Sundays were lazy days around the Sweetwater express station. Once the feeding and watering of the stock was done to Teaspoon's satisfaction, and Emma didn't require any help with anything, the riders usually had the rest of the day to themselves. Cody had taken to his bunk for a nap as soon as the chores were all done; Noah was writing in his journal, Buck was teaching Ike some new signs, Kid had gone into town to see Gillian Florian, and Jimmy had not returned from an overnight ride.
Lou, who had been reading a book on her bunk, closed it with a bang, and hopped down from her bunk. It was a warm spring day and a bath at the swimming hole was sounding better by the moment. She quickly gathered up the necessary items she would need and headed outside to the barn to saddle Lightning.
Soon she and the black gelding were flying down the trail heading for the swimming hole. She and her mount arrived at their destination a short time later. She dismounted, unsaddled Lightning and staked his reins into the ground near the water's edge so that he could graze while she took her bath. She grabbed her saddle bags and walked along the bank where a small outcropping of rocks was located.
The gathering of rocks would give her cover to remove her clothing, and also provide a fine place to leave her belongings while she enjoyed her bath. Once she was in the water,
it would also provide her some security from being seen if anyone was traveling along the trail near the swimming hole.
She arranged the other items on the rock, and then glancing quickly around; she stripped out of her clothing, and waded into the refreshingly cool water. She yelped a couple of times in response to the coldness upon her warm skin, until she was finally emerged in it up to her shoulders. It was then that she began to really enjoy the relaxing feel of the water surrounding her.
Jimmy urged Sundancer to go faster down the trail toward Sweetwater. The heat of the day was beating down upon him, and as he neared the station, he decided to ride on past it to the swimming hole. Just the thought of the cool water washing down over his hot body made him shiver in anticipation.
As he drew close to pond that he and the other riders used as their swimming hole, he noticed a black gelding grazing along its grassy banks. Pulling Sundancer to a stop next to the other horse, Jimmy swung down out of the saddle, and left the palomino to graze next to Lightning. He patted both horses on the rump, before heading down the bank to the water's edge.
He could not see Lou, but he could hear splashing coming from somewhere behind an outcropping of rocks along the bend of the pond, as he started undoing the buttons of his shirt in anticipation. Throwing the shirt on a bush, he tugged off his boots, and was in the process of stripping down to his long john bottoms when a head popped up through the water.
"How's the water Lou?" The words were barely out of his mouth when he caught sight of something that dropped his jaw and widened his eyes. "Well I'll be…"
Lou had been enjoying her swim alone. She had already washed her hair and body, and was simply relaxing and having fun in the cool water. It was such a nice day for the wet activity, with the cerulean blue sky overhead, and the sun shining down upon the water making it almost translucent.
She found her mind turning prayerful. She was not a very religious person, but in a setting like she was in, she could not help but feel a little closer to the God her Ma had spoken of when she was younger. She had a lot to be grateful for. When she was done with her thankful prayer, she continued her swim, diving deep below the water, and swimming for a spell, before breaking through the surface once again.
At hearing someone call out to her, Lou whirled around in the water, and stared at the familiar form of Jimmy Hickok, clad only in long john bottoms, standing on the bank gazing back at her with an astonished look on his face.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, panic seizing hold of her heart, and embarrassment over her unclothed state flushing her cheeks with a new warmth that had nothing to do with the sun.
Lou found that she was unable to take her eyes off Jimmy as she waited for him to respond to her question. She trusted Jimmy not to do anything to hurt her to some extent, but she'd placed her trust in someone once before and he had hurt her in the cruelest way a man could hurt a woman, so she didn't trust as easily anymore.
"I, uh, got hot on the trail, and I wanted to take a swim." He stammered out, averting his gaze to stare at his bare feet instead of Lou. "I can wait until you are done though."
Without waiting for a response from Lou, Jimmy gathered up his pants, shirt, and boots, and hurried up the embankment to give her some privacy.
"A girl! I don't believe it…Lou's a girl!"
He shrugged quickly into his pants, but left off his shirt and boots. He sprawled out on the grassy embankment, his thoughts running wild over his new and unexpected discovery. He wondered what had caused Lou to disguise herself as a boy, what her real name was, and how foolish he felt that he had no inclination that Lou was actually a female, instead of a male.
Now that he thought on it, there were some clear signs that should have indicated to him and the others that Lou was not a boy. She never took her clothes off in front of them, her stature was small, and she did have more slender curves than the rest of them. Jimmy shook his head. Her size did not mean anything. He had seen men even smaller than her before, so that would not have been a clear indication to him or anyone else as to what her true gender was.
He decided that it did not matter to him in the least whether she was male or female. Lou was an asset to the express. Her abilities with a gun, with horses, and in a fight were equal to any of the rest of them. She obviously had a good reason for disguising herself as a boy, and who was he to judge her for it.
Lou felt foolish. She should have been more careful. The swimming hole was a favorite spot of all the riders. On a hot day like this, she should have known that one of them or even someone else would be tempted to come cool themselves off in the refreshing water like she had.
She wasn't certain what she should do next or how she was going to explain to Jimmy about why she was masquerading as a boy. She would not tell him the real reason behind her disguise. It was too painful….too shameful. She did not have to share with him or anyone else about what Wicks had done to her, but she could tell him part of her story…about how hard it was to find decent work as a girl.
While she made up her mind about what she was going to tell Jimmy, she climbed out of the water, dried off, and dressed in her clean clothes. She felt much better prepared to face Jimmy once her gun was strapped securely around her waist.
"Jimmy," she said as she came around the rock and saw him sitting with his back turned toward the water, and his shoulders set.
She realized with a start that he had been guarding her. The realization made her feel both protected and a little annoyed at the same time. She did not need a man to protect her. She had learned how to protect herself after what Wicks had done to her, so that no man would ever make her feel helpless again.
Jimmy turned to watch Lou walk up the embankment toward him, but did not speak. Lou sat down beside him and drew her knees up to her chin. "I know you probably have some questions, but I'd like it you'd hear me out first, before you ask any of them."
She sat down beside him and drew her knees up to her chin. "I know you probably have some questions, but I'd like it if you'd just hear me out first, before you ask any of them."
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Lou." Jimmy said softly. "It's none of my business."
Lou was quiet for a couple of minutes. "I think I do, Jimmy. I don't want you to think that I'm a liar or you can't trust me, because I pretend to be someone I'm not. My folks are dead and I have two younger siblings. They live at the orphanage I ran away from two years ago. They are depending on me to make enough money to buy us a piece of land so we can all be together again. There are not too many jobs out there for girls to do, especially not respectable ones…"
She broke off, as a trail of fear lanced through her at the remembered cruelty she'd experienced at the hands of Wicks.
"Anyways...I decided to disguise myself so that I could get better jobs and I did, and that led to me signing up for the PX. This is the best job I've had. It's got good pay, excitement, and something else I never expected: friends. If anyone finds out I'm a girl though…"
Tossing the piece of grass he'd been chewing, Jimmy offered a gruff, "Don't worry, I ain't going tell anyone about you...as I said, it's your business."
Relief flooded through Lou. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks Jimmy. You don't know how much it means to me that you are willing to keep my secret."
"You're welcome." He grinned at her.
Lou scrambled to her feet. "I'll leave so you can enjoy your swim alone. See you back at the station."
"See you."