Chapter Two: Revelations
Wicks had the upper hand again, and Lou was trapped, a prisoner of her own fear. Every cell in her body told her to run, fight, kill, but she was paralyzed.
"You won't make it past the barn if you touch me," Lou said bravely, struggling to pick herself up.
Wicks kicked her in the side hard enough to send her crashing her back to the ground, "That won't matter to you."
Lou struggled to get her breath back, and watched, frozen in horror as he reached for her, flashbacks racing through her mind, a strange union of past and present that was clouding her thoughts.
"You reach one more inch and I'll blow your goddamned head right off your neck!" A deadly voice growled, and the quiet "click" of a gun hammer being cocked stopped Wicks cold. Lou closed her eyes in relief at Jimmy's timely arrival and finally caught the breath knocked from her with a loud gasp that sounded like a sob.
"Oh, you'd better step away from her," Jimmy seethed, voice low and dangerous. He quickly closed the distance and backed Wicks up, standing above Lou protectively.
"She's got something that doesn't belong to her," Wicks said.
"Lou, you okay?" Jimmy asked quietly, without taking his eyes off who he assumed was the man Kid had warned might hurt her. A man named Wicks. If you see him near her, kill him.
He raised the gun.
"Jimmy! No! Please, no!" Lou said from the dirt, her voice trembling wildly. "I'm fine. You can't kill him!"
"Yeah, I can," he disagreed and aligned the man's forehead with the gun's barrel.
"Jimmy!" she half scolded, half begged.
The desperation in her voice snapped him from his bloodlust, but he wanted to do the man bodily harm. He'd seen the big man boot her in the side, nearly lifting her off the ground. And he had seen her face when Wicks reached toward her. He'd never seen Lou so frightened, never wanted to see her scared like that again.
"Teaspoon might not have been able to keep you in jail last time, but I have a feeling that won't be a problem again," Jimmy said in the same dangerous tone.
Lou suddenly was struggling to her feet. Jimmy reached down to help her up with his eyes still fixed on the man in front of him.
"Let him go, Jimmy," Lou suddenly said.
"What!" Jimmy exclaimed, looking at Lou for the first time.
Unshed tears made her eyes glow bright, and her voice trembled when she repeated, "Just let him go. He won't be back here."
"This is the second time he's caused trouble for you in the past couple of days. There ain't gonna be a third."
"Jimmy, I need you to listen to me, to do this for me. Let him go."
Jimmy again looked at her in utter confusion, briefly, before turning back to Wicks, "Lou-."
"Jimmy, do it!" She snapped, voice breaking.
Wicks watched the whole interaction in silence. Nervously, he glanced back at the one with the gun as if he wasn't sure anything Louise said was going to slake the bloodthirst in that man's eyes. Jimmy appeared to be considering letting him live with great reluctance.
"Damn it, Lou," Jimmy snapped back at her, but as usual he couldn't deny her wishes. It was just that typically he knew her judgment was good. This time, she wasn't making any sense. His eyes were on fire as he gazed at Wicks, "Ride out, now, before I listen to my gut and end you. And if you ever come back..."
"Spare me the speech, will you boy? I've heard it," Wicks backed out of the barn. Jimmy holstered his gun when he was sure Wicks was gone and turned to Lou angrily, "What the hell was that about? What's gotten into you?" He demanded.
When a tear escaped her eye, he was instantly contrite, remembered the terror on her face. His voice was gentle as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Lou, you have me pretty worried. You all right? How's your side? Did he hurt you?"
Yes, Lou thought frantically, more than you know! She was shaking as she turned her head into Jimmy's shoulder and he put his arms around her when she shook with sobs.
"I thought he was dead!" she cried, "he was supposed to be dead!"
Completely baffled by this display of vulnerability from Lou, Jimmy pulled her in and held her hard, eyes still watching the exit Wicks had left. "It's all right now. He is gone."
He inwardly thought in frustration, why didn't you pull your gun on him Lou? You had time if he chased you. Does this man make you lose your wits to the point you can't even think to protect yourself? That you won't let me do it either? Why?
