Chapter 49
Louise drove the wagon back to the ranch after finishing work and picking up the children from school. She didn't want her siblings to miss any schooling and despite their protests, she had taken them to the schoolhouse that very morning. Samantha had welcomed her new pupils warmly and Lou got to think that she might have been wrong in her past opinions about the teacher. The lady had even congratulated her on her wedding after having heard the news from Rachel.
The same situation had taken place when Lou had told Tompkins that she and Kid would tie the knot in just three weeks. For a serious man like the store keeper was, he had been oddly cheerful as he expressed his happiness for the couple. What he hadn't taken so well had been when she had announced that she would stop working after the wedding. Of course Kid had wanted her to quit straightaway on account of her pregnancy, but she had managed to convince him that she wouldn't break or harm the baby if she just stayed working the three weeks up until their wedding. Tompkins had really taken a shine to Lou and all day long he had continually complained, stating how much he was going to miss her and what he was going to do without her from now on.
Louise had to admit that she was going to miss working at the store. Despite Tompkins' difficult personality, Lou felt that this was the first place that she had been treated with respect work wise, and she had enjoyed her time here. Yet, she was now ready for a much bigger commitment, an immense responsibility. She'd have to be a wife, a mother and she'd have to take care of her two siblings as well. Lou feared that she wouldn't be up for the job and would fail in this enterprise. Louise hoped to be a good wife for Kid, the wife he deserved and she'd try her best to take care of their household and family. She intended to stop worrying and asking heaven how it was that she deserved so much good now and as Rachel said, she should start enjoying it. Life would throw problems their way and she didn't need to bring them forward with her continuous worrying for nothing.
Jeremiah and Theresa kept babbling on by her side on the wagon seat. Apparently they had had a wonderful day at school, making new friends and enjoying each aspect of their new life in Rock Creek altogether. They had also been pleasantly impressed by their new teachers. Theresa was the one who didn't stop going on about how beautiful, elegant and intelligent Miss Edgars was. Louise couldn't help but be stirred by jealousy of the admiration the woman woke in her little sister. Maybe if it were about somebody else, Louise would feel unaffected by the girl's comments, but it was about Samantha. However much she tried, she would never be able to forget that because of Samantha Edgars she had been at the point of losing Kid. She couldn't get past that episode and even though she knew that Kid was hers body and soul, that bitter memory would accompany her for the rest of her days. And now her dear sister seemed to be taken by the woman much to Lou's chagrin.
Before she knew it, they arrived at the ranch and Kid came out to receive them. The two children jumped off the wagon straightaway while the former rider helped Louise to slide off it. Jeremiah ran to the couple and without any further ado he blurted out the plans he had in his mind, "Kid, can I go to see the horses?"
"What about your school homework?" the young man asked.
"Please just for a little while," the boy almost begged.
Kid glanced at Lou, who nodded her approval and said, "All right. You can go. Buck's in the stables, so don't do anything without asking him first."
"I will," the boy agreed and without waiting for any indication he dashed across the yard towards the stables.
"Can I go too, Louise?" Theresa asked after her brother had shot off.
"Of course you can, sweetie. Just be careful."
At her answer the young girl came to hug her tightly while exclaiming, "I love you, Louise." As suddenly as her open display of affection, Theresa ran after her brother. Louise kept staring at her, deeply moved by her little sister's gesture. She had been a fool for feeling jealous of the fondness Theresa might have for her teacher.
Kid noticed her expression as she looked at the fleeting figure of her sister and he asked, "What's that face for?"
"Nothing," Louise promptly replied, not ready to admit that she had felt jealous of Samantha once again even though for other reasons. Instead of answering his question, she wove her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"I missed you so much, Lou," he exclaimed huskily after they pulled away. He paused briefly and then he added, "I thought you were meeting Rachel to go to that seamstress she works for and choose your wedding dress."
"Yeah… actually she's coming here later, and then we'll go when the shop closes. That way nobody else will disturb us," Louise explained. "In the meantime I think I'll start doing some spring cleaning in the house. We need to get it ready and tidy for the reception."
