hapter 29

Lou heard the cry before she saw the raiders. She rushed out from the barn only to see Cody fall to the ground as Ellen stood petrified in the wagon. Then she saw them, a group of maybe ten or more painted warriors, with guns and high-pitched war cries ride towards the station. For a few seconds she just stood there, petrified at the horrific scene. Then she found herself and turned to get back into the barn. She wasn't sure what she could do, but she had left her rifle inside the barn and if she was going to loose her life, she would certainly fight for it first.

Rachel heard the shots but before she could react the high-pitched scream of Winnie forced her to run over to the girl's room. Winnie had seen the attack from the window and when Rachel entered the room, the girl rushed over to her and frantically clung to her. Rachel picked her up, and seeing what Winnie had seen, that a party of war-painted Indians were approaching the station, she rushed out into the kitchen to get the rifle that hang close by the door. She hadn't taken more than a few steps towards it when the backdoor burst open. Rachel turned only to face two warriors with their guns aimed at her and the girl.

The war cry that reached the hill brought the two older soldiers to their feet in an instant. The younger of them, Brown, looked with surprise and some fear at them.

"What's going on?" he asked as he slowly got to his feet. Stanton turned to him with a determined look in his face.

"An Indian-attack," he stated as he reached for another load of ammo. "Brown, head out as quickly as you can and get Captain Bennett."

"What - what are you going to do?" the youngster panted as the older men started running to their horses.

"Shoot ourselves some Indians," Martin grinned at him. "Now, if you hurry back, lad, you might get yourself into some Indian fighting."

Brown looked at them as they mounted, too stunned to move.

"Get your ass out of here!" Stanton bellowed at him. "Now, God-dammit!"

Brown quickly rushed down to his horse and mounted, as fear and uncertainties haunted his mind. But as the others disappeared towards the station, Stanton' words finally made some sense and turning his horse in the other direction the young soldier headed off in full speed.

Cody fought the darkness that forced to overcome him. Aware of a throbbing pain in his side he managed to take support against the wagon and raise himself to a kneeling position. His left leg refused to support him but as he looked up and saw the war party he realized what was going on.

"My rifle, Ellen!" he called out. "Give me my rifle!"

Trembling, Ellen rose from the protection of the bench and reached for the rifle. She was too scared to give it to him so she simply took it and threw it over the side of the wagon. Cody desperately reached for it, but by now the Indians were already close by and he was too late. A warrior rode up next to him and before he could load the rifle the warrior had pulled it from his hands and used it to hit him in the face. This sent him backwards and he heard Ellen scream. He turned his head and saw in a haze another warrior dragging her from the wagon. He tried once more to get to his feet but the blow had been hard and his efforts were useless. He sank back as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

Lou run out of the barn firing furiously at the attackers that swarmed around the wagon. She saw Cody fall from the blow of a rifle and desperately tried to aim at the warrior who had hit him. But the warrior moved to fast and the first bullet went wide. She became acutely aware that she was without any protection when a voice from behind her shouted something. Lou turned around only to notice two soldiers approaching. She didn't know where they came from and she didn't care. The next time they yelled at her she heard what they said.

"Get into cover, boy!"

She turned to find cover when an arrow hit her in the back. She fell forward with a strange numbness in her shoulder. She wasn't aware of that she had been hit with an arrow until she moved her hand to her back and felt the arrow protruding from her back. The realization sent her into a shock and she was unable to move. One of the soldiers jumped off his horse and dragged her into some sort of shelter. The arrival of the soldiers seemed to have hindered the warriors some and they slowly withdrawn, but not until they had managed to get all the horses from the corral.

"Damn it, Stanton!" Martin yelled, "they've got the girl!" Martin left Lou were she was laying and charged towards the warriors. Stanton yelled at him to stay down but when Martin refused to listen Stanton rose to cover his friend's back. The Indians had not retreated completely but some of them were busy moving the horses from the corral. When Martin and Stanton charged Stanton noticed a flame of fire from the barn.

"They've put the barn on fire," he called to Martin as he crossed the yard in attempt to reach the fire before it spread. But now the Indians had managed to move the horses out of the way and were heading out from the station. Only a few lingered on, sporadically returning the fire from the soldiers. Stanton tried to move over to the fire without exposing himself when a random bullet hit him in the head. He was dead before he reached the ground. Martin saw it and screaming started to follow the warriors. An arrow hit him squarely in the chest as the one of the Indians sagged on his horse and fell. The wounded Indian was helped to his feet as the fire in the barn quickly spread. With a triumphal yell the last of the warriors left the station. Soon a black cloud emerged over the station as flames of fire licked the walls of the barn. Nothing else moved.

