Winds of Change Chapter 17
Lou leans forward and put her elbows on Teaspoons desk "Let's see if I got this right Teaspoon. Basically the plan is, I walk over to Thompkins store and Jake finds me there and tells me I am wanted but I draw on him as I run into the alley, that's where he pretends ta shoot me, then you and Cody come running, and spread the word I was killed."
She, Teaspoon, Cody and Jake were in Teaspoons office hashing out the details of their plan to make it look like Lou dies at the hands of the notorious bounty hunter Jake Coulter.
"That's about it Sweetheart" Teaspoon pauses looking at Lou "I can see your wheels turning, what cha thinkin'?"
"Teaspoon it always worries me when something is that easy, especially when Jake is involved"
Jake leans casually against the doorframe grunts and raises an eyebrow at Lou's comment.
Lou turns in her chair and looks at him "Do I have to remind you again about Silver Springs"
"Lord girl are you ever gonna let me live that down?"
Lou put her hands on the desk and pushed herself up "Look I need to go check on Jamie and since she's staying with Emily this morning, I'll let Buck know what the plan is." She heads for the door "Jake just look for me outside the store about 3 o'clock." She stops for a moment, her hand on the door knob, sighs and looks back "And Cody if you see Jimmy you might want to let him know what's going on"
…
Lou knocks lightly on the door and sticks her head into the small room at the back of the livery that Buck uses as an office, "Can I come in?"
"Sure Lou." Buck smiled; never one to rush things he waits for her to speak.
"I just wanted to let you know we have a plan for me to die today" Lou smiled a crocked smile realizing that probably wasn't funny. She sat down on the corner of his desk and told him about the plan they had come up with to get Sharp off her trail.
Buck's smile faded "I don't like it Lou, it doesn't feel right. I know it sounds like a good idea, but something isn't right. You need to be careful and I don't like keeping things from Rachel and Emily."
"Me neither Buck, but Teaspoon and Jake think its best." Lou said and then quickly changed the subject before Buck could talk her out of going through with it.
"Tell me about the spread you and Emily are looking at. Rachel was telling me that you'd found the perfect place."
"Well we did, it's about 20 miles north of here near Big Sandy. Real pretty place, the house is small and needs work but the land is fine, reminds me of Emma's place in Sweetwater"
"That sounds great but will you keep the Livery going too, what with living so far out?"
"Well when we were looking at the place, I was thinking you and I would partner up, run the ranch and livery together. You and Jamie could live here in town and run the livery, that way you'd be near Rachel and Teaspoon and Em and I would live at the ranch and we'd help each other a lot, we'd make it work. But it doesn't matter now since we don't have enough money saved up and the bank won't loan us the rest, so it looks like we won't be getting it."
"Why wouldn't they lend you the money? You got a good business and you've lived here a long time."
Buck just looked at her and raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
"'Cause you're an Indian!?" Lou exclaimed "Ya gotta to be kidding me that don't sound like Mr. Taylor? What'd Teaspoon say?"
"Mr. Taylor isn't the bank manager anymore, he went back east and no I didn't tell the family…. yet."
Lou reached over and placed her hand on Bucks "Once we get through this trouble with Sharp, we'll figure something out I promise." Buck smiled at Lou always the optimist. "Anyway, us partnering could be just the thing to solve a few problems all around." She said as she stood up to leave.
"I best be going, I wanna check in on Jamie and then I have a death to attend."
"That's not funny Lou" Buck said as she moved through the open door "And be careful, watch your back"
…
"Rachel, do you need help with anything?" Lou asked handing Rachel the clothes pins. Lou had spent some time at Emily's, feeding Jamie lunch and putting her down for a nap before coming to talk to Rachel.
Rachel continued hanging clothes on the line as they talked "Not right now, Oh wait if you could pick up a few things for me at Thompkins that would be a big help. I need a few things for the party tomorrow."
Lou handed her another clothes pin "Sure thing, I'm headed over there in a little while anyway. Rachel it ain't right you doing all the cooking for your own birthday party."
Rachel laughed "Well we could ask Cody or Teaspoon to cook for us. Would that be better?"
"No, no we don't want that. But you should let me and Emily do more"
"Em is baking the cake and I know you'll help me tomorrow, but both of you have the babies to look after….." Rachel reached out and put her arm around Lou "….and to tell you the truth I love cooking for my whole family, it isn't often we are all here together and it makes me happy. It might just be the best birthday I've had in a long time."
