Rachel cooked a big celebration dinner that night for Kid and Lou. There were hugs all around and many 'It's about times.' Kid and Lou were beaming with joy.
"So when is the wedding?" Teaspoon asked.
"We thought we'd hold it next month," Kid said as he gave Lou a gentle squeeze as he smiled at her.
"Well there are a ton of things that need to get planned," Rachel said excitedly.
"We're thinking of an evening wedding by candlelight," Lou said dreamily. "I know this shop in Seneca that has the most beautiful candles."
"I could pick some up for you if you like," Buck offered, "I'm on my way to Seneca on a run tomorrow."
"Maybe I could go with you," Lou suggested. "My favorite dress shop is there too. I could look at dresses and get some candles. Besides, Buck, there is something I want to ask you."
"Sure, I don't mind the company," Buck said, "As long as Kid doesn't mind having you out of his sight."
"I trust you, Buck," Kid said smiling.
Buck was up early and was in the barn saddling both his horse and Lou's by the time Lou was up and ready to go. Seneca wasn't very far away from Rock Creek. If Lou budgeted her time wisely in Seneca they would be home before supper.
They set out just after sunrise eating a quick breakfast of some corn muffins that Rachel made for their trip.
"So, Lou, what did you want to talk to me about?" Buck asked curiously.
"I wanted to ask you if you would be my Best Man," Lou answered.
"Your Best Man?" Buck asked confused. "Lou, you don't get a Best Man."
"Why not?" Lou pouted, "Kid gets a Best Man. Why can't I have one too?"
"You're supposed to have a Maid of Honor," Buck answered.
"I don't want a Maid of Honor," Lou argued, "I want a Best Man."
Buck didn't want to argue with her, heck he didn't really care about the white traditions of a wedding anyway.
"Maybe I can have a Man of Honor," Lou said smiling. "I just want you to stand up for me, Buck."
"Okay," Buck said, "I'll be your Man of Honor -as long as I don't have to wear a dress."
"It's a deal," Lou said laughing.
When they arrived in Seneca, it was still morning. Buck went off to make the pouch delivery while Lou went walked down the street. She would visit the candle shop after she and Buck met up for lunch, but first on her list was the dressmaker.
Lou touched all the fabrics and looked at some patterns. She smiled at the dressmaker, Arlene Meacham, and started asking about having a wedding dress made. Arlene still had her measurements from the last dress she made for Lou, but she took them again just in case. Lou found a style and a fabric she liked and put a deposit down and Arlene got right to work.
Lou left the dress shop happy. She couldn't wait to tell Buck all about her morning. She found Buck waiting for her outside the café. She didn't bore him too much with the details of her dress, but he was happy to come with her to help pick out candles. They had a pleasant lunch of sandwiches and sarsaparilla.
Lou bought so many candles that Buck had to pack some of them in his saddlebags too. He was happy to do it. They still had time to get back to the station before supper so he didn't need to store any supplies inside. He always had some jerky around for emergencies, but that didn't take up much room.
Buck looked at the sky toward rock creek and didn't like that the sky was darkening. Their ride home was going to turn wet. Given the hue of the sky, their ride would only be wet and not dangerous.
"We should make sure our rain slickers are handy," Buck said, "I think there's a storm coming in."
"Are we going to get caught in it?" Lou asked.
"I think so, but it just looks like rain," Buck answered.
The riders began their trip home a little faster than they would have needed to, but they decided they wouldn't get too wet if they hurried.
Rain started to fall softly at first the closer they got to Rock Creek. Gradually it began to get heavier. They took out their rain slickers and kept going. Buck was fine riding in the rain, but when he heard Lou sneeze, he knew he had to find them shelter. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if anything happened to her. Not when he could stop it. They were running ahead of schedule and could afford to wait out the storm. After all, they were only about three hours away from Rock Creek.
Buck remembered that there was a small cave near the trail they were on. He had used it before when bad weather forced him to take shelter. He didn't know if any of the other riders knew about it, but it would keep the rain off of them for a while.
"Lou, I know a cave where we can take shelter from the storm," Buck shouted over the sound of the rain.
"Sure, let's go," she said and sneezed again. She was feeling chilled and really wanted out of the rain.
Buck quickly found the cave and by then the rain became heavier and they could hear thunder started to roll through the sky.
Buck and Lou quickly unsaddled their horses and took their tack inside the cave. Buck started a small fire to keep them warm and dry their clothes while Lou set their bedrolls out for them to sit on. Lou peeled off her slicker and laid it down close to the fire. Buck did the same.
