But Teaspoon didn’t seem to see him, and marched straight on towards his shed. Ike looked after him, wondering what could have happened to send Teaspoon in such a bad mood. At the sound of another horse coming out from the barn, he turned only to see Buck finish saddling up his horse. Surprised, he walked over to his friend, but before he could reach him, Buck had swung into the saddle and galloped out of the station. Ike followed him a few running steps, but was forced to turn back as he at the same time noticed Lou heading towards the stable.

“Hi Ike,” she called out as she passed him the mochilla. “Where was Buck heading?”

Ike shrugged and quickly mounted. He had no idea what had upset his friend, but whatever it was he hoped Buck would be able to handle it on his own. He spurred his horse into a gallop and with Lou’s call “Ride safe” echoing in his ears he headed out.

Dusty and tired, Lou dismounted and looked around. The station seemed oddly abandoned and she frowned at the sight. She turned to the bunkhouse as the door opened slowly and Cody carefully peaked out.

“What’s going on?” Lou demanded to know.

“Seen Teaspoon anywhere around?” Cody responded.

Lou glanced around and shook her head. Jimmy and Cody walked outside carefully keeping an eye on their surroundings. Lou eyed them suspiciously.

“What’s going on?” she requested once more.

“Teaspoon’s gone mad, that’s what happened,” Cody explained as he took her horse.

“What do you mean gone mad?” Lou asked as she followed Jimmy into the bunkhouse.

“He must have woken up on the wrong side this morning,” Jimmy muttered as he closed the door behind him. “He’s been yelling at everybody since this morning. He even yelled at Ike for nothing. He had me and Cody cleaning the bunkhouse.”

“Thought it looked nicer than when I left,” Lou joked as she sank down on the bench.

“This ain’t no joke, Lou.” Jimmy frowned at her. “I’m telling you I’ve never seen him this mad before.”

Lou creased her brow. “Had it anything to do with Buck taking off as the devil was after him?” she asked.

Jimmy shrugged. “Wouldn’t surprise me,” he mumbled. “Anyway, Cody and me figured our best option was to lie low until Emma gets back from town.”

“That bad?”

“Worse,” Jimmy confirmed.

***

“You’ll give me a hand unloading?” Emma asked as she climbed down from the buggy.

Kid nodded and quickly headed to the back of the wagon. Emma slowly removed her gloves as she looked over the abandoned yard.

“Kid? Have you seen anybody?” she asked a bit baffled.

At her question, Kid looked up and gazed around. He frowned. “It looks abandoned,” he stated.

“That’s what I thought too,” Emma agreed. “Mr. Spoon? Boys?” she called out. She frowned as she saw the door to the bunkhouse slowly open and Lou carefully step outside.

“Lou?” she called. “What on earth is going on here?”

Lou quickly ran up to them, greeting Kid with a smile in the process. “You better keep your voice down, Emma,” she advised. “We think Teaspoon might be sleeping and, believe me, waking him up is not a good idea.”

“Really?”

“According to Jimmy and Cody, he’s been angry at everyone today. He yelled at Jimmy and Cody for not doing their job…”

“Well, that wouldn’t be the first time,” Emma said with the hint of a smile.

“…and he yelled at Ike, and we think Buck as well, since he rode out of here earlier. Cody swears he heard him having an argument with Rawnie as well.”

“That doesn’t sound like our Mr. Spoon,” Emma said.

“That’s what they told me.” Lou shrugged.

“Where’s Jimmy and Cody now?”

Lou nodded towards the bunkhouse. “They’re inside.”

“Hiding,” Emma stated knowingly. “Well, all right, we’ll get to the bottom of this. You give Kid a hand in unloading the buggy and I’ll talk to Mr. Spoon as soon as I’ve changed.” She smiled at them as she turned to walk to the house.

“Be careful, Emma,” Lou called out after her, making sure the housekeeper realized the seriousness in the situation. Personally, Lou would rather meet an angry bear than face a furious Teaspoon. ‘But then she would rather face Teaspoon than Emma’, she pondered as she started to unload the buggy.