Wounds, Chapter Four

Kid, Jimmy, Cody, Ike, and Noah were dressed in their Sunday-best, waiting for Lou to come out of the bushes. Not one of them spared a thought for Buck, who was out running the mail-relay. Their minds were all on where they were going.

"Come on, Lou," Cody called impatiently. "The dance is gonna be over before we get there, the rate you're goin'."

From the bushes, Lou replied, "Hold your horses. Ah'm comin'."

"When?" Cody asked. "All the girls are gonna be taken by the time we get there."

"Not if they're all as slow as Lou when it comes to changin'," Noah said quietly.

"Her shoulder's still hurt," Kid reminded them, "An' she's got all them buttons. She'll be out when she gets out."

A couple minutes later, Lou emerged from the bushes, wearing her dress.

"It's about time," Cody said, turning away towards the horses. But the other riders were a bit more appreciative of the change from Lou the 'boy' to Lou the girl, and took a minute to take in the sight. Lou obliged by doing a slow 360º spin so they could see her from all sides. Around her neck was the cameo that Jimmy had given her.

"Now that is somethin' worth waitin' for," Noah said.

Kid searched for words. "Lou, you're…"

But Jimmy finished. "A damn sight prettier than the Kid, here."

Kid noticed the necklace around Lou's neck and pointed to his own neck to indicate it. "Where'd you get that?"

Lou glanced at Jimmy before answering, "A friend gave it to me."

"Who?" Kid asked.

"Just…a friend."

"Can we go now?" Cody asked, impatiently mounting up.

Kid and Lou stood off together nearby as the other riders surveyed the section of street in front of the school that had been designated as the site of the dance. "Well, Cody," Noah said, "all that rushin' to get here, and there ain't a pretty girl to be had."

Cody sighed. "I gotta admit, it's pretty slim pickin's. Lou's the best lookin' one here.

A dozen feet away, Kid and Lou were awkwardly trying to adjust to the change in social setting and Lou's change in appearance, as well as the fact that they were here in what might be a romantic setting, although they had decided to end the romance some time ago. "Well, here we are," Lou said.

Just as awkwardly, Kid answered, "Here we are." They were silent for a couple of seconds listening to the lively fiddle tune until Kid asked, "Would you like to dance or somethin'?"

Lou smiled, a touch of genuine humor at the corners of her mouth. "Only if they play a waltz."

"I'll tell you what," Kid said. "I'll go request us one, but you gotta save it for me."

"All right," Lou said.

Kid went up to the band leader and waited until the music stopped before talking to him. The band leader nodded, and Kid headed back to where Lou was waiting. The band struck up a waltz, and Kid smiled and bowed to Lou. She took his hand, and they began to dance. Lou was a little awkward at first, but got smoother as the dance went on. Noah, Cody, Ike, and Jimmy—taking note of what the Kid had done—raced each other to the band leader and stood in line. The band leader let the small group of musicians to play on their own while he bent an ear to take requests. Noah said something to the band leader, who nodded, and then Noah started threading his way through the people back to where Kid and Lou were.

Then it was Cody's turn. "Ah'm wantin' t' request a waltz," he told the band leader.

"Well, yer in luck, cuz the next dance is another waltz.," said the band leader.

"Ah meant fer the one after the next," Cody said.

"Well, I ain't gonna play three waltzes in a row," the band leader told him. "You'll have to wait a bit."

"But the next one's Noah's request. Ah'm makin' mah request for a waltz. You said you'd take requests, so I'm makin' one. You ain't a liar, are ya?"

Protesting, the band leader said, "But the band only knows two waltzes, an' we're playin' them already."

"Well, now, I don't mind hearin' the same ones again," Cody said.

The band leader peered at him. "Ya ain't gonna leave me in peace 'til I play one fer ya, are ya?"

Cody smiled. "No."

"Well, all raht," the band leader said. "But don't come back here askin' fer another 'un, cuz this 'un's it."

"I thank ya kindly," Cody said.

Ike was next in line. He held up three fingers and tapped them with his other hand in a repetitive rhythm.

"You want a waltz, too?" The band leader guessed.

Ike nodded.

"Ah don't s'pose you'd leave me alone if ah said 'no'?"

Ike shook his head.

The band leader sighed. "All raht, all raht. Git outta here, an' I'll play ya another waltz.

Ike left, and Jimmy stepped up. The band leader rolled his eyes heavenward. "Le' me guess. Ya want a waltz."

