A Call To Arms

"No… I didn't mean for it to happen…I never wanted anybody to get hurt…"

Buck stirred and awoke to see Jesse tossing his head and mumbling. Stretching his neck and arms, Buck stood and went to his bedside. Still very feverish, he placed a cool, damp cloth on Jesse's forehead, which seemed to sooth him. But Jesse still mumbled incoherently, his fever high enough to warrant Buck continually re-soaking the cloth. He sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Kid's hopes of Lou sleeping in the next morning were in vain. Almost as soon as dawn broke, she was up emptying her stomach into the chamber pot. Then, rather than going back to bed, she got dressed and went downstairs to start breakfast. Regardless of whether or not she was going to have a baby and was supposed to take it easy, people had to be fed and chores had to be done – especially if she had too look after Jesse as well.

That brought Kid back to the present. "Are you sure we should be doin' this?"

Lou rolled her eyes as she put the bacon into the frying pan. "We've been through this, Kid. We can't get anybody from town because we don't know why Jesse's here. If he's hidin'…"

"That's what I'm worried about, Lou. Did you ever think about what could happen if Jesse's bein' chased by someone? What if he's in some kind of trouble."

"What do you want me to do, Kid? Do you expect me to just kick him out and let him fend for himself? He's ill, Kid, how long do you think he'll last? This is Jesse we're talkin' about."

"I'm not sayin' that Lou, don't put words into my mouth."

"That's what it sounds like. It's Jesse…"

"I know that, Lou, and Lord knows I don't want to see anything happen to him either, but what about us, Lou? You, me, Jeremiah, Teresa, Emily, I shouldn't have to tell you what Frank's men will do if he's hidin' from them and they find him here."

Lou turned a deathly white and she closed her eyes against the onslaught of tears. The memory of her lost baby still haunted her, and if it hadn't been fro Jesse, who knows what might have happened.

Kid inwardly cursed, he never meant to hurt her, to bring up those memories again, not after he almost lost her the last time. Taking a gentle hold of her arm, he led her away from the stove and sat on the bench next to the table, pulling her down on his lap. "Shhh, Lou I'm sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of that. I'm just worried, is all."

"Kid, Jesse saved my life, and Jeremiah and Teresa's. He's practically family."

"I know, I know. It's just that after what happened last time, I don't want to see you caught in the crossfire. I don't think I could handle that. Not with Rick visitin'."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. When is he due?" Lou was grateful for the change of subject, even if the new subject resurrected old fears. At least they weren't talking about what happened to her.

Kid frowned for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure when he's s'posed to get here. Rick was a little vague on that point. With the War and all, it's kinda hard to know when the stage will get in."

"If he's anything like you, he'd ride."

"Well, unless he's changed a whole lot, I doubt it. Ridin' wa'n't his style."

"Doesn't matter much either way. I've a lot of work to do to get ready from him." Lou stood, then turned and placed her fingers across Kid's lips, even as he opened his mouth to speak. "And don't worry, Kid. I'll take it easy. But you should see you're old friend and…"

"And you want to make sure Jesse is all right. I understand. I don't like it, though; the timin's bad and there's too much work for you."

"Maybe Jesse will be all right before your friend gets here."

"Hopefully. But somehow I get the feelin' we're gonna see Rick sooner than we expect."

Kid's prophecy proved true. They did see Rick Peterson sooner than they expected – that morning straight after breakfast, it turned out that Rick had sent the letter three months before, but had forgotten to date it. When no reply was forthcoming, Rick assumed that a visit was all right with them, so he started out, having no idea that his letter had not even been received.

Lou and Teresa had just bundled up against the cold March air when there was a knock at the front door. The sisters looked at each other. Normally when somebody came to the ranch house, they came to the back door – unless it was the preacher.

Puzzled, Lou opened the door. Standing on the porch was a well-dressed, good-looking young man, seemingly oblivious to the cold. His eyes were a cold piercing blue, icy, to match the weather. They stared at her impassively, almost hypnotically. Lou was lost for a moment, until Teresa nudged her.