"There are still three weeks to go. Won't it get dusty and messy again?"
"Yes, Mr. Clever," Lou replied teasingly. "But if we do most of it in these days, we won't have so much work before the wedding."
"Fine, you're right, but don't overburden yourself. You know you have to be extra careful now," Kid said, placing his hand over her middle, which provoked a sweet smile from the petite woman.
"I'll see you later then. I got work to do," she said and started towards the house. Kid kept looking at her with a big smile and then turned round towards the stables where he had left Buck cleaning all the tack and would probably be busy with the two children as well.
He stopped short at midway as a shout calling his name reached his ears. He swirled around and from the porch Louise said, "Thank you for loving me so much and making me this happy." The young man smiled and before he could say anything Louise shot around and dashed into the house. She didn't know what had prompted her to say those words to Kid, but she had a strong pull to let him know how she felt.
Louise got ready to start with the hard work before the children stormed back into the house. With working and taking care of her siblings she only had a few hours to devote to the house every day. So the more diligently she worked, the sooner she'd have the house ready.
Louise decided to start on the staircase today. There was a step that squeaked each time somebody put their feet on it to go up and down the stairs. It wasn't such a big deal, but that creaking noise annoyed her beyond comprehension. Kid had promised her several times that he'd repair the step, but so far he hadn't done anything about it. Without thinking about it twice, Lou set about to tackle the task herself. It couldn't be that difficult, and she was used to making the repairs in her lodgings like when she had to change a cracked board in her wardrobe.
In the shed Louise found a wood plank in the exact size she needed and Kid's toolbox. In less than an hour she managed to remove the old wood and replaced it with the new board. To her delight Lou jumped on the step several times and she couldn't hear a single sound now. Later she'd boast to Kid how she could do anything he could and with the same mastery. After seeing to the step, Louise swept and washed the long staircase and when all that was done, she started waxing the banister. She began from downstairs and made her way up. The banister really needed a good varnish. The wood looked very dim, without any shine, so Louise made use of a concoction of her own invention and then she applied a couple of coats of wax to the whole handrail. The results were instantaneous and the banister now shone with a splendid glow that it had never had before.
She was finishing the last part of the rail on the landing when she heard steps coming down from the end of the corridor. Louise rolled her eyes and made a gesture of disgust as she caught sight of Doritha walking towards where she was. Lou decided to do her best not to be bothered by the woman's presence or by whatever she might say. Lou turned her attention back to the task at hand, ducking her head as she kept cleaning the banister on her knees.
On seeing the girl, Doritha smirked to herself and with a proud stance she walked on straight towards Louise, bumping against her purposefully. "Oh, how clumsy of me!" the blonde woman exclaimed in an exaggerated fashion. "I should pay more attention and mind all the junk carelessly thrown in my way." Louise glared at her as she rose to her feet. Breathing in deeply the girl tried not to lose her nerves as it was her clear intention. The smile in Doritha faded, turning into a disdainful scowl as she barged against her. "You shouldn't be here! This ain't your place, but you have to be like a flea on a dog. Unwanted, bothering, annoying, irritating, always in the way! Those two scruffy, filthy men should have done away with you when they had the opportunity, and the world would be a nicer place to live in!"
Louise listened to the woman's spite with a stoic pose and at her last words something snapped inside the petite girl. "What the hell do you mean by that?"
Doritha realized her mistake instantly but she didn't let herself be intimidated and retorted in the same tone. "You shut up, dirty monkey!"
Lou kept looking at her with a confused frown, but then she simply shook her head, tired of this stupid brawl, and swirled around to leave the spot. "Don't you dare turn your back on me! I haven't finished!" Doritha exclaimed as she grabbed her arm and made Lou turn towards her again. "Very pleased with yourself, are you? I wouldn't brag of it, you dummy." She let out a devious guffaw and after a brief pause she continued, "I never thought Kid could be so cunning and shrewd. He needs a servant to clean his dirt and, lo and behold, he gets himself one without paying a single cent, with the extra benefits that brothels only offer. Stop deluding yourself with any romantic ideas. You know, no bastard is gonna ensure him forever."