"Hell, no," Jimmy said. "I want a polka."

Lou finished dancing her fourth waltz, with Ike. Jimmy tapped Ike on the shoulder. Ike shrugged at Lou and went back to where the others were waiting their turns. "Thanks, Ike," Lou called after him, before turning her attention to Jimmy.

Jimmy indicated the necklace. "You wore it."

Lou shrugged, smiling. "Yeah, well, ah figured…what the Hell."

The band started playing polka music. "I believe they're playin' our song," Jimmy said.

Lou laughed. "Tell you the truth, ah'm startin' to get a little bored with them waltzes."

Kid, Cody, and the others watched in surprised amazement as Jimmy led Lou through a fast polka, which included twirls and moves that none of them had seen Lou do before. "Where'd she learn to do that?" Noah asked.

"Her?" Cody said. "What about him? I can't do that. Kid, can you do that?"

Kid didn't answer. He just watched the two of them dancing, his expression a lot less happy than it had been when he was dancing with Lou rather than Jimmy.

Jimmy showed the band leader the money in his hand.

"Le' me git this straight," the band leader said. "Yer gonna pay me ten dollars to keep playin' polkas."

"That's right," Jimmy said.

"How come?" The band leader wanted to know.

Jimmy rubbed his chin and nodded to where Lou was standing with the Kid. "Ya see that purdy little lady over there next to the fella in the white hat? She's particular fond of polkas, an' this bein' her first dance an' all, I don't want her to be disappointed. So I thought—"

The band leader shook his head—he'd heard more than enough. "Never min'. It's yer money, an if ya want t' throw it away, it ain't none o' mah business why."

Jimmy patiently waited for his turn to dance with Lou again. Some of the other dancers had thinned out, not having the stamina to dance polka after polka, but dances in this area were few and far between, so most of the couples would rejoin the dancers after a short break.

By now Lou was getting used to switching partners among her fellow riders, but none of them could dance a polka as well as Jimmy could. Kid came closest, but she hadn't practiced the polka with him, and Jimmy had convinced her to keep her new-found dancing skills a surprise until tonight. She was actually enjoying herself, and especially enjoying dancing with Jimmy, but the humor of the situation was beginning to tickle her funny bone, and she laughed out loud.

"What is it?" Jimmy asked.

"Ah never heard anything like this in mah life," Lou said. "They just keep playin' the same three songs over an' over again."

"That a fact?" Jimmy said.

The way he said it made Lou suddenly suspicious, and the smile disappeared from her face. She stopped dancing and pulled him to a stop with her. "What'd you do, Jimmy? You didn't threaten him, did you?"

Jimmy pretended to be shocked. "Lou, I am disappointed that you would think such a thing of me. I bribed him."

Lou snickered. "Bribed, huh? Well, ah guess that's all right, then." She indicated with her head that they could start dancing again, but another couple, taken off guard by their stopping, suddenly jostled them. Lou winced and rubbed her shoulder.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked.

"Ah could use a break," Lou admitted.

"Come on." Jimmy walked on the side of her wounded shoulder, to shield it, and escorted her to a secluded area where she wouldn't get bumped again. There was a convenient log for sitting, and he nodded to it. "Here, sit for a minute."

Lou sat and started rubbing her shoulder. Jimmy sat next to her so he could massage it, but Lou turned away. "That's okay, you don't have to do that."

Jimmy pulled her back. "Hold still. We promised Teaspoon we'd look after ya, so I'm lookin' after ya."

She relented, and Jimmy rubbed the shoulder for a few minutes. "Better?"

Lou nodded.

"You don't want to over-do this dancin', now. The muscles still ain't quite healed yet. You gotta give it time."

"Thank you, Dr. Hickok," Lou said dryly.

"Just givin' you the benefit of my experience, Lou."

Lou had had enough. She brushed his hand off. "Thanks."

Jimmy moved his hand from her shoulder to her back and looked at her. Lou glanced at him, then started to rise. "Ah think maybe we'd better get back."

Jimmy pulled her back down. "What's your hurry? The dance ain't goin' nowhere."

"But the others—"

"The others can wait. You ain't gonna make me break my promise to Teaspoon, are you."

Lou sighed and complied for a moment, but felt more and more uncomfortable the longer she sat there. After a moment, she stood up again. "Ah'd like to go back now."

