Ghost of the Past
Summary: Wicks has survived his gunshot wound. He now is after his stolen money, and the young girl who escaped him years ago. Lou, along with the rest of her rider family, must face her dangerous ghost of the past if she is to have a chance at a future.
Episode Reference: Goodnight, Sweet Charlotte
*Post-episode *alternative ending
A/N: I reposted this without doing a lot of polishing originally, and it was bugging me, so I'm making some changes and re-posting as I do, as I did with Bond So Strong and Captives. The story is materially staying the same, but I'm adding some conversations and things that probably should have been there all along.
Chapter One: Secrets
Kid sat quietly in the marshal's office, staring out the window, with a dark expression on his face. From behind his desk, Teaspoon studied him carefully for a long while before commenting.
"Kid, that glass is gonna melt if you keep blazing holes through it with your eyes."
Kid swung his head towards Teaspoon, his boss and friend, distracted. "What?"
Teaspoon met the young man's troubled gaze and wondered, "You been staring out that window like you're afraid the devil's gonna come through it if you blink, Kid."
Kid attempted a smile, but it never reached his eyes, "Sorry, Teaspoon, I guess I ain't being real good company."
"What's on your mind son?" He wondered.
"A lot, really, but I can't really say much about it."
"Have anything to do with that Wick's character that's got Lou so shook up?" Teaspoon asked casually, searching Kid's face for some sign of what had happened between his favorite female rider and the stranger who had held her up in the woods and caused her such worry the past several days. She had been close-lipped about it, and Kid was too, though he looked as rattled as Lou now.
Kid shrugged evasively. Actually, as usual, Teaspoon was right. The last few days had been hell on Lou. First, a friend from her past had showed up, troubling her with bad memories. Then, chasing behind her was a man named Wicks, who had driven the beautiful woman to kill herself. Wicks had then gone after Lou, convinced that she had the money Charlotte had stolen from him. Lou had gotten the upper hand during the struggle that followed, and pulled a gun on Wicks. Kid had ridden up just in time to stop her from killing him. Only after Wicks was brought into town and shot by another man had Lou confided in him, and Kid was furious McKay had had the pleasure of killing him.
He understood now, the strange mix of terror and madness in her eyes when he had found Lou holding a gun on Wicks, toying with his life in an uncharacteristically reckless way. Now, he wished he'd let her kill him. Hell, he thought furiously, and his hands wanted to tremble with rage, I wish I'd killed him myself.
"The doctor thinks he is going to make it?" Kid wondered suddenly through clenched teeth, looking at the whitening knuckles above his clenched fist.
After Wicks had been shot at point blank range, they'd all assumed he was dead. He had dropped into Kid's arms like a stone. Kid had left him on the dirt and led an uncharacteristically docile Lou into the Marshal's office. He could still remember her face blank with shock when she had sat motionlessly staring at the body. He had just wanted to get her away from Wicks, even though they had thought the man was dead and couldn't trouble her again.
"Yeah...the bullet went right through. Didn't hit anything important. He bled some, but he will be up soon. Just knocked him out cold when he got hit."
Teaspoon told him when the undertaker had come to get the body, he'd had quite a scare when Wicks suddenly moaned. Lou and he had both been back at the station by then.
About an hour ago, Lou had asked Noah if she could take his ride, though she had just returned. Noah had been reluctant to let her ride back out so soon. Kid had been near mad with worry over it, but she insisted she needed the miles to think things through after Charlotte's death, and none of them could deny Lou much when she turned her big eyes on them.
Teaspoon said quietly, "It's amazing, he was shot just about the same spot as Ike, and from a much closer range, and he lived and Ike didn't. Not more than a few centimeters and Ike could still be with us."
Kid nodded sadly but added to himself, not more than a few centimeters and that son of a bitch would be dead. And I ain't sure I ain't gonna finish the job first chance I get.
Still, there was pain in Teaspoon's voice, fresh and raw. Kid walked over to the rail by the desk and perched on it, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. Next to Buck, Teaspoon seemed to be taking the loss of Ike the hardest.
Kid's mind was too filled with the image of Lou as she sat on a hay bale across the aisle of the stable from him, telling him what she'd kept to herself for so very long to dwell on Ike at the moment.
I'm ready to listen, he had told her when she had nervously ventured she wanted to talk.
But he'd been wrong. He could have never been ready for the story of her past and the man who had taken so much more than her innocence.