"How long do you think that storm will last?" Lou asked as she stripped down to her long johns.
"Maybe an hour at most," Buck speculated. He saw Lou shiver and put his blanket over her shoulders.
Buck didn't want to build the fire up any more that it was. The only ventilation for the fire was the mouth of the cave and he didn't want to smoke them out. He wished he had a pot to make coffee. Buck stood up and put his slicker back on.
"I'm going to go out and make sure the horses are all right," he said and moved to go outside.
A lightning flash struck nearby and the light temporarily blinded Buck and an explosion of rocks and boulders closed up the cave mouth. He had to dive back quickly in order to get out of the way.
Buck got up and grabbed some candles from his saddlebag. Once he lit them, he kicked dirt over their fire. Lou coughed a couple of times as the smoke wafted around the cave. Buck stuck the candles in the dirt near the front of the cave. He needed to see if he could dig them out.
Every time Buck made progress on the cave mouth more dirt and rocks would fall and set him back to square one.
"Buck it's no use," Lou said, "Come back over here and rest."
"We can't stay in here, Lou," Buck said, "We're going to run out of air."
"How long do we have?" Lou asked startled. She was almost too frightened to hear the answer.
Buck moved over to the bed rolls and took off his rain slicker again. He sat next to Lou and put a comforting arm around her.
"I don't know," Buck said, "It's a big cavern -maybe a couple of days, maybe less.
"Do you think the others might come and look for us?" Lou asked hopefully.
"I'm sure they will, Lou," Buck answered her. "They'll be no stopping that fiancé of yours."
Lou blushed. As much as she hated it when Kid worried about her, in times like this, she was glad that he did.
"When we aren't back to the station by late morning, I'm sure they'll head out to look for us," Buck said trying to reassure her.
Buck got up and moved some of the candles back where the fire had been. He grabbed a couple of more from his pack and lit them.
"We should be able to gauge the air by how well the candles burn," Buck said explaining.
When her clothes were dry, Lou redressed and sat back down next to Buck.
"Did you like Myra Hinton?" she asked casually.
"I don't know," Buck answered, "I was just getting to know her. She seemed nice up until she found all those baby snakes in the picnic basket."
"I'm sorry," she said looking down at the ground.
"Wait, the snakes…that was you?" Buck asked slightly shocked.
"I didn't think her motives were pure," Lou explained.
"So you were trying to protect me, the same as at the dance?" Buck asked.
Lou just nodded.
The two were silent for a while until Lou yawned.
"We should get some sleep," he said. "Maybe if the rocks settle over night they'll be easier to dig through tomorrow."
Kid stood out on the porch looking toward the horizon. It was dark out now and the rain was still coming down but not as hard as before. He was starting to really worry about Lou. She had ridden through rain before, but she was hours late now. He sent a silent prayer up to the heavens asking for Lou to be alright.
Teaspoon finally convinced Kid to turn in for the night. When morning broke, Kid was once again holding vigil on the bunkhouse porch waiting for a dust cloud or any other sign that his true love was almost home. He stared and pace, but no sign of Lou or Buck for that matter showed up. Finally Kid couldn't wait anymore. He walked down the street to Teaspoon's office.
"Teaspoon, I have a bad feeling about Lou," Kid said, "I can't just sit around waiting. I need to go out and look for her."
"They still ain't back yet?" Teaspoon asked.
"No, they've been gone too long," Kid complained. "I'm really worried."
"Alright," Teaspoon said, "Gather the boys and let's go."
Kid found Jimmy and Noah at the station. Cody had just left on a run. Rachel came out of the house with some food for their search. They saddled up their horses and one for Teaspoon and met him at the marshal's office.
"Let's follow the express trail," Teaspoon suggested, "They probably wouldn't have strayed too much form it."
They searched all day with no luck. Kid was starting to get really scared and starting to imagine all sorts of awful things had happened to Lou. They made camp for the night near a stream. Nobody ate much nor slept well. They felt Kid was right. Buck and Lou were in trouble.
Buck spent most of the day trying to dig them out of the cave they found themselves trapped in. Every time he thought he was getting somewhere, more rocks and dirt would fall. He didn't have anything to brace the hole with. Finally he just gave up. He and Lou shared the jerky from his saddle bags and drank a bit of the water from their canteens. They were starting to run low.
Lou looked over at the candles. She noticed they weren't burning as bright.