Jimmy stood up with her. "Whatever you say, Lou."

She started to head back to the dance, but he said "Lou—"

She turned back to see what he wanted, and suddenly found his face crowding hers and his lips pressing against hers. She pushed him away.

Angrily, she said, "Don't you ever do that again!"

Jimmy was stunned. "But I thought—I mean, you wore the necklace an' all—"

"Ah wore it because a thought we were friends!"

"But you an' the Kid ain't a twosome anymore."

"Just 'cause it's over between us don't mean you can just step in an' take his place. Ah thought you understood!"

"But you—I mean, you wore it…"

Lou ripped the necklace from around her neck and threw it on the ground. "ah ain't wearin' it now." She turned and left.

Jimmy tried to recover from his blunder. "Lou, wait! I'm sorry. I'm sor—"

But Lou was already gone.

Noah, Kid, and Ike were standing together, surveying the dancers.

"Where did Lou and Jimmy go?" Kid asked.

"They're prob'ly just takin' a break. They sure do look good together, don't they?"

Kid looked at him, but Noah didn't notice. His eyes were on the dancers. "Never saw her laugh so much before tonight, either." He spotted Lou on the other side of the dance area, where she was rubbing her sore shoulder. "There she is."

Kid left Noah and Ike to go up to her. Noah watched him go, then said to Ike, "Check me if I'm wrong, Ike, but didn't them two call it 'quits'?"

Ike shrugged.

Lou didn't see Kid approach, didn't even notice him until he touched her softly on her good shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

Lou covered with a smile. "Fine."

"Where's Jimmy?"

Lou improvised an answer. "He had to, uh, you know." She pointed a thumb back towards the woods.

"Feel like another dance?" Kid asked.

"Actually, Kid, ah was thinkin' 'bout headin' back to the camp. Ah've had enough dancin' for one night."

"Shoulder?" Kid asked.

Lou nodded.

"All right," Kid said. Let me just tell Cody an' the others where we're goin' an' I'll"

Lou interrupted. "No, that's okay. Ah can find mah own way back."

Kid hesitated. "Lou, I—"

She gave him a little push with her good arm. "Go on, Kid. Why should ah spoil your fun? Have a good time." She forced a smile and left.

Kid watched her go, and didn't tell her he'd rather be where she was.

The next day, Lou was pumping water into a bucket. The bucket filled, she set the handle to shut the water off, then started to pick up the bucket with her right hand. She grunted and quickly set it back down again, rubbed her right shoulder for a minute, then picked up the bucket with her left arm. With some difficulty, she managed to carry it towards the barn.

Jimmy had been chopping wood, when her movement caught his eye. He dropped the axe and ran over to her and tried to reach for the bucket. "You ain't s'posed to be doin' that."

Lou turned her back to him and kept her hold on the bucket handle. "Horses are dry. Somebody's gotta water 'em."

Jimmy tried to reach for it again, but again she swiveled away from him. "That 'somebody' don't gotta be you. Here, let me get that." He tried to go behind her and get the bucket from the other side.

Lou stubbornly swiveled the other way and continued towards the barn. "Ah got it."

"Liftin' water buckets ain't no good for your shoulder. Let me take it."

Lou pushed open the barn door with her right hand. "Don't do me no favors, Hickok." She went inside the barn and tried to close the door behind her, but Jimmy wouldn't let her. He followed her inside. "Well, can I at least talk to you? You ain't said two words to me since the dance."

With difficulty, Lou lifted the bucket by herself and attached the handle to the hook in the stall. "Git lost."

Jimmy tried for humor, "Well, that's two words, anyway."

Lou tried to leave the stall and go to the next, but Jimmy was in the way. He took the necklace out of his pocket and tried to give it to her. "I just wanted to give this back."

Lou let it drop. "Don't want it." She squeezed past him.

Jimmy got in front of her to stop her. "Dammit, Lou, you can't keep avoidin' me forever."

"Ah can try," she said, glaring at him. She tried to side-step around him, but he moved with her. "Get outta mah way, Jimmy!"

"Not until you hear what I have to say."

"Whatever it is, ah ain't interested." She tried to get past him again, but he grabbed her. "Quit runnin' away from me!"

"Let go of me!"

"In a minute. Now just listen. I'm sorry about the—"

Lou broke free, but he grabbed her again and pinned her to the barn wall. "Dammit, you're gonna hear me out whether you want to or not!"

