Chapter 41
Cody and Hickok rode out of town as soon as they got ready. There was still a couple of hours' light, and when night fell, they made camp by a creek. The two friends had not said a single word since they had left Rock Creek. Even when they stopped for the night and could finally relax and eat some dinner, they kept quiet.
"Who could have thought you and I would be riding together again?" Cody finally broke the silence.
Jimmy stared at his friend above the camp fire that separated them. He calmly chewed a mouthful of beans, and when he swallowed them, he said, "You're right. It's been too long. This is important and for a good reason. It's about Lou."
"Do you think she'll make it?" Cody asked in a low, concerned voice.
"Of course she will. You know what a fighter she is, and Dr. Sullivan sounded quite optimistic."
"I hope you're right," Cody remarked, toying with the uneaten beans on his plate. "I can only imagine what Kid's going through. If something similar ever happened to my Louisa, I don't know what that would do to me."
Jimmy stared at his friend with obvious surprise. "I've never heard you so… so concerned and loving before."
"I love my wife and my family, but believe it or not, I'm quite… uh… shy when it's about them."
"You shy? Are you trying to pull my leg, Cody?" Jimmy exclaimed, unable to hide his disbelief and amusement.
Cody shook his head, and to Jimmy's total bewilderment his cheeks blushed. "It's true," Cody muttered. "They're my most beloved treasure, and… I don't know. It's difficult to explain. I feel I don't want to show them to the world. I just want them for myself, and even a hug in public feels as if our love gets soiled. I know it doesn't make sense."
Even though Cody was right and his explanation could not be more muddled, Jimmy understood him. "You're very lucky, Cody."
"I know," he admitted without the merest attempt to conceal the pride from his voice.
Jimmy nodded again. Maybe he would be lucky one day too, or who knows? Perhaps he was already lucky. He liked his life as it was. His friends meant the world to him, and had become the family Jimmy had always lured himself to think he did not need. Right now he could not imagine himself without them, and although they were not together all the time, he knew he could count on each of them no matter how far they were. He also loved his job and the action and adventure that came with it. It made him feel useful and alive, and he really couldn't see himself doing anything else. Maybe if he had a wife and children to think of, he would have to re-think his responsibilities. A wife might want him to lull and do a more regular job, which Jimmy would surely dislike. So in a way he was lucky not to have a little wife at home.
Despite his convictions Jimmy also felt a deep longing for a woman in his soul, and he would really like to start his every day in a crowded bed, and hear something more than silence in his empty house. At the moment he was courting a girl from town, Millie, but he didn't think it would last for too long. Even though he had been seeing her for months, Jimmy felt there was something missing, and he knew she wasn't the one.
Jimmy pondered over all the women he had loved in his life and had let go for one reason or another. Sometimes it had been his lack of courage, and others his pride. If he had done things differently, he would not be so lonely now. Yet, there was no time for regrets, but to look ahead, and trust the future.
Downing the rest of his coffee, Jimmy reached out to pour himself another cup. "Have you thought what we're gonna do when we get to Seneca?" Cody asked.
"We just have to do what Teaspoon told us: go and see Mr. Jack Stewart."
"And how are we gonna make him fess up?" Cody continued. "We can't expect him to spit a confession just like that."
"I have a plan… I always have a plan," Jimmy said with a crooked smile.
"I hope it works, Jimmy. I want the bastard who tried to kill Lou to pay for it," Cody said, his blue eyes shining with a dead serious quality that was too rare to see in them.
"I want that too, and we'll catch him," Jimmy stated matter-of-factly. Both men relapsed into silence once again. Neither said a word for the rest of the night as they kept in thought. They knew they could not fail; Kid and all the family counted on them. Jack Stewart had to pay for what he had done to Lou, and in the silence they swore to everything holy that nothing would stop them from doing justice.
It had been years since there had been so many people eating in his dining room. Nobody wanted to leave Kid while Lou was still so sick, so they all hung out in the house. Rachel had cooked dinner, and it had taken very persuasive powers to drag Kid away from Lou's side and convince him he needed to eat. Even so, the Southerner barely had a few bits and kept moving the food on his plate to and fro. The others talked in soft tones, words that Kid did not bother to understand. Theresa, Albert, and Rachel were on one side of the table, while Teaspoon and Buck sat opposite them. Kid had taken the place at one end while Ari was in the seat that should have been Lou's. The woman had arrived a couple of hours ago, and had been totally distraught when she had learned how sick Louise was.
