Chapter 10 It was almost dark when Kid returned to the house. Finding the horse slaughtered in the pasture had really affected all the ranch hands. According to Jem, this wasn’t the first horse that went missing recently, but it was the first to be found in such a state. Kid was relieved that Lou wasn’t with them this afternoon for their daily ride. He was afraid the sight of the mangled body would have been too much for her delicate stomach. He hoped she had a better time baking bread this afternoon. A few months ago, he would never have imagined that she would willingly bake anything, much less volunteer to undertake the task. Pushing open the kitchen door, he was mesmerized to see her up to her elbows in dough. Her hair was held back with a kerchief and she smudged flour across her brow as she swiped an errant strand of hair out of her face. Pausing to watch her hands knead and shape the dough into loaves, he noticed her arms moved with a fluidity that spoke of experience. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked, walking over to her finally. Pausing in her work, Lou looked over at him and responded, “Actually, I am. When I used to think about giving up the express and giving up my disguise, I thought the idea of spending my day in a kitchen terrifying. But, since I’ve been here, I’ve actually come to enjoy it.” Kid smiled at his wife before leaning against the pantry doorway so he could continue to watch her ready her bread for baking. Lou bustled around the kitchen, pulling baking pans out, placing her newly formed loaves on top and covering them with a linen towel. “As soon as the oven is hot enough, these can go in,” she informed Kid. “Mrs. Smith,” she stated, “I need to get some fresh rosemary from the garden, do you need anything while I’m out there?” Mrs. Smith, who was busy stirring some kind of stew in a large pot on the stove, responded, “Could you gather some thyme? I need more to finish dinner. Thanks, love.” Once Lou disappeared into the garden, Mrs. Smith turned to Kid and said, “Our Louise has become quite the baker in the last few months. Her bread never lasts more than a day around here, so I finally convinced her to make multiple loaves instead of just two or three.” “Well, I can’t wait to try it,”Kid said. “And she has become quite the cook as well, Kid. She usually helps with dinner a few times a week as well. Remember that stew and bread you had the night you arrived?” Mrs. Smith added. Kid nodded, “Yeah, that was delicious.” “She made all of that. Louise was convinced that you would come that day so she spent all day in the kitchen, cooking dinner for you. When she entered the dining room that night and you weren’t there, it broke her heart all over again. We tried to tell her that it was unrealistic and that it was too far for you to ride in one day, but, well, you know her. She insisted.” “I tried to get here sooner, but I got hung up in town. Teaspoon asked me to deliver a message to Amanda, but I couldn’t find her. Took me all evening.” “Well, it’s good you’re here now, Kid. Theresa was saying earlier how different Louise is now that you are here. It’s like a part of her was missing. She was so sad when she got here. Sure, she would go riding and help out around here, but it was as if her heart just wasn’t here. Now we know, she left it with you when she left Rock Creek.” Hearing the chatty cook lamenting about Lou’s behavior before he arrived here, struck a chord with Kid. he knew exactly how she felt. When she left Rock Creek, she took his heart with him, He felt like a shell of his former self. Now that he was really with her, they could be themselves again. No, not themselves, he thought to himself, better versions of themselves. He never thought he would see the day that his Lou actually liked doing anything considered women’s work. And he surely couldn’t have predicted that he would have ridden into town, married her in secret, and started working for her family. They had both changed in the few months they had been separated. Now, they could move forward together. Lou chose that moment to burst through the kitchen door, shaking hands full of herbs, “Kid, some of the hands just got back from the north pasture and they’re yelling that some horses are missing. Do you know what’s going on?” Mrs. Smith relieved Lou of her bundles, quickly adding the thyme to the pot before stirring it again. “Lou, I was going to tell you later. But, since you already heard, finish your bread and I’ll tell you.” Nodding in agreement, Lou proceeded to roughly chop the rosemary before uncovering the loaves and sprinkling the leaves on top. “Lou, it was awful. We got out to the north pasture and saw what was left of the animal. I am so glad you didn’t have to see that. I fear your stomach wouldn’t have tolerated the sight,”Kid explained. “You mean it was dead?” she stopped suddenly, baking pans balanced on each hand. “It wasn’t just dead, Lou. It was almost unrecognizable.” “Do you think someone did this on purpose?” she asked, turning around to slide the loaves in the oven. Walking over to face her husband, Lou stood face to face with Kid, waiting expectantly for an answer. Kid looked into her worried brown eyes, “I do. This was no accident.” Lou furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out who would do something like this. She was about to question him further, when he, sensing the uncertainty on her face, added, “No, I don’t think it was just someone passing through who did this. Whoever did this, was really angry.” “Do you think they’ll come back?” she asked hesitantly. “I hope not but I really don’t know. They might. I think we all need to be extra vigilant out there from now on.” Interrupting their conversation, Mrs. Smith mentioned to Lou, “I can watch the bread if you like, dear, if you want to go get cleaned up for dinner.” “That’s alright. I think I’ll just wait until later. Can we heat some water during dinner so I can have a bath later?” she responded. “I’ll go set the table. Kid, can you go find Pa and Uncle Josiah and tell them it’s almost time for dinner?” “Sure thing, sweetheart,” Kid said as he moved towards the kitchen door. “Oh, Kid, find Jimmy, too and let him know,”she added with a soft smile. Dinner was a somber affair that evening. Word had spread among the adults that there was trouble in the north pasture. They tried their best to shield the children from anything too troubling, but hearing that one of the horses had been killed was enough to upset them. Jeremiah and little Theresa quickly finished their dinner before asking to be excused from the table. Jem told them to go get ready for bed. He would be up in a while to tuck them in. With the children gone, the adults were able to freely discuss the afternoon’s discovery. Jem, Josiah, Kid and Jimmy all agreed that this was no accident and that someone had done deliberate harm to the horse. Jem thought it would be a good idea to start sending more frequent patrols through the area to dissuade any more trouble. Listening to everyone talk about the problem in the pasture, Jimmy suggested, “Kid, had you thought about having Buck here to try to track the culprit should he strike again?” “You know, I was thinking of that. Buck is an excellent tracker,” Kid replied. Turning to Jem and Josiah, he mentioned, “Buck is one of our fellow riders and was always the best tracker we had. He’ll be looking for work once the express ends. We could ask him to come and help catch this person.” Jem and Josiah looked at each other in silent consensus. “I think that would be a good idea, Kid. Why don’t you write to him tonight and see when he can get here?” Josiah said. “I have a better idea,” Rachel interjected, “Since Jimmy and I are leaving the day after tomorrow, why don’t we just take the letter with us.” “Yeah, and Kid,” Jimmy added, “we can take your letter to Teaspoon telling him you’re quitting. Buck can bring your stuff with him when he comes.” Kid didn’t need to think about their suggestions for too long. “That’s probably for the best, Jimmy, Rachel. I really don’t want to be away from here for a few days to do it myself,” Kid agreed. With dinner finished, and worry over what tomorrow might bring, everyone decided it was time to retire for the night. Jem stopped in to see the younger children before finding respite in his own room. Jimmy and Rachel sought their rooms to pack up their belongings, while Theresa stayed in the kitchen with Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Landry having gone home earlier in the evening. The two women cleaned up from dinner and wrapped the remaining bread up to send up to Louise in the morning, they carried the buckets of hot and cold water to the lift to Lou’s bathing chamber. Once everything was cleaned and away for the night, Mrs. Smith retired to her quarters while Theresa mounted the stairs in search of her bed. Kid sat at the small desk in their bedroom, and under the low lamp light composed two letters, one to Teaspoon and one to Buck. He had helped Lou pour the water in the heavy buckets of water into the tub in the small room. As he wrote, he could hear soft splashing coming from within. Thinking of her relaxing in that tub of hot water was proving very distracting to him and he was taking longer than necessary to write these letters. Soon, soft singing was added to the sounds of her bath. Trying to block out all the distractions around him, Kid quickly finished his missives. He was just finishing sealing the letters when his wife appeared behind him, clad only in a linen towel, her face framed with the damp waves of her hair. She was truly a sight to behold and she was all his. “Kid, did you want to wash before bed?” she asked softly. Unable to tear his eyes from the vision before him, he asked, “Wanna join me?” “Kid, I just got out,” she started before he swept her up in his arms, carrying her back to the room she had just vacated. Pressing his lips to hers, he pulled the towel from her body and flung it in the direction of the chair. He quickly doffed his clothes and got in the tub, pulling her in on top of him. “Kid,” she squealed, “We can’t do this in here. Jeremiah and Theresa are just downstairs.” “Well,” he said silencing her with his lips, “We’ll just have to be quiet then.” Lou turned in the tub, straddling Kid’s lap before pressing her breasts to his wet chest, sloshing water over the edge of the tub. Kid wrapped his arms around her wet form as he felt the blood pool in his groin. Sensing the change in her husband, Lou carefully lifted herself up slightly before sliding his engorged member inside her. Kid moved to trail kisses down her neck before settling his lips on the tender spot below her ear, feeling her pulse thrumming under his attention. Unable to bear the pressure anymore, Louise began to move atop her husband. She felt a myriad of sensations as he filled her over and over again, bringing her to the edge of a precipice. Jagged breaths filled the small space as husband and wife soared over the edge together. The water was tepid by the time they ended their bath. After drying each other off amid shared kisses, Kid and Lou crawled into bed, content to lay in each other’s embrace. The events of the day weighed heavily on the pair. Kid reached over to turn the lamp down before turning to Lou, “I been thinking, Lou.” As she turned her gaze upon him, he added, “This business in the north pasture bothers me.” “It bothers all of us, Kid.” “Yeah, I know that. But I got this nagging feeling like something worse is coming, and I can’t really figure what that means. Do you know what I mean?” “I think so. You don’t think this was a single horse finding a terrible end. You think there will be more.” “I think the slaughter of this horse was just a warning,” Kid said, blowing out a breath. “Anyway, I don’t wanna talk about this anymore, especially right before bed. I would much rather think about more pleasant things.” Eying him suggestively, she asked coyly, “Yeah? Like what?” leaning in to place a sultry kiss against his lips. Immediately reacting to his wife’s suggestion, Kid pulled her into his arms to show her exactly what he thought of her suggestion. “That is quite nice, Lou, but I was thinking more of discussing our plans for the house.” “Oh,” she said, shifting around a bit. “What are your big plans for the house?” “Well, Jimmy and I are going to put a new roof on tomorrow. I don’t want to have to worry about repairing any leaks the first time it rains.” “Alright. That sounds like a good idea. I won’t want you leaving our nice warm bed to go climb on the roof in the middle of the night,” she said provocatively. Kid raised his brow at her intonation. “If it leaks in the middle of the night, I would move the bed so I wouldn’t have to leave you,” he purred into her ear. Shivers ran down her spine at his insinuation. Snuggling deeper into his arms, she asked, “Alright, so after the roof, what else?” “Jem and Josiah were going to rebuild the stairs tomorrow while Jimmy and I work on the roof. After that, there is just some patching to do on walls and floors in certain areas and then we’ll add a coat of whitewash.” “You know, I could do that once you finish the roof.” she informed him. “You can, but there's a hole in one of the outside walls in our bedroom that needs fixing first. Once that’s done, I don’t see why you couldn’t start that,” he said, tightening his hold on her. Lou snuggled closer to her husband’s chest, becoming pensive for a minute. “You know, Kid, It almost seems like you’re in a hurry to leave this house. Why would you want to do that?” Turning his attention to the exposed column of her neck, he started plying the soft skin with kisses. “Maybe because I don’t like having to worry about your sister, your brother, your grandmother, or your father barging in here,” he said, continuing to lave her skin with his mouth. “Maybe, I want you all to myself for a while,” he added. “I guess I can understand that. We’ve never really been alone, have we. First it was the boys and now my family,” she whispered. “Exactly,” Kid responded, planting a final kiss on her bare shoulder. “I’m tired of sharing.” With that, Kid retrieved her nightgown and his long john pants from where they were flung over the footboard. “Uh, Kid, you do realize that you’ll have to share me again in a few months, right?” Louise tentatively asked, slipping the white cotton gown over her head and laying back down against the pillows. “Of course,” Kid answered, smiling at her as he slipped his long johns on. He returned to the bed, leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on her swollen belly. “I can’t wait to meet him or her, Lou.” Sliding into bed and pulling her against him, Kid pulled the bedding up over himself and his wife, turned the lamp off, and fell asleep. The next day was a flurry of activity as work commenced on the cottage by the small lake. Since Jem and Josiah would be occupied with building a staircase, the hands took on the extra patrols around the north pasture, allowing their employers time to attend to family matters. While the men worked on the cottage, the women stayed busy at the main house. Feeling more rested and less nauseous then she had in weeks, Lou was eager to start sorting through the extra furniture in the attic room. With the assistance of Theresa and Rachel, they were able to find a small dining table with six matching chairs, a small settee, a rocking chair, four dressers, and a large armoire. Tying small strips of fabric onto the desired pieces, the women left the attic, covered in dust, but satisfied with what they found. Realizing it was almost lunch time, they headed to the kitchen to pack the noontime meal to bring down to the laboring men. Upon their arrival at the cottage, Louise promptly found her husband standing on the part of the roof he and Jimmy had already finished. Seeing him so high in the air, took her breath away in fear, but the two young men seemed unaffected by the height. Jem and Josiah, hearing the women’s arrival, exited the house in search of sustenance. “Kid, Jimmy!” Jem called, “You coming down?” Having apparently already espied his wife on the ground, Kid had already climbed down the long ladder that was propped against the back of the house, out of view from them all. He snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and planting a kiss on her cheek. “Miss me already?” Kid asked, winking at her as he grabbed a sandwich from the basket Teresa was holding. Louise blushed at her husband’s affectionate behavior as she and Rachel began passing out mugs of cold tea. Soon, everyone was seated and enjoying the midday repast. After lunch, Lou returned to the house with Rachel and Theresa while the men forged ahead with their labors for the day. The last rays of sunshine were dipping below the horizon when the men returned to the house for a late dinner. With the new roof and the staircase finished, everyone was tired but happy with what they had accomplished that day. Jem and Josiah were also happy to report that no nefarious activity had taken place on the ranch that day. With Rachel and Jimmy scheduled to leave for Rock Creek the following morning, everyone decided to turn in shortly after the conclusion of the evening meal. Kid and Lou had finally settled into their chambers for the night and, after both had indulged themselves in a calming bath, were ready for sleep. It had been a long, tiring day for them both. Finding repose in each other’s arms, they soon succumbed to slumber. The next morning arrived clear and chilly. Seeing the clouds looming in the distance, Jimmy was anxious to get going. It looked like rain may be settling over the ranch soon and he wanted to put as many miles between him and the approaching rain as he could. Kid and Lou, along with Jem, Theresa, Josiah and the children had turned out to wish them well on their journey. Rachel carried the letters Kid had written days before, as well as a third letter asking Noah to join them when he could. Jem and Josiah had agreed with Kid that they could use a few more hands on the ranch. Kid and Lou sincerely hoped their friends would accept the offer of work but more importantly, that they would have a home waiting here for them. As Jimmy led the buckboard away from the ranch, Kid and Lou watched as part of their family disappeared over the hills. Hand in hand, they returned to the house to start the rest of their day. Chapter 11 It was a windy evening in the middle of November and the family had just sat down to dinner, when they heard the clatter of hooves on the front drive. Kid stood and walked to the window to see who could be visiting at this hour. Everyone had been on edge since he and Jem had discovered yesterday the pasture fence was damaged beyond repair along most of the south pasture and several horses were still unaccounted for. Recognizing the familiar horses and rider, Kid grabbed a jacket from the front hall, put it on and ran out. “Buck!,” Kid exclaimed, coming down off the porch to greet his friend. “Glad you could make it. When we didn’t hear from you, we weren’t sure if you had decided to come or not?” As Buck dismounted, Kid was there offering his hand in welcome. Buck grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a brotherly hug. “How was your trip?” Kid asked. “It wasn’t too bad, the wind started kicking up this morning, making this one a bit skittish,” Buck said, indicating the horse laden with supplies that he had brought with him. “Teaspoon got word about a week after Jimmy and Rachel returned. We had a few more runs to make, but the express is officially over. Rachel is still teaching at the school. Jimmy has become Teaspoon’s full-time deputy. Cody joined the Union Army as a scout. He left with his unit just before I left to come here.” “I guess we all knew this day would come eventually, but it’s kind of sad to hear that everyone has gone their own way. You didn’t mention anything about Noah, Buck. Is he planning on joining us?” Kid asked. He saw a fleeting look of pain pass over Buck’s face, before he regained his normal stoicism. “What aren’t you telling me, Buck?” Just then, Louise came flying out of the house and barrelled into the arms of her brother. “So good to see you, Buck,” she cried, wrapping her arms around the man in front of her. Momentarily distracted by his wife’s appearance, Kid started leading one of the horses towards the barn. “Buck, why don’t we get the horses settled,” he said before addressing his wife, “Lou, can you have Jem and Josiah come out here. They’ll want to meet Buck and we’ll need help unloading all of this stuff he brought with him.” Nodding her assent, Lou returned to the house in search of her father and uncle. Arriving at the barn, Kid was watching his friend for any sign of what he hadn’t yet told him. He figured he would start with the mundane stuff before attempting to wrangle the truth from him. Removing the bundles from the laden horse before leading him into a stall, Kid asked, “Were you able to collect all of my stuff from the bunkhouse, Buck?” Carrying the saddle he had just removed from his own horse in the direction of the tack room, Buck replied, “I think it’s all there. Rachel helped me find everything. She also sent some things for Lou and for you for your cottage. Did you guys move in yet?” “Not yet. We’re still getting things ready down there, but soon. Probably in the next week or so, although I think Theresa and Jem would prefer that we wait until after Christmas to move out.” “How does Lou feel about waiting until then?” “Honestly, at first she wanted nothing more than to move to the cottage, but now she doesn’t seem to care too much when we move. I think she likes our room at the house now. We’re the only ones up on the third floor, so we have some privacy. But, none of the doors inside the house have locks. I had the blacksmith in town make me one for our door right after Jimmy and Rachel left,” Kid explained. Noticing the perplexed look on Buck’s face, Kid continued, “Let’s just say, I was tired of people walking into our room whenever they felt like it.” At Kid’s explanation, Buck burst out laughing. “I can see why you want to leave then,” he acknowledged, catching Kid’s real meaning. Finishing with the horses, Kid checked to see that the troughs were filled with hay and oats before joining his friend near the barn door. At that moment, Jem and Josiah, newly arrived from the house descended upon Buck. “You must be Buck,” Josiah said, extending a hand in welcome. Jem stood next to his brother, assessing the man his son-in-law had promoted to him. “Yes, welcome, Buck,” Jem added. Buck shook both men’s hands as Kid started picking up the bundles they had dropped on the floor by the barn’s entrance. “We’ll have to give you the grand tour tomorrow,” Kid said. “For now, let’s get you up to the house for some dinner and show you to your room. I’m sure Lou is eager to hear all the news from Rock Creek,” he added, leading his friend from the barn, Jem and Josiah picking up the remaining bundles and following in their wake. Lou had set another place at the table for Buck so dinner was waiting for him when the group arrived at the house. Gathering around the table, Buck was the center of conversation as he heartily enjoyed the meal. After some quick introductions to the remaining family members, Buck was quick to share news of their express family to Lou. “Will Noah be joining us?” Lou was quick to ask when she noticed the omission of what their friend’s plans were following the closure of the express. Kid had been waiting to inquire about Noah’s plans when his wife asked the question before he could. Buck was hesitant to inform his friends about Noah, but laying his fork down he decided it was time to share the truth. “Noah was planning on coming here once the express shut down,” Buck informed his friends. “What do you mean he was going to join us, Buck?” Lou was quick to ask. Kid was starting to get nervous about where Buck was going with this. “Noah was killed two days before I left to come here,” Buck sadly whispered. The looks of shocked disbelief that appeared on his friends’ faces spoke volumes. “What are you saying, Buck? Noah is dead?” Lou said, silent tears starting to streak down her cheeks. Kid moved closer to his wife and wrapped his arm around her. Unable to comprehend what happened, Kid entreated, “What happened?” “Jimmy had come back from a run with this woman, Rosemary, in tow. There was this gang, the Pierson gang, that had been causing trouble around the border. They were responsible for the death of Rosemary’s husband. She decided to go after them and Noah went with her to look after her. The gang shot him multiple times. He was dead before Cody could get him to the doc. We buried him the day before I left. Rachel wanted to write, but there was no time. So, it was decided we would have the funeral and I would tell you when I got here,” Buck informed the group. Lou turned her face into Kid’s shoulder and softly sobbed. “Buck, I am so sorry to hear about your friend,” Theresa said. “He was like a brother to all of us, Theresa,” Buck replied. “I’m sorry we couldn't be there to pay our respects,” Kid added, rubbing his wife’s shoulder. Buck sensed this might be a good time to change the subject. “So, your letter said there have been some problems around here. What’s going on?” “I’m not really sure where to start, Buck,” Jem started. “How about with the first thing that happened,” he replied. Josiah started, “A few weeks ago, some of the hands noticed that some horses were disappearing. Then, during Rachel and Jimmy’s visit, we discovered one of the missing horses had reappeared, but someone had done terrible things to it.” “It was almost unrecognizable, Buck,” Kid added. Jem continued, “We thought it might just be the result of a grifter passing through the territory, but then yesterday while out on our afternoon rounds, Kid and I noticed sections of fence around the south pasture were completely destroyed. Only once we arrived back at the barn and had a chance to speak to some of the hands that had been working out there, did we discover more horses were missing.” Buck listened carefully while he finished eating his dinner. He didn’t think this was an Indian problem as there had been no reports of Indian trouble in these parts. Just the same, it was very interesting that they were having these strange problems recently. “Kid says you’re a good tracker. We were hoping you could look at some of the damage and maybe tell us what may be going on,” Josiah added. “It’s clearly too late tonight to do anything, so maybe we could head out tomorrow morning so you can see for yourself.” “Alright, sure,” was Buck’s reply. Louise excused herself from the table along with Mrs Smith to clear the dinner dishes and disappeared to the kitchen. Theresa directed the children to their rooms to ready themselves for bed. While upstairs, she assured herself that one of the guest rooms was ready for their newest arrival. Once she checked the room, she returned downstairs to show Buck to his room. Kid, Jem, and Josiah left to make one more check on the horses in the barn before Josiah departed to his house for the evening. