Chapter Twenty-One

By mid-afternoon the next day, they arrived in Ft. Kearney. They went immediately to the Army commander's office and handed over the package to Lieutenant he questioned them about their delay in delivering the package, the trio filled him in on everything that had happened.

Thanking them for everything they had done to make sure that the valuable package was delivered safely, Lieutenant Deavers offered to not only buy them supper, but put them up for the night in a hotel. Knowing that Jimmy really needed the rest, and he and Lou could use a good night's sleep as well, Kid accepted the kind offer for all three of them.

Once they had their horses taken care of, the riders headed for the hotel. After getting their rooms, Kid and Lou deposited a weary Hickok into his room, offering to bring him up some nourishment when they were finished eating.

As they were seated at a table in the hotel restaurant, Lou handed the serving girl the bag of Willow Bark leaves and asked her to brew some into a tea for their injured friend. The serving girl assured Lou that it was no trouble to do as the female rider suggested, she took down their orders, and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'll sure be glad to get back to Rock Creek." Lou commented as they waited for their food to arrive.

"Me too." Kid agreed. "I'm sure Teaspoon and the others are wondering what happened to us."

"Rachel's probably worried, and trying to act like she's not." Lou predicted.

"Probably."

Kid smiled at the waitress as she brought them their food. His stomach gave a happy roll as he stared down at his plate of meatloaf, corn on the cob, and mashed food not only smelled delicious, but tasted that way too. He shoveled food into his mouth as fast as he could, his hungry stomach crying out for more food to fill it.

Lou, likewise,was enjoying her meal of beef stew and cornbread. She thought it was wonderful,and could possibly be the best stew she ever had, including Rachel's.

When they were through eating, Kid and Lou headed back up to their rooms. Lou carried a tray which held a teapot filled with Willow Bark Tea, and a cup. Kid carried a large bowl of chicken broth and a spoon. When the cook had heard there was a sick guest, she had set to work making the broth;or so that was what their waitress had told them when she brought the broth to the table along with the tea.

Kid used his free hand to knock on Jimmy's door. There was no answer. He knocked a second time, and when there was still no answer, he opened the door, and held it open for Lou.

Jimmy was sound asleep atop the bed with his coat, gunbelt, and boots still on. Lou set the tray on top of the dresser, and took the bowl of chicken broth and spoon from Kid, and placed it on the tray. Cautiously the two riders approached their injured friend.

Hickok was usually a light sleeper, given his reputation as a gunfighter, but not tonight. Still, giving him a start was not a good idea. He was known to shoot first and ask questions later.

"I hate to wake him." Lou commented softly as they stared down at their sleeping friend. "He looks like he's sleeping pretty good."

"Me too. But he needs to eat something and drink some of the Willow Bark Tea." Kid said.

"I know." Lou sighed. Then she reached out and gave Jimmy's uninjured shoulder a gentle shake.

Jimmy made a sound between a murmur and a moan, then fell silent.

Lou gave his shoulder another shake, speaking softly to him, "Jimmy wake up."

Jimmy's eyes fluttered open long enough to look at them, before his eyes closed and he muttered, "Go away Lou, I'm sleeping."

Kid and Lou both chuckled, amused by his comment.

"You can go back to sleep in a few minutes." Kid told him. "Right now you need to eat some of this hot chicken broth we brought you."

Jimmy's eyes popped open again. He glared up at them for a moment, before sleepily saying, "I am a little hungry."

While Kid helped Jimmy shift into an upright position, Lou pulled the solitary chair closer to the bed, and retrieved the bowl of chicken broth and the spoon. She sat down in the chair and waited until Jimmy was situated before holding out a spoonful of broth to him.

"I can feed myself Lou." He grumbled.

"Normally, yes, but not right now, so open wide, and stop complaining." Lou told him.

Jimmy opened his mouth to protest, and Lou hastily stuck the spoonful of broth into it, before he could. Hickok made a combination hissing/choking sound as he swallowed the hot liquid.

"I've already been shot Lou, you trying to kill me too?" He growled out when he could speak again.

"No." Lou dipped the spoon back into the hold and held it out toward him again.

"I'd just do what she says Jimmy. You know you can't out stubborn Lou." Kid told Hickok.

"Fine." Jimmy blew softly on the spoonful of broth, before taking it into his mouth.

With some reluctance, Jimmy finished all of the soup, and most of a cup of Willow Bark tea, to both Kid and Lou's approving eyes.

Lou left to take the dishes back down to the restaurant, while Kid helped Jimmy stripped down to his long underwear so that he could sleep more easily during the night, and then left Hickok's room.

He paused momentarily outside Lou's room, nestled between his and Jimmy's, but didn't knock. He would miss having her sleep next to him, but he didn't want to push things between them. They were moving in the right direction at last, and he didn't want to ruin it.

So he moved onto his own room without knocking on Lou's door. Surprise filled him when he stepped into the room and found Lou laying on his bed waiting for him. She was dressed for bed in her own long underwear.

"I'm still not ready to 'ride double' with you yet, Kid," Lou said slowly, "but I got to thinking about how nice it's been to sleep beside you these past couple of nights, and hated the idea of sleeping alone tonight."

"I wasn't liking the idea much either." Kid admitted as he closed the door behind him. "I'm willing to go as slow or fast as you want Lou. Things are going good between us and I don't want to do anything to mess that up."

"I know. "Lou assured him. "I feel the same way."

Kid stripped out of his clothes, under Lou's watchful eyes. Clad in just his long john bottoms, he washed up at the basin in the corner, before climbing under the covers with Lou. A bit of wrestling around ensued, accompanied by a soft laughter from both of them, until they had settled into a comfortable sleeping positions.

"Night Lou."

"Night Kid."