"Kid, you should eat a bit more," Ari said, snapping him out of his thoughtfulness. "You won't be of any help to Louise if you get yourself sick."
"My stomach can't take any more," the Southerner added, pushing the plate away from him.
"It's understandable you have lost your appetite," Rachel continued. "But you have to make an effort."
"And you know Lou will have our hides if we don't look after you properly."
Kid managed a sad smile after Teaspoon's words. Even though Dr. Sullivan had given him the hope he had so wished for, the Southerner would not be able to relax until Lou was certainly out of danger.
To everybody's surprise, Theresa thumped her fist against the table, making it rattle, as she exclaimed, "Will you stop pretending my sister's gonna be fine? She's dying! Don't talk about her as if she only had a simple cold! The sooner we come to terms with her real situation, the less hurt we'll be adding to this already too sharp a pain!"
Theresa burst out crying loudly, and moved by her tears, Ari and Rachel also started weeping. Kid watched them in silence and with guilt. Following Teaspoon's warning, nobody had said a word about the real cause behind Lou's sickness. Not even Rachel knew everything, and they even had to come up with a lie for Jimmy and Cody's absence. Kid felt too bad to cause the women such a distress. Yet, if Teaspoon thought it was better this way, he might have his reasons. The marshal was rarely wrong, and Kid had blind faith in him.
"Tessie, I don't think givin' up on Lou is gonna help your sister," Teaspoon said in a soft tone.
Theresa lifted her moist eyes to the marshal. "Nothing can help her… nothing at all."
"Maybe not," Teaspoon conceded. "But you know what our Lou is like, and I don't think she'd appreciate to see how little faith we have in her. She'd go ballistic if she heard us right now."
Theresa kept quiet, and nobody else dared to say another word. Kid pulled the napkin off his nap, and rose to his feet. "I better take Lou some dinner," he muttered as he picked up his half-eaten plate and cutlery.
"Do you need any help?" Rachel offered.
The Southerner shook his head. "Go home, Rachel. Allan and your little one must be missing you. There's nothing here you can do, and your family needs you."
Kid disappeared into the kitchen, closing the door behind him. "Theresa, I think we should go too," Albert said, and as his wife looked at the closed kitchen door, he added, "He'll be fine on his own, and I'm sure he'd really welcome some quiet moments without people around."
"And if he needs something, I'll be here," Ari said with a smile. Kid had asked her to stay in the house, using Jeremiah's old bedroom. Theresa would have liked to sleep in her old home too, but she knew she couldn't just leave her husband alone in the hotel, and her old bed was too small for the two of them.
Theresa did not want to leave, but she knew Albert was right. Nodding, she rose to her feet. "Good night then," she muttered to no one in particular.
"Sleep well," Teaspoon added with a smile.
Theresa nodded again, and turned her attention to Ari. "I'm sorry to meet you under these terrible circumstances, Mrs. Giles. My sister was so glad to have found you after so many years, and she told me all about you."
Ari smiled, accepting she was nothing to this young woman who she had held in her arms as a baby. "Please call me Ari, or use your sister's nickname, Dana. You were such a lovely baby, Theresa, and it's hardly surprising you grew into this beautiful woman." Despite the deep sadness she was feeling, Theresa smiled thankfully, and Ari shifted her eyes to Albert. "You're a very lucky man."
"Yes, I know," Albert replied, passing an arm around his wife's shoulders.
Ari stared at the man for a few seconds, deep in thought. "You know? I have the weird impression I've seen you before. Have you ever been to Fort Kearney, Mr. Keller?"
"No, never," Albert replied in a flat tone.
"I don't know why, but your face looks so familiar."
"I guess I have one of those common faces," Albert remarked.
"That must be it."
Albert tilted his head to the woman politely, and steered his wife away, following Rachel to the front door. Ari stared after them, racking her brains to remember where she had seen Albert Keller before. She was sure today was not the first time she had laid eyes on the young man, but if for some reason he did not want to admit, it wasn't really important.
Cody and Jimmy arrived in Seneca around midday. Before getting down to the business that brought them to the city, they got themselves a couple of rooms at the hotel where they washed up and rested for a while. Later they had lunch in one of the restaurants.
It was late in the afternoon when the two former Pony Express riders made their way to the store. It was the only place they knew they could find Jack Stewart, and they hoped the man hadn't decided to close the store and have a day off since neither of the McCloud women was around.