"He's cute," the almost-twelve year old whispered.

Lou came to herself with a start and gave her sister a reproving look. "Can I help you?" she asked the stranger on her doorstep. Her tone was a trifle cool. There was something…mesmerising about this man; mesmerising and unsettling.

"I hope so…the folks in town tell me this is the right place. I'm lookin' for Kid Andrews. Have I come to the right place?"

"You have," Lou cocked her head to one side. "May I ask what you want to see my husband about? You see, he's very busy."

"Well, I hope I won't be too much trouble, I was under the impression that I was at least half expected. You see, my name is Richard Peterson. I'm an old friend of He…the Kid's"

Lou's eyes widened. "You're Rick Peterson?"

"Yes I am. Why, were you expectin' somethin' else?"

"We weren't expectin' you at all…at least, not yet. I'm sorry, please, come in." Lou stepped back out of the doorway and turned to Teresa. "Could you fetch Kid for me, please?"

" 'Fetch' Kid? Louise, I'm not a lap dog." Teresa retorted indignantly.

"Teresa!" Lou admonished, surprised that her normally taciturn sister would behave so, in front of a guest no less. Teresa pivoted on her heel and headed toward the back of the house. Lou turned back to Rick, and closed the door behind him. "Sorry about that. I don't know what's gotten into her lately. She's usually more polite."

"Oh, that's quite all right," Rick replied. " I have younger brothers and sisters, so I know what they can be like. And I'm sorry for turnin' up unannounced like this, but I did send Kid a letter, and when I received no reply, I assumed it was all right to come."

"But Kid only got the letter yesterday, he hasn't sent a reply yet."

"But I sent that letter just before Christmas, three months ago. Oh, well, that's the postal service for you. If you ask me, they should've kept the Pony Express open."

Before Lou could answer, she heard Kid behind her. "Rick? I don't believe it. Rick Peterson, what are you doin' here? I haven't even answered your letter yet."

Rick shook Kid's outstretched hand, then pulled him into a back slapping hug. "I know, your charmin' wife just told me. I'm sorry, but the letter was sent in December. I thought I had given you fair warnin'."

Kid drew back, and put his arm around Lou. "Well, that doesn't matter now. Rick, I'd like you to meet my wife, Louise. Lou, this is Rick Peterson, the straightest, loyalist friend I had back in Manassas."

Lou inclined her head. "Pleased to meet you."

Rick took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "The pleasure's mine, Mrs. Andrews."

"Is 'loyalist' a word?" a voice piped up from behind them. The adults turned to see Teresa watching them with avid curiosity.

Lou rolled her eyes and drew the girl forward. "And this little wench is my sister, Teresa McCloud. Teresa, this is Kid's friend, Mr. Peterson."

Ever polite, Teresa offered him her hand, and Rick gave it the same treatment he gave Lou's, "A pleasure, young lady."

"Likewise," Teresa murmured, flushing slightly, resisting the urge to curtsy.

Lou's eyes shot from her sister to their guest. Teresa seemed just as mesmerised as she herself had before. She cleared her throat. "If you'll excuse us, we'll leave you boys to catch up. We have some chores to take care of. Come along, Teresa." Lou nodded to Rick.

Rick took his hat off. "But of course."

"I'll see you later?" Kid asked. Lou nodded again, and Kid kissed her briefly but tenderly. "Be careful, okay?"

"So how long has it been?" Rick asked after the ladies took their leave.

"Almost five years. I left Virginia in July, 57, just after that big storm…"

Everything seemed to be spinning. The world was a swirling mass of colour, punctuated by the odd face, staring accusingly at him. A cacophony of voices gradually faded to six or seven, all accusing him. All blaming him for Noah Dixon's death. Their faces were everywhere, floating around just out of reach, twisting, stretching, coming in close so that he could see nothing else, then backing away so fast that they were a blur of motion. All the while the voices kept on taunting him. "It's your fault, Jesse. It's your fault, Jesse."

