"Rachel, honey, Lou can take care of herself.  I'm sure she's just fine.  Probably just waitin' out the rain."

Rachel turned from the window she'd been staring out of off and on since they'd retired to the main house and glared at her husband.  "If she's so fine then why the hell are you pacin' up and down this room, huh?" she snapped irritatedly.

Teaspon's shoulders slumped in defeat.  She'd called his bluff alright.  Guess that was the problem with being married--your wife knew you too well.  He was worried about Lou.  Hell, he'd always worried about her even before he'd known his rider was a woman.  He'd watched as his beautiful wife had alternated between rocking in the chair by the fire and staring out the window at Kid's forlorn, worried figure that appeared in the bunkhouse window every five minutes.  She casually stroked the evidence of their child as she worried over the futures of two of their older "children."

Seeing Teaspoon's look of defeat, Rachel sighed, guilt beginning to blossom in her bosom.  She hadn't meant to snap but the day had been just awful, each of them walking on eggshells around Kid after Lou'd disappeared, each knowing what they were thinking about but unwilling to say anything. And on top of it all, the baby, disturbed by her own worry, had been kicking pretty strongly all afternoon making getting comfortable difficult.  "I'm sorry," she said softly, her face sheepish as she glanced up at Teaspoon.

He crossed to her and placed an arm around her shoulders, letting her rest her head against his shoulder.  He placed a gentle hand on her stomach, smiling as his hand moved beneath the baby's strong kick.  "You're just worried is all," Teaspoon replied gently.  "So am I."

"It just isn't fair!  Not for either of them," Rachel protested.  "They've both been through so much in the last two years.  When do they get a chance to be happy?"

Teaspoon had opened his mouth to reply when he saw Kid exit the bunkhouse, a sleeping Lexi on his shoulder as he began approaching the main house.  "At least one of us'll be able to sleep tonight," he said, a small, sad smile turning up one corner of his mouth.  "We'd best get away from this window before Kid there figures out we been watchin' him."

Rachel reluctantly pulled out of her husband's arms and started upstairs.  "I'll go get Lexi's bed ready," she said softly.  Teaspoon watched as she walked upstairs, one hand on her lower back for support, her heavily pregnant body slowing her ascent.

Kid quietly made his way across the yard to the main house.  The rain had stopped and there was still no sign of Lou in the darkness.  He walked into the parlor, surpried to see lamps lit and Teaspoon waiting for him.  "I thought you two'd gone to bed hours ago," he commented.

"Rachel and me ain't that old, Kid," Teaspoon replied gruffly.  "He finally fall asleep, huh?"

Kid looked at the sleeping baby, his eyes softening.  "Yeah.  Stubborn as his mama, but he finally wore himself out," Kid said softly.

"Kid?"

Both men looked up as Rachel came downstairs holding a sheet of paper in one trembling hand.  "You might wanna look at this," she said, her voice tight.  "I found it upstairs in Lexi's crib."

Kid passed the sleeping infant on to Rachel's waiting arms and unfolded the page, his quick eyes scanning the note.

"This is your last warning.  There will be no other notes, no other chances," the note read.  "Get away from the MacCauliffe place while you still can.  It'd be a shame for something to happen to those beautiful children of yours.  It's a horrible thing when babies and young children die.  Protect yours and get out while there's still time.  You've got one week.  Signed, a Concerned Neighbor."

"What the hell!" Teaspoon exclaimed as he read the note over Kid's shoulder.  "Who in the world would threaten Lou and the kids?  And what's happened to these 'other notes' this thing's talkin' about?"

Kid looked up from the page, his eyes staring straight ahead and hardening as he thought about the note's contents.  Someone was threatening his son and the woman he loved.  Why hadn't Lou said anything about being threatened, he wondered quizzically.  Damned stubborn woman!  She was determined not to rely on anyone but herself even if it meant she took on all the worry and fear herself.  It'd definitely explain how jumpy she'd been recently, carrying her gun everywhere.  He looked down at the note again.  Something about the handwriting was familiar.  "Well, I know a woman wrote this," he said tightly.  "It's entirely too neat and small to be a man's writin'."

Rachel hugged the little boy in her arms tighter, a shudder running through her.  "The question is, who would threaten a baby and how in heaven's name did he get in the house to put that note in Lexi's crib?" she asked.

Teaspoon turned to Kid, his gray eyes dark as he pondered the implications of Rachel's observation.  "You and Lou were here all day.  Did you see anyone, hear anything funny?" he asked.