Her resolution to keep calm crumbled down the moment Doritha mentioned her baby in those despicable terms. All of a sudden, she felt very angry with Kid for telling this horrible woman about their child. Her first impulse was to punch her in the face with all her might, but realized that she just couldn't debase herself to her level. That was what Doritha was trying to do, so with a superhuman effort Louise managed to get a grip of herself and simply made use of her sharp tongue. "Maybe you're right," she said in a sarcastic tone. "But whatever his reasons, he wants me and at least I ain't been ditched like dirty water." Without waiting for the other woman's reply Louise turned around in a proud pose and taking hold of the replaced wood plank in one hand and the toolbox in the other, she headed for the beginning of the staircase. She urgently needed some fresh air and to get Doritha out of her sight; otherwise she'd go nuts.
As soon as the comment left Lou's lips, Doritha let out a growl like a rabid dog and when Lou swung around, snubbing her, the blonde woman lost the last pinch of self-control she had. "I told you nobody turns their back on me," she snarled furiously and with an impulse she ran the few steps till the beginning of the stairs and gave Lou a very strong push. Before the petite girl knew what was happening, she found herself hitting the hard floor and rolling down the steep stairs. She couldn't even shout and all she managed to do was bring her arm over her middle subconsciously wanting to protect the baby growing inside her. Her only thought went out to her child before everything went black and deadly silent.
Doritha stared as the girl plunged down the stairs with big scared eyes. The sounds of her body thudding against the wooden steps echoed ominously throughout the house and with a terrible knock of her head hitting the floor downstairs everything went totally silent. The tools, the cleaning stuff and the wooden planks lay scattered all over the staircase or on Lou's still body. Doritha brought her hand to cover her mouth as a yelp threatened to escape. "Oh my God, what have I done?" she exclaimed with a shivery voice while she started descending the stairs with trembling legs.
Her eyes never left the unmoving figure at the foot of the staircase. Lou laid face down, her hair falling over the floor, which made it impossible for Doritha to see whether she was fine. When the blonde woman reached the end of the stairs, she called Louise's name several times in a soft voice. Her whole body was quivering from head to toe and with her right foot she moved the petite girl lightly. Her face appeared before the blonde woman's eyes, which instantly got drawn to the blood dripping out of her head onto a puddle on the floor and to her closed, lifeless eyes. "Oh my God, she's dead!" Doritha exclaimed, bursting out in tears and in that uncontrollable state of nerves she started yelling as she ran towards the front door.
In the yard Rachel had just arrived to meet Louise as they had previously agreed. Buck, Kid and the two children approached her wagon and after the usual greetings, the woman jumped onto the ground and asked, "Where's your fiancée, Kid?"
Kid chuckled and said, "It feels kind of strange to call Lou my fiancée." He still was in a state of bewilderment and couldn't believe that she had actually accepted to become his wife.
"Well, you'll soon have to get used to calling her your wife," Rachel added with a teasing smile.
"I know."
"So where's she?" Rachel asked again.
"She's in the house, hiding from this one," Buck replied mockingly, patting his friend on the back.
Kid had to laugh at the Kiowa's comment and added, "Let us walk you there. We were about to take a break anyway."
The group started towards the house and when they were half way, the desperate cries of a woman reached their ears. Without a second thought Kid shot towards the house in a flash, followed by Buck and Rachel at close range while the children stood on the same place exchanging looks of confusion. The Southerner reached the porch at the same time the door opened and Doritha stormed out, yelling and sobbing uncontrollably. He stopped the woman by grabbing her by the upper arms while she continued wailing loudly.
"Doritha, what's wrong?" The woman couldn't articulate as sobs racked her whole body and the Southerner had to shake her to make her react. "Doritha, what is it?" he insisted, having a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong.