"Kid, I wasn't smart, hadn't had so much schoolin' or seen much of the world outside Boggs' camp...it was bad there but my Mama sheltered us as good as she could. She died before she could teach me about the world...about men like my father. When Wicks found me, I had been on my own for about six weeks. I was near to freezing to death in the stall by his horse's feet. He talked nice, and I had no idea what kind of a man he was...my father never talked nice...no one would have ever mistaken him for a nice man...I didn't know the kind of man he was...I wish I had, but I just didn't. Even when I knew what kind of a place it was...I didn't know what kind of man he was. The ladies, they were scared of him, but I never saw anything but their fine dresses and pretty things. Figured they had to be happy...they had full bellies, warm beds, and men paying them compliments. It all seemed so lovely. God, I was a fool."
He had protested that, but she held up a hand and shook her head. She didn't want his reassurance and, he realized, she didn't want to lose her courage to finish the story.
"Charlotte kind of protected me from the worst of it like my mama had...so when Wicks came for me just after I turned fourteen, I was afraid, but I still didn't really understand what was happening to me. Then...when he…" she had struggled to say it, then spit it out, "was on m-me, I tried so hard to fight him, but I wasn't strong enough. When fighting didn't work", her eyes had misted with tears, "when fighting didn't work I begged him. I'm so ashamed of that, but I did because it hurt so much...and I thought he might kill me...but he didn't stop. I figured out pretty soon he...he liked hurting me. After that, I just tried to be still and quiet."
Kid had made a strangled sound of distress and his sight of her blurred through hot tears of fury and grief, but he forced them back with difficulty. She pushed on with the story even though he didn't want to know any more, the urge to scream at her to stop, that he couldn't stand it, was getting harder to swallow down with sheer will.
"Charlotte knew he'd never stop, so she told me what would happen if I stayed, had I been inclined. First, Wicks would sell me as a virgin to the highest bidder even though I wasn't one any more, and after that he'd sell me to anybody that had the money and wanted a young girl who wasn't willing and might have some fight left. Some men pay good money to leave marks on a girl's skin. That would have gone on either until I resigned myself that my body wasn't mine no more or until I was just broken enough by that type of man to insure I would behave with the other customers….or until one went too far and killed me, which happened twice in the time I was there. I had seen it, I washed the bloody sheets. If I survived with my spirit broken but not my body, I would have been one of the regular whores. Wicks figured his ladies would stay in line with his regular customers after being with that first group who dealt in pain as much as sex...thought they would be thankful to him not to be hired out for beatings and rape. But Charlotte got me away before any of that happened...the next morning by breakfast I was gone. I was too much a coward to ask her if Wicks found out it was her that helped me escape and what he did to her if so…he would have beaten me to death if he caught me…all this time later I still catch myself looking over my shoulder, afraid he would make me go back there…"
Kid's stomach had lurched violently as rage bubbled to his throat and he couldn't listen any more. He'd leapt up from the hay bale to strike a wall in fury. Seeing Lou withdraw from his anger, flinching in leftover fear, he'd quickly dropped his hands, turning his back to her while he gathered himself, breathing hard as if he had run a long distance, warring with tears and nausea and blinding, berserk anger with no live target. When he was sure he was in control, he had gone to her and sat beside her rather than across from her.
It had startled her to have him approach her. She'd avoided his eyes, her own were swimming in tears of shame. Sensing she'd pull away from an embrace, Kid had resisted the urge to gather her into his arms and never let go again. Instead he had reached out to slide her trembling hand between both of his. So finally he knew why she'd done it, why she'd hidden herself from the world and taken such a hard road. He would have given anything he had to spare her from the memory she lived now, had lived over and over all week, if not every day since it had happened to her.
He thought back to their first night of intimacy, viewing it through a new lens now. Hers. His eyes stung thinking of the trust she'd given him after suffering something like that. He hadn't known of course, not at the time, and the knowledge paired with the memory of that night, felt akin to someone booting him in the gut.
He'd wanted her so very badly. Was I gentle enough? He wondered. Did I scare her, hurt her, like he did? Remind her of that time in any way? He couldn't ask her. It wasn't his right. Not now. Not when things between them were unsettled and confusing, and he was just regaining her trust.
Kid didn't recognize his voice when he finally mastered it enough for speech. "I would have killed him on the spot if I'd known. Goddamn it, I can't believe I stopped you from killing him! You had every right!"