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, Jem and Kid returned to the house. Kid wandered through the house until he found his wife busy washing dishes in the kitchen with Mrs. Smith. Dismissing the cook for the night, he strode up behind Lou, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Kid, where did you come from? I thought you were in the barn with Pa?”she asked, her hand hidden beneath the sudsy water. Releasing the top buttons of her blouse, Kid pulled the top of the garment open, bestowing kisses along the smooth column of her neck. “Mmmm-hmmm,” he murmured, moving along to taste her collarbone. “I was, but now I’m here with you,” he whispered between kisses. “Do you want any help?” he asked. “Mrs. Smith was just here,” Lou said looking around the deserted kitchen. “I wonder where she went?” “I told her to go home,” Kid informed her. Grabbing a linen towel, he proceeded to dry everything Lou had washed, stacking everything neatly on the work table. Once she was finished washing dishes, she quickly returned everything to the pantry before dimming the kitchen lamp and heading for their bedroom. Once in their room, Lou quickly donned her nightgown before retiring to bed. Kid followed quickly and soon the two were snuggled up in bed, ready to discuss the day’s events. It was a habit they had started shortly after they had married. They would lie in bed at night before going to sleep, Louise on her back while Kid curled around her side, his hand stroking her belly where their child grew. “I can’t believe Noah is gone,” Lou said softly, her eyes glistening with tears. Wiping the errant tear from her cheek, Kid replied, “I know, Lou. It just doesn’t seem real.” Lou thought about everything Buck had shared with them a few short hours ago before she suggested, “How would you feel about naming the baby after Noah if it's a boy?” Kid looked deep in her eyes before saying, “I think that would be a really nice way to honor our lost friend, sweetheart.” Kid leaned over to press a soft kiss to his wife’s lips as he continued to rest his hand on her belly. All of a sudden, Lou’s eyes flew open as her hands quickly moved to cover Kid’s larger hand on her belly. “Did you feel that?” she asked incredulously. Kid moved his hand around, looking curiously at her. “I think I just felt the baby move, Kid!” she exclaimed softly. Raising his brow at her in surprise, Kid moved to place a kiss on their growing child. He moved back to his place at her side, before pulling her close to him. “Are you going to be ready to move to the cottage soon? I thought I saw some of the hands moving furniture in there the other day,”he said. “You know I’ve been anxious to get settled there, but I have to admit, I’m going to miss this room. Ever since you added that lock to the door, I don’t mind staying here so much,” Lou responded. “That’s what I thought. But will you mind once we move out?” “Nope. Besides I am sure I’ll still spend time up here at the house most days. And, I figure that Pa and Grandma will still expect us up here every night for dinner,” she added. “And Theresa and probably Jeremiah will come visit you at the cottage,” Kid finished for her. “But, with the baby coming, we’ll need more room than just this room. I’m sure,” she paused to look suggestively at her husband, “that this one will be the first of many.” Kid grew pensive at Lou’s last statement. Sensing her husband’s change in mood, she queried, “You alright?” When he didn’t answer right away. Louise rolled over in his arms to look at him. Bringing her hand to his face so he would look at her, she said, “Hey, talk to me. Is this about the baby?” Seeing his unease, she continued, “Do you want children, Kid? Or do you just not want them with me?” Realizing that his silence was affecting his wife, Kid shook his head. How could she think he wouldn’t want children with her? There was nothing he wanted more than to fill her belly with as many children as she wanted. Just as long as she was right by his side, he would give her whatever she wanted. “Lou, of course I want children. And there is no one else I would want for their mother than you,” he explained. “Then what is it?”she pleaded with him. “I am afraid of becoming my father.” There. He had said it. Besides losing her, turning into the monster he remembered his father being was his biggest fear. “Kid, why would you think that? You’re nothing like him,” she soothed. “You know how angry I can get sometimes,” he said looking at her. “I would never forgive myself if I hurt you or our child.” Kissing him gently, Lou reminded him, “We all get angry, Kid. It’s alright to get angry, but never, not once have you ever directed that anger at someone you loved.” She kissed him again before a wry smile crossed her face as she added, “Except maybe Jimmy. But I suspect most of those brawls were because of me.” “Yeah, they were. I used to get so jealous whenever I thought you were confiding in him and not in me. I really didn’t like to share you. I still don’t,” he replied. “But, I have learned to listen to you if I ever get the wrong idea.” “We’re definitely much better now than we were back then,” she admitted. “Yeah. And now we’ll have this little one to join us,” he said, indicating her stomach. “We should get to sleep, Kid. You and Buck are meeting Pa and Uncle Josiah in the morning to look at the fence and start figuring out what to do next. While I’ll be putting things away at the cottage. The sooner I finish, the sooner we can move in. and then...,” Lou said, wiggling her brow saucily. Kid silenced her with his mouth, kissing her deeply before saying, “Good night, my sweet wife.” “Good night, Kid,” was her response as she rolled over to go to sleep. Once the lamp was doused, Kid curled up against his wife’s back, his arm protectively wrapped around her middle and the child contained there. Chapter 12 “This definitely looks like someone did this intentionally,” Buck announced to Kid, Jem and Josiah late the next morning as he inspected the damaged sections of fence. The other three men stood around, eager to hear what Buck had to say about the situation. As he was walking along the missing sections of fence, Buck noticed tracks leading away from the pasture in one specific spot. Kid, seeing the concern on Buck’s face, left the others and walked over to join his friend. Buck looked over at Kid before raising his finger to his lips indicating he needed to be quiet. Once Kid was close by, Buck said, his voice barely above a whisper, “Over there,” pointing off into the trees. Moving stealthily past the fence, the two men crept through the underbrush and followed the tracks until they disappeared behind some rocks. The odor of death assaulted them as soon as they arrived at the rocks. Determined to find out what was over there, they pulled neckerchiefs up over their faces in an attempt to lessen the smell and continued on. Once they had climbed around the rocks, they found the source of the malodorous scent. “I think we just found the missing horses,” Buck noted as Kid nodded his agreement. He continued, “One person couldn’t have done this. He had to have had help.” “We need to get Jem and Josiah,” Kid said, choking on the smell. “I’ll stay here and look around. You go.” Kid nodded at Buck’s command and left in search of his father-in-law and uncle by marriage. Buck continued to search around the perimeter of the rotting horseflesh. Who would do this, he thought to himself as he walked. It was then he saw the tracks leading off in the distance. Deciding not to wait for the other three to return, Buck followed the tracks until they disappeared at a river bank. Noticing the smooth marks along the bank near the shallows, he realized whoever was coming here was getting here in some kind of boat. And judging by the amount of decay that was present back by the rocks, they hadn’t been here for some time. He stood watching the river for a few minutes, noticing the ice forming along the edges before heading back to meet up with Kid and the others. Kid was showing Jem and Josiah the decaying carcasses trying to figure how many were actually here when Buck reappeared through the trees. “Where’d you go, Buck?” Kid asked as Buck joined the group. “Did you find something else?” he added. “I saw some tracks leading off over there,” he said, indicating the direction he had just come from. “What did you find there?” Josiah asked as the men walked over to where the tracks started. “Not much. But the tracks lead to the river. There were some wide, smooth markings there which leads me to believe they might be arriving here by way of the river. I would guess they would be coming from down river so they can escape faster, allowing the current to carry them back to wherever they came from,” Buck informed the group. “Do you think they’ll be back?” Jem asked, a worry creasing his brow. “Hard to tell,” Buck pondered. “It’s starting to ice up, so that would slow them down, especially once winter comes and we start getting snow.” The men wandered around the site before returning to the edge of the pasture so they could speak more easily. Returning to their mounts, they swung up onto their saddles before Kid spoke. “It looks like we have two options here. One, we could repair the fence and wait and see what happens as winter approaches. Or, two, we could take some men and search up and down the river on the possibility of finding their hideout.” “I think you’re right, Kid,” Jem agreed. “And I’m not really up for just waiting. So why don’t we talk to the hands when we get back and see who’s up for a little adventure. While we’re searching, some of the other hands can start on that fence.” With the men all in agreement, they took off at a gallop back towards the barn. Once they arrived back at the main ranch, Kid and Buck headed to the barn to tend to the horses while Jem and Josiah headed off to the bunkhouses to gather the hands for a meeting. Having finished brushing the horses down and stowing their gear, Kid and Buck left for the meeting. On the way there, Buck looked over at his friend and mentioned, “Lou looks different than she did before she left. And I don’t mean just that she’s dressing like a woman now. There’s a glow about her that I can’t figure out. Marriage agrees with her, I think.” Kid smiled at his friend’s assessment of his wife. Judging by the look on Kid’s face, Buck figured there was more to it than being happily married. “When is she due?” he asked softly. ‘Leave it to Buck to notice everything,’ Kid thought as he considered the astute man next to him. “April” he replied. “Hey, you’re awfully observant there, Buck. How come you never realized she was a girl when we started at the express?” Kid remarked. “Who says I didn’t?” was his only reply. At Kid’s sharp look, he added, “No, I really didn’t know. I believed her to be what she said she was. I mean, why would a woman be doing that job anyway?” Satisfied that Kid believed him, Buck decided to ask the question that all the riders had always wondered. “So how did you figure it out? You seemed to know pretty quickly after we got there.” After a few moments of pensive silence, Kid decided that Buck wouldn’t go running to tell everyone since they were not in the bunkhouse back in Rock Creek anymore. Maybe he could give Buck a clue and he could figure the rest out on his own. “I was the one who found her after she had been shot by that gang right at the very beginning,” he said vaguely. When Buck looked a bit puzzled, he added, “The shot grazed her ribs.” A look of clarity washed over Buck’s face just as they reached the bunkhouse. Jem and Josiah had already gathered up the hands and were in the middle of telling them all that they had discovered that morning. Since they wanted to get out there to start searching that afternoon, it was decided that they would pack lunches for whoever would be going so they needed to decide now. A few men volunteered to go while the rest split up the remaining chores between them so everything would get done in the men’s absence. Once their plan was set, the men dispersed to make preparations for the afternoon journey. Kid agreed to stay and supervise the hands that were staying closer to the ranch, while Buck left to get ready to leave with Jem and Josiah. To help them prepare, Kid ran off to the main house to see about gathering sandwiches for the men who would be leaving soon. Louise promised to bring them out as soon as they were ready. He dropped a kiss on her cheek before heading back to the barn. Once the men set off in search of a possible camp or hideout for the people responsible for the destruction at the ranch, Kid returned to the house briefly to inform the women that the men probably wouldn’t be back until after dark and to go ahead and have lunch. Louise, Theresa, and the children joined him in the dining room for sandwiches. He wanted to tell Louise about what they had found this morning but, not wanting to scare the children, he decided to wait until tonight. He listened as Louise and Jeremiah discussed the book he was reading for school, Rip Van Winkle. He was impressed with how knowledgeable his wife was when it came to literature. The discussion about the man who fell asleep in the mountains for twenty years prompted Theresa to tell her granddaughter about the new book she had just picked up in town the other day, “Louise, I just finished that new book I got. You should read it. I think you would like it.” Interrupting her conversation with Jeremiah about the dangers of falling asleep in strange places, Louise said, “What’s it called again?” “The Scarlet Letter.” “What’s it about?” “It’s about a woman who has a new baby at the beginning of the story. But her husband has been away at sea for years. So as punishment for her refusal to expose the father of her baby, the town forces her to wear a scarlet letter upon her chest.” Louise looked at her grandmother with skepticism. “Maybe. I’ll get it from you later,” she said, turning to Kid before asking, “What happened this morning out at the south pasture?” Kid knew he couldn’t tell her now, so he just shook his head, saying, “I’ll tell you later.” Louise understood that it must’ve been bad if he doesn’t want to talk about it in front of Jeremiah or little Theresa so she changed the subject and asked Theresa what she had been reading in school. With lunch over, Kid headed out to complete his run around the perimeter of the ranch pastures, making sure nothing new had happened. The ranch hands were all busy with their various jobs so he set out on his own today. Louise spent the afternoon in the cottage, storing the things Rachel had sent from the waystation for them to use once they moved in. When she was finished, she walked back to the main house to write to Rachel, letting them know how they have been and to thank her for the earrings she had sent to her as a wedding gift. On her way up to her room, she picked up the new book from her grandmother so she could read it once her correspondence was finished. Jem, Josiah, Buck and the rest of the hands returned to the ranch late in the evening, well after the sun had set. The wind had started to pick up as they were heading back bringing clouds with it and much colder temperatures. Snow wasn’t far away. Once they took care of their horses, the three men went up to the main house for some dinner as well as to let Kid know how their search had gone. As they sat in the dining room eating, Jem informed Kid that they hadn’t seen anything to the west, but Buck and his men had found remnants of a camp about two hours to the east. “I think it’s the gang’s camp, although it could just be a coincidence. We found one of the ranch’s missing horses there. We brought her back with us just in case,” Buck reported. “I thought we might go there tomorrow to look around,” he suggested. “As much as I would like to, I’m not sure that’ll be possible, Buck. It looks like it might snow tomorrow,” Josiah said. “I agree. If that’s the case, I think we may have lost any further chance to track this gang down. We’ll have to wait till spring. Don’t want to risk getting caught in a snowstorm,” Jem stated. “I guess then there’s nothing to do but wait,” Kid agreed. “And hope nothing else happens before then,” Theresa added as Louise nodded. Kid and Lou were in their room later that night, when Kid decided to discuss their plans for moving. Louise was sitting on the bed brushing her wet hair following her evening bath. “With snow coming, Lou, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to move in there tomorrow,” Kid told his wife. He figured she would be disappointed, but he was surprised when she just shrugged her shoulders at his comment. “If the snow isn’t too bad, maybe we can at least go down there for a little while tomorrow,” he added, trying to let her know that he was as anxious to move there as she was. Louise responded with an “Mmmm-hmmm.” Kid eyed his wife curiously, she wasn’t usually this quiet or agreeable. “Are you alright, Lou?”he asked carefully, walking around to stand in front of her. “I’m fine, why?” she responded. Kid watched her for a minute before heading into the bathing chamber to wash up before bed, leaving her alone in their room. He had just sunk into the tub and rested his head on the edge of the tub behind him and closed his eyes when he heard her voice from the doorway. “You know, Kid. You worry too much sometimes.” Opening his eyes, Kid replied with a sigh, “I do? And how do I worry too much?” There was an edge to his voice. Sensing his annoyance, Louise walked over and kneeled by the side of the tub so she could watch her husband when she told him something she knew he wasn’t going to want to hear. “Well, you’re worried about a little snow tomorrow, when we could still move in there tomorrow,” she said, running a finger down his damp chest. She paused a moment before she continued, “Besides, everything is already there except our clothes. Grandma helped me find an extra bed and mattress in that old dusty attic.” She continued to play with the curling hairs on Kid’s chest before she told him the rest. “In fact, I was so busy down there today, that we could’ve spent the night down there instead of up here.” And with that statement, Lou pressed a chaste kiss on her husband’s cheek, stood and left the room. As the realization that he could be in his own house alone with his wife dawned on him, Kid quickly made a decision. Finishing up with his bath, he left the bathing chamber, dried himself off and dressed again in the clothes he had worn earlier that day. Louise, who had already tucked herself into bed, watched his movements as he strode through their room. Filled with a new determination, Kid walked over to the closet and pulled Lou’s carpet bag from the shelf. He quickly began stuffing everything he could grab from their dresser into the tired bag. He then moved over to the night tables, adding their contents to the overstuffed bag before he finished at the desk. Kid sat down to write a quick note, then he stuffed the paper, ink, pens, and books into the bag. He carried the bag over to the door where he dropped it loudly on the floor. “Kid, what are you doing?” Louise asked in disbelief from the bed. By this time, Kid had walked around to his wife’s side of the bed. Picking her slippers up off the floor, he plopped them on her lap before tossing her robe to her, demanding, “Put these on.” As she complied with her husband’s directive, Louise couldn’t help the gleeful smile that stretched across her face. He was actually going to move them down there right now, even though it was after eleven o’clock at night. Louise grabbed the lamp from the nightstand as she hurried over to meet Kid at the door. Picking up the overflowing bag, Kid grabbed his wife’s hand and pulled her from the room to descend the dark stairs. They quietly passed the closed doors on the floor below them, being careful not to wake the occupants of those rooms who should have been sleeping peacefully. Continuing their descent, Kid reached the front hall. Leaving the hastily scrawled note on the front table, he regained Lou’s hand and began pulling her towards the back door. Carefully easing the door open, he immediately felt the rush of cold air and snowflakes hit his face. Trying his best to shield his wife from the snowy weather outside, Kid brought Lou outside to stand on the porch as he closed the door. Grabbing the handles of the worn bag in his hand, he took Lou’s hand and started running across the field to their new home. “Kid, slow down,” Louise stopped halfway there, trying to catch her breath. She was having trouble keeping up with her husband in her flimsy slippers while he was wearing his usual boots. It was getting slippery out there. She looked around her as the snow continued to fall, blanketing everything in her sight. Clad only in her nightgown and robe she was shivering and she couldn’t feel her feet. Realizing she couldn’t keep up with his larger strides, Lou stopped walking. Finally gaining her husband’s attention, she watched as he turned to see what was keeping her.“Lou, we're almost there. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can get you warmed up,” Kid said to his wife, noticing her teeth starting to chatter as he walked back to where she stood amid the swirling frozen flakes. Putting the bag down, he stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to warm her up. As she buried her face into his chest and continued to tremble in his arms, he realized she needed to get warm and fast. Reaching down, he scooped her up into his arms and started running towards the cottage. He would return for the bag as soon as she was in the house. Upon reaching the cottage, Kid pushed open the front door and placing a kiss on his wife’s lips, said, “Welcome home, sweetheart.” He kept walking until he deposited her on the settee in front of the parlor fireplace and wrapped a quilt around her shivering form. Moving over to the fireplace, where he found a stack of wood and some matches, he quickly lit a fire. Once he was satisfied with the size of the blaze, he kissed Louise again before sprinting out of the house to go retrieve the bag. Five minutes later he had returned, bag in hand, to his wife and new home. Kid set to work immediately on getting the house ready for their first night here. Assured that Louise was thawing out on the sofa, he grabbed the bag and ran upstairs to their bedroom where he started another fire in their bedroom fireplace. Once the room had light from the fire, he found a lamp and lit it before returning to the parlor and his waiting wife. “Are you feeling any warmer, Lou?” he asked, settling on the opposite end of the sofa, lifting his wife’s feet and placing them on his lap. His hands quickly started rubbing warmth back into the frozen digits. “You’d think you were in a hurry to get here, Kid,” she said, poking fun at the man facing her. Leaning over closer to her face, he replied suggestively, “I was.” Louise gazed into her husband’s hooded eyes as she said, “Take me to bed, Kid,” her meaning immediately clear. Kid stood up, scooped his wife into his arms for the second time in an hour, and carried her to bed. The firelight cast a soft flickering light over the bedroom as Kid carried his wife over to the rug in front of the fireplace. There was still a slight chill in the air, although neither of them noticed. Placing her feet on the floor, Kid leaned over and captured her mouth with his own. Louise tilted her head to the side allowing her husband to deepen the kiss. His hand reached down to untie the belt of her robe before pushing it off her shoulders. As he reached for the ties of her nightgown, he felt the buttons being loosened down his shirt front and his wife’s chilly fingers running over his bare chest. Shrugging out of his shirt, his hand returned to the tie holding her nightgown on while he wrapped his other arm around her expanding waist. Plucking the ribbon apart, Kid pulled the neckline of her gown open and began pressing kisses to the soft skin on her neck. Louise arched her back as she felt his lips close over her exposed nipple, tangling her fingers in his sandy curls. Slowly, they descended to their knees before Kid laid down, pulling Louise on top of him, pressing her to his chest. She moved her face until their foreheads were leaning on the others. Capturing his lips with a kiss, Louise pressed her breasts to the lightly furred chest below her. She felt Kid’s work-roughened hands stroking her back, willing her to be closer still to him. Sitting up, she reached between them to undo his pants before pulling them and his long johns down his legs. Once he was free of his clothing, she pulled her own gown over her head before wrapping her hand around his hard shaft. Louise ran her closed hand along its hard length, licking her lips in anticipation. Kid moved his hands from her hips to gather her breasts in his hands, lightly pinching her nipples and eliciting a moan from her. Raising her hips up slightly, she guided his engorged member into her silken sheath, relishing the feeling as he filled her. Slowly, she started to move on top of him, feeling him slide out and then filling her completely. Wanting to enhance her pleasure, Kid moved his fingers to the point of their union and began rubbing small circles on the small bud he found there. Louise continued to ride him as the pressure continued to build in her core. As the world exploded in stars around her, Kid felt the rhythmic contractions of her silken walls around him and pushed forward bringing them both home. Rolling off her husband, Louise nestled against his side, feeling his arm wrapped around her shoulders as his fingers traced small circles on her back. “That was quite a homecoming,” she said softly. Their bodies sated for the moment, they lay facing each other, limbs intertwined as they gazed into the other’s eyes. “How can one person be so lucky, Lou?” Kid whispered, gazing into her soft brown eyes. Lou brought her hand up to run a finger along his jaw before she asked, “What do you mean?” “I mean you. What did I ever do to deserve you? I love you so much and by some miracle, you love me too. I guess I just didn’t think I would ever have anything like this after the childhood I had.” “And my childhood was so stellar?” Louise asked softly, cocking an eyebrow at his last comment. “You know what I mean, Lou. Joining the express turned out to be the best thing I ever did. It brought me to you,” he said tenderly as he pressed his lips to hers. Louise stilled her hand on his chest, sighing, “Me, too. I love you, Kid.” He pulled her closer to him, relishing the feel of her skin against his as he brushed his lips across hers. Kid continued to place delicate kisses over his wife’s cheeks and jaw before running his tongue along the line of her delicate neck. She could feel his tongue tracing a line from the sensitive spot on her neck upwards to the place behind her ear that sent shivers down her spine when he suddenly snapped his head up. Jumping up from his spot on the floor, Kid turned to the petite woman beside him and said, “Oh, I almost forgot. Buck brought them when he got here the other day but with all the trouble in the south pasture, I forgot about them.” Leaving her side for a moment, she immediately regretted his absence as her skin began to cool despite her close proximity to the fire blazing in the hearth. She watched as he moved over to the carpet bag on the floor by the window and started rooting through it. Pulling a small velvet pouch from it’s depths, Kid returned to his wife on the rug. He helped her to a sitting position before kneeling in front of her. “This may not be the best place to do this, but, well..” he started, shrugging his shoulders as he wasn't quite sure what to say next. “I bought these while I was on a run in Dixon before you left. I was hoping, well, it doesn’t matter what I was hoping now, since it already came true,” he started again, looking at the small pouch in his hand. Louise looked curiously at her husband as he fumbled with finding the right words. Taking her hand in his, he started again. “Louise, you know I have pretty much always wanted you to be my wife. So, with that in mind, I got these for us,” Kid said as two simple gold bands fell from the pouch into her open palm. He looked up into her luminous brown eyes and saw a single tear fall down her cheek as she realized what he had just given her. Taking the smaller band from her hand he reached for her left hand and slid it on her third finger, saying, “With this ring, I do thee wed,” and placed a kiss where his ring now lay. Seeing what he had done, Louise took the remaining band from her hand and taking his left hand, slid the golden circlet onto his ring finger. “With this ring, I do thee wed,” she repeated the same words they would have said at their wedding had the rings been there. As she finished placing the ring on his finger, Kid pulled her onto his lap and kissed her as he had done on their wedding day. Breaking the kiss as his wife started to shiver again, Kid helped Louise stand before rising himself and guided her to the bed. Once they were snuggled under the blankets and quilts, Louise asked tentatively, “Kid, how long had you been planning to ask me to marry you?”She was genuinely curious. They had been getting much closer to marriage with each passing day as the express wound down. But hearing that he had purchased them almost a month before she left surprised her. “I had been thinking about it for a while, but I was afraid, you know, after the last time, that I would scare you away again,” he replied softly. “But you had to know it was different this time.” “I thought it was, but I was just so nervous. I couldn’t go through that again, losing you. But, then…” he said, his voice trailing off with a tinge of sadness. “But then you lost me anyway when I left with my Pa and grandmother,” she finished for him, her voice echoing his sadness. “I’m so happy you’re here now. That we’re here now, Kid. You’ve given me the life I always dreamed of. After what happened with…” her voice faltered a bit as she thought about the man who had stolen her innocence and forced her to don her masculine disguise. Reminding herself about how far she had come since then she said, “..I never thought I would be able to have what we have with anyone. It just didn’t seem possible. But then I joined the express and met you and now, here we are.” Listening to his wife reflect back on the past few years made Kid thankful for everything he had. He remembered where he had been almost two years ago. He was broke and hungry. Then his luck changed. He had managed to stay standing after being used as a punching bag for that fighter which allowed him to purchase Katy. Then he saw that poster for the express and signed up. Being sent to Sweetwater was the best thing that could have happened to him. He found a family and a home there. But more importantly, he had found Louise. As far as he was concerned, he was the luckiest man alive to have found her and fallen in love. That she loved him back made it even better. “Lou, if you had asked me a few months ago, or even a few minutes ago, I would have said that joining the express was the best decision I could have made. But now, that would be second best.” “Oh, yeah. Then what would be first now,” she asked, pretty sure what he was going to say. “Getting you to finally marry me was the best,” he answered, hugging her close to him. “I love you.” “I love you, too, Kid.” They lay there in each other’s arms, basking in the glow of their love and the flickering firelight before drifting off to sleep. Outside, the wind blew as a barrage of soft flakes continued their assault on the frozen ground outside. Snow continued to fall throughout the night, blanketing the valley with a thick layer of snow. Inside the cottage, Kid and Louise lay warm and content in each other’s arms, happy that they could finally spend their first night alone in their new home. Kid was the first to wake up, noticing the chill in the room as the fire had faded through the night. Creeping out of bed to throw some more logs on the fire, he quickly returned to bed. Beside him, Louise was sound asleep, a serene look on her face. Snuggling close to her, he took a moment to study her soft features. Her creamy skin with the faintest hint of blush on her cheeks, the fringe of her dark lashes, her rosy lips that felt so soft and welcoming beneath his own. Watching the even breath escaping from her lips, Kid leaned over to press his lips softly to hers, hoping she would soon wake. Continuing to pepper her face with kisses, Kid noticed her lashes begin to flutter open. “Good morning, beautiful,” he murmured against her cheek, planting another kiss there. Louise lifted her arms over her head and languorously stretched her body, feeling the smooth sheets against her bare skin. Kids hands were snaking their way across her midsection to pull her closer to him. “I seem to be missing something here, Kid?” she purred, indicating her lack of clothing. “I guess we forgot to grab them before going to bed last night,” Kid replied matter-of-factly. “Not that I mind. I think I like you this way,” he added, running his hands down her naked body. As Louise squirmed under his ministrations, he continued, “In fact, maybe I’ll keep you like this.” With his last comment, Kid dropped his head under the covers to further investigate her state of undress. Louise felt his mouth close over her nipple, swirling the tender nub with his tongue. His hands moved further down, finding a home on her narrow hips. As his mouth moved lower across her stomach, he heard a loud rumbling from within. Louise, feeling the grumble from her stomach, placed her hand on the sandy hair beneath the blankets and laughed. Flinging the blankets back to reveal his face, Kid looked directly at his wife’s face and said, “I think my wife may be a bit hungry this morning,” as he moved closer to her giggling face. “Let’s get you fed, my dear,” he announced, leaving his wife’s side in search of his clothing. He stopped as he found his discarded long john bottoms before asking, “Do we even have any food here?” he asked with alarm, turning to look at Louise, still reclining in bed. In his rush to get here last night he didn’t think to ask about food. Walking over to glance out the window, he noticed the layer of snow that had fallen overnight. “Did it stop snowing yet?” Louise asked as she crept from the bed in search of her nightgown. Finding it on the floor by the fireplace, she slipped it over her head and tied the ribbon at the neckline to secure it in place. Kid returned to find a shirt in the pile of things from the carpet bag that he had unceremoniously dumped on the floor last night. Discovering his favorite blue shirt, he replied, “Yeah, the snow looks like it stopped, but it looks like we got a few inches overnight,” pulling the shirt on his cold limbs. Louise had found her robe and slippers and having put them on, headed towards the bedroom door to head downstairs. “Hey, where you going?” Kid asked, grabbing a clean pair of socks. “Down to make breakfast. I’m starving and need to eat,” she said, leaning in for one last kiss before heading out the door. Kid heard her slippers padding their way