Chapter 9

Sam shifted in the saddle, Emma's grip on his waist tightening. He didn't know why but after spending a week with Buck and Lou he was loath to leave but he had to get back to his duties. But there was something nagging at the back of his head, something uneasy.

"What's the matter Sam, you've been acting like someone put ants on the saddle since we left?" Emma asked after Sam shifted yet again.

"I don't rightly know Emma...I know we gotta get back but something don't feel right about leaving." Sam stated.

"I know, I wish I could have talked Lou into coming back with us. But I know Buck will take care of her. She'll be fine. They promised to come visit once Buck gets back from selling his stock next month." Emma said her face pressed against Sam's back.

They rode on in silence for a while, they were about half way to town when Emma spoke again. "Sam...that fella working for Buck. Did he seem I dunno off somehow to you?"

"He's a drunk. I did some snooping in the barn one day while he was out working with Buck, the loft was full of empty whiskey bottles."

"I mean other than that... I just got this feeling whenever he was around, he made my skin crawl." Emma stated with a shudder.

"Yeah I know what ya mean. Buck's smart though I'm sure he's keeping a sharp eye on that fella." Sam said giving Emma's hand a squeeze from where it rested on his stomach.

They were quiet the rest of the way into town, both lost in their thoughts. Sam didn't want to worry Emma anymore than she already was but that Jeb fella working for Buck didn't sit right with him one iota. Sure he was a drunk but there was more to it. He had shifty eyes, like he was always looking over his shoulder for someone, and the way Sam had seen him looking at Lou worried him. He had told Buck as much. Sam couldn't get back to his office fast enough, that Jeb fella was just one more man he'd be looking into once he returned. Finding the man that hurt Lou was top priority though.

The journey home was long and quiet. Neither Sam nor Emma seemed able to shake the black clouds of worry from over their heads. So as soon as the stagecoach rolled into Sweetwater, Sam was off to his office after making a short stop at the telegram office to wire back to Virginia to get the details of the attack on Lou, he needed to know who the man was and what he looked like and his last known location. He also sent a wire to Omaha to see if there were any warrants out for Jeb Spencer. After he walked into his office he sat at his desk and placed his head in his hands. He prayed he was wrong in feeling like he shouldn't have left Buck's, he prayed that the nagging feeling, nagging suspicion he had was wrong because if it was right Lou and Buck were in very real danger.

Buck had watched Sam and Emma leaving with a heavy heart. Sam had warned Buck about the way Jeb looked at Lou, and Buck had seen the look of hate for himself in Jeb's eyes on a few occasions. He was glad that the livestock sale was just a couple of weeks away, he had made the decision that Jeb could stay until they took the horses to the auction and then he would be gone. Buck wouldn't hire him again after this trip. Two days after Sam and Emma had left, Buck and Jeb rode into town for supplies and to post the ad for men that Buck would be needing. Buck could have gone by himself but he didn't feel comfortable leaving Lou alone with the man.

After the men had left Lou went into the barn, she couldn't't shake the feeling that she knew Jeb but a search through the man's few possessions revealed nothing. Absolutely nothing, no letters, no tintypes, nothing of any kinda sentimental value or value of any kind. This struck Lou as odd, even when she had been at her poorest and lowest she had something that connected her to those she loved, be it a old hair ribbon of her mothers, or an old red bandana, an eagle feather, a piece of fringe off a pair of old buckskins...there was nothing in this man's possessions that pointed to anything, any people he loved, any where he might have called home, it was almost as if Jeb Spencer didn't really exist.