I do not own the Young Riders. I'm taking them on a long ride. There are bits and piece from the episodes "The Kid", "Daisy", "Color Blind", and "Bad Blood."
Lou was still at the bar on her third shot, when she saw a brunette with her hair pulled up and ringlets flowing down her back, walking down the stairs and to work the floor. Lou watched her friend Charlotte walk to her section and followed her to a table in the corner at her section. "Charlotte, your even more stunning than the last time I've seen you," Lou lower her voice and pulling out a chair for her.
"Lou! It's been a while," she sang in delight. "Buy a lady a drink? You look like you could use a good friend."
"Most definitely," Lou said keeping up the charade for the other listening to their conservation. Lou pulled the barmaid over "can we get two drinks," and drop the coins on her tray.
"Louise what are you doing here, what happened to you," Charlotte whispered "and drinking."
"Long story, I'm just trying to forget."
"Lou, I get off work in about an hour why don't you come over to the house."
"No, Charlotte, I can't go to the house," leaning in closer to Charlotte.
"Do not worry Louise, Wicks is in a card tournament for a couple nights and is not around. Besides you look like you could use a friend."
"All right! Thanks Charlotte"
"Now get out of here and let me work," Charlotte laughed.
An hour and a half later Lou was walking to the house. I can't believe that I'm heading to the place where it happened. At least Wicks will not be there, I don't think I could handle seeing him right now. She knocks on the door.
"Hello sonny, how or should I say who will tickle you fancy tonight," said a scandalously clothed young woman answered the door.
"I'm here to see Miss Rowan," Lou coughed.
"How does Charlotte always manage to get the young and handsome ones," as she ran her finger down the side of Lou's face. "I'll go and see if I can find her."
Lou was pacing and wringing her hands because of her nervousness of being in the house again. Some of the ladies were staring at Lou and seeing through her. What if someone recognizes me?
"Look at how nervous this young man is," one of ladies said from the balcony to the other.
She smirked and said "it must be his first time."
"Lou, Lou, Lou" Charlotte sang coming down the stairs to get her. "It's so nice of you to come and see me. It's been a long time. Would you like to continue our conversation from earlier in my room?"
"Miss Rowan you know I could never turn down a beautiful woman as yourself," taking off her hat in the presence of Charlotte to keep up the act for the other ladies of the house.
Lou followed Charlotte to her room, as soon as Charlotte closed the door. Louise let out the breath she didn't realized she was holding. She flung her hat off on to the floor. Neither Charlotte nor Louise saw the young girl in the corner of Charlotte's room.
"Sorry, Charlotte, I did not know you were going to have company tonight. I'll leave you alone," as she was going to the door a few tears sled down her face.
"Jesse what's wrong," Charlotte asked?
"The other girls were giving me a hard time, and I just wanted a place to hide," she said turning around to Charlotte.
"It's okay. You can stay," Louise said putting her hand on the girl's shoulder remembering what it was like as a young girl living in this house. "Charlotte and I are just friends. My name is Lou," seeing the girl tense up at the request of a man to have her stay, Lou decided to say "or should I say Louise."
"Is that fine with you Charlotte?" Jesse asked putting a small smile on her face.
"Yes it is! But why are you crying, Jesse?"
"Charlotte you know how they can be, especially with Wicks not here right now." Lou just moved to the side to let Charlotte and Jesse talk. "They know I don't want to do this and…" she started weeping.
Charlotte hugged the young girl "everything was going to be okay. Why don't you lie your head down on the bed for a little bit while I talk to Louise?"
"Louise what happened to you," Charlotte asked with concern in her voice?
"I don't know where to begin Charlotte," Lou said taking off her spectacles and running her hands through her hair.
"Well, why don't you leave off after I got your letter about working for the pony express and I'll just listen?"
"You were always a good friend to me Charlotte. I'm sorry I have not written you much."
"It's alright Louise. I wouldn't want to remember this place either if I escaped," Charlotte sighed.
"Well, I wrote you after I made it through the training of the pony express. We all became a family. We found friendships and trust with each other. We quickly learned that we had each other's back. Remember the one I called Kid."
"That's the one who has the amazing blue eyes you described," Charlotte smiled to Louise.
