TITLE: If The Noose Fits
AUTHOR: Kirsten T.
FEEDBACK: robin-t@clear.net.nz
COMMENTS: Fourth in the 'Katelynn' series
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: The Young Riders don't belong to the author, but to
MGM/UA Television, Ed Spielman and Josh Kane. No copyright infringement
intended.

                             If The Noose Fits
                                By Kirsten T.

Kid rolled over to hug his wife, only to find her gone. It had been almost
midnight when they had arrived at the Indian camp. Kid looked over to the
open flap in the tee pee just in time to see Buck disappearing outside. Kid
struggled to his feet. Not again he thought as he ran to catch up. "Buck!
What's going on?" he panted as he ran along side his friend.

"I'm not sure. I heard a scream and woke up in time to see Katelynn and
Louise racing into the woods." Buck grinned at the memory of the two women
running through the woods wearing only their husbands oversized shirts and
carrying a gun each.

Katelynn and Louise ran towards the sound of the scream. It had not occurred
to them to put any extra clothes on. They just wanted to help the owner of
the terrified scream. As they got deeper into the woods, they found what
they were looking for.

There was no polite way to say it or even think it. Trapping a young Indian
girl beneath him was the ugliest man they had ever seen. He had ripped the
girl's dress to pieces and had started to rape her. One well aimed shot from
Louise knocked him backwards. The man looked up at his attacker only to find
two pairs of shapely legs standing before him. The frightened girl, who
couldn't have been more than ten, quickly covered herself with the remains
of her torn dress and ran to Katelynn's side. She buried her tear stained
face in Katelynn's side and sobbed her heart out. Katelynn put her arm
around the child and tried to calm her down by speaking in the girls native
tongue.

Buck and Kid finally caught up with their wives. It didn't take them long to
figure out what was going on as the man still had his pants undone. He stood
up and did himself up. "So what are you going to do?" It was more of a growl
than a question. "Nobody is going to care anyway. You should beg me to kill
her. She's just a no good Indian brat. Nobody is going to even remember in a
week."

Louise shivered. This brought back too many bad memories. She turned to face
her sister only to find Katelynn starring at the man with a hate she had
never seen in her sister's icy glare. "You will." Katelynn's voice cut the
air like a knife, just before her gun went off.

The man let out a bloodcurdling scream as he grabbed his groin. An almost
evil smile came across Katelynn's face. "That's nothing, compared to what
you've done to this child." Her face softened as she looked at the child
shaking beside her. "Come on, let's get you home."

Buck and Kid pulled the man to his feet. They would have to take him to
Teaspoon. Buck couldn't believe what his wife had just done. Not that it
wasn't what they all felt like doing to this monster. It was just that
Katelynn had a habit of doing what most people only thought about. Kid,
however had not missed the look on his wife's pale face. This had to be
reminding her of what Wick's had done to her years ago.

Buck and Kid mad their way back to Sweetwater with their prisoner who was
sorely in need of a doctor. Katelynn and Louise took the child back to the
camp to see the Medicine Man. After explaining to the tribe what had
happened, they checked on the girl before packing their things and headed
back to Sweetwater.

Teaspoon greeted the two women at the house. He changed his mind about
asking Louise any questions about what had happened as she looked as white
as a ghost. Katelynn on the other hand remained in an icy silence. Katelynn
suggested that Louise go and lay down after promising that she would look
after the children.

Teaspoon sat down at the table with Katelynn. Buck and Kid were outside
tending to the farm. Teaspoon watched Katelynn over his steaming cup of
coffee that she had just made him. "I got one version from Buck and Kid and
another from that scum they brought in. That's quite an injury you gave him.
He says you just walked up to him and shot him twice."

Katelynn looked over at Teaspoon. "What did you expect? He's not going to
sit in jail and tell everyone that we caught him raping a child is he? For
God's sake Teaspoon, she's Curly's daughter!"

Teaspoon looked down at his coffee, disgusted by the mere thought of someone
being so vile. "No, I didn't really expect him to. Could you explain to me
why you shot him there? I understand that Louise had already shot him."

Katelynn's fury was obvious. "Do you know what his exact words were?"
Teaspoon shook his head. "He said 'Nobody is going to care anyway. She's
just an Indian brat. You should beg me to kill her.' That slug tried to
justify raping a ten year girl because of the color of her skin. He's lucky
I didn't aim for his head." With that Katelynn got up from the table and
stormed outside. It was times like these, Teaspoon hated being the Marshall.

