Chapter 8

The riders had passed through the next three stations on the Pony Express route and so far each station master reported seeing Buck, Billy and Ike in the previous two days and all three kept going west. The Pony Express route was given dedicated riders to sections of seventy-five miles a stretch and so far they were nearly half way through the section that Buck was initially assigned. To get to the next station they would have to pass through a mountainous ridge.

Since they were a search party and not functioning as Pony Express riders they didn't get a fresh mount every ten miles of trail. They were therefore slowed down for the horses would require rest. It was getting to be late afternoon and they would need to set up camp before crossing the mountain ridge in the distance. The area was dry with scattered trees and brush. Jimmy found a spot near a small stream and a tree from shade.

"Let's camp here!" Jimmy called out as he surveyed the area.

Kid's blue eyes scanned over the spot and he gave a nod in agreement, "Looks good!"

Pip was ever so glad to get off the horse as her legs ached. She puffed her cheeks as she slid down, "Boy this is harder than I thought it would be. I think when I get back to New York, I will ask for a raise for the riders."

Lou slid down from the saddle and asked, "You can do that?"

"I'm head of my department." she nodded. "I'll talk to the investors and tell them just how difficult this job is." She wiped her hands off as she looked about. "Of course the project would last another year…" she shrugged.

Lou gasped, "What!" She assumed the Pony Express would be around forever.

"It's an expensive endeavor." Pip explained. "With the new telegraph and other routes opening up the Pony Express will be closed. Russell, Majors and Waddell did this to prove it could be done. They are hoping to win a mail route bid but there are other routes and other bidders. The funding will run out in a year and they will close it if they don't get the bid. And if they do get the bid, I'm not sure how much longer it will last anyways with the telegraph and all." She figured, "There might come a day when horses are no longer needed and we will have mechanical carriages. They are already working on a plan to connect the West Coast and the East Coast with a railroad system."

Kid had to admit, "If they connect the East and West with a railroad…We will be out of a job." He dismounted his horse and led her to the stream for water.

Curiously Jimmy asked Pip, "You think there will be a war coming?"

She nodded, "It's already starting."

Lou countered, "They say there will be a war if Lincoln is elected."

She shook her head, "It won't matter who is elected. The war is already starting. Wars don't start with a bang. The bang merely announces the war is here. The wars start with banks and politicians. The North and South are already at war politically and financially. It's only a matter of time before the shooting starts." She led her horse to water, "So, if shooting starts I'm going to move to California." she declared.

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow, "Why all the way out there?"

"To get away from any war." she gave a hard nod. She wondered aloud, "Maybe I can take my father with me and we can settle down out there."

Lou told her, "Teaspoon told us that if war breaks out he's going back to Texas."

She squinted, "Hmm." she thought out loud, "Maybe I can bring him to Canada then?"

Kid asked, "Why Canada?"

"I could get us as far away from Texas as possible so he doesn't go off to fight some stupid war. He's too old to go join a war. That's how my family was lost. It was a war and my father and all the men in my mother's family, including her brothers all went to fight the Mexican Army at the Alamo and none of them came back. And then Mexican Militias attacked the ranch, killed my grandparents and my mother. The only reason I am alive is because my mother handed me to the housekeeper and told her to run with me. Mabel took me and ran north. She didn't stop running until she got to New York City where she would be safe. We were close enough to Canada that we could get there if salve traders came after her but no one ever did so we stayed."

Jimmy asked, "You really think running away to Canada will save Teaspoon from another war?"

She sighed, "I don't know but I don't want him fighting in it."

Lou assured her, "None of us do but if war breaks out there is no stopping Teaspoon from doing what he thinks he should do."

"He's stubborn like me." she figured. She tied off the reigns to the nearby tree and walked over the camp site. She started to gather down limbs the twigs for the fire.

Kid had gathered some stones from the nearby stream for the fire pit. He walked over with the rocks in his arms. "I know if war breaks out I'll be going home to Virginia." he placed the rocks in a pile before him. She squatted to make the ring of rocks and glanced up at Jimmy nearby. He wondered, "What about you, Jimmy?"

"If the Pony Express closes I'll probably join the Army." he figured. "I can scout…" he pondered what he would do in the Army.

Pip suggested, "How about we all just move to California together and avoid the whole war?" She looked to Lou, "California has land cheap."

She laughed slightly, "I'll think about that." The thought of being torn apart by war scared Lou and thought of Jimmy and Kid joining a fight that could pit them against one another scared her even more. She decided to change the subject, "I'll get the mess going." She went to her saddle bags to get the food and cooking supplies.