Brown reached the military camp out of breath and exhausted. He more or less fell of his horse than dismounted and when two of the men helped him to his feet he started calling for the captain. He was so upset that he didn't notice the Captain standing next to him.

"What's going on, Brown?" he asked sternly.

The boy swallowed hard.

"Indians, sire. A whole bunch of them!"

"Where?"

"Attacking the Express station. Stanton and Martin went down there to help, sire!"

He needn't say more. The Captain immediately barked out several orders and soon a unit stood ready to move out.

"You better stay here, boy," Captain Bennett said as he pulled on his gloves ready to mount up.

"I wanna go with you, sir," the boy replied. Bennett looked at him.

"Think you're ready for it?"

"Yes, sir. Stanton and Martin were my friends."

Bennett nodded.

"All right then. Mount up." He swung himself up in the saddle. "Move out!"

Ike smiled broadly as he and Buck emerged from Doc's office. Doc had been optimistic about Buck's recovery and suggested that he moved around a bit more to speed up the healing. He had been reluctant to remove any stitches, but finally he had been convinced that it wouldn't do any harm. Buck had to promise not to strain himself, which he had been quick to do. At least he felt somewhat better with the stitches gone.

<See,> Ike signed, <told you things would look better.>

Buck couldn't help smiling.

"Guess you were right."

<Now all we have to do is get the supplies from Thompkins and then we can head on home.> Ike started to walk when Buck held him back.

"What's that?" he said and pointed. At the horizon a black cloud was visible against the blue sky.

<It's over by the station.> Ike signed.

"It's fire!" Buck said and together the two of them rushed over to the wagon, Doc's order completely forgotten. They turned the wagon around and ignorant of people in the street they headed out of town at full speed.

Kid paced to and through at the meeting place. It was beginning to get late and he feared that Teaspoon and Jimmy never would show up. He reached for his rifle when he heard the sound of horses approaching. Carefully watching the rim from where he had heard the sound, he became more alert when an Indian was seen on the rim. The rider stopped and watched him then turned to somebody behind him. Kid made his rifle ready in case they were getting ready for an attack. The next man on the rim sent a feeling of relief in his chest.

"Take down that rifle, son. They're here for the supplies." Teaspoon rode down to him followed by an Indian. Kid couldn't see anything of Jimmy and worried he turned to Teaspoon.

"Jimmy?" he asked.

"He's waiting with the our escort. They wanna make sure you've got the supplies. Where are they?"

"On the wagon."

Teaspoon walked over to the wagon and showed the Indian the supplies Kid had brought. The warrior nodded and waved over to his companions. A travois was brought and soon the supplies were being hauled off. Only then did they allow Jimmy to ride down to them. He looked weary but he managed to smile at Kid when he reached them.

"Hi there," he mumbled.

"How are you?" Kid asked and handed him a water canteen from which Jimmy drank greedily.

"Been better," Jimmy replied.

"What happened?" Kid wanted to know when Teaspoon interrupted him.

"We can talk about that later. Is everything OK at the station?"

"Yes. Captain Bennett has been there looking for you. We told him you were on an errand."

Kid looked at Jimmy who had sunk down in the shadow on the ground, now and then taking a sip from the canteen.

"What do we do now?" he asked Teaspoon.

"We're going home."

They helped Jimmy onto the wagon and tied Teaspoon and Jimmy's horses behind it. They were in no hurry so they made slow progress while Kid told them of what had happened at the station and Jimmy told them about his adventure in the desert. For some reason he wasn't sure of himself he left out the Indian girl that had helped him. They were not fare from the station when Teaspoon noted the smoke.

"What the hell," he mumbled turning the others attention to him. "You better speed up, Kid, I think we've got trouble at the station."

They arrived almost at the same time at the station, Teaspoon, Kid and Jimmy only a few minutes before Buck and Ike. At first they only saw the barn where the fire leapt op the walls. It was too late to save it but Teaspoon turned the wagon towards it anyway when Jimmy called out.

"Teaspoon! Over there, by the wagon!"

Teaspoon looked over to where Jimmy was pointing and saw the man lying next to it. As he scanned he saw another one lying not far from him, this one with an arrow from his chest.

The truth hit Teaspoon like a blow. Indians! The station had been attacked by Indians! He cursed under his breath and drew the horses to a halt not far from the wagon that had been overturned. Jimmy was already on the ground, his exhaustion forgotten. He was kneeling next to Cody a second later as Kid proceeded to the other. He was clad in a uniform and it took Kid only a second to see that he was dead. He rose from the man and looked over the station. There wasn't a movement anywhere and a cold hand gripped his heart.