Lou suddenly regained her control, and pulled away, wiping at her eyes. She looked at him with eyes that were a little too glassy and vacant, and said calmly, "We aren't going to say anything about this. To anybody."
Jimmy's voice was quiet, but forceful. "I let him go for you, Lou, but damn it, now you're asking too much!"
"Jimmy, you know I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important to me. I'm begging you. Don't. You can't tell. I got my reasons.
"If you can give me one of those reasons why you think I shouldn't tell, I'll think about it."
Lou raised her chin stubbornly, but said nothing.
"No? Well, then neither can I," Jimmy shot back. They stood faced off, toe to toe, glaring at each other with their arms folded across their chests and irritation in their eyes.
"I'm asking you for this, Jimmy…"
A third voice caused them both to jump in surprise. Buck poked his head in the barn telling them, "Supper's ready."
Jimmy's eyes shifted from Buck back to Lou, who was gazing at him expectantly. Nervously.
"Anything wrong?" Buck asked, "You both look like you've seen a ghost."
Jimmy pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. The headache that had developed while dealing with the most stubborn, bull-headed female he'd ever met didn't really surprise him. It wasn't the first time, after all. Again, she'd won.
"No, everything's fine. Let's go eat." He conceded, eyes slipping to Lou. Lou gave him the faintest smile of thanks before she walked toward Buck, who held the door for them both.
Jimmy felt sick about what he had just done.
"And then Ben reached out to give Ron the pouch, and Ron leaned over to get it, and just tumbled right off his horse! Served him right too, not five minutes earlier he'd been bragging to everyone about how he'd never been thrown!" Cody laughed at his own story.
"Cody," Teaspoon sighed, "You ever heard of keeping your mouth closed, particularly when it's full of food?"
A small peal of laughter echoed in the bunkhouse, and Cody grinned, "Well, I figure I'm such a fountain of information, I owe it to the world to share at all times."
They chuckled and there was quiet as everyone turned back to their food.
"Saw that Wicks fellow in town this afternoon," Jesse suddenly said. Jimmy, who'd been sitting silently the whole meal, glanced up for the first time at the mention of the name. Lou's fork slipped from her fingers and clattered against her plate, earning her curious looks.
"What?" Teaspoon roared, "I thought I left no doubt in his mind what would happen if he stuck around!"
"Well, he did stick because, I saw him coming out of our barn!" Jesse said. "I followed him...he rode off after that."
All eyes shifted to Lou, who'd gone white to the roots of her hair. Jimmy shifted uncomfortably as Teaspoon asked her, "Lou, has he bothered you?"
"No," Lou mumbled, and she saw Jimmy shake his head. She glared at him.
"Lou," he admonished her, ignoring her warning. "Tell them."
"Tell them what?" Teaspoon growled through narrowed eyes.
Lou shot Jimmy a look that should have killed him, then with her eyes on her plate, said, "He just stopped by to bid me a farewell."
"He did what!" Teaspoon yelled and slammed his fist on the table, but when Lou jumped a mile and pressed her hand to her heart, he tried to calm his voice. The rest of the riders fixed their eyes on the small girl, who still stared steadfastly at her plate, "Did he try to hurt you?"
"No," Lou lied, unconvincingly.
"Dang it Lou!" Jimmy finally snapped, "You got to tell him."
Lou's mouth set in the stubborn line he knew too well.
"Then I am," Jimmy said, knowing he was risking her wrath, "I walked in the barn and found Lou on the ground. Wicks was standing over her, kicked her when she tried to get up. He seemed to think she had something of his."
"That's it! He's going back in jail!" Teaspoon declared. "If I don't shoot him first."
"He's gone, Teaspoon, he won't be back." Lou's voice was barely a whisper.
"Lou, I ain't so sure about that, sweetheart," He said gently, "Specially if he thinks you've got something that belongs to him."
Anger choking her that they were pulling at the loose threads she was held together by after the last few days, she yelled, "He thinks I belong to him!" Instantly, she regretted saying it.
