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Part 14 Jimmy had to think quickly. He stared at Emery and realised that the man was closed to the edge. There was no telling what the man could do. And he had no way of taking him out. Emery was too close to Buck and if he was hit he might pull the trigger just from the shock of the bullet. Jimmy's mind raced as he tried to think of a solution. He noticed the rag tied around Buck's chest and realised that Buck indeed had been shot, although he couldn't determine how serious it was. He quickly looked away from his friend to concentrate on the task before him. He had to get Emery to get away from Buck and he had to convince the rest of the men to lay down their arms. Slowly it dawned on him and without looking at Lou or Buck he slowly moved his aim away from Emery, allowing his gun slowly to point at each of the men standing in a half circle, guns and rifles ready. Lou looked perplexed on Jimmy. What was he doing? He was giving emery a chance to put a bullet through Buck by taking away the immediate threat. Lou shifted uncomfortable her weight from one leg to another, keeping her gun aimed at Emery. She stared at Emery now and then daring to glance over to Jimmy to see if he would give her any indication to what he was planning to do. But none came. Jimmy continued to keep the others covered with his gun, while he completely ignored Emery. It wasn't until one of the other men moved slightly under the pressure of having Jimmy's gun calmly pointed at him that Lou begun to understand. Realising the high game Jimmy was playing, she took a deep breath and followed his example, turning away from Emery, concentrating on the others. She had no means of knowing how Buck felt and if he understood what they were trying to do, but she hoped he did. He was in a bad situation and she really wished she could give him some hope but of course it was impossible. She could only hope that Jimmy's risk would pay off. The men looked uncomfortable at each other. This was not what they had set out to do. Hanging a half-breed and a murderer was one thing, getting into a gunfight with "Wild Bill" Hickok something completely different. When the riders' guns had been aimed at Emery, they had acted to protect their group, but none of them were willing to take first chance when their own lives were at stake. "First one that moves, gets it. And if Emery even tries and touch that trigger, one of you dies." Jimmy's voice sounded calm and determined, but he needn't worry. His reputation as a gunfighter was already well known and these men were all too aware of it. "Let go of the Indian," he added, seeing that his words had the intended effect. "Do as he says, Emery," one of the man said as he lowered his rifle. Slowly the others followed his example and lowered their guns. Emery watched them with frustration. He couldn't believe they were doing this to him. "You can't let him get away with this!" he yelled. "He killed Craven!" "Step away from him, Emery!" Jimmy cocked his gun still aimed at the others. He hated to have to do this, using extortion, but it was the only way of getting Emery away from Buck. The man was so filled with hate that he would rather kill Buck than let him go, even if it would mean his own death. "Don't be a fool, Emery!" another of them men said, nervousness shining through in his voice. Another man, a large fellow, suddenly put down his rifle on the ground. "I ain't gonna die for a half-breed," he spat. Slowly the others followed his example. Seeing the other men give in to Hickok, made Emery uncertain. He saw their contempt of him in their eyes and he desperately needed to get back into control. Craven's friendship and given him a voice and he wouldn't loose it now. With a huge effort he regained his composure and straightening his back he looked at them. "Don't think this is the end to it, Hickok," he said, "he'll hang sooner or later anyway." And with those words he stepped away from Buck and dropped the gun slowly on the grass, trying to convince himself that he had regained the other men's trust. Jimmy tried not to show, but inside he sighed from relief. They had been playing a game with high stakes, but for now it seemed as they had won. Still covering the men, he cast a glance at Lou, but she had already understood what needed to be done. Without a word she aimed at Emery, indicating with a wink of her gun that he was to join the others. Slowly the man obeyed. As soon as he reached a spot from where Jimmy could keep him covered, Jimmy called out to Lou. "Lou, get Buck out of here." Lou holstered her gun and groping for her pocket-knife she was by Buck's side in two long strides. She quickly bent down to cut off the rope tying his hands. "Can you ride?" she asked silently as she saw the blood soaked rag around his body. Buck nodded as she cut through the last rope. Clasping his side he slowly got to his feet as Lou got the reins of the nearest horse. It was the same animal that had been intended to take Buck's life, but now was going to be Buck's way out. She handed him the horse and looked over at Jimmy. Jimmy saw the question in her eyes. "Head out of here, now!" Jimmy ordered sharply, not knowing how long he would be able to keep the men under control. They seemed uninterested in continuing with the hanging but one never knew. Jimmy wanted to be on the safe side before putting down his guard. Lou nodded and helped Buck over to where she had hide Lightning. Buck wasn't sure if he felt relieved over the rescue or humiliation that his friends had to save him from a shameful situation. But the pain in his side kept him from pondering the matter. As soon as he started to move he could feel an intense burn and later a throbbing pain soon set in. Buck managed to mount up but the movement caused him to almost doubled over as he sat down in the saddle. Lou mounted and rode up to him with a question in her eyes. Buck grimaced at the pain but looked back at her and shook his head. He was gonna be all right. Lou turned around for a last glance over to Jimmy, but when he didn't look back, she turned to Buck. He seemed to do a little better and she urged Lightning forward. When they reached the north part of the arroyo Lou held in her horse looking around her. She had never been out in these parts and she was a little lost of where to go. She turned to Buck as he brought his horse up alongside her "There's a river north of here." Buck said tensely. "River?" Lou replied. "To hide the tracks," Buck mumbled back.
