Disclaimer: This story is the copyright of nesciri and are published for others
to 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, please notify -Prologue-
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Chapter 1Crossroads Lou stared at the old bunkhouse as she was sitting on the porch of the house. Rachel came out and seeing her there she took her cup and joined her on the swing. "What are you thinking of?" she asked softly following Lou's gaze. "Happier days," Lou replied. "I'm sure Kid will be back soon - they think the war will be over in another six months; that's what I heard in town." "I know." "You know Kid wouldn't leave you for any longer time," Rachel smiled hoping to see a change in Lou's mood. Ever since Rachel and Teaspoon had found Lou by Buck's dead body, she'd been withdrawn. She hadn't shed a single tear since nor had she smiled. Rachel had tried to talk to her about it, but all she told them were the facts that would help the marshal find the murderer. She had seemed somewhat better when Teaspoon a few days later could tell them that the man had been arrested, but when the judge let him go a week after the arrest, she returned to her state of solitude. She hadn't even cried at the simple Kiowa ceremony that they had held on the same place as Ike's funeral fire. There had only been the three of them present, Lou, Rachel and Teaspoon, as they couldn't get words to the others in time. Cody was out somewhere with the army and the letters they got from got more and more scarce, either because he was used more for scouting and not able to send letters or simply because he was too busy. Rachel didn't like the thought of Cody forgetting about them, but then she'd realized that Cody probably hadn't forgot about them, he simply didn't remember to keep in touch. Jimmy had left soon after Lou's and Kid's wedding, hoping to find a new career as a marshal. Teaspoon had managed to secure him a post as marshal in a small town in Kansas and Jimmy had returned to be closer to his family as his sister was expecting her second child. Teaspoon had urged him down this road, fearing that if Jimmy was without occupation when the Express was abandoned, he could easily choose the wrong path and he cared too much about the boy to let it happen. Rachel also suspected that Rosemary's decision to return to Kansas had something to do with Jimmy leaving but she kept the thought to herself. The last they heard from him was that he'd join the army as a scout. There was no explanation why, but Rachel managed to find out that Rosemary was dead, and they suspected that being the reason for Jimmy's change of heart. However, there was no messages from Jimmy. Everything they knew they got from Cody that seemed to be the only one Jimmy came in touch with. Kid and Lou had stayed on together with Buck, but soon enough the runs were down to nothing. The company had let them stay on for a while and they had been busy selling of the horses and with Buck's help they managed to purchase some more from the Indians which they sold with profit to the army. But they had been all too aware that it couldn't last in the long run. It gave them some money which would help them find a new life, and Lou had already started to think about when they would get Theresa and Jeremiah when the news reached them that Virginia had left the union on the 17th of April 1861. Kid had spent a week pondering the situation until he one night told Lou what he felt he had to do. He had to return to Virginia to join the army. She had challenged his decision, but although he couldn't explain it he had remained firm in his decision. Realizing that she couldn't win this argument, she had let him go with her blessings and wishes of hope, rather than separate from him with anger. Seeing Kid leave had been the hardest thing she'd ever done, but she couldn't go with him. As much as Virginia was his home, this land was hers. It was here that she had her happiest memories; it was this land that held her soul. It she was forced to lend Kid to Virginia for a short time, then maybe that was it. Afterwards he could return to her and they could continue with their life together. Everything had seemed a lot easier back then; Teaspoon was working as the marshal, Buck had planned to keep up with the horse trade for a while longer and Rachel stayed at the house, continuing working as a teacher. They were her family and she found comfort in he fact that she would be staying with them while Kid was gone. Then Teaspoon had become restless and started to talk about returning to Texas as the news of the escalating war reached them. One day he resigned as marshal and left, claiming that Rock Creek wasn't much of his kind of town anymore. And he might have been right. The introduction of the telegraph and a huge amount of new comers into the town had changed it considerably from the small town they used to know. Seeing Teaspoon leave had made Buck decide to stay, reluctant to leave Lou and Rachel on their own. Lou suspected that he really wanted to return to his people knowing that there had been several incidents since the military had begun to move their forces across the plains and there were frequent reports of Indians being killed or captured. So one day Teaspoon had returned. He had settled in his old shack, but he seemed