Buck and Lou had made their handoff and were only about an hour from home when they heard hoofbeats coming up on them fast. Quickly they turned their horses heads and saw 5 men riding straight for them.
Buck and Lou both drew their weapons but the strangers got off the first shots. Buck hit the lead rider and Lou shot the one to the right before galloping as hard and fast as they could. Shots rang from behind them and suddenly Lou turned her horses head and veered off the trail. Buck followed unsure of what she was doing or where she was going when he saw her slide down into the brush.
Leaping from his horses back he ran to Lou, "Lou?" He gasped as he pulled her to him. His hand felt warm and sticky where it laid on her back. He heard more gunshots and quickly pulled some loose brush over them and covered Lou with his body.
He could feel her breathing underneath him as he sheltered her from the unknown gunman. Then as suddenly as it started it ended. There was silence, no more gunfire, no hoof beats. Just the sound of their breathing and the brush moving over them.
"Stay here. I'm gonna check." Buck said in barely a whisper and slowly moved himself off of Lou. He showed her his hand and added, "Don't move."
Lou nodded and watched as Buck slowly got up and walked towards the trail. Lou's horse was gone along with her supplies and canteen. Three of the men were gone two lay dead on the trail.
Buck whistled a low whistle and heard his horse trotting up to him. He met her and stopped her near where Lou was. Buck grabbed a clean bandana from his pack and his canteen and knealt beside her on the ground.
"This is gonna hurt." Buck said as he gently turned Lou onto her side. He poured water into the wound and watched until the blood ran clean and red. Then he packed the wound from the back and help Lou to lean slightly and he lifted her shirt.
"Not really in the mood Buck." Lou said weakly trying to tease
"I'm not either." Buck said softly as he saw an unmistakable exit wound on her front just above her hip. "The bullet's out." He said with a breath of calm. "We're not far. Let's get home so Rachel can help."
"Home sounds good about now."
Buck lifted Lou from the ground and placed her on his horse and then mounted behind her. Wrapping his arms around her he took off as fast as the horse could manage. As they rode he could feel the bandana begin to get wetter and seep into his own shirt.
"Lou? You awake?"
"mmhmm" Lou replied groggily
"Talk to me Lou."
"k" she said softly
"When are we going back to Yampa?" Buck asked trying to rouse Lou, "Lou. C'mon Lou." Buck said anxiously.
Buck crested the last hill before the station, "We're only minutes away from home. Stay with me. I need you to stay awake. Open your eyes Lou. Wake up." Lou's head lolled to the side and Buck stopped short.
"No. No!" Buck said loudly as he shifted Lou so he could see her face as she sat on his lap. "You're not doing this." He kicked his horse hard and they galloped into the yard as Buck yelled, "Rachel, Teaspoon, Ike, Jimmy, Kid, Cody!"
Ike was the first one out. He ran to Buck and grabbed Lou as Buck handed her down. Rachel was running out of the house in time to see Buck and Ike carrying Lou in followed closely by Teaspoon, Jimmy, Kid and Cody.
"What happened son?" Teaspoon asked stopping Buck as Ike carried Lou into Rachel's sick room
"Lou was shot." Buck said as Ike came out of the room nearly as fast as he went in.
"We see that, how?"
"5 men tried to stop us about an hour out. We got 2 of them but…"
Kid walked over and shoved Buck, "You did this. You let her get hurt. You let her keep putting herself in danger."
Teaspoon looked over at Jimmy, who quickly grabbed Kid by the arm and pulled him outside.
Buck looked shocked, "This is my fault. They're hurt because of me" He whispered and then ran pushing past Teaspoon and Ike to get to the door behind which were Rachel and Lou.
"Rachel!" Buck called through the door, "I have to tell you something."