Rachel and Buck arrived behind him at this very moment as Doritha blurted out among tears, "Oh Kid, she's dead, she's dead!" She kept repeating the same over and over again hysterically like a mantra and Kid felt a bitter chill spread all over his body.
"What are you saying, Doritha? Who is dead?" he asked in a demanding tone. The woman continued sobbing uncontrollably and lowered her eyes from him. "Doritha!" he almost cried but it was clear that he wasn't going to get any answers. So realizing he was wasting his time, Kid dashed into the house and his heart almost stopped when his eyes fell upon the sight welcoming him. He stopped frozen on the spot, unable to believe what he was seeing. "Oh God!" he exclaimed horrified. "No, it can't be. It can't." he mentally repeated as he watched the unmoving form of Lou on the floor at a few feet from him.
Buck ran past him and knelt next to Louise. The Kiowa's action snapped him out of his shock, and Kid dashed forward, crouching beside his friend. "Buck, is she …?" Kid started but the question got stuck in his throat as the pain took over. "Oh Lou, please, no. God, let her be fine, please."
Buck had removed some of the objects that had fallen on her and he was now checking for any vital signs. Behind them, Kid heard the two women enter. Rachel let out a loud yelp while Doritha kept sobbing and repeating the same phrase she had blurted out to him. "Oh God, she's dead. Oh God, she's dead."
The hysterical drone from Doritha was too much for Kid to bear and unable to stand it any longer, he turned his head and barked, "Can anyone please shut her up, for goodness' sake?"
"Come on, Doritha," Rachel offered with a shivery voice, also shaken and visibly upset. She passed her arm over the other woman's shoulders and said, "Let's go to the kitchen and I'll make us a cup of strong tea."
The two women left the place and to the Southerner's utter relief Buck exclaimed, "She's breathing, Kid!"
"Oh thank God," he let out, closing his eyes momentarily as relief course throughout him.
"I'll go fetch the doctor," the Kiowa offered and before any other indication he flashed out of the house.
Kid remained in the same position, running his eyes all over her unmoving figure. "Oh Lou what happened to you?" he cried and as he removed a few tendrils from her face, his hand got covered in her blood. "Oh God!"
In that very moment he heard whimpers behind him and turning his head he saw Theresa and Jeremiah looking very scared towards their sister. Theresa's soft cries turned into sobs and the boy seemed to be on the verge of tears as well.
"Rachel! Rachel!" he called loudly, trying his best to hide Lou from the children's eyes using his own body as blockage. The woman appeared straightaway and understanding the urgency of Kid's voice, she started steering the two siblings towards the kitchen.
"What's happened to Louise?" Jeremiah asked as he let himself be dragged along.
"You two don't worry none," Rachel replied as calmly as her nerves let her. "Your sister's had an accident, but she's gonna be fine." She prayed that what she was telling the two children was the truth. She walked them to the kitchen where she had managed to calm Doritha down a bit. Truth to be told, Lou didn't look very well at all and it was no wonder that on first impressions Doritha had believed she was dead. It had been a relief for Rachel to hear Buck saying that he'd go for the doctor, meaning that Louise was alive. Rachel was outraged and wanted to declaim against heaven. Their family seemed to be a magnet for bad luck and now that they were enjoying some relative smooth times, life was ready to hit them hard once again.
Kid stayed behind in the lounge and while he started using a bandanna to wipe the blood from Lou's head, he tried to call her attention. "Lou, honey, can you hear me?" he said in a cracked voice but there was no reaction from her. "Please love, say something and open your beautiful eyes for me." The girl didn't even stir and even though it was clear that she was unconscious and unable to hear him, the Southerner kept talking. "You're going to be fine, Lou. First, let's get you settled in our bed," he continued while scooping her up in his arms. "The doctor's coming and you'll be fine in no time. I know you will be." He stopped to look at the girl in his arms. Suddenly, she looked so small and frail, and part of her face was turning into a myriad of purplish and yellowish shades. Kid let out a sigh and as he started up the stairs he kept saying over and over again. "You're going to be fine, Lou. You're going to be fine."
