A SECRET SHARED
A SECRET SHAREDby
Disclaimer: The characters and early scenes are creations of Ed Spielman. They are used for entertainment purposes only and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: With the new category of "what if" stories popping up, I thought I would throw my hat in the ring. The question has been posed on some message boards before..."What if another rider found out Lou was a girl instead of Kid?" This "what if" addresses that issue. If this story is similar to another, I apologize - sometimes the show and fan fic get mixed up in my old brain. No ideas were taken on purpose!
Lou McCloud was out on her first ride as a Pony Express rider. The sky was slightly hazy, as the morning fog still hung in the air. She was nearing her first relay station, where she'd hand over her horse, Lightning, for a fresh mount before continuing on to the next station. The station master at the relay station was supposed to be a man by the name of Harley.
Lou and the boys had finished their Express training under the tutelage of Teaspoon Hunter, the Sweetwater station master. Teaspoon had called her "a might puny," but she'd proven herself in both riding and shooting, and being the lightest of the group, she was also the fastest. And still no one knew her secret. If things kept up the way they were going, she'd have enough money to get a place of her own in no time and reunite with her brother and sister, who were still in an orphanage in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Lou couldn't believe her good fortune. She was making excellent money doing something she loved - riding horses. She didn't have to be a saloon girl worrying about drunk men and where they'd place their hands. She didn't have to work as a maid in a hotel, getting paid pittance doing the nastiest job she could think of...cleaning up after filthy travelers and restless drifters. No chamber pots, no laundry. She could enjoy the fresh air and make good money, and no one ever needed to know she was a girl.
Seeing the relay station just ahead, Lou pushed Lightning a little harder, anxious to let her gelding rest and be on her way with a fresh mount. She rode into the yard of the relay station, which appeared deserted. Lou's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Harley, ya got my mount?" she called. "Harley!?"
Something wasn't right, and Lou could feel it. She spun Lightning around, trying to catch a glimpse of all angles of the station. Then she saw the station master, lying dead in the yard.
"Harley..." she whispered, suddenly sickened and overwhelmingly frightened at the same time. What's goin' on? Who coulda done this?
Lou heard several six-shooters being cocked all around her. Then a voice called out, "What ya think yer doin', sonny? What ya got in them saddlebags?"
Lou wasn't about to be the first Express rider to lose the mail. That would get her fired for sure. And she certainly didn't want these outlaws finding out her secret, realizing what could happen if they did. The thought almost made her mind drift, but she merely cringed and pulled herself together before spurring Lightning forward. She hoped her trusty horse had one last burst of energy in him to get her away from these men.
Even if Lightning did have the speed, Lou wasn't destined to see it. She felt a bullet strike her in the side, its force throwing her off Lightning to the ground, unconscious.
"Mr. Spoon, you better send someone out after that boy," Emma Shannon insisted. "He was s'posed to be back hours ago! Somethin' musta happened."
Teaspoon Hunter hemmed and hawed. Ike McSwain was the next rider up, so he couldn't go, and Jimmy Hickock had just ridden in, dog tired from a run back from Fort Laramie. Buck Cross and the Kid were in town stocking up on supplies for the station. He'd have to send Billy Cody.
"All right, Emma," Teaspoon finally conceded. "But I'm tellin' you, the boy is fine. He's as fast as the wind and'll be here shortly..."
"No 'buts', Mr. Spoon," Emma declared firmly. "'Sides, that's what you said three hours ago. You either send a rider or I'm goin' out there myself!"
Teaspoon could see the red-haired woman's temper was as fiery as her hair. Riding out into the wilderness - a place filled with outlaws, Indians, and wild animals - was certainly no place for a woman. Not to mention Marshal Sam Cain would have Teaspoon's hide if anything happened to Emma. He was going to have to give in on this one.
"Cody!" he called. Receiving no response, Teaspoon yelled again, "Billy Cody, you git yerself outta that bunkhouse right now. If I hafta come in an' git ya you'll wish you never heard the words Pony Express!"
Cody sauntered out of the bunkhouse, dazed and looking half asleep. "What d' ya want now?" he whined. "I was in the middle of a perfectly good dream. There was all these pretty girls fawnin' over me..."
"Then a dream it was!" Teaspoon agreed with the blonde rider. "Now you listen here, son. Lou's gone missin' and I need a rider to go out and find 'im. You're all I got, so you're up."
"It ain't my turn!" Cody complained.
"I thought you thought this was an adventure, Mr. Cody," Teaspoon said to him. "You changin' yer mind already?"
"Why do I hafta go look for that runt?" Cody questioned.
"'Cause he might be in trouble, and 'cause Mr. Spoon told ya to," Emma interjected.
Cody hung his head and turned towards the barn. No, more like 'cause you said so, he decided, his thoughts directed to Emma.
