Chapter 3

The windmill stood against the blue sky, its blades spinning gently in the afternoon breeze, showing a familiar picture to some eyes staring at a close distance. "It… it hasn't changed too much," muttered Louise, sitting on the wagon seat next to Kid, as her gaze took in everything in front of them. It was true. Even though there were some changes, like the two-story building where the bunkhouse had been, the rest of the property was pretty much the same. Rachel's house looked as white and prim as always; there was a group of horses in the corral and a little further the stables and the barn stood like years ago. For a second Louise expected to see one of the boys getting ready for the exchange of mochilas with the arriving rider, the routine she had been so used to back then.

"Seems like old times, doesn't it?" Kid spoke, voicing her exact thoughts.

Lou nodded and behind her inside the covered wagon Joseph stood up and wrapped his arms around her mother's neck affectionately. "Is this it, ma?"

Louise smiled and turning her head she answered while her eyes shifted to check on a sleeping Alice inside the wagon. "Do you like it, honey?"

Joseph shrugged his shoulders. "I guess."

"Shall we finish this journey or are you planning to stay here all day long?" Paul cut in from his horse next to the wagon.

"Yes, come on, let's go," Kid agreed and urged the horses to cover the last few yards to their destination.

There was nobody in the ample yard when they finally reached it. Kid and Paul stopped next to the corral. Kid jumped from the carriage and helped his wife off while Paul tethered the horse to one nearby post. Joseph leapt off the wagon without waiting for Kid to help him, falling onto his knees. He scrambled back to his feet as he wiped his hands on the back of his trousers.

"Joseph!" Lou scolded him lightly as she walked to the back of the wagon to check on her daughter. "Couldn't you wait for your father? Look at your pants, all dusty!"

"Let him be, Lou," Kid piped up, "at least, today. It's been a long journey and I can't blame him for getting out of the wagon as quickly as possible."

Louise didn't reply as she picked up Alice from the basket. The baby had woken up with the voices of her parents and her brother and her wordless gurgles demanded attention.

Kid and Paul started towards the house and the boy was about to follow them when his mother called him. "Joseph, you stay here with me while Pa and Paul go."

Kid had stopped at her words and came closer to her. "Lou, what are you saying?"

"I… you go first and tell Rachel we're also here. I don't think it's polite to drop in without a warning," Lou explained.

"You were the one that didn't want me to tell her about you and the children," Kid reminded her.

"Yes, I know. You can tell her the news now, and well, she is entitled not to want to receive me in her home."

Kid shook his head. "Lou, you're being silly," he remarked. "But you know what? I love you just the same." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, which made Louise smile sheepishly. "I'll do as my lady orders," Kid added as he set off towards where Paul was waiting and they continued to the house together.

When Kid was before the same door as years ago, he knocked on the embedded glass on its latticed half. They didn't have to wait long for the door to open. Rachel appeared before them seconds after and as soon as the woman set eyes on her old friend, she exclaimed in a cheerful way, "Oh Kid!" She gave him a warm embrace and then she called, "Teaspoon! Buck! Look who's finally arrived!"

The two men mentioned by Rachel appeared from inside the house and both of them welcomed their friend with a warm embrace. "We were wonderin' when you'd get here. Rachel had every intention to send the army after you when you didn't show up," Teaspoon remarked with a grin.

Kid chuckled and Paul said, "It wasn't an easy journey. We had terrible weather and the roads were sometimes impassable."

"Do you remember my friend, Paul Vaughn?" Kid asked.

"Of course," Teaspoon replied, shaking hands with the man, and Buck followed suit. Rachel simply tilted her head in acknowledgement as she eyed Paul with curiosity. She had met Paul a few years ago when she and Teaspoon had gone to Richmond to visit Kid. Rachel hadn't seen much of him then, but she had a good reason to be curious now. Christine had always talked very highly of the man when she wrote to her, and Rachel knew that her friend had a romance with Paul Vaughn, a romance that had died when Christine had fallen in love with her current husband. It was clear to Rachel that her friend had good taste in men. Rachel hadn't met Jed, but Malcolm Blake was a very attractive gentleman, and the man before her now wasn't a bad piece either.