Luckily, the store was open for business. It was quite full of customers when the two friends stepped inside. There were several men and women, looking around or waiting for their turn to talk to Jack Stewart, who was busy dealing with a tall gentleman. Cody and Jimmy roamed around the store, discreetly studying their target man. He was obviously very efficient and his smile was imperishable as he talked to the customers one by one.
When the last man left the store, carrying his purchases with a satisfied gait, Cody discreetly latched the door to avoid any interruptions. Albert had a ready smile as he approached Jimmy, but his face scrunched up in annoyance when he heard the metallic click at the door, and his displeased eyes shifted to Cody. "Hey, what the heck do you think you're doing?"
Cody did no reply, and walked closer to where Jimmy and the store keeper stood. "Jack Stewart, my name's James Hickok. My friend Cody and I work for the marshal in Rock Creek," Jimmy said, showing the badge pinned onto his vest.
That drew Jack's attention. "What can I do for you, Mr. Hickok?" he asked, wondering what business these two lawmen could possibly have in Seneca, so far from their location.
"We're also friends of Louise McCloud's," Cody added.
Jack's expression changed drastically as he remembered that his boss originally came from Rock Creek. It was there where her husband had taken her, according to Theresa, sneaking her out in the middle of the night like a thief. Jack did not approve of what Kid had done because Louise was too sick to travel, but as the young man had told Teresa, her husband had every right to decide what was best for her, and nobody could say anything against it.
"How's Louise?" Jack promptly asked, clutching his two hands together as he dreadfully waited for the answer.
"Not very well, I'm afraid, but she's still holding on," Jimmy replied, studying the man's face for any reactions.
Jack sighed. "I still can't believe she's so sick. Somebody so energetic and full of life like Louise, and so young…"
"Nobody's safe from disease," Cody ventured, expecting some change in the man's countenance, but Jack did not let anything on.
"I guess not," Jack said in a sad voice. It was devastating to think about Louise, and he could hardly reconcile with the idea of losing her. He genuinely loved her, and it was too hard not to be able to show the ripping pain searing him inside. He had no right to feel her loss so much; he was nobody to everybody's eyes, and he was especially nothing to her as she had clearly told him.
"Jack," Jimmy called, snapping the young man out of his thoughts. "May I call you Jack?" the man nodded, and Hickok said, "I'd like to ask you some questions."
"Questions? What questions?"
Jimmy ignored Jack, and took the tea tin out of his jacket pocket. "Do you happen to know what this is?" he asked, placing the tin on top of the counter.
Jack dropped a casual look at the container, and instantly recognized the pattern of smooth blueness marred by tiny white flowers. His uncle's shelves in his small store were full of these tins in different sizes. Jack lifted the one sitting on the counter to his eyes, and said, "My uncle sells them… well, rather what's inside."
"This belongs to Louise. You gave it to her?" Cody added.
Jack nodded. "For months now she's taken a preparation of herbs… some kind of tisane, which apparently is good for her stomach. You know, she sometimes suffers from pains and heartburn because of a stomach ulcer she's been fighting off for years," Jack explained, unsure why these two friends of Louise's were asking him these strange questions.
"I'd really like to try a cup now," Jimmy said. "What do you think, Cody?"
"I think it's an excellent idea," Cody replied with a smug smirk.
"Uh… there's a stove at the back. I can boil some…"
"Don't bother yourself. I can do it perfectly," Jimmy cut him off, and before Jack could say another word, Hickok whizzed past him to the back of the store. In the minutes that Jimmy was busy, brewing some tea, Jack remained in uncomfortable silence in Cody's overbearing presence, not really understanding what these two men were doing here, why they had invaded the store, or what they really wanted. A few customers knocked at the window, demanding to be let into the store, and Jack politely had to tell them to come back later, which in most cases did not sit well with the people who were in a hurry to be done with their purchases.
Jimmy returned a few minutes later. Placing a steaming cup of the brew on the counter, the deputy turned to Jack with no-nonsense eyes. "This is for you, Jack Stewart. Lou's special tea. Go ahead and drink it up."
Jack shifted his eyes between Jimmy and Cody, realizing that they had something up their sleeves they weren't saying. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Nobody but Louise likes it."
"This ain't a request, Jack. Drink it or I'll feel terribly offended."
"Let me tell you something, Jack. It's dangerous to irk Jimmy even for the simplest reasons. He's likely to shoot first, and apologize later."