She'd shaken her head, and finally glanced up into his eyes, "You stopped me from murdering a man in cold blood, Kid. That might be something hard for me to move past."
Kid had swung his head in irritation, still feeling soul-sick. "I could have moved past murdering him slow if I had known," he hissed.
"I would not have wanted that...I ain't sure I would have ever told you when he was alive cause I would have been afraid you'd go after him and I wouldn't want his blood on your hands because he is below you. But, he's dead now Kid, and I'll sleep easier tonight knowing it. Kid, please...don't look so angry. I told you because I am leaving it behind today. It's done now. It's really over…do you understand?"
When her eyes had met his imploringly, he had let the anger drain away, replaced it with great wells of tenderness. Kid smiled at her, and put his arm around her shoulders carefully, and made sure she didn't tense at the touch before pulling her to him in a protective embrace and saying, "Yeah. I understand, Lou. It is done and I swear no one will ever hurt you like that again."
And she had lay her head on his shoulder and let herself be held, be safe.
"Hey, Kid, you're are about to pinch my arm off at the shoulder," Teaspoon's voice suddenly broke through the conversation playing in Kid's mind.
"Huh?" Kid suddenly realized he'd never released Teaspoon's shoulder and his fingers had clamped onto it as he thought about his rage.
"Lou left on Noah's run before we found out Wicks wasn't dead, Teaspoon," Kid suddenly said, withdrawing his death hold on Teaspoon's shoulder and playing with his hat instead, "You going to lock him up if he lives right?"
Teaspoon sighed, "Kid, Charlotte shot herself, Lou won't tell me whatever it is that has her running scared and jumping at her own shadow, and unless she's willing to testify that he held her up in the woods, which I have a feeling she won't be since she won't even talk to me about it, I can't keep him here. Even if she did testify, he didn't actually hurt her, Kid."
"What do you mean he didn't hurt her, God damn it!" Kid exploded at that, taking Teaspoon by surprise. Kid seemed to realize what he was saying and stopped suddenly, before continuing. "He could have! He would have if she hadn't pulled the gun on him!" Kid insisted, "And what if he tries again?"
"Would have, did and might are very different cases in the eyes of the law, Kid," Teaspoon commented, squinting at him and feeling the boy's tightly wound agitation, "Is there something you want to tell me that would help Lou?"
Kid looked Teaspoon squarely in the eyes and considered telling him what he knew, but realized that Lou would see that as betrayal, even if it was for her own good. She had given him her trust, and he couldn't imagine breaking that trust, so newly rewon. After all, he had always been comfortable carrying Lou's secrets safely. This could not be any different. "No, Teaspoon, there's nothing I can tell you."
Teaspoon heard the qualification in his voice as Kid's agonized eyes slipped away from his. He understood. There might be something Kid wanted to tell him, but whatever it was, he could not, or would not.
Teaspoon might have pushed him, but suddenly the doors flew open and a dust clad Hickok strode into the marshal's office, beating at his dirty clothes.
"Well mighty nice of you to remember us Jimmy," Teaspoon drawled sarcastically, "Did you forget that we moved to Rock Creek, or just decide to take a little holiday?"
"Aw, come on Teaspoon," Jimmy groaned, "I've had a bad week."
"And how is that?" Teaspoon wondered, hiding a smile. He always enjoyed deviling the boy, although admittedly it had been more fun in the beginning when Jimmy was such a hot-headed fool.
"I found an Indian brave that had been shot. I took care of him, but he died. I took him into the mountains to his people." Jimmy sighed wearily.
Teaspoon clapped Jimmy on the back, squinting as a cloud of dust rose and swirled about them, "I'm sorry it turned out that way son, but you did right and I am glad you're back in one piece."
"Just wish he would have made it," Jimmy mumbled and before Teaspoon could offer reassurance, held up a gloved hand. "I know, I know. I did the best I could," he muttered. Teaspoon nodded.
Shrugging, Jimmy glanced at Kid, who had not said a word, but rather was staring out the window like he wanted to kill someone on the other side of it. Jimmy craned his head to look, but the street outside was empty. He took off his hat and waved it in front of Kid, who swiveled icy eyes at him, then with annoyance clear on his features, resumed his death stare at the street.
"What's with him?" Jimmy wondered.
"Ask him over dinner," Teaspoon said, and slapped Kid on the back, breaking him out of his brooding. "You boys go get washed up for supper and tell Rachel I'll be along directly."