Lou looked out at the prairie spreading out behind the house as far as the eye could see and chewed her bottom lip "Rachel I hope you know how much we all love you, how much I love you and…well… I'm sorry for any trouble or pain I caused you" all Lou could think about is the pain Rachel will feel hearing that Lou was dead, even if her dying wasn't real, the pain will be real to Rachel.
"Of course Lou, you know when Henry died all those years ago, I couldn't imagine ever loving anyone again and I was sure I would never have a family after the baby was gone. But here I am surrounded by all of you, married to a wonderful man and about to celebrate my 29th birthday…again." And as their laughter was carried away by the gentle prairie breeze they continued hanging clothes on the line unaware of the dark eyes that watched them.
…
"Well Louise, I think that's all I need for now, are you sure this is what you want to do?" asks Matthew the assistant manager at the Bank of Rock Creek.
"Matthew you know it's the only way. Do I need to sign anything else?"
"No Lou it's all taken care of." Matthew stood and shook Lou's hand "I'll have copies of the paperwork for you in a few days"
Lou walked out of the bank feeling at least a little better about Jamie's future knowing that anything could happen today. It was getting close to 3:00 and as she walked towards Thompkins store she felt uneasy, the hair on her neck stood on end and she knew she was being watched. She remembered what Buck had said and turned for a moment to look over her shoulder. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right and as she stepped on to porch in front of Thompkins store she wondered where Jimmy was.
Mr. Thompkins was standing in front of his store sweeping the steps as Lou walked up "Hello Lou" he said, "How's that pretty daughter of yours?"
Lou smiled, Thompkins always asked about Jamie, it was well known that he was the worst gossip in town and she was never sure if he was just making polite conversation or if he was waiting for her to shout out 'Mine and Jimmy's baby it just fine' confirming his suspicions.
"She's perfect as always Mr. Thompkins, I need to pick up a few things for Rachel and I was wondering if you could help me"
"Well of course Lou, let's go inside and I'll take a look at Rachel's list" Thompkins started to walk into the store
'Well here we go' Lou thought to herself as she watched Jakes reflection in the window, walking across the street, headed towards her.
"Mrs. McCloud, Louise McCloud" Jake said stepping onto the porch.
Lou turns around looking at Jake and putting her hand on her side arm "Who wants ta know?"
"Now look I don't want any trouble…." Thompkins begins to say recognizing the bounty hunter.
"You're wanted for murder in the state of Virginia; I'm here to bring you in"
"Lou!?" Thompkins shouts "What's going on?"
Lou looks back at him, 'I have to make this look convincing' she thinks to herself "Thompkins stay outta this, ain't none of your concern go on inside" Lou draws her weapon and turns toward the bounty hunter and begins backing away "I ain't going no place with you, you ain't got no rights out here, this ain't Virginia" Lou turns and heads towards the alley.
"Makes no never mind to me, Dead or Alive is how they want you. Looks like dead is how they're gonna get ya" Jake begins to draw his pistol.
"Lou!" Thompkins shouts "look out"
Lou turns and fires at Jake as she runs into the alley. Jake follows close behind even firing a few shots, as Thompkins takes off running towards the marshal's office.
Lou runs into the alleyway sure that Jake is following, she even hears a few shots fired but before she can play dead she feels a hand grab her painfully by the hair as another hand strikes her arm knocking her gun to the ground and then drags her back into the shadows. Lou lets out a scream as Jake rounds the corner; she sees the flash of a weapon close to her face and watches in horror as Jake drops to the ground blood quickly covering the front of his shirt. "No!" She yells as she feels the hot pistol barrel burning the flesh at her temple and sees another figure run into the alley.
"Let her go!" Jimmy yells stopping next to Jakes still body "Just let her go" The alley is dark enough that he's not sure he can get a shot off without hitting Lou.
"Wild Bill coming to the rescue, well now ain't that a sight." Sharp says digging his hands tighter into her hair pulling her head back and putting the barrel under her chin. "You're too late to save her but you do get to watch her die."
"Noooo !" Jimmy yells as he watches Sharp pull the hammer back.
In that same moment they hear a voice holler "My kill Sharp, my kill and I ain't giving it up that easy" Jake raises up on his side, aiming at Sharp he pulls the trigger and hopes Jimmy is thinking clear and his hand is steady.