"Yeah, that's him. He was the first one to find out I was a girl. A gang shot Horace, the station manager at another stop just for exchanging horses. They shot me and took off. Kid found me and took me into the sack to get a better look at the wound. He started pulling up my shirt. 'What's a matter Kid never seen a girl before?' He kept my secret when he could have told the others. He helped me learn to trust men. He didn't give me away and because of that I stated falling for him. 'This is one secret I don't mind keeping,' as Kid kissed me." Lou let a tear slip down her face. "Well, we couldn't court like normal couples, but I thought I'd fell in love with him. I gave myself to him willingly. I never told him about Wicks and I was backing away from him. He was pressuring me to marry him and trying to change me into what he saw as a lady. We ended up breaking up. 'I guess we went too far too fast, uhn.' He started courting another woman, a real southern lady and I overhead him talk to the other boys in the bunkhouse. 'Lou's a sweet kid, but how long am I supposed to brood over something that wasn't meant to be.' Anyway a few days ago, I told him something he didn't want to hear and he backhanded me across the face. I told him that Jimmy and I are together."
"That's how come your face looks like this," Charlotte pointing to the bruises.
"No, he did cause these bruises, I'm getting to that. But Kid's hit is causing the most hurt in here," Lou pointing to her heart. "Why did he have to hit me? I did and do love him," Lou hiccupped.
"The rest of the boys found out that I was a girl a few weeks after Kid, but that's only because my brother and sister were taken for the orphanage. At first I was scared it was Wicks that took them to get me to come back but it wasn't."
"Who took them Louise? I should have been checking on them for you," Charlotte moved her arm over her shoulders to comfort Louise.
"It is not your fault. It was my real father." Louise let a few tear drops fall. "He was holding me a gun point along with Kid and Jimmy. My father didn't even recognize me at first. He asked who I was and I told him 'Mary Louise was my mother.'
He said 'that's impossible I had two daughters and one son.'
I said 'You still do.'
My father said 'Louise.'
My father was going to shoot me and lucky for me Jimmy and Kid stopped him, by killing him."
"I'm sorry for you Louise," Charlotte got up to get a glass of water from the pitcher in her room.
"I'm alright with it sort of because the rest of the boys found out I was a girl and kept my secret as well. But what I can't really believe is that my father would have killed me. He supposed to love me." Lou had watery eyes after telling her story of her father.
"Our station manager is Teaspoon Hunter. Charlotte, he only found out recently that I was a girl. He called me puny but spry. He's the father I wish I had."
"Louise I really don't want to push you but who beat you," Charlotte asked. "Was it Jimmy?"
"No, it was not Jimmy. He would never hurt me. After I heard Kid's hurtful words of 'how long am I supposed to brood over something that was never meant to be' I went on a run with Jimmy. He listened to me cry about Kid, bought me a dress, and treated me to a night on the town. Jimmy and I have always had a connection with each other. He believes in me and that I can handle myself. He never pushes me to act a certain way and accepts me for me. I feel like I could tell Jimmy everything about me and he wouldn't look at me any different."
"Sounds like you found someone special," Charlotte smirked.
"I did! I found my match. But trouble always seems to follow him. Anyway, I man kidnap me, and tried to use me to get the upper hand in a gun fight. Jimmy saved me, and got Hopkins to the sheriff office. Long story short, he escaped with help from his friend and got his revenge with Jimmy in another way."
"Oh my goodness, Louise what did they do to you."
"They beat me, raped me, and branded me," showing Charlotte the burned H's on her body. Lou was wiping the tears away that were flowing down her face.
"Louise," Charlotte said while getting a wash cloth and some water to clean the dirt away.
"You know I never wanted to be known as a whore, but now it's burned into my skin. This is why I was drinking. I had a nightmare and I just wanted to forget. I did not even realize where I was until I saw you coming down the stairs." Louise breathed out a whimper as Charlotte cleaned one of the burns.
"Sorry," Charlotte stated. "Let me see if I have any cream to help with the dry skin around the burns for you Louise."
"I couldn't save myself again," Louise cried out. "How am I going to deal with another rape? Last time I changed Louise into Lou and only had you as family, but this time I have a family that I don't want them to see what happened but I do not want to leave them either," Lou threw her hands into the air.
"I don't know honey," Charlotte came to hug Louise. "But you said you thought you might be able to tell this Jimmy fellow about Wicks maybe you could tell him about Hopkins."
"I can't tell Jimmy, Charlotte. He would just blame himself and shut me out of his life and then where would that leave me," Lou died her tears and looked at the young girl asleep on Charlotte's bed. "Charlotte what is her story?" Lou wanted to think about something other than her position.
Back at the station in Sweetwater, the boys were waiting on Rachel to bring in their lunch and also to discuss Lou. Kid was pacing the floor, Cody was trying to get lost in a book, Noah was resting his head, Jimmy was sitting on the bed, and Buck was waiting on the porch.