There was a brief, stunned silence and a flurry of looks between them over Lou's bowed head as they tried to decipher that.
"All the more reason he might try again," Cody murmured quietly, having been uncharacteristically silent during the exchange thus far.
"It's my business!" Lou snapped, and Cody bit his lip and held his hands up, as if in surrender.
"You could get hurt Lou! He could kill you! He might have done just that if I hadn't showed up, because you were too scared to pull your gun on him!"
Lou's eyes went wide in horror when Jimmy mentioned how she'd frozen in front of all of them. Just when she thought that she'd never experienced such mortification, Jesse contributed.
"What if he would have raped you again?"
The words that tumbled so carelessly out of his mouth startled the whole table into absolute silence. No one breathed, no one moved. Glances flew between the boys, Teaspoon, and Rachel. Jesse suddenly realized his mistake and covered his mouth. Horrified eyes slowly turned to Lou.
Her eyes were fixed on her plate, her cheeks a glowing, fiery red. Tears rapidly ran down her blushing cheeks. They all saw the trembling of her hands as she pushed herself up, and weaved on shaky knees. Her eyes pinned each of them, looking for the traitor in the midst.
Who'd given her away, Kid or Rachel? The thought of either of them betraying her was too much, and without a sound, she flew from the bunkhouse.
"Louise!" Rachel called after her, getting to her feet.
"Again?" Hickok and Buck demanded at the same time when she was gone.
"Better to let her be right now," Teaspoon said solemnly. His eyes turned towards the figure cowering at the end of the table, "Jesse!" He snarled furiously, "Let me guess how you found out about all this!"
"Teaspoon, I didn't mean to be there, I promise. It's just that after Kid and Buck left, you lit into the guy right away, and I didn't have a chance to get out! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt Lou! It just slipped out!"
"I know that, and I'm sure Lou even knows that, but the fact is, you did. You have got to learn to shut your mouth," Teaspoon scolded, then relented. Jesse looked miserable enough without his help. His gaze shifted to see how the other riders were reacting.
All of them, even the fountain-of-information Cody, were speechless. They all had wrinkled brows and exchanged shocked and confused glances from time to time.
Jimmy seemed to be taking it the hardest. His hand covered his mouth and his eyes were closed as he said in a voice that didn't sound like his own, "I let him go. He was right in front of me, about to do the same thing to her again, and I let him go!"
"Easy son, it wasn't your fault," Teaspoon said.
"No wonder Kid tried to kill him," Buck said, his sharp, black eyes turning on Teaspoon accusingly, "He rapes a woman and you can't keep him locked up?" Buck's patience and respect for the law was wearing thinner and thinner. First, Teaspoon couldn't protect Ike, and now Lou was in danger.
Rachel sighed, deciding that since they knew the worst of it they might as well know what really happened. "Wicks hurt Lou a long time ago, when she worked for him. Right after she left the orphanage. It's been years, and there wasn't anything Teaspoon could have done. Especially since Lou wouldn't tell him what was wrong."
Buck's dark eyes still smoldered with resentment.
"I'm going after him," Jimmy announced, standing up.
"Now, hold on. I already had to consider tying down the Kid. You can't just go after a man and kill him in cold blood."
"My blood ain't cold right now, damn it. I'll call him out," Jimmy growled.
"I'm going with him," Cody said and they all rose from their seats simultaneously.
Teaspoon slammed a fist on the table again. "Damn it, don't you know a man like Wicks ain't gonna face you. He'll let a hired gun back shoot you, and that ain't gonna help Lou."
Jimmy paced around the bunkhouse, too many bad memories stirring in his head. "I'm going to talk to her. I don't want her alone out there."
"She may not want to talk to you," Noah said softly. "She may need some space."
"Well, she ain't getting it right now," Jimmy shot back at them and opened the door. Jimmy grabbed his coat, and then thinking the better of it, picked up Lou's also, and walked out to a beautiful sunset. He found Lou sitting on the hard packed dust in back of the barn, facing the brilliant purple and gold sky, hugging her knees to her chest.