disillusioned. When they tried to talk to him, he simple shook his head and walked away. The town had already found a new marshal and Teaspoon found himself out of a job. When Buck asked for his help, he seemed to cheer up and Buck even managed to get parts of his story while using the steam bath Teaspoon had introduced to the rider when they first arrived. Apparently the older man had offered his services to the army but being refused as being too old. Hurt in his pride Teaspoon had objected only to be more humiliated by the officers. So he had returned. Buck had told them what Teaspoon had told him, and they had done their best to make him feel useful. Teaspoon never told them that he'd failed the medical exam due to poor eyesight, but he'd been forced to get new glasses when he returned. The fact that he couldn't see as well as he had to, was an embarrassment to him. At his return Buck didn't leave as Lou had thought he would but instead he had decided to stay out of loyalty to the older man that was as close as a father he'd ever came. Life had settled some for the small group that remained of the once so larger and boisterous group. Lou found out that she enjoyed the cooking lessons with Rachel and she even had a few good laughs during them too. Especially when seeing Buck's and Teaspoon's faces when she tried the results on them. But she had improved, mostly to Rachel's expert teaching, and she'd even learned to mend a shirt properly. If she was too wait for her husband, she'd decided that she'd be the perfect wife when she got back. Not that all chores were fun, and sometimes she enjoyed joining Buck on one of his rides for finding more horses. Now and then letters from the others would come and Rachel usually read them out loud in the evening. Cody's was especially funny, since his whole being shone forth in every single line. Lou read the others parts of Kid's letters, the other parts she re-read on her own at night. Sitting there with only a single candle she read them over and over again, trying to find his emotions, his feeling and his hopes. She never told Rachel or Teaspoon about her fears and worries but sometimes she opened her heart to Buck when they went riding. Even if they always considered themselves a family during the Lou never truly had considered them her "real" family, but since Kid left Buck had become the older brother she'd never had. She wasn't sure if he really was older than her and even Buck had admitted that he was uncertain of his exact age. But he'd been there, just like an older brother, listening to her, as she was pouring her heart out, not asking why she felt a certain way or telling her what she should do. He simply just listened and reassured her of Kid's feelings for her in those moments when she found herself unsure by telling her stories from what had happened in the bunkhouse when she hadn't been there. And now he was dead too. Dead because a stupid drunkard had thought that he'd tried to attack Lou and had decided to protect her. And then he'd gotten off because a jury couldn't blame a man trying to save a white woman from an Indian. She had been furious with the fact but she had kept it all to herself, not letting it show. It was so meaningless, so unnecessary. For a while she'd been blaming herself, thinking of all the things they could have done. If they had brought a rifle or a gun, then maybe things would have been different. But every thought always ended in the simple fact that they hadn't done that or this. At the same time Kid's letter told her that he'd been accepted into the First Virginia Cavalry and that he hoped he'd be able to write, but he was uncertain if he'd get the time or the possibility. Lou felt betrayed. She'd been looking forward to his letters with the same feeling as when a child clings to its mother and now he was telling her that she was not to expect them as regularly as she'd been used to. She explained this to Rachel one night and Rachel had tried to comfort her with the old saying, "no news is good news". Somehow Lou wasn't convinced about it. In little more than a year dear friends had been taken from her in a violent way; first Ike, then Noah and now finally Buck. Every night she woke up with the dreaded sight of Kid's dead body before her eyes from her dreams. She'd enough and she knew that the others had as well. Rachel feared that she was going to get fired from the school, since she hadn't the right background. Her teaching skills had been questioned from some of the new inhabitants, and if it was one thing that Rachel wouldn't stand up to it was being humiliated. Then she rather left. Teaspoon had taken badly to Buck's death and Lou even found him dead drunk
once. He'd been very remorseful the day after and promised it wouldn't happen again, but
Lou knew he was blaming himself. Rachel had seen it too and together they had written to
Amanda. She was more than helpful, but said that she couldn't leave the business, but that
Teaspoon was more than welcomed to visit. She wrote that she had a surprise for him and
asked that they would not reveal that she gotten married. Lou and Rachel were even more
surprised when they learned that she'd married the Kangaroo Kid, whom apparently taken
over as marshal, and that Amanda was pregnant. She explained that it was still early in
