"Jimmy?" Cody whispered nudging Jimmy until he sat up. "See that there? Now that's the good life."
Jimmy grumbled a little at the intrusion to his sleep but Cody's infectious fantasizing had Jimmy looking where Cody was referring anyway. The sun was just coming up and Buck was lying on his back with a naked woman sleeping curled up on either side of him with their heads on his shoulders.
Jimmy gave an approving grin as he rubbed the sand from his eyes. If he had the chance he would gladly switch places with Buck right now and he would bet any of the others would too, even Kid. Though, Kid would probably deny it.
Jimmy looked back at Buck. He was glad Buck was alive and he vowed the next time he saw Charlotte his aim wouldn't be off. He told Buck that Charlotte would get him killed and she'd nearly done it this time. He wouldn't let her have another chance.
The rest of the camp started to wake up with the sun climbing higher in the eastern sky. Lou grabbed the top blanket and slipped from the pallet. Buck seemed nice and warm now and there wasn't a need for her to stay. 'Jenny could handle it from here,' she thought with a hopeful smile.
Lou walked behind a tree to get dressed and spied Kid heading her way. He had been pretty quiet and conflicted all night long.
"Is he alright?" Kid asked as Lou finished getting dressed. He kept his head bowed toward the ground as he was trying not to let her see how uncomfortable he was with her choice the night before.
"I think he'll be fine," Lou said. "The bigger question is, are you alright?"
"What? I'm fine," he lied. He tried not to make eye contact with Lou but she wouldn't let him off that easy. "I guess it was just a little hard to see you naked in bed with someone else."
Lou smiled, Kid was jealous. "You know why and it had nothing to do with me and you," she said trying to soothe his feelings.
"I know, here," Kid said putting his hand on his heart.
She smiled at him and took his hand in hers.
"Sometimes it is harder to convince my mind," he said smiling back at her.
"Why don't you keep your mind on this," Lou said as she kissed him deeply.
Kid and Lou soon joined the others around the morning campfire. Teaspoon and Jimmy were working on rustling up some breakfast. Noah was just bringing back some wood to stoke the fire. Ike was keeping Cody busy by making him tend to the horses with him. Ike thought Buck could use some privacy.
Buck opened his eyes and looked down at a sleeping Eagle Feather. He still couldn't believe she was here and he had been rescued. He wasn't cold anymore although he still felt a little weak. He felt her stir next to him as the noise of the morning had started to wake her. In her arms was a place he never wanted to leave. Her warmth surrounded him and all he wanted to do was to be with her for the rest of his life. He drew her into a soft tender kiss as she woke.
Teaspoon spied the couple and it made his heart feel better. Truth was he blamed himself a little for what happened to Buck. If he hadn't asked him to meet Charlotte, perhaps this ordeal would never have happened to him. Buck was safe now and in the arms of a woman that wouldn't hurt him. That's all he asked for all his boys and girls. He was now concentrating on getting them all up and on their way home. He would give Buck all the time he needed though. The trip home wouldn't be quick, he suspected, but everyone was hoping to get back to the station today.
Charlotte lifted her head from the basin. She wished she would get over this weak stomach of hers. This morning was truly awful. She wanted to put her plan in action, but wasn't sure if she was well enough to do it. She looked at her face in the mirror above the basin. She was pale. Her clothes were looser than they were a week ago and she just didn't have an appetite. It could be fear and stress, but Charlotte thought maybe there was something else wrong with her. Maybe she was really sick. She would use it to her advantage if she could. She had planned on begging the guard for a doctor. Right now, she really looked like she could use one.
Charlotte heard the knock on the door she was expecting. Her breakfast was here. She still wasn't sure why the guard still brought it as she never ate any of it. She made it back to the bed and staged an extremely ill looking pose. She moaned as if she were in pain when he entered. She held out her arm as if she were reaching for God to take her away.
"Help me, please," she rasped. She knew she was laying it on a little thick but this guy didn't really seem smart enough to notice otherwise.
The guard stopped and approached the bed. The smell of her vomit wafted into his nose and his face contorted.
"I need a doctor," she said between overdramatic moans. "Please, I think I'm dying."
She raised the back of her hand to her forehead and let out her best, truly pathetic sigh.
The guard stood stock still and was at a loss for what to do. Charles said he wasn't to allow anyone to see her, but he also said to take good care of her. If she were dying, and she certainly looked ill, he couldn't do anything to help her. He would need help. He knew if he disappointed Charles, there would be hell to pay, but he was in a no win position. He hesitated a few seconds then he rushed out of the room and locked the door behind him.
"That ought to do it," Charlotte said to herself as she sat up on the bed. She still didn't feel great, but she was much better than the guard thought she was.
