©Becca

Chapter XVII

Creeping Fox watched as the small buckboard containing the woman and children passed beneath the rocky outcropping on its way to the town of Sweetwater. He'd been camped amidst the trees and scrub brush covering the top of the rocky foothill for over a month. His employer was staying in the the nearby town of Blue Creek until everything was ready for their plan. They had spent a month planning and plotting and now all that time would pay off. The large Indian was anxious for some action after the enforced period of inaction. His people were not the kind to lie in wait for an enemy but met him head on in fair and honorable combat.

When the buckboard had passed far enough, Creeping Fox crept from his hiding place and mounted his horse. He spurred his mount in the direction of the town for the second part of the plan. There was no need for either of them to worry about the law. Creeping Fox had seen Sam Cain and his fiery-haired wife leave and the henchman had himself engineered a wild goose chase that, if followed, would take good Marshal Hunter halfway across the territory. In Hunter's absence, there were only two riders acting as deputies. If everything went according to plan, Creeping Fox and Madison would be long gone by the time anyone could act.

"No, no, Jon. Don't touch," Jeremiah said. He gently pried the delicate china box from the little boy's hand. As mad as he may be with Louise at the moment, he could never take it out on Jon.

"Pretty, 'Miah," Jon insisted. "Mama likes pretties."

Jeremiah could see that the little boy was only trying to do something special to make up for his mother's foul mood. He felt slightly guilty for jumping on Louise like that right after a run but sometimes he'd found that his older sister would give in if he wore her down. Guess Tessa got the same idea, he thought with a small smile. He looked at the tenn-dollar tag and slowly replaced the box on the table it had been sitting on. "Why don't we pick some flowers on the way home?" he suggested, taking Jon's litle hand in his. "Those are the kind of pretties we can afford." Jeremiah led Jon over to where Charlotte was paying for their purchases.

"Okay, Miss Rowan," Thompkins was saying, "that'll be two-fifty."

Charlotte pulled the bills from her reticule, handing them to the storekeeper before picking Jon up and placing him on the counter.

Thompkins gave her the change and winked at the little boy. It was a shame that the little tyke had lost his parents, although he could see that Rachel and Charlotte took real good care of the kids out at that waystation. The boy reminded the sometimes surly and gruff storeowner of his own boys when they were that age. Now, they were growing up faster than ever. "How about I throw in a piece of that peppermint candy you're eyein' up there, son?"

"'Miah, could you take these things out to the buckboard please and gather your sister," Charlotte requested as Thompkins handed Jon a peppermint stick. After selecting her hair ribbons, Theresa had run around the corner of the building to play jacks with some girls from school. As long as she stayed out of trouble, Charlotte didn't mind. It was hard cooping the kids up at the waystation but it had been for their own safety. "What do you say, Jon?" she prompted the little boy who'd immediately begun sucking on the sweet candy.

"Thank you," the toddler said quickly before popping the sweet back in.

Jeremiah placed the parcels Charlotte had purchased in the back of the buckboard and began looking around for his little sister. "'Resa, we're leavin' soon," he called. The hand that suddenly clamped over his mouth came out of nowhere. He struggled against the hands that held him and loked up into the face of the biggest Indian he'd ever seen.

"Not yet, you're not," he said menacingly.

Jeremiah bit the man's hand, having seen his sister peek around the corner of the building. "'Resa, go get Cody and Noah. Hurry!" he yelled before the Indian dragged him back inside the store.

Madison strode easily into the store, confident that his plan would work out perfectly. Soon he'd have the documents that proved his guilt in the business he and Wicks had started as well as the money Louise McCloud had stolen from him after killing his partner. I'll also have the wench herself, he thought slyly, and that is the ultimate prize. Nonchalantly, he walked up behind the woman at the counter as if to do business. He glanced outside, smiling as Creeping Fox brought the older boy in, a knife held to him to keep him quiet.

"Well, Charlotte Rowan!" he exclaimed familiarly. "Fancy meetin' you here lookin' so fine and respectable."

Charlotte dashed around, pulling Jon close and unconsciously pressing back against the counter. "Madison," she gasped fearfully, her eyes glancing around for some means of escape.

