Although it was day outside, the curtains were closed and the room was dim. Even so, the filtered light bothered Lou's eyes when she opened them. She closed them and turned her head away from the window before opening them again. There was a figure sitting in the chair next to the bed, and she thought she knew who it would be.

"Kid?" she said quietly.

"Just me, Lou," Jimmy replied.

"Jimmy…can ah…have some water, please?"

Jimmy reached over and felt her forehead. His smile in response was genuine. "Anything you want." He went across the room to pour a cup of water from the pitcher, went back to her bedside, and helped her sit up to drink it. She swallowed some and handed the cup back to him.

"Thanks," Lou said.

"How do you feel?"

"Okay, ah guess, considerin'."

"Considerin' what?" Jimmy asked.

"Considerin' mah shoulder hurts like Hell. You been with me the whole time?"

"We all took turns."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." The silence felt awkward, so Jimmy broke it. "You want somethin' to eat?"

"No," Lou said. "Just want to sleep for a month or two."

"Well lie down, then, and I'll get you something to eat the next time you wake up." He helped her back down and pulled the cover up to her chin as she looked up at him. "I'm glad you're okay," he said.

"Thanks," Lou said."

"I really mean that."

"Me, too."

Lou stood in front of the mirror with her back to it. Her left hand pulled her shirt partially down from the right shoulder, trying to get a look at her wound.

Jimmy came in with a plate of food and caught her. "What are you doin'? You ain't s'posed to be up!"

"Shh!" Lou said. "Keep you voice down, will you? Before Rachel hears."

Jimmy put the plate down and stood akimbo. "She's gonna hear a lot more 'n the sound of my voice if you don't get back to bed."

"But—"

"No 'buts.' Back you go." He helped her back to the bed and covered her.

She sighed. "Ah just wanted to see."

"Well, I seen it for you. It ain't green, an' it's healing, so I reckon you'll live. Besides, you can't see it through the bandages, anyway."

Lou rolled her eyes, blew out another lung-full of air, and twiddled her thumbs. Jimmy indicated the plate of food with his eyebrows raised in question. Lou shook her head, and Jimmy moved the plate away, for later. It was almost…funny watching her deal with her boredom.

"Kid around anywhere?" she asked finally.

"Hell, Lou, somebody's gotta run the mail while you laze around all day."

"Ah take it Cody made it back in one piece, then?"

"Yeah, an' he's full o' himself for breakin' the record, so don't encourage him. He was just in to see you a little while ago, but you were still sleepin'." He watched her foot tap the bedclothes for a moment, and laughed. "I brought you somethin'. Might help take your mind off that shoulder." He reached into a shirt pocket and withdrew a small box.

"What's this?" Lou asked.

"Well, open it, an' find out."

Lou opened the box and pulled out a cameo necklace.

"A cameo on a gold chain," Jimmy said. "See? I remembered."

"Jimmy—"

Remember that time you were gonna help me pick out somethin' for Sarah?"

"That was so long ago."

"Ain't so long ago as all that."

"Jimmy…ah cain't accept this."

"What, you don't like it?"

"No, it ain't that. It's…it's too much." She tried to give it back.

"It wasn't too much when you were thinkin' I should buy it for somebody else."

"That was different."

"Different, how? Come on, Lou, you're gonna hurt my feelin's if you don't accept it."

Lou hesitated, thinking it over.

"Here, why don't you let me put it on for you? Come on, Lou. I wouldn't've bought it if I didn't want you to have it."

Lou weakened, and Jimmy fastened it around her neck. She admired the cameo for a moment. "It is pretty…"

"Like you." He bent toward her, and she turned away and tried to take the necklace off.

"Ah really shouldn't keep this," she said.

"Why not?"

"An just…shouldn't, that's all."

"Well, you're gonna have to, 'cause I ain't undoin' it, an' you can't get it with just one hand." He started to leave, then turned back. "Listen, you want anything? A book or somethin'?"

"No, ah'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Ah'm fine. Really."

"Okay, then." He started to leave, then turned back again. "If you think of somethin' you want, you just let me know, okay?"

Lou nodded, as much to get rid of him as anything else.

Jimmy started to leave again, then turned back for the third time. "You stay put, now. Last thing you need is to open that shoulder up again."

He left, finally. Lou let out a long breath, then looked down at the cameo around her neck. Her expression was troubled.

Jimmy was chopping wood as Teaspoon and the others returned from their search for the army deserter. Jimmy abandoned his chore to meet them. Teaspoon and the other riders were all obviously tired.

"Hail the conquerin' heroes!" Jimmy said. "Did ya get 'im?"

"No," Buck said. "All we found was a dead horse."

Noah nodded his head toward Buck and added, "Wouldn't even have found that, if it hadn't been for Buck. That deserter's prob'ly long-gone by now."

Jimmy sighed. "Well, you're gonna wish you'd got him, when I tell you what happened."

"What happened?" Buck asked.

