Note:  The phrase 'mein kind' is deutsch for my child, just in case anyone was wondering that Peter is about to all Lou.  : - D  Also certain people in this story naturally think Lou is short for Louis or Louie, since they do think she is a he.  Please keep that in mind… and oh yeah last item, I'm not responsible for the Widow Todd's insanity it just seems that way.  That woman was a nut case well before I put her in this fic, really she was. 

HEROES AND LEGENDS:  McCLOUD

Chapter Six:

Lou drifted toward consciousness with a pounding in her head that felt like a herd of mustang were holding a stampede inside her skull.  Slowly opening her eyes, she took stock of her situation, she was lying on something hard and lumpy and she felt like she got ran over by a stage coach.  "Take it easy mein kind," a familiar voice said out of the haze that was wrapped around her mind, a strong hand reaching out to steady her small frame.

'Only one person calls me that,' Lou thought with a growing sense of dread, Peter's kind fatherly face leaning into her line of vision wearing a soft smile.

'Oh great… this is all I need," she mentally groaned recognizing that 'look' in his eyes, the look that always meant she would end up doing a favour for him that could quite possibly result in her getting shot at and/or killed.  Not that she really had anything against Peter Nicolaas; he was after all one of the few people in the world she would actually kill for if need be.  However the need had never came up before, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't, Peter took his sacred duty too serious for her not to expect one day she would be asked to do something most folks would find quite uncivilized. 

"You've had it pretty rough today haven't you?" Peter asked using both hands to help her sit up, knowing that trying to get her to lie still would be a waste of time, and time was something Lou McCloud didn't have much of at the moment. 

"You could say that," Lou grumbled looking past Peter, "why am I in jail?"  She asked putting one hand to her aching head as pain shot through her battered head once more.

 "Well… that is a very interesting story actually," Peter said crouching down in front of her as he reached into his pocket for a flask, "here, you may want a drink before you hear what you did."  He added holding out the container his eyes silently urging her to take it and not ask too many questions.  

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" she asked taking the flask, giving him a mock salute as she opened it and took a drink, making a cross face as the liquid went down her throat.  'God… they can make a potion that heals you but they can't make it taste good.'   She thought recognizing Peter's special blend of medicinal herbs.  Stilling herself she finished off the flask knowing that Peter won't have handed it to her in the first place if he didn't want her to drink all of it. 

"No… I don't think you are," Peter replied with a humourless smile, shifting so he was now sitting beside her on the bunk, knowing that Buck and Jennings had given up on pretending to play and were intently listening as well. 

Same time several miles from town –

Emma Shannon glared at the Widow Todd from her position on the floor of a cave, her eyes promising a world of hurt for the vindictive old woman standing over her.  While the Station Mistress of the Sunnydale Pony Express Station didn't know quite was what going on, she had figured out enough to know that the Widow Todd was in this mess up to her ears.  Only early that day Emma saw the supposed kindly Widow kick an unconscious Lou in the ribs, on the road to the Todd place where the two had been ambushed, after the young Express Rider had been knocked out.  The look of enjoyment the Todd woman had on her face as she stood over Lou's prone form was one that Emma would always remember to her dying day. 

"I really have nothing against you Ms. Emma," the Todd woman was saying, as she paced the confines of the little out of the way cave, "or any of your other boys for that matter.  My feud is with that little bastard McCloud… he took my Joshua away from me… handed him right over to that Grimaldi woman without a second thought.  He knew what she would do to my Joshua… he's apart of the Brotherhood, don't let him lie to you, he knows the power Natasha Grimaldi has and he's not afraid to use it if it suits his needs, don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise.  Louis McCloud is the devil's own child…  evil incarnate when it suits his purposes."

'The woman's lost her mind,' Emma told herself, knowing that if she was going to get out of this situation she was going to have to keep her wits about her at all times.  The Todd woman was clearly unhinged, while she didn't know what this 'Brotherhood' the woman kept ranting about was, she did know that Lou McCloud was not the devil's own child.  The whole thing would have been laughable if Emma didn't know how far the Todd woman was going to take her little crusade against Lou, her eyes unconsciously going to a large crudely fashioned cross leaning against one wall.  If the Widow's ranting was to be believed that cross was meant for Lou, the boy's final atonement for his 'crimes' against this Joshua person. 