In that moment everything seemed speed up so fast that in the blink of an eye Sharp pointed his weapon and began firing, at the same moment Lou elbowed Sharp in the ribs and broke free rolling to the ground and grabbing her own gun as she turned and fired, just as Jimmy got off two shots, one from each gun. The sound of so many weapons firing in the small dark alley was deafening and the smoke so thick that as Teaspoon and Cody came running in they weren't sure who was who or where anyone was, but as the smoke cleared and the echoes of the gun fight faded all Teaspoon could say was "Oh my dear Lord!" Cody turned towards Thompkins who ran in behind them "Go get the Doc! Quick!"
"Oh my dear Lord" was all Teaspoon could say as he walked into the bloody alleyway.
…
"Oh Jake what'd ya do that for? That bullet was meant for me" Lou said putting her kerchief under his shirt and putting pressure on his wound trying to stop the rush of blood.
"Oh nothing as heroic as all that Louie," he said in a weak voice "he's just a terrible shot is all. Looks like Hickok got him though."
"I think we all did. Look you lay still I'm going to go get the doc" Lou starts to stand and turn but Jake grabs her arm and stops her "Louise you need to lay low, you're supposed to be dead remember, Sharp ain't a threat any more but he could have someone riding with him. Play dead for a while longer"
"But you need help"
"Cody already sent for the Doc" Jimmy says kneeling next to Lou "Lou let me get you outta here and over to the Doc's, Coulter's right you gotta play dead, let Teaspoon and Cody take care of Coulter"
A tear wells up in her eye and takes Jakes hand "See what'd I tell ya, just like Silver Springs"
Teaspoon walks over and helps Lou up "Honey you and Jimmy head over to Doc Avery's place before anyone else shows up, I'll square things with Thompkins, make sure he knows what's going one. Now go we'll take care of Coulter."
…
Rachel comes running down the sidewalk in front of Doc Avery's office and throws her arms around Teaspoon "Oh thank God you're alright, Greg Munson came and told me that someone had been shot"
Teaspoon takes a deep breath and looks at her "Well sweetheart someone was shot, a couple of someone's actually."
Damn it all ta hell Teaspoon thought he never was any good at lying "Well there were two bounty hunters….."
"After Louise?" Rachel interrupted.
Teaspoon nodded "Yes…..they're in with the doc now, Jimmy's with her, he took a bullet in his arm…" He reached out to stop her from going in "Leave him be for now, he's gonna be fine, but this is gonna be hard on him, on all of us"
"What's gonna be hard Teaspoon? What happened?" Rachel asked her voice tense with worry.
"Lou was shot …..and our girl is gone"
No!" Rachel cries and collapses into his arms. Teaspoon holds her up Lordy he felt guilty as hell about putting her through this but until they were sure that Sharp wasn't followed, or had help they had to make sure Lou stayed "dead".
Teaspoon kept his arm around her shoulders and spoke softly "Rachel, Honey I need ya ta be strong just for a bit, I need ya ta go on over to livery and tell Buck what happened and get him over here now. You stay with Emily and the young'uns'"
Rachel looked at her husband face "Teaspoon something ain't right, what aren't you telling me?" she said through her tears.
"Just go get Buck, I need help dealing with all this, I'm still the marshal and have a job ta do. Now please just go"
….
"Jake you're gonna be ok ya hear me" Lou stood over him while the Doc started working on him.
"Lou he's out cold he can't hear ya, come outta there and let the doc work" Jimmy says pulling her out of the doc's surgery room and into the exam room.
"This shouldn't a happened, I let me guard down, I never saw Sharp, I rounded the corner and heard a shot about the time I felt him grab me, then you came and …." Lou said looking at Jimmy's arm, tears welled in her eyes; she came close to losing him today.
Then she took a deep breath, pulled herself together and said "take off your coat let's have a look at that arm."
"Doc will look at it later, I'm fine."
"Just take off your coat and shirt the least I can do is clean it up."
"Look Lou I'm sorry I ran out this morning" Jimmy said taking off his coat and pulling his arm from the sleeve.
"It's ok, I understand. Musta' been hard to hear all that about me" Lou said as she looked at jimmy's arm.
"Your arm ain't that bad I can clean it and bandage it then Doc can look at it after he's done with Jake" she starts digging through the doc's cabinets looking for antiseptic and bandages.
Lou got what she needed and started to clean Jimmy's wound.
"Ya don't understand" he said hissing through his teeth, the antiseptic doing it's job on his wound "Damnit Lou look at me!"