down the stairs and walking to the back of the house into the kitchen. As he sat on the bed to put his socks on his cold feet, he heard the rattle of iron pans and things being pulled from shelves before he followed in the direction his wife had gone just a few minutes earlier. When he arrived in the kitchen, Lou had already found a slab of bacon, a basket of eggs and a loaf of his favorite rosemary bread on the work table. Louise was busy slicing the bacon into thin strips as she waited for the stove to heat up. Satisfied that the iron skillet on the stove was hot enough, she quickly placed the bacon slices in the pan, pleased when they gave off a sizzle. Returning to the work table, she began cracking the eggs into a large bowl before adding some milk from a pitcher and began whisking the whole mixture together. Reaching for the dried chives hanging from the ceiling, she pulled a few off, minced them on the table before adding them to the bowl and mixing them in. Kid made himself comfortable on the stool that stood at the end of the work table and admired how much Louise had learned in the few months she had been here. He didn’t think she could cook when they worked for the express, but now she seemed to have figured it out. Louise checked on the bacon to see how it was crisping up before grabbing two potatoes from a basket under the work table. She grabbed a paring knife and began carefully peeling the two potatoes before grabbing a large knife and cut them into large cubes. Placing a smaller skillet on the back of the stove, she transferred some of the bacon grease into the second skillet and tossed the potatoes in, covering them when she was done. Satisfied that everything was progressing nicely, Louise returned to the table and began slicing the rosemary bread. Spearing the two slices on a large toasting fork, she handed them to Kid and asked him to go toast them over the fire in the fireplace in the parlor. Obediently, Kid took the large fork and returned to the parlour. The fire was still glowing with some hot embers, but since it was cold in the room, he added two more logs to the fire. Kneeling in front of the hearth, Kid set about to toast the bread as Lou had asked him. By the time he had returned to the kitchen, proudly displaying his toasted bread, Louise was just finishing scrambling the eggs. Dividing the eggs between the two plates, she added the bacon followed by the fried potatoes. Taking the toasted bread, she spread some butter on each slice and placed a slice on each plate. “Kid, can you bring these over to the table in the parlour, please,” she asked. Kid picked up the food-laden plates and brought them back to the room he had just vacated. Louise appeared a few minutes later with a cup of tea for herself and a mug of coffee for Kid. Placing the cups of hot liquid on the table, she noticed her husband searching through the dresser she had set near the dining table. “Kid, what are you looking for?” she asked, taking a seat in front of one of the plates. “Forks,” was his mumbled reply. Realizing she had forgotten to show him where she had put them, she returned to the kitchen and pulled two forks from the cutlery box on the shelf by the window. Reappearing in the dining room, she called, “Here, Kid. I guess it will take some time before we get used to where everything is.” Taking the fork from her hand he sat down in the seat near her, watching her as she scooped some eggs onto her fork before putting them in her mouth. “When did you learn to cook, Lou?” he asked, astounded at the meal that sat before him. “Well, despite what I let any of you boys believe, I could cook some things when I signed onto the express,” she confessed, taking a bite of her toast. “You did?” Kid asked, his confusion evident on his face. “Once you all figured out I was a girl, I didn’t want to be stuck having to cook every time Emma or Rachel left the waystation. So I made sure to burn stuff all the time, letting me off the hook,” she said with a smile. “But, I really started working on it when I realized I was expecting in the hope that you would come.” Noticing that he still hadn’t started eating, she added, “You should eat, Kid, before it gets cold.” Kid needed no further invitation. As he started eating breakfast, he was amazed at what a good cook his wife actually was and he wondered what other skills she might be hiding from him. Once breakfast was finished, Louise stashed the dirty dishes in the kitchen before returning to their bedroom to dress for the day. Finding her underclothes, she slipped them on along with her corset, leaving the bottom holes unlaced. Kid soon appeared and helped tighten her corset strings before tying them off and tucking them into her back with a soft kiss on her shoulder. She finished dressing and set to quickly finding homes for the contents of the carpet bag. Soon the room was looking livable again and she returned to the kitchen to begin washing up. Kid, also having dressed while upstairs, found his wife in the kitchen busy washing dishes. “I’m going to head up to the barn to check on the animals this morning. Do you want anything from the house while I am up there?” he asked from the doorway. “Would you mind getting my lavender soap? It should be by the tub. And get that book I was reading from Grandma. Otherwise, just check the room to see if you missed anything last night,” she said, drying her hands off as she approached her husband. “I guess we did leave in kind of a hurry last night, didn’t we,” he said with a smirk. “You could say that. I’m kinda surprised you didn’t just throw me over your shoulder and run all the way here,” Louise added, saucily. Kid raised an eyebrow at her comment. Boy, he liked her when she was sassy like this. “Dress warmly and be careful out there, alright,” she said, reaching up on her toes to kiss him goodbye. “I will, don’t worry. I should be back here in about two hours. Knowing you’re waiting here for me will make me hurry back,” he said, pulling her into his arms for one last hug before he left. Releasing her from his grasp, Kid turned and headed towards the front door, donning his coat before he slipped out into the snow. Chapter 13 Christmas arrived, bringing with it a fresh layer of snow. Kid and Louise had decided to spend their first Christmas as husband and wife, ensconced in their cozy cottage. While Jem and Theresa and the children were disappointed, Theresa had managed to get the young couple to promise to join them for dinner that evening. Louise had wanted a tree to decorate in their parlor, so one morning about a week before Christmas, they had trudged out into the woods behind their home in search of one. Upon finding the perfect evergreen tree, Kid had chopped it down and dragged it back to the cottage. Louise had been busy making small ornaments to hang on its branches and so it was in front of their first tree that they exchanged gifts. Kid had been working on something special for his wife in his spare time up in the barn. Telling her to close her eyes, he left the room briefly, returning from the library with a large bundle, wrapped in white fabric that Theresa had given him for this purpose. Placing the bundle at his wife’s feet, next to the settee, he sat next to her before telling her to open her eyes. Louise looked at the oddly shaped bundle before casting a curious glance at the man seated beside her. “Go ahead and open it,” he gently persuaded her. Reaching over to the bundle, she pulled the fabric off, revealing a beautiful cradle. “Theresa thought you could make some bedding with the fabric. Do you like it?” he asked, expectantly. Louise turned to look at her husband, tears falling from her eyes. “Oh, Kid, it’s the most beautiful cradle I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed. “Did you make this?” Nodding his head, he admitted, “Yeah, I did. Jem and Josiah helped me keep it a secret. They would distract you whenever you would surprise me in the barn when I was working on it.” “Our baby will be the luckiest baby to have you for a father,” she pronounced. And to prove her point, the child within her belly moved, bringing her hand to her enlarged abdomen. “Kid, here give me your hand,” she said, grabbing his hand and pressing it to where their child stirred. Resting his hand there for a minute, he was astounded when he felt the child moving under his touch. He stared at her stomach for a moment before turning his eyes upon Louise’s face, a look of awe on his face. “I felt it move!” he said in amazement. Realizing she must’ve felt it as well he added, “It didn’t hurt you did it?” Louise laughed at his statement. “No. It feels sort of like there’s a fish swimming around in there. Grandma told me it will get stronger and more frequent the closer it gets to its arrival,” she replied, stroking her gently rounded stomach through her nightgown. Since Kid had given her his gift, Louise decided it was time to bring out her gift for her husband. Shyly withdrawing the wrapped package from within her sewing basket tucked on the floor beside the settee, she leaned over and handed it to its recipient. “What did you get me?” he asked with surprise in his voice. Louise nervously replied, “Nothing.” Kid looked over at her, handling the package in his hands. “This sure doesn’t look like nothing to me,” he said unwrapping the gift. Once the brown paper was removed, Kid looked down to see a red and brown paisley fabric with hints of blue in it. Lifting the garment from his lap, he realized it was a robe. The entire garment was lined with quilted cornflower blue fabric that peeked out at the ends of both sleeves. Down the front there were three deep blue frog closures with matching braid at the edge of the sleeves. Kid stared at it in amazement. He had never had something so fine. It must have cost her a lot of money to buy this for him. Worried by his silence, Louise explained, “I guess we both had the same idea, Kid. I thought you might want a robe to wear when we have breakfast in the morning so you don’t have to get dressed so fast. Maybe I thought wrong, though. If you don’t like it, I’ll understand.” She turned sadly to find something in her sewing basket to distract her from the disastrous gift. Kid was so mesmerized by his gift that he almost missed the hint of disappointment in his wife’s voice. “What do you mean, ‘if I don’t like it?’ Lou, I love it!” he said, moving over to pull her into his arms. “I am just so overwhelmed by how nice it is. It must have cost an awful lot and I know how hard you must've worked to be able to afford it.” Hearing his words, Louise realized she needed to explain a little more about the gift. She didn’t want him to think she was being wasteful with money. “Kid, I didn’t buy it. I made it. When we were looking for furniture in the attic to bring down here, I came across an old trunk full of fancy fabrics. When Christmas was getting close, I remembered the paisley and the blue and asked Grandma if I could have it. She had no idea what I was talking about, but when she saw the trunk of fabric, she told me I could use whatever I wanted. Some of it I used for curtains in here and in our bedroom. I only had to purchase the trim and frogs, and I was able to pick them up in town after dropping Jeremiah and Theresa at school one morning.” Kid realized how similar their gifts actually were to each other. Both had used materials they had found around the ranch and created something new and beautiful for the other out of them. “Lou, it really is the nicest thing I’ve ever owned. Should I put it on now?” he said, pulling his shirt off and pulling the soft robe over his shoulders. Fastening the frog closures in front, he stood proudly in front of his wife, a gleeful grin covering his face before asking her, “How do I look?” Louise rose from her spot on the settee and walked over to meet him in the center of the room. “You look like you won’t be wearing that too much longer,” she purred, lowering her lids seductively. Detecting the heavenly scent of cinnamon and sweet dough, she then turned and headed to the kitchen to remove the cinnamon rolls she had placed in the oven a while ago. Breakfast was soon ready and the two shared their breakfast at an impromptu picnic in front of the blazing fire. After spending the better part of the afternoon reaffirming their love, Kid and Louise departed their bed in time to ready themselves for dinner with her family at the house. Kid , in a dark green shirt and brown pants, and Louise, in a green plaid day dress, donned their woolen coats before leaving their warm cottage to begin the short journey to the big house. Arriving almost a half hour later, Theresa and Jem welcomed them as they tried to sneak in the back door. Josiah and the children were waiting in the parlour playing with their new set of tiddlywinks. Josiah and Jem had been trying to teach Jeremiah and little Theresa how to play. By the time Kid and Louise entered the room, Jeremiah was pitching a fit over his younger sister’s natural ability to shoot her tiddlywinks into the cup faster than his. “Louise, Jeremiah is threatening to throw my tiddlywinks in the fire!,” her sister yelled tearfully as soon as she walked into the room. “She’s cheating!” was Jeremiah’s angry retort. “No, I’m not! He’s just jealous that I can do something better than him for once!” the younger girl shouted back. Josiah stood by the front window watching the whole situation play out, a look of barely controlled mirth on his face. “Theresa, I know exactly how you feel. Jem was always better than me at everything when I was your age. But then we tried playing this same game, and I beat him every time,” he shared, a loud laugh escaping his lips. Louise walked over to her sister and brother, pulling them down onto the floor, the remnant of the game spread on the floor between them. “I think I may have played this game before, although it’s been a long time. Jeremiah, can you show me how to play? What am I supposed to do?” she asked. Jeremiah and Theresa began counting out small disks for their older sister before handing her a single, larger disk. “The object of the game is to get all your smaller disks into that cup,” Jeremiah explained, pointing to the small wooden cup in the center. Theresa added, “You have to take turns and push the big disk into the small disk until it flies into the cup.” Both Theresa and Jeremiah demonstrated how to shoot the smaller disk. Jeremiah’s disk plinked off the top edges of the cup before bouncing over to the other side. Theresa’s disk went in, making a satisfying clink as it landed inside the cup. “Well, Jeremiah. It looks like you might just need to practice a bit more before you demand a rematch,” Lou suggested. “In fact,” she added, “how about we try a round right now? Kid, you wanna join us?” She wasn’t sure if Kid had played this when he was younger, but he might be able to help her brother out a bit. Dropping down to the floor to join them he said, “Sounds like fun, but only if we play boys versus girls.” He eyed Jeremiah with a mischievous look in his eyes. Jeremiah picked up on it immediately and nodded his head vigorously in agreement. Soon the match was underway and the foursome were busy trying to out shoot their opponents. Kid turned out to be a fierce competitor, but Louise met him disk for disk. Soon, it was down to the final disk for each side, when Theresa entered the room and announced it was time for dinner. Jem and Josiah, who had been intently watching from the chairs nearby refused to budge as everyone waited to see who was going to emerge the victor. It came down to Jeremiah against Theresa. It had been decided that they were going to shoot their disks at the same time. Kid started their countdown, “One…” Louise added, “...two…” before they shouted together, “three!” At the signal, Jeremiah and Theresa shot their disks and as everyone watched, both disks clinked into the cup in unison. “It’s a tie!” Jeremiah shouted with glee. He may not have beaten his sisters yet, but at least he didn’t lose to a girl. “Alright, all of you. Dinner is on the table. We should eat before it gets cold,” Theresa admonished lightly. With her directive now being followed, she turned and led the way to the dining room. Since the cook and housekeeper had the day off to spend with their own families, it was just the family for dinner. The table had the leaves removed from it, making it smaller and allowing the family to sit closer together for the holiday. Jem and Theresa sat at opposite ends of the table with Kid and Louise together on one side and Josiah, Jeremiah, and little Theresa opposite them. Looking over the feast before them, Louise rubbed a hand over her stomach. They had missed lunch this afternoon, having been so caught up in each other and the opportunity of a free afternoon. Her stomach gave a loud grumble that did not go unnoticed by the man sitting beside her. “A little hungry there, sweetheart,” Kid leaned over to whisper in her direction. Eyeing him as he returned to his seat, she mumbled, “Someone kept me from eating all afternoon.” “What was that, Louise?” Jem asked from the head of the table. “Nothing, Pa,” she answered in return, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. Jem knew that look. He had seen it more than once or twice on his Mary’s face when they were younger. Remembering his own youthful indiscretions, Jem let out a small chuckle at his daughter’s reaction. “We should start. Jem, will you say grace?” Theresa requested. Nodding his approval, Jem folded his hands in his lap and as everyone followed his example, he began, “Dear Lord, Thank you for this meal as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Today is a reminder of your overwhelming love for all of us by sending us your only son. As we gather together this evening, we are thankful to have new faces at our table and a growing family. Thank you for bringing my children back into our lives. May you watch over all of us as we move into the new year. Amen.” Everyone concluded the prayer with a round of “Amen.” With the prayer finished, Theresa began depositing slices of turkey onto each plate. The rest of the family began passing the roasted turnips, applesauce, and mashed winter squash, adding some of each to their plates. Soon everyone was devouring the hearty meal as they spoke of ranch business, town gossip, and what was going on at the children’s school. Louise was the first to be finished, running her hand over her enlarged stomach as the one within turned around. Kid looked over at her as he was finishing up his meal. “‘You alright,” he asked, a look of concern creasing his brown. “I’m fine, someone just decided to remind me of its presence,” she said, placing her small hand on his arm in reassurance. Little Theresa looked back and forth between her sister and her new brother. “Are you gonna have a baby, Louise?” she asked, putting her fork down and boring her eyes into her sister’s. Jeremiah dropped his fork, letting it clatter onto his plate before falling to the soft carpet below. He looked at his sister in horror. Louise took in her sister’s hopeful expression and her brother’s disgusted one before she replied, “Yes. You’re gonna be an Aunt and an Uncle in the spring.” Kid reached over to take her hand, casting a besotted look her way. Little Theresa sprung from her chair and ran over to throw her arms around Louise’s neck. Her squeals of delight almost drowned out Jeremiah’s look of hatred he shot first at Louise then at Kid. “You did THAT to my sister!” he bellowed at Kid, shoving his chair back to stand. Kid and Louise spun shocked looks at the young man standing before them. Theresa, Jem and Josiah sat there stunned. Jem was the first to recover his wits following his son’s outburst. “Jeremiah, apologize to your sister immediately,” he demanded, his tone of voice brooking no argument. His son, however, had other ideas. Shaking his head to indicate that no apology would be forthcoming, Jeremiah folded his arms across his chest and continued to stare angrily at Kid. Seeing his son’s stubbornness, he stood from his seat, grabbed Jeremiah by the ear and removed him from the room. The occupants of the dining room heard the parlor door slam shut behind them. Little Theresa, undeterred by her joy over hearing she was to be an aunt, started peppering her sister with questions. “When is it coming? Is it a boy or a girl? Did you pick out a name yet? Can I hold it when it gets here? Can I watch the baby sometimes for you if you want a break?” Louise hugged her sister closer to her and ran her hand up and down the girl’s back. She was laughing over the younger girl’s reaction. “One at a time, Theresa! The baby should be here sometime in early April. We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl yet, No, we haven’t decided on names yet. I am sure you will be able to hold it eventually, although I am not sure I’ll want to let it out of my arms for a while, much less out of my sight,” she said, sharing her sister’s glee. A few minutes later, Jeremiah and Jem returned from the parlour. “I’m sorry, Louise, Kid,” Jeremiah said uncomfortably. Having delivered his apology, Jeremiah sat back down at the table and finished eating his dinner in stony silence. Theresa reached over, and laying her hand on her eldest granddaughter’s arm said under her breath, “He’ll get used to the idea, darling. Give him some time.” Louise nodded in understanding. Her grandmother would explain later. Once the dinner had been eaten, Louise and Theresa with help from little Theresa cleared the table of all the dishes. They disappeared in the kitchen to prepare dessert. Theresa had helped her grandmother make mince pie and a plum pudding for dessert and was excited to have everyone try it. Louise was more than happy to help her sister out with her first baking experience. Finding the dessert dishes in the pantry, Louise carried them into the kitchen to grab a knife before turning and disappearing through the dining room door. She had just regained her seat when Her grandmother and sister appeared in the doorway. Little Theresa’s face was beaming over her plum pudding. Jem started clapping his hands in appreciation over his youngest daughter’s efforts; the pudding smelled divine. Theresa entered after her granddaughter, bearing the mince pie as well as the lemon custard Louise had made the day before. Once dessert was finished, the men retired to the parlour to discuss ranch business, bringing Jeremiah and little Theresa with them. The women, meanwhile, returned to the kitchen to clean up from the evening’s feast. As Louise had her hands elbow deep in hot sudsy water, Theresa shed some light on her grandson’s outburst during dinner. “Apparently, some of the boys at school had recently explained to Jeremiah where babies come from. Your Pa said Jeremiah was so upset on the ride home from school last week. When they arrived home and Theresa had run off to find a snack, Jem took the boy for a ride with him around the ranch. Jeremiah told him that one of the boys from school had explained in great detail the mechanics of how the whole thing worked.” Louise dropped the pot she had been scrubbing, which caused a loud crash on the floor. She looked at her grandmother before they both burst out laughing. “He actually said that to Pa?” Louise said, tears beginning to stream from her eyes with her mirth. “Jem didn’t give me the specifics of what he said, but he told me enough. He also told me that Jeremiah was so horrified by the whole thing he swore he was never going to do anything like that...ever!” Theresa added. Both women dissolved in new gales of laughter over hearing of Jeremiah’s vow. Kid, hearing the crash in the kitchen, came running from the parlor to the kitchen. Thinking that someone must have been hurt, he flung the door from the hallway open before he stopped short to take in his wife and her grandmother clutching their sides as they doubled over with laughter. “Lou, is everything alright in here?” he asked tentatively, taking a single step into the room. Louise rushed over to him, grasping his forearms for support before she turned back to her grandmother. “Kid...Jeremiah...I can’t,” she said laughter overtaking her again, “Grandma, you tell him,” she finished before she leaned against her husband, her body shaking with her humorous effort. Theresa was equally seized with her own howling laughter that she just waved at the pair of them before sitting herself on the stool by the work table. “How about you just tell me later, Lou,” Kid said once he realized neither woman would be able to tell him anything at the moment. Louise turned in his arms, placed a chaste kiss upon his lips before turning to return to her sudsy chore. Regaining some of her composure, she told him, “We’ll be out in a few minutes, Kid,” dismissing him from the kitchen. Seeing that nothing else was amiss, he left through the door he had entered through minutes earlier. A half hour later, Louise and Theresa joined the rest of the family in the parlour. After enjoying Theresa’s story in the kitchen, they were a little surprised to find the mood in the parlor much more somber than they expected. Jeremiah and Theresa were battling it out over the tiddlywinks again, this time practicing for a rematch instead of fighting as they had been earlier in the day. Jem, Josiah, and Kid had been standing around discussing the lapse in destructive problems around the ranch and what it meant. All three men were on edge over the fact that the men who had been causing havoc around the ranch, hadn’t been busy lately. It left them feeling nervous and wondering, so they were trying to anticipate when they might strike again. Each of them was sure they had not seen the last of whoever it was. With the arrival of his wife, Kid left the group to join her, placing his arm around her waist. “Was everything alright back there? I don’t remember you laughing quite so hard in all our days with the express,” he whispered, his eyes full of merriment. She returned his gaze, her own eyes barely able to conceal her own mirth. “Ask me when we get home, alright. Trust me, this is not the right time or place,” she whispered back, a small giggle escaping her lips. Theresa, deciding it was getting late, announced, “Louise, Kid, everyone, sit please.” Jem joined her by the tree they had decorated in the corner of the parlor. Underneath there were a few presents waiting to be exchanged. Little Theresa immediately found a present with her name on it and asked, “Can I open it now?” Louise, nodded for her to go ahead. The young girl tore the brown paper off the oddly-shaped package to discover it was a small cradle for her baby doll to sleep in. Kid had made a smaller one after Louise told him about Miss Annabelle Mumblepuss. Louise had sewn a small mattress, pillow and quilt to complete the gift. “Louise, Kid I love it! Thank you!” little Theresa exclaimed as she ran from the room. They heard her feet quickly stomping up the stairs before they were heard coming back down again. Little Theresa had retrieved the beloved doll so she could put her to sleep in her very own bed. “Pa, will you bring this to my room tonight? I don’t want her to get lonely down here all by herself,” Theresa asked her father. “Sure thing, darling. I’ll carry it up once Louise and Kid leave,” he replied, smiling at his younger daughter. Little Theresa continued to care for her baby doll as the rest of the family continued exchanging presents. Jeremiah received a bat and baseball from his sister and brother-in-law, leading the gift givers to regale the group with their first experience playing the game with their express family. Theresa, Jem, and Josiah received an embroidered, framed picture of the ranch house courtesy of Louise and Kid. Finally, they brought out their gift for the young couple. Handing the large envelope to Kid, Jem said, “We thought about this for a long time before deciding it was the perfect gift for the two of you,” Jem pronounced. Josiah motioned for Kid to open the envelope he was clutching in his hand. Kid turned the packet over before breaking the seal and pulling out some official looking documents. Carefully unfolding them, his eyes scanned its contents before whipping his attention sharply back to the two men standing in front of him. “Kid,” Louise implored, “What is it? What does it say?” She was trying to move his large hand from on top of the refolded document. Kid’s gaze remained on Jem and Josiah as he asked, “Really? I… This is too generous...I don’t know what to say.” The two men smiled at the young man as he stammered to understand what they had done for him and his wife. “Kid, you don’t have to say anything. You have made our Louise happier than we’ve ever seen her. We want you to really feel like this is your home too,” Jem explained to his son-in-law. Louise looked between her husband, father, and uncle. “Besides, you’ll own the whole thing once we’re gone,” Josiah added with a smirk. “Would someone please tell me what is going on here?” Louise queried, her annoyance clearly displayed on her face. “Sweetheart, your father and uncle gave us the twenty five acres in the southeast corner of the ranch. It includes the small lake and our cottage. It’s in our names now,” Kid said softly, showing the deed to the property to his stunned wife. Leaping from the settee she was sharing with her husband, Louise threw herself into her father’s arms telling him thank you between her tears. Jem hugged his daughter tightly before she squirmed out of his arms and threw herself into her uncle’s waiting arms. Standing back from the two men, she said sniffling, “How can we ever thank you?” Jem looked his daughter in the eye before he said, “Just take care of each other. I want you and Kid to have what your Mama and I never did. Spend your lives together, raise your children,” at his mention of children Louise raised her brow at her father’s implication. “Yes, Louise, I am sure there will be many more following this one,” he said, nodding his head towards her abdomen. “We want you to live with no regrets when you look back at your life many years from now,” Josiah added for his brother. Following his wife’s flight from the sofa, Kid stood behind her, waiting to shake the two men’s hands. He had no other way of thanking them for the generous gift they had just bestowed upon him and Lou. Jem, seeing Kid’s outstretched hand, took hold of it and without warning, pulled Kid into a hug. “Just promise me you’ll take care of her. And love her. Never stop loving her. I can see how happy you make her, even if I tried to ignore it in the beginning. I’m sorry for taking her away from you,” he spoke softly into his son-in-law’s ear. Releasing the younger man, Jem looked at both Louise and Kid before he added, “I know you already knew that you have a place here, but I wanted you to really feel like you belong here. Hopefully, this helps. Kid, I know I never said this before, especially when I should have, but welcome to the family, son.” Louise wrapped her arms around her husband’s middle as he lifted his arm to place it around her shoulders. She could see the emotion on his face when Jem had finally welcomed him to the family. He was accepted here exactly as he was. With this