"I never apologize," Jimmy said, slightly moving the edge of his jacket to reveal his shining colts.
Jack stared at the two men as if they had lost their mind, and he couldn't wait for them to leave. This was totally insane, the weirdest situation he had ever found himself in. Had this Hickok guy threatened to kill him if he didn't drink this darn tea? What kind of friends were they to Louise? Where they really lawmen, or were they simply playing a very strange joke on him? Jack did not want trouble, so without a word he picked up the cup, intending to drink his bitter tea and be done with this mad situation.
"Good thinking," Jimmy said with a smirk. "Drink the tea. I've added double dose of those miraculous herbs."
Jack did not reply, and just as his lips made contact with the china cup, a strong force knocked it down which collided with one of his teeth, which almost cracked from the impact. Jack's hand flew to his mouth and stared at Jimmy in dumbfounded silence, realizing that the long-haired deputy had punched the cup away from his hold. Broken pieces of the ceramic cup spread on the counter, and the tea formed a puddle on its surface, running the length of it and dripping onto the floor. "Are you crazy?" Jack exclaimed loudly. "What the hell is this about? I don't understand a damn thing!"
Cody and Jimmy exchanged a knowing look. It was possible that Jack Stewart had nothing to do with Lou's poisoning; he had been ready to drink the tea without apparent fear. Or would he take the risk because he knew a cup would not be lethal? Cody and Jimmy had no way of knowing what was true, and there were no other leads to follow. They suspected Jack had tried to kill Lou, but if he was not behind this sordid matter, then what now? Cody decided there was just one thing they could do. "Jack, did you know that the tea Lou dutifully drank for her stomach was a deadly composition that is killing her little by little?"
Surprise and shock instantly registered on Jack's face. "What? But that's … that's impossible."
"The doctor in Rock Creek confirmed it," Jimmy added. "Somebody tampered with Lou's tea on purpose, loading it with very dangerous ammunition for her health. She could be dead now if nobody had realized what was happening to her."
"I swear it wasn't me!"
"It was you who brought her the tea," Jimmy reminded him. "And I gather that having an herbalist as an uncle, you know quite a big deal about poisonous flowers, plants, and all that."
"What? No, no!" Jack denied, shaking his head energetically.
"And we know you had more than a friendly interest in her, and didn't react too well when you got to know she was married," Cody added.
"But… but I could never harm Louise, or any woman. Yes, I was hurt because I fell for her, and I fooled myself thinking she might want me one day too. That didn't mean I would wish her ill, or do something against her. You have to believe me! Louise is a good friend above anything else. You have to understand that because you're also her friends!"
Cody and Jimmy shared another look, silently agreeing that this man was telling the truth and was blameless. "Jack, somebody tried to kill her," Cody said. "If it wasn't you, then who? Who could know Lou was the only one who drank this concoction, and more importantly, who could know where she kept it and had access to it?"
"Only her family… Maybe her husband; she started feeling sick when she returned with him."
If looks could kill, Jack would be dead right now. "Leave Kid out of this, understood?" Jimmy snapped angrily. "He has nothing to do with this! Don't even go down that road!"
"I'm sorry. It's just a logical conclusion."
"Not so logical if you really knew Kid," Cody added.
"Then that leaves only Theresa and…"
"We can't count Tessie in this," Jimmy said thoughtfully. "That just leaves us her stiff husband. What about him?"
"I don't know much about Mr. Keller, but I doubt he could do something like that to Louise. As far as I know, he's very fond of her."
"Appearances can be defective," Cody mused.
"I wish I could have something more to tell you," Jack said honestly, but stopped short when he was hit by an idea. "Would it help if you could snoop around their house? Louise keeps a key in the office for emergencies."
Jimmy nodded. "I don't know if it'll help, but we won't know until we have a look."
Jack hurriedly ran to the office to find the key, leaving to the two former Pony Express riders alone. "So stretching the law a bit, Mr. Hickok? Trespassing is a crime, ain't it?"
"This is for Lou," was all Jimmy offered as an explanation. "Are you game or not?"
"Do you have to ask? You know I'll follow you anywhere… to hell itself if necessary."
Cody's teasing words made Jimmy crack for the first time in days. Trust Cody to lift spirits, and he would never let you down. Right now what they really needed was a boost of confidence and optimism, and trust that Lou would get well, and the rotten soul behind this strange plot would finally receive what they deserved.