"Lou!" he called out running towards the bunkhouse as Ike and Buck arrived. They stopped as they saw the devastation at the station. Buck scrambled to the ground even before the wagon had come to an complete stop and almost stumbled into Kid who was leaving the bunkhouse after finding it empty. His eyes scanned frantically over the yard but it wasn't until a slight movement close to the barn he realized that he had found what he was looking for. Buck had seen it too and together they run towards it.

Ike still didn't know what to do when Teaspoon, who had been checking on Cody together with Jimmy yelled at him.

"Ike! Get back into town and get Doc over here! Now!"

Ike didn't waste any time and turned the horses back into town for a second time.

Teaspoon turned to Cody again as Jimmy did his best to take care of the shoot wound in his leg. Cody was unconscious with a nasty looking wound on his forehead. He had something that looked like a gunshot on the right side of his chest, but there weren't enough blood and Teaspoon examined it carefully. As he opened up the jacket he found the explanation. Inside the jacket laid, tucked away, a book. The bullet had gone through it but the book had stopped the bullet from inflicted any serious pain. Teaspoon held up the book and read the title and couldn't help chuckle to himself as he read the title; Love Poems.

"Never met anyone as lucky as you, son," he mumbled as he opened up Cody's shirt to examine the wound. It was nothing more than a flesh wound and he could almost feel the bullet under his finger. The bruise around the wound was quite large and Teaspoon realized that the shot must have been hard enough to send Cody to the ground.

Jimmy placed the last hand on his temporary bandage around Cody's leg.

"He'll be all right, Teaspoon. The shot went clean through."

"And this wound is nothing to worry about," Teaspoon replied as he begun to examine the head wound. He shook his head. "However, this looks like a concussion. We should get him inside."

Teaspoon rose and was about to call Kid and Buck over to help them, when an army attachment rode into the station with Captain Bennett leading them. The captain immediately made an estimate of the situation and sent a few men over to try and control the fire as himself and his lieutenant rode up to Teaspoon.

"What happened here, Marshall?" he said as he dismounted.

"Well I ain't too sure myself, except that it looks like an Indian raid. What are you doing here, Captain?"

"One of my men reported of an Indian attack. Two others decided to stay and help - one of them is over there." The Captain said harshly as he pointed to the body. A few soldiers stood around it with grim looks on their faces. "But I guess we got here too late."

Teaspoon nodded and looked around. The soldiers were fighting the fire, but Teaspoon could have told them it was useless. The flames already licked the roof and in a few seconds the whole barn would be on fire.

"Sir, we found Stanton! He's dead too, shot through his heart, sir." The call from one of the men who were seeing to the fire caused the Captain to frown.

"Do you know who did this?" the Captain asked Teaspoon. But by now Teaspoon was more concerned about the lack of movement on the station. Where were Lou and Rachel? Part of his question was answered when he saw Kid kneeled next to something just in front of the barn.

"LOU!" Kid's heart froze when he saw her, lying on her stomach. He immediately took in the arrow in her back and he went cold. She couldn't dead - she couldn't. Dreading the worse he run up to her. "Please, Lou," he pleaded softly as he kneeled next to her. "Please don't be dead."

To his great relief she moaned slightly at his touch.

"Lou? Take it easy, Lou, you've been wounded," he added quickly as she tried to move. She grimaced in pain at the movement and moaned again.

"Kid?" her voice was thin and filled with pain and no matter the relief he felt at hearing her voice he was still concerned that she was badly wounded.

"Lou, honey, you've got an arrow in your back," he said softly.

"Get it out, Kid," Lou pleaded as she gritted her teeth, "please--"

"I can't do that, Lou," Kid said. "I'll try and brake it of so it'll be easier to move you -okay?"

Lou nodded. Anything that could help her get rid of the throbbing pain and the knowledge that something was stuck in her back was welcomed. Kid grabbed the arrow with both hands trying not to move it too much when a voice interrupted him.

"Don't touch it."

Kid let go of the arrow and looked up at Buck standing next to him. Ignorant of the angry look Kid gave him Buck sat down next to Lou.

"Take it easy Lou," Buck said gently. "I'll need to know how deep the arrow id lodged. It may hurt a little, but it will be easier to get it out then. Is that OK?"

"Yes," Lou croaked, her mouth dry from the shock and pain. The shock slowly begun to wear off as she relinquished in the fact that the others were back.

