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read. Any abuse or infringement of the author's rights will
be goverened by Swedish law. The characters have been
borrowed from the TV-drama "The Young Riders" . This has not
been done in order to violate the copyright of the authors
of that show, however, if an infringement has been done,
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Chapter 1
Til Birth Does Us Part
Chapter 1
The girl wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "How long?" she asked.
"You're two month through already. Only seven more to go." The doctor said with a smile, trying to encourage her.
She tried to smile back at him but failed miserably. Seven more month! She thought, what am I going to do?
"You'll be fine, sweetheart," the doctor tried again, but this time his words drew the start of loud sobs from her.
"I can't be pregnant!" she cried. "I can't!"
The doctor started to lose his patience with the sobbing girl before him. It all seemed a bit suspicious to him - the way that she didn't want to be pregnant. "Well…" he said, "there's nothing I can do for you now. I'm sure your husband will be quite happy to learn about the coming baby". The doctor added carefully, seeing that she didn't wear a wedding band.
"Yes…" she said, hiding her hand, trying to gather her composure again. "Real happy…"
"One other thing that you have to keep in mind", the doctor changed his tone to a more practical one. "You must take things easy from now on. At least until the baby's here. No hard work, no lifting heavy things and no riding. If you must get somewhere, use a backboard or better - use a stage."
"But I need to get to Sweetwater" the girl said. "How am I going to get there?"
"Well, there's a stage leaving in half an hour to Sweetwater, you can be there tomorrow afternoon."
"Can't I ride there? Just so I'll get there and then I'll start my resting?" the girl asked, looking scared of the thought of going by stage.
"Look, ma'am", the doctor said a bit harshly, now quite irritated with the girl's desire to hurt herself and the baby. "What's the rush to get to Sweetwater? Riding a horse can hurt both you and the baby. And besides, it's not proper for a young girl like yourself riding all alone through the wilderness. You will take the stage to Sweetwater and then you will rest in your husband's house. It is your husband that you are going to meet there, isn't it?"
"Uh… yes" the girl said; now lost in thoughts.
"Well then, that's good." The doctor said while standing up. The girl stood up as well. "Now, listen carefully!" the doctor continued. "No hard work and no riding. Is that clear?"
The girl's throat was full of tears so she just nodded her head, feeling the tears well in her eyes once again.
"Good." The doctor put his hand around her shoulders and led her to the door. "Now you'd better hurry so you'll make it to the stage."
The girl looked up at him. "Thank you" she said, "and I'm sorry for my outburst".
"That's alright," the doctor said, once again softening. "You'll be alright."
Lou blinked in the sun when she stepped out of the doctor's office. The news he gave her made her tremble.
She ran back to her hotel room to gather her things and then headed back to the street to find the stage back to Sweetwater.
In the stage, opposite her sat a young couple on their way to their honeymoon. They both looked so much in love. Lou remembered how she once felt. Once she had hope for a better future. Even after the Kid and she broke up. Even after he started seeing other girls. She thought there would be other men. He's not the only fish, after all. But now, pregnant… and in a few month it will start to show. Who would want her like that? Fat and ugly? And lazy? What is she going to do for seven month? She will have to tell Teaspoon and Rachel. Will that be the thing that would get her fired? Surely Teaspoon won't let her stay there without doing anything. But where would she go? She doesn't know anybody. She doesn't have a relative to go to…
Suddenly the stage took a hard jump and the young woman fell on Lou. "Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am", said the newlywed.
Lou looked at her and managed a smile. The girl was beautiful. With long brown hair and green eyes. Lou turned her gaze toward the young man beside her, as he checked on his wife. The admiration she saw in his eyes reminded her once again the admiration she used to see in Kid's eyes. Again, as in every time in the past that she thought about him, Lou felt tears stinging her eyes. She quickly turned to look outside the window, ashamed of her tears.
"Are you alright ma'am?" the young man asked her.
His voice startled her. She turned to see his blue eyes, now full of concern, looking at her. For a moment she just gazed at them, letting her imagination take over, letting herself think that it's all a bad dream. The whole last month was only a dream and that's the Kid sitting there in front of her, caring for her like he used to.
"You look troubled. Is there anything we can do to help you?" the voice woke her from her daydream. No it's not the Kid. Definitely not the Kid…
"I'm alright". She said. "Thanks."
"Sure. So, are you from Sweetwater?" the young woman asked.
"Yes." Lou said. "Is that where you're headed?"
"Oh, yes" the young woman answered, somewhat excited. "Tom and I thought it would be a nice place to settle down in and have a family."
"A family? How long have you been married?" Lou asked.
The woman looked a bit puzzled by Lou's reaction. "Well… we're not in a hurry… but in time…"
Lou suddenly felt ashamed for her nosiness. "I'm sorry, it's really none of my business."
"It's O.K.," the man said. Lou still looked uneasy. "Look," he said, "let's try again: I'm Tom Smith and this is my wife Elizabeth".
"Call me Eli", the woman offered with a smile.
Lou eased a bit. "I'm Louise." She said, "nice to meet you."