Cody's bored audience consisted of Teaspoon, Rachel, Buck, Ike, Kid, and Jimmy. They'd all heard the story a dozen times, but the truth was, they were all too tired to try to get him to quit telling it, and somehow the events seemed to become more and more exaggerated with each re-telling.

"So by that time, I'd already gone through fifteen horses, an' I knew I'd already passed Bob Haslam's mark—" Cody was saying.

Rachel held out a plate she had filled first, before the rest of the food was ready to be placed on the table. "Who wants to take Lou's supper to her?"

Kid was about to volunteer, when the bunkhouse door opened, and Lou came in. "That ain't necessary," she said.

"You're s'posed to be restin'," Kid admonished.

"Ah've had enough rest. Ah'm hungry.

Jimmy smiled and slid over on the bench to make room for her. "Well, sit down, then."

"Like I was sayin,' Cody went on, "by that time, I'd already gone through fifteen horses, an' already broke Haslam's record—"

Jimmy groaned. "Cody, nobody cares about the record."

"Ah do," Lou said. "But only 'cause ah intend to break it."

Ike signed something.

"What was that Ike?" Cody asked.

Buck translated. "He says you exaggerate your stories so much that no one will believe you broke the record anyway."

Lou tried to cut her meat but had some trouble managing it. Kid started to reach for her plate to cut it for her, but Jimmy beat him to it.

"Thanks," Lou said quietly.

Cody turned to Teaspoon. "You know, Teaspoon, anyone who breaks a record like that deserves a pay raise.

Lou looked up and spoke through a mouthful of meat. "Personally, ah think anyone who gets shot at in the line of duty deserves a pay raise."

"Lou's got a point," Buck said. "You remember that time someone took a shot at me by Three Crossings because they thought I was an Indian?"

"Hell, you are an Injun," Jimmy reminded him.

"Besides, they missed you," Lou pointed out.

Cody was heading back to the bunkhouse from stable chores when Lou met up with him. "Cody?" she said.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Ah was…wonderin' if ah could ask you for a favor."

Kid heard the voices coming from the barn and investigated curiously.

"One-two-three." Cody was saying. "One-two-three. Right-left-right. Left-right-left."

Lou sighed. "It ain't no use, Cody. Ah'm never gonna git it."

Kid smiled and opened the door. "What's goin on?" he asked.

Lou pulled her hands away from Cody's and moved away from him. "Nothin'," she said. "Thanks anyway, Cody."

Cody gave his head a single emphatic shake. "Now don't give up, Lou. All you gotta do is get the feel of the rhythm."

"'Scuse me, Cody," Kid said, extending his hand. "Here, Lou, let me show you."

Lou ignored the hand. "That's okay, Kid. You don't have to."

"I don't mind," Kid said.

"You will when ah step on your toes."

"I got shoes on. And back in Virginia I was known as a pretty fair dancer."

Lou hesitated, then relented. "All right."

Kid took her into a dance hold a little awkwardly. "All right, Lou. Just…keep your arm stiff. Ready?"

Lou nodded.

"One-two-three," Kid said. "One-two-three. Other foot, Lou."

"Told ya ah'd step on your toes."

The problem, Kid decided, was that Lou didn't have anyone to demonstrate for her what she was supposed to do. He let go of Lou and turned to the rider behind him. "Here, Cody, I got an idea. Why don't you be the girl and show Lou how it's done."

"Aw, Hell, Kid. Why don't you be the girl."

"'Cause it's my idea."

A wicked twinkle shined in Lou's eye, and she winked at Kid before turning her face into an earnest plea. "C'mon, Cody. Show me how it's done."

Cody looked at her and relented. "Oh, all raht."

Kid bowed to Cody. "May I have this dance?"

Cody batted his eyes and answered in a falsetto voice. "Why, ah'd be ever so delighted."

They got into position rather awkwardly, with Cody starting to take the man's part and then having to change back.

"One -two-three," Kid counted. "One-two-three. Ready-set-go."

Cody stepped on the wrong foot. "Sorry."

"One-two-three," Kid counted again.

They started again, and this time, they managed to get up a fairly tolerable waltz. Then the barn door opened, and Teaspoon stood there gaping. "What in the Hell are you boys doin' in here?" Teaspoon thundered.

Kid and Cody broke apart as soon as Teaspoon let out his first word.

"Hell, Teaspoon," Cody said, "Don't you ever knock?"

"Ah repeat," Teaspoon demanded, putting his hands on his hips. "What are you doin' in here."

"Practicin' for the dance," Kid told him. He turned to Lou, who obliged by attempting the footwork for a box step. "One-two-three? Like that?"

"Hold it," Teaspoon said.

"You gotta be on opposite feet," Kid told her. "The man starts with the left foot, and the lady starts with the right."

A little louder, Teaspoon repeated, "Hold it."

Ignoring him, Kid took Lou into a dance hold and started counting off. "One-two-three."

Tired of being ignored and determined to show the riders who the boss of this station was, Teaspoon shouted, "HOLD IT!"

The three riders stopped and looked at him.

Teaspoon eyed them all. "Who said Lou was gonna go to this dance?"