Teaspoon watched as his riders walked from the office, smiling when Jimmy turned to Kid and wondered, "So what's he talking about? What happened here?"
Kid shot Teaspoon a dirty look before he turned the corner. Once he saw they were gone, Teaspoon made his way out the door and to the doctor's house.
"He'll be fine, Doc?" Teaspoon wondered once he stood on the Doctor's porch. It occurred to him that just few weeks ago he'd stood in front of the same man asking the same question about Ike. The answer had been different, their world shaken by it.
"Yeah, he'll make it. Be on his feet by tomorrow, might want to send a deputy to watch him tonight and bring him to the jail tomorrow."
"Not holding him," Teaspoon muttered, and shook his head, almost in disbelief that he was saying it. "Just have him stop by my office to collect his belongings."
It was a damn hard thing to wonder if things would be better if a man had died, but there was something about this Wicks fellow that had Teaspoon ready to put a hole through his heart, and he certainly knew Kid wanted to do the same thing. If he couldn't put a bullet in him, though, he could sure put the fear of God there instead. At least Kid had some idea why Wicks was better off dead. Trying to extract an answer from Lou had been like milking a rock, for him, at least.
She had steadfastly refused to tell him why Wicks had accosted her on her run. He had demanded an answer from her in the jail after he'd locked up McKay, trying to understand what the hell was happening to her. She'd obtained the same balky, shifty-eyed look she had when he had asked her before about the man she said killed her friend.
How the hell am I supposed to help ya if you won't tell me what ya know?
He was starting to think he didn't want to know after seeing Kid's stricken face this afternoon as he'd come barging back in, demanding to know if the rumors Wicks had survived were true. The boy had looked ready to lose his lunch when Teaspoon confirmed it.
Teaspoon needed to know.
He had wanted to push Lou harder for a definitive answer on how she knew Wicks. But because he had thought the man dead anyway, he'd bitten his tongue. Still, he'd never seen her look quite so...diminished, or fragile...or scared. And he didn't like that look on her one bit.
"I need someone to take my run tomorrow," Kid announced over his roast. "Now, Kid, everyone's been out or has a run scheduled. You're the only rested rider here," Rachel pointed out. Kid sighed and rubbed his forehead head as it ached, "I know, I know." "Something wrong Kid? I mean, I guess I could go if it was an emergency," Jimmy volunteered, though he didn't successfully hide the grimace as he did so. "This Wicks fellow going to keep you from doing your job now?" Teaspoon asked in a quiet tone, eyeing Kid disapprovingly as looks flew around the table from one boy to the next. Sighing again, Kid shook his head. Jimmy could barely walk straight he was so exhausted and saddle sore. "Thanks Jimmy, but Teaspoon's right. It's my turn, and you've just had a bad ride." Jimmy asked for the hundredth time, "Who is this Wicks fellow? Really, I mean." Rachel glanced at her plate, and Kid knew she was the only other person who knew at least something about Wicks and what he was to Lou. Rachel met his eyes briefly and the weight of their burden was heavy between them, as was their love of Lou. She finally murmured weakly, "he's someone Lou knew once." "And?" Jimmy pried. "Someone that was responsible for the death of her friend Charlotte," Kid supplied through tightly pressed lips. "Well, I for one think something else happened. Lou's acting downright jumpy, even though she knew the woman really shot herself," Cody blurted out, drawing warning glances from all the other riders, who thought the same thing but were smart enough to keep their mouths shut. "Cody," Teaspoon warned quietly, daring to hope the boy might take a hint for once. "What? All's I'm saying is that she was acting down right strange and more prickly than usual, and I think she knows more about this fellow than she is letting on!" Cody persisted around a mouth full of food. "That's enough Cody, it's Lou's business," Noah finally spelled it out for him. Cody's brow wrinkled as he finally caught the nervous stares of the others. "Oh," he said meekly, "Well, fine. Still don't see what harm it does to wonder." "Yeah, well, wonder about this!" Buck smiled and tossed a biscuit for his head. Cody wasn't fast enough and it hit him square in the face. Before he could retaliate, Rachel held up her hands, "Billy! Don't even think about it!"