Short Time Later

As Lou tended to the cooking Kid, Jimmy and Pip gathered more firewood. Pip had wandered away from the campsite in search for the wood. She had never been in the Midwest before and had no idea of the dangers that lurked around the corner. As she walked closer to the base of the mountain ridge she heard a growl from a nearby tree. She looked up and there sat a tan cougar ready to pounce. The cougar growled even louder bearing its teeth.

She paused unsure what to do. She never had seen a cat so large before. It was larger than a dog and seemed to stare right through her. She gulped as the load of firewood dropped from her arms. Her instincts kicked in and her first reaction was to run.

She ran and the cougar jumped from the tree and came after her. She never thought of pulling her revolver as she looked back and saw it was catching up to her. She lost her footing and fell, hitting the ground hard. She rolled over onto her back as she watched the cougar jump to secure its prey when she heard two gunshots ring out at once. The cougar dropped to the ground the lay dead. Blood seeped from the wounds. One bullet hit the head of the beast and the other in the heart. She found the cougar at her feet lifeless. She looked back and there stood Jimmy and Kid both with revolvers drawn. The two men had shot and the killed the perusing cougar at the same time.

Lou then came running around the bend. She saw the sight before her with a large cougar at Pip's feet with Kid and Jimmy standing before her with revolvers still leveled on the cat.

Jimmy cautiously approached the dead cat. He told Pip, "Don't move." As he got to the cougar he touched the side with his boot to ensure it was dead.

Upon ensuring the cat was dead, Kid holstered his revolver.

Lou ran up to Pip's side. She reached down to help her stand. "What happened?" she asked.

Pip explained, "I was gathering wood and I heard this growl. I looked up and that big lion was in a tree. I ran and it came after me."

Kid scolded her, "Don't you know not to run from a cougar? It will chase you down."

"I never saw one before." she admitted. "I only saw them in books."

Jimmy asked spying her revolver still in the cummerbund, "Why didn't you shoot it?"

She looked down at the butt of the gun and realized she should have pulled it. She shook, "My mind went blank and I just didn't think of it. I forgot it was there."

Lou steadied her, "It's okay, Pip. We got it! Just you have to be more careful out here." She wrapped her arm around her and started to lead her away from the dead cougar.

Jimmy watched as Lou led Pip back to the safety of the camp. He smirked at kid, "My shot killed it."

He squinted, "What?"

"I get to keep the hide." he told him.

Kid rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

Jimmy rolled the cougar over and got a good look at the head as Kid walked away for could have cared less about the dead animal. Jimmy muttered, "You ruined a perfectly good rug with that headshot, Kid."

Few Hours Later

The sun had set and the four had dinner around the fire. Pip was still shaking from her encounter with the cougar but was relieved it didn't get her for she knew she would have been killed. They were in a higher elevation and as night crept in the air got colder.

Lou asked Pip as she finished her meal, "You feel better now?"

She nodded, "Better!" She looked at Kid and Jimmy, "Thanks to your two." She shook herself, "I never even thought to draw my revolver. I just ran and I shouldn't have…"

Jimmy sat close and assured her, "Being in the big city you don't see a lot of cougars."

She shook her head, "Only cats in the city are pussy cats. They just act fearsome." She shivered and realized, "It's getting cold!"

Jimmy reached for his bed roll and retrieved a blanket. He wrapped it around her shoulders and then scooted a bit closer on the log. "I'll keep ya warm." he mentioned.

Lou cocked an eyebrow for it seemed Jimmy was getting very close to Agnes Hunter. She wasn't sure how Teaspoon would react to Jimmy courting his daughter.

Pip admitted, "I didn't know it could get this cold at night out here. I'm use to the cold but I heard it would be warmer out west." She grasped the blanket around her neck to keep warm.

Jimmy replied, "The higher up we get the colder it gets."

Kid wondered, "You brought enough blankets in your bedroll, Pip?"

"Just one," she winced.

Lou sighed, "You will need more than one up here."

Jimmy figured, "She can double up with one of us to keep warm."

Lou replied, "I don't have enough room for two people in my bedroll."

Kid held up a hand, "Me neither."

"She can stay in mine." Jimmy insisted which was his intention when he made the suggestion.

Pip cocked an eyebrow, "You want me to crawl into that bedroll with you?"

"Why not?" he asked her as a smirk crept across his face.

She shook a finger, "You better keep your hands from wandering."

He swore, "I promise to be a perfect gentleman, Agnes."

"I'm holding you to that." she informed.

Jimmy chuckled, "Yes ma'am."