As Boggs leveled his gun at Lou, Jimmy and Kid swept into action. Jimmy grabbed for Boggs's gun, shoving the man's arm upward, as Boggs's finger squeezed the trigger. The gun went off, the bullet striking the ceiling overhead, and eliciting a terrified scream from Theresa. Jimmy and Boggs wrestled for control of the gun, until it went flying out of Boggs's hand, and skittered across the wooden floor.
"Kid!" Jimmy cried out as Boggs shoved him away and went for his fallen weapon.
Kid dove for the Colt. He scooped it up out of Boggs reach, rolled up into a crouch, and fired the gun. Boggs crumpled to the ground and Kid heard a strangled cry from where the McCloud siblings were huddled together.
Lou stepped away from Jeremiah and Theresa and went to kneel down beside Boggs. Her heart ached and unshed tears clouded her vision. Even though she'd told herself that the pa she'd cherished when she was younger was dead, and had been for several years, an inner part of her felt like weeping for Boggs.
She choked back a sob and took a shuddering breath. She would not do it. She would not give Boggs the satisfaction of knowing she had cried at his death. She felt movement behind her and knew it was Kid even before he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Lou. He gave me no choice."
"I know Kid. He never game me a choice either." Lou said softly.
"We need to go Kid." Jimmy said from his position near the doorway. He had retrieved his gun from the floor where Boggs had forced him to drop it and was standing guard.
Jimmy's mind spun with the revelation that Lou was really Louise. He had hated to interrupt her last moments with Boggs, but Buck and Cody were out in the chaos they'd created outside, and he wasn't too keen on one or more of Boggs's henchmen dropping in on them at any moment. He didn't think they would be too happy to know their boss was dead.
"Come on Lou."
Kid gently pulled Lou to her feet. Lou went immediately over to where Jeremiah and Theresa were standing and hugged them, while Kid retrieved his own gun.
Once he had his own weapon in hand, Jimmy led the way out of the house. Lou followed him with her siblings, and Kid came last so he could protect their backs in case anyone tried to sneak up on them.
They maneuvered their way around the exterior of the Boggs home, hurrying past bodies on the ground, and dashing through narrow areas between burning buildings until they met up with Cody and Buck at their rendezvous place. The Kiowa and blond rider were relieved to see all of them.
Together they ascended the rocky mountainside, Kid and Buck helping Theresa and Jeremiah along the way, while Jimmy and Cody took point. All five riders were relieved to see their horses still waiting for them at the top. Lou put Theresa on Lightning's back, before climbing up behind her. Kid helped Jeremiah scramble onto Katie's back, before he mounted the paint as well.
"Thank you." Lou said as soon as her fellow riders were astride their faithful steeds. "For coming after me and helping me rescue Theresa and Jeremiah from Boggs."
"We couldn't let you have all the fun in taking on Boggs." Cody flashed her a grin.
"You would have done the same for us." Buck replied.
"When one of us is in trouble, we go after him. It's as simple as that." Jimmy added.
Lou smiled at Hickok. He could have easily spilled the news to Cody and Buck about her true identity, but he hadn't. She was grateful to him for that. She needed just a little more time before she revealed to the other riders about her being a girl, instead of a boy like them.
"Can't we go now?" Jeremiah complained.
"We're going Jeremiah." Lou assured him, nudging Lightning with her knees and starting the gelding into a walk down the steep incline, with the others following close behind.
She was only too glad to put Boggs' compound behind her, as well as any lingering memories she had of the monster of a man her father had become.