The larger man flicked his wrist and a pistol emerged in his hand. "I wouldn't even think about it wench. Unless you want me to use this," he warned. "Look at you! You almost look like a lady." Madison caressed her cheek with the barrel of the gun, smiling as she whimpered slightly. "But I betcha there's still a good deal of the whore left in ya."

Thompkins, although far from the most noble of men, had had enough. "You can't just waltz in here and disrespect my payin' customers, mister. And you sure as hell can't point a gun at me in my own store," he protested.

"Your marshal thinks he's out lookin' for cattle rustlers, but he's really out on a wild goose chase that'll take him halfway across the territory if he follows the trail I made," Creeping Fox retorted.

Madison suddenly lunged forward and forcefully pulled Jon from Charlotte's arms. The candy stick fell from the little boy's mouth as he opened it in a lusty cry of fear and desperation. "You and me and the boy here are goin' for a little ride, Charlotte." Holding Jon tightly, he turned to the struggling Jeremiah. "Take a message to Louise. Tell her I want the money and papers she stole. Tell her Creeping Fox will contact her as to where to bring them. If she brings those things and herself--willingly, mind you--I'll let your Aunt Charlotte and the boy go."

"I won't help you," Jeremiah shouted bravely, struggling harder. Theresa would bring Cody and Noah soon and everything would be all right if he could just stall them.

At a look from Madison, Creeping Fox raised the knife and plunged it deep into the boy's thigh. Jeremiah screamed at the pain, falling to the floor as the Indian removed the blade and clutching his bleeding leg.

"You son of a ...." Thompkins started.

"'Miah!" Charlotte screamed as she watched her nephew fall. Rage filled her features and she lunged for Creeping Fox only to stop suddenly as a shot rang through the store. Madison's bullet hit Charlotte in the back and she fell forward.

"Remember my message boy, or the baby dies," Madison growled as he and his henchman ran from the store, Jon screaming bloody murder the whole time.

Thompkins stared at the body on the floor and the injured boy for an instant before he ran to the door and began yelling for help.

Lights were lit everywhere as Kid rode into the station hours after dark. Doctor Stephens' black hack stood in the yard. What's goin' on here, he thought, a curious dread filling his bones.

After Lou's rejection of his proposal, he'd needed time away to nurse his hurt and regain control of his initial anger. He'd taken off on Katy, riding blindly away from the station and all the hurt there, staying away until he'd thought everyone would be asleep. The last thing he wanted was to talk about the disaster his day had been. Instead, he pulled into the yard to find all the riders except Buck waiting on the porch.

Jimmy rushed out to meet him as he dismounted, having had ample time for his fury to mount. "Where the hell have you been?! You talk about lovin' Lou and then you go off and abandon her the first chance you get?" He knew what had happened between the two that afternoon; not much happened around the station that was a secret. However, at the moment Jimmy's only thought was for the woman he loved so dearly who was inside the bunkhouse crying and suffering, calling for Kid who'd run away without telling anyone where he'd gone.

Kid heard the wild threat and sorrow behind Jimmy's outburst. That and his best friend's agitation and pallor confirmed the twisting in his gut that said something very bad had happened while he was gone. "I needed to clear my head so I went for a ride," he replied off-handedly. "What's happened, Jimmy? What's goin' on that ya'll are still up and what's Doc's hack doin' here?"

Hickok sighed, realizing that Kid had no idea what had happened in the time he'd been gone and hating that he'd drawn the short straw, again. "Madison made his move. He attacked Charlotte and the kids in at Thompkins' earlier. The Indian stabbed 'Miah in the leg. He's okay, but he's laid up at Rachel's, by the way. Anyway, when Charlotte went after the Indian, Madison shot her." Jimmy paused and swallowed hard. "She died shortly after Cody and Noah got there," he said raggedly. "By the time Tessie got to Teaspoon's office to get them, they'd already heard the shot and Madison and Creepin' Fox was nothin' but dust."