spitfire of a woman by his side, Kid knew he was where he was meant to be. He was part of a family again, a family that he wouldn’t have without her. Since the family had finished exchanging their presents, Theresa announced that the children should be going to bed. Jeremiah and Theresa exchanged loud groans at their grandmother’s directive, but knew it was hopeless to try to stay up later. Still, Jeremiah decided to give it a try anyway. “Grandma, Theresa and I can’t go to bed until we have our rematch. We can’t go to bed when there’s a tie. Can’t we stay up until we can play one more game with Louise and Kid?” he pleaded. Theresa nodded her blonde head vigorously in support of her brother. The two children turned pleading eyes to their sister and brother by marriage, hoping to get them on their side. “I suppose we could stay long enough to end this little war we have going on here,” Kid suggested, after silently checking with his wife. Theresa knew she had no choice but to let the four play their game before the children went to bed. “Oh, alright!” she said, throwing her hands up in defeat. “But, if it’s a tie again, the rematch will have to wait until another day. You two are going to bed after this,” Theresa added sternly to her two younger grandchildren. With the adults all in agreement, Louise and Theresa squared off against Kid and Jeremiah for the second time tonight. This time, despite their valiant attempt, the girls won the game by a large margin. Kid turned to the boy by his side and said, “Well, Jeremiah, we fought long and hard, but I think we have to give the victory to those two ladies over there.” Jeremiah looked up at his sister’s husband, a look of contrition in his eyes before he nodded his agreement. Louise and Theresa had started putting the game away when Kid stood up from the floor to get ready to leave. Jeremiah grabbed his sleeve in an attempt to gain the man’s attention. “Kid?” he asked. As Kid turned to face the boy, Jeremiah softly said, “I’m sorry I said that to you at dinner. I know Louise loves you and you would never hurt her.” A look of confusion quickly passed over Kid’s face before he replied, “It’s forgotten already, Jeremiah. Don’t worry about it.” Tousling his brother-in-law’s hair, Kid could see the tension leave the boy’s face as he realized his apology was accepted. He realized he needed to find out what was going on with the boy from Lou. He had a feeling she knew why her brother was acting so strangely at dinner and the rest of the evening. Having finished stowing the game away, Louise hugged Theresa and Jeremiah, wishing them a good night as the children trudged up the stairs to their beds. Jem followed closely behind with Theresa’s new cradle where Miss Annabelle Mumblepuss slept soundly. He was back downstairs in no time, waiting with open arms to say goodnight to his eldest daughter and her husband. They still had to make the half hour walk to their house in the dark, cold night. After wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Louise and Kid donned their coats by the back door and slipped out into the quiet evening. Once outside, Kid reached for Louise’s hand as they started walking in the direction of home. As they stepped off the long porch, they noticed that a light snow was starting to fall. Louise stopped to turn her face up to the silent flakes and, enjoying the soft silence, she closed her eyes. She felt his nearness as the warmth of his body removed the chill from her own. Kid slowly lowered his face to hers, bestowing a soft kiss on her lips. “We should go home, Lou,” he whispered, his forehead resting on hers. Nodding her agreement, Louise started walking again towards the cottage. “I can’t believe your father gave us the land and the house,” Kid said. “I think he’s lived a life full of regret and wants something different for his children,” Louise responded thoughtfully. “I guess. But, no one has ever been this generous with me before.” “I know what you mean, but maybe it’s time we start accepting that this is what family does. We had that with Teaspoon and Emma, then Rachel and all the boys,” She said wistfully. Pulling his arm closer to her, she reached across her body to hold his arm so she could share his warmth. “It sure is cold out here,” she added, changing the subject. They continued walking for a few minutes before Kid asked, “What were you laughing about in the kitchen after dinner? We heard a loud crash from the parlor, so I came to see what was wrong only to find the two of you in hysterics.” “Oh, that. Right. I was going to tell you about that,” Louise answered, as a wry smile spread over her face. “Grandma told me something about Jeremiah,” she said, pausing to glance up at her husband’s face before she continued, “Apparently, some of the older boys from school were telling him where babies come from. From what she told me tonight, Jeremiah shared some pretty graphic descriptions of the whole mechanics of the process,” she explained, barely able to control her rising mirth. Kid stopped walking to look at her, his face a mixture of shock, embarrassment, and laughter. Hoping he would share her enjoyment of the whole situation, Louise finished, “Well, when he realized that I was expecting, he also realized how that must have happened.” With her story complete, she lowered her face suggestively, her meaning clear on her face. Kid’s face now turned a bright shade of crimson under the soft moonlight peeking through the clouds. “No wonder he shouted that at me at dinner,” he said running his hand over his face. “You know, he apologized again to me right before we left. I still had no idea why he was so upset over our dinner announcement. I guess I understand now,” Kid admitted sheepishly. “Kid, it gets better. Pa told Grandma, who then told me, that Jeremiah swore he was never, and I mean never, going to do THAT ever!” Louise added as gales of laughter burst from her. Kid stared at her incredulously before he added, “I know for a fact that he will most certainly change his mind about that one day, and probably sooner than he will ever admit.” Remembering when he was the same age and discovered the same wealth of information from some older boys, Kid remembered the feeling of disgust he had at one time shared with his young brother-in-law. A chuckle escaped his lips as he realized how soon he was no longer appalled by the act. Now, well, now that he had found Louise, he rather enjoyed being that close to her. Louise watched the play of thoughts crossing her husband’s face: mirth, reminiscence, and finally desire. With a similar thought appearing on her own face, she started walking, but turned back to say, “You know, Kid, if we get home soon, I might just be up for a detailed demonstration of my own.” Sure that her statement had hit its mark, she turned and scampered away in the snowy night. Kid stood rooted to the spot he was in as Louise’s invitation settled in his mind. She was teasing him and boy, did he like it! Realizing she was getting further away as he just stood there, he took off running towards her. Considering she was more than five months along, she sure could run fast, he thought. He finally caught up to her at the front door to their home, where he found her standing, her back against its flat surface. Wasting no time, he crashed into her, pressing her into the cold door as his lips found hers in a crushing kiss. Her arms were around him, pulling him closer as he braced his arms against the door,one on either side of her. Reaching for the knob, Kid turned it allowing them to tumble into the house. Their arms and hands were a tangled mess as they pulled gloves and coats off the other in their frantic quest to find the treasures hidden underneath all the layers. Once they had rid themselves of their outerwear, Kid began fumbling with the buttons down the front of his wife’s dress. God, why were there always so many buttons between him and his goal! He thought briefly about just ripping them off, she could mend it later, but his better side didn’t want to make more work for her. Sensing his aggravations with the tiny buttons, Louise replaced his hands with her own more nimble fingers, pushing him to deal with his own shirt. Seeing her bodice gaping open, Kid pulled her dress off her as best he could. She pushed the skirt down over her hips, allowing it to pool at her feet. Seeing her barely clothed form inches away from him, Kid quickly closed the gap between them, her corsetted breasts pressing against his bare chest. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, she lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his waist, clinging to him as she marked a trail of kisses down his neck and shoulder. Holding her under her round, thinly-clad buttocks, Kid began climbing the stairs to their room. He could feel the heat pooling between her legs as she ground her core against his burgeoning arousal. Pushing her against their bedroom door, he kicked it open allowing them entrance to the room. It was dark and the fire had gone out, but neither of them noticed. Reaching between them, Louise found the hooks holding her corset together in the front and quickly released herself from the constricting garment. Throwing it on the floor, she returned her hands to explore the soft furring on the chest in front of her. Moving her hands lower, she tried to unfasten Kid’s belt and unbutton his pants allowing her access to what she was seeking within. Kid felt her frantic hands trying to get access, so he decided to help her out. Placing her down on the edge of the bed, he pushed his pants down past his hips before kicking out of them completely. Seeing that she was still clad in her drawers and camisole, Kid pulled them off her lithe form and added them to his own discarded garments on the floor. Louise, propping herself up with her elbows, begged her husband, “Are you gonna stand there admiring the view or are you gonna do something?” “You know I aim to please,” he said seductively, watching her with hooded eyes. Louise sat up from the bed and pulled her husband closer to her until Kid could feel her breath on his stomach. Slowly, she slid her body up against his, rubbing her breasts onto his chest while her hand found its way further south. Soon her small hand was wrapped around his engorged manhood. She was going to be his undoing. “Louise,” he murmured, “If you keep that up, this will be all over before it starts.” At his warning, her hand ceased its movements. Their mouths finding each other once more, Kid roamed his hands down the length of his wife’s body, revelling in the silkiness of her skin. As he deepened their kiss, Kid allowed his hand to travel over the rounded abdomen before his fingers delved within the damp curls between his wife’s legs. Louise felt his fingers sliding between her silken folds before he began rubbing small circles over the small bud he knew drove her to the edge. “Kid….please,” she begged as her legs quivered with the effort of standing. She fell back on the bed, her thighs falling apart allowing Kid access to her most secret place. She felt his hand trailing up the sensitive skin along her inner thigh before his fingers returned to explore her womanly softness. Using her legs, she wrapped them around his bottom and pulled him closer to her. She wanted him inside her and he was only happy to comply. Making her wishes known with a breathless moan, Kid positioned himself between her thighs and holding onto her hips, buried himself deep inside her. He could feel her walls clenching him as he entered her. He paused a moment to allow her to adjust to him before he began to slowly move inside her. As he pulled away from her, he reached his hand in between the place of their joining to continue making small circles over her sensitive flesh, before plunging back inside her. Louise was overcome by sensation as he plundered her body. Her breathing sped up as she began panting as small moans escaped her lips. As she felt the pressure building in her core, Louise grabbed the quilt on either side of her as her body came alive under Kid’s ministrations. “Kid,” she moaned, tossing her head from side to side as the sensation became unbearable. Kid could tell she was close to her release. He was too, he just needed to hold on until then. Suddenly, Louise could feel her body going over the edge as her sheath pulsed her pleasure around him over and over again. Feeling her core convulsing around him, Kid let himself go, finding his own pleasure as it filled her body. Feeling himself softening inside her, Kid leaned over and kissed his breathless wife. Having recovered somewhat, Louise pulled him down next to her, relishing in the feeling of his damp skin pressed up against her own. “I love you, Kid”she said, nuzzling into his neck. “I love you, too. Forever, Louise” They lay silently together for a few minutes, content to be in each other’s arms. Kid rolled over to his back, gathering Louise into his arms. “Tell me, Kid,” she started, a note of humor in her voice, “Was that an accurate enough description of what had my brother so bothered tonight?” Kid shook his head and laughed at his wife’s wry sense of humor. “I think you went above and beyond there, dear wife,” he replied with an equal sense of mirth. Louise let out a giggle at his comment as she shivered from the cold in the room. “Are you getting cold?” he asked with concern. She shivered again and he knew he had to get her warmed up. Standing up, He pulled her up with him before he pulled back the covers on the bed and indicated for her to get in. She scrambled into the bed as Kid stalked over to the fireplace to light a fire. Once he was content that the blaze was strong enough to take the chill from the room, he returned to the bed. His hands, warmed by their proximity to the fire, were soon stroking along the soft skin of her body. His hand soon found a comfortable resting spot over their unborn child who was gently moving under his hand. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of feeling our baby move, you know?” he asked as he grew drowsy. Louise placed her hand over her husband’s as he cradled their child. “I know what you mean,” she said in a sleepy reply. Kid drifted off to sleep first, but as the world fell away he heard his wife say, “I love you with all my heart, Kid. You’ve given me the best gift ever. Our family.” Her heart full of love for the man beside her and the child within her, Louise joined her husband in peaceful slumber. Chapter 14 The new year started with the ranch facing a blizzard bigger than anyone had seen in recent years. Aside from working in the barn along with his father-in-law and uncle by marriage, Kid was pretty much confined to the cottage with his wife. Occasional visits from Buck, who had finally returned from Ohio where he had been visiting Jennifer Tompkins, brightened up their days at home. During one such visit in late January, Louise finally asked Buck what he was waiting for. “Buck, you should just marry her,” Louise commented one snowy evening when their friend had joined them for dinner at the cottage. Kid prodded further, “Lou’s right, Buck. Then you wouldn’t have to keep travelling so far to see her. I know for a fact that Jem and Josiah have space set aside for ranch hands that have wives. Just say the word and we can begin building a house for you two.” Buck just smiled at his two friends. He knew that they wanted everyone to be as happy as they were. “Well, I’ll have you know, I already asked her last time I was there,” Buck said smugly. “Buck!” Louise exclaimed, “You were holding out on us!” “What did she say?” Kid asked, a satisfied look on his face. Buck enjoyed keeping his friends guessing, but decided enough was enough, “I guess we should start planning that house you were just talking about.” The huge grin he had been hiding since he returned from Ohio finally broke free. Louise was in his arms, congratulating her friend with a hug. Kid was next in line with a hug of congratulations. “Have you set a date for the wedding yet?” Louise asked. “I’m planning on travelling back there in March, once the snow has mostly cleared. But, I can wait until after the baby is born if you would prefer. I think she’s anxious to get away from her aunts out there. She misses being out here,” Buck informed the pair. “No, I think you should go as soon as you can. I think there are some vacant houses near the bunkhouses that you could live in until a proper house can be built,” Louise commented. “So, I assume you’ll be married back east and then travel back here?” Kid asked. “I don’t think her aunts would allow her to travel out here unmarried, so that’s probably a safe assumption, yes.” “While I’ll hate to miss the wedding, I’ll be too close to my confinement to travel that far. I’ll just have to welcome you two once you get back,” Louise said resignedly. She stroked her expanding stomach as she suggested, “Maybe Kid could go with you?” Kid looked sharply at his wife. How could she suggest such a thing? There was no way he was going to be anywhere but here when their baby was born. Seeing his sharp look, she turned back to Buck and said, “Or, maybe not.” “Louise, you know I’m not going to let you do this by yourself. I don’t want to miss seeing our baby born,” Kid pronounced. “Kid, you are assuming they’ll even let you in. From what I’ve heard, you’ll be waiting outside until it’s all over,” Louise informed him. Buck looked between his two friends before he said, “Lou, do you really think anyone or anything will keep him away from you. I don’t think some doctor will have a chance. If Kid says he’s gonna be there, then he’s gonna be there.” Louise laughed as she continued to stroke her belly. “Eh, you’re probably right, Buck.” February turned out to be another cold snowy month and the family started to think they would never make it out of their houses or off the ranch. Things at the ranch were pretty mundane though and time trudged past. There had been no more trouble from the outside world since the last incident back in November, so everyone was resting fairly easy. Jem, Josiah, Kid, and Buck felt fairly confident that whoever had been causing trouble at the ranch would be back at it as soon as the snow cleared. So they were just waiting to see what the spring would bring. March arrived, bringing with it cold winds from the west. Once spring arrived near the end of the month, the snow was on its way out as the prairie grasses started poking through. Birds started returning to the area as they started building nests for the next generation. Louise was rapidly approaching the day of her labors and was feeling heavy with her burden. Kid did everything he could to help make her more comfortable while she was at the cottage, as did Theresa whenever Lou visited the house. One day in late March, one of the hands reported that three horses had gone missing. Kid and Buck rode out to the south pasture where the horses were last seen, but they found no tracks or anything to indicate which direction they might have disappeared to. A few days later, Buck noticed the fences in the south pasture had been destroyed in a few places when he brought the horses out to the pasture early that morning. He had the hands bring the horses back to the barn while he stayed to investigate the damage. As he was searching the area, Kid arrived, having left the barn immediately after hearing the news from the returning hands. Splitting up so they could cover more ground, Buck soon called to Kid, “Kid, come here!” Kid ran over to where Buck was squatting in the woods at the edge of the pasture. “What is it? Did you find something?” he asked. “Look at this,” Buck said, handing the paper to Kid. “I found this nailed to the last fence post.” Kid took the note and read it quickly: You took everything from me. Now it’s time to return the favor. This is just the beginning. I will have retribution. Kid looked at Buck, his brow creased with confusion. “Who could want revenge on Jem and Josiah?” he asked. Buck had no idea who could do something like this. Both men agreed that it was best to bring the note back to the two owners of the ranch. Mounting their horses, Kid and Buck raced back to deliver the mysterious note to Jem and Josiah. Louise was in the barn visiting Lightning when Kid and Buck came racing back from the south pasture. Kid was off Katy in a flash running through the barn looking for Jem or Josiah. Wandering over to grab Katy’s reins, Louise asked, “Buck, what's going on?” Still mounted, Buck leaned over to say, “Trouble in the south pasture again. Fence is destroyed…” His voice trailed off as Kid returned, taking Katy’s reins from his wife. “Hey, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?” Kid asked his wife. “I was just visiting Lightning. Buck told me what happened. Is the fence worse than last year?” she asked. “It’s pretty bad. But the worst part is, whoever is responsible left a note on the last fencepost. Someone wants revenge for something. It don’t make a whole lot of sense,” Kid replied. She could see the worry on his face. The snow was barely gone and they already had two incidents of damage. Whoever was doing this was moving much faster than they had in the fall. With Josiah out in the north pasture, Jem saddled Merriweather and was leading him towards Kid and Buck. He wanted to see the damage for himself. Kid mounted Katy again and the three men headed back to the south pasture. Louise wrapped her arms around her rounded stomach and watched them disappear behind the house. Having spent her time visiting with Lightning, she went to the house to tell her grandmother what had happened. Buck and Kid showed Jem where they had found the note. It was mounted on the last fencepost which was pretty far into the woods in the southeast corner of the property. As Jem and Kid inspected the post, Buck wandered off to look around the surrounding woods. Moving deeper into the woods, Buck soon noticed a trail of footprints leading off into the woods. He decided to follow them to see where they went, recalling the prints they found months ago that led to the river. Buck soon realized the prints went off in two different directions. He quickly followed the path to the right, which he discovered brought him to a different spot on the same river that ran around much of the perimeter of the ranch lands. By the river bank, he noticed similar marks to those he found in November. Deciding he had seen enough at this end, Buck followed the prints back towards where they split off from the pasture. This time he followed them deep into the woods where he discovered a narrow path. The tracks continued down the path until they stopped suddenly. Looking around him, he saw some burned out cigar ends but nothing much else otherwise. Buck was about to turn around, when he looked further ahead of him and realized he knew exactly where he was. About a hundred yards ahead of him was the back of Kid and Louise’s cottage. Buck had a feeling someone had been watching the house from this spot in the woods. Knowing his friends could be the target, he ran all the way back to the pasture. “Kid, Jem,” Buck shouted as he approached them “What is it, Buck? Did you find something?” Jem asked, his forehead creased with worry. “You both need to come with me. Now,” he said as he sprinted off again in the direction he came from. Kid and Jem immediately ran after him. Buck led them first to the river where they all agreed it looked pretty similar to what they had seen in November. He then took them to the end of the path and told them to look up. “That’s our house,” Kid said with disbelief. “You don’t think they’re planning…” He couldn’t say it. Kid couldn’t even think it. If something happened to Lou, he would never survive. There was no way he was going to lose her again, he thought as he leaned against a nearby tree for support. Jem and Buck knew exactly where Kid’s thoughts were going. All the way out here, Louise would be virtually unprotected all day with Kid working around the ranch and out of the house. Kid started pacing around the small clearing, rubbing his hand over his face, the feeling of distress permeating the entire group. “Kid,” Jem started gently, “Maybe you and Louise should move back up to the main house for a little while.” “Kid, that’s a good idea. At least consider bringing her up to the house during the day while you’re working.” Buck suggested. “Yeah, maybe. She’s not gonna like it though,” Kid replied. “I’ll talk to her tonight. I’m sure she’ll at least agree to it during the day.” The three men left the woods and returned to the pasture to mount up on their horses and head back to the barn. The sun was beginning to set, filling the sky with violent shades of pink and orange. Kid was so worried over getting back to Louise, he barely noticed the riot of color around him. He fairly flew all the way back to the barn and had Katy unsaddled and brushed down in no time. He was on his way out of the barn when Buck and Jem finally caught up with him. Kid just waved them off as he ran up to the house in search of his wife. Bursting through the kitchen door, Kid started shouting “Lou!”Not finding her in the kitchen, he checked the dining room and parlor before he headed up stairs to check the bedrooms on the second floor. With everything quiet there, Kid ran up to their old room on the third floor and threw open the door. Nothing. He quickly traversed the two flights of stairs and almost ran Theresa over as he ran out the back door. “Kid,” she exclaimed, jumping out of the way. “What has you all fired up this evening?” Kid looked frantically over the field that lay between here and the cottage. “Theresa, have you seen Lou lately?” “She went down to the cottage about an hour ago, why?” Theresa responded, starting to worry. “Did something happen?” “We think someone has been watching the cottage from the woods behind the house. I don’t want her alone down there anymore,” Kid replied. “Theresa, I’m sorry, but I gotta go find her.” And Kid set off running across the field in search of his wife. Louise was finishing up dinner as she heard the front door slam shut. “Kid? Is that you?” she called from the kitchen. He was in the room, pulling her close to him as soon as he saw her. “Thank God you’re alright,” he said, his grip on her tightening. Louise pulled away from him so she could see what had him so worried. “Kid, I’m fine. Why are you acting like this?” she said as she went back to stirring the pot of stew she had made for dinner. Kid started pacing the small kitchen as he told her what Buck had discovered late this afternoon. Hearing that someone had been watching the house made her drop the spoon before covering her face with her hands. Seeing her distress, Kid walked over to her. