Chapter 17
Two weeks had gone by since Teaspoon had sent that telegram to the judge. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever hear back from him. Buck and Teaspoon were in the barn mending tack, when a rider came into the yard. Buck poking his head out of the barn to see who it was.
"Mornin' Tompkins, what brings you all the way out here?" Buck asked as he walked out to greet the man, Teaspoon right behind him.
"Wire came in for ya Teaspoon, Matt asked if I'd bring it out to ya, since I was coming out anyway to see how Lou was faring, been awhile since I've seen y'all." Tompkins said as he dismounted, pulling a telegram from his pocket to hand to Teaspoon.
"What is it Teaspoon?" Buck asked, hoping it would be from Sam.
"It's from the judge. He'll be coming in on the stage in the morning." Teaspoon told them.
"Judge? Everything alright Teaspoon?" Tompkins asked.
"Why don't you come on inside Tompkins and we'll have a chat." Teaspoon suggested.
"Don't mind if I do… Rachel wouldn't happen to have any of her desserts ready, would she?" Tompkins asked, looking towards the house.
"Rachel keeps a cake made." Buck said laughing, "Between Teaspoon and the children we go through at least one every, couple days."
The three men entered the house through the mud room that lead into the kitchen where Rachel was indeed, putting the finishing touches on a cake. "Why I didn't know we had company, what brings you out here today?" Rachel said when she spotted Tompkins.
"Delivering a telegram to Teaspoon and came to check on Lou." Tompkins told her as he took a seat at the table, Rachel cutting him a big slice of the freshly made cake.
"Resa, will you go tell Louise that we have company." Rachel asked the little girl who was playing with her doll in the corner of the room.
"Yes ma'am." She said getting to her feet and hurrying from the room. "LOUISE! WE GOT COMPANY!" she shouted as soon as she exited the kitchen.
Rachel rolled her eyes in annoyance, "I could have done that." she muttered causing Buck to chuckle.
A few minutes later, Lou came into the room, a smile on her face when she saw the man sitting at the table, "Morning Tompkins, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"Just came to see how you were doing Lou. Plus had telegram to deliver to Teaspoon." Tompkins told her around a mouthful of cake.
"I'm doing good." Lou told him with smile, thinking it was real, sweet of him to come all the way out there just to check on her.
"So, what does the telegram say Teaspoon?" Lou asked, as she sat in front of Buck, her back resting against his chest, his arms around her, hands resting on her swollen belly.
"Well, it's from the judge. He'll be on the stage tomorrow." Teaspoon told Lou.
Lou looked over at Tompkins, wondering if she should say anything else, but decided that he had stood by them up to this point so might as well, "Is he going to give me the divorce?"
"Don't know, just said he'd be on the stage. Reckon we'll find out tomorrow." Teaspoon said scratching his chin.
"You trying to get the judge to grant a divorce?" Tompkins asked looking at Lou.
Lou blushed and looked down, "I just want to be free to live my life as I see fit."
"Well, if the judge needs any testimony, I would be glad to tell him whatever you need me too." Tompkins told her.
"Thanks Tompkins, I really appreciate that." Lou said sincerely.
"If the judge grants the divorce are you two gonna get married?" Tompkins asked looking over at the young lovers, a smile teasing at the corner of his lips.
"That's the plan." Buck answered him.
Tompkins grinned, "Come by the store next time you're in town. I've got some nice rings you might like."
"We'll do that." Lou told the man.
"Well I best be getting back to town, I need to get back to the shop." Tompkins said standing, "Rachel thank you for the cake, it was delicious as always."
Teaspoon and Buck walked the man back to his horse, thanking him again for coming by. Buck would never in a million years have ever thought that he would ever consider Tompkins someone he could count on, let alone a friend, but that is exactly what he had become to him and to Lou. And lord knows they needed all the friends they could get in town.