"Hickok, ah told you—"

He ignored her protests. It's just that—"

Lou pulled her gun from its holster and pointed it at him.

"I'm only tried to apologize!" Jimmy protested.

"You got a funny way of doin' it," Lou told him.

Jimmy took a step forward. "Dammit, Lou, I just—"

Lou extended her gun arm threateningly, and he backed off. She sidled around him, still training her gun on him, and was backing toward the door when it opened and Kid stood there. He quickly took in the scene, and his suspicions were aroused. But since Jimmy's gun was still holstered, he didn't draw.

"What's goin' on?" Kid asked.

Lou holstered her gun. "Nothin'."

"Nothing?" Kid said in disbelief.

She left, and he followed her out. "Jimmy was just showin' me a trick, is all," she told him.

"Lou!" Kid called, Trying to stop her.

"Don't worry about it, Kid."

"I do worry about it."

"Ah can handle mah own business."

"Just because you an' I aren't seein' each other any more doesn't mean I'm blind."

Lou stopped and turned to face him. "Then look. Whatever problem ah may or may not have with Jimmy is mah problem, an' ah can handle it. Now are you gonna follow me all the way to the privy, too, or can ah go by mahself?"

She left, and Kid watched her go for a moment before heading back to the barn.

Jimmy was running his hands through his hair, obviously troubled by his encounter with Lou, when Kid returned.

"I want to know what's goin' on between you an' Lou," Kid said.

Jimmy brushed past him. "I don't see as that's any o' yer concern."

"She pulled a gun on you. I want to know why."

"Ask her, if she's the one who did it."

Kid followed Jimmy outside, refusing to be put off. "Stay away from her."

"I do as I like," Jimmy said, heading back toward the woodpile.

"I'm warnin' you, Jimmy."

Jimmy stopped to face him. "As I recall, what goes on in Lou's life ain't your concern anymore. So why don't you just find yourself a nice girlfriend who don't mind havin' to ask for your approval fro every little thing she does."

This was enough to make even the Kid swing. Jimmy punched back, and all Hell broke loose. As Kid was sent sprawling from a particularly vicious punch, there was a loud shot from a gun. Kid started to go for his gun, but then saw it was only Teaspoon who had fired, pointing his gun into the air, to make the two riders stop their brawl. Lou and the other riders were right behind him.

"Awl right, that's enough!" Teaspoon said. "Who threw the first punch? Jimmy?"

Reluctantly, Kid admitted, "I did."

Teaspoon looked at Kid in disbelief, then let his eyes go from one rider to the other. "Wot the Hell started this?'

Kid glanced at Lou, then answered, "Nothin'."

"Nothin', huh? Jimmy?"

Jimmy spread his arms innocently. "We were just talkin', an' all of a sudden, Kid, here, got a crazy look in his eye an' started swingin'."

"Uh huh," Teaspoon said dryly. "Well, since 'nothin' is wot started this, 'nothin' is wot you'll both be getting for your pay this week." He turned his back and left, followed by the other riders, except Lou, Kid, and Jimmy. Jimmy went on to his woodpile, and Lou gave Kid a look, then went back to the barn.

Kid was left standing in the yard by himself.

In the bunkhouse that night, when dinner was finishing, Teaspoon addressed the riders, not about the fight, which Teaspoon figured he had already put to rest, but about other issues important to the station. "Well, boys," he said to the riders, "ah got some good news an' some bad news for ya's."

"Let's hear it, Teaspoon," Buck said.

"The good news is, Lou tells me she's fit for ridin' relay. Ah'm puttin' her back in the schedule startin' tomorrow."

There was some clapping and a bit of cheering from Noah, Buck, Ike, and Cody.

"It's about time," Cody said.

"So what's the bad news?" Buck asked.

"The bad news is, ah just found out that army deserter is still in the area. Seems he was spotted near the old Steadman place. Musta been livin' in that ol' abandoned cabin up there."

Cody sighed. "Good Lord, not again…"

"Anyway," Teaspoon went on, "it is highly unlikely that he will come back this way, but I want you boys to keep your guns with you at all times, just to be on the safe side." He stood up and picked up his plate to take it to the plank counter where the dirty plates got piled, but then suddenly remembered something and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the cameo necklace and held it out to Rachel. "Oh, by the way, Rachel, ah found this in the barn. Figgered you musta lost it."

"It's not mine," Rachel said. "Lou?"