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked as he saw her face drain of all color. Walking away from him, she replied, “I thought it was nothing, but now, I don’t know.” “What are you talking about, Lou?” he demanded gently, turning her around to face him. “I came back from the house after lunch before I decided to visit Lightning. When I got here, the back door was open and the cake I had made for dessert was missing. I went out back to look around and I thought I smelled something foul, like cigars or something. It seemed strange, but I figured it was probably Jeremiah or Theresa stealing it since Grandma limits the sweets they can eat. I left shortly after that and then I saw you in the barn.” After realizing how close she had come to whoever was out there, Louise flung herself into Kid’s waiting arms as she burst into tears. “I don’t think you should stay here during the day any more. Your Pa suggested we move back into the main house for a little while. At least until we catch these people,” Kid suggested soothingly. Louise turned her tearstained face up to her husband and nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll pack some things in the morning so we can move back there tomorrow morning. Can you bring the cradle up there? It looks like the baby might be born up there instead of here,” she said dejectedly. “We’ll bring what we absolutely need for now and I can come down later and bring the rest up,” he said. Trying to cheer her he suggested, “Why don’t we have dinner? It smells delicious and I’m starving.” Louise turned back to the stove and ladled two bowls of stew before handing them to Kid. He carried them into the parlor where he set them down before grabbing spoons and napkins. Louise followed behind with fresh rolls and butter and a pitcher of water. Sitting down, the pair tried to enjoy their meal. Louise barely ate anything before she declared she wasn’t hungry. Pressing a hand to her distended abdomen, she grimaced at the pain in her side. “Are you alright?” Kid asked, his spoon halfway to his mouth when he noticed the pained look on his wife’s face. “Yeah. The baby’s been pushing more on my ribs lately. It won’t be long now. The midwife said it could be anytime now,” she informed him. “When did you see her?” “A few days ago when I went into town with Grandma to drop the children at school,” Louise replied, absentmindedly rubbing her stomach. “Do you mind if I go wash dishes now? I am really tired tonight.” Seeing her fatigue on her face, Kid suggested, “Tell you what. Why don’t you go get ready for bed and I’ll clean up the kitchen? Rachel didn’t put us on dish duty for nothing!” Louise nodded her head in agreement. “Alright,” she said, rising awkwardly from her chair and heading for the stairs. As she trudged up the stairs, Kid finished his dinner. His meal complete, he cleared the table before heading into the kitchen to start the dishes. Meanwhile, upstairs, Louise stoked the fire in the bedroom fireplace before removing her blouse and skirt. She had basically stopped wearing her corset once she could no longer lace it up, but her grandmother had given her a short corset that she had the dressmaker in town make from one of Louise’s other corsets. This one only supported her breasts without compressing her expanding middle. She was so grateful for this shorter corset, but just the same, she couldn’t wait to get it off each night. Slipping out of her undergarments, Louise pulled her batiste nightgown over her head. She then walked over to the washstand and splashed some cold water on her face to wash the day’s grime from her brow. Having finished her bedtime routine, Louise slid her tired body between the sheets on her bed and closed her eyes. Kid was finished cleaning the kitchen in no time. He was amazed at how neat his wife was as she cooked. She seemed to clean as she worked, so when he entered the kitchen, he only had the dishes they had used at the table as well as the empty pot, a wooden spoon, and the ladle to wash. After wiping off the work table and returning everything to its proper place, he turned the lamp off and headed for the stairs. The fire was banked for the night in the parlor, so all he had left to do was find Lou and go to bed. Entering their bedroom, Kid noticed the peaceful look on his wife’s face. She looked like an angel as she lay beneath the quilt on the bed. He could see her hand resting on her belly, softly stroking its surface in her sleep. Not wanting to disturb her, Kid quickly shucked his clothes, leaving only his long john bottoms on. He splashed some water on his face before returning to the bed. Carefully lifting the bedding up, he slid between the sheets and rolled over in search of the one he loved with all his heart. Louise rolled over to face him and pulled his hand onto her stomach. Kid could feel what he thought was either a foot or an elbow pressing against his hand. Carefully, he massaged the being underneath her skin as he whispered, “Papa can’t wait to meet you little one.” Louise, rousing from sleep, heard her husband’s words to their unborn baby and sighed. “Kid, I tried staying up till you got here. I’m sorry,” she said groggily. He continued to caress her stomach before he asked, “Do you want me to rub your back?” He knew how much her back ached as she reached the end of her time. Mumbling incoherently, she rolled back over, presenting her back to his able hands. Seeing her almost bare skin through her thin nightgown, Kid set to work massaging the tired muscles of her lower back. As he pressed the heel of his hands into her lower back, she groaned with pleasure. “That feels so good, Kid,” she said with a moan. He continued his ministrations for a few more minutes until she reached behind her for his hand and pulled him closer to her. She loved sleeping with her back up against him and his arm tucked around her body. With her increasing size, his arm no longer reached all the way around her, but they were both content to have his hand resting on her belly all night. “Good night, Kid.” “Good night, Lou.” The next day dawned bright and clear. Louise was up before her husband and had thrown her robe on before heading downstairs to make him breakfast. With all the turmoil of the day before, she knew he had to be tired. And since she was having trouble sleeping anyway, she let him sleep in a while longer. She had fried up some eggs and sausage before she prepared some bread slices for toasting. Once she was happy that breakfast was ready, she headed upstairs to wake her husband. On the way up the stairs, she felt a small pain radiate across her stomach from her lower back, but thought nothing of it as she continued on her way. When she entered their room, she noticed Kid had just woken up. “Good morning,” she said brightly, sitting on the bed and stroking the sandy curls from his brow. “Breakfast is ready,” she added before heading back downstairs. She hadn’t eaten much the night before but this morning she was famished. Sitting down to eat, Kid soon joined her and they both enjoyed their morning repast. Once they were finished, Kid followed Louise into the kitchen to help her clean up. She shooed him away to get dressed so they could head up to the house in a little while. Assured she was alright to attend to her kitchen chores, Kid returned to their bedroom to dress for the day. After pulling on pants and donning her favorite blue shirt, Kid returned downstairs to hurry Louise up. She had just finished cleaning the mess she had made cooking breakfast when he found her. “Are you almost ready? I have to get to the barn soon or I’ll be late,” he declared. She rolled her eyes at him before saying irritably, “If you’re in such an all fired hurry, just go. I’ll be up there as soon as I’m dressed.” She pushed past him and walked up the stairs to their room. “No, I’ll just wait down here for you, Lou. But, can you please hurry,” he said, aware that she was getting annoyed with his growing overprotectiveness. He heard her yell “Fine!” from upstairs. Once she was dressed, Louise went to look out the back window of their room. She could see thick black smoke billowing in the direction of the south pasture. “Kid!” she yelled, frantically. Kid was upstairs in a moment at her panicked call. “Kid, something’s on fire down there!” she yelled again pointing out the window where she was standing. He was about to race downstairs before he stopped in the doorway. “Will you be alright if I leave now? It looks like the barn may be on fire. We have a lot of hay stored down there,” he asked her, clearly worried about leaving her alone right now. From outside, they could hear one of the hands shouting, “Kid! Come quick! We got Katy saddled up. We need to get to the south pasture!” Louise looked at her husband, knowing it was killing him to leave her here, “Go, Kid. We’ll be fine. I’ll leave for the house in a few minutes.” Kid ran over to her, kissed her on the cheek before running from the room and out of the house. She could see him dashing off on Katy’s back along with the remaining hands. Turning away from the window, she went in search of her carpet bag so she could begin packing some of their belongings up to bring to the house with her. Having located the bag in the closet, she pulled some of her clothes along with some of Kid’s things and stuffed them into the bag. She grabbed some baby clothes she had recently finished before heading downstairs to gather the baby quilt she was working on. She had just reached her sewing basket and was leaning over to pick up the small quilt when she heard someone moving around in her kitchen. “Kid?” she called, wondering why he had come back so soon. She was halfway to the door when she felt a hand clamp down over her mouth and a strong arm grab her around her middle. Lou tried to scream and escape from the tight grip she found herself in the middle of. Then she saw him in front of her. She stopped struggling as she recognized the face looking back at her, the face of someone who should be dead. As the color drained from her face, she heard him whisper menacingly, “Hello, Louise.” The last thing she remembered was the sickly sweet odor that was pressed to her face as she tried to call out for Kid. Chapter 15 The flames could be seen reaching into the early morning sky as Kid and the other hands reached the south pasture. The barn was already engulfed in flames. Thankfully, there were no horses bunked there for the night. Since the problems had started again on the ranch, the decision had been made to keep all the animals in the main barns at night. But, the structure in the south pasture had been used to store bales of hay, so it was no surprise that it burned so easily. As Kid approached the group that had been attempting to extinguish the fire, he noticed Jem and Josiah calling the men off. Both men were breathing heavily and covered in soot. Their clothes were drenched with sweat and water from the river as they attempted to drag buckets of water to the burning barn. Now, they all just stood back and watched the wooden structure collapse as the flames consumed its boards. The horror was evident on all the men’s faces. None of them could imagine who would want to hurt anyone at the ranch in this way. All the hands knew Jem, Josiah, and now even Kid to be honest, fair men. This level of destruction was incomprehensible. Kid was so mesmerized by the sight before him that he didn’t hear the horse approaching from behind. “Kid,” the voice called. “What happened?” Kid turned around to see Buck charging towards the conflagration, barely jumping off his horse before he hit the ground running. He stopped short next to his friend, taking in the destruction in front of him. “What happened?” he repeated his question to the sandy-haired man next to him. “I don’t know. Lou saw the smoke from our window early this morning. The men were already on their way here when I joined them.” He paused before he realized that Buck was here next to him instead of on his way to Ohio. “Wait, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be on the way to Jenny by now?” “I saw the smoke about a half hour after I left. I turned around and came back. Jenny’ll understand. I’ll write to her later to explain.” “I just can’t imagine who would do something like this,” Kid mused softly to his friend. “I know we can rebuild, but …” “I know, it just seems a waste. And how is burning down a barn revenge?” Buck queried. The two men had seen their share of destructive, misguided men over the course of their lives, but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach each time it resurfaced. Jem and Josiah sent most of the men back to the barn to resume their regular chores, leaving them with Kid, Buck and three other men to stand and watch silently as the barn was reduced to ash. As the blaze finally began to die down, the men started another bucket line carrying water from the river in an attempt to finally douse the remaining flames. Two hours later, all that remained was the blackened shell of the structure, the roof demolished along with most of the walls. Only a few black, jagged boards remained, their outline in harsh opposition to the soft greenery of the emerging spring around it. Satisfied that the fire was indeed over, the men mounted their horses and slowly headed back to the ranch. It was late afternoon when the remaining men finally reached the barn. Jem and Josiah stopped briefly to wash up before switching mounts and heading out to complete their usual afternoon survey of the outer ranch lands. Kid and Buck were more than happy to see to their mounts as well as those of the brothers. With a solemn wave, Kid turned back to the barn to begin the process of unsaddling four horses. Leading Katy into her stall, Kid quickly removed her saddle, blanket, and harness and carried them to the tack room. Grabbing a curry comb, he quickly brushed her coat down before moving on to Merriweather. Kid was just returning from the tack room after stowing the stallion’s gear when he noticed Buck in the next stall. Buck was in the middle of tending Josiah’s horse when he asked, “How did Lou take the news of moving back to the big house for a while?” “Surprisingly, she was alright with it. I think she’s sad to leave the cottage, but she knows it’s not forever,” Kid replied as he finished brushing Merriweather’s coat. Kid left to return the brush. On his way back, he brought a bucket of grain to divide between the four horses. “You should come to the house with me. She’d probably enjoy the visit. To be honest, I think she is going a little crazy being stuck in the house all the time now. But, with the baby coming anytime now, neither one of us wants her to be left alone all day,” Kid suggested to his friend. Buck, having finished tending the mounts, said, “That sounds like a good idea. Plus, I don’t know about you, but having missed lunch today, I’m starving.” “I am sure she’ll be able to find us something to eat while we’re there,” Kid said as the two men passed through the barn door. As they made the short walk to the main house, they waved to Theresa who had just pulled up in the buckboard. Jeremiah and Theresa who were seated in the back, jumped out and ran over to meet Kid and Buck at the steps to the porch. “Hey, you two. How was school today?” Kid asked, ruffling Jeremiah’s hair. He missed the worried looks on the children’s faces but Buck noticed something was amiss. Theresa was the first to respond, “Kid are you here to see Louise? I wanted to show her my homework before school, but she wasn’t here in time.” “What do you mean, she wasn’t here in time? She was packing some things up when we saw the fire. She assured me she would be leaving very soon,” Kid asked with growing concern. A feeling of dread started to form in the pit of his stomach. Having just made it to the porch after bringing the buckboard to the barn, Theresa greeted Kid and Buck before hurrying the children into the house. “I thought Louise was coming to spend the day at the house today, Kid. What happened? Jem told me last night that you two would be moving back here for a little while. At least until this band of miscreants is caught,” she asked the young man before her as she brushed past him into the house to get her grandchildren a snack as they worked on homework. Alarmed by the woman’s words, Kid followed closely on her heels, with Buck right behind him. “What do you mean she never showed up? She hasn’t been here all day?” Kid asked, the panic growing in his voice. At Theresa’s shake of her head indicating she had not seen her granddaughter since the previous day, the color drained from Kid’s face. Sensing his friend’s rising anxiety, Buck suggested, “Kid, we don’t know that anything bad has happened. She could’ve just fallen asleep at the house or lost track of time finishing chores before she left. Why don’t we go check the cottage?” Kid nodded his head at Buck as he mutely started towards the back of the house. Before following, Buck whispered to Theresa, “Send Jeremiah to the barn to alert Jem and Josiah. I think we’re gonna need help.” His eyes bored into the older woman’s, letting her know what he really thought: Louise was missing. Firm in the knowledge that she understood him, Buck sprinted off after his friend. Kid and Buck wasted no time in getting to the cottage. Throwing the front door open, Kid stormed into his home calling for his wife. “Lou!” he yelled over and over again, running between rooms, before heading upstairs. As Kid frantically searched their bedroom and the rest of the second floor, Buck stalked his way into the parlour, having noticed that the embers in the fireplace were still glowing softly. As he continued further into the room, he noticed the sewing supplies strewn over the settee, the tablecloth was askew, the carpet bag dropped carelessly on the ground and the back door was flung wide open. Having been a frequent guest in the house since moving here, Buck knew that Louise kept a tidy home for her husband. Seeing things in such disarray told him something was definitely not right here. Kid had returned to the parlour empty handed, eager to find Buck and, most desperately, his wife. “Buck,” he called to the man standing motionless by the dining table. “Is she here?” he pleaded, his throat beginning to feel tight. Buck turned around to face his friend, a scrap of parchment in his hand. “Kid,” he began, “They have her.” Hearing the news that his wife was indeed taken from him, Kid frantically paced the length of the room, running a hand through his already mussed hair. He started mumbling to himself as he made his third pass through the room, forcing Buck to intervene. “Kid….Kid….Kid!” Buck shouted to his heartbroken friend, shaking his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention. “We will find her and we will get her back,” he said, willing his friend to believe him. “They left a note,” he added, thrusting the note into Kid’s hand. Kid saw the hastily scrawled words on the page, but in his duress couldn’t register any meaning from them. “Buck, I can’t… Read it...please,” he choked out, rising to his feet. Kid began pacing the room as Buck read the note: Brother, I’m taking back what is legally mine. If you want her back, I will make a trade. The deed to the ranch for her life. Meet at the river near the barn, midnight, two days from now. One way or the other, I will have what should have been mine. J Having finished the note, Buck watched as his friend stopped his frantic pacing, aware that a new sense of calm was transforming the man in front of him. Turning to face Buck, Kid ground out, “We need to get to their camp, Buck. And it needs to be tonight so we can see what we’re dealing with.” Nodding in agreement with Kid, Buck asserted, “We better get back to the house to let Jem and the others know what’s going on. Then, I think we should just go. If we take too many people, it may alert them to our presence. The two of us should be able to get close enough to at least discover where they’re keeping her.” Realizing that they needed to move quickly as the sun set over the hills, Kid and Buck ran from the house. Jem was just returning with his brother after one of the ranch hands found them over on the north pasture. Having heard the warning message sent from the house, they had hastened back as soon as they could. Seeing Kid and Buck running to the barn, Jem dismounted and ran over to learn what had both men frantically readying their mounts for a journey. “Kid, Buck, what’s the hurry? There’s not another fire is there? Did something happen?” he asked, worry creasing his brow. Not stopping their preparations, Kid disclosed, “They got Lou. We think they took her this morning when we were off battling the fire.” Kid was finishing tightening the straps on Katy’s saddle when one of the hands ran up with a bundle of biscuits and jerky. “Theresa sent these for you. She said she’ll wait up til you get home so’s you can have supper,” the man informed them. Buck packed them in his saddlebags before going to fill their canteens for the journey ahead. Jem couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Someone took his daughter. “Who would do such a thing?” he said forlornly. Canteens filled, Buck tossed one to Kid before he turned to fill Jem in on the rest of the information they learned. Kid, having completed his preparations, joined the three men, Josiah having heard Kid’s announcement. “We think they took her from the cottage. There were some signs of a struggle in the parlour and the back door was wide open when we got there,” Kid reported. Buck, pulling the note from his pocket and handing it over to the brothers, said, “They left a note on the table. Do you know who this is from?” Jem took the paper from Buck and read it to himself, his face hardening as he realized who it was from before passing it to Josiah. Once Josiah finished, the two men looked at each other with dread on their faces. “It’s John,” Josiah said. “Your older brother?” Buck asked, confusion evident on his face. “I thought he was dead. Kid, you shot him, didn’t you?” “He tried to shoot Lou when she went to get Jeremiah and Theresa from him. I had no choice. I couldn’t let him hurt her,” Kid replied, remembering the circumstances under which he had killed his wife’s father. Or, at least who she thought was her father at the time. “But if he’s dead, how can he be alive now?” Josiah asked the same question on all of their minds. “I don’t know,” was the Kid’s mumbled response. Buck, realizing the brothers had no idea what they were up to, told them of their plan for the night. “ Kid and I are going to find their camp tonight and at the very least, we can get a better idea of what we’re up against. If we have the chance, we’ll get Lou out of there, but only if we can get her out safely.” “We can return tomorrow once we have a plan to get her back if you can’t get her tonight,” Jem cautioned. “She won’t be easy to transport in her condition and I don’t think you can carry her all the way back by yourself.” Watching the whole plan beginning to take shape, Josiah announced, “Jem and I will ride with you to the south pasture. We can spend the time checking out what's left of the barn but, more importantly, we can back you up if you need it. We’ll send the other hands out on various patrols around the ranch this evening.” “You better have some hands stick around the house tonight, just in case. I wouldn’t leave anyone unattended for the next few days,” Buck cautioned. Jem and Josiah nodded their agreement. They would have to speak to all the hands in a little bit. After agreeing that Jem and Josiah would ride out to the remnants of the burnt barn as soon as they spoke to the rest of the hands, Kid and Buck took off in the direction of the south pasture. Twilight was descending on the pair as they raced around the house and sped off across the field. Reaching the tree line at the edge of the pasture, Kid and Buck tied off their mounts within the sheltering trees and, unloading only the most necessary gear, headed up the river on foot. They had been walking for about an hour when Buck nodded his head towards the woods that ran along the river. The duo had been following the river since they left the ranch lands, hugging the tree line so they could avoid detection. Buck caught a whiff of smoke just before Kid noticed the same aroma. They knew they were close to someone’s camp, so they headed into the woods to continue their trek, hoping this was the one they were looking for. Buck led the way, carefully navigating his way through the trees and underbrush and indicating that Kid should step where he stepped. They continued for another mile or so through the woods before they saw a clearing up ahead. Pausing their movement, Kid and Buck surveyed the camp, looking for any sign of Lou or Boggs. Not seeing anything beyond men wandering around camp, Buck started moving slightly closer, making sure to stay low. As they reached a large cottonwood tree, Buck looked at Kid before he pointed up. Nodding silently at his friend, Kid moved to a position behind an evergreen shrub about twenty feet away. Buck, already climbing the tree, found a spot about halfway up where he could comfortably perch and get a better view of the camp. It was as the two men had finally settled into place that they saw him. He had just appeared out of a small tent near the center of the camp. Kid immediately recognized the man he thought he had killed more than two years ago. “Boggs,” he barely whispered. Looking up at Buck, he pointed to the familiar man. At Buck’s questioning look, he nodded. Arranged around the small tent Boggs had just exited, there were several larger tents and campfires scattered sporadically in between. Under the clear moonlit sky, several men clustered around the fires, likely keeping watch. Other men were stationed at various positions around the perimeter of the camp. Boggs disappeared around the last line of tents before he reappeared with a bowl of food and a canteen of water. He brought it back to the small tent from which he had originally emerged and disappeared inside. After he left, a guard took position in front of the tent. Kid and Buck continued to watch the men as they gradually disappeared into tents for the night. As the night sky deepened in color, they noticed that aside from the perimeter guards the only other guards visible in the camp were stationed in front of one small tent. Buck was next to Kid before he registered that he had left the tree. Within the confines of the shrubbery, and not taking their eyes off the camp, Buck whispered, “I think she’s in that one tent. It’s the only one with a guard. If we can sneak past the guards around the perimeter, I think we could get her out.” “I agree,” Kid whispered in return, “but we’re going to need more help.” “Do you want me to sneak in there, Kid? We both know I can move much quieter than you,” Buck asked, his brows raised in a question. “I can’t leave her here, Buck,” Kid stated in a hushed whisper. Buck nodded his assent before motioning near the edge of camp. “Meet me over there,” he whispered before he disappeared into the darkened woods. Kid crept as silently as he could over to the indicated spot, hiding himself in some brush as he continued to watch the movement around camp. He could just make out Buck’s shadow silently sliding between the tents before he disappeared from view. Making himself as inconspicuous as possible, Kid settled within the cover of night to await any news of his wife. It was then that he heard her cries of pain splitting the cold night air. Chapter 16 The first thing Louise noticed as she regained consciousness was the cool night air on her skin. She could feel the tight ropes digging into her delicate wrists and she seemed to be laying on something hinting of softness. The smell of damp earth filled her nose. Opening her heavy lids, she saw she was surrounded by sheets of canvas. Realizing she was in a tent, Louise looked around to see what else might be in here with her. As she struggled to sit up, she felt her stomach tighten, taking her breath away. Placing her bound hands on her belly, she inhaled deeply through her nose before expelling the breath from her mouth. She had been feeling pains since yesterday and they weren’t showing signs of going anywhere anytime soon. As she tried again to find a better position, she saw some movement from the front of the tent. Boggs. He had apparently survived Kid’s bullet since he was standing here in this tent with her. Wrinkling her face in distaste as he approached her, she felt another pain start in her belly. Trying to maintain her composure in front of the man she had believed to be her father for all those years, she spat, “What do you want?” Crouching down to get a better look at her, he noticed the grimace that crossed her face and her hands attempting to stroke her swollen abdomen. “I just want what’s mine. You are going to get it for me, Louise,” he sneered, leaving a bowl of food and canteen of water at her side. As he watched her clutch her belly again, he realized she was close to her time. “I don’t want to hurt you, Louise, but if that brother of mine doesn’t give me what I want, you will suffer for your parents’ sins.” And with that he left the tent. Louise could see from the flap of sky outside that it had to be pretty late. The food in the bowl next to her sent waves of nausea through her and she turned to the opposite side and vomited. As she finished emptying her stomach contents, she turned back to the bowl, picked it up, and threw it in the direction of the guard she knew was posted just outside. She was momentarily aware of the muttered curse that escaped the lips of her guard outside gathering the discarded bowl before she felt a warm gush of fluid from between her legs. Closing her eyes as her stomach tightened again, she let out an anguished cry of pain. At that moment, someone burst through the flaps and she was face to face with Buck. Her eyes widened in shock before she felt relief wash over her. If Buck was here, Kid had to be nearby. “Lou,” Buck whispered to her, “We’re gonna get you out of here.” Louise looked hopefully into the eyes of her friend as another contraction wracked her body. Looking down at her damp skirts, the hands massaging her stomach and the look of pain that passed over her face, Buck realized this just got a lot more difficult. Removing his knife from the sheath on his calf, Buck cut the ropes around her wrists. “Lou, Kid’s just outside of camp. We need to go back and get help, but we will be back tonight to get you, alright?” he asked as he saw another contraction grip her petite frame. All she could do was shake her head in assent as she felt her body tensing up again. This baby was coming and coming fast, she thought to herself as she watched Buck slip outside her tent and disappear from her view. Kid was filled with panic at the sound of his wife’s painful cry. He needed to get her out of there as soon as possible. What on earth were they doing to her in that tent, he wondered from his silent hiding spot. And where was Buck? He should be back here by now. Kid said a quick prayer that he didn’t get caught and that Louise would be safe until they could rescue her. He was consumed with terrible thoughts as Buck appeared silently by his side. Motioning to Kid, Buck turned and snuck away from the camp. Once they were far enough away, Kid pounced. “Did you see her? Is she alright? What are they doing to her?” he demanded in a loud whisper. Knowing the man in front of him wasn’t going to take the news he had to share well, Buck continued walking towards their horses. Upon reaching the edge of the pasture, Buck quickly found Jem and Josiah hiding in the ruined structure. Kid was hot on his heels, impatient for any information about his wife. Once he was assured they hadn’t been followed, Buck divulged the one thing no one was prepared to hear. “We got a problem.” “I think we know that, Buck. We can’t leave her there. Did you see her?” Kid demanded again, his voice vacillating between fear and anger. “We have to get her out of there tonight, as soon as we can get back there with more men. But she isn’t going to be able to walk out of there,” Buck continued. “So, I’ll carry her if I have to, let’s go!” Kid argued. “Kid, she’s having the baby. And, from what I can tell, it isn’t going to be too much longer,” Buck said softly, trying to lessen the blow. Kid swore under his breath as Jem and Josiah looked nervously at each other. Turning to get Kid’s attention, Buck stated, “If we can get more men down there for back up, we should be able to surround the camp while we sneak in and get her out. Most of the men are asleep and there’s only one man guarding her tent.” “That still doesn’t sound like much of a plan. If we get in there, I don’t want either one of them caught in the crossfire,” Kid said skeptically. He was still holding out hope that he could get to his wife tonight. As Jem listened to Buck’s description of the camp, he realized that he was the one responsible for everything that was happening. John was after him for loving his wife and for the existence of their three children. “I’ll go talk to him,” Jem said quietly. His suggestion drew the looks of the other three men as they stared at him in silence. Josiah looked at his brother, before saying, “Jem, you can’t do this. He’ll kill you. Where will those children be without you. They’ll be orphans again.” He was pleading with his brother. “They all need you. If you go into that camp, I’m going with you. We’ll face him together. With the hands surrounding the camp, they should be able to protect us.” “That would be a pretty good distraction,” Buck admitted, “but, let us try to get in and out first. Stay out of sight unless we get caught.” Kid was half listening to their conversation as he paced around the moonlit pasture. He paused and looked up at the sky, praying for the safety of his wife and child. “We need to get back and get the men out here. Leave a few of them around the house and get back here. Bring more shot too, just in case,” Buck commanded. Kid was barely aware that Buck was giving directions to Josiah as he and Jem prepared to head back to the ranch. Once the brothers departed, Kid was left alone with Buck to wait. Walking over to his now silent brother, Buck could tell the waiting was going to kill his friend. “She’ll be alright, Kid. She’s the strongest woman we know,” he said soothingly, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder. He heard Kid blow out a breath in frustration. “I should be with her,” he said quietly. “Then go.” Kid whipped his head around in surprise over hearing those words. His eyes, full of hope, were silently asking his friend to watch out for them. “I’ll be right behind you as soon as they get back. Stay with her until I get there. Then we can bring them both out and run for the horses,” Buck added. Kid gave the man one last look before he headed back in the direction of the camp. “Kid,” Buck said, running to catch up with him before he left, “Bring this with you. You’ll need it for the baby.” He looked down to see a soft folded square of a dark colored fabric. Kid looked curiously at it. Seeing the questioning look on Kid’s face, Buck replied, “Lou should know what to do with it. Jenny gave it to me on my last visit for your baby. I never took it out of my saddlebag.” Kid tucked the cloth into his shirt before hearing Buck softly command, “Now go!” Turning back towards the river, Kid set off in search of his family. Louise was panting between spasms, feeling them coming one right after the other. She had pulled herself to standing, holding the tent pole to support her weight as she felt another pain grip her abdomen. She was leaning over breathing heavily when she heard a scuffle outside before someone darted into the tent with her. She was too tired and too focused on her baby to care who was there. Closing her eyes, she felt strong hands apply pressure to her aching back. Turning her sweaty, tired face to see who had come to her rescue. Louise felt her fear disappear when she saw familiar blue eyes watching her intently. “Kid,” she whispered breathlessly as her stomach tightened again. A groan escaped her lips as the pressure became unbearable. Kid watched his wife as she fought through each pain, trying to bring their child closer into the world. She was breathing heavily and unable to focus on anything around them. Suddenly, she turned toward him and announced, “I have to push!” Kid helped her move into a squatting position leaning against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her middle for support. He could feel the muscles in her belly tighten up and she took a deep breath and pushed with all her might. She kept pushing until the pains ended. Leaning back on him she relaxed a bit and said breathlessly, “I’m happy you’re here.” Kid pressed a kiss to her damp cheek and she took another breath and started pushing again. He held out his hand for her to hold as she leaned against him and bore down. Seeing his hand, she pressed her smaller hand into his as the pain passed. Kid reached his other hand to sweep the hair that was plastered to her forehead off to the side, never breaking contact with the woman who held his heart. Louise could feel another pain building and moved slightly to ready herself. Feeling the contraction building again she took another deep breath and pushed as hard as she could. As the pains continued, she could feel her child moving out of her body. “Kid,” she panted, “al...most...here.” With one more push, Louise reached her hand between her legs and could feel the child’s head. As the next contraction built, she pushed one last time and felt her baby burst free. Feeling an overwhelming sense of relief, Louise sat back against her husband. Reaching down between her legs, she felt for the child and carefully picking it up she brought it up to her arms. Her head fell back against the hard chest behind her as she closed her eyes and breathed easily for a few minutes. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she got her first glimpse of her child in the dim lantern light. “Kid,” she said through her tears, “She’s so beautiful!” Kid wrapped his arm around her as he reached a finger towards their new daughter. “She’s perfect, just like her mother,” he whispered against her sweaty ear. Louise began to rub the baby vigorously with her petticoat before tearing off two strips and tying it around the cord that still connected her to her child. Kid was stroking the soft downy head nestled in his wife’s arm. Seeing her struggling with the cord, he moved slightly off to the side and pulled a knife from his boot, cutting cleanly through the cord. Louise could feel the contractions starting to build again and knew the afterbirth was on its way. “Kid,” she whispered, “there’s a little more work to do. Can you hold her?” Handing the naked infant to her father, Louise pulled herself back up before she felt the afterbirth slide from her body. Pulling off her petticoat, she tore a few squares off of it for the baby before folding it up and placing it beside her. Dropping back onto the small pallet, Louise looked over to see Kid had tucked the baby inside his shirt in an attempt to keep her warm. She looked over to see a square of fabric lying in a heap by his side. “Kid?” she whispered, “Where did you get that?” Following her gaze to where it stopped he saw the soft blue fabric. “Buck gave it to me before I left to come back here. He said you’d know what to do with it.” She leaned against him feeling the exhaustion taking over her body. “Here, let me take her. I need to try to feed her,” she said softly. Taking the blue fabric and laying it across her lap, she placed her daughter on it. Using one of the squares from her petticoat, she carefully wrapped it around the baby’s bottom before bringing the sides of the fabric up and around the squirming infant, swaddling her up. Bringing her up to her breast, Louise started to unbutton her blouse, exposing her nipple. Their new daughter let out a cry before Louise was able to bring her up to her waiting breast. Kid watched in fascination as she hungrily clamped her tiny mouth around the procured nipple and began to suck. Wrapping his arm around his wife for support, he softly stroked the downy head and placed a kiss by her perfect ear. Louise gazed adoringly at her precious daughter before turning to the besotted man beside her to say, “Thank you, Kid. She is the most perfect baby ever. Thank you for giving her to me.” Turning his proud face to his beaming wife, he whispered, “I should be thanking you. You did all the work. I love you, Louise.” Leaning into one another, Kid and Louise shared a sweet kiss full of all the love they felt in this moment. Kid could see the exhaustion settling on her face as she dropped her head onto his shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment of rest. “Lou,” Kid whispered as she rested her tired body against him, “Buck is bringing more men back. We’re going to get you two out of here tonight.” He could feel her head nodding against his shoulder. “Mmm-hmmm,” she mumbled. “As soon as Buck gets here, we’re gonna have to make a run for it,” he continued into her hair. “Kid, too tired. Can’t run,” she murmured as she felt sleep threatening to consume her. “Don’t worry. I’ll carry you both. I’m not letting you out of my sight until we are back at the house.” She could hear his determination as he laid out the plan for her. Despite where they were right now, she felt safe as long as Kid was beside her. Kid could feel her drifting off to sleep next to him, so he watched as his daughter continued her meal, supporting her with his arm as Louise’s arms slackened with sleep. An indeterminate amount of time had passed before Kid was jolted by the sound of a knife plunging into flesh. Before he could register what was happening, Buck appeared in the tent entrance. Seeing the sight before him, he looked at Kid and said, “Congratulations, Kid” with a big smile. Kid leaned over to wake the sleeping woman beside him, being careful not to awaken the baby swaddled in her arms. “Lou...Lou...Louise, honey, we have to go,” he whispered into her ear. Her eyes fluttered open, scanning the tent to find Buck peering outside her canvas prison. “We need to move now,” he whispered to the pair behind him. After checking to see that the baby was secured, Kid swept his precious cargo into his arms before Buck shooed him out of the tent ahead of him. Buck sprinted around Kid, checking for sentries around the camp perimeter. Seeing no one nearby, Kid and Buck sprinted into the woods shielding from sight the two girls wrapped in Kid’s arms. They slowed their pace a bit so they could traverse the rest of the woods in relative silence. They had just reached the river bank when the baby let out a loud wail at being disrupted from her slumber. Shouts could be heard coming from the camp as its occupants heard the infant cry coming from a distance. Kid and Buck looked at each other, questioning looks in the other’s eyes. “We have to get them out of here,” Kid said. “Jem and Josiah and the rest of the men can handle this,” he added as he continued along the river. He figured since they would soon realize that they had lost their leverage, they needed to get back to the horses as soon as possible. Kid only hoped they had gotten enough of a head start because he knew he couldn’t outrun them with Louise and their baby in his arms. They reached the outer border of the ranch just as gunfire could be heard coming from the direction of the camp. Handing Louise to Buck for a minute, Kid climbed on Katy’s back before reaching for his wife and daughter. Buck carefully handed them up to his waiting arms then raced back to jump on his mount. The two men raced off to the house as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Chapter Kid fairly flew through the door of the main house, carrying Louise in his arms. Theresa jumped awake from the parlour where she had fallen asleep waiting for the men to return as she heard the door crash against the stove in the kitchen. As she was rushing out of the parlour, she was greeted with the sight of Kid barrelling up the stairs. “Theresa,” he called out, rounding the landing on the second floor. “We’re gonna need hot water,” he shouted from the third floor. Pushing open the door to their former room, Kid placed his burden on their bed as his daughter started squalling again. Theresa, having stoked the fire in the stove to heat the pots of water already waiting there, was up the stairs shortly after. She appeared in the doorway and surveyed the scene before her. Kid was checking to see that his wife was no worse for wear while Louise was softly cooing to the bundle in her arms. Creeping towards her granddaughter, Theresa asked softly, “Is that..?” Kid started pulling off Louise’s boots and stockings, carelessly flinging them on the floor. Seeing that he was going to need some help, Theresa moved over to the carpet bag she had retrieved earlier in the evening from the cottage. She started rummaging around in it for Louise’s nightclothes. Finding the soft cotton gown, she pulled it from the bag and brought it over and laid it over the footboard. “Kid,” she said softly again, “Louise will need to be cleaned up, why don’t you go fetch the water so we can bathe her.” Not wanting to let Louise out of his sight, Kid turned a stony look towards his wife’s grandmother. Seeing how protective he was right now, Theresa stepped closer to her grandson-in-law and placing a gentle hand on his strong back said, “She’ll be alright for a few minutes. I will stay with her and the baby. Besides, you’ll be able to get them up here faster than I can.” Knowing she was right, Kid left the room to hurry down to retrieve the hot water from the kitchen. Theresa walked over to the bed and carefully sat down next to her granddaughter and great-grandchild. She watched as Louise brought the baby to her breast in an attempt to feed it, singing softly as she stroked the dark hair peeking out from the blanket. “Grandma, you don’t know how relieved I am to be here. But, right now I am so tired,” Louise said softly. Theresa could hear the exhaustion in her voice and see it on her face. “We’ll get you cleaned up and in bed very soon,” she soothed the girl, reaching out her hand to stroke the younger girl’s cheek. At that moment, Kid returned to the room, two buckets of water in tow. Placing them in the bathing chamber, he was back at Louise’s side in an instant. He watched as she moved the baby from one breast to the other. Once she was finished, she handed her daughter to her grandmother, allowing her to hold her baby for the first time. Kid helped his wife up from the bed and escorted her into the bathing chamber, catching her nightgown in his hand as they passed the bed. He could hear Theresa walking around the room with the baby as he closed the door. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you washed and into bed,” he crooned to his tired wife. Together they peeled off her dirty, sweaty clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Helping her stand in the tub and moving the buckets onto the chair next to the tub, Kid grabbed a sponge. After dipping it in the warm water, he started washing the grime of the day from his wife’s body. Louise grabbed a second sponge and followed suit. Since she was seeing to her body, Kid moved to wash her hair. Squeezing the sponge full of water over her head, she tipped her head back, enjoying the feeling of the warm water running in rivulets down her weary body. Picking up the favored lavender soap, he lathered up her hair, massaging her scalp with his fingertips before moving his hands down to her shoulders and back. He gently massaged the tired muscles, eliciting soft moans from Louise. Turning to face him, Louise indicated the bucket of water. “I’m too tired to lift it,” she said, “Can you?” Nodding, Kid reached down and lifted the bucket of water over her head before he carefully poured its contents over her sudsy head. Once she was clean and soap free, Kid wrapped her in towels and lifted her out of the tub. He dried her off and slipped the soft gown over her head. Cradling her in his arms again, Kid returned to the bedroom and placed his wife beneath the warm quilts. Theresa had soft cloths ready to help with Louise’s postpartum bleeding, which she had carefully placed within the bed while Kid was seeing to his wife’s bath. Once Louise was settled in the bed, Theresa brought the baby back to her, placing the infant in her mother’s waiting arms. “Your Mama would be so proud of you, Louise,” she said with a smile as she turned to the door. Turning to address Kid, she said, “Kid, why don’t you get washed up and I’ll bring some food up to you two. You’ve had a long day and I have a feeling it won’t be over anytime soon.” Kid stared at the woman for a moment before he gave a slight nod of his head and headed back to the bathing chamber. Stripping down, Kid quickly washed himself off before he wrapped a towel around his waist and wandered back to the bedroom in search of clean clothes. After some digging around, he was able to find another pair of long johns as well as another change of clothes. Pulling the long johns on he returned the towel to the bathing chamber before crawling into bed with his wife and daughter. Pulling them into his arms, he placed a kiss onto his wife’s wet hair. Looking over on the nightstand, he saw Mary Louise’s hairbrush that meant so much to his wife. Picking it up, he leaned away from her and began slowly brushing the snarls from her dark head of hair. Once finished, he pulled her back to his side before he whispered, “Lou, I should head back to the camp to find out what happened.” Louise narrowed her eyes at her husband’s words. She shook her head at him before turning back to their daughter who was sleeping peacefully in her arms. “Please don’t go, Kid. We need you here,” she pleaded. He kissed the top of her head again before placing another one on the downy head in her arms. “I’m not going anywhere, Lou. My whole world is right here.” Theresa returned to the attic bedroom bearing a tray of breakfast foods for the new parents. Placing the tray on Kid’s lap, she returned to the hall and ushered someone into the room. Buck appeared in the doorway carrying the cradle from the cottage as well as the pile of baby clothes Louise had been busy sewing in advance of the baby’s arrival. “Thanks, Buck,” Louise said as Kid pointed to the foot of the bed. The new uncle placed the cradle down walking over to see the newest addition. “Well?” he asked curiously, “Do I have a niece or a nephew?” Kid turned to his wife before he told Buck and Theresa the good news. “You have a niece, Buck and a great-granddaughter, Theresa. She was apparently in a hurry to get here tonight,” he announced, beaming with pride over his new daughter. “Have they returned yet,” he asked softly. Kid was worried that something terrible had happened after they left the camp. But Jem and Josiah had been adamant that once they got Louise and the baby out they were to head right back here and wait for them. Buck shook his head to let his friends know that he hadn’t heard anything yet. “I got Katy settled, Kid before I went to the cottage to grab the cradle for you.” Not wanting to disturb the new family any further, Buck left the room in search of breakfast. Kid gently pressed mouthfuls of food to Louise’s lips, trying to feed her while she tended to their daughter. “You know,” he said, “She should probably have a name soon, don’t you think.” Louise looked up at him as she chewed the eggs he had just fed her. “We never really settled on a girl’s name, did we?” she said. Turning the baby so she was laying along her legs, Louise started to carefully unwrap their precious baby. It had been so dark in the tent and following their harrowing escape, neither of them had really looked at their offspring yet. Unhappy with being released from her warm cocoon, she promptly started squalling as her proud parents counted fingers and toes. They marvelled at the soft, dark hair covering her head and were enthralled with the bright blue eyes they could glimpse in between cries. Louise swaddled the baby back up and started softly rocking her in an attempt to soothe her cries, before she turned to Kid and joked, “I think you’ll need a shotgun, Kid, to keep all the boys away from her when she gets older.” Kid laughed at her comment, completely enamored with his new daughter. “At least I have a few years before I have to worry about that,” he retorted jovially, bringing a piece of toasted bread to Louise’s lips. She bit off the corner before he took a bite. As they sat there eating breakfast, Kid and Louise ruminated over possible names for their baby. Having swallowed the mouthful of bread, Louise stared at the cherubic face only inches from her own as Kid said, “How about naming her after our mothers?” Louise thought about that for a minute before she replied, “I might consider that, if I knew what your Mama’s name was, Kid?” Realizing he had never shared that information with her, he said softly, “Kathryn...her name was Kathryn,” as he reached a finger over to touch his daughter’s flailing hand. Her tiny fingers curled around his large index finger. Louise contemplated her husband’s words for a moment. Bringing her daughter’s face closer to her own, she asked her in a sing-song voice, “How about that, Kathryn Mary? Do you like that name?” Upon hearing her mother’s voice, the baby immediately calmed. “I think she likes it,” Kid observed. “And so do I. I think it suits her.” Louise brought the baby up to her shoulder and started rubbing circles on her tiny back. Leaning over onto her husband’s shoulder, she announced, “As long as you don’t think you’ll get her confused with your horse, Kid.” He could tell she was mostly funning him, based on the twinkle in her eye and the half smile sneaking onto her face. “I think it is a beautiful name and it’s perfect for her,” she murmured in all seriousness now. Having her baby in her arms and her husband snuggled against her, Louise was feeling an overwhelming sense of contentment. But despite her feelings in this room, at this moment she couldn’t help but worry about the whereabouts of her father and uncle. As far as she knew, they still hadn’t returned from her rescue yet. She was beginning to think something terrible had happened. “Kid,” she whispered, “Do you think they’re alright? I’m worried that they’re not back yet.” “I’m sure they’re fine,” Kid soothed, although he was worried himself. He knew they had told him and Buck to come straight back to the house, but they had arrived more than three hours ago and there was no sign of any of them. Just then, he heard a wagon pulling up in front of the house through the slightly open window of the room. Louise lifted her head at the sound of hooves and people outside. Within a few minutes, there was a knock at the door. They could hear Theresa letting whoever it was in before they started walking up the stairs. Before he knew it, the midwife, who was supposed to deliver the baby, was standing in their bedroom. “I hear someone was in a bit of a hurry to get here,” she said, coming over to the bed to see the new addition. Louise brought the baby from her shoulder so the older woman could see her. She reached her hand over and peeked within the blanket before she said, “Beautiful.” “Thank you, Annie,” Louise said. Moving around to the foot of the bed, Annie placed her bag on the floor before she informed the couple, “I wanted to check on Louise and see how she is feeling and of course to check on the baby too. You want to tell me about the birth?” she asked, looking between the new parents. “I assume she was born here?” “Uh, not exactly, Annie,” Louise answered. “We just got home this morning,” Kid added. Her curiosity was definitely peaked now. Annie Macdonald had delivered a lot of babies in her time as a midwife, and most of them had been born at home. But there were always a few that came at odd times and in strange places. She had a feeling this was going to turn out to be one of those times. “Alright. I want to hear all about it,” Annie announced, her tone brooking no argument. “Kid, I need to examine your wife. So, you can either stay in the room or you can wait outside, but you need to leave the bed.” Reluctant to leave his wife, Kid moved to leave the bed. Not caring anymore that he was standing there in his long john bottoms and nothing else, he walked over to the rocking chair and sat down. Leaning his head back and closing his eyes, he was surprised to see Annie standing in front of him. She grunted at him, and having garnered his attention, thrust his daughter into his arms. Watching the woman’s retreating back, Kid started rocking Kathryn back and forth in the chair. Returning to Louise’s side, Annie asked her patient to tell her about the baby’s grand entrance into the world. As Louise started talking, Annie started examining the tired young woman in bed. Massaging her abdomen, Annie listened as Louise told her about being knocked out and waking up in the camp. She spoke about her pains having started the day before, but not realizing it at the time. Louise shared her surprise over Buck finding her and her immense relief when Kid showed up. Annie listened as Louise told of the baby’s delivery in the awful tent and their subsequent flight from the camp once Buck came back. After the tale was told, Annie couldn’t hide the stunned look on her face. In all her years, she had never heard a story quite like that. “Well, Louise, that is quite a tale to tell,” she commented. After she finished her examination, Annie returned to retrieve the baby from her father. Bringing the baby over to the bed, she asked Louise, “Does she have a name yet?” Louise nodded her head before she shared, “Kathryn Mary, after both of our mothers.” At that moment, Theresa entered the room with a smaller basin of warm water. “Thank you, Theresa,” Annie said to her friend as she started to unwrap the baby. Removing her makeshift diaper, she carried the naked infant over to the dresser, where Theresa had arranged a makeshift bath for the child. After testing the water temperature, Annie placed the infant on a folded towel next to the basin and started cleaning her delicate skin with a soft cloth. Deciding she did not like this new sensation, Kathryn let out a protesting wail. Cooing softly to calm the unhappy baby, Annie hurried through her bath. Once she was finished, Theresa handed her a new diaper along with one of the soft gowns in the cradle. Annie quickly dressed the baby then she carried her back to her mother. Having received a new swaddling blanket her grandmother had found in the cradle, Louise wrapped Baby Kathryn back up in no time. Hearing the voice she recognized above everyone else, Kathryn calmed as Lou began to murmur softly to her. Annie picked up her bag and, declaring that Lou and Kathryn were in perfect health, headed toward the door. “Congratulations, Louise and Kid! You have a beautiful baby, who I am sure will be joined by several more before I hang up my hat,” she said as she left. Theresa left with Annie to escort her to her buckboard. Kid had just heard the front door close when he heard a commotion outside. Walking to the window, he noticed several men on horseback as well as a wagon coming over the final hill onto the front drive. From this distance, he couldn’t tell who it was. Louise snapped her head up from the baby in her arms to look at her husband as she tentatively asked, “Is it them?” “I don’t know,” Kid replied as he yanked clean pants and a shirt from the bag on the floor. Pulling the fresh clothing on, he placed a quick kiss on her forehead before sprinting from the room. Kid made it out to the front porch just as the wagon rolled to a stop in front of the house. Buck, Theresa, and the children were already standing watching from the railing. Josiah was the first to dismount before he ran over to his mother. “Mama, its’ Jem!” he shouted. Theresa went white with fear as she clutched her hands to her face, dreading what she was about to learn. Stumbling down the steps to find out the fate of her son, Theresa made it to the back of the wagon. In the back, she saw her two sons. Both faces were badly bruised and smeared with blood. It was evident they had been fighting. She felt tears sting her eyes and start to roll down her cheeks as she smoothed the hair from their faces. Neither Jem nor John moved as she ran her hands over their tortured bodies to examine the blood staining both of their shirts. Turning her sorrowful face to her remaining son, she asked, “Are they…?” before she dissolved in painful sobs. Josiah put his arms around his grieving mother trying to whisper words of comfort to the woman who had always been there for him and his brother. Kid and Buck stood motionless on the porch, taking in the whole scene before them. They couldn’t believe that Jem was gone. Jeremiah started to run down the porch steps, screaming for his father. As the lad threw himself onto his father’s unmoving body, Little Theresa moved over to take Kid’s hand, fat tears rolling down her round face. Kid placed his hand on her shoulder and, sitting down on the porch step, pulled her over into his arms trying to comfort the girl in her grief. Theresa soon had her face buried in his chest as she softly sobbed. “Ma...Lou...ba...by…”the sound had come from the wagon. Jeremiah froze as his grandmother and uncle turned to look at the prone figures in front of them. From the porch, Kid commanded, “Buck, get the doctor.” At his friend’s hushed words, Buck leapt off the porch and sprinted towards the barn. Moments later horse and rider flew out, headed into town. Theresa was at her injured son’s side in a heartbeat as Jeremiah stared at his father in shock. Moving her shaking hands carefully over his face, she whispered, “Shhh, Jem. Louise and the baby are fine. Kid brought them back this morning. You have a granddaughter.” Theresa continued uttering hushed words over her son while the rest of the hands gathered around their revered employer. Josiah indicated that they should get the horses taken care of in the barn, as one by one they left to tend to things. But, their minds were never far from the fate of the man who showed no fear just a few hours ago. Kid, leaving his sister-in-law where she stood, left the porch to gather Jeremiah before ushering the children back inside the house. Jem was alive, but barely. Upon entering the house again, he directed the children into the kitchen where Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Landry were busy preparing lunch for all the men. The two women turned when Kid rushed in the doorway. “They’re back, but...uh...it’s Jem,” Kid struggled to let them know what was happening outside without upsetting the children. Mrs. Landry, sensing that they needed to be kept busy for a while, said, “Come Theresa, Jeremiah, we could really use your help getting lunch ready for everyone.” She placed an arm around each child’s shoulders and gently guided them further into the kitchen. Mrs. Smith, trying to help soothe the distraught children, cooed, “Sometimes it’s better to stay busy when you are full of worry. I’m sure your father will be alright.” Sensing their skepticism, she added, “We’ll know more in a bit. For now, why don’t you two help us and when it’s time, you can go see your father.” The two women glanced at Kid, hovering in the doorway, letting him know he should go. Knowing they would be fine here, Kid left the kitchen. Stopping on the porch to see if the doctor had arrived yet, Kid ran up the stairs to give Louise an update. He reached the attic room, startling his wife with his abrupt entrance. Louise studied her husband’s face for any sign of what he would tell her. Seeing the slight frown on his brow, she knew it wasn’t going to be good. Kid walked over and sat on the bed taking her hand in his. He placed his other hand on her knee, hidden beneath the quilt. Looking in his clear blue eyes, she felt his fear and sadness. “It’s Jem, sweetheart,” he told her as her eyes filled with tears. “Is he...dead?” she asked, her face crumpling with anguish. Kid moved closer to her and putting his arm around her said, “No, he’s alive, but it’s bad. Buck went to get the doctor from town.” Sniffling to keep her tears at bay, Louise nodded her head as her husband stood to leave again. “Honey, I have to get back down there in case they need anything. “ “Alright,” she said. “Put some shoes on before you leave. You ran out of here before in your bare feet.” She watched him find socks before he sat on the edge of the bed again to put them on along with his boots. She leaned forward to stroke his shoulder before he ran off again to offer any help he could to his father-in-law. By the time Kid had returned to the scene at the front of the house, Josiah and Theresa had already made the decision to move Jem up to his room. Josiah and Kid each grabbed a shoulder while two of the hands that had returned from the barn supported his waist and legs. Working together, the four men carried the barely conscious man into the house and up to his bedroom. Gingerly placing their charge on the bed, the four men backed up allowing his mother to start washing all the grime and gore off his battered body. Theresa set to work immediately, as she directed to the men behind her, “Someone get back down there and wait for that doctor.” The two hands ran off to wait on the porch, promising to bring the doctor up as soon as he arrived. Watching Josiah sink into a chair by the back windows, Kid looked around the room in an attempt to give the mother and son some privacy while still staying nearby in case he was needed. Jem’s room was simply decorated. There was a large brass bed against the far wall covered in a dark patchwork quilt. A large trunk sat at the foot of the bed, where Kid saw Theresa place Jem’s boots and clothes as she slowly removed them. Dark wood nightstands flanked the sides of the bed while a large dresser stood against the back wall, near the window. On the opposite side of the room, Kid watched Josiah as he rocked in the chair positioned in the corner. Worry was creasing the man’s face and Kid thought he might need to talk about what happened at the camp after he and Buck had left with Louise and the baby. The telling would have to wait, he thought, at least until they knew the extent of Jem’s injuries. “Kid, could you go downstairs and get fresh water? Mrs. Landry had some heating on the stove,” Theresa queried, breaking his reverie. “Sure,” he answered, walking over to retrieve the sanguine water. He was almost out the door when Theresa turned to address him, “Hurry back?” Kid nodded in reply and disappeared into the hallway. Having made the trip to the kitchen and back, Kid arrived