The next day, Teaspoon, Buck, and Lou went into town to meet the stage. Rachel staying back at the ranch with the children. They did not think the children needed to be involved in the meeting with the judge. As they stood in front of Tompkins' store, Matt the telegraph operator and Tompkins joined them. Nobody, spoke as they waited. It wasn't long before the stage coach pulled up, a tall man dressed in a fine suit exited first, turning back to help an older woman from the stage, who was followed by an older man. The two getting their bags and then heading off towards the hotel. The tall man turned and look at the small gathering of people.
"Which one of you is Mr. Hunter?" the man asked.
"That be me." Teaspoon said stepping forward and shaking the man's hand. "You must be the judge."
"Name's Banks, Toby Banks." the man said. "Where can we go to talk in private?"
The group all looked at each other, "Umm …" Teaspoon started scratching the side of his head.
"We could go to the old express station, it ain't been sold yet." Lou suggested pointing down the road to the abandoned bunk house.
"That will do just fine. You must be the lady in question." Mr. Banks said taking in Lou and her very visible baby bump, Lou blushed and nodded her head.
Teaspoon led the way to the old bunkhouse, using the key hidden above the door-frame to unlock it. He ushered them all inside. "Alright then let's get started, first I need to know who these other men are." Mr. Banks said looking around at the small group.
"You can just call me Tompkins, everybody does, I own the general store." Tompkins said offering his hand to the judge, who took it and shook.
The judge looked at Matt next, "And who are you?"
"Matt sir, I work at the telegraph office. I sent the wire. I wasn't sure if you'd need me here or not, so I'm here." the small man told him, clearly nervous.
The judge turned his eyes onto Buck, sizing him up. "And who are you?"
"Buck Cross." Buck told him, not offering anymore detail.
Mr. Banks just looked at him and Buck just stared back. "Alright then, let's get started. Mrs. McCloud… what was your maiden name?"
"McCloud." Lou answered.
The judge looked at her, his brows drawn together, "You were a McCloud and you married a McCloud?"
"No, I kept my last name. Kid … he never did tell me what his was. Or what his actual name was." Lou explained.
The judge scratched his head, "So you don't know your husband's legal name?"
"No." Lou answered.
"Who presided over the wedding?" The judge asked.
"That would be me, I was the marshal in town at the time." Teaspoon told the judge.
"Did the man in question tell you his legal name?" Mr. Banks asked, making notes on his papers.
"He did, whispered it to me during the ceremony." Teaspoon said.
"And when you filed the marriage license, did you put the legal name on the document?" the judge asked.
Teaspoon leaned back against the wall, scratching his cheek, "I reckon I put Kid down."
The judge began to shuffle through his paperwork, the group looking back and forth between each other. "Ah ha!" Mr. Banks exclaimed when he found what he was looking for, "Let's see here." He mumbled as he began scanning the document. He laid the paper down, and sat back, his fingers clasped together as he looked to Lou.
"Ms. McCloud, I'm afraid I can't grant you a divorce." Mr. Banks began.
"He abandoned her!" Buck exclaimed, but was silenced when the judge held up his hand. "Let me finish Mr. Cross."
"I can't grant you a divorce, because in fact you were never married." He stated.
"What?!" Teaspoon, Buck, and Lou all said at the same time. Tompkins and Matt just looked at each confused.
"It seems Mr. Hunter did in fact just put the name, Kid, down on the marriage license. Seeing as this is not the man in question legal name, the document is not legal." Mr. Banks explained.
Lou closed her eyes in disbelief, a horrible feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. "Oh God … the baby … I'm an unwed mother … if this gets out."
"Lou, no. You did nothing wrong." Buck told her trying to calm her as the panic began to set in.
"This is my fault Lou, I messed up… but look at the bright side, at least you're free to live your life." Teaspoon told her trying to get her to see the silver lining.
"Lou, I can promise you this information ain't gonna leave this room. Nobody in town will ever know." Tompkins promised the young woman.
