IN
THE FAMILY WAYIN
THE FAMILY WAY
Louise McCloud stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her. It was early October and there was already a definite chill in the air. She glanced at the two men sitting not far away on the porch then went down the stairs and started walking on the sidewalk, knowing the two men were not far behind.
The wind rustled some fallen leaves from the few trees along the road. Louise tried to wrap her wool coat tighter around herself, which was not an easy feat these days. It's ironic, she thought with a grin, she had spent so long trying to buy the smallest man's coat she could find and it had been too big for her, now here she was buying the largest woman's coat she could find and this one was too small for her!
The streets didn't seem too busy which was strange for a Saturday night in St. Joseph. I guess everyone's in the saloons or seeking out female companionship, Louise said to herself wryly, glancing back at the brothel she had just passed. She shivered as she recalled working there as a laundress, only to be put through hell at age fourteen at the hands of Ethan Wicks.
"Damn you, Wicks," Louise whispered as tears came to her eyes. She thought what he had done to her back then was terrible but that was nothing compared to what he was putting her through now. She had escaped him when she was younger with Charlotte's help but now, she knew she was in no condition to get away this time. All she had wanted was to come through town on her way to see her brother and sister at the orphanage and return to the way station four days later. Now it's been five long months since he got hold of her again, five months since she'd seen her family and felt safe and happy and all because of something she didn't even do.
She glanced back at Wicks' two goons, as she liked to refer to them. No getting away from them - she was lucky she could go to the outhouse without them following her. At least she was allowed this freedom: her nightly ten o'clock visit to Lightning at the livery. She thought of the only two things keeping her sane at this terrible time of her life. One was her beloved horse who would listen as she talked about better days and loved ones and the other was something that wasn't even here yet. Louise paused on the sidewalk as a horse went by, thinking about a certain paint mare and the blue eyes of its owner. She sighed then looked down and rubbed her expanded abdomen, thankful for what was growing inside.
Eli Hawkins had been running the livery in St. Joseph for twenty years now and in those twenty years, he'd seen his share of colorful characters come and go and tonight was no exception. They were young but, he could tell, well experienced around horses. The blonde young man was shuffling his feet up and down the aisle between the stalls, sighing loudly, and kept looking back annoyed at the Indian who was standing still, staring at something.
Eli went back into his tack room, wishing the two boys would leave. It was almost ten o'clock and his nightly visitor would be on her way - she was never late; Wicks let her come to the livery at that time because most folks were elsewhere in town by then and there was less chance of her talking to anyone. He knew she would be constantly watched until they did leave.
"Buck!" Cody wailed, leaning heavily against one of the stalls. "Come on! I'm tired, sore and hungry. All I want is a hot meal and a soft bed ... and a pretty face and figure delivering my food wouldn't hurt either."
Buck still didn't move. "Cody, come take a look at this."
"Buck, it's a horse. The same type of animal we've been riding on for almost four days straight!"
"Will you just come and look at this particular horse, please!"
"If it means getting to the saloon to eat dinner just a little bit faster, I'll gladly look at anything," Cody said sarcastically and went to see what Buck was going on about. He stopped short and stared. "It's Lightning. That's Lightning. Hey there, girl, it's good to see you, too." He touched the horse who came to nuzzle him. "What the hell is going on here?"
"I don't know but I do know one thing, wherever Lightning is, Lou ain't far behind." They looked at each other puzzled then Buck got an idea. He called out, "Hey, Mister! Mister! You happen to know who owns this horse here?"
Eli had come out of the tack room when he was called and as soon as he realized which horse Buck was pointing to, he got very nervous. "Well, you don't so get away from it."
Cody looked at Buck, both knowing this man was covering up something. "Look, Mister, we're tired and hungry and we don't want to argue with you. We know this horse and we just want to know where the owner is."
All Eli wanted to do was avoid a confrontation with Wicks if he found out someone was asking about Louise, so he said the only thing he could think of, "The owner brought the horse in not too long ago then I think he went to one of the saloons."