Buck moved his hands over Lou's back, close to where the arrow was located. As Lou took a sharp breath when he touched a tender area, Kid was prepared to tell him to take his hands off Lou, but somewhere he realized that Buck was trying to help. But still some part of him watched Buck's action with suspicion as his trust in the Indian rider had diminished greatly since the arrival of Buck's niece. When Lou called out in pain as Buck placed his fingertips close to the entrance wound, Kid was forced to tighten his fist not to simply push Buck away from Lou.

"It's not so bad, Lou," Buck continued as he tried to avoid looking at Kid, as he more or less could sense his disapproval and distrust. "It' fairly deep, but only entered the muscle." Trying to sound as calm as possible not to upset the scared Lou more than necessary. "We'll have it out in no time, but we'll have to cut to get it out - it's gonna hurt some."

"Just do it," Lou wheezed, recovering more and more from the shock.

"You're planning on doing it? You?" Kid asked as Buck started to cut an opening in Lou's shirt to see the wound."

"Why don't you get some clean bandages?" Buck replied, "There's gonna be some blood when we pull it out."

But this was too much for Kid.

"You ain't doing nothing. We'll wait for Doc."

Lou moaned under her breath. She didn't care who did as long as it were done. Buck looked at her and tried to hide his frustration at Kid's behavior.

"Look here, Kid," he begun, "Lou's in pain and we don't know when Doc gets here. So why don't you let me take care of her?"

Kid looked down at Lou who moaned slightly.

"Please Kid, let Buck do it - he knows what he's talking about."

Still Kid hesitated and he could see the disappointment and anger in Buck's eyes as he realized just how much Kid distrusted him. Suddenly Kid was relieved of the decision when Ike and Doc arrived at the scene. Behind them came a few of the townsfolk. They had seen the smoke and decided to come to the assistance. Ike had met them halfway to town.

"Doc!" Kid called out and waved the man over. Seeing Doc approaching Buck silently rose and stepped back. When he saw Lou being tended to he finally started to look at the devastation. He saw the newly arrived soldiers and towns people fight the fire in the barn. Ike had run over to the barn and a few minutes later he came out of it dragging Samson with him. Buck had forgotten everything about the donkey, but it was typical of Ike to remember the animal. Close to him an arrow was lodged into the wall and absentmindedly he reached out and pulled it out. He knew who made the arrow. A Kiowa. Deep in thought he looked down at the arrow, almost weighing it in his hand. A few minutes later he looked up. A few yards away Jimmy and Teaspoon was tending to Cody. The Captain was standing close to them, and his presence prevented Buck from going over. He was sure that the Captain would be suspicious of him. He looked over to the house. There was nothing moving around it nor did he see any movement behind the windows. The silence by the house worried him and he slowly begun to move towards only to end up running as he could feel a cold shill down his spine.

"Doc's here, Teaspoon?" Jimmy had managed to get the dizzy and somewhat uncoordinated Cody to his feet and he was now leaning heavily on Jimmy, unable to find any support in his wounded leg. He was still too groggy to speak and Teaspoon thought it would take him another hour before he was all right.

"You think you can get him over to the bunkhouse?" Teaspoon asked Jimmy.

"I'll get one of my men to help you," the Captain volunteered and beckoned to one of soldiers that were close before turning to Teaspoon again. "Then, Marshall, I think we need to talk."

"I believe you're right," Teaspoon replied grimly. Teaspoon stood still for a moment before he noticed Buck running across the yard to the house. He immediately guessed the boy's intention but was struck with another thought: Rachel!

Teaspoon subconsciously heard the Captain speaking to him but he wasn't listening.

"Excuse me, Captain," he said and started to run towards the house.

Buck flung the door open and called out for Wun-oan-te-mee. There was no reply but Buck didn't expect one, From the look in the kitchen some sort of struggle had taken place there. He quickly looked over the room and when he saw the kitchen door wide open. He continued through to the other side of the house.

Teaspoon saw the same thing when he burst through the door a minute later. First he stared in bewilderment at the mess then he slowly walked over to the kitchen door, fearing what he might see. He found Buck crouching on the ground, looking at something. When he heard Teaspoon approaching he rose and looked with despair at him.

"They took them with them," he said slowly.

"Them?" The Captain's voice caught them by surprise and both of them turned to see the Captain standing in the door. Buck looked desperately at Teaspoon, but before Teaspoon could reply another man came running around the house.

"Marshall!" he cried desperately. "My daughter! Where's my daughter?"

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