"Shall we get inside?" Rachel suggested after a beat and the men nodded in agreement. The woman led the way into the house. Kid lagged behind and before following his friends inside, he cast a look at the yard. Joseph was perched on the corral fence, looking at the grazing horses while Lou, holding Alice on her hip, was pointing at the animals, obviously explaining something to the boy. Kid smiled, thinking that it was the most beautiful image in the world. He was sure that they would have a good life in Rock Creek, a place that promised the happiness and freedom that they were eager to embrace.

On entering the living room, Kid smiled when he saw Buck's wife sitting on the sofa. "Hey, Jenny! How are you?"

"Too fat," she replied, caressing her expanded middle for demonstration. "I'm happy to see you, Kid."

"Me too," Kid said after greeting her with a kiss on her cheek. "I'm glad to be finally at home after all these years," he added as he sat down next to Paul.

"We were quite surprised when we got your telegram," Buck said. "I thought you were doing good in Richmond."

"Yes, it's true," Kid admitted. "But it has been a very difficult year. My house was burned down at the beginning of the summer, the drought caused me considerable losses and a month ago all my property was flooded. I lost pretty much everything then."

"I'm very sorry, son," Teaspoon said, voicing everybody's similar thoughts.

"That's the way things were. And I told myself I needed a change of atmosphere, and I couldn't think of a better place than Rock Creek. And here we are," Kid added. "After all, I always wanted to settle down here."

"You must miss Christine and your nephew," Rachel remarked as her eyes involuntarily dashed to Paul, who looked apparently indifferent to her comment.

"I do, but Christine has her own family… especially now she's expecting a baby."

"Christine is expecting!" Rachel exclaimed with an ample smile. "Oh that's great news! I'm so glad for her."

"Yeah, Kid is full of announcements," Paul chimed in, looking at his friend mischievously. "When are you going to tell them your big news?"

The two men and women in the room stared at Kid expectantly, waiting for him to share whatever Paul was referring to. Kid was glad for Paul's hint; he was dying to tell his friends about Lou but had been unsure how to break the news to them when they kept asking questions about everything else.

Kid cleared his throat nervously and said, "I… I got married."

His announcement was followed by a chaotic chorus of what's, when's and how's. Paul playfully lifted Kid's left hand to show the golden band adorning his finger. "Our friend got hitched yesterday," Paul replied with a grin.

Annoyed, Kid yanked his arm free and addressed his friend sarcastically, "Excuse me. Would you please hush up? It's my news and I think I have the right to tell it myself."

"Kid, is that true?" Rachel asked with a concerned expression.

"Yes, it's gospel truth."

"And why the hurry, son?" Teaspoon questioned this time.

"Did you get a girl in trouble or something?"

"Buck!" both Jenny and Rachel chorused in unison.

Kid grinned sheepishly. It was true that he had gotten a girl in trouble, but it had been a long time ago and he hadn't known about it at the time. And the reason why he had married her now had nothing to do with propriety. "There was no hurry. I love her and she accepted my proposal. So why wait? It's something I should've done long ago," Kid explained.

"We are just concerned, Kid," Buck replied. "Remember what happened with Irene? Your marriage to her was kind of rushed too."

"My story with Irene was totally different," Kid continued, surprised at the obvious opposition he was finding in his friends, which made him wonder whether Lou's apprehension wasn't totally ungrounded. "Irene is in my past and I want it to stay like that."

"So where's your new wife then?" Jenny asked with obvious curiosity.

"And more importantly, who is she?" Rachel added. Kid might say that he hadn't rushed into this new marriage, but he couldn't have known the woman he had married longer than eight months. When Christine had been in Rock Creek for her honeymoon, she had mentioned that Kid wasn't seeing anybody even though there were a few ladies that were interested in him.

At the women's questions Kid couldn't help but grin on thinking of his wife. "You know her," he said.

"We do?" Buck asked with a frown.

Kid nodded and simply said, "Louise."

"Louise?" Rachel echoed, mentally going through all the Louises she knew. "Louise who?"

"Louise McCloud… well, Louise Carmichael now."

"Lou? Our Lou?" Teaspoon asked in bewilderment.

Kid nodded with a big smile. "We kind of bumped into each other in Richmond and we've been together since then."

"Where is she?" Rachel asked urgently without letting him complete his explanation.

"Outside. She felt kind of shy and…"

Kid hadn't finished when Rachel jumped to her feet and dashed across the parlor towards the front door. The woman quickly stepped onto the porch and scanned the yard with her avid eyes. She soon located her old friend's figure next to the wagon. "Lou!" she called at the top of her voice.

