"Ouch!" Lou looked down and hitched up her skirt, trying to retrieve her foot. They were cleaning an area from some brushwood and bushes to make more room for their horses and she'd just managed to step into a hole. She dropped the branches she was carrying and pulled, but she was stuck. She tried to see what it was that was holding her, but it was too dark and since she couldn't move her foot she had some difficulty to turn around.

"What's wrong?"

Lou looked up as he stood up a few meters from her and looked at her. It was a great day; the heat they had experienced the last few days had given way for some cold breeze, which had made them decide to clean up the area. He'd left his hat hanging from some branches not far from where he was working, cutting down bushes, and she suddenly realized how long his hair had grown the last couple of months. He'd made no indication that he was gonna cut it, and she wondered if this had anything to do with his decision to stay.

"I'm caught," she called back, "my feet seemed to have gotten stuck."

"Daydreaming about Kid again?" he asked grinning as he reached for the axe.

"Daydreaming, my foot!" she replied as her memory strayed to her husband, who'd gone to fight in a war that was his and not hers. She made another effort to get free, but her foot was securely stuck in the small hole.

"Get over here and help me," she complained, as he started to walk over to her.

"On my way."

He was standing next to her and bent down by the hole.

"Looks like it got trapped behind some roots", he explained. "Stay still and I'll try to chop you loose."

He raised the axe and tried to see where to make the first cut when suddenly there was a change in the air and Lou felt a cold breeze pass her. A feeling of uneasiness came over her and she turned to let out a warning when the sound of horse hooves caught her attention. A man appeared from the trees and the look on his face made her let out a yell of fear. But before any of them could react the man lifted his gun and two shots were fired. Lou could almost feel the bullets pass her and hit the man next to her. She turned as much as her trapped foot allowed her and in horror she watched him fall backwards as two red spots appeared on his chest. She must have screamed but she didn't hear her own voice. She could hear the shooter call out to her but his words seemed distant and she couldn't understand what he was saying. Slowly she turned and faced him with an ashen face. The shooter swayed in the saddle, still holding on to the rifle, and she realized that he was drunk. If she'd had a gun in her hand that moment, she would have killed him with no remorse. Now all she could do was scream at him, her fear suddenly gone. She didn't care if he tried to kill her, she just wanted to let him know the anger, fear and frustration that seemed to tear her apart. Uncertain of her behavior the man yelled back at her before he turned his horse and disappeared the same way he'd come. Lou didn't even look after him, but instead she pulled with all her force to get free, and with a sharp sting of pain the roots let go of her and she fell forward. She was on her knees seconds later and crawled over to the unconscious body. Seeing his inert form, she whispered.

"No, please God, no."

At her touch he managed to open his eyes, but he stared up with unseeing eyes at her and her heart broke.

"You're gonna be all right," she murmured knowing very well that it wasn't true. But she couldn't find anything else to say. For what seemed as an eternity she sat there holding his head in her lap and finally he shuddered and his head fell to the side. But Lou remained where she was, unable to let go. She was still sitting there three hours later when Rachel and Teaspoon found her.