Jenny and Buck were finally up and dressed. Jenny kept a blanket around Buck's shoulders while she tended his hands. The wounds on them were a couple of days old, but there were some slivers of wood that needed to come out. She gently washed his hands and removed the larger slivers with a needle and a pair of tweezers she carried with her as part of an emergency kit Rachel had given her. She bandaged his hands when she was done and hoped none of his wounds would fester.
Gradually the crew started to break down the camp. Buck had some tea and a biscuit, but it was all his system would tolerate. He would maybe ask Rachel for some broth when they got home.
They all saddled up with Ike and Jenny flanking Buck on either side of his horse. He was really thankful for his friends. He wanted so desperately to get home to the station by this evening and he knew it was a possibility, but he was still very tired and he knew that Teaspoon and the rest of the riders wouldn't push him to do more than he could.
Charles was riding back toward Deer Creek, where he left his darling sister entrusted to one of his most loyal men. He was not the brightest man he'd ever met, but he would keep Charlotte from escaping and that's all Charles needed him to do.
Charles would be back within the hour and then he would take care of his dear misguided sister. True he hadn't prepared a special box for her yet, but he could store her body in the nearby river until he was ready to bury her.
The guard came back twenty minutes later like clockwork, but this time he wasn't alone. The guard showed a kindly looking, gray haired gentleman with a doctor's bag into the room. He grabbed the uneaten breakfast from the table and left the room. He closed the door, but he did not lock it.
The old man walked up to the bed and smiled kindly at Charlotte.
"What seems to be the problem, Missy?" he asked her with concern in his eyes.
Charlotte sat up and decided as long as she had a doctor, she may as well take advantage of the situation and find out what was wrong with her. She described her symptoms to the kind doctor.
The doctor smiled as he listened adding in the occasional mm hmm and nodded a lot.
"When's the last time you had your monthly?" he asked.
"Just what does that have to do with anything?" she asked startled.
"Well, if your monthly is late," he explained, "I'd say it was a good bet you're pregnant. I'd have to do an exam to make sure, of course."
Charlotte was prepared for the doctor to say a lot of things, but pregnant wasn't one of them. She tried to remember when she last had her monthly and couldn't remember right off. This wasn't good.
"Now why don't you undress from the waist down and drape the bed sheet over you," he advised. "I'll be back in, in about five minutes."
Charlotte was starting to panic. This was NOT part of the plan. She could handle something closer to influenza or maybe some sort of digestive problem.
"I'm sorry, Doc, but pregnancy is just not possible," she argued trying not to lose control of her plan.
"I'm sorry, Miss, I didn't mean to question your virtue," the doctor said. "I've seen these symptoms before and they are usually from the same cause. I been doctoring for thirty-one years and I ain't been wrong once. I'll be back in five minutes now."
Charlotte watched the doctor leave and stared at the door in shock. She shook her head slowly then quickly and then paced the room a couple of times trying to figure out what to do. She needed to get her mind back on the plan. Her plan was to get something from the doctor to disable the guard and get away. She smiled slightly when she realized the doctor had left his bag in the room with her. She had wasted a couple of minutes panicking and now she needed to focus. She opened the doctor's bag and found what she was looking for, ether. She would have to knock the doctor out too otherwise she'd need to submit to an exam of her privates and she wasn't doing that.
She found a rag and poured the liquid on the rag making sure to hold the bottle and the rag as far from her as possible. She hid behind the door and waited for the doctor to come back inside. When he did, she placed the rag over his mouth and nose. She let him go as he dropped the floor. He made a loud noise as he fell and she could hear the footsteps of her guard coming to her room. She reset herself behind the door and waited for her guard. When he walked through the door she covered his nose and mouth with the rag the same as the doctor. The guard fell to the ground the same as the doctor. Charlotte quickly left the building and got herself to the livery where she knocked out the stable boy and stole a horse. She needed to put distance between whatever town she was in and Charles.
Charles rode into town and everything seemed normal. He smiled. No one would ever know Charlotte had ever been here or that she died here too. Her murder was starting to excite him. He had never felt this way before. He could get used to this sensation. Maybe he had missed his calling.
He would strangle her with his bare hands. He would squeeze the life right out of her and watch as the light left her eyes. She would know in her last thoughts that it was a mistake to betray him.
Buck smiled as the trail began to look very familiar. He was almost home. It gave him strength. He hadn't been able to eat much on the trail other than another biscuit. The rations the riders and Teaspoon had on them were a little harsh for his stomach. Until today, he hadn't had anything to eat for four days. He needed to ease back into normal food. Buck was glad Emma was at the station. Between Rachel and Emma, they would get him back on his feed again.
There was still daylight and Buck saw Sam, Emma, and Rachel all standing outside to meet them. He rode up to the bunkhouse and slowly slid off his horse. Ike jumped down and helped him and he and Jenny walked Buck into the bunkhouse. Buck smiled at the welcoming party on his way past them. He was glad to be home but more than anything he wanted to lie down in his own bunk.