"Jimmy, can I talk to you for a second?" Kid asked later that night as he and his friend sat on the corral fence watching the sunset. "Sure, what's on your mind?" Jimmy suddenly grinned, "No, wait, let me guess." "It's Lou," Kid said, too worried to catch the humor. "Now, I would have taken odds on that one," Jimmy murmured softly, a smile in his tone. Then he sobered, "you finally going to spill it?" "I can't tell you what all is going on, but there's more to all this than you think." "You don't say?" Jimmy asked. Kid was preoccupied enough that the sarcasm was lost, but Jimmy forgave him for it. "I was just wondering if, well, if you'd look after Lou for the next couple of days or so while I'm gone," Kid didn't meet Jimmy's eyes, and Jimmy knew that it took a lot of swallowed pride for Kid to ask him that. Not so long ago, he'd been jealous of Jimmy's friendship with Lou, and had warned him to stay away from her altogether. Although Lou only regarded him as a friend, Jimmy shifted uncomfortably at his friend's blind trust now. He had a feeling that he did care a little more about Lou than he should. "Is she in some kind of trouble?" He searched Kid's gaze, surprised by the distress he saw there. "I don't know," Kid hedged then sighed and answered honestly, "Yeah. I think so." "If I am gonna keep her safe, you have to give me some idea what I'm up against, Kid," Jimmy reasoned. "Please, just watch her," Kid pleaded, "Don't let her know you are but stay close to her. She'll be safe if you keep an eye on her. You're the only person I trust to do it." "Kid, it goes without saying that I'll look out for her, but what am I looking "A man named Wicks, and that's all I can tell you. If he is near her, kill him." Kid replied flatly, walking away. "A man named Wicks," Jimmy repeated softly when Kid was gone.
"Teaspoon, is Wicks going to go free?" Teaspoon jumped in surprise and spun to face the door of his office. Rachel was standing there, hands clasped in front of her nervously. "You snuck up on me, Rachel," he scolded. "Well, is he?" Teaspoon sighed. His decision, although lawful, sure didn't seem popular, "I don't have any charges to bring against him, none that will stand up in court. Lou won't talk. Wicks is a powerful man in St. Joe, Rachel." Rachel walked into the office and poured Teaspoon a cup of coffee from the small stove. Handing it to him, she wondered, "Teaspoon, what do you think is best? To do something for somebody that isn't your place and betray them, in their eyes, or to not do something even knowing there is a risk they could get hurt worse?" "Seems like a simple enough answer to me. Avoid the greater evil. Protect that person even if they don't seem interested in protection." "Well then, there is something I've got to tell you. But it can't leave this room," Rachel said. "Fair enough," Teaspoon nodded, "So who is this fellow to Lou?" Rachel smiled slightly, "Didn't think for a minute you'd not know who I was talking about." Teaspoon lifted a shoulder. Rachel sighed, fidgeting. "I can't believe I'm about to tell you this. Wicks was Lou's boss. She worked in a brothel." " In other circumstances she might have laughed at the shock on Teaspoon's face. It took a lot to take him completely by surprise, and that revelation had done it.
"No! Nothing like that! She did laundry!" Rachel exclaimed. "She was too young to even know what kind of a place it was when she started. The woman who shot herself last week was one of Wick's whores and Lou's friend, thank God or Lou might still be at that place with that Godforsaken bastard. Seems like Wicks let Lou alone for about a year, but then she caught his eye, and he broke into her room and raped her." Rachel's eyes shone with tears as Teaspoon glanced furiously at the floor before massaging his temples and pushing out his breath through his nose.
"Charlotte helped her get away from him. When Lou did get away, she was so scared of that happening to her again, that she cut her hair and started acting like a boy. It's how she came to us as Lou."
Teaspoon sighed and nodded, "Always knew there was something that made her do that, and I even figured it might be something along those lines, if I am being truthful. But it doesn't make it any easier knowing that the man who did it is here, and there is nothing I can do about it."
"I just thought you should know, because I am pretty sure that Kid does. Teaspoon, I'm worried about how he'll react if he sees Wicks again, if Lou told him half what she told me. And if any of the others find out, then there will be no stopping them. They'll kill the man for sure."
"Can't say I'd blame them, but of course I can't let them do that. I'm sending Wicks packing. Hopefully, he'll be gone by the time Lou gets back, and I can keep Kid away until then. I don't think Wicks will have any reason to try to get at Lou after he leaves, but we will keep an eye on her until we are sure of it."
"I sure hope you're right," Rachel said softly. "But why would he go after her on her run if he was done with her…"
"Been wondering that myself. Lou didn't say what Wicks might still want with her did she?" Teaspoon wondered. "There was something she said about Wicks being after Charlotte's money..."