They continued north and Lou followed Buck's instruction to hide
their tracks, to make sure they couldn't be followed in case the posse
decided to continue. Three hours later Lou stopped again.
Lou looked disappointed at the two buildings before them. It was no more than ruins, the larger one hardly standing with the walls leaning heavily on each other. The other was not much better. The windows were broken and worn out curtains fluttered eerily in the soft breeze. The place looked as if it had been hastily abandoned and no one seemed to have been there for years. She removed her gun from the holster and with the gun ready she slowly rode down to the buildings. She dismounted and looked carefully around her. The larger building must have been a small stable once, she thought as she examined it closer. At first she sight she had thought that it would fall apart if anybody touched it, but at a closer examination, she saw that it in fact was quite stabile. And it was large enough to hide two horses. Getting her hopes up, she moved over to what once must have been the dwelling house. She opened the door and looked inside. It looked as if the inhabitants had left the place in a hurry. There was a tablecloth laying on the table and there was still dishes next to the sink. There were still plates and glasses in the cupboard, as well as a few jars of what once must have been jam. As she looked into the second room she saw that it had been used as a bedroom. The bedclothes was still on the bed and a few clothes still hang in the wardrobe, where one of the doors where hanging from only one hinge. Everywhere she moved a cloud of dust whirled around her feet and she could draw a line from the dust on a small table. She returned to the bedroom and shook the bedclothes. Clouds of dust caused her to cough but at a closer inspection the bedclothes wasn't as dirty as she had feared. She did the same to a sheet she found in what must have been the linen closet. Desolation seemed to enfold the house but it was better than nothing. She walked out of the house to wave to Buck that it was OK. Buck looked hesitantly at the house when he came closer but Lou only shrugged. It wasn't as if they had much to choose from and Buck knew that too. He sledded of the horse and sagged as he was on the ground. Lou took immediately cared of the horses and lead them into the barn, or what was left of it. Buck eyed it suspiciously. "You're sure it will hold?" he asked when she came out again with Lightning's saddlebags thrown over one shoulder. In the other hand she held the bags from the other horse. She had no idea what was in them, but she thought they might as well find out. Maybe the owner of the horse had packed something eatable. "It will stand," she replied confidently. "We better get inside and have a look at that wound," she pointed out. Buck took a staggering step towards the house. Seeing it, Lou moved over next to him, allowing him to lean on her. Buck first tried to walk on his own but he soon realised that he needed the support and he reluctantly accepted her help. Lou shook her head slightly at the obvious display of male pride, unable to understand it. In fact she had had a hard time understand all of the boys lately. But she hadn't the time to ponder of male behaviour, she had more urgent matters to tend to. Buck looked awfully pale and the bloodstain on the rag had grown in size. He was loosing blood quickly and she had to stop the bleeding before Buck collapsed from the loss. She helped him inside and over to bed, where he sank down, exhausted from the long ride. "All right," Lou stated, content with getting him inside. She looked around to see if there was something she could use. She knew that the wound had to be cleaned but she had nothing to clean it with. As she desperately tried to think of something she took out her penknife and started to tear stripes from the sheet she had taken from the linen closet. She had to use something to keep the wound from getting dirty as well. When she was done with the sheet, she looked desperately around her when she remembered something. A week ago she had stopped in Denver on a run and with some free time she had walked around in the town, stopping outside a women's store. In a somewhat strange urge to buy something she had entered and bought a small and rather expensive pair of ladies' handkerchiefs. They were beautiful and she had seen several ladies wearing them. It wasn't until she was on her way back home that she had regretted her thoughtlessness. She didn't need any thing that fancy - not as much as she needed the money anyway. Feeling a fool and fearing that the boys would laugh at her, she had never even taken them out of her saddlebag. They were the cleanest things she had and she could use them to dress the wound. She could use her bandanna for pressure. With that set, she started to look for something to clean the wound. Not caring about Buck's perplexed