the pregnancy, but she'd never felt so good. When her letter was ended with a question
about Lou and Kid, Lou felt tears running down her cheeks. Rachel turned and gave her a
big hug. But they failed to convince Teaspoon that he should visit Amanda, even when they gave in and told him about the baby. That seemed to get him out of his depression but he claimed that it was better he visited when the baby was born. Lou happened to see him and Rachel on a nightly stroll a few days later and she suddenly realized why he'd decided to stay. She wondered why she hadn't seen it sooner, but was pleased that none of them would be one their own. The days passed by slowly, Lou eagerly reading every bit of information of the war and for every piece of information, she feared that the war wouldn't be over as soon as everybody had expected. The thought of not seeing Kid in another year sent chills down her spine and she tried to tell herself that the generals would have more sense than letting the war continue. She could not imagine it last for more than a year - she was aware of that the war between Texas and Mexico had lasted two years, but this was not the same, she pondered, this was between Americans. Surely they wouldn't fight each other for long, she pondered, after all they even spoke the same language and shared a common history. Or so she thought. Lou was standing in the kitchen trying to remember the seasoning for her latest try in the field of cooking. She had found an old recipe of a casserole among her mother's things and decided that she had enough skills by now to make it. Rachel was still in school and Teaspoon was off selling the last of the horses Buck had collected. They had hated to do that, but they were running short of money with only Rachel's income from her teaching. Lou didn't ant to think about what would happen when their savings were gone. Better to take one day at a time, she thought, as she tasted the casserole trying to figure out what was missing, when there was a knock on the door. "Coming!" she said as she moved the casserole of the heat. Wiping her hands on her apron she walked over to the door and opened. "Yes?" she asked seeing a man in his fifties, dressed as a clerk, outside. "Mrs. Dunne?" he asked lifting his hat. "No, I'm Mrs. McCloud, but I'm staying here with Mrs. Dunne," she replied wondering what he was doing here. "Well, then, that really doesn't matter. My name's Mr. Brown and I'm here representing Russell, Majors & Waddell." "Yes?" "Well, we own this property as you might know, and the thing is that we - well, we are going to sell it." Lou stared at the man. Sell the station? What did he mean? "You'll be able to stay here of course for the remaining time of your lease, that is one more month, but then I'm afraid you'll have to move." "What are you going to do with the station?" Lou asked, still a bit bewildered about the news. "I think they gonna tear it down, Mrs. McCloud. They hope that the town will grow and then the land might be valuable." Lou's mind raced at the thought of their home being torn down. "Can we buy it?" The man looked surprised at her. "Well, I can't see why not, Mrs. McCloud, but it might be a bit expensive --" "How much?" Lou interrupted. "Well, I would say that the lowest prize would be around 300 dollar," the man replied and Lou's heart sank. There was no way they could raise that amount of money. "I'll be staying at the hotel in town, Mrs. McCloud. If you'd like to make an offer on the property you can find me there." "Thank you, Mr. Brown," Lou replied. The man bid his farewell and Lou sank down on the swing watching him walk back into the town. What should they do now? A sudden smell of something burning got her to her feet. She had completely forgotten about the casserole! Cursing herself she rushed back into the kitchen to save what could be saved. When that was done she thought about the man's words. Sighing she realized there was nothing she could do until Teaspoon and Rachel returned. But in the back of her head she had already formed an idea about what she should do. It was a quiet dinner. Lou had informed the others of sale of the station and to her surprise they weren't as upset as she would have imagine. Teaspoon cleared his throat. "Well, Rachel and I have been sort of talking," he started with a look at Lou, "and we've been thinking about heading further west." "California," Rachel continued. "Well, my eyes might be weakening, but there's nothing wrong with my nose. I can still smell gold a hundreds feet away, so we've thought about prospecting." "And I could be a teacher there. I'm sure they're not to petty with my background," Rachel added. Lou stared at them. "How long have you planned this," she asked. Rachel and Teaspoon looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, we --," Teaspoon looked at Rachel. "We've grown quite fond of each other the last months, Lou," Rachel tried to explain, "and when Buck was killed, we sort of ---" "You don't have to explain," Lou said with a faint smile, "I do understand." "Now, there's nothing that would make us happier than if you'd decide to come with us. We could leave a message here for the Kid when he returns ---" "Thanks, Teaspoon, but no thanks." "Then what are you going to do?" Rachel asked slightly worried. "I don't know yet, Rachel, I just don't know."
