Chapter 21

"It's Barnett!" Garret hollered from his post, identifying Sweetwater's deputy marshall.

Buck and Jimmy exchanged relieved grins as they walked out of the barn to meet Barnett. The lanky man, whose face seemed to hold a perpetual look of confusion, was Teaspoon's deputy. Kid "inherited" him -- grudgingly, for he causes more harm than good, in most cases -- when he took over the position. Still, he'd been a good friend to the riders for many years.

Barnett's face brightened when he saw Hickok, "Hey there, Jimmy!"

"Barnett," Hickok acknowledged. "Thought you had better sense than to ride in here like a bat out of hell. Someone could have shot you."

"Can't help it. I got bad news for the Marshall," Barnett said as he dismounted from his sweaty horse.

"What is it?" Kid asked. Lou clutched his arm in worry, the steaming mug of coffee forgotten in her hand.

Barnett looked toward the house, grimacing when he saw Amanda coming out. "Somebody set Amanda's saloon on fire," he said. "We got everybody out safe, but the place looks really bad. The telegraph next door was scorched a bit. Nothing bad, just blackened walls but the saloon --." 

"What blackened walls?" Amanda asked with a frown that got deeper when she saw the look in the men's faces. "Oh God, no. Ladyluck?" she whispered. Without warning, Amanda spun around and took the reins of Barnett's horse. She swung herself onto the saddle and was out on a gallop before anybody else could react. 

"Amanda, wait!" Jimmy cried, knowing it was a futile gesture. "Damn woman!"

Kid rushed towards the stable and came out mounted on Katy. He led Jimmy's horse and another mare out. "Hurry," he told Jimmy and Barnett. "We'll catch up. Buck?"

"Go, we'll be fine," Buck nodded, understanding Kid's concerns.

And with that, the three riders raced towards town.

They found Amanda sitting dejectedly on the sidewalk. Behind her, gray tendrils of smoke curled out of the blackened building. The town folks' quick response to the fire managed to save most of the building. But even with the structure intact, it would take a lot of money and hard work to rebuild the saloon and restaurant. 

"Couldn't save anything," Amanda sighed. "Not a highball glass. Not our photographs. I was so fond of the one with all of you posing in front of the stage coach."

Jimmy peered at her closely, "Are you all right? You seem to be taking this very well."

"You want me to wail and gnash my teeth?" Amanda snapped out. Her shoulders slumped again, as if the outburst tired her. "Nothing I can do, Jimmy," she shrugged. "$10,000 dollars. Poof! Up in smoke." She stood up, swaying slightly before Hickok caught her. She wrapped her arms around his neck for support. "I need a drink."

Kid walked up to them and laid a comforting hand on Amanda's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mandy. We should have had people here watching your saloon."

Amanda shook her head, "No, because then we'll have people dead and a burned down saloon. I'm just glad my girls got out safe."

"If it weren't for the raiders, we'd ask them to stay with us at the ranch while you are rebuilding." Kid glanced over at the weeping women. Their gay attire was covered with soot as were their faces.

Amanda let out an unladylike snort, "If it weren't for the raiders, this wouldn't have happened. Besides, I can't open another one. Everything was pretty much invested in the saloon and restaurant." 

"You'll rebuild. We'll take money from the ranch."

"No, Kid. I can't take money from you," Amanda protested.

"If it weren't for the raiders, this wouldn't have happened," Kid repeated Amanda's earlier words. "It's the least I could do, Mandy. Please."

Amanda was forced to save her objections when Bill Tompkins came over. The big, portly man used to own the biggest mercantile in Sweetwater before he moved to Rock Creek when the riders were transferred there. After selling his store, he decided to retire in Sweetwater. 

"Marshall, Jimmy," he greeted the men with a tip of his hat. To Amanda, he said, "Miss O'Connell, I'm sorry about the loss of your business. I heard the explosion and ran out but the fire was swift."

"Did you see anybody running away from the building, anything suspicious?" Kid asked. Barnett was questioning the men who helped put out the fire and Kid intended to talk to them, too.

"No," Tompkins shook his head regretfully. "By the time I got here, there were so many people running around."

"Thanks anyway, Tompkins," Jimmy said.

"Well, I'd better go see if Miss Waverly has rooms for my girls," Amanda said. "I'll see you at the jailhouse." With a nod at Tompkins, she made her way to the women on sidewalk.

The men watched Amanda round up the women. Tompkins started to speak, then checked himself but Kid noticed the older man's hesitation. "Something the matter?" 

"This has nothing to do with the fire, but ... you know Bingsley. He lives on that shack on the outskirts of town. He gets his supplies from Tom every two weeks. I was chatting with Tom and his wife the other day, and they said they haven't seen Old Bingsley in more than a month. I just thought that might be something you want to check, Kid," Tompkins related. "Maybe you even want to take the undertaker with you."