stare at her, she rummaged through the cupboards finding nothing when her eyes fell on the saddlebags she had taken from the horse. Quickly she took them up and without any hesitation she simply turned them upside down. And to her relief something hit the floor with a large thud. A bottle of whiskey, almost full. And no matter what she thought about the stuff it had one good quality - for cleaning wounds. Buck had followed her movements with a puzzled look on his face and as she turned to him he raised an eyebrow as his hand clasped the wound in his side. "What are you going to do?" he asked tensely, trying to hide the pain that seemed to shoot through his body for every movement he did. "Clean and dress that wound," Lou replied matter-of-factly as she took out the small parcel with the handkerchiefs. Not waiting for any objections she helped him out of his west, shirt and under shirt. When she removed the rag she saw that the fabric had stuck to the wound and she could hear Buck's deep inhale as she slowly removed it. The removal caused the blood to flow again and Lou realised that she had to work quickly. Tearing up the parcel she soon realised that though the handkerchiefs would do just fine as cover for the wound they were to flimsy to be of any help cleaning it. Resolutely she removed her own bandanna and turning it inside out she opened the whiskey bottle and poured the content over it. She looked up at Buck's face, his jaw set as he fought the pain. "This will hurt," she said regretfully. Buck nodded, well aware of that it had to been done. Even so, he wasn't prepared for the pain as Lou pressed the whiskey-soaked bandanna against the wound. He felt as if his whole side was on fire, a burning sensation that soon was combined with an intense throbbing. He gritted his teeth but couldn't hold back a moan from his lips. Lou heard it but was intent on seeing that the wound was properly taken care of, no matter Buck's discomfort, so she continued to put pressure on the wound. Not until she was sure that the booze had temporary stopped the bleeding she removed it, much to Buck's relief. Well aware that the booze's effect wouldn't last more than a second and as she already could see fresh blood from the wound she quickly grabbed the flimsy handkerchiefs and covered the wound with them. She folded her bandanna into a rectangle and pressed it against the wound. She grabbed Buck's hand and held it against the wound. "Keep the pressure on that," she ordered before turning to gather the strips she had torn. Buck looked down at the wound and saw the thin material of the handkerchiefs emerge from under the bandanna. He frowned and turned to look at the small box from where they came. "What's this Lou?" he asked, not as much as he was curious as he needed something else to think about besides the pain. Slightly embarrassed, Lou turned to wrap the first strip around his abdomen. "Just something I found in Denver. Nothing important." "They're ladies' handkerchiefs." Buck had noticed the text on the box. "Lou, if you bought them for you --" "They're are better used this way," Lou interrupted him. "Besides, when would I have used them?" Buck couldn't help noticing the hint of sadness in her voice and he promptly shut his mouth while Lou continued to make a bandage. Finally she leaned back, scrutinising her handiwork. "I suppose that will have to do," she said. Buck touch his side gently and winced slightly at the tenderness. "Thanks, Lou. You better head back now, before ---" "What are you talking about?" Lou frowned at him. "You should head back," Buck said as he took a gingerly breath not sure that if his breathing would increase the pain or not. "I'm not heading back," Lou said with a grin. "Not until I'm sure you're OK. I'm afraid you're stuck with me." "Lou, there's a posse looking for me. I have no intention getting you into trouble. Please, head back to the station." Lou crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at Buck. "Let me ask you something, Buck," she said in a sweet voice. "If it's been the other way around, would you have left me?" Buck closed his eyes for a second. "No, but it's not the same thing," he begun. "Sure," Lou said surly. "You need to rest. I'll keep an eye out for trouble." She walked away and picked up her rifle on the way. Seating herself by the window she lifted up her legs to rest at another chair, resting the rifle on her legs. Ignoring Buck, she gazed disinterested out the window and Buck knew he was defeated. Lou wouldn't leave him, at least not know. And he'd seen enough of Lou's stubbornness to know when she wouldn't cave in. Besides he was tired. He sank back on the bed. Lou was right he needed to rest. He would try and talk to Lou later. Grimacing at the pain when he moved he closed his eyes and soon he was sleeping heavily. Lou sat in silence by the window, watching the sun slowly rise over the horizon, keeping a watchful eye out for any trouble.