He thought of what he'd just learned about her. About what had been done with her, and he wanted to set the man he'd let go without a scratch on fire. He could imagine the taste of blood on his tongue. He thought maybe he'd never been so mad, so disgusted. But as he looked at Lou, he knew that his anger was not what she needed. He took deep breaths, pushed them out through his nose as he watched her slim shoulders bowed low under the weight of her worry and her shame. Nothing in him could have left her there feeling that way.
A rock crunched beneath his boot, and Lou instantly whirled around, fear on her face.
"It's just me, don't shoot," Jimmy smiled, holding up both hands.
Without saying anything, she turned back around.
Jimmy slowly set the jacket around her slim shoulders, and she glanced up at him with a strange cross of betrayal, embarrassment, and anger.
"A peace offering," Jimmy explained, not taking offense at her hot glare.
Lou didn't look at him again, but kept her eyes fixed ahead. They still swam with tears that she had instantly stopped shedding at his arrival. Her cheeks grew red again.
"Aw, Lou, I'm sorry I told Teaspoon. I'm just worried about you." He sat down close to her on the dirt and gave her a nudge with his shoulder.
He was rewarded with a small smile, "I'm not sore at you, Jimmy."
"Well, that's good to know. So why exactly is it that you are sitting out here in this freezing night air if you aren't mad at me?"
Lou didn't answer, and Jimmy could actually sense her cutting herself off from him, even before he saw the set of her jaw.
"Jesse then? It was a horrible thing for him to say, and out of place, but you are the last person in the world he'd cause pain to. The kid's just got a big mouth, that's all."
"I'm not mad at anyone, Jimmy. I just can't go in there, and I don't know how I'm ever going to go back in there again, now that..." She paused and fixed her gaze to the dirt, swallowing hard.
"Now that what?" Jimmy pushed her, "Now that we know?"
Lou nodded, turning even redder.
Jimmy sighed, "Lou, I don't want to pry...but when he-how old were you?"
"Fourteen," she murmured, putting her face in her hands and scrubbing hard, as if she could wipe away the words and the memory.
Despite his determination to not react, Jimmy could not prevent the distressed sound that escaped from his throat.
"Jimmy, this was the biggest secret I got. I never wanted anyone to know. And for years now, no one did. Except Charlotte. And now, in two days, everyone I care about knows what happened to me, and I don't think I can stand it. I can't. The shame is going to kill me, Jimmy."
"Lou, the only shame lies with Wicks. You do know that right?" She met his gaze levelly, but did not respond. "Right?"
Lou shook her head, "You're wrong, Jimmy. It was my fault for being stupid."
"No, Lou, can't you see?" Jimmy sighed, "You weren't stupid, you were innocent. There's a hell of a difference."
"The end result was pretty much the same, wouldn't you agree?"
"But it wasn't the end, was it? You made it, you survived!"
Lou shook her head, "I ran away, I hid. Hell, I'm still hiding, Jimmy. I'm still as scared of him as I was the night it all happened. You saw how I froze today. I couldn't hardly speak when he caught me, much less fight. And I hate myself for that!"
"Lou, I've never known anyone like you," Jimmy suddenly said, shaking his head, "Damn it, it isn't a crime to be afraid!" When she tried to drop her gaze in embarrassment again, Jimmy gently took her chin in his hands and turned her face up so that she was forced to look him in the eye and know he told her the truth, "You'd be a fool not to be afraid of a man that hurt you like he must have. Hell, your friend was scared enough of him to kill herself, Lou. So, you have one weak spot. I have about a hundred. You're still the bravest one of us all, you know."
Unconvinced, but feeling too exposed in the path of his stare, Lou pulled away from his grasp and again stared out at the brilliant sky. It washed her face in gold, and Jimmy thought it suited her. She was rare and precious too.
He reached out to take her hand in his "He didn't win...he didn't take away who you are, Lou."
