Chapter 15

Luke was putting some things away when he saw the horses coming. He squinted in the sun. Penny walked over with Garrett on her hip.

"Luke, is it them?"

Luke nodded as they both rushed over to the house. Penny waited on the porch as the others came outside. Annie ran to get her Grandma and Grandpa. The riders got closer. Lou walked out to meet them in the yard. Jimmy was not with them. She felt a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. They slowly pulled to a stop. Dakota and the girls came over.

Buck slid down carefully. Dakota went over to pull him into a hug. He eased away from her.

"You ok?" She asked noticing his stiff demeanor.

"Fine. Just a scratch." He smiled.

Noah looked around at all their anxious faces. He got down. Teaspoon stepped forward.

"What's happened Noah?"

Noah shook his head. Lou noticed the tears well up in his eyes. Teaspoon grabbed his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"We found Hunter." He said trying to hold everything together.

"Where is he?" Lou asked softly.

"He left."

"And Jimmy?"

"Uh, this is hard to say Lou."

"Just spit it out."

"We don't know."

"Come inside. All of ya. Let's sit and work through this." Teaspoon said easily.

The group nodded and moved inside Lou and Jimmy's home. Once seated, Noah couldn't say it. He got up and walked back outside. Buck looked at Lou's face. He looked at all of them.

"You brought his horse home, Buck." Lou said through a tight throat.

"Hunter was in deep…" Buck began the story. "Cody stayed behind. He will keep the search until we find him or his…." Buck ended slowly.

"Jimmy is not dead. My son did not kill his father. He wouldn't." Lou said through the tears.

"He shot him, Lou. We can't find him." Buck said sadly.

"I would know if he was dead! I would know!" Lou screamed out.

She stood so fast that she turned her chair over before running up the stairs. Lori and Annie wiped their faces. Luke stared unblinkingly at his hands. No one said anything.

Lou had not come out of her room in a week. She laid on their bed with his dirty clothes that had been pushed down in his saddlebags. She wrapped them in her arms. She wasn't eating. She wasn't doing anything. Eli peeked in the room but then sadly made his way downstairs. He went over to his grandma's to eat. He sat down at the table.

"Here, Eli." Rachel said as she put a plate in front of him.

"I just want everything to go back the way it was." Eli said as he started to cry.

"Oh, Elijah." Rachel sat and pulled the boy on her lap in a tight hug.

Teaspoon and Luke sat staring into the distance. No one had hardly been speaking. Everyone had their own way of dealing with grief. Without Jimmy there, part of their tree was broken beyond repair. The fact that Hunter had been the one to chop it down was killing them all. A horse appeared on the horizon.

"Expecting someone?" Luke asked.

Teaspoon stood to look. He knew only one person who sat a horse like that.

"It's Cody."

They waited for him to make it into the yard. Teaspoon went and pulled him in a hug. He stepped back. Cody felt the emotion come rushing up. Teaspoon saw it before it got free. He pulled him back into a tight embrace.

Lou made her way around the farm like a zombie two weeks later. Cody had brought the news but soon left to head back. Seems he wasn't giving up. Lou felt herself giving up with each passing day. She was losing hope and she hated it. Hated herself for it. Cody had found nothing. Not even a piece of cloth. He was gone. Gone.

Lou carried her basket back inside. She sat at their table and looked around. He was everywhere around her, but yet, he wasn't there. She couldn't even cry anymore. She had nothing left. She heard Lucas yelling for her and Teaspoon outside. Then for Buck and Tate. She heard something strange in his voice. She ran out the door. She almost fell in her hurry. She saw a strange horse. She pushed between Buck and Tate. She froze. Hunter was humped over in his saddle, clinging to the horn. He fell down onto the dirt. He struggled to get to his feet. He leaned against his horse and looked at all his family.

"I need to see Dad." Hunter said hoarsely.

Luke stepped up to his brother.

"He ain't here. You killed him."

Hunter fell into despair. He dropped down onto his knees. He started sobbing. Lou just stood in shock. No one moved closer as the sobs shook his body.

"I am so sorry." Hunter whispered before collapsing.

The end for now…