Kid and Cody looked at Lou suspiciously.

"Uh, you did, Teaspoon," she said.

"Ah don't recollect sayin' no such thing." Teaspoon said.

Lou nodded vigorously. "Right before ah got shot, you said whoever ain't on the schedule could go. Well, ah ain't on the schedule."

"That shoulder needs time to heal," Teaspoon said firmly. "You shouldn't even be up yet."

"It's practically healed already," Lou said. She presented her left shoulder and squeezed it to demonstrate. "Here, take a squeeze."

Teaspoon looked at her, then squeezed the shoulder tentatively. "That don't hurt?"

"Not a bit," Lou told him.

Teaspoon shifted his hand and squeezed again. "How 'bout that?"

"No, nothin'," Lou assured him.

"Huh!" Teaspoon said in something approaching disbelief.

"So can ah go?" Lou asked.

"We'll see," Teaspoon said.

She grinned, but Teasoon went on. "Don't git ahead o' yerself. A 'we'll see' ain't a 'yes.' But you boys remember, if that shoulder opens up again, yer the ones as gonna hafta take the runs." He turned and went back out of the barn the way he had come.

Cody watched him go with his tongue poking into his cheek. When he was sure Teaspoon was out of earshot, he said, "Uh, Lou?"

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Just which shoulder was it got shot?"

Lou pointed to her right shoulder. "This 'un."

"An' which shoulder was it Teaspoon squeezed?"

Lou pointed to her left shoulder. "This 'un."

Cody took a second to absorb that before he said, "That's what I thought."

Lou opened the barn door and peeked inside to make sure no one was there. She didn't see Jimmy, who was quietly taking a break from mucking stalls. She entered, closed the door behind her, stood still for a moment, then started moving her feet and counting out loud, softly, in a polka rhythm that quickly deteriorated into a waltz rhythm. "One-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three—Hell, that ain't it."

Jimmy leaned against the wall of the stall and watched her, still unnoticed.

Lou took a breath and tried it again. . "One-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three—"

Finally Jimmy could stand it no longer. "What the Hell are you doin'?"

Lou whirled around to see him, then sighed. "Practicin'." She started again. "One-two-three; one-two-three—"

"Practicin' what?" Jimmy wanted to know.

"Polka," Lou told him. "One-two-three—oh!" She stamped her foot in frustration, and the reverberation made her wince and grab at her shoulder.

"Who the Hell taught you to polka like that?" Jimmy asked.

Lou ignored him, and tried again. "One-two-three; one-two-three—"

"Yer rhythm's all wrong," Jimmy told her.

"Tell me somethin' ah don't know," Lou shot at him. "One-two-three; one-two-three…"

Jimmy abandoned his chore and went up to show her. "Here—" he said, opening his arms for a dance hold.

Lou moved away. "Never mind, Jimmy. It ain't no use. Kid's been tryin' to show me all day, but the problem is ah just ain't got the talent for it."

Jimmy shook his head. "The problem is, the Kid don't know what the Hell he's doin'."

"Forget it, Jimmy. It just don't come natural to some people, an ah guess ah'm one of 'em."

Jimmy laughed. "Hell, Lou, anyone who can ride can learn how to polka."

Lou spread her hands. "Look, ah ain't gonna git it, an' that's that."

"You got it already. You just don't know that you do."

"Huh?" Lou said.

"Just humor me for a minute. How does a horse sound when it's gallopin'?"

Lou rolled her eyes. "Jimmy—"

"Now, come on. How does a horse sound when it's gallopin'?"

Lou sighed, then in a quick imitation of a horse, answered, "Buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum."

"Right," Jimmy said. "Now do it again, slower."

A little slower, Lou repeated, "Buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum."

"Slower," Jimmy said.

Slower still, Lou repeated, "Buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum; buh-duh-dum," And simultaneously Jimmy counted out, "One-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three."

Lou grinned as comprehension sunk in. "One-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three—ah got it!"

Jimmy took her into a dance hold. "See? Now just do that with your feet."

Lou looked down at her feet to watch them as Jimmy led her into a side-step-step, side-step-step simple polka, and counted out the beats. "One-two-three; one-two-three; one-two-three…" She looked up at Jimmy. "That's it?"

Jimmy smiled. "That's it." He bent towards her, but she avoided him.

"Jimmy, ah think we better talk."

"What, we ain't talkin' now?"

"Ah mean…about you an' me."

Jimmy's smile didn't change. "What about you an' me?"

A little hesitantly and awkwardly, Lou said, "Ah like you a lot, Jimmy. Ah really do."

"I like you, too, Lou."

"That's just it, see. Ah like…bein' friends with you."

"Bein' friends is important to me, too," Jimmy said.

Lou let out a relieved breath. "Ah'm glad you understand."

"Well, now that we got that cleared up, you wanna try this again?"

Just one more chapter to go. As I said, I originally wrote this story when Season One was still airing, back in the late eighties. After Season Two began, I started revising to fit the events of the series, but eventually gave up. I'll get the next and last chapter up within a couple of days.