When Jimmy turned to glance at Lou, her eyes were on his face, then boring into his. He couldn't fathom the expression behind them, but at least he had her attention.
"Jimmy, yes he did take away who I am. As soon as I got away from him I quit being Louise altogether."
"No, you stopped wearing dresses, Lou," He smiled, squeezed her hand and let it go, and she instantly dropped it back over her knee to worry the other one. "But he didn't change the brave, honest, smart, woman you are. And in case you've forgotten that the last few days, don't think we have."
Lou didn't say anything, but her eyes stung with tears at his faith in her.
Jimmy cautiously set his arm around her shoulders, pleased when she let him, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. They watched the beautiful colors from the sunset fade into navy velvet in companionable silence.
"How's your side?" he asked at length.
"I'll do," she murmured and they fell quiet again.
"You're a good friend, Jimmy Hickok," She said after a long time.
"The best," He agreed, grinning, "And modest too. What I am is cold, so what do you say to us going in?"
Lou balked, "I don't think I can. How do I face them?"
"You expect them to throw things at you? Heckle you about this?"
"I almost wish they would...that'd be a normal reaction from them. What if they feel sorry for me?" Lou looked panicked, she couldn't remember ever feeling so ill at ease at the prospect of going into the bunkhouse; at least not since her first nights in there with the boys.
"Lou, they don't feel sorry for you, but they are sorry. And sick, and angry. But not at you."
"What do I say?" Lou persisted, holding her hands out.
Jimmy smiled, "Now, when have you ever had to say somethin'? Leave that to Cody."
Lou wasn't nearly as confident. Would they look on her with new eyes? Would they turn from her in disgust? Pity her? Scorn her? She didn't think she could stand any of those things.
"Lou, I just have one question for you before we go in," Jimmy told her.
"All right."
"When Wicks said you'd stolen something from him, what was he really talking about?"
Lou could not look at him as she lied through her teeth, "I don't know, Jimmy."
Jimmy studied her for a moment, and seemed satisfied with her answer. Lou's mind was filled with guilt for deceiving him. She had the money Charlotte had stolen from Wicks and had hidden it away. She'd die before she gave Wicks the satisfaction of having it back. That money was meant to give Charlotte a new life, a life free of the hell Wicks had kept her in for so long. Charlotte had given Lou a chance to make a wonderful life, and had come to Lou looking for the same favor. Only, Lou had failed her miserably, and the beautiful woman was dead. For Charlotte, she'd make sure Wicks never saw the money he so wanted again.
Jimmy gently placed his hand on Lou's back and ushered her into the warm bunkhouse ahead of him, feeling her resistance to walk over the threshold as he did.
At first, it was everything Lou feared it would be. Uneasy silence greeted her as every one of the boys stopped in their tracks and stared, their mouths opening and closing almost like landed fish, as they considered something to say and then thought the better of it.
But, as Jimmy predicted, it was Cody who broke the strain. Without a word, but with a gentle smile that reached all the way into his turquoise eyes, Cody walked to Lou and put his arms around her in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet altogether.
Lou felt tears sting her eyes as his unusual display of affection for her. They still loved her, she was still one of them. Her eyes met Noah's quiet smile over Cody's shoulder as he set her back on her feet.
She sighed with relief. Jesse came to face her, his big eyes very troubled, "Lou, I'm sorry, I mean, that ain't what I meant to say."
Lou smiled softly and hugged the boy who had such a special place in her heart, "I know you just said it because you were worried about me."
"All of us were, Lou," Noah pointed out gently.
"Lou," Buck murmured at last, the spokesman for the group. "If that man shows up around here again, ain't one of us that is going to let him ride out alive. And unless you want to say more about it, that's the last we'll mention it."
Lou smiled finding it difficult to speak around the emotion tightening her throat into a knot.
"You boys never cease to amaze me, you know."
"Yeah, we know," Cody grinned devilishly and winked, "I for one, never cease to amaze even myself."
"You wanted to see me Teaspoon?" Lou asked as she poked her head into the marshal's office the next morning, feeling shy.