Rachel shrugged. "She didn't say anything about any money to me, except whatever Charlotte spent getting her on a stage out of there.
Teaspoon rubbed his temples again. "I wish she would talk to me Rachel. I thought...I thought she trusted me."
Rachel smiled and rubbed Teaspoon's shoulder while he slouched in his chair. "Teaspoon, she loves you...but this is hard for her. She's got so much shame rolled up in so much fear...she has blamed herself for it for years, she can't believe the people that love her won't blame her too. She is trying to work through it...but we gotta let her do it her way, at her pace."
"But that don't make a bit of sense to me. How could we blame her? She was a child, him a grown man...she has gotta have more faith in us than that.. in me…"
Rachel heard the hurt in his voice. He wanted to heal everything for all his boys...and girl...so badly. The fact Lou refused to let him was a blow to him.
"Teaspoon...you are trying to make this about your feelings. She thinks you hung the moon...she is afraid you'd think less of her knowing this was in her past."
"That don't make sense," he repeated.
"How many of your biggest fears from childhood on make sense?" Rachel charged him. "She loves you and Lord knows you love her. That's what is important...best thing you can do to help her is do that-love her."
"You're a smart woman," he finally sighed.
"Teaspoon, I see that look in your eye. Killing the man is not what Lou needs you to do."
He didn't respond to that and nodded toward Rachel. "It's late. Let me walk you back."
"You could use some sleep too."
"I'm gonna walk the streets awhile, make sure everything is calm," he said, but he knew that she knew he was lying. He had a lot on his mind, and he wanted some time to sort out how he was going to deal with the man who'd put his hands on a child. And that child had been his Lou.
The next morning, Teaspoon brooded at his desk again, awaiting the arrival of Wicks. His boots were propped up on his desk, with his hat tipped low over his eyes. To a passerby he would appear oblivious to his surroundings, but Teaspoon's sharp ears didn't miss a thing. He was deep in thought about Lou, as he had been for most of the restless night before, when Kid and Buck strolled in his office. "Don't you have a run in the not too distant future, Kid?" Teaspoon muttered, not looking up. "Don't worry, Teaspoon, Katy's ready to go. I just thought I'd stop by here for a minute." "Why for?" Teaspoon asked, pushing his hat back, "You ain't planning on causing any trouble now are you?" "Course not," Kid said. Just then Jesse burst through the door, his eyes wide with excitement. "He's coming!" He exclaimed. "Would you care to be more specific Jesse?" Teaspoon asked in irritation. "Wicks!" "And how do you know anything about him? Eavesdropping again, I'd suspect," Teaspoon reprimanded him. Jesse had the sense to look ashamed. "Kid, I want you to go now, Buck, you too." "Not a chance, Teaspoon, I'm staying around in case there's any trouble," Kid planted his feet. "Just you don't go starting it!" Teaspoon warned and shook his head when he saw murder in Kid's eyes.
Just then the door opened and all four of them swung around. A tall man in a well-cut suit walked in, and though he favored his wound, arrogance radiated from him.
"Kid," Teaspoon warned almost before Kid bristled and pulled himself taller. He knew Kid's thoughts because they were his own to a degree. He just had more practice at control.
"Marshal, I've come to collect my things," Wicks said breezily.
"Not before you and I come to an understanding," Teaspoon said flatly.
"Now, Marshal, I've already been unjustly shot for no reason."
"You drove a woman to kill herself and held up one of my riders."
"Louise? I'd hardly call that a hold up. Louise and I go way back," He chuckled softly.
Something that resembled a guttural growl escaped from Kid's throat, and before any one of them knew what had happened, Kid had rushed Wicks, and knocked him to the ground, swinging wildly at his face.
Teaspoon, though reluctant to do so, quickly grabbed Kid hard, and with Buck's help dragged him off of the man, who'd turned the color of buttermilk and was breathing heavily. A spot of blood showed through the man's shirt.
"I'll kill you! I swear I will!" Kid screamed as he struggled against Buck and Teaspoon's hold like a wild creature.
"Get him out of here, now!" Teaspoon growled at Buck, and helped push Kid towards the door, "Go back to the station, and go on your run. I want you in control by the time you ride back into Rock Creek, understand?"
"You can't let him go, you don't know what he did!" Kid protested when Teaspoon finally released his shirt. The boy was near tears under his rage.
"I know more than you think, son. Trust me to take care of this."
