While the others continued to fight the blaze from outside, Jimmy and Kid struggled through the open doorway to find Louise.  The dark smoke clouded their eyes and forced them to try and breathe through the handkerchiefs they held over their noses and mouths.  Obviously the fire had started on the first floor, fueled by the wooden floors and diaphanous sheers, Lou'd used to cover the windows.

Kid looked around desperately trying to find the small woman.  "Lou!" he called.  "Lou where are you?"

"I don't see her," Jimmy shouted over the crackling of the flames.  He walked toward the parlor and nearly stumbled over a fallen beam he didn't quite see in the dimness.  Kid grabbed his arm and saved him from falling into the burning wood.  As his eyes raked over the other side of the beam, he caught sight of a tiny figure curled into a ball on the far side of the room.  "There!"

Kid looked to where Jimmy pointed and saw her.  Now, all they had to do was get her out.  He looked down at the beam blocking their way and began to kick at it, hoping that the flames had burned it enough that they could break some of it off, providing them acces into the room.  Jimmy joined his efforts and between the two of them, they managed to break off a small end of the beam, clearing a space big enough for them to get through one by one.  Taking a deep breath, the two men dashed through the hole, their clothes smoking from the flames that had licked at them.

"Lou?  Lou, honey, can you hear me?" Kid asked, shaking her slightly.

Lou moaned as the shaking jarred her throbbing shoulder and chest, bringing her back to consciousness.  However, she was still confused and thought at first that the renegades had come inside the burning house to get her.  "Don't touch me!" she screamed at the men shaking her, curling tighter into a protective ball.  "You can't have me. I won't do it!  You'll have to kill me first!"

She thrashed violently, trying to get away as Kid and Jimmy tried to wake her from whatever dream she was caught in.  "Lou, it's us.  Nobody's gonna hurt you. We just need to get you outta here before we all get a taste of the hereafter," Jimmy growled, fighting to still her flying fists.

Frustrated, Kid put both hands on her face, forcing her to look at him.  "Dammit, Lou, open your eyes!  Open your eyes and look at me," he demanded in a voice made hard by his concern.

Her eyes opened cautiously, her confused gaze telling them she was still unsure of what was going on.  Suddenly, they widened in fear and Kid watched as she began to pass out again.  "Oh, no you don't!  Stay with me, Lou," he said, slapping her lightly to keep her awake.  "Honey, it's Kid and Jimmy.  We need to get you outa here and we can't do that with you fightin' us."

Carefully, Jimmy rolled her over onto her back, instinct telling him there was more to this whole thing than met the eye.  He gasped aloud as he saw the blood staining her shirt.  "Someone shot her Kid," he growled.  "Probably started the fire, too, and who knows what else they done.  Ain't no wonder she's scared."

Their voices finally seemed to reach Lou in her altered state and she relaxed in their arms.  Her dark eyes opened fully.  "Kid?" she asked shakily.  She groaned again and looked around, beginning to panic as she did so.  "Oh, god, someone shot me and....  Oh, my God, the house is on fire!  Gotta get out.  Gotta get out of here!"

"Okay, sweetheart, we'll get you out," Jimmy said softly as Kid gathered her up in his arms.

However, as they began to walk back towards the front door, coughing as the smoke got worse, Lou caught sight of the flames and began to struggle.  Her grip on Kid's neck grew desperate.  "No, not through the fire," she yelled.  "It'll burn us, burn us alive.  I can hear them screaming, those poor horses--burning alive."

"What the hell's she talkin' about, Kid?  We gotta go through there, it's the only way out.  The rest of the place is practically fallin' down around our ears," Jimmy shouted, his shout ending in a ragged cough.

Kid didn't answer but merely tightened his hold on Lou who's struggles grew weaker by the minute.  Her breath had become ragged and wheezing from the smoke and he knew getting out of the burning house was only half the job.  As he drew nearer to the burning beam blocking most of the doorway to the parlor, Lou passed into unconsciousness again.  His eyes were tearing so furiously, he could barely see in front of him as he followed Jimmy through the gap, the flames searing his skin as he passed.

Stumbling haphazardly, they finally burst from the house into the cool air outside.  Jimmy crashed to the ground in a horrible fit of coughing, Buck quickly making him drink some water.  Kid stumbled a few feet further away from the house before falling to his knees with Lou's limp form in his arms.

Seeing his boys and girl safe and sound, Teaspoon backed away from the flames he was battling.  The house was lost to them.  there was no way they could battle the flames and tend to the three who'd been inside.  "Let it go, boys," he hollered.  "Let it burn." He turned to where Jimmy and Kid were coughing and gasping for breath.  "Ike, get the horse blankets.  Buck, get some more water into 'em.  Maybe it'll help 'em breathe."

The riders spurred into action doing as they were told without protest. They wrapped the three in the horse blankets as they trembled from the difference in temperature between the flaming house and the cool spring night.  Teaspon gathered Lou from Kid as Noah tried to put out the smouldering spot on Kid's shoulder.  He looked up as the sound of nearing horses echoed over the crackling fire.