"No, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it," Jesse tried to say, but his soft mumble was drowned out by the accusations. "I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

"Oh come on!" One scornful voice stood out from the rest. "And what did you think would happen?" It was Jimmy. James Butler Hickok, aka Wild Bill. The man that Jesse had once looked up to, had once wanted to be like. All he ever wanted was to earn this man's respect, only that was impossible now.

Impervious to Jesse's discomfort, Jimmy went on. "You sold us out, Jesse. You sold us out to protect Frank."

"No I didn't," Jesse tried to protest. " I didn't want to chose. I didn't. But Frank made me…he's my brother…"

"Cody was like a brother too, Jesse. What did you think would happen to him when you told Frank what the Army was plannin'? Did you think that Cody would just not get shot?"

"I never wanted Cody to get hurt. I asked Frank to make sure Cody wouldn't get hurt."

"What about me, Jesse?" Jimmy's voice and face faded to be replaced by Noah's darkly, handsome one. "Did you want me to get hurt?"

"That's not fair, Noah. You know I didn't want you to get hurt. But you weren't s'posed to be there. I would've warned Frank about you if I had known…"

"Sure, Jesse," Noah cracked his whip. "Tell it to the judge."

"Judge? No, wait a minute, I never meant for you to die, Noah. I even told Teaspoon where Pierson was to set things straight."

"Yeah…" Noah faded, just like Jimmy had, leaving this new, disembodied voice. "Yeah, you told the Marshal where Pierson was. You sold out your own side for the sake of some dead nigger, an upstart who didn't even know his own place." Suddenly a face appeared to go with the voice. It was his brother, Frank James, glaring at him like he had never done before.

"It's not like that, Frank. Noah was like family…"

"They're not your family, Jesse. It's time you realised that. You can't turn your back on the Cause, the South or your real family for them, Jesse. They're not worth it. Look what they did to you."

"They took me in when Doc. Woodson died and I had nowhere else to go. They are like family to me. They accepted me, no matter what."

"They accepted you, huh?" Frank asked sceptically. "Then why did they cut you loose when Noah died? Why were they so willin' to blame you? They didn't really care about you."

"No! You're lyin'! They did! They did!"

"It's time you chose, Jesse. Which side are you on?"

"Yeah, Jesse," suddenly Jimmy was back, right along side frank, joined in the only common cause that they would ever have. "Which side are you on?"

"Which side are you on, Jesse?" Noah appeared then, followed by Lou, and Rachel, and Teaspoon, Cody, Kid, Buck…It seemed like everyone he ever knew, including those long gone, like Doc. Woodson; a cacophony of voices again, all asking that same question: "Which side are you on, Jesse?"

"No, no, you don't understand, you don't understand." Jesse cried over and over, his weak voice rising to a crescendo.

Buck awoke from his doze with a start, and looked over at Jesse. The boy was tossing his head weakly, staring blankly, his eyes glossed over when they were open at all, his words leaving and indelible imprint in Buck's mind. "Shhh, easy there now, Jesse," Buck murmured soothingly as he soaked the cloth again. "It's gonna be all right." Buck repeated this like a litany as he wiped Jesse's brow, his soft voice contrasting sharply with Jesse's frenzied one.

"How is he?"

Buck started and nearly spilled the bowl of cold water into his lap. He turned to stare ruefully at Lou and Teresa, who were watching from the doorway. "Sorry girls. I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry we took so long, but Kid's friend arrived this mornin', surprisin' everybody. How long has he been like that?"

"He's been mumblin' all night. I couldn't understand most of it, but he did mention Cody, Noah…" Buck trailed off.

"Yeah, well, that was preying on his mind a lot last time we saw him. I just hope that he hasn't lost the will to fight. He needs all the strength he can get."

Onto Chapter Three