"Don't worry Ms. Emma, once the Lords work has been done, you'll be escorted back to Sweetwater safe and sound," the Todd woman promised kneeling in front of Emma, one hand going to the Station Mistress' cheek in a comforting gesture.  "I promise you that you will be free of Louis McCloud as well… he is a possessive little bastard to be sure… but we have the strength of God on our side." 

St. Joseph, Missouri – same time

The well-dressed man knocked softly on a door in St. Joseph's most expensive hotel, nodding to the man that opened it with a familiar smile; he was ushered inside within a matter of moments.  Coming to a stop in the middle of the room he waited to be proper recognized by the tall well-dressed woman sitting in a high winged backed chair like it was a throne.  "You bring word?"

"Yes… Louie's in trouble," the man reported, holding his bowler hat in front of him with both hands as he made eye contact with his employer, the woman seated before him.  "Joshua Todd's mother is trying to bring the boy down."

"Joshua's mother?" the woman said pushing herself out of her seat as she stood in one fluid motion walking toward the man with the grace of a cat.  "I thought that old woman was locked up in a sanatorium back east," she commented the back of one red finger nail reaching out to run down the man's cheek in almost a caressing motion.  "I seem to recall ordering the Todd matter disposed of," she added her eyes taking on a predatory look for a moment, "I did not want to be bothered by it again… so why is Joshua Todd's mother giving dear Louie a hard time?  Hmm?  Anyone?"  She asked turning to give the silent room a hard look, her most trusted employees suddenly finding things of real interest to look at on the walls and floors. 

"We don't know Natasha," a elder distinguished looking man said stepping forward, perhaps the only person in the whole organization that could get away with calling her by her given name or get away with disagreeing with her for that matter.  "According to our last report the Todd woman was still safely locked up in New Jersey, which apparently has changed, I'll contact out agents back east to check into the matter."

"Do it… and Nathaniel… make sure they get a really good answer on why the Widow is not in the cage I picked out for her," the woman called Natasha Grimaldi said after a moment her mind racing, "now back to Louie… what trouble IS the Todd woman stirring up for him?"  She asked turning back to the man standing in the centre of the room, a finely sculpted eyebrow arching in inquiry.  

"At this time… we're not sure.  Only that she has inserted herself into the community as a widow, she has also gotten very friendly with the Station Mistress Emma Shannon where Louie works.  Other then that we're not sure… whatever she is planning she is being careful about it." the man reported knowing how his employer hated to be given incomplete information, but at the moment that was all they had.  Everyone in the organization knew of Louie McCloud, it was whispered that the Lady – the term his employee was officially recognized as – was grooming him for something big.  If it was one thing he learned over the years it was that whomever Natasha Grimaldi took an interest in, it was best to do everything in ones power to make sure nothing happened to that favourite.  After all there was always the chance that the favourite would remember all your hard work and pull you up in the organization as a reward. 

"Who is assigned to watch over Louie?" Natasha said after a moment a thoughtful look in her dark eyes.  Lou McCloud was a friend, and perhaps more, the young Express Rider did hold a special place in Grimaldi's heart being one of the few people that Natasha could rely on outside of the Brotherhood.  For that alone Lou would always have the protection of the organization if not being an active member of it, sure Natasha allowed Lou the illusion of being a simple Express Rider.  But in reality Lou was very much apart of the Brotherhood and its future role in world affairs, but first Natasha had to make sure her wayward favourite – as it were – lived along enough to take her proper place in the organization. 

"We have Liam O'Rourke assigned to Louie," the man reported, "Peter Nicolaas has also been sighted in Sweetwater."

"Peter?"  Natasha questioned in thought, "now what would bring Peter Nicolaas this far from his homeland?  Surely not just to keep an eye on Louie… unless."  She trailed off her head held down, her hands held together as if she were in prayer, appearing deep in thought as her steepled fingers tapped out a steady rhythm against her lips.  "Christian… go to New Orleans… speak to Madam La Rue find out if there is any prophecies I should be aware of, especially ones involving Louie.  Go now… leave tonight." She directed to one of the figures standing in the shadows of the room, her eyes hardening a bit.  "Micah… pack our bags, I think we need to set up residency closer to Louie… Sweetwater sounds like such a lovely place this time of year,' she added with a feral smile turning toward her personal body guard a giant of a man who had been standing silently next to her vacated seat.

End Chapter Six.