"No," Kid replied, shaking his head.  "Nothing.  Whoever it was musta been watchin' the station real close to find just the right moment so he could sneak in without us knowin'."  He had his own suspicions about who the culprit was.  It'd be easy for a man to hire someone to write the note, maybe even pass it off as a practical joke so she wouldn't turn him in.  "You know who my first suspect would be."

"Tom Anderson," Teaspoon said.  "Well he does sure seem to have it in for Lou.  However, I can't just haul 'im in for not likin' someone.  He's entitled to his own ideas and opinions, but I'll definitely be askin' him about his whereabouts this mornin'."

Jimmy yawned hugely as he headed back to the bunkhouse.  Tessa had finally fallen asleep in his bunk and Jimmy, needing some space had decided to take an extended trip out to the outhouse, taking his sweet time walking back inside to turn in.  He rubbed his eyes slightly, the entire day having worn him out like one of those long runs he'd hated and loved while riding for the express.

His nose twitched slightly as the vestiges of a strange scent wafted over the air.  Just the rain from earlier, he thought restarting his stroll towards the bunkhouse.  He smelled it again and stopped.  It didn't exactly smell like rain.  This smell was more pungent, almost like smoke.  Jimmy glanced around in the darkness, his heart pounding as he thought of those horrible prairie fires they'd get in Kansas.  Prairie fires could easily be started by the kind of viscious lightning they'd had in spurts that afternoon.  He thought he saw a slight glow on the horizon and moved further from the lighted buildings to examine his hunch more closely.  Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him but he could swear he saw the orange glow of fire near the direction Silverbirch lay in.

The bunkhouse door creaked open and shut as he stood staring out into the darkness.  Danny caught sight of Jimmy and walked toward him curiously.  His arm was still in the sling that was his reminder of last night's fiasco, but after today's commotion, there didn't seem to be any hard feelings on the riders' parts.  "She'll be fine," Danny commented as he stood next to Jimmy.  "She's been through hell this last year and lived to tell the tale.  What happened today, this won't stop her.  You'll see, she'll get it all out of her system and move on."

Jimmy ignored Danny's comment and raised a hand pointing into the darkness.  "Tell me somethin'," he said.  "You see anythin' strange out there, smell anythin' funny?"

Danny looked where Hickok pointed.  His eyes widened as he saw an orange glow lighting up the sky in the horizon.  "Like an orange glow out there?  Maybe smoke in the air like a prairie fire or somethin'?"

"Or somethin'," Jimmy muttered.  "More like a fire over at Silverbirch."

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and all the saints preserve us," Danny mumbled, crossing himself automatically.  "You go get the horses, I'll get the others."

Jimmy took off for the barn as Danny ran into the bunkhouse, slamming the door open with a bang that startled Theresa awake.  "Silverbirch is on fire!" he yelled before dashing back outside.

The three adults inside the main house heard the commotiuon starting in the yard and rushed to the window.  Outside, the former riders milled around, getting horses and buckets from the barn.

"What the hell's goin' on out there?" Teaspoon asked as they walked out onto the porch.

"Somethin's wrong," Kid muttered, his senses instantly awake at the prospect of trouble.

The others had gathered as many buckets as they could and were now mounting the horses Jimmy had saddled.  Theresa, frightened by the urgency of the men's actions, ran across the yard to Rachel's side.  Danny spotted the men on the porch and instead of coming over, he whistled shrilly to get their attention.  "Fire at Silverbirch!" he yelled, pointing.

The group on the porch turned in the direction Danny pointed and could easily see the glow of fire on the horizon.  Kid and Teaspoon practically flew down the steps, Rachel coming slowly behind them, clutching the baby close.  She grabbed the reins of Teaspoon's horse before he could leave the yard.  "Be careful, please," she pleaded.  "All of you be careful.  This family can't take anymore tragedies today."

Teaspoon cupped her face as he kissed her goodbye.  "Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll be fine.  You know our boys," he reassured her before following Noah, Buck, and Ike who'd already taken off in the direction of the homestead.

"Yeah, I know our boys--a little too well," Rachel muttered, dread settling in her heart as she watched the first group leave.

Danny had spurred his own mount to follow when he felt a jerk bringing him up short.  He turned to find Kid holding the horse's bridle in a fierce grip, a serious look on his face.

"Can you still shoot with one arm?" Kid asked.  When Danny hesitated in his answer, Kid grabbed his arm roughly, giving it a small shake, his eyes piercing as he stared at him.  "This is important, Keaggy!  Can you hold a gun and shoot straight?"

Confused and slightly intimidated by the wild, angry look in Kid's eyes, Danny shook his head.  "Yeah, I can still shoot, but what's that got to do with the fire?"