Lou looked up as she finished bandaging the wound on his arm "It really is ok Jimmy. I know it was a surprise to hear about me and Coulter and then about Wicks…." She paused "…especially after everything else I've told ya. I ain't lived a regular life Jimmy and I've done things I ain't happy about, but I've also done things I'm real proud of. I'm not ashamed of my life Jimmy, I did what I had to and tried my best not ta hurt anyone along the way. Leastwise not if I could help it, so I'm sorry …"
They were interrupted by the door opening and Teaspoon walking in "How's everyone feeling doin' in here?"
Lou stands up "Jimmy's fine, just a graze," Lou looks down at Jimmy "but it could have been a lot worse and doc's working on Jake now."
Lou walked over to Teaspoon "I'm sorry about all this; I knew I should have stayed in Colorado. It might have been better if I hadn't come back at all."
…
"Emily please stop crying honey" Buck said holding his wife close. Rachel had brought them the bad news and sat with them, soft silent tears running down her cheeks. Buck did his best to look shocked at the news that Lou was dead, but he was never good at deception and the guilt of causing them so much anguish was too much. Watching Emily in this state was more than he could bear. He knows he has to tell her the truth before she makes herself sick.
"Emily look at me, stop please and looked at me"
"How can you…. be … so … calm the women you love like a sister is dead and you sit there telling me to stop crying are you that heartless Buck!"
"Listen to me honey" he looks over at "You too Rachel, you both have to calm down and listen. Lou is not dead" he whispered.
Rachel stood up in shock and with tears still falling on her face said "What? But we heard the shots and Teaspoon told me she was dead, why would he lie?"
"Please sit down Rachel and I will tell you both everything."
…
Emily was wiping her eyes, shocked at what Buck had told them. She and Rachel were both shocked and angry and it was all Buck could do to keep Rachel from running to Teaspoon and to Lou, when they heard a knock on the door.
Buck looked through the window next to the door and back at Emily "It's Matthew Stringer from the bank?" Buck opens the door.
"Hello Matthew what can I do for you?"
"Buck it's real important that I talk to you and Emily"
"Matthew this isn't a good time, we…. we lost a good friend today, so if you don't mind…."
Matthew interrupted him, there was an urgency in his voice as he walked past Buck into the house "Buck, that's what I came to talk to you about, about Lou…. Louise. I heard what happened and that's why I'm here. She came to see me today. Look I understand that this is a bad time but it's important Buck, you need to know why she came to see me."
"Alright" Buck motioned for him to join them in the front room where Emily and Rachel were sitting.
Matthew looked at Rachel and back at Buck "It's kinda personal Buck, can I talk to you and Emily alone?"
"Anything you need to say to us can be said in front of my family. I would like Rachel to stay"
"What's going on Buck?" Rachel asked "if you need me to leave…."
Buck held up his hand "No, I would rather you stay."
Buck turned his attention towards Matthew as he sat down next to Emily and took her hand "Tell us what's going on Matthew."
"Well Louise came into the bank today she said she needed to take care of a few things."
Matthew reached into his brief case as he spoke "She told me that my manager denied you a loan and we talked about ways she could help so she decided to execute a loan herself so you could buy the ranch." He took some papers from the brief case.
Emily looked "I don't understand. She took out a loan at the bank…. for us?"
"Yes….No not exactly, I mean the bank isn't loaning you the money, she is. Louise started the paper work to loan you $2000"
"$2000!" Buck exclaimed "What. How? Matthew I don't understand, where did she get that kind of money?"
"I don't know Buck, she didn't say, she's had that account with us ever since you all moved here from Sweetwater. After she left this morning I started the paper work and I was transferring the funds when she…when it happened….. but I stopped the loan after I heard about her ….. dying"
"Of course you did, I understand, it's all right Mathew" Buck said.
"No Buck you don't understand, I stopped the loan going through because you won't need it." Matthew sighed "Look she took care of a lot of personal business when she was there today…It was like she knew something was going to happen….Buck, Emily she made you the beneficiaries of her account. That means is that if something, anything happened to her you would get her money..…all of it"
Stunned Buck looked at Mathew "What do you mean all of it? How much does she…. did she have?"
Matthew took a deep breath "$4,678.92"
"Oh my God" Emily exclaimed fresh tears running down her face.
"She never said anything about having that much money" Rachel said "Where did it come from."
"I don't know Rachel, for years the account was dormant, there wasn't any activity, I guess it was the years she was in Virginia. She has made a few deposits since coming back but that's all I know. Buck, you'll need to come to the bank as soon as possible and sign some papers and then the money is yours."
"Thank you for coming to tell us Mathew" Buck said as he stood up "You can tell we're in shock about everything, so if you don't mind …"
"Oh no of course not" He moves towards the door but turns and hands Buck an envelope "She did one more thing; she left this letter for you, in case anything ever happened to her."