On hearing the summons, Louise turned from the basket where she had placed Alice and saw Rachel running across the yard. Lou dared to walk a few steps forward, feeling her heart pound in her chest strongly with each step. Rachel's face didn't show any emotion and Lou wasn't sure what to expect. Yet, her fears were put to rest when Rachel threw her arms around her and hugged her. "Oh Lou! I'm so glad to see you, so glad!" Rachel exclaimed and when she pulled away, she placed her hands on Lou's shoulders and added, "And look at you! You are as lovely and pretty as years ago. No wonder Kid sounds so smitten."

Louise smiled sheepishly. "I'm happy to see you too, Rachel. It's been so long."

"Too long," Rachel corrected her. "But you're here again." And impulsively Rachel hugged her friend once again.

"Ain't there a little cuddle for this old dog too?"

Lou and Rachel let go of each other and saw the others approach. "Of course, Teaspoon," Lou replied, feeling overwhelmed and extremely sensitive all of a sudden. This was so wonderfully strange as if she was back home after disowning herself. Only she was responsible for breaking those ties but nobody held a grudge against her as she had believed, and like the parable about the prodigal son in the Bible, her family received her with open arms.

Louise hugged Teaspoon and on feeling so vulnerable and secured at the same time, she couldn't hold back and the tears came unleashed. Hearing her cry, Teaspoon gently pulled away and said, "Stop those, sweetheart. This is a happy reunion. We don't want your husband to hit this old marshal for makin' you cry."

Louise couldn't help but giggle through the tears. "I missed you all so much… so much."

"Us too, Lou," Buck piped up. Louise smiled as she wiped her tears and came to hug her old fellow rider and his wife. "Kid told me you were married," Lou said.

"Seven years next February," Jenny replied, smiling at her husband.

"And a baby on its way, I see," Louise added.

Jenny rubbed her swollen belly as she said, "The second one. We also have a little girl, Celeste. She's six."

"Congratulations then," Lou replied sincerely and before she had the chance to react and gather her thoughts, Kid talked behind her.

"We also have two children."

Louise turned and saw her husband holding Alice while a shy Joseph stood by her side, holding onto her arm. There was a brief uncomfortable silence when everybody looked at the children with obvious confusion. Kid didn't seem to mind any of this and continued breezily, "This is our boy, Joseph. And this little princess is our Alice."

"Oh Lou, he looks so much like Kid," Rachel exclaimed as she stared at the boy's handsome face.

"Yes, I know," Louise replied awkwardly.

"And this tiny tot is such a cute little thing," Teaspoon added, making faces at Alice, which was received with squeals of delight by the baby.

"Can I hold her?" Rachel asked and when Kid passed Alice to her, the woman smiled briefly as she looked at the baby. "Are you happy to be here, beautiful? Sure you are, aren't you? And Aunt Rachel is gonna spoil you rotten, yes, totally rotten." The baby let out a contented gurgling sound and Rachel added, "She likes me, Lou." The woman shared a smile with her friends and when she noticed Joseph's serious expression, she asked, "And what do you say, young man? Are you happy to have come to the west?"

"I don't know, Ma'am. I haven't seen anything yet."

"Good, sincere answer," Rachel replied. "And I'm Aunt Rachel to you, sweetheart… and your new teacher in the school."

Joseph nodded as she watched Rachel with curiosity. He thought that this lady that called herself Aunt Rachel seemed a much more interesting teacher than Mr. Andrews. His teacher in Richmond was always sullen-looking and always talked in a too threatening, solemn tone. Yet, Aunt Rachel looked so different. He liked her pretty smile and her voice was cheerful and soothing. It would be nice to have such a different teacher.

"Shall we move inside?" Buck offered. "It's kind of chilly."

Everybody agreed and proceeded towards the house after Buck's words. Kid and Lou followed last in the small group. He took her hand and hooked it around his arm, smiling proudly. Lou responded to the gesture, silently expressing how happy she was feeling. Kid was right; this was a real beginning. There was nothing dark or ugly in her sight right now. She had been silly to think that her family would turn her away. Nothing had changed and she felt loved and cared for despite everything. After wandering around for years, she had finally reached home. There was nothing to fear… not anymore.