"It's not mine, either," Lou told him.

"Well whose is it then?" Teaspoon wanted to know.

Lou shrugged. Kid looked at her with a puzzled expression, remembering that he had seen it around her neck the night of the dance. Then he looked at Jimmy, who seemed to be concentrating on sopping up the liquid on his plate with a piece of bread.

Lou slept restlessly, troubled by a dream. She gasped, woke up, then sighed, realizing it was only a dream. She rubbed her shoulder for a moment, then quietly got up, put her shoes on, and left the bunkhouse—without taking her gun.

But she wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping. Jimmy watched her go, then rolled out of bed, quickly put his holster on, went over to Lou's bunk, took her gun out of its holster, and went to follow her.

Sensing movement, Kid also woke up, and saw him leave. He looked over at Lou's empty bunk, then reached for his gun.

Outside, Lou was making her way towards the privy as Jimmy came out of the bunkhouse and followed her. A few seconds later, Kid also exited the bunkhouse.

"Lou—" Jimmy said.

She turned.

"It ain't safe to go around unarmed," Jimmy said, holding Lou's gun out to her.

From Kid's point of view, it looked like Jimmy was threatening Lou with a gun held in an extended arm.

"Jimmy!" Kid yelled.

Jimmy reacted without thinking, spinning Lou's gun to a firing position and twisting. Kid fired, wounding Jimmy in the arm and causing him to drop Lou's gun. Jimmy went for his own gun, but Lou reacted in time to deflect his arm just as he shot. To Kid, she yelled, "What the Hell are you doin'!"

Confused, Kid stammered, "You mean he wasn't--?"

"Dammit!" Jimmy swore. "I was only tryin' to do Lou a favor! She went out without her gun!"

"He was handin' it to me!" Lou told him.

Realization of what he almost did hit Kid as the others came running up, the riders from the bunkhouse, Rachel from the station house, Teaspoon from the tack room.

"Wot happened?" Teaspoon demanded to know.

Seeing Jimmy grasp his arm, Rachel went to him. "You all right?"

"Just a scratch," Jimmy answered.

Kid, almost pathologically honest, searched for words to explain what happened, "Teaspoon, I…"

Teaspoon looked at him in astonishment. Had Kid shot Jimmy? He might have expected something from a hot-head like Hickok, but Kid had always struck him as level-headed.

"Jimmy, I'm sorry," Kid said.

Shocked, Teaspoon stared at Kid. "Are you responsible for that??

Kid couldn't answer.

Teaspoon could hardly believe it. "Kid, ah hate to do this, but…ah'm gonna have to fire you…"

But Jimmy held out his hand. "Now hold on a minute, Teaspoon! You can't fire him for savin' my life!"

Confused, Teaspoon turned to Jimmy. "Wot?"

"I was on my way to the privy," Jimmy improvised, "but I forgot my gun, so Lou, here, thought she'd bring it out to me. I guess the Kid had to go, too, 'cause he came followin' both of us. Meanwhile, that deserter was sneakin' off towards the barn. He saw me an' took a shot at me, an' Kid, here, shot back at him an' scared him off."

Teaspoon looked at Kid. "That right, Kid?"

"Teaspoon—" Kid began.

Jimmy patted Kid on the back. "Hell, Kid, don't worry about it. Just 'cause you missed don't mean you have to get all upset."

Teaspoon glanced at the barn. "Well, it's too dark to go after 'im tonight, an' he'll be long-gone by mornin'. Jimmy, go in the house with Rachel an' git yourself cleaned up. Kid, you an' me'll keep watch in the barn in case that deserter decides to come back."

Teaspoon and a reluctant Kid headed for the barn. The other riders, except for Lou and Jimmy returned to the bunkhouse.

"Come on, Jimmy," Rachel said.

"I'll be there in a minute," he told her.

Rachel left. Lou picked up her gun from the ground, then turned to Jimmy. "Why'd you lie for the Kid?" she asked him.

"Hell, Lou, anybody can make a mistake." He looked at her for a second, then turned and followed Rachel back to the station house.

THE END

Sorry, it took me a little while to figure out how to put the return breaks back into my uploaded files, that somehow disappeared in the uploads, but all four chapters should now have the appropriate breaks to indicate shifts in time/location. Anyway, if you like this story, let me know. I have a sequel to this one that I may get around to changing to narrative form. If you want to read it, I'll put it up.