Lou stared at her image in the mirror. She'd been married a year now and her hair had grown to shoulder's length. Automatically she drew the brush through it. She'd been longing for this day, when her hair would be long enough to put up or simply to let the wind blew through it. She had always had long hair until she decided to disguise herself as a boy. Reluctantly she returned the brush to the table before her. Her eyes wandered over to the scissors she had picked up from the sewing basket earlier. Suddenly she made her decision and grabbing a large piece of hair with one hand she reached for the scissors with the other. Seconds later large pieces of hair was falling to the floor. Rachel woke up by a sound from Lou's room. Curious she stepped up and knocked on the door. "Lou?" she asked. When there was no reply she gently opened the door, only to find Lou clad in her nightgown sitting in front of the mirror. She choked a scream as she saw the hair on the floor. "Lou? What have you done?" When Lou didn't turn, Rachel walked up to her. She noticed that a blanket and saddlebags were lying on the floor as if Lou was riding out on an Express run. On the bed lay the clothes she'd once wore before she got married. "Lou, what's all this about?" she whispered. Lou sighed and turned to face her. "I'm going after Kid." Rachel sank down on the bed. "Lou, you can't travel to Virginia, there's a war going on. And even if you travel as a boy --" "I'm not." "You're not what?" "I'm not going to travel as a boy - I'm going as a soldier." Rachel stared at her. "I'm going to sign up for the South." "You can't do that!" "Why not? I managed to get a job as an Express rider, right? And by the look of it, they're not too picky if you volunteer. I bet I don't have any troubled joining." "But why?" "I can't think of any other way to find Kid. We were not supposed to be apart like this Rachel," she explained. "We've shared too much for that. I need to be at his side, to fight with him, to know what he's going through!" "But to go to war?" "That's what he did." "Lou, you're not Kid ---" "But I am his wife! I shouldn't have stayed. I didn't feel that is was my fight, but what if I was wrong? You remember Teaspoon's words when we were married? For better and for worse - well it's worse now, and we should be together, no matter under what circumstances!" Rachel sat in silence for a few minutes, looking at Lou's determined face. "You're sure you wanna do this?" Lou swallowed. "No, but I don't know any other way. If I leave for Californa I feel as if I'm betraying him." "But, Lou, it's a war going on ---" Rachel silenced when she saw the tears glittering in Lou's eyes. "Please don't make this any harder than it is, Rachel." Rachel opened her arms and Lou walked over to the bed where Rachel embraced her. "May God be with you, Lou." The first rays of the sun had barely manage to warm the earth when a young man saddled up a horse outside the old Express station. Teaspoon and Rachel stood by, watching. "Take care of Lightning and Katy until we come back," Lou asked with a lump in her throat. "We will," Teaspoon replied. "And we'll send our address to Tompkins, so you'll know where to find us." Rachel couldn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks. "I won't forget." Lou mounted up. "Good luck," she whispered. "Ride safe, Lou," Teaspoon replied as he put an arm around Rachel. They watched Lou ride out, not knowing when they'd see her again. "Ride safe," he whispered once more as she disappeared at the horizon.
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