Kid closed his eyes painfully. Charlotte was dead. He couldn't believe it. Despite Kid's anger at Lou, his heart softened at the thought of her pain. Next to the children and now the riders, Charlotte was the closest thing Lou had to family. "How's Tessa? How's...how's Lou?" he asked with difficulty, feeling guilty for having wished her heartache earlier. When Jimmy looked at his feet, Kid's senses jumped with alarm. "What? Tell me, Jimmy. Is she okay?" he demanded, grabbing onto Jimmy's shirt with his fist.

"It's Jon, Kid. Madison took him," he said quietly.

Kid felt his breath leave him and he bent slightly as the heartache tried to rip itself from his chest. As the shock died away and he regained his breath, Kid looked up into Jimmy's hurt-filled eyes, begging for the whole truth.

Hickok lowered his voice. "She's been hysterical since we told her, cryin' and screamin' and rockin' back and forth, sometimes talkin' to herself or Jon. Won't let anyone touch her. We all tried to calm her down but she'd just scream at us not to touch her and leave her alone. She refused the laudanum Doc tried to give her and won't eat or drink anything because she thinks we're druggin' her."

"You gotta go in there, Kid!" Cody insisted from the porch. "She's out of her head, just keeps callin' for you."

Kid snorted derisively despite his worry and shook his head sadly. "Trust me, Cody, she don't need me in there."

Jimmy growled in frustration and did something in that moment that he never thought he'd do--he willingly and knowingly drew his gun and leveled it at the Kid.

"Hickok, what the hell are you doin'?" Noah hissed.

Ike signed something furiously, relying on Cody to translate the signs Jimmy couldn't see with his back turned. "Ike says to put away the gun before you get us all fired and I agree with 'im," Cody said.

"The last thing we need is trouble between you two," Noah added.

Jimmy, stared at Kid, his eyes angry and ignored his friends' advice. "You are goin' in there if I have to hold this to your head the whole way," he snarled. "She needs you now Kid, no one else and by damn you're gonna be there for her. You have no idea what you've got in her because you keep pushin' her away by bein' impatient and needin' things your way and your way only."

"What's it to you Jimmy?" Kid growled back. "You want her? You can have her. She don't love me, maybe she never did!"

"Just because she said she won't marry you now? Do you even know why she said no? How could you because you didn't stick around long enough to find out! You wouldn't know that she's scared to death you'll walk away from her and leave her. You wouldn't know that she doesn't think she's good enough for you!" Jimmy shouted in Kid's face, the forgotten gun in his hand waving as he gesticulated with it. "Lou loves you and I'd give my life to be in your shoes. If you love her, if you ever loved her, you'll be there for her now on her terms."

The blue-eyed Southerner tried to get angry at the man in front of him, but the desperate love and jealousy directed at himself that he saw in Hickok's brown eyes prevented it. Instead, he simply walked around him and into the bunkhouse. Softly he closed the door behind him. Rachel and the doctor sat wearily at the table, watching the young woman who sat curled in a chair by the window clutching a green baby blanket to her chest as she rocked back and forth.

Rachel sighed in relief as she saw Kid clinging to the door. "Thank God you're here," she exclaimed rising from her seat. Crossing to him, she wrapped her arms around him in a supportive hug as he stared at the frail woman by the window. "She's been like this for hours. We've tried everything to calm her down and nothing works. Half the time we can't even get close enough to touch her."

"It's almost like she's shut herself off from the world," Doctor Stephens sighed. "She refuses the laudanum saying something about how it would hurt the baby. I'm afraid losing her son and Miss Rowan has been too much for her. Maybe she'll respond to you seeing as how she keeps saying your name, when we can understand what she's talking about."

Kid nodded silently and casually placed his hat on the table as he quietly walked toward her. Cautiously, he knelt in front of her. The woman he looked at was not the woman he'd left that afternoon, she was not the Louise McCloud he knew. This woman looked frail instead of the strong, independent Lou he knew and loved. Kid knew he'd only ever seen his mother look so shattered, so utterly hopeless. His heart broke, tears welling in his eyes as he wondered how much responsibility he bore for her condition. "Lou?" he said gently, placing a hand on her leg.