"Ms. McCloud, I'm sorry to cause you distress. These men are correct however. You did nothing wrong, you thought you were a married woman. And if things had been different nobody would have ever known or cared. Nobody needs to be told, it is not going to become public knowledge. How you proceed from here is entirely your choice. But might I make a suggestion?" Mr. Banks said.
Lou looked at him, her mind reeling, "Go ahead."
"From what I understand. Kid left you to go fight in the war between the states. He told you he had no intention of coming back, that is correct yes?" Mr. banks asked looking at the faces of those gathered for conformation, at several nods he continued. "Perhaps, word could be spread around town that he died in the war. You would be considered a widow then."
"You mean lie to the whole town?" Buck asked, not sure he liked the idea, it just seemed wrong.
"I did it before… when everybody thought I was a boy remember." Lou said softly to him.
"Lou you didn't have anybody in town fooled." Tompkins said then. At her startled look he continued, "We didn't care you were a girl. We all figured you had your reasons for pretending otherwise. You tell folks Kid died, they'll just go with it, whether they believe it or not. The handful that don't, well they are in the minority."
"I could even write it up, make it look like an official telegram." Matt offered.
"Lou this is your decision how you want to handle this." Teaspoon said.
Lou looked back and forth between the men supporting her, tears springing to her eyes. She looked back at the judge, "I won't get into trouble for lying?"
"You've done nothing wrong." Mr. Banks told her.
"Very well. We'll tell people he died." Lou decided.
"Well then, now that is settled. Can someone point me to the hotel?" Mr. Banks asked standing as he gathered his things.
"I'll show you the way." Matt offered as he led the man from the building.
Lou looked at the men around her. Men that knew the worst about her. Men that didn't care. Men that supported her. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Lou, honey, are you alright?" Buck asked softly.
"I … thank y'all… I don't know what I'd do if y'all thought less of me because of all this." Lou said through her tears.
"Lou you are one of the strongest, woman I've ever met. You didn't deserve all this. I'm glad things have worked out like this. It will be better with people thinking Kid died, then thinking you got a divorce." Tompkins told her. "Y'all need anything else you be sure to let me know." he said as he moved towards the door.
"Thank you, Tompkins." Buck said shaking the man's hand.
"Come on we best be getting back home. Rachel will be wanting to know what happened." Teaspoon said.
The three left the old bunkhouse and returned home where Rachel was eagerly awaiting the news. She was pretty surprised by this turn of events. "Guess that means you two can get married now." She told the two lovers.
"I guess we could." Lou said smiling at Buck.
"Um … Lou, maybe we should wait a bit to marry." Buck said softly.
A look of hurt crossed Lou's face, "You don't want to marry me?"
"Of, course I do! You know that!" Buck exclaimed, "It's just if we marry right away with Kid supposed to have been killed … well it might look bad."
Lou huffed, "You're right. Damn it I hate when you're right."
"No, you don't, you just don't like being wrong." Buck teased her.
Lou glared at him, "I ain't wrong, you just happened to be more reasonable."
Buck snickered as he leaned forward and captured Lou's mouth in a brief kiss, "At least I don't have to feel bad about bedding a married woman." He whispered quietly in Lou's ear.
Lou's cheeks turned bright red as she smacked Buck lightly on the arm, a giggle escaping her. Teaspoon and Rachel shared a smirk over their heads, they were happy things had worked out like they did. Now if only they could get rid of the devil woman.
A/N: Thanks Shauna for the beta. To Cheri, yes Tompkins would be a member of the town council. While he knew she had been hired, he had no reason to know she would cause problems for Buck and Lou. He would have been aware that they had 'courted' but not the problems it had caused Buck. He did however vote no but was outvoted. He doesn't know what the other members of the council were thinking when they hired her. But he could offer them no evidence against the decision at the time. He will be instrumental in her removal however once Sam digs up the dirt on her. Rosie.