Kid nodded his thanks. After Tompkins walked away, he turned to Jimmy and Amanda. "You better get back to the ranch. I'll just have a look-see at Bingsley's place. I'll take Barnett ... what?" he asked when he saw Jimmy shaking his head.

"Barnett can stay. I'm going with you," Jimmy said firmly.

Kid thought about protesting but decided it was a waste of time. He knew how stubborn Jimmy could be. "Fine."

"Wait up," Amanda called out. "Where are you going?" She gave quick instructions to her employees and walked back to where Kid and Hickok where standing.

Kid shook his head, partly in consternation, partly in amusement. "Just follow us."

The broken down shack looked deserted. Kid dismounted and pulled out his gun as a precaution. Jimmy helped Amanda get off her horse, before tying the reins around a dying tree. 

"Looks like Tompkins was right. We probably should have called the undertaker," he observed.

"Listen to you, the man could have visited family or something," Amanda admonished.

"Didn't have any," Kid informed her.

"Friends, then," Amanda supplied.

"Didn't have--" Kid started to say.

"Any," Amanda finished. "It's a wonder anyone ever noticed him missing."

Kid knocked but got no response. Gun cocked, he gave the door a small push and it swung open. Kid gave several involuntary steps back as he was hit by a strong smell of decay. "Ugh," he bit out. He took a bandanna from his pocket and tied it around the lower part of his face. Amanda and Jimmy also took out handkerchiefs to cover their noses.

"We really should have taken the undertaker with us," Jimmy muttered.

"Found him," Kid hollered from inside the shack. "And he's got company."

Jimmy and Amanda went inside and found two men staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Both men seemed to have died of bullet wounds. The younger of the two had a hole between his eyes.

"Couldn't have killed each other," Amanda remarked. Jimmy lifted an eyebrow at her quizzically. Rolling her eyes, she gestured towards the bodies. "Do you see guns? Unless someone got here first and stole the weapons, I'd say these two were killed."

Kid and Jimmy took in the information as they continued to poke around the small space. Kid went out and headed towards the back, where there was a small enclosure. After a while, Jimmy and Amanda followed. They found Kid kneeling on the dirt, studying several marks.

"It could have been a robbery," Jimmy said. "There were a couple of horses here and now--" he broke off, indicating the vacant corral.

"What have you got there, Kid?" Amanda asked. Kid seemed particularly interested in one set of footprints.

"I'm not sure," Kid shook his head. Wearily, he stood up and looked around some more before returning to the footprints. The ground must have been soft when the marks where made for the footprints stood out sharply. Kid took note of the broken water trough which still had a small amount of water. "What do you make of it, Jimmy?"

Jimmy rubbed his jaw, thinking. "The left prints seem to be imbedded deeper," he said after a while. 

"Exactly," Kid agreed. "Whoever made these marks was favoring his left leg. As far as I know Bingsley doesn't have a limp. We'll have the doctor check the other dead man, but I think we know what my deputy should be looking for."

"Thinking of leaving?"

Louisa nearly dropped the brush she had been using on Sally. The horse gleaming coat told Buck how long Louisa had been in the stable.

"Buck, you startled me," Louisa said breathlessly, turning towards the big wooden doors where Buck stood. She had been thinking of him, remembering the way he picked her up from the cold stable floors last night, the way his strong arms made her feel safe and warm. She might have been asleep but she knew it was him when she woke up.

"Didn't mean to but you were a thousand miles away," Buck apologized quietly.

"I was thinking about last night," she confessed, her cheeks warming when she saw fire in his eyes.

Buck stepped inside and closed the stable doors. "What of last night?" he asked softly.

Louisa's throat dried as she watched Buck walk towards her. Suddenly, the stable that held 20 stalls seemed too small, too confining. Even from the distance separating, she could feel the heat of his body. Or was it her body? She swallowed once, twice and wet her lips with her tongue before answering, "I wanted to thank you."

Buck's pulse quickened at the sight of the tiny pink tip moistening her lips. He stopped in front of her, "So, thank me."

Neither of them expected what happened next. One moment, they were staring at each other. The next, their control shattered and their lips met in a rapacious kiss. Buck cupped the back of Louisa's neck with one hand and wrapped the other around her waist as he lips made love to hers. He tasted, sampled, devoured. He drank thirstily. She, too, was insatiable. Tentatively, she ran her tongue over his lower lip and gently bit, evoking a groan from him. The sheer sensuality of the shy action nearly undoing him.

Then suddenly, Buck broke off the kiss. His arms were still wrapped around her body but his bright eyes searched her face for signs of revulsion or regret. There was none. In her eyes glowed the warmth of desire unfulfilled.

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