"Kid, would you please stop wearing out the floor boards," shouted Cody. "You are making impossible for me to read."
"You would be reading and not worrying about Lou," Kid picked up the book out of Cody's hands and threw it on the table.
"Now Kid, if I'm not mistaken you are the person that made her run from family to be able to maybe be hurt by those assholes in the first place," Noah said sitting up from his rest.
"Yeah, well if Will Bill wasn't flaunting Louise around in Willow Spring, Hopkins would not have known about her," Kid walking over to Jimmy poking his finger into Jimmy's chest.
"You're just upset she found a man who can appreciate the woman she is, and not some kid trying to change her into a delicate doll," pushing Kid's hand out of the way. Things were escalating quickly in the bunkhouse.
"Stop it! Everyone. We are all worried about Lou, but we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves," Buck the peacemaker stated.
Teaspoon and Rachel stepped into the bunkhouse and fell the tension.
"Boys come and sit down and eat. Kid can you help me and get the plates, I left them at the house," Rachel asked.
"Kid" Rachel said again.
"I going," he replied.
When Kid brought back the plates the tension just disappeared. "Now I know you are all worried about Louise. From what Teaspoon has told me he's made you believe that they hurt her. From talking to Lou, she seemed to be alright, she was more worried about what they might do to whoever had the banknotes. She had a few bumps and bruises from getting away." It not my story to tell, if I just make it sound like she's been through worse."
"Rachel, you do not think Lou was lying to you," Jimmy asked.
"She's fine. Do you really think I would let make the ride to St Joe's if she wasn't," Rachel lied knowing she tried to stop her.
"See boys Hopkins's is just trying to get us to fight amongst ourselves to get away," Teaspoon said throwing part of the sandwich in his mouth. "Besides we will see her soon on her way back."
"A Teaspoon she asked me to tell you she wanted to take a holiday to visit wither brother and sister since she was going to St. Joe's and with everything that was going on here at the station, I thought it might be a good idea," Rachel said eyeing Kid.
"That's fine I have to just rearrange the schedules. Cody you're up next right."
"Yes sir."
"You to leave a little before dinner, get some rest.
"Rachel, I don't want to leave Hopkins with Barnett I'm headed back to the office and I'll work on week's schedule there. How's the head Kid?"
"Feeling better Teaspoon."
"Good you'll be on the schedule tomorrow," Teaspoon leaves the bunkhouse to get back to Barnett.
Teaspoon walked into the sheriff office, the lawyer McDonald walked out of the office.
"McDonald what are you doing here?"
"Teaspoon everyone has the right to legal representation. As I see things, it's just you word against my clients that the express was robbed."
"You know McDonald you're like a fly that is attracted to manure and the story they are telling you is the stinks. You wouldn't see the truth if it bit you in the ass."
"Marshal Hunter it is always colorful talking to you. I'm going to get back to my office."
"Barnett, what was going on?"
"Well, McDonald saw you bring in these men, and said they should have the right to counsel. It's the law. He just talked to them for a few minutes before you started to come up the steps."
"It's alright Barnett. McDonald has it in for me I can just feel it."
"Alright, Teaspoon! What time do you want me back to relieve you?"
"After dinner Barnett," as Teaspoon glares at Hopkins standing close to the bars. What kind of game are you playing, Hopkins, Teaspoon thought. I have a feeling whatever it is it's not going to be good. Let me see if I can't get you to show me your hand.
Charlotte pulled the blank up on a sleeping Jesse. "You really want to hear about her, Louise?"
"Yes, I need to focus on something other than my own problems, Charlotte."
"Well, she has a big problem, but I don't think there is any way you or I could help her. She's really a nice girl, who in about twenty four hours will be one of Wicks newest girls. "
"Isn't she kind of young?"
"Yes she is, but men like us young and new. The story of Jesse is that her father was cheating at cards and one of men at the table shot him. He ended up dying, but he owed Wicks a lot of money and basically took his daughter for payment."
"He can't do that. What about her mother? Didn't she do anything?"
"It's just her and her father and he did. Louise you know how Wicks owns the law here."
"He hasn't touched her yet has he?"
"No he hasn't. Louise, business has changed a little. Wicks makes more money on a virgin. So he's not willing to give that up. After the ceremony of the poker game she goes on sale for her first time."
"Charlotte, she doesn't want this does she?"
"Did any of us? She doesn't have much of a choice. She has no family left to help her. The girls here are treating her like crap because she going to be the favor girl. After Wicks lost you, he keeps an eye on all of us and on tight leashes. "
"Well, I'm not on a leash and maybe just maybe I can save her."