Buck looks down at the envelope in his hand as Emily shows Matthew to the door. 'To Buck Cross' was written in Lou's hand across the front of the envelope.
Emily closes the door and walks back over to Buck still staring at the letter "Well open it."
Buck looks up at her and Rachel "I don't know if I should."
"Why not she wrote it to you" Emily said.
"But she's not dead" Buck reminded them.
"Read the letter Buck it might answer some questions and then go talk to her" Rachel suggested.
Buck opened the letter and began reading
Dear Buck and Emily
If you are reading this well that means I am gone, that something went wrong with our plan and you also know about the money I have in the bank. I want you both to know the reason I have left you my money is I want you to take care of Jamie, to raise her. Jimmy is her father but he can't do it by himself he'll need all of you, all of his family to help him take care of her. Take the money, buy the ranch we have all dreamed of and partner with Jimmy, if that's what he wants to do. But if he doesn't and he goes back to Abilene then please take Jamie and raise her so she'll know the love of such a wonderful family as ours. I have one more favor to ask, please use some of the money to look after Jeremiah and Teresa. I know that's a lot to ask but please do your best to look after them.
I guess you're wondering where I got that money; well I saved nearly every cent I made working at the express. The rest of the money came from my friend Charlotte. When she left St Jo and ran away from Wicks, she took close to $3000 from him. After she died I was going through her things and found the money. I figured Wicks was dead and well he wasn't going to need it.
You take it and use it to help raise Jamie and do your best to keep Jimmy here. She'll need her father.
Lou
They were all stunned by the letter and her request. "I have to go talk to her" Buck said leaving the house.
….
Buck walks into Docs place "How you doing Jimmy?" He watches as Teaspoon fashions a sling for Jimmy's arm.
Jimmy looks up "I'm doing ok, just a scratch" Jimmy says.
Buck sees Lou standing by the window, her head hanging low. He walks over and puts his arm around her shoulder
Buck leads Lou to a settee and turns to Teaspoon "Tell me what's going on"
"Just talking a few things over, is all. Look Buck I think we should tell Rachel and Emily the truth it should be alright."
"Well I agree Teaspoon and I already told them, I had to, you should have seen how upset they both were. I couldn't do it."
Teaspoon smiled "No I understand and I'm probably gonna get me an ear full when this is all over."
Buck looks at his sister seated next to him "Lou we need to talk" He says holding up the envelope for her to see.
Lou looks surprised "Buck where did you get that? Matthew wasn't supposed to give that to you unless something happened to me, unless I …..Oh….no….I didn't think about that." Lou puts her hand over her mouth "he thinks I'm dead, really dead"
"Yes he does, Lou I don't know what to say about all this" he says holding up the letter "About all of what Matthew told us. Obviously since you're alive I'm not going to take your money ….I guess we can talk about it when you're not ….you know…. dead."
"What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked as he stood up.
Lou looked over at Jimmy "Well, it's a letter I wrote to Buck and Emily and I left it with Matthew at the bank, basically I left the money in my account to them in case something happened to me. That way they could buy the ranch and they could take care of Jamie."
"Why would you talk care of Jamie, I'm her Pa?" Jimmy asked taking a step towards Buck.
"Lou just wanted us to help you take care of her" Buck said standing to face Jimmy.
"I don't need any help; I can raise my daughter."
"Well she also wanted us to look after her brother and sister and to raise Jamie if you were going back to Abilene."
"Of course I'm going back I got a job there"
"But Lou didn't want Jaime raised there, you can read the letter if you want."
"Boys…Boys….I ain't really dead, remember. We can talk about this later, but for now" Lou turns her attention to Teaspoon "how long do I have to pretend?"
"Well through tomorrow. I figure by then we will know whether Sharp had anyone riding with him."
They all turned as they heard the doctors surgery door open Lou stepped towards the Doctor as he walked out "How is he?"
"He's going to be fine, the bullet came out clean, and now he needs to rest so you should all go on home. Jimmy do I need to look at your arm?"
Jimmy shook his head "No, Lou took care of it."
The Doc looked at Lou, "So are you playing dead Louise?"
"At least for a day or two"
"Well you can stay here, at least until dark, so no one sees you and Mr. Coulter was asking for you, you can go in when you like. I need to clean up" Doc Avery says wiping his hands on a towel as he left the room.
"Thanks Doc" Lou says walking into the room where Jake lay.
….