Kid's eyes found Wick's across the office, and he stared at him as he fired back, "If anything happens to her, Teaspoon, I'll kill him with my bare hands."
"I expect you will," Teaspoon sighed, knowing there really would be no stopping him. He shifted his gaze to Buck. "Go back with him, keep him there until he rides out."
Buck, though his brow was wrinkled in confusion, was nevertheless too unobtrusive to demand an explanation for Kid's outrage and behavior, and he silently put a hand under Kid's elbow and pulled him out .
Teaspoon found Wicks picking himself up off the floor and wiping at his bloody nose and lip with a too-clean white handkerchief.
"You should learn to control your riders better, marshal. What kind of misfits do you keep around here? Gunfighters, half-breeds, negroes, and ex-whores?"
Teaspoon found his iron control slipping, and his fingers rested on his gun. Wick's gaze flicked to it nervously, which didn't escape Teaspoon's attention.
"When you raped that little girl a few years ago, you got away with it, and I suspect you are proud of that," Teaspoon's voice was dangerously quiet. "But I'm here to tell you, if you ever lay eyes, much less hands, on her again there are six of us that will make sure you pay in ways you ain't inventive enough to imagine. Do we have a perfectly clear understanding?"
"Why, is this a threat Marshal? I don't think you realize who I am," Wicks growled back, but licked his lips nervously as Teaspoon held his gaze unblinkingly. "Now Marshal, why would I want to touch that girl again? She was quite a pretty little girl, if I remember correctly, but now, she doesn't really catch my fancy. Spoiled goods, you know?"
That snapped the thread of control that Teaspoon had been able to maintain so far. Drawing his gun, Teaspoon jammed it under Wick's throat hard.
Wick's forehead broke out in a sweat, but had succeeded in rattling the marshal and knew it. "Oh, come on now. Is she really worth hanging for, Marshal?"
"Yes, she is," Teaspoon growled without hesitation, "And you'd be wise never to forget it. I'll cut off every dangling part of your body if you come near her, Wicks. You will never rest easy again, mark my words! Get out of here!" He roared.
"As soon as you give me my guns," Wicks answered.
"Go!"
Wicks had the good sense to do just that, and was pale as he made his way into the winter morning. Teaspoon followed him out, making sure he headed for the livery stable.
Meanwhile, back in the Marshal's office, a very shocked, very white, Jesse moved out from the shadows. Not only had learning what had happened to Lou shocked him, but seeing Kid, then Teaspoon become so unglued unsettled him greatly. Not sure what he should do with his newly acquired information, he slowly made his way back towards the bunkhouse.
"Rider Comin'!" Jimmy yelled out from the porch as he spotted Lou's big black horse, Lightning, coming fast. "Kid, better mount up," Rachel called quietly from where she was washing windows. "Give me a second to talk to her," Kid pleaded, looking at Lou, "I need to be the one to tell her, Rachel." "Kid, you know you are supposed to be out of here in a minute." Seeing the look on Kid's face stopped her cold, "Make it quick, Kid." Lou scowled in confusion when she saw Kid lead Katy out to where they should have performed the hand-off. Wondering why Kid wasn't on Katy, she pulled Lightning up in a jolting, sliding stop. "What's going on?" She wondered, stretching the mochila down at him. He took it and slung it over Katy's saddle without looking away from her face. "Lou, I gotta talk to you." "Now?" Lou asked in amazement, glancing over to where Rachel stood on the porch drawn tight with tension, and a few of the boys paced nervously, eyeing her and trying to pretend they weren't. "Yeah, here, hop down," Kid told her, holding her blowing horse as she obediently slid to the ground and stood to face him. Seeing her dirt-streaked face, reminded him of the sacrifice she'd made in order to protect herself. He didn't know how it was possible, but knowing her past had given him even more respect for the courage of Louise McCloud. "What's wrong?" She asked, growing panicky at the look on his face, eyes flicking to the riders on the porch and taking stock. "Is it one of the boys or Teaspoon?" "No, nothing like that. Lou...Wicks isn't dead. He survived the shot, and he's up and about already." The news hit her like a ton of bricks coming crashing down on her shoulders. For so long she'd carried such fear of the man, and when she thought he was dead, she had actually realized a chance for healing her old wound, letting go of her biggest secret. That weight settled down over her again, squarely on her chest. She thought for a moment she would not be able to draw a breath. Then, she did, raggedly. "Where is he?" She whispered hoarsely, her eyes downcast, putting a hand against Lightning's side for support when her knees wanted to dip. "He's on his way back to St. Joe. Teaspoon couldn't hold him. He didn't know what I knew, and I just didn't think I should be the one to tell him. Now I wish I had." Lou shook her head and muttered woodenly, "It wouldn't matter. It's been too long. And Wicks has way too much money to stay locked up anywhere for long."