"How much air do you think we have left?" Lou asked concerned.
"I don't know, I think maybe we'll run out by morning," Buck answered looking at the same candle flames as they flickered.
He felt like he failed her. He had really tried to move the rocks and dirt from the mouth of the cave only to have it cave in more every time.
Lou looked down at the ground and then up at Buck. "I'm not going to make it to my wedding am I?" Lou's eyes filled with tears.
Buck stepped toward her and pulled her into an all encompassing embrace. He held her tightly as she started to cry.
Lou rested her head on Buck's chest as she thought of her life. Was this the part where her life passed before her eyes?
"Buck, I don't want to die this way," Lou pleaded
"What way, Lou?" Buck asked. He knew she meant something deeper than just where they were.
"Alone," she said softly.
"You're not alone, Lou. I'm here," he said looking down at her meeting her eyes. He leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek and held her a little tighter.
Lou in turn pulled him closer to her. She could feel the rhythm of his heart and hear its gentle beating. It was comforting and all she could do was cling to him.
Buck rocked her slowly, giving her all the comfort he could. He still held out hope that the others would find them. They hadn't been gone long, but that storm may give the others some concerns about their welfare and if the horses went back to the station there might be a chance they could be found. Buck looked back down at Lou and found her looking at him. He didn't know why he did it but he placed a slow thoughtful kiss on her lips.
Lou felt his lips touch hers at first like a whisper and then became much stronger when she returned his kiss eagerly. She knew this was all sorts of wrong, but it felt right. His lips were so warm and his kiss tasted so sweet that Lou never wanted it to end.
Buck felt like he could lose himself so easily, but it wasn't right. Lou was engaged to Kid and they were going to be found. He gently ended the kiss and looked into her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have done that."
"No, it's alright, Buck," Lou said with a blush in her cheeks, "It was nice and I needed it."
They both sat down on the bedrolls they had set up and leaned against their saddles. Lou still wanted the comfort of his warmth and strong arms around her, so she settled in next to him.
"What do we do now?" Lou asked snuggling against his shoulder.
"We wait," Buck answered. "They're going to come for us, you'll see."
They had run out of food, their water supply was dangerously low and he could tell by the weak flames on the candles that the air was thinning. For the first time, Buck thought they might not make it out. He looked over at Lou and knew she was thinking the same thing. He gave her a gentle squeeze and kissed the top of her head. He knew she was scared and he was too. They had been through a lot together on this trip.
"I'm sorry for meddling in your life, Buck," Lou said suddenly feeling the need to clear the air between them. "I just wanted you to be happy like I was with Kid."
Buck looked back at her with a confused questioning stare.
"Then why whenever I would start to show interest in someone would you get in the way?" Buck asked.
"They weren't right for you, Buck," Lou retorted. "I didn't want to see you hurt."
"You'd rather see me alone?" he asked softly.
"I'd rather see you…," she didn't know how to finish the sentence, but Buck could see the truth in her eyes and it startled him.
Something changed for Lou in that moment. She realized she cared for Buck more than she wanted to admit. She also knew nothing she did now would matter to anyone but her and Buck. She was sure they wouldn't be found until it was too late. She reached up and kissed him fully and tenderly on the lips. She wanted to continue what they had started earlier.
Buck felt at once conflicted. This was Lou. Kid's Lou not his Lou. At the same time he felt his desire for her grow with each tease of her tongue in his mouth. He just closed his eyes and felt the rush of emotion flood him. He was content in her kisses and returned them eagerly then he realized that her hands were unbuttoning his shirt.
"Lou, I can't do that," he said breaking the kiss and turning from her. "What about Kid?"
"There is no Kid," she argued, "There is only now and right now there is only you and me."
Buck couldn't hide his longing from her and his resolve was waning.
"What if you regret it in the morning?" he asked softly. It was his worst fear that Lou would hate him if they were rescued after giving in to the intensity of their situation.
"There isn't going to be a morning, Buck," Lou answered him and swept a lock of hair from his face, "Not for us. The air will be gone and we'll be gone too. Please. Tell me you don't want to."
"I can't do that Lou," Buck said averting his eyes, "But we shouldn't. It wouldn't be right. People would be hurt when they find us."
"If they find us," Lou shot back. "I think they would understand and maybe it would be easier for Kid to lose me if he hated me a little."
Lou pulled Bucks face to look at her. She could see the conflict she felt mirrored in his eyes. They were kneeling in front of each other now looking longingly, but hesitating before each other. Buck started to stand up.