"Damn!" Laura swore as she and Tom neared the old waystation to find Danny Keaggy sitting on the porch of the main house, a shotgun across his lap.  She'd planned on grabbing the baby while the riders were all occupied.  She'd never thought that they'd leave someone behind with Rachel and the children.  It meant there'd be too many witnesses to try it now.

Thinking quickly, she turned her horse around.  Tom followed her, too worried about her temper to push his luck.  She started back the way they'd come and he grew alarmed.  "Wait a second!  You're headed right back to that homestead.  You know, the one you just set on fire?" he reminded her.  "You head back there and we're both done for."

"Not if we come from Sweetwater way," she replied in a huff.  "And who's to prove I set the fire?  Louise is long gone by now."

"Damn!" Laura swore again as they approached Silverbirch.  She could see the riders and Marshal Hunter grouped around the bundled up figure of Louise McCloud.  Her heart pounded as she realized that they'd saved the woman before she could die in the blaze.  Her first instinct was to run away, but she decided to press on.  It was Louise's word against hers and who was going to believe a woman who'd lied about something so basic as her own sex over the mayor's daughter?

Laura looked over at Anderson.  "You just keep that poker face on, baby, and we'll be fine," she coaxed.  "But so help me God if you breath a word of any of this to anyone...."  She traiiled off, her meaning clear as she brandished the pistol beore slipping it into her saddlebag.  "Come on."

Anderson followed her down the rise, their horses drawing up in front of the bedraggled group of men.  Each of them was covered in grime and soot.  Travis and Hickok's clothes were still smouldering and the two were fighting not to cough from the smoke.  The house was just burning away a grim reminder to Anderson of what had happened that evening.  How had he gotten in this position in the first place, he wondered.

"Oh, my God!" Laura exclaimed in feigned shock.  "What in the world's happened here, Marshal?"

Teaspoon looked up at the two, his face unreadable.  "Seems Louise had a run-in with someone who shot her and left her for dead in a burning house," he said tightly.  "You two wouldn't know anythin' about that would you?"

Anderson squirmed under the glare.  "Uh, no, Marshal, " he replied quickly.  "I saw the flames from my place over yonder and saddled my horse to ride on over and offer a hand.  I ran into Miss Wilson here on the way."

"That's right, Marshal," Laura added, backing up the story.  "I just needed to take a ride and figure some things out.  I ran into Mr. Anderson here on the other side of his property and we rushed over.  Can we help at all?"  She dismounted gingerly and crossed to Kid, her hands caressing his grimy face gently.  "Oh, Kid, are you alright, sugar?"

Kid pulled away from her touch and looked to Teaspoon.  "How's Lou?" he asked, the only thought in his mind right now being her safety.

"We need to get her to the doctor," Teaspoon said solemnly.  "The fire alone would be bad enough, but add her bein' shot and the odds ain't good."

How's Lou?  How's Lou?!  Laura was livid but she hid it as best she could.  She turned to Anderson.  "Tom, ride into town and get the doctor to met us at the Marshal's," she comanded.  "And hurry, this poor woman's life is at stake!"

Tom nearly choked at her tactic he was so astounded.  He merely nodded and rode off in the direction of town, anxious to get away from the scene of the crime and the crazy woman now carrying his child.

Laura looked down at Louise.  The woman's face was covered in soot and ash, but even Laura could see the pallor beneath the grime.  Her blouse was soaked with blood, her face still bruised from whatever had happened the night before.  Bile filled her mouth as she thought about what this woman could do to her if she lived.  If she lived, Laura thought, is being the operative word there.  "Who would want to hurt Louise like this?" she asked with fake concern in her voice.

"You would," Buck muttered beneath his breath.  He didn't know how much more of this fake charm he himself could take.  He glanced up at the others and could see they were thinking the same thing.

"I'd never hurt another person like this!" Laura protested.  "Now, Louise and I may have had a falling out this afternoon, but things'll be fine now that we all know the truth."

"Truth!  You wouldn't know the truth if it came up and bit you on the...."

"Hickok, that's enough!" Teaspoon bellowed.  "We ain't got time for this.  Y'all get back in the saddle.  We need to take this little girl home where she belongs."

The doctor was waiting when they arrived back at the station.  Quick and efficient as always, Rachel quickly ushered Kid into Lou's room in the main house and then shooed him outside with the others until the doctor was finished.  Kid had paced back and forth in front of the door for twenty minutes listening intently for any sound of trouble behind the closed door.  He'd refused to let anyone else take her on the ride back to the station.  The whole way he'd held her tight in front of him, counting each ragged breath and praying to all he held holy that she took another one and another.  He bargained with God swearing he'd do anything, even give Lou up romantically if it meant she'd live.  He pleaded for the Almighty to take him in exchange, feeling that it was all his fault. If he'd only stayed true to her, at least to her memory, he'd never have gotten engaged to Laura, she'd never be claiming to have his child, and he and Lou could be together and raise their son. Kid felt he'd betrayed Lou when he'd moved on so quickly, her tortured, haunted eyes popping up before him over and over again.  But how was he to know she was coming back?  She'd left without any explanation to him.  But still if he'd just....