They all smiled at each other. There was a moment of silence that Lou broke. "So, how long have the two of you been married?"
"Just over a month." Eli answered, her voice full of excitement. She gave her husband a loving smile, which he returned.
"You look so much in love." Lou said but felt out of place the minute she uttered the words.
Eli and Tom seemed to be a bit puzzled by her sincerity; it wasn't every day that a stranger would say such a thing so openly. Eli managed a smile, though. She could see Louise intentions were good. She was wondering what brought all that pain into her eyes.
Louise seemed to be a really nice girl and Eli craved for a friend. Her family back east was very close and she grew up practically without really knowing any outsiders. When she met Tom a new world opened up for her and when they fell in love and got married, she new she would leave everything to be with him, where he wanted to be most - the west. But leaving her family behind wasn't an easy thing for her to do, and she longed for the voice of another woman she could be a friend with. Louise, although she was a mystery, looked like a decent girl. Not like those horrible women her mother warned her from - the dancers at the saloons and the prostitutes. Her mother also warned her of the morality of some of the girls. But Louise, though distracted, looked to be moral. Eli hoped they could be friends.
"So, Louise, are you living with your family?" Eli asked.
"Well… sort of..." Louise answered, somewhat coldly, but gave no more than that.
Eli looked bewildered. She looked at her husband, but he only responded by shrugging his shoulders. Not a word was spoken since.
That night, while they were camping, Lou addressed Ben, the stage driver.
"Ben," she said, gathering all her femininity. "I have a little request."
"Sure", he said, looking up to see her beautiful eyes staring straight at him. "How can I help you?"
"Well… The thing is… well, my family lives just out of town, and we practically pass through their territory…"
"Yes?" the driver couldn't take his eyes of hers.
"Well… I was wondering…"
"Yes?"
"Will it be possible if you'll drop me off by their land, so I won't have to make the whole way back from town?"
"Aren't they going to wait for you there?"
"No. You see, I'm surprising them, so they won't be waiting for me. They don't even know I'm coming."
"Well, ma'am, there won't be a problem. If you want I can take the few extra minutes and drop you off at your relatives."
"Oh, no. I couldn't ask you to do that for me. Anyway, I want to surprise them. Alone, I would be harder to spot out."
"Sure thing, ma'am. Whatever you want."
Lou sighed in relief. At least she passed this one. Now she has to think what she's going to do when she gets to her "relatives".
She got of the stage in the middle of nowhere, about a mile from the station, and untied Lightning from the stage's railing. Tom and Eli seemed to be relived that she was off, they had barely exchanged a word since the previous day, and the three of them looked somewhat uncomfortable with each other.
Lou quickly changed her cloth to her male disguise. Soon, I won't be able to wear these, she thought. "Lightning," she spoke to her horse, tears starting to fill her eyes, "what am I going to do?"
Lou started back to the station, on foot. When I will get close enough, she thought, I'd start riding, as slow as I can. The boys would get too suspicious if I walked in.
On her way back to the station Lou had a lot of time to think about the last few months. Just a couple of months ago everything seemed to be so great. She was in love with a man who loved her back, or at least she thought he did. Didn't he?
Then he started talking about marriage, saying it isn't right, the way their relationship is heading if they aren't married. He asked her to marry him twice, but both times she declined. Maybe she should have said yes. Maybe she should have married him. Maybe she would have if she knew she's pregnant. But then again, he doesn't love her anymore, does he? He was quick enough to find a new love interest after they broke up. It was barely a week after they broke up that he started seeing that Samantha. Did he love her at all? In anytime? Maybe they took things too far too soon… they probably did.
And now she's pregnant! Last week she started to feel sick. Each morning began with her running out of the bunkhouse, much to the boys' amazement, in order to throw up. She didn't tell anyone about this routine, didn't pay much attention to it. She had to take a run to Seneca, since no one really knew how she felt, so she decided to go to see a doctor there. It would be safer, she thought, than going to the Sweetwater doctor, since he would have to check her out, and then find out about her…
What would she do now? She would have to tell Teaspoon and Rachel. At least them. Who else is there that should know? Jimmy? What would Rachel think of her? Would she despise her? Was she any different from the saloon girls, or the girls she once worked with at St. Joe?
And Teaspoon? Though he had an out-of-marriage daughter, it's different for men - nobody knows about the child unless they want them to. But everybody will know about her when she'll start getting fat. And that will come. No question about it.
But what about…
No! She decided. I won't tell the Kid. It isn't his right to know. And I wouldn't want him to be a father for my child.
Her child… hers… what kind of a mother would she be? She barely knew hers. How would she know what to do? She's never taken care of a child before, and now it's all hers.
But what would she tell the Kid when he sees her belly getting bigger? He sure would have a lot of questions. He always has. Would she be able to lie to him straight in his eyes? Oh, his eyes…
The station became closer and closer. Now she could see the top of the main house. She knew it wouldn't be long till one of the riders will spot her. It would probably be Buck, with his hawk eyes.
She mounted her horse and, slowly, made her way back to the station.
Fear of the followings was eating her heart.