"Yeah, come on in, Lou," He waved her towards a chair. Lou sighed, afraid of where this conversation was going already. Teaspoon perched himself on his desk and looked at her before saying, "I want to apologize for what happened last night. It was my fault."
"What do you mean?"
"It was me that pushed Rachel into telling me what you'd told her. Now, please don't go getting mad at Rachel, because she was worried sick about you. Everyone was...still is if I am being honest with you. Wicks had to stop back by here yesterday before leaving town, so I made it perfectly clear what would happen to him if we saw him around here, and around you, again. I got kind of rattled, lost my temper. I forgot that Jesse was still in the back of the office. He overheard."
Lou nodded, glad to know that Rachel hadn't sat them all down and told them her secret directly. That had been a little too much to bear.
"I don't know, maybe it's good that the boys got an explanation for my behavior the last few days."
"I wanna say that you don't owe nobody an explanation, Lou, except there's another thing I've been wonderin'. Now, I know I may be an old man, but I'm still damn convincing when I want to be. I know I scared Wicks yesterday, and I know he believed that I really would kill him if I ever found him near you again. He knew that a word from you about what happened in the woods and I would lock him up or shoot him, more likely. So he knows the kind of risk he was taking coming to the station and laying hands on you. Now, I can't help but think he must have thought it was worth the risk to come back. So, after what Jimmy said happened, I am wondering if there ain't something you have that he wants."
As with Jimmy, Lou found she couldn't meet his eyes and lie to him at the same time, so she looked at her fidgeting hands, "I don't have anything that he would want besides revenge for being humiliated by you. Jimmy put that notion out of his mind when he chased him off."
"Darlin', I'm sorry if I caused you more trouble. Still, I'm worried that he'll come after you again. Do I need to worry?"
"No," Lou lied, "I saw the look on his face when Jimmy held the gun on him. He was scared."
Teaspoon sighed with relief, "What about that money you said he thought your friend had?"
"He didn't find it because she never had it, I guess," Lou shrugged.
"And you're sure he ain't got no reason to seek you out again?"
Lou nodded wordlessly. She hated deception, but if she was to get on with her life, she had to let them all think that Wicks was gone for good.
She had to let herself believe that too.
Kid couldn't remember ever having made the run to Seneca in such record time. Katy was blowing hard when Rock Creek rose into view, but for once Kid didn't care. Wicks had plagued his thoughts since he'd ridden out, and he'd been uneasy ever since he left Lou standing alone on the hard packed dirt, eyes strangely vacant.
He slung the pouch at Noah and his buckskin, pulled Katy up, and leapt off in nearly one movement. After taking a few stumbling steps to keep from falling flat on his face, he glanced up at the bunkhouse porch where Cody and Jesse were gleefully waiting for him to do just that. They were disappointed when he found his feet again.
"Katy not fast enough for you? You gonna deliver the mail on foot from now on, Kid?" Cody asked innocently.
"Very funny, Cody," Kid smiled slightly, "Where's Lou?"
"Ran away, said something about joining the carnival," Cody shrugged.
Kid glared.
Jesse laughed then, which just encouraged Cody, "Yeah, something about doing daredevil stunts and leaping through rings of fire. Did you know Lou could do that Jesse? I had no idea!"
"Cody!" Kid hissed, making a threatening step towards him, "Where is she?"
"Hey, lighten up, Kid! She's out back with Buck watching Jimmy try to break the bay stud."
Kid shot them both dirty looks as they howled with laughter at him. Jesse finally had the good sense to shut up, and jumped off the porch, "I'll take Katy, Kid."
"Thanks Jesse," Kid grinned, "So, anything exciting happened around here?"
"Yeah!" Jesse said, his gift of putting his foot in his mouth second only to Cody, "Wicks came after Lou yesterday right after you'd left but Jimmy found him and, oops." He said simply when Kid took off towards Lou.
"Way to go, Jesse," Cody sighed, rolling his eyes, "Poor Lou won't be able to peel him from her side now."