Louise jumped at the person's touch, that touch shattering the clouded mirror her mind had become. She found herself awaking as if from a nightmare to look into blue eyes she'd know anywhere. Kid was home and now everything would be better. "Kid?" she whispered.

Kid smiled as he saw the recognition in her eyes. Glancing back at where Rachel and the doctor watched, he noticed them both sigh in relief, tears of happiness glittering in Rachel's eyes. He reached a tentative hand out and pushed a lock of her hair back from her forehead. "It's me, angel," he replied.

"Where have you been?!" she sobbed, flinging herself into his arms. "They stole Jon and killed Charlotte."

"I know," Kid said. He stroked her hair comfortingly.

She pulled away to look at him. "But it's my fault. I yelled at them and sent them into town and now Jon's kidnapped and he thinks his mama doesn't love him. It's all my fault, Kid." Suddenly, Lou pushed at his shoulders in ineffectual anger. "Get away from me Kid. I'm no good for anybody, don't you see? Go away before it's too late and somethin' happens to you, too!"

Kid felt tears sting his eyes again as she began to rock slightly, whispering over and over how she was no good. She was hurting so much. He had to do something, he still loved her too much to watch her deteriorate before his eyes. "Lou, honey, look at me," he commanded softly, grabbing her hands. "You're just hurtin' right now. We'll get through this, I promise."

"But I hurt everybody!" she sobbed. "I yelled at the gremlins for just bein' themselves and...and then I sent them into danger knowin' Madison could be there and...and I was too scared when you asked me to marry you to say yes--and I wanted to so much b-but I don't deserve you." Lou was gulping in huge breaths of air as she rambled, her frazzled nerves breaking down all control she had over her thoughts and tongue. "And everyone I love either dies or gets hurt--Mama, the gremlins, Charlotte, you.... I wanna stop feelin'. Oh, God it hurts too much!"

Oblivious to Rachel and the doctor, he slid his hands under her knees and lifted her from the chair carefully as if she were a china doll he could break easily. Kid muttered soothingly as he carried her over to his bunk and sat down with her perched on his lap, rocking her gently. "I know it hurts, baby," he whispered as she sobbed into his neck. "Shh, it's not your fault. You didn't know Madison was waiting for them," he soothed.

"If I'd never shot Simon.... Oh, God, I want my baby back!"

Kid took her face between his hands. "Look at me, Lou. We're gonna get him back, honey," he vowed seriously. "Do you believe me that I'm gonna get him back?"

Lou nodded, hiccuping softly as she tried to control her tears. "I trust you," she whispered, snuggling her head back underneath his chin. "J-just don't leave me, please"

"I ain't goin' anywhere, Lou," he said with a smile as he kissed the top of her head. Kid continued rocking back and forth as her sobbing eased. "Ya know what? It's pretty late. Why don't you curl up here with me for a few hours and take a nap, hmm?" he asked innocently. He remembered doing the same thing with his mama years ago. After his pa had left, she'd been shattered and it was like dealing with a very small child. They had to be reminded and coaxed into the most basic things like eating and sleeping or, in their grief, they'd forget to do it.

Lou's brown eyes were huge and luminous in the dimness as she looked fearfully. "Don't leave me," she begged.

"I'll be right here as long as you need me, angel. I promise," Kid assured her.

She allowed him to lay her down on the bed and he curled up behind her to hold her close. They fit together perfectly, the way they'd always done, her curves fitting to his and his chin resting on her head. In the familiarity of his touch, Louise found the center of her shattered world and her weary body and soul began to drift to sleep.

Kid had almost forgotten they weren't alone in the bunkhouse until he heard Rachel whisper close by. "I can't believe you got her to sleep," she whispered in astonishment.

Lou whimpered proving that she wasn't quite asleep yet. "I think she'll be okay," Kid whispered back. "You can let the others in now. Once I'm sure she's asleep, we'll start thinkin' up a way to get Jon back."

The others filed in quietly and as the night wore on, Louise slept fitfully in Kid's arms, unaware of the vigil being held over her and the prayers going up for her son.

To chapter 18
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