Kid looked down uneasily for a moment before glancing back up.  "I want you to stay here and watch the station.  You won't be able to do much with that wounded arm as far as puttin' out a fire," he said.

"I can still help as best I can," Danny replied indignantly.  Wasn't his fault he was wounded.

Kid sighed in frustration.  "I ain't hackin' on you, Keaggy.  What I'm tryin' to do is ask ya to watch over Lexi and Theresa while we're gone.  We've got reason to believe that someone wants to hurt them and the fire keepin' us busy would be a great excuse for them tryin' somethin'," he said softly.  "I'm trustin' you with my son's life here, Keaggy.  Ya think you're up to it?"

Danny almost smiled at the common ground that suddenly spread out between him and Kid.  He could see how difficult it was for the man to put their past behind him and trust Danny with so important a task.  "I'll watch 'im like he was my own," he replied.

With a curt nod, Kid was off, Katy's splotches fading into the darkness as he rode toward the flaming homestead.

"Oh, Louise, honey, please don't be in the middle of this," Danny muttered, his gut telling him that even as he uttered the words, they were being proved a fallacy.
 
 

It was the smoke that actually woke Lou as she lay on the floor.  Coughing hard, she tried to take stock of the situation, her head pounding and her whole chest throbbing.  She tried to pull herself upright but every move she made brought a fresh round of pain to her.  She could smell the smoke and as she opened her tearing eyes, could see the flames licking at the wooden floor and sheer curtains on the windows.  Oh, God I have to get out, have to get out, she thought desperately.  But they're waiting outside, she thought.  Those men who killed Tanner, they're outside.  And she knew what they'd do to her if they caught her.  She looked around the first floor of the house trying to find any way out.  Stay inside and surely die, go outside to save her life and a fate worse than death awaited her.  She couldn't do it again.  There'd be nothing left of her if she had to go through the embarassment and humiliation, the pain and torture, of rape again.

However, her instincts took over.  She had a baby and a little girl depending on her.  If she died they'd be orphaned and she wouldn't wish her own life on her worst enemy.  Ignoring the pain as best she could, Lou's fingers dug into the wooden planks on the floor, pulling herself toward the corner of the wall where she could get herself into a standing position. The smoke threatened to blind and suffocate her. She was all alone she knew, whoever had shot her and set the fire having gone long ago.  The images swirled inside her head making her unable to remember the exact events leading up to her being shot.  There was something important she wanted to remember about it but she couldn't.

Her head pounded fiercely, making her dizzy with each movement until a sudden fierce wave of nausea had her turning her head and getting sick.  The action sapped her of any energy she'd had, leaving her lying limply on the floor, just trying to breathe.  Unable to crawl any further, she dimly heard voices outside and knew it was those damned Union renegades just waiting for her.  So, she curled up into the tiniest ball she possibly could, her fear refusing to let her call for help.

A decorative beam fell from the ceiling, the fire licking along its length having weakened the supports holding it.  Sparks flew toward Louise and she screamed in terror before blacking out again.
 
 
 

"We're out of water in the trough!" Noah called amidst the panic.

"Then start takin' it from the pond," Teaspoon called back, coughing as the breeze blew smoke directly in his face.

The firefight was in full swing by the time Kid pulled up on Katy.  He dismounted even before she'd stopped, nearly toppling onto his face in the process.  As he regained his balance, he looked up to find himself face to muzzle with Lightning who was wandering around aimlessly.  Kid gripped the horses' bridle, his eyes widening as he realized his worst fears were coming true.  Lou was in the house as it burned.

He dashed toward the house, tossing his hat onto the ground and stripping off his shirt the sleeves of which were loose enough that they might catch fire if he weren't careful.  He didn't even have to tell the others about Lou as he ran close to the house because as soon as he reached the front of the group closest to the burning building, her terrified scream echoed out.

"Merciful God!" Teaspoon swore. "Hurry boys, hurry!  Lou's inside, let's get this fire out fast!"

Hearing that, the men threw themselves into the fray furiously.

Kid couldn't stand it anymore.  He dropped the bucket he'd picked up over his head, dowsing his torso with water as he approached the front door.  He was brought up short by someone's grip on his arm.

"Where the hell do you think you're goin'?" Jimmy growled angrily.

"I'm goin' after Lou," Kid said determinedly.  "She stays in there any longer and she'll suffocate on that smoke.  We can't just leave her in there 'til we get the fire out!"

Jimmy tossed his own hat aside, tucking his long hair down the back of his shirt.  "Not alone you ain't goin'," he replied calmly.  He dunked a couple handkerchiefs in the bucket he held and passed one to Kid.  "Let's go get her outta there!"
 

Chapter 18