"Buck, in a few hours all we're going to be are memories," Lou said pulling him back down. "I want my last moments on this earth to be happy ones. I want them to be full of joy and passion and I want that for you too."
Buck reached his hand up to Lou's face and caressed her cheek with his thumb. She closed her eyes and leaned into it.
"Are you sure?" he asked knowing that the tone in his voice begged her to answer 'yes.'
Lou turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand. "I'm sure," she answered looking back into his eyes.
They sat across from each other, but Buck couldn't help but look down at the ground. Lou cupped her hand under his chin and brought his eyes up to look into her own. She thought about the last couple of months and everything that had happened up to this point. She thought about all the times she wanted Buck to be happy. She still wanted and needed that. She was trying to find him a lady when she was right there the whole time. Although she was unavailable to him then, she wasn't now. She smiled warmly at him begging him to kiss her again.
Buck pressed his lips to hers, and then gently covered her mouth with his. The world began to blur and he felt like he was trapped in a beautiful dream. He loved the feel of her soft lips against his. They felt to him like they always belonged there.
Lou quivered at the sweet tenderness of his kiss. She let every fear and worry fall to the side. She felt safe and loved. She started to undress him with care and patience wanting to make the night last as long as she could. She knew when the night was over they would become ghosts. Buck's vest slid easily off his shoulders and onto the ground. She tugged gently, untucking his shirt from the waistband of his buckskin pants. He helped her pull his shirt and undershirt over his head. She stared admiringly at his bare chest. His muscles tensed in the coolness of the cave as the light from the candles flickered across him. She ached to feel his bare skin against hers. She reached out and caressed the scar on his side where the bullet from Jimmy's gun had pierced him.
Buck felt Lou's hands grasp his and move them to the buttons on her shirt. He couldn't deny her or himself any longer. He gently started to undo the buttons and let Lou's shirt fall open revealing a very feminine camisole underneath. He grinned and looked into her face and she was blushing. He pushed her vest and shirt gently off her shoulders and made his way to her camisole. She shuddered with longing as he slowly opened her camisole and gazed at the nakedness of her breasts. She let the camisole float to the floor. Her arms encircled his neck as she kissed him again. He gently placed a hand on the small of her back and drew her to him. The feel of their bare skin on each other was electric and surprising. There was nothing that either of them would do to get away now.
Buck took off his boots and pitched them to the side. He untied the laces of Lou's shoes and removed them from her tiny feet. Soon, they were unfastening each other's trousers. They paused when they both sat naked before the other. This was their last chance to change their minds. Lou smiled at him and he smiled back with a genuine smile. The kind she had wanted to see for weeks.
Lou launched herself into Buck's waiting arms and they kissed and touched each other with a building hunger. Buck felt like a dam broke inside him and every hope and dream he had came out in every kiss and every caress. If this was the last thing he was going to do in his life, he was going to make it the most reverent and beautiful creation he could. Every touch was filled with truth; every kiss was all of him. He couldn't hold anything back. He didn't want to hold anything back. This was the only chance he was ever going to have to let anyone completely in. He slowly let every wall he had ever built crumble to pieces before her.
For Lou, she suddenly knew everything about Buck and realized she had never known him at all. He lived his life as a tethered eagle never allowed to fly free, but the tethers he had made himself and given them to others to hold. They were now in her hands. She didn't want to capture him or tame him, but let him soar unburdened. She needed him to know that he was free. She needed him to know as much about her as she now knew about him. She needed him to know every nightmare and fantasy, every secret she ever kept. She needed her life to be an open book and for him to savor every word.
Buck wanted Lou to feel the love and admiration he had for her. He wanted her to feel all the pleasure he could give her. He knew he brought her to her full when she began to quake in his embrace. He savored her taste as she writhed in ecstasy.
Their shadows danced around the rock face and their moans and cries echoed off the walls as they became one with each other.
They took their time to feel every sensation to savor every lingering kiss. Every touch was cherished and every bead of sweat was earned. As long as they were still making love they were still alive. There were no boundaries left between them. They had enjoyed each other as fully as was possible, each giving to the other selflessly, joyously, and completely. They had given themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. What had been the closest thing to a bridal bed either of them had would now become their tomb.
The candles flickered. The oxygen in the cave should have been just about gone. Buck and Lou lay cradling each other passed out from exhaustion in the thin air. The candles faded and nearly went out before a breeze drifted in the cave and they began to burn bright once more.