The other thing nagging him was Lou's reaction back at the house when he and Jimmy tried to rescue her.  The fear in her eyes and the way she'd screamed and fought....  She'd looked like she thought they were going to abuse her or something.  She was terrified of him!  What was going on?  Whatever happened to the two happy-go-lucky lovers who'd raced along the trail to Redfern that fateful day almost two years ago now?  How did they come to be replaced by two very confused people caught up in a web so convoluted that Kid wondered if they'd ever find their way out?

He heard Lexi begin to cry in Theresa's room down the hall and quickly went to comfort his son, anxious to have something to do, finally.  Automatically, Kid lifted Lexi from his cradle, changed the baby's diaper, and held him to his shoulder, carrying him with him as he went downstairs where the others sat waiting for word.

It was another hour before Rachel and the doctor wearily descended the stairs.  Everyone stood, eager to hear any news at all.  Rachel crossed wordlessly to her husband, burying herself in his open arms with a sob.

"So, how is she?" Noah asked impatiently.  "Is she gonna be okay?"

The doctor passed a weary hand over his graying hair with a sigh.  "Can one of you get me some coffee, please?" he asked softly.

"Sure, Doc," Buck replied, stepping into the kitchen.  He returned with a cup of the steaming brew they'd all been sipping from as they waited.

"Thank you, Buck," Harry Broxson said.  He took a sip before continuing.  "Well, I got the bullet out.  She's lost a good deal of blood but not enough that I'm really worried about it.  The problem is her breathing.  Now it's not from the smoke, although she's still coughing that up as I'm sure Kid and Jimmy are.  No, her wheezing sounds like the beginnings of pneumonia and she's got a serious fever.  Louise is resting right now, but I just don't know if her body can fight pneumonia after being shot and most likely traumatized by the fire from what you've told me."

Danny shook his head.  "You don't know Louise McCloud then, Doc," he said assuredly.  "She's been through worse and come out on top.  She'll get through this."

"I hope you're right, Mr. Keaggy.  Most of healin' is in the hands of the patient.  The more stubborn and fightin' they are, the better their chances of makin' it," Broxson replied.  "Right now, I'd be lyin' if I didn't tell you that I just don't know if she's got enough fight left in her."

Kid swallowed hard, his mind swirling with the news.  He couldn't think about what might happen, refused to think about it.  She would make it.  She had to.  "Can I see her?" he asked quietly.

Broxson nodded.  "I've got her sleepin' right now, but you can go in one at a time.  You can talk to her, but be careful you don't disturb her.  Might do her a load of good to remind her she has a family to fight for," he said.  He yawned.  "If you don't mind, Rachel here has offered me a bed in the bunkhouse so  I can be close by in case I'm needed."

Pushing the thought aside, he dragged a chair over to the bed and sat down.  Lexi, oblivious to his father's somber mood and his mother's precarious health, began to eagerly bounce up and down on his little legs as if it were playtime.  His joyful, innocent coos and babytalk just provided a contrast that served to increase Kid's despair.  Talk to her, Doc said.  But what do I say, Kid thought.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.  "I'm sorry for everythin', Lou.  Sorry I pushed us into takin' things too far too fast.  I'm sorry I proposed and walked away that day.  I'm sorry I ever thought I could forget you and I'm sorry that I ever said those things you heard me tell the others.  They were lies.  I wanted things to work out between us, God, how I wanted them to!  I was so selfish tryin' to move on somehow that I drove you away.  Somehow, I thought that maybe if I made you jealous...."  Kid's voice broke for a second and he swallowed hard before plunging on with his confession.  "Everywhere I went there you were and I couldn't touch you or hold you, couldn't tell you how much I loved you and how much it hurt just to look at you.  And when I finally realized how stupid I was tryin' to forget you instead of figurin' out what went wrong, you left me and I felt like I had no one.  I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep.  I'd hear your laughter in my head or see a woman who looked like you from behind only to find out that there was no one there or the woman wasn't you."

Kid picked up the limp hand that lay on the coverlet and brought it up to his lips.  He closed his eyes tightly as his vision swam.  Opening them again, he let them caress her features lovingly.  "I need you, you know," he said in a whisper.  "I've never needed anyone.  Didn't believe in it.  Needin' people just made it tougher when they left and they all did eventually.  But you....  I've never admitted that to anyone, not even myself, let alone you.  I was so afraid of losin' you that I drove you away myself and in return you do the most selfless thing I could ever imagine.  You carry this little boy, my baby, inside you, give birth to him, and raise him all on your own.  And then you come back and you let me be a part of his life.  I never really told you how thankful I am to you for Alex--Lexi--and for changing me.  For making me need you."

He caressed her cheek gently, his tanned fingers dark against her pale skin.  Kid ignored the tears running down his face as he bent over and kissed her flushed forehead.  "You belong to me, I belong to thee," he murmured against her skin.  The words were ones his mother had told him were part of the secret vows she'd made to his father oh so many years ago.  Considering how the marriage had turned out, Kid wondered why he remembered the words.  However, they were the perfect expression of how he felt.

"Please don't take her," he pleaded, staring at the ceiling, "please!"
 

Chapter 19