Louise Kidrickson cautiously made her way up the broken steps to the two-story clapboard house, which used to belong to Emma Shannon. Her heart ached to see it in such a state of disrepair. In the five years that it had stood empty, the elements had taken their toll on it. The vibrant yellow paint had dulled, chipping and peeling away from the wooden structure like faded bandages unraveling from around a decaying body. Once white shutters were dirty and hanging askew from their hinges around the shattered windows and there were several cracks and jagged holes in the wooden frame.
She had known that the old Sweetwater way station would not be in the same pristine condition that it had once been in while the Pony Express was in operation. As much as she had accepted that there would be damages done to the property, mentally preparing herself for them was not the same thing as actually seeing them face to face. Lou knew she was being foolish, but she could not help it. The old way station meant more to her than just a place in which she had once worked. It was where she and Kid had first met and fallen in love. This was where her Pony Express family was born, and it was the one place in the whole entire world she had wanted to come back to once the Civil War was over.
Lou stepped up to the front door and pulled out the key given to her and Kid by the banker in Sweetwater and inserted it into the keyhole and turned the tarnished knob. The door creaked open about an inch, its rusted hinges protesting under the strain of her slight weight, but she refused to let it get the best of her. By the time, she had created a large enough opening for her to squeeze through, there was perspiration dotting her forehead, and dampening tendrils of her auburn hair to her face. Lou took a deep breath and used one hand to push back the damp strands of hair away from her face. She gazed through the opening she had created and instead of seeing the dangling spider webs, deteriorating wallpaper and debris covered floor, Lou saw only memories.
She remembered the first time that Emma had invited her into the house. It had been after the boys and she had come back from rescuing her younger siblings from their gunrunner father. In the process of that trip, her fellow riders had learned that she was really a woman, instead of a man, and they had each vowed to keep her secret. She had thought all things were lost when Emma revealed to her that she knew about her being a woman, but the housekeeper had lovingly promised not to disclose her true gender. Emma had persuaded her to dress up as a young woman and invited the other riders to her house for a tea party.
It was the first of many special occasions that were celebrated in the beloved house. Along with the love and laughter that filled its walls with gaiety; anger, heartache, and tears had also been shared. After Emma had married Sam and moved away, the house had become Rachel's home. There had been some initial moments when she and Rachel were getting to know each other, when Lou had doubted she would ever willingly step into the house again. In time, that awkwardness had passed and she and Rachel became close friends, and shared many difficulties of their lives in the cozy kitchen. So many more memories of happy and sad times swam through her head as she stood in the doorway.
When they had first arrived on the property, Kid had told their eldest daughter, Katerina, to stay in the wagon and mind her younger siblings, while he and Lou checked out the property. Lou had gone straight toward the house, while he had moved to examine the other outbuildings. The bunkhouse, in which he, Lou, and the other riders had spent so much of their time, was in reasonably good shape. It was in need of a new roof and a deep cleaning, but otherwise it appeared to have survived the elements rather well. The barn was in a terrible state of disrepair and was going to need some extensive work done on it before it would be a safe dwelling for their team of horses to reside in. After taking a mental inventory of the supplies he would need, Kid headed back across the yard. He stopped momentarily to check on the children, before he continued toward the house. As he neared it, he was surprised to see his wife still standing in the doorway and wondered what had prevented her from entering the house.
He watched her in silence for a few moments, his cerulean blue eyes scanning over the disheveled condition of the house and felt emotion stir within his heart. Memories good and bad rose to the surface of his mind as his attention drifted off the wooden structure and onto the diminutive form of his wife.
"Lou, are you all right?"
Lou blinked away the tears that had come into her eyes as she relived so many treasured memories at the sound of the soft male voice behind her. She turned around to see her husband, Kid, standing at the foot of the porch steps watching her with loving concern etched into his handsome features as he gazed at her.
"I'm fine, Kid," Lou said honestly. "It's just hard seeing Emma's house in such a dismal state,"
Kid smiled softly at her as he stepped onto the porch. He reached out, placed his hands upon her shoulders, and gazed down into her upturned face. "We'll get her fixed up in no time, Lou. Before you know it, the whole place is going to be looking like it was back when we were riding for the express."
"It won't ever look exactly the same as it was back then," Lou told him. "But we can get it looking darn close,"
"Darn close is right." Kid agreed.
He took Lou's hand in his and together they entered the house and stepped back into time. Regardless of what the house or the future might hold for them, the couple knew that they would survive it as long as they were together.