Jesse sighed, wondering if he'd ever learn to keep his mouth closed. Then he and Cody glanced at one another and knowing that a good show could be coming, they took off for the corral at the same time.
Lou and Buck laughed as Jimmy hit the dirt for the third time and groaned loudly."Where's Noah when you need him?" He gasped, rolling over to his back in the dirt and laying there.
Lou held the gate as a grinning Buck went into the corral to help Jimmy up again.
"You sure showed him," Buck commented.
"Yeah, I think so," Jimmy agreed, groaning again as he stiffly climbed to his feet.
Lou shook her head, "Yeah, you showed him how to get rid of anyone he doesn't care to have on his back!"
No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than someone grabbed her from behind.
With a gasp, then a yell, Lou instinctively spun around, her fists flying. Her blow found her mark, and it was too late to pull back as she realized it was Kid. Everything else happened fast. Buck pulled his gun, and Jimmy instinctively went for his, which of course wasn't strapped on. Cody and Jesse stopped cold not far from the scene, just as Jimmy and Buck started for Lou's attacker.
"Lou!" Kid yelped just before contact, then slumped to the ground with the force of the punch.
"Damn, Lou, remind me not to make you mad," Cody said, shaking his head and staring at the sprawled Kid.
Covering her mouth with her bruised hand, Lou fell to her knees beside the Kid. Jimmy and Buck were instantly standing over them both. Kid mumbled and grimaced, bringing his hand to gingerly touch his swelling and purpling eye.
"Kid, I'm so sorry!" Lou gasped out, horrified.
Squinting into the blinding sunlight, he saw Lou's pale face, then behind her Jimmy, Buck, Cody, and Jesse all trying not to laugh and failing miserably.
"I'm never gonna live this one down," Kid finally muttered, and shut his eyes again.
Not much later than that, Lou sat on Kid's bunk beside him, gently holding a raw steak to his eye, which was blackening rapidly.
"I'm so sorry, Kid," Lou said for the hundredth time in the last five minutes.
Kid reached up and covered Lou's hand with his, "I already told you it was my fault. I should have known better than to sneak up on you and grab you with all that's been going on."
Lou sighed and gently disentangled her hand, letting Kid hold the steak.
Kid turned his head so he could study Lou out of his good eye, "So when do you think you might tell me what happened?"
"Not much to tell, Kid," Lou sighed, "Wicks came after me one more time before he skipped town, and Jimmy ran him off."
"And that's all?" Kid asked, "The end?"
"What are you talking about, Kid?" Lou mumbled, staring at her hands, which had clenched into fists.
Kid grinned as he followed her eyes, and again sought her hand, "Aren't planning on using these fists on me again, are you? I promise I'll be good!"
Lou smiled and blushed, shaking her head, "I'm not making any promises!"
"Okay, Lou, tell me what really happened, why Wicks came after you again."
"Because I caused him to get into trouble, because Teaspoon insulted his pride and he wanted to have the last laugh."
"And?" Kid persisted.
"And what. That's it!" Lou said, growing irritated.
"No it ain't, and you know it Lou. Jimmy told me, Wicks said you had stolen something from him."
"If Jimmy's already gone behind my back and told you everything, I don't know why I have to sit here and put up with this, with this...interrogation!" Lou snapped.
"Jimmy's worried about you, in fact everyone is. Most of all, me," Kid said, knowing he would have to be careful or she'd shut up like a clam, "He told me...told me how you froze up, how scared you werre, how you didn't pull your gun, how you denied everything to Teaspoon's face, and then how the truth came out. Did you forget about all that Lou?"
Lou resented his overly patient tone and snapped, "Why everyone has to know every detail of my life is beyond me!" At that moment the bunkhouse door came open and Jimmy, Buck, and Cody strolled in, "I've dealt with this alone until now, and I never needed any of you to watch over me! I never should have told you Kid! I never should have trusted you! Any of you!"
Buck quickly jumped from Lou's path as she let herself out of the bunkhouse. The slam echoed so loudly that all the boys jumped.