"Let me go after him, Lou. Let me do that for you," Kid pled.
Lou shook her head emphatically. "That's not what I want! Do you understand me, Kid?"
Kid sighed in frustration and started to argue but was interrupted by Rachel's voice, calling his name in warning to get going.
"Are you going to be all right? I'll be back tomorrow, and Jimmy's going to keep an eye on you."
"You told him?" Lou asked furiously.
"Of course not, I just told him to watch out for Wicks, that he was bad news. Nothing he didn't know already," Kid placed a hand on her cheek, stunned that she flinched violently from his touch. Wordlessly he withdrew his hand as her cheeks blushed with embarrassment.
"Lou, will you be all right?"
"Fine, Kid," Lou answered, but still didn't meet his eyes squarely. Rachel yelled again, and it was torture for Kid to gather Katy's reins and leap onto her, "Watch yourself, Lou. Please."
Lou nodded wordlessly, stepping back as he kicked Katy into a gallop, still unable to look him in the eye.
"Ride safe, Kid!" Cody and Jimmy chorused from the porch.
He lifted a hand to them as he moved towards the open country.
Lou stood very still for a long time, pondering the information Kid had just cast upon her. He was still alive. Damn you, Wicks, she thought, and I'm still scared of you. She thought maybe after she'd gotten the upper hand, had belittled him at the point of her gun that she might not be so consumed by fear of the man of her nightmares any more. But she was still terrified, still consumed by the memory of the pain and fear he'd caused her.
"Lou?" Jimmy called her name for the third time before she startled and glanced at him on the porch, heart in her throat, and then quickly looked away to hide her heating cheeks.
"Hey Jimmy," She said softly.
"Want me to take care of Lightning for you?" He asked, worry in his expression.
Lou shook her head, "I'll do it. Thanks."
Jimmy and Cody watched in confusion as she walked unsteadily towards the barn without looking at them again.
"Think she got thrown? She looks kind of weak in the knees." Noah asked, walking out in time to see Lou disappear into the barn.
Jimmy scowled, as he finished cleaning his gun. He had seen her stunned disbelief upon learning Wicks was alive, had seen her recoil from Kid's touch as if burned. Whatever was going on was serious, and it had scared Lou. She was hard to rattle, and that distant, distracted exchange he had just had with her worried him.
Someone needed to tell him what the hell was going on, he thought. Might as well be her.
Lou carried her saddle into the tack room slowly; eyes not really fixed on where she was going, and her mind not anywhere near what she was doing. The dimness of the barn reminded her so much of her tiny room in the brothel, with fractured sunlight streaming in through the small, dirty window. Something about the way the dust motes caught the light brought back the memory of the dawn after Wicks' had stayed in her room, and the terror of waking trapped under his heavy arm.
She was so lost in the vivid memory of that morning, something she'd maybe never thought about again, that she simply glanced up passively when a hand grabbed her under her elbow.
"Don't scream!" A hand covered her mouth. "Or I'll kill you right here."
The voice, burned in her memory like a scar, prevented her from screaming as much as the threat, for a lump of choking terror formed in the base of her throat. Even as the hand fell away from her mouth, she found herself unable to speak, to think, or to move.
"Why Louise, you look like you've seen a ghost!" Wicks hissed, "You should have killed me when you had the chance, but I knew you didn't have it in you. Now, you're coming with me. No whore is going to rob me of my money. And after I get the money, you and I are going to talk about old times. Seems I have a vacancy in employment."
At the suggestion, Lou's body jumped to action and she whirled and darted from the tack room, dropping her saddle after realizing she was still holding it. A whimper came from her throat, but that was the only sound she was capable of. The boys were outside, if she could get out that way, they'd help her.
She heard Wick's heavy footsteps from behind her, growing closer. Suddenly, her shaking legs gave way, and the ground rose up to meet her hard. A soft cry of pain and fear escaped her, and she glanced up to see Wicks standing over her, pushing up his sleeves.
Just as he had the night he had attacked her so very long ago.