The night had became an enemy to Louise. Everytime she closed her eyes, she
saw Wicks heading towards her. She could feel him touching her. More than
once she had woken up screaming. When Kid tried to comfort her, she shrank
away from him. In the end, he would go to get Katelynn, only to open the
bedroom door and find her waiting there. Katelynn would go in and calm
Louise down, while Kid saw to the children who had woken to the sound of
theirs mother's screams. It was tough on the whole family.

Word had gotten around Sweetwater that Katelynn had shot a man in cold
blood. The next morning when Katelynn went in to town, she found a lynch mob
waiting for her. The last thing she remembered was hundreds of hands were
grabbing her. A rope was put around her neck and she was being strung up to
be hung.

Teaspoon shook his head. Buck, Kid and Louise stood before him. "When did he
die?" Buck broke the silence.

Teaspoon looked out the window. What was all the noise about? "This morning.
What is going on out there?"

The foursome walked out side. Louise started to feel as though she were
being choked. Suddenly she saw why. There was Katelynn strung up to be hung.
"Dear Lord, No!" As she started to run towards her sister, the others
spotted what Louise had already seen.

Pushing through the crowd, Louise mad her way up the steps to the hanging
post. "What do you people think you're doing?" Her voice a high pitched
scream.

"She's a cold blooded killer."

"She murdered Marcus."

"She deserves to hang."

The cries were from strangers. Misinformed strangers at that.

"She's not a cold blooded killer." The voice came from the back of the
crowd. The townspeople turned to see where the voice had come from. Standing
with his daughter beside him, holding his hand was Curly. The green-eyed
Indian passed a cool glance over the townspeople. "You should be thanking
those two women." The townsfolk looked at each other, confused. What was the
Indian going on about and who was the girl? "Katelynn and Louise saved my
daughter, Rising Sun, from that monster that you people are so intent on
mourning. You people are trying to hang a woman who caught him raping my
daughter." The shocked gasps from the crowd were deafening. "If those two
women hadn't stopped him, he would have killed her. Or are you hanging her
because my daughter is of Indian blood.?" The townsfolk had the decency to
look guilty. But somebody decided to be funny and fired their gun. The
hangman stumbled backwards into the lever and the wood beneath Katelynn's
feet disappeared.

Louise felt the rope tighten around her sister's neck. What a day to leave
her gun at home. "Kid!"

Kid looked over to Buck who was closer to the Hanging Tower. "Buck! The
rope!"

One shot ripped the rope and Katelynn went crashing to the ground. Buck ran
forward to help his wife. Although Katelynn had rope burns around her neck
and wrists, she was alive and only slightly shaken. "Well, this lot are
certainly off my Christmas Card list." Her voice was husky.

On the hanging tower, Kid held Louise while she sobbed in his arms. "Why
does this keep happening to us?" Lack of sleep in the last few days made
everything seem ten times worse.

"I don't know, honey. But look at it this way, we all made it out alive.
Again." Kid looked into his wife's tear stained face.

Louise stopped crying. "Katelynn. Is she alright?"

"I'm fine" Katelynn's husky voice came from behind her. "Rising Sun has
something to say to us."

Louise climbed down the steps with Kid right behind her. Kneeling down in
front of the little girl, Louise smiled at their tiny friend. "What is it,
sweetheart?"

"Thank you for saving me." Her voice was so quiet, Louise had to strain to
hear her.

"Oh, sweetie, you're welcome. I just wish that we could have got there
sooner."

Curly reached down and picked his daughter up. "You two did more than anyone
else in this town would have." Kissing Katelynn on the cheek, he turned and
walked away.

"I need a drink." Katelynn wrapped her arm around her husbands waist and
laid her head on his shoulder. "It's been a lousy day."

That night Katelynn sat down beside Louise on the porch. "I think I may have
thought of a way to get rid of your nightmares." Louise looked doubtful.
"No, really. Everytime you see Wicks coming towards you, just imagine Kid is
right beside you protecting you. Imagine I'm there as backup, cause you know
I'm never going to let anyone hurt you."

"Well anything is worth a try. I think I am starting to scare the children.
Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep." Louise touched her sister's
shoulder as she stood up to go inside. Katelynn looked like a walking
bruise.

That night the nightmare started again. Kid watched Lou sleep. It looked
like Katelynn's idea had worked. He wasn't so sure it would have worked a
few years back. Kid heard the floorboards creek. He turned to see Katelynn
standing in the doorway. "Thank-you. I think your idea worked."

Katelynn smiled as she rubbed her neck. "What doesn't kill us, makes us
stronger." She waved goodnight and went to her own room.

Kid grinned. As he drifted off to sleep, his arms around Louise, he
realized, not for the first time, just how lucky he was. At least for one
night, all was right with the world. Who knew what tomorrow would bring.

The end
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