By Kirsten Page
Copyright 1999
The feeling of ache pulsated through her head relentlessly. No matter how hard she tried to will it away, it lingered there, reminding her of all the horrible events that had transpired over the few days since she’d left home.
Lou tried to sit up, the stab in her stomach forcing her straight back down. She didn’t understand why her injuries seemed worse, when just a few hours ago they had started to get better.
She strained to lift her head and glare down at her wounds. Most of the bleeding had stopped, but the abrasions had swelled. No wonder I’m so stiff. She groaned inwardly.
Determined to fight her resistant body, she sat up quickly and slowly made her way over to the cabinets, using the various pieces of furniture for support. Lou had helped take care of the boys enough times to know what she needed to do for herself.
With lagging movement, she reached up onto the shelf and pulled down some fresh bandages and a wash rag. Then, ever so suddenly, she heard a rustling sound outside. In fear she retracted her arm and accidentally knocked one of the glass jars off of the shelf. It fell with a clamorous crash, causing her to jump.
Lou wheeled around, searching for any sign of another presence. She would have sworn that the room was occupied by someone else. That’s silly! Grow up, Lou, she tried to convince herself, you’re just feeling edgy and sorry for yourself. Not to mention the fact that you are overreacting!
Despite her efforts to calm herself, Lou’s nerves tensed, and there was something that pressured her into looking towards the window.
His face was there! He was staring at her with an evil and malicious smile. Almost like a hunter walking home, freshly killed meat in hand. It wasn’t a nasty wink that he threw at her...no, it was worse, it was a wink that clearly suggested that he was about to come in there take her apart.......piece by piece.
Cole rode back towards Rock Creek like the devil was on his heels. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had been so furious. The problem with the situation that he was about to go back to was that he had muster every ounce of strength for his upcoming charade of pretending like nothing had happened.
After all, what would they all think of him if he came back raving about how he wasn’t able to steal the precious information that he so desired?
Teaspoon was a sharp man. He knew when someone would try to double cross him, and Cole knew that when the Marshal looked him over carefully, he’d see the criminal glare in his eyes.
Still, Cole had to give it his best shot. If he had been able to fool all of the riders this far, there shouldn’t be any question as to whether or not he could make it work just a little bit longer...was there?
Johnny rubbed his head. It hurt, oh how it hurt! Nobody would have been surprised though, especially with the way that Wayne had struck him so viciously.
If only he had been able to keep his ‘employer’ from finding out that he had saved the life of the young Express rider that he was supposed to kill. He knew it was a mistake to save the young woman, but Johnny knew that if he had killed her, it would have burned a hole in his conscience that couldn’t be patched.
With a tenacious thrust of perseverance and determination, Johnny rose to his feet. Why was he thinking as if all hope had been lost? He still had a chance to save the woman’s life. After all, he realized that with the way he had been living his evil and objectionable life, he was on borrowed time anyway.
Kid and Jimmy sat together in endless and agonizing placidity. It seemed so trivial to think of going back to Rock Creek to deliver mail for people that they’d never met, nor cared anything for. Lou, the woman that had brought some sense of meaning into both of their lives, was dead.
A unspoken form of communication passed between the two and they rose at the same time to mount their horses. Going back home was going to be another tribulation that they would have to tackle. The station was filled with memories of happier times, and the gentle smile of the female rider gave them all something special to hold on to. Even in her absence the sweetness of her charm lingered. Now, it would be gone, forever. There would be no other person who could replace her.
Kid nor Jimmy spoke a word the entire trip back. All of the apprehension of what they would have to face in Rock Creek haunted them. The hardest part of the torment churning inside of them wasn’t over yet. In fact, the worst was still to come.
Jobs, life, love...all of these things kept ringing through Kid’s mind. He didn’t know what he was going to do now, but he most certainly couldn’t stay at the station. The thought of someone taking Lou’s place would somehow damage and crimp his memories, and that was something that he couldn’t allow.
He never wanted to face those special places that they used to visit together again. Each time he walked down the street, she would be there, every time he went to the saloon to get a drink, she would be there. There wouldn’t be one place he could go to get away from the anguish.
Jimmy’s thoughts were not much different. He knew that he couldn’t stay there and deal with the loss of another friend. Ike had been taken from them, and now, Lou. That was more than a person could hope to overcome. Once he saw that Kid was going to make it through this, he would leave.
Rock Creek came into view before either one of them had expected. It was the same busy place, with the same happy people...yet there was something missing. The presence of the young woman that they had always looked forward to spending time with no longer resided there.
Suddenly, the town that they had loved so much just became a location on the map. It was a heartless, lifeless, pile of buildings and people. As far as Kid and Jimmy were concerned, they were just taking up space and breathing air.
When Jimmy and Kid opened the door, a few bags slung over their shoulders, and a pocketful of sorrow weighting down their hearts, the other riders knew. Lou was gone, and they hadn’t discovered anything to support the story that Cole had told.
Buck looked to Kid, the question spilled across his face.
He caught the look, “No, we didn’t find anything,” Kid said, his voice was so calm and soft that it appeared to be void of any emotions whatsoever.
Noah clasped his hands together and stared wordlessly. He could remember one of the first times that he had met Lou. She’d been a spitfire from the start, and he could recollect the first time that he had ever laid a hand on her in anger...only to have Kid come rushing in, gun drawn, a few seconds later. It was then that he realized there was something special about that woman, something that caused every one of them to want to defend her with their very souls.
How could she dare to die on them? Didn’t she know the gaping hole that she would leave in all of their lives? Yet there it was, the facts set out before them, she was gone and there wasn’t anything that they could do to bring her back.
Cody was not about to let the others how he had let the wind dry his tears on his last run. Although he liked to pick on Lou, call her the runt, or just roll his eyes at her romance with Kid, he loved her dearly. What he was about to say was the hardest thing he had ever had to release from his lips. “The town is holding a funeral for Lou tomorrow. All of Rock Creek has agreed to go.”
Kid shut his eyes, he was not going to shed anymore tears...not today. Her funeral was tomorrow, her lifeless body was resting somewhere else, and they still hadn’t come any closer to knowing what had happened to her.
On to Chapter Ten
