that whole situation at the hotel that wasn’t quite right. Ordinarily he would have returned and perhaps investigated a bit for himself. That man that claimed to have been the friend of the victim had an evil feeling to him. In his eyes there was a glare, a reflection of bitterness and malice that seemed to be directed and everyone and no one.
It’s not my business, Kid convinced himself. My business is back at Rock Creek. I have something I have to take care of. It’s time I stopped looking to solve everyone else’s problem, and started giving attention to my own.
So, quickly dropping the ideas and thoughts that were passing through his mind, he went back to the moment. It was getting dark outside, and it was high time that he found a place to camp for the night. He wasn’t quite sure how far he had come, but he figured he was nearly half way back. It should be easy to reach the station early the next morning.
Not bothering to start a fire, he found what little comfort he could on the rocky ground. It wasn’t long before he was fast asleep, completely oblivious to the action that he was missing back in town.
Maddie’s tears were streaming down her face as she rested her head on the top of Lou’s. “She’s going to die!” She whispered, still afraid to raise her voice for fear that someone might hear her. The emotions of terror that were searing through her body clouded her better judgment. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t come up with plan as to how to get them out of there.
Lou thought she was hearing things, and she struggled to open her eyes to no avail. It was like someone else was in control of her body. She was there, aware of everything that was going on, but she couldn’t force herself to wake up. In the midst of all that had gone on, Lou thought that she had heard Kid’s voice...but then she tried to tell herself that it was nothing more than a dream.
She groaned and Maddie jumped, “Louise?” It was beginning to look a little bit hopeful...maybe she would pull through after all.
Finally, the resisting force broke, and Lou was able to muster enough strength to open her eyes part of the way. “Maddie? Where am I?” She questioned as she brought her hand to her throbbing head.
Maddie’s eyes filled with relief and tears, “Oh Louise, I thought you were dead!”
Lou tried to sit up on her own. Her joints were stiff from the old wounds that she was still harboring, “I’m not sure yet. I might be,” she said as she leaned back against the wall of the building.
“Oh, don’t say that! You’ve scared me enough already,” Maddie pleaded.
Looking around, Lou noticed for the first time that they were outside instead of inside that smoky, grimy-filled building. “How’d we get out here?”
Maddie glanced around nervously, “Shhh! Louise, you’ve got to listen to me carefully. Wayne tried to frame you for Trevor’s murder. If anyone in this town catches you, you’ll be hung for sure! The Marshal seems to be siding with him, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. I snuck you out the building before they were able to find you.” She took Lou’s hand and placed it between her’s. “I’m afraid of what they’ll do if you’re caught. You’ve got to get out of here.”
Lou took in all of the information that was being thrown at her. It all started to fit together. Wayne’s plot had been so perfect, it was just too bad that he hadn’t counted on such a sweet girl to ruin it all. She turned to Maddie, “Then you’ve got to get out of here with me. You are in danger now, if Wayne finds out what you’ve done to me, he’ll kill you too.”
Maddie’s heart filled with joy at the thought of actually being able to escape from the horror of the past two years. She’d been through so much, and only being 15, she didn’t think that there was much hope for a new life. Yet deep inside, she knew that if she tried to escape, Wayne would never stop looking for her, “I can’t Louise, if I go, he’ll hound me for the rest of my life. You have to get out of here. I’ll be fine, I promise.”
Lou studied her new friend prudently, “Then I guess I’ll just turn myself in because I won’t leave without you.” She made her voice sound more commanding, “I have friends who can protect you and see that this man pays for what he’s done.”
Thinking it all over carefully, Maddie sighed and realized just how stubborn this girl was. “All right, but only because I didn’t save your neck only to see you shot.”
With a quick smile, Lou went back to business, “How do we get out of here?” She questioned more to herself than Maddie. “Is there a stables nearby?”
“Yes, but you’re in no condition to go riding! You need to take care of those wounds first. If you go jostling yourself, it’ll only get worse.”
Lou shook her head, “No, it’s our only way.”
“...that’s all I know, I swear. Wayne hired me to take this job because he thought he’d be able to get something out of it. He was hoping that I would have access to all sorts of documents and letters that would make him a rich man.”
Teaspoon sat back an analyzed the man’s face carefully. There was still something he wasn’t telling...he could see it in his nervous fidgeting. “Let’s go over this again. I don’t want you leaving out any details.”
Cole’s flushed face was now starting to sweat. There was no way that he was going to get out of this one. Not while Jimmy and Buck were standing over his shoulder, ready to strike. “What else do you want to know? I’ve told you what’s happening.”
“Then I suggest you start figuring on a way to help us catch your ‘friend’. He’s going to pay for what happened to Lou, and so are you,” Jimmy spoke, for the first time since the conversation had begun.
Teaspoon leaned forward once again, “And if you offer to help us out, we might just see to it that you rot in prison instead of hang from a rope.”
Cole knew his time was up. There was no other way that he could hope to escape this time. His life had been that of endless crime after crime. And as much as it sickened him to admit it, for the first time since he’d begun working at his ‘career’ he had felt guilty for what had happened. Something about these folks made him wish that the choices in his own life had been different. “I’ll tell you where to find him. But you’re going to have to act fast, because once he sees that I haven’t shown up like I was supposed to, he’s going to come looking for me.”
Teaspoon rose to his feet. It hadn’t taken him but a split second to decide on a course of action, “Boys, get your stuff together and saddle a horse for Cole here. We’re leaving first thing in the morning.”
Lou and Maddie remained concealed within the shadows of the building. It seemed like an eternity before they were able to reach the confounds of the small stables on the opposite side of town. Lou had carefully draped her arm over Maddie’s shoulder, using her as support against the pain and sickness that she felt with each step.
Carefully they opened the squeaky door and stepped inside. Lou searched for any horse that might be able to assist them in their escape. Maddie had confessed to not knowing how to ride, so they would need a strong horse with a good endurance to carry them both.
Scanning as best she could in the darkness, Lou heard the familiar sound of an animal she immediately recognized, “Lightning!” Fighting off the dizziness, she rushed as quickly as she could to her horse’s side. She smiled as she touched the velvet black neck of her trusty steed. It was wonderful to be feeling something that belonged to her.
“You know this horse?” Maddie questioned.
Louise nodded, “Oh yes, and he’s certainly our ticket out of here,” she replied, feeling hopeful for the first time in days. Maybe there was a chance she’d make it out of this alive after all........maybe. Until she was safely tucked in her own bed, with her own family, she wasn’t about to go expecting it all to work out perfectly. Especially not while Wayne was still out there somewhere, waiting and watching.
On to Chapter Twenty-One