Jimmy could feel the muscles in his arm beginning to ache. He could keep these men under cover for much longer. Apparently they felt that way too. "How long to plan to keep this up, Hickok," one of them sneered. "As long as necessary," Jimmy replied. "He ain't getting away, you know that. If we don't hang him the law will." "We'll just have to see about that, won't we?" "Come on, Hickok, why don't you just let us leave?" "You're aiding a murderer - that's against the law!" Another man expressed his opinion and Jimmy knew that he was running out of time. They would soon stop talking an starting to act and he knew in his heart that he couldn't shoot any of them, as none of them were armed. Desperately trying to figure out a way out of it he refrained from answering. He could hear a soft murmuring among the men and he feared that they would turn against him when the sound of horses reached them. Not daring to turn away Jimmy kept his eyes on the men before him as he could hear several horses pull into a halt just behind his back. It was a couple of nerve-wrecking seconds before the sound of Teaspoon's voice broke the tension. "What's going on here?" Teaspoon's eyes scanned over the premises ending at the noose that still hung from the tree. "Jimmy?" "They were going to hang Buck, Teaspoon," Jimmy replied still keeping the men covered by his gun. "All right," Teaspoon replied and leaned forward in the saddle, "Kid, Cody collect those men's weapons. Jimmy, you can take down that gun now, son." Kid and Cody quickly dismounted and soon returned with the men's weapons. "You can't do that, marshal," one of them objected. "Don't worry, you'll get them back. You can collect them at my office tomorrow." "We were just doing a citizen's arrest," the man sneered. "And the noose?" Teaspoon asked ironically. "Now get out of here." "They stole my horse, marshal!" "You'll get it back - now leave!" As the men walked passed them one of them walked up to Teaspoon. "You know that half-breed will hang sooner or later, marshal. No one kills a farmer and gets away with it." Before Teaspoon could reply the man continued leaving Teaspoon with a frown in his face. As soon as the men disappeared he turned to Jimmy. "What happened?" Briefly Jimmy told him what had happened, not hiding that he had lead the posse to Buck's hiding place. "Where did Lou and Buck go?" "North, that's all I know. I stayed to prevent them from following." "Kid, take a look around and see if you can find some tracks," Teaspoon suggested. "Teaspoon, Buck was wounded. I don't how badly," Jimmy added. "Well, we won't find out until we've found them." "Why didn't you ask Emery about him being out at Craven's?" Noah wanted to know. Teaspoon had told them about Dunn's story on their way out. "Bad time. But don't worry I'll ask him." "Emery was out at Craven's?" Jimmy asked. "Looks like that. But we'll know more tomorrow." At that moment Kid returned. "Anything?" Teaspoon asked. Kid shook his head. He hadn't found a single trail. Lou had done a good job following Buck's instructions. "Not a single trace," he said. "Noting I can find any way - not in this dark." "I'll doubt we'll find anything by daylight either," Teaspoon mumbled. "Buck's way too good for that." "Then what will we do?" Kid wanted to know. "We'll have to wait until they get in touch with us." "We can't do that," Kid objected as Ike started moving his hands. <What about Buck? Jimmy said he was wounded!> "I think we can trust Lou's judgement. She'll keep an eye on Buck for sure. I suggest we call this a night and head back home. There's a lot for us to do tomorrow." |
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