"I heard a noise and when I came out, she was there on the floor in a puddle of blood," Doritha explained dramatically, sniffling and wiping her tears with a handkerchief. The doctor had arrived not long after Kid had put Louise to bed. He had shooed everybody out of the bedroom with only Rachel to give him a hand. That had been an hour ago, and Kid was desperate to know what on earth was taking the physician so long.
Teaspoon, Jimmy and Cody had also arrived a while ago after having heard the news from Buck. The five men and Doritha were in the lounge waiting for the doctor while the two children were in the kitchen finishing their homework for school. The two siblings were a nervous wreck after Louise's incident, and as a way to distract their troubled minds Rachel had urged them to entertain themselves with something. Kid knew that they weren't in the mood to focus on anything, but at least they wouldn't have to watch the adults' concerned countenances or comments if they were busy with something in the kitchen. Unable to keep still, the Southerner alternated between the lounge and the kitchen. The two children kept asking after their sister and although Kid always said that she'd be all right, he knew that they could see the truth through the fear on his face.
"She must've stumbled over that toolbox," Buck said after Doritha. "The tools were all over the stairs."
"Why the hell did she have to take it upon herself to repair that damn step?" Kid barked angrily as he paced up and down the lounge in a wild frenzy. The fear he was feeling turned into anger and the anger into fear in a swinging motion in just seconds apart. "I told her I would do it." He paused and stopping his incessant pacing he muttered in a very soft voice, "I never did. If I had done it, then …"
"Please Kid, don't blame yourself," added Jimmy, who was sitting on the sofa next to Doritha. "Accidents happen, you know that."
"And you blamin' yourself ain't gonna help Lou," Teaspoon continued, standing next to the fireplace.
"We should be making arrangements for the wedding and instead …" Kid let out wearily. He still couldn't understand what had happened, resulting in Lou being upstairs, possibly fighting for her life.
"And you still will," Cody said. "You think I'm gonna miss stuffing my face for free and kissing your beautiful bride?"
Cody's attempt to raise his spirits failed and Kid only managed to stretch his lips in a bitter gesture. The room remained in total silence and from her sitting position on the sofa, Doritha watched the men around her. No one had guessed that she had something to do with Louise's condition. Everybody had reached the conclusion that the girl had accidentally taken a tumble down the stairs and Doritha had just confirmed their suppositions. She hadn't intended to harm Louise, not really, but she had made her so furious that she had acted without thinking. Doritha knew that she couldn't tell the truth about what had happened. Nobody would believe that she hadn't meant to push Louise off the stairs after their well-known past discrepancies. They would put all the blame on her unjustly, so there was no need to bring up a truth that could only cause more problems. By the looks of her, they should all be prepared to say good-bye to Louise and in the countenances of the men around her in the lounge Doritha could guess that they were thinking the same way.
In that moment they heard a door open upstairs and Kid shot towards the staircase in a flash. With his heart pounding wildly in his chest, he waited for the doctor at the foot of the stairs, his hand gripping the banister tightly while his eyes were intent on seeing the doctor appear. After a few seconds Doctor Sanders came down the stairs and Kid felt his legs go weak and his whole body shiver. The physician reached downstairs, but the Southerner felt unable to articulate a single word.
"How's she, Martin?" Teaspoon asked behind him.
The doctor removed his spectacles and started massaging his brow. After a brief pause, he said, "Miss McCloud has three fractured ribs, a dislocated wrist and one of her shoulder blades is broken. But what worries me the most is the concussion in her head. She's been lucky. One more inch and we'd now be lamenting a young loss. Still head injuries are very serious and it's difficult to know how things are gonna progress in her case."
The more the doctor talked, the sicker Kid was getting. He tried to focus on the very few good things Doctor Sanders had said. Lou was alive, which was the important bit, and according to the physician, she had been lucky. Yet, there was something he hadn't mentioned and Kid was dying to know. So with an effort he was able to find his own voice and asked, "And the baby, Doctor?"