at Jem's room just as Buck returned from town with the doctor. The two waiting hands were soon in the room with the doctor and Buck in tow. “How is he doing, Theresa,” the kindly doctor asked upon entering the room. “He has been in and out of consciousness, Dr. Conlee,” Theresa responded, relinquishing her position at her son’s side as the older man made his way into the room. “Theresa, how many times do I need to tell you. Call me Cal,” he said jovially, settling his hand on her shoulder. Moving over to his patient, he addressed the room, “Who can tell me what happened to him?” Standing from his chair by the window, Josiah moved closer to where Dr. Conlee was starting to examine Jem. “I can. He was in a fight with our older brother. My niece, Jem’s daughter was taken from her home yesterday morning and was being held for ransom at our brother, John’s, camp of miscreants. Seeing as how she was very heavy with child, we needed to get her out of there as soon as we could. Her husband, Kid over there, along with his friend Buck snuck in the camp and rescued her while Jem and I, and about ten of our hands waited in the trees. We were only supposed to come out if there was a problem getting Louise out of there. Well, Jem decided he didn’t want to allow any of this to continue any longer than was necessary, so he entered the camp and went searching for John. The men at the camp had already figured out that Louise wasn’t there anymore which alerted everyone to her escape. John’s men and our men immediately drew on each other with Jem and John standing near each other by the edge of the camp. I’m not really sure who fired first, but soon both sides were shooting and John charged at Jem. I’ve never seen him so angry before... John, I mean. Anyway, the two of them were shouting at each other while John kept trying to hit Jem. Jem was defending himself pretty well I thought. I tried to help him at one point but he told me that this was between him and John. So, I ran off to try to end things with the rest of the camp. By the time I got back, John was lying on top of Jem in the dirt. After we tied up the survivors of the camp, we took their wagon and loaded the two of them into the back,” Josiah related to the silent room. “I’m still not really sure what happened between the two of them. Just thought it was best to bring them both back here straightaway.” Dr. Conlee checked Jem’s pulse and respiration before doing a visual inspection of the man’s chest and back. He noticed severe bruising on his chest which would be expected after a fight. Rolling him over, the doctor found what was causing his patient so much trouble. Just below his left shoulder, Dr. Conlee found a small hole of jagged flesh with bruising starting to form around it. “I think I found the problem,” Cal Conlee announced to the room. “He’s been shot. Help me roll him over so I can get the lead out,” he added. “Theresa, will you help?” She nodded her head in acceptance before she started shooing everyone else from the room. Kid and Josiah soon found themselves standing outside the closed bedroom door with Buck and the other two hands. After thanking the hands for their help, Josiah told them they could go. “There’s sandwiches downstairs in the kitchen,” Kid told the pair as they headed down the stairs. Once they were gone, Kid walked over to Josiah’s side, not really sure what to say to him. They all knew that Jem’s was holding on by a thread. If he survived this surgery, he might have a chance. Or, he might not. Josiah was the first to speak, “After all he’s gone through in the last year, hell, the last twenty years, to have it all end like this. I can’t even...I just…” Josiah hung his head in despair over his brother’s plight. “I know. After everything he’s gone through, he deserves some happiness,” Kid commisserated. “I can’t even imagine the amount of pain it must have caused him to have to watch the woman he loved be married off to someone else. I guess it’s some consolation that he still got to see her, but I can’t imagine having to watch Lou live with someone else.” Kid started pacing around the second floor hall, unable to stop thinking about losing his wife and daughter. Jem didn’t deserve this, he thought. Kid had really gotten to know his father-in-law over the last few months since he had swept in and married Lou. In his eyes, Jem was on the same level as Teaspoon. Both men were honest and dependable and, most importantly, would do anything for their family. Kid felt fortunate that he had been able to have both of these men come into his life, especially after his own father was such an abomination. The sound of hoofbeats on the front drive brought the three men out of their silent vigil. Buck, who had been near the front windows, announced, “The sheriff’s here. I stopped to notify him once I found the Doc.” “We should probably help them get the rest of the men from the camp,” Josiah said flatly. “Do you want us to go while you stay here?” Kid asked the older man. “No. I think maybe we should all go, unless Buck you want to head out to your girl in Ohio?” Josiah said. “ I think the distraction will help. Plus, we can tell Jem when he wakes up that everything is really done this time,” he finished. Yeah, Kid thought, if he wakes up. For the sake of everyone in our family, Kid certainly hoped that he did. Heading down stairs, Buck and Kid headed to the barn to ready their mounts while Josiah stopped in the kitchen to let Mrs. Landry know where they were headed off to. He also told them of Doc Conlee’s presence upstairs and that she should wait up there in case either he or his mother needed anything. As the housekeeper headed upstairs, Josiah hugged the children who were busy kneading dough before heading off to meet Kid and Buck in the barn. Josiah arrived at the barn in time to see his horse, Whiskey, had already been saddled for him. Mounting up, all three men walked their mounts over to where Sheriff Dooley and his Deputy, Hack Wilkins were examining the body in the wagon. Kid and Buck exchanged a knowing look as they approached the two lawmen from Benton. “Good afternoon, Josiah, Kid, Buck. Wanna tell me what happened here?” Sheriff Dooley asked after greeting the three men. Kid and Buck looked at each other before they turned their gaze to Josiah. Not getting an immediate answer from any of them, Sheriff Dooley continued, “Why don’t you start with explaining the dead body in the wagon here in front of your house?” Josiah finally broke his silence. “It’s my brother, Dooley. He’s been causing a whole lot of trouble around here over the last few months. You remember, Jem told you about that back in the fall. Mostly just destructive stuff, breaking fences, stealing horses…” “Horse stealing’s a hanging offense, Josiah,” Dooley reminded him. “Yeah, I know. But until a few days ago, we didn’t know who was causing all the trouble,” Josiah responded. “Anyway, a couple of days ago, trouble started acting up again after the winter. This time it was in the south pasture. Same thing as the fall, broken fences, but this time, he left a note.” “I’ll need to see this note, if you still have it.” “Yeah, Jem had it last,” Kid replied. Josiah looked over at Kid before he continued, “Jem and I suspected it might be our older brother since it seemed someone was out for revenge against Jem because of a family matter. Based on that, and knowing what the problem was, we both figured it had to be him. Only problem was, he was supposed to be dead.” “That would make things a bit troubling. Did he fake his death?” Hack asked after having listened to the tale so far. Kid shook his head as he confessed, “A little more than two years ago, Theresa and Jeremiah were taken from the orphanage where Louise had left them. When she went to go rescue them from Boggs, he tried to shoot her so she couldn’t leave. I got my gun and, well, I killed him. Or so we all thought.” Hack nodded, remembering that Louise used to ride for the express and had disguised herself as a boy. When Dooley’s face clouded with confusion, Hack mumbled, “You remember me telling you about those riders with Teaspoon Hunter. One of them was Louise, and these two here,” indicating Kid and Buck. Realizing he had heard the story about the girl rider, the older man nodded before indicating that they needed to continue. “So he was dead, but now he isn’t? Or is he?” Dooley asked, indicating the body in the wagon. “No, he really is now,” Josiah said, sadly. “Jem killed him last night.” Sheriff Dooley nodded his understanding. He still had a lot of questions about the whole matter though and was going to need answers before he could proceed. “Hmmm. So what happened last night?” he asked. Josiah resumed his story for the sheriff. “Yesterday morning, maybe around seven, the hands had just started filtering out to check the fields to inspect for any more damage. When they got to the south pasture, they found the barn was on fire. One of them ran back to gather everyone else, while the other three stayed in an attempt to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading. Within a half an hour, everyone was there trying to put it out, but it was too late. The barn was engulfed in flames and there was no stopping the inferno. We all stood there watching the barn as it was destroyed. Jem and I along with Kid and Buck stayed behind to make sure the fire was definitely out but we sent almost all of the hands back to see to the horses and to continue as if it were a regular day. The four of us and the few hands remaining didn’t get back to the main ranch until late afternoon. Theresa was just getting back from town with the children when we realized that something much worse had happened.” Sheriff Dooley and Hack, looked at Josiah, waiting for him to continue. “Why don’t we get to their camp before we tell you the rest,” Josiah said, as the three mounts were getting restless. Josiah, Kid, and Buck started leading their horses in the direction of the miscreants’ camp. The sheriff and deputy climbed onto their mounts and took off after the three men. Within no time, the five men had arrived at the camp. Surveying the mess that lay before them, Sheriff Dooley let out a low whistle when he saw the size of the camp and the men that were still tied up waiting for their date with justice. “So this is Boggs’ camp? It looks...What happened here?” Dooley asked, staring at the destruction before him. Tents were destroyed, some on fire, bodies were scattered around and there was the overwhelming stench of death and smoke. “Kid, tell them about Louise,” Josiah encouraged, knowing the young man was hesitant to share the details of last night. Walking around the camp for a few minutes, he stopped when he got to her tent. Turning around, Kid shared, “When we got back from the fire, I went to see how my wife was doing. We were supposed to have moved back to the main house that day, but when we saw the fire, I ran off after she assured me she would be alright. Buck had found signs the day before yesterday that someone had been watching our house near the edge of the property. We just didn’t want to stay there until this whole thing was over with. I didn’t want her to be alone in the house all day. Anyway, once we got back to the ranch, Theresa asked me what happened with our plans to move. See, Lou had never made it to the big house. Buck and I searched everywhere before we found a note in the cottage. It said they had taken her. We came back and told Jem and Josiah what had happened before we came up with a plan. Buck and I set off to find their camp so we could find Lou.” “Meanwhile, Jem and I had to get the hands ready to go once Kid and Buck came back. Once we explained the situation, they were all willing to help us get her back. Because by this time, Jem and I knew that John was after the ranch, we set off to wait in the south pasture for their return. Once they got back, we knew we had a bigger problem. We needed to get in that camp tonight and Louise had to come home. We planned a way to get her out of there, Jem and I were supposed to be the diversion if Buck and Kid needed help,” Josiah explained further. Dooley and Hack nodded their understanding, but Kid could see they didn’t truly comprehend all that was at stake here. “Louise was expecting our first child when he took her. She was very close to her time, only we didn’t realize just how close she really was. Once Buck snuck into the camp, we found out that she was having the baby. We really needed to get her home before that happened. Unfortunately, we weren’t fast enough,” Kid elaborated. The two lawmen stood there in astonishment. Walking over to the tent where Kid was standing, the sheriff took a look inside. Seeing the remnants of the delivery, he withdrew his head and looked at Kid. “She had the baby here, didn’t she,” he asked, already knowing the answer. His face frowning with concern, Dooley quickly asked, “She’s alright, isn't she?” Kid nodded as a smile spread over his face. “Buck helped me sneak into the camp once we got back. I was with her when our daughter was born. As soon as the rest of the men were in position, Buck came in to get the three of us out. We were just out of the camp when the baby cried, alerting the camp to our departure.” Josiah rubbed his hand over his face, knowing how close they came to losing both girls and knowing what transpired after they left. “All hell broke loose after that. Jem walked out of his hiding spot to confront John about everything when one of the men in camp started shooting. John was consumed with rage and attacked Jem. Next thing I knew, John and Jem were both dead. The rest of the men in camp realized they had no choice, so they surrendered. We tied them up before loading the two bodies onto the cart to bring them back to the house. It wasn’t until we were back at the house when we realized that Jem was still alive. The doctor is with him and Mama at the house.” Dooley walked around the campsite a while more, looking for any evidence to back up Josiah and Kid’s story. Near the back of the camp he found four empty cans, which he quickly found out had contained turpentine. Looking back at Josiah, he said, “I think I figured out why your barn burned so fast. These cans smell of turpentine. Why would you need that around a camp?” Meanwhile, Buck had walked over to where there were several horses crudely corralled. Running his hand over several of the horses’ flanks, he noticed they all had something in common. “These look like our horses that were missing. They all have your brand,” Buck called to Josiah, alerting Dooley. The sheriff had seen enough. Motioning to his deputy, he needed to get things wrapped up here. “Hack, get back to the ranch and bring that wagon back here.” turning to Josiah, he asked, “Do you think you could spare some men to help clean all this up? Hack and I can then be on our way to take care of things in town.” Receiving a nod in reply, Dooley started collecting the things he would need to use to prove the case against Boggs’ remaining men. With so much evidence between the cans of turpentine, the letters, and the statements of pretty much the entire family, Dooley knew this would be an easy case. Still, the men before him had truly suffered under the hand of that one man. For that, Dooley was truly sorry. Theresa and her sons were good people; things like this shouldn't happen to them. Hopefully, once they could put this behind them, they would be able to have some modicum of happiness. Kid and Buck volunteered to remain at the camp until the rest of the hands returned and Hack returned with the wagon. Josiah had left with the deputy to round up some men to come back and help get the mess from the confrontation cleaned up. The three men had started with tearing down the remaining tents and piling them up. Once that was done, Hack had returned with the wagon. About five ranch hands were behind them with a second wagon to help. The bodies were stacked into the back of the wagon along with the metal cans. Since the hands were there, Kid was ready to return to the house to see how Jem was faring as well as to check on Louise and Kathryn. Before he left, he stopped to ask Buck, “Stop by the house on your way back? Hopefully, we’ll have heard something from the doc by then.” Buck agreed, before returning to his task of rounding up the remaining men to cart back to town. Taking one last look at what remained of the camp, Kid turned Katy towards home. Chapter 18 Doc Conlee had just finished sewing up his patient after extracting the bullet from Jem’s shoulder. He was sure there was damage to some of his internal organs and the overwhelming amount of pain he was in was causing his lack of consciousness. Only time would tell if he would survive his ordeal, thought the doctor. He looked over to the older woman slowly moving around the room. She did everything he asked as he tended to her son’s injuries, remaining calm throughout the entire ordeal. His admiration for Theresa Boggs grew as he watched her. Cal had heard the story about her domineering husband and the plight of her three sons, one mired in anger and violence while the other two were just like their mother, strong and kind. He sincerely hoped Jem pulled through all this. He had so much to live for. Besides the ranch, he had recently found his children and brought them home after more than ten years apart. Shaking his head as he packed up his instruments, Cal thought about what he would tell the family. Aside from Theresa, Josiah and Kid were probably waiting outside and he was sure his children were waiting to hear anything about the health of their father. Motioning to Theresa, Cal took a deep breath and led her from the room. As soon as they breached the doorway, Josiah and Kid stood from where they had been leaning against the wall in their wait. Josiah was the first to speak, “Well, Doc, how is he? Is he gonna be alright?” Cal looked at the men and woman before him. Rubbing his hand over his face in exhaustions, he replied, “I was able to get the bullet out of his shoulder and stitched up. He seems to have some internal injuries from the fight with John. He’s sleeping now, but I am hopeful that he’ll wake up soon. I’m concerned about the bruising covering his body, but as long as he doesn’t get an infection, he should be alright. If he gets a fever, I have left some willow bark tea to help keep him comfortable. Otherwise, let him sleep and feed him broth for the next few days. Once he wakes up, call me and I’ll come back to see him.” The trio nodded their understanding before Josiah asked, “Can we see him?” Doctor Conlee bowed his head in agreement before he warned, “But keep it brief, he needs his rest right now.” Hearing the doctor’s approval, Josiah and Kid slipped into the room to see the ailing man. Josiah sat at his bedside, holding his older brother’s hand, as Kid stood behind him. Jem lay under the dark quilt, his labored breath resonating around the room. Kid could see the bruising on his face and on his shoulder not covered with a bandage. In that moment, Kid felt his bond with his father-in-law strengthen. He could see himself in the older man. They would both do anything to protect their family, even if it meant facing the past. Josiah gently grasped his brother’s hand before he started whispering to him, “Jem, brother, you have to get better. Everyone is counting on you. Mama, Jeremiah, Theresa, Louise, Kid, everyone. You’re a Grandpa now and the baby needs her grandfather. Your children need you. Don’t stop fighting, brother, not after you finally got everything you wanted. We worked too hard for this; you worked too hard for this. Please...” His voice trailed off as Kid watched him break down in his grief and worry. Kid reached out and placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, squeezing it in support. Feeling like he was intruding on a private moment between the brothers, Kid withdrew his hand off Josiah’s shoulder and slipped from the room. Noticing the diminishing light in the hallway, Kid made his way up to the attic bedroom. Louise was probably beside herself with worry since no one that he knew of had come up to let her know how her father was doing. Pushing the door open, he paused as his eyes found her sleeping peacefully, her back to the door. Looking down, he noticed their daughter was also sleeping soundly in her cradle next to the bed. Kid crept over to the side of the bed before he sat down to gently rouse Louise. Sensing the shifting of the mattress, Louise rolled over, her eyes blinking awake as the setting sun cast its final rays into the spacious bedroom. “Kid,” she whispered, pulling herself up to a sitting position. “How is he? He’s not…” she asked, her voice trailing off at the thought that Jem might not have survived. Kid took her hands in his before he told her the details of Jem’s injuries and relayed to her the story of how he stood up to his older brother to save her life. By the time he was finished, tears were streaming from her eyes as she listened to the day’s earlier events. “Oh, Kid. He has to make it. I can’t lose him too,” she said tearfully. Kid gathered her into his arms allowing her to weep into his shoulder. He spoke soothing words to her as he slowly stroked her back. Hearing her breath relaxing and her tears subsiding, Kid pulled back from her to ask, “I think dinner is almost ready. Do you want me to bring it up here and we can eat together?” Louise leaned back against the headboard and sighed, “Yeah, dinner sounds nice. I’m getting hungry. Can you bring up a pitcher of water? I’m really thirsty.” Kissing her on the forehead, Kid replied, “Sure thing. I’ll be right back.” And with that, he left the room in search of sustenance. With his departure, Kathryn decided that was her cue to wake up as well. Louise heard her daughter’s cries and eased herself out of the bed to sooth her. Lifting her from the cradle, she tucked the baby close to her breast and walked over to get a fresh diaper. She quickly returned to the bed, where she changed her diaper before slipping back into bed with Baby Kathryn in tow. Unbuttoning the front of her nightgown, Louise brought the baby to her waiting nipple. Kathryn latched on immediately, hungry for her next meal. The new mother gazed down at her daughter and slowly traced her tiny perfect ear with her finger. As she nourished her child, Louise thought back over the last year. A year ago, she was still riding for the express and sleeping in the bunkhouse. She and Kid were making their way back together. She had told him everything about her past and he understood why she had been so afraid of being with him. Things were looking up and then her grandmother and uncle showed up after ten years apart and changed her life. Even six months ago, Louise doubted she would be where she was at this exact moment. Six months ago, she thought Kid had disappeared from her life forever. Louise stopped for a moment as she burped Kathryn before moving her to the other breast. Once she had her settled again, she started stroking her tiny back as she started thinking about her life since she came to the ranch; since Kid came back to her. In the last year she went from an orphan to a daughter, a granddaughter, a wife, and a mother. Kid loved her when she thought no one would, but then Jem showed up who had loved her for her entire life. Two men who changed her life forever. Two men who, when she really thought about it, were really very similar. They both lived their lives according to a strict moral code. Well, she thought with a wry smile, maybe not that strict. After all, she and her mother were both with child when they got married. They both loved fiercely and were overprotective with those they loved. And they were willing to do anything to protect those most dear to them. Thinking about her father standing up to his awful brother to ensure she and her baby would be safe brought tears to her eyes again. Swiping the errant tears from her cheeks, Louise realized her daughter was finished nursing. Kathryn had fallen asleep in her arms, her belly full. Louise snuggled against her soft cheek and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. Hearing footsteps on the steps outside her door, Louise looked over in time to see Kid returning with a large tray laden with bowls of hearty stew and fresh bread and butter. Her grandmother followed behind him with a large pitcher of water and a pair of speckled mugs, which she placed carefully on the dresser. Kid placed the tray on the center of the bed as Theresa walked over to see the baby. “Would you like me to hold her so you can eat, Louise?” she asked her granddaughter. Louise gingerly transferred baby Kathryn to her great-grandmother’s arms. Kathryn let out a small whimper as she was shifted into new arms, but quickly calmed as the arms carried her over to the rocking chair. Kid handed Louise a bowl and a spoon before helping himself. Louise was enjoying the taste of the savory stew as she watched her grandmother softly cooing to her infant. She turned back to Kid so they could enjoy their first real meal since they became parents. “You look tired,” she commented to her husband. He looked at her over his bowl before he lowered it to his lap. “I am tired. I don’t think I slept since we left the cottage,” he said softly, not wanting to disturb the pair in the rocking chair. “I think, after we finish dinner, I’ll go check in the barn and then I will be right back to join you.” “Josiah already went to check the horses,” Theresa announced quietly from the corner. “I think he needed something to do to keep busy.” Louise watched as Kid finished the contents of his bowl before grabbing a piece of buttered bread. He gave it a swipe in the bowl before taking a large bite. She smiled as she watched him enjoy his food as she realized he probably didn’t eat last night. In fact, she thought, he probably hadn’t really eaten since breakfast back at the cottage. A few bites of toast this morning was not a meal. No wonder he was so hungry. She took another bite of her stew before she offered the rest to him. “No, you should eat it,” he gently admonished her. “I’m full. You can have it,” she coaxed before grabbing a small piece of bread and nibbling at it. He raised his brow at her in disbelief. She could almost see his eyes rolling in his head as he considered the bread in her hand. Shrugging her shoulders, she placed the bowl back on the tray, then finishing her bread, she slipped from the bed in search of water. She poured a mug of water at the dresser before she returned to the bed. As she stood by her bedside, she found Kid happily slurping the rest of her stew. A knowing smile spread on her face as she sat back on the bed. Having finished their dinner, Kid collected the empty dishes back onto the tray and brought it back downstairs to deliver it to the kitchen. Louise, having a moment alone with her grandmother, asked, “How is he really, Grandma?” “I checked on him before I came up here and he is much the same. Your father is still sleeping, although I think his breathing is more relaxed than it was a few hours ago. I am just so grateful that he’s still with us,” Theresa responded, a tear slipping down her cheek. “I don’t know what we would do around here without him.” Louise smiled sadly as she pondered her grandmother’s words. “I’m afraid that I’ll lose him before I ever really got to know him. I wish we had more time,” she professed, her voice laced with sadness. “Don’t forget, Louise, Jem’s a fighter. He’s not going to give up that easily. We just have to wait and waiting can be the hardest thing sometimes.” Louise nodded her head in agreement. Her grandmother was right about that; waiting for someone you love is truly the hardest thing to endure. Theresa, noticing Kid’s return to the bedroom, stood and carried her tiny charge over to her father. She placed the infant in Kid’s waiting arms before she placed a kiss on her great-granddaughter’s forehead. Having relinquished the baby, she walked over to Louise and placing her hands on either side of her granddaughter’s face she whispered, “He’s not ready to leave you yet. He loves you too much, darling.” Theresa kissed her forehead and let herself out of the room. Kid meanwhile was walking slowly around the room, enjoying the pleasant weight of the bundle in his arms. Examining her tiny face, he marvelled at the brown curls covering her head and the soft, pink blush of her cheeks. She had the most perfect tiny nose and he noticed her rosebud lips were making soft sucking sounds as she slept. Kid didn’t think he would ever get used to just how amazing she was. She was barely twenty four hours old and he already couldn't imagine not having her in his life. He glanced over at Louise, propped tiredly against the pillows but her eyes were fixed on the scene before her. He caught her watching him and smiled before walking over to the other side of the bed and sitting beside her. “Thank you,” he murmured to her. “For what?” Louise asked. “For falling in love with me. For giving me this.” “The falling in love part was easy,” she said, nestling herself against his side. Kid moved his arm so he could hold his two favorite girls close to him. “And as for this, I didn’t do this,” she asserted before continuing, “we did this together.” She closed her eyes, content to be in her husband’s arms and safe in their bed. “You know I think I fell in love with you when you discovered my secret and didn’t tell anyone,” she mumbled as sleep threatened to overtake her. Louise could feel herself drifting off as she heard Kid whisper into her hair, “I did too. All of a sudden there was this amazing woman right in front of me who could do everything the rest of us boys could do. She was beautiful and irresistible. In fact, she still is.” He pressed a kiss to her hair before he slipped out of bed to return Kathryn to her cradle. His eyes were feeling very heavy in the low light and he needed to get some sleep. Turning the lamp off, Kid adjusted his wife’s position in bed before climbing in bed, pulling her close to him and allowing sleep to overtake him. It was only a few hours later when Louise was awakened to her daughter’s cries. Sleepily padding to her cradle, Lousie scooped her up, quickly changed her wet diaper, swaddled her back up and headed to the rocking chair. She unbuttoned her nightgown once again and settled Kathryn to nursing. Louise rested her head back against the back of the rocking chair as she fed her child. She closed her eyes as she felt the suckling at her breast and felt her body relax with her daughter under her care. Mother and daughter remained there for a little while before baby Kathryn fell back asleep. Louise carefully placed her sleeping daughter back in her cradle before fixing her nightgown and grabbing her robe. She watched her husband’s even breathing before she slipped out of their room, leaving the door ajar behind her. Louise could see the moonlight streaming in through the front windows, illuminating the staircase before her. She quickly passed down the flight of steps and slipped into her father’s bedroom. There was a lamp on the dresser, casting a soft glow over the room. Tiptoeing across the carpet, she soon found herself standing next to his prone figure in the bed, Leaning over, she brushed the dark curls off his brow before she placed a kiss on his forehead. She took the seat next to his bedside so she could pour her heart out to him. “Papa,” she started, “It’s me, Louise. I’m so sorry this happened to you. If I had just come to the house sooner, this never would have happened.” She let the unbidden tears fall now that she was alone with the one she felt she had shamed by her reckless behavior. “Please get better. I can’t lose you already. I just got you back.” she pleaded as she held his hand against her damp cheek. Dropping her head to rest on the bed, she let the sobs overtake her body. Louise didn’t know how long she had been there before she felt a large hand softly stroking the side of her hair. “Shhhh, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere. I promise, I’ll find a way to get you and the baby away from here,” Jem rasped through his dry throat. Louise lifted her tearstained face to stare at her father. He was awake! She grasped his hand and held it close to her face while he continued to caress her cheek. “We should leave tonight so you won’t have to marry him. We could run away.” Louise was getting confused. Run away? Not marry him? What was he talking about? But he just continued his confused speech, “We have to protect the baby, I love you, Mary.” His hand went limp in Louise’s hands. “Papa?” she whispered. “Papa?” Standing up, Louise released his hand and went to feel his forehead. His skin was hot to the touch. She fumbled around the room looking for a towel and some water. Locating a pitcher of water over by the window along with a small towel, she plunged the towel in and wrung it out before returning to her father’s side. Folding the towel, she placed it against his hot forehead. Deciding she needed help, Louise stumbled from the room and entered her grandmother’s bedroom. Rushing over to her bedside, Louise whispered, “Grandma! Wake up!” When Theresa failed to rouse, she grabbed her shoulders and started to gently shake her. “Grandma!” she said again. Her voice was rising in pitch in her attempt to wake the woman. Having failed to wake her grandmother, Louise returned to her father’s bedside to change the cloth on his head. She had just replaced the towel when she felt soft hands on her shoulders. “Louise, what are you doing up? You should be sleeping,” Theresa remarked. “I was up with the baby but I wanted to come see him. When I got here, he started speaking gibberish about how we had to get away so I wouldn’t have to marry him and we had to protect the baby. Then I realized, he thought I was Mama. I think he was reliving the last time he saw her before the wedding.” “That sounds about right, but why would he confuse you with your mother. I guess in the dark you two do look quite similar.” “That’s just it. I felt his skin and he was burning up. I tried to cool him off before I tried to wake you,” Louise said frantically. “We need to get some of the blankets off of him, leave him covered with the sheet, but pull everything else off the bed. I’ll go downstairs and brew some willow bark tea. Keep changing the towel. I’ll bring another one up so we can place it on his chest,” Theresa directed before leaving for the kitchen. Having watched her grandmother’s swift departure, Louise set to work trying to cool her father’s overheated body. She brought the basin of cool water over to the bedside table and proceeded to dip the towel into its contents. Wringing out the soggy cloth, she folded it up before gently washing his face, arms, and chest, hoping the cool water would soothe his fever. She continued her ministrations as she whispered soft words of encouragement to the feverish man. “Papa, you have to get better. Think of Mama and what she wanted. She wanted Jeremiah, Theresa and I to be with you, Louise whispered frantically to her father as she continued to cool him. Seeing his lethargy, she started to feel guilt over her part in this. “I’m so sorry he did this to you. This is all my fault,” she added between her tears, “If I had just stayed at the orphanage all those years ago. If I hadn’t run away. He wouldn't have found us or taken them away. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to Mama. She told me to stay at the orphanage, but I hated it there. And I missed you and Mama…” Louise felt soft hands on her shoulders, pausing her speech. “Grandma,” she sobbed, “This is all my fault.” Turning the weeping girl around to face her, Theresa hugged her granddaughter to her, whispering, “He’ll be alright, darling. None of this is your fault. This was started a long time ago, before you were even born.” Pulling back to look into her sad brown eyes, Theresa wiped the tears from Louise’s damp cheeks before telling her, “Jem and your Mama loved each other very much. You and your siblings are proof of that. Once John discovered that all of his children were really his brother’s, his anger knew no bounds. Your father and I realized we had run out of time. Your Mama realized it too. She had to leave and stay hidden from the family until it was safe for her to reunite with Jem. This has always been between your father and John. You had nothing to do with it. So, please stop blaming yourself.” Louise just stared at her grandmother as she thought about her words. The two women were startled by a groan from the bed. “Lou...ise...Come….here,” Jem was struggling to speak from the bed. Turning to face her father, Louise fell into the chair at his bedside and grabbed his hand in hers. “Papa,” she said soothingly. “Not...your...fault…” he continued, breathlessly. “John...fault...My...fault.” “Papa, don’t try to speak. You have to rest,” Louise said fretfully. “We can talk later, when you’re better,” she begged, bringing the back of his hot hand to her cheek. Jem attempted to stroke his daughter’s soft cheek as he said, “Love...you...dar...ling,” before he fell back into unconsciousness. Feeling a new sense of determination, Louise returned to bathing her father’s feverish skin with the cool water as her grandmother carefully lifted Jem’s head and helped him sip the medicinal tea. The two women continued their treatment until their patient had consumed all the tea. Theresa sat back in the chair and informed her granddaughter, “We should check his wound, but I’m afraid to move him.” “Better to leave him for now. We can send for the doctor in the morning,” Louise replied, stifling a yawn. Theresa turned a stern face to her granddaughter, at once realizing that she was also recovering. “Louise, you need to be in bed,” she scolded. “Yes, she does,” came the firm reply from the doorway. Kid leaned against the frame, watching his tired wife as she realized he had come to find her. “Kid, what are you doing up?” she asked, rushing over to his side. “I could ask you the same thing. I woke up when I couldn’t find you next to me,” he elaborated, drawing her close to his side and wrapping an arm around her waist. “I had to see how Papa was.” “It’s a good thing she did, too, Kid. Jem started a fever sometime since we all went to bed. Louise came to wake me so we could take care of him,” Theresa declared.. “He seems to be sleeping more soundly now, you should go back to bed, Louise. Kathryn will be waking soon.” Theresa pulled her weary body from the chair at her son’s bedside and ushered the three of them from the room. Louise headed for the stairs to take them to their room, Kid right on her heels. She paused on the bottom step as she whispered, “Good night, Grandma,” pausing before she added, “and thank you.” “Good night you two. Any time, darling,” Theresa said despite her weariness. She stood watching the two disappear up the stairs before she returned to her own room for what remained of the night, hoping that she would be able to find some respite from the last few days. She wasn’t sure if she would sleep again though until her son recovered. Louise and Kid returned to their room in time to hear the first whimpers of their daughter as she was waking up to be fed again. Louise was headed for her cradle when she was stopped by her husband. “I’ll get her. You get back in bed,” he said as he leaned over to gather the now squalling bundle into his arms. Finding a new diaper, Kid changed her before handing her over to her waiting mother. Having already adjusted her nightgown in preparation for Kathryn, she quickly swaddled her back up before bringing her to her breast. Kid watched as his daughter quickly latched onto the offered nipple, leaning over to stroke her downy head as he continued to be amazed by both his wife and new daughter. Still concentrating on his daughter’s movements, Kid decided to ask, “Are you alright?” Looking up at his wife’s face, he noticed tears streaming down her face. Frowning with worry over her emotional state, he moved closer to her and put an arm around her. Seeing her shake her head, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her damp cheek. “I can’t help but think this is all my fault,” she confessed. “What is all your fault?” he asked, trying to understand what she was so worried about. “Pa getting hurt. Everything from the last two days,” she said as the tears continued to fall unbidden. “Sweetheart, none of this is your fault,” Kid replied soothingly. “If anything, I would think this has been building for the last twenty years or so, probably since before your Ma married your uncle.” “I know that but, I’m a constant reminder of everything he lost. When I was down there, he thought I was Mama.” “He’s feverish, Lou, you know that. Sometimes that happens. The mind gets confused and forgets where it really is. He was probably thinking about her as he was about to have it out with his brother.” “I guess. That’s what Grandma said. But, I don’t know,” she lamented as she switched Kathryn to the other side. “Maybe I shouldn’t be here if it stirs up too many memories for him.” “Do you really think he would want that?” Kid asked her, raising his brow at her in disbelief. “He loves you. Hell, he’s been doing everything he could to protect you for as long as he was around. As someone who has tried to do that myself, I can understand where he’s coming from. And now, with Kathryn here, I can understand him even more. I would do anything, and I do mean anything, to protect you two. You know, I think your father and I have more in common than either of us realized when we first met. I think you can see it too, if you look.” Louise chuckled at that thought. “Yeah, I guess you two are pretty similar,” she said as she moved to return her sleeping daughter to her cradle. “Here, let me,” Kid offered, holding his hands out to relieve Louise of their baby. Cradling her in the crook of his arm, he carefully moved from his place in bed and, walking around to the cradle, laid her sleeping form down upon the small mattress. He was back in bed in no time, pulling Louise into his arms under the quilts. “Well, I can think of one way you’re different,” she announced. “Yeah? How?” he said, nuzzling kisses into the curve of her neck. “You actually got to marry the woman you loved, not watch her marry your brother.” “I think if Jed wasn’t already dead, I would have to kill him if he tried to marry you,” Kid said as he felt the tiny woman in his arms drift off to sleep. Soon after, he fell fast asleep. Doc Conlee was at the house bright and early the next morning to check on his patient. Theresa informed him of Jem’s feverish state overnight as soon as he arrived. Once he was admitted to Jem’s room, he was able to check his shoulder wound and determined that it had become infected. Dousing it with some alcohol, he urged Theresa to keep it as clean as she could. He applied a poultice to the affected area and instructed her to keep giving him the willow bark tea. “It’s going to depend on him now. If he can fight off the infection, he should recover just fine. We’ll know more in the next few days,” Cal said as he was about to leave. “Thank you for coming by this morning, Cal,” Theresa said as she walked the doctor to the porch. Cal took her hand in his before he said, “He’ll be fine, Theresa. He’s strong like his mother. You’ll see.” He gave her hand a comforting squeeze, then letting go, he walked down the steps to his buggy. Sitting down and gathering the reins in his hand, he waved his goodbye as he drove off. The next two days passed in much the same manner. Doctor Conlee stopped in each morning to check on Jem’s health with no change. Everyone would stop in to sit with him for a few hours each day in an attempt to rouse the head of their family. In the meantime, Kid went back to his work as foreman, trying to keep the ranch going with Josiah. Louise fell into a routine with her daughter and Buck finally left for Ohio. Knowing that he would be bringing Jenny back with him, Louise was looking forward to her arrival in a few weeks as she would have another woman her own age around the ranch. On the third day, Louise decided to bring Kathryn with her while she sat with her unconscious father. With her sleeping daughter in a basket near her feet, she started her usual litany of entreaties in the hopes that her words might wake him. “Papa, please come back to us,” she whispered. “We need you here with us. I need you,” she implored, her head dropping to her chest as tears started their slow descent down her cheeks. So caught up in her grief, Louise was barely aware of the large hand that moved onto her knee. “Shhhh, darling.” At the sound of words from the bed, Louise pulled her gaze from her lap to find her eyes locked on the tired brown eyes gazing back at her. Seeing the wakeful vision of her father, she quickly stood from the chair by his bedside to press a hand to his brow. Where the last three days had been feverishly hot skin, there was now coolness. The fever had broken. “Papa!” she exclaimed, “You’re awake.” “Louise….,” Jem whispered huskily, bringing his hand up to caress her damp cheek. “I’m so glad you are safe.” As he looked over the figure of his daughter, he noticed her trimmer form. “The baby?” he asked, the worry evident on his face. “She’s fine, Papa. Do you want to see your granddaughter?” Jem nodded his head to answer her. “Help me sit up first,” he said, trying to pull himself to a more upright position. Louise grabbed extra pillows from the room and propped them behind him as she helped him sit up. Once he was comfortable again, she handed him a cup of water. “Do you need anything else? I should go tell Grandma that you’re awake,” she asked as she stood, arms crossed by the side of the bed. “Wait on that. Come sit with me. I want to talk to you before you alert the others,” Jem said, patting the other side of the bed. Obeying his request, Lou moved to sit on the other side of the bed, awaiting what her father wanted to share with her. “Louise, I know you’ve had a hard time the last few years. You don’t know how it pains me that I wasn’t here for you and your siblings or for your Mama for that matter. But, I am so proud of the woman you have become. Your Mama would be proud of you too. She loved you all so much. My brother and I have had our differences over the years, probably since we were just boys ourselves. When we were younger, I didn’t hate him. I was sad for him. Sad because he would never have the life he wanted to live. I think that was what made him hate Josiah and I so much. We were free from our father to do what we wanted, but as the oldest, he had all the responsibility to carry on the family business and become the head of the family. Somewhere along the way, he took the wrong path. John was angry at the world because it could never be what he wanted it to be. Once he and your Mama were married, he took it out on her. He knew that you weren't his child as soon as you were born. And once he realized who was responsible for you and eventually Jeremiah and Theresa, his rage knew no bounds.” Stopping to take a sip of water, Jem continued, “None of this was your fault. He took you to get back at me because he knew all those years ago, how much I loved you. He wanted to hurt me. He wanted me to feel all the pain that he had felt over the course of our lifetime. He also knew that I would do everything I could to bring you back home safely.” “You know, you sound an awful lot like Kid,” she said with a small laugh. Jem reached over to take her small hand in his. “He reminds me a lot of my younger self, darling. And he looks at you the same way I used to look at your mother, as your grandmother so helpfully reminded me. She warned me about you and him back when we left Rock Creek, you know.” “About what?” “That we were going to lose you to him. She could see the way it was between the two of you. I was just so happy that you were coming with me, that I figured I could deal with that later. Much later.” Louise smiled at her father’s admission. A small whimper came from the basket on the other side of the bed. Realizing her daughter was waking up from her nap, Louise left her father’s side to attend to her baby’s needs. Gathering the newborn into her arms, Louise returned to the bed to sit once again with her father. Kathryn calmed once she was ensconced in her mother’s arms. Gently cooing to her daughter, Louise paused to ask, “Do you want to hold her?” Jem looked a bit startled at her offer, but returned the mug to his bedside table so he could receive his granddaughter into his arms. Louise gingerly placed her precious bundle into her father’s waiting arms, being careful to avoid his injured shoulder. She watched as Jem gazed lovingly into his granddaughter’s cherubic face. “She looks a lot like you did when you were born,” he remarked. “She’s beautiful, Louise.” Jem continued to cradle the tiny girl in his arms as he remembered the first time he held Louise in his arms. “You know, I was the first one to hold you after you were born?” At her confused glance, Jem clarified, “John was away when you were born. I was the first one in the room after you were born. Mary handed you to me and your Grandmother allowed us to have a few moments together as a family. I remember how tiny you were and how loud you cried when anyone else held you besides your mother or me. In that moment, I had a glimpse of what my life would have been like had my father not forced that marriage.” “That’s why you were always around. Now that Kathryn is here, I think I better understand why you did what you did back then. I’m sorry if I was hard on you when I first got here,” Louise said, folding her arms over her chest to hide her discomfort. Jem looked away from the baby in his arms to look at her mother. Looking into her brown eyes, he implored, “You have nothing, absolutely nothing to be sorry for. You were hurting over your separation from Kid.” Seeing her relax slightly from his words, Jem continued, “I’m just glad he finally showed up. You two make each other happy and that’s all I could ever hope for.” At that moment, Kathryn decided to resume her wailing, interrupting the peaceful moment between father and daughter. “She’s probably hungry and needs to be changed,” Louise said, reaching for her daughter. Jem handed the crying bundle over to her attentive mother. “Louise, come back when you are finished?” “Alright. Shall I tell them you’re awake?” she asked with a gleam in her eye. Louise was trying to pick up the moses basket from the floor in order to leave the room to see to her daughter’s needs. “I guess you probably should,” Jem said resignedly. I’m getting hungry for some real food. Maybe you could ask your grandmother to send up some lunch when you leave.” “I think I can do that. Let me go feed Kathryn first and I’ll bring you something better than tea and broth,” Louise said before leaving the room with her squalling daughter in tow. Louise returned to her attic bedroom where she quickly changed little Kathryn’s diaper before settling into the rocking chair to nurse her. As soon as she was finished, she placed the baby back in her cradle and headed down to the kitchen in search of sustenance. Theresa was the first to notice her entrance. “It is nice to see you this morning, Louise,” Theresa commented to her granddaughter. “It’s not morning anymore, Grandma,” Louise replied with a sly grin on her face. “Has Kid been back for lunch yet?” “No, but I just saw him ride past on his way to the barn so I would think he would be here soon, darling.” “Good. I missed him this morning. He was gone before I was awake. Of course I was up frequently last night with the baby,” Louise mused. She started gathering bread and leftover ham to make sandwiches for her husband and herself, along with her father. As she set to work making a platter of sandwiches, Theresa busied herself with squeezing lemons to make lemonade for the family for lunch. As the two women were working on lunch, the kitchen door opened, revealing her husband back from a morning of surveying the ranch. He walked over and, wrapping his arms around Louise’s waist, dropped a kiss on her cheek. She smiled and squirmed a bit under his attention before announcing that the sandwiches were ready. Theresa, Kid, Louise, Josiah and the two house servants were about to gather in the dining room for lunch when Louise grabbed an extra plate and glass of lemonade and headed for the stairs. “Louise, where are you going?” Kid asked, eyeing her curiously. “Papa asked me for something to eat before I left to feed Kathryn. I thought I would bring him some lunch before I started eating,” she grinned mischievously as she started up the stairs. There was a collective gasp as the meaning of her words sunk in. “You mean he’s awake?” Theresa asked incredulously. Louise’s face broke out in a huge grin as she nodded and headed up the stairs. With her nod, Josiah, Theresa, and Kid were quickly behind her on her way up to Jem’s room. Jem was sitting quietly in his room, thinking about his children and his new granddaughter while thanking God that he was still alive to enjoy them all when the door to his room burst open revealing not only his daughter, but his mother, brother, and son-in-law. Startling him out of his reverie, Theresa gasped, “Jem! You’re awake!” Jem noticed the happy faces surrounding him as Louise handed him a sandwich and glass of lemonade. She moved out of the way so Theresa could sit near her son and revel in the fact that he was finally awake. “How do you feel, Jem? We should get Doc Conlee here as soon as we can.” “I’ll send one of the hands into town for him as soon as we finish lunch,” Kid said, happy to see his father-in-law in a much better state of health. “You had us worried for a while there, Jem,” Josiah said from his spot at the foot of the bed. “How have things been around the ranch?” Jem asked both Josiah and Kid. “Pretty much back to normal. We need to figure out when we want to rebuild the barn in the south pasture, but the fence has already been repaired and the men have been working to bring everything back to normal since, well since you were injured,” Josiah answered. Kid nodded his head in agreement. “One of the mares has a new foal this morning. A fine stallion,” Kid informed him before adding, “Oh and Sheriff Dooley wants to speak with you as soon as you’re feeling up to it. Just to confirm what happened at the camp.” Jem started eating his lunch as he processed all that Kid and Josiah had told him. “I think we should plan to have a barn raising as soon as we can. Best to get things rebuilt as soon as we can, especially if we want to start bedding horses in the different pastures. We’ll need that barn back up and ready as soon as we can.” “What about Dooley?” Josiah asked. “Let him know that I can talk to him as soon as he is ready.” Taking in his mother’s admonishing glare, Jem added, “Best to get this over with as soon as possible. We need to move on from this. Kid, are you and Louise still upstairs or have you moved back to the cottage already?” “We’re still upstairs. Thought is best to wait until after Lou has recovered from Kathryn’s birth before we move back. Why? Are you trying to get rid of us?” Kid replied with a touch of humor to his voice. “Not at all. I was hoping you would still be here. I have enjoyed seeing Louise and getting to see my granddaughter. She brought her in so I could see her this morning. She is just beautiful. Kid. I think you’re gonna need a shotgun to keep the boys away from her once she gets older,” Jem teased. A wide grin spread across Kid’s face at the mention of his daughter. “You have every right to be proud of her, Kid. You too, Louise. She is an absolute joy and I can’t wait to watch her grow up,”’ Jem finished. Handing his plate back to his daughter, he drained the glass of lemonade before handing the glass to her as well. “Jem, you need to stay in bed until the Doc gets here. I don’t want you getting up and trying to get back to work too soon,” Theresa scolded him. She knew he was itching to get up and back on his horse and get back to overseeing the ranch. “Just because you’re awake, doesn’t mean you’re healed yet.” Jem rolled his eyes at his mother’s comment, eliciting a giggle from Louise. “Come, we should get back to lunch and leave Jem to rest,” Theresa said as she tried to shoo everyone from the room. “Rest up, brother,” Josiah warned Jem with a knowing smirk as he left the room. Louise and Kid were right behind him as Theresa brought up the rear. Once the family was ensconced in the dining room, they quickly finished lunch before the men headed back to the barn and fields and the women returned to the kitchen. Louise helped her grandmother clean up the lunch dishes before beginning her bread for the evening meal. Theresa decided that roast chicken would be prepared for dinner that evening in celebration of her son’s recovery. Shortly after lunch, Doc Conlee arrived to give his patient a clean bill of health. Theresa was able to send up a hot bath for her son and helped him to dress so he could join the family for their evening meal. Jeremiah and Theresa, having recently returned from school, were overjoyed to see their father awake and downstairs for dinner that evening. Sheriff Dooley also stopped by, after hearing that Jem was indeed awake and ready to speak with him. Jem explained his part in what had happened at John’s camp that night as well as turned over the notes that John had left. Dooley assured Jem that no charges would be forthcoming against him and that the surviving members of John’s gang would be dealt with as soon as the judge was back in town. It was late that night when Louise and Kid had finally sunk into their humble attic abode for the night that they were able to talk about what had happened that day. Louise had just finished Kathryn’s bedtime feeding and, knowing that her daughter was sleeping peacefully in her cradle, slipped into bed. Snuggling up against her husband’s chest, she said, “I’m so relieved that everything is finally finished with that night. I will admit, I was afraid that Pa would never wake up again.” “He’s a fighter, just like someone else I know,” Kid said, pressing his lips against her forehead. Louise pulled herself closer to the man next to her, happy that things seemed to finally be going their way. “Remind me again why I married you,” she said softly. “Because you love me and because I love you,” Kid said, dropping gentle kisses along her neck. “I love you, Kid.” “I love you, Lou. Promise me you’ll be by my side forever.” “Mmm, yes. Forever,” she said as they both drifted off to sleep, content to be safely in each other’s arms. Epilogue Fourteen months later… “Happy birthday, Pa!” Louise, Jeremiah, and Theresa shouted gleefully. Jem pulled all three of his children into a hug as they gathered around to celebrate his birthday. Kid was busy chasing Kathryn across the back porch as she toddled away from his grasp. Catching up to her, he swung the girl up into his arms giving her a kiss on her pudgy cheek before returning to his wife’s side. Theresa was just lighting the candles on Jem’s birthday cake as the birthday honoree decided to speak. “I am so thankful this year to have all three of my children with me as we celebrate today. When I think back to where we all were a year ago or even two years ago, I am just so happy to be surrounded by my family. We have grown in ways I would not have imagined if you had asked me back then. Before, I would have been happy to have Louise, Jeremiah, and Theresa here with me and Mama and Josiah. Now we have my son-in-law, his friend, who is like another son to me along with his wife,” he said nodding to Buck and Jenny, who was running her hands over her very swollen stomach. “And soon, we will be adding a new member to the family when Buck and Jenny welcome their new baby. And of course, I can't forget my darling granddaughter, Kathryn,” Jem added. “Enough with the speeches, brother,” Josiah prodded. “Just make a wish and blow out the candles. These kids want cake!” Looking around between his children, Jem winked at Theresa and Jeremiah before closing his eyes, making a wish, and blowing out all the candles on the cake. Just as Kathryn crawled onto his lap, Theresa asked her father, “Well? What did you wish for?” “He can’t tell you that or it won’t come true, silly,” Jeremiah scolded his younger sister. The rest of the adults laughed at his admonishment. “Well, Theresa, I will say I wished that our family would stay as happy as we are right now,” Jem informed his youngest daughter. Kid, who had been standing next to his wife watching the whole scene, wrapped his arms around her waist before resting his chin on her shoulder. “What do you think, sweetheart? Do you think we’ll be this happy this time next year?” A suspicious smile spread across Louise’s face at her husband’s comment. Looking at her with caution, he said, “What? I know that look. What is it?” “I was just thinking about how much happier we will be this time next year,” Louise said quietly, peering over at her husband. Kid looked at her warily as Jem interjected, “What are you two whispering about over there?” Louise looked at both her father and Kid before she announced coyly, “I think we may have more reason to celebrate next year.” At the confused looks staring back at her, Louise shared a knowing glance at Jenny before she continued, “because you'll have a new grandchild to spoil, Pa.” Louise stood there beaming, knowing that she had been able to keep her secret from almost everyone there. Kid turned her around to gape at his wife as he asked, “Louise, are you…?” A wide grin spread across her face as she said, “Yes, Kid, we’re having another baby!” Kid pulled her into his arms as he hugged her close to him in his joy over hearing the news that he would be a father again. Around them, Jem, Josiah, Theresa, and the children gasped with happiness at Louise’s announcement. Pulling away from her husband, Louise looked around at her family and realized that she really was thankful to be here with all of them. She looked at the dark curly hair of her daughter perched on her grandfather’s lap attempting to get her small fingers into the waiting cake. She thought how much love surrounded Kathryn in this house. In that moment, Louise knew she had made the right decision to come here all those months ago. Drop me a note and let me know what you thought!