The men in the lounge stared at him with obvious surprise. The physician shook his head ruefully while he muttered, "I'm sorry."
Kid closed his eyes in a bitter gesture and slapping his forehead with his hand he said, "Oh God. That's gonna leave Lou shattered." He knew how happy and excited she had looked since they had learned about her pregnancy, so he was sure that she was going to take it hard when she learned that their baby was dead before having the chance to live.
"Son," the doctor replied, "let me tell you that should be your last worry now. Miss McCloud is unconscious on account of that injury on her head, in a state that in medical terms is called a coma. Nobody can tell when she will come round, days, weeks, months… or maybe never."
"Are you saying that she might … die?" Kid asked, the last word coming out roughly, practically hurting him as he uttered it.
"It's a possibility, I'm afraid."
Kid couldn't believe what the doctor was saying, he didn't want to believe him. "You don't know Lou," he stated firmly. "She's a strong woman and I know she'll be fine."
The doctor nodded with a candid expression, having found himself in this situation more often than not. Relatives and dear ones always resisted the idea that their special ones were in such a critical condition or on the verge of losing their life, and it was especially hard when the person was so young and death took them unawares. "I hope your faith pays off, Kid," he said. "I'll come back tomorrow to check on Miss McCloud. Send for me if there're any changes."
Kid couldn't even nod; he was too stunned and shocked to react. The pain he was feeling was so intense that he felt frozen and drained. He barely heard the voices of Teaspoon and the doctor and when the door clicked closed after the physician, he let out in a desperate wail, "Oh God!" His legs felt like jelly and he had to reach for the banister to avoid falling onto the floor. Teaspoon ran to his side in a flash and passed his arm under his. "Come on, son. Let's sit for a bit."
Despite his protests Kid let himself be steered to the sofa, where he dropped down heavily. "I really need to see Lou, check that she's all right," he muttered with a bitter gesture, gripping the sofa arm so strongly that his knuckles had gone white.
"In a minute," the marshal replied next to him. "You won't be of any help to Louise if you fall down those damn stairs too."
Kid cringed at the reference and then let out with desperation, "Why did this have to happen to her? This is just damn bad luck. She's never harmed anybody and deserves to have some respite from hardness. I wanted to make her happy, make her smile every day. It ain't fair. She can't die. I can't lose her."
"Son, you need to keep the faith," Teaspoon replied, patting him on the shoulder.
"You said it yourself, Kid. Lou's strong and she'll pull out of this one," Jimmy added.
"Remember when Ike was attacked by those highwaymen?" Buck continued. "The doctor was also pessimistic and he pulled through it in just a few days."
Kid nodded, but his friends' comforting words didn't make him feel better. The mere notion that Lou could die filled him with utter panic, and he felt the need to cry like a small child. His worry for Lou didn't even let him think about the loss of their baby, that baby they had loved since they had known about its existence. That baby didn't exist anymore, but he just couldn't come to ponder about it. His whole self went out for the woman he loved. "I can't lose her," Kid repeated in a cracked whispered. "And now I really need to see her," he concluded and without looking at anybody, Kid rose to his feet and headed for the stairs, eager to lay eyes on Lou but at the same time terrified of what he might find.
From her sitting position Doritha looked at his retreating figure with a thoughtful expression. The doctor had confirmed what she had suspected all along. Louise might not be dead now, but she wouldn't hold on much longer. Her fears of minutes ago had vanished and now Doritha felt strangely calm and quiet. Maybe this was the way life had of giving her back what rightly belonged to her. Kid would soon be rid of that woman forever and she'd be there to pick up his bruised soul.
Despite her hopes, Doritha was still troubled by what had happened, but she couldn't keep crying over spilt milk. What was done was done, and there was no reason why she should lament her own actions. Being of a practical nature, Doritha told herself that this was just one opportunity that although unwillingly, she had created for her own good and she planned to make the most of it. Louise McCloud was finally out of the picture and now she could breathe with utter relief.