Buck and Cody stepped closer to Eli, getting more frustrated. Buck was slowly losing his calm. "Trust me, Mister, we know horses and from the looks of her, she hasn't been ridden in quite a while. Now tell us where the owner is and we'll be on our way," Buck told him.
Eli didn't answer and started to turn away, when the next thing he knew, Cody had him thrown up against the tack room door with his arm across his throat and Buck had his pistol trained on him. "Now I'm getting real tired of all this dancin' around," Cody warned. "I'd suggest you tell us where the owner of that horse is or my friend's finger might just slip on that trigger and trust me, this Indian knows how to handle a gun."
Buck got an evil grin on his face and moved the gun closer to Eli while Cody tightened his grip.
"Alright! Alright! It's Louise's."
"See? Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Cody said sarcastically and released his grip.
"Where is she?" Buck asked, reholstering his gun.
"Won't do any good even if I do tell you. She's the kept woman of Ethan Wicks - no one goes near her without his permission and definitely no one touches her except him."
Buck gave Cody a puzzled look and argued, "You must be talking about the wrong person 'cause the Louise we know would never do something like that. She's tiny with short dark hair."
Eli took a quick look out the door, knowing she would be by any time now. "That's her. Believe me, I don't think she's a willing participant in all this," he explained. "I think Wicks has something on her, what I don't know. It's almost like he's obsessed with her. She's a sweet girl and shouldn't be messed up in something like this." It made him sick everytime he thought of what Wicks was doing to her. He couldn't help but think of her as a daughter but he was in no position to help her in any way. He had his own family to think about and Wicks was a powerful man. Maybe these two could help her but first, he had to make sure he could trust them. "How do you know Louise, anyway?"
Buck figured they wouldn't get the answer they wanted until they came clear with him. "She's like family to us. We're Pony Express riders out of the Rock Creek station. She works around the station," he told Eli, careful not to reveal too much.
"Are either of you named Kid?" Eli had spent months trying to convince Louise he meant her no harm and when she finally realized she could trust him, she told him about her new family but talked mostly about one young man in particular. Eli had a feeling the condition she was in might have something to do with him and not Wicks.
Buck looked at Cody and answered, "No, but we're close friends of Kid's. My name's Buck Cross."
"And I'm William F. Cody. How do you know about Kid?"
Eli nodded in recognition of their names. "I'm Eli, Eli Hawkins. It took me a while to convince Louise that she was safe with me and once I did, she told me some about the people she thought of as family and how she'd probably never get to see you again. It broke her heart everytime she mentioned one of you and would almost cry whenever she talked about Kid. She's real emotional these days - course it's understandable considering her condition." He went to the door to see if she was coming yet.
Buck and Cody looked at each other, both getting a sick feeling in their stomachs. They knew the type of man Wicks was and if he'd done what Eli said he did to Lou, then they knew he was capable of doing even more to her. "What kind of condition is she in? What else has he done to her?" Cody demanded. He and Lou were never extremely close but she was like a sister to him and he'd do anything to protect her, as would the others.
Eli had been standing in the doorway when he could just make out Louise turning the corner across the street. He explained, "Look, like I said, your friend's in a lot of trouble but maybe you can help her get away from him. She's on her way here now." Buck and Cody gave him incredulous looks. "She's allowed to come here every night at this time to visit with her horse but two of Wicks' men follow her then hang around outside to make sure no one gets near her. If they know someone's in here, they won't take their eyes off her. If you want to help Louise, I'd suggest you find a good hiding spot because they give the place the once over before they let her in. I'll try to keep them outside so you can talk - just try to stay out of sight."
"Thanks, Eli." Buck said then both men went to hide in their horse's stalls, knowing the horses wouldn't give them away.
Louise had been taking her time walking to the livery. This was her freedom of the day and she always tried to stretch it out as long as she could. It also helped that she couldn't walk as fast as she used to. She started to step into the livery.
"Hold on there, Louise. You know we have to check the place over first."
Louise looked behind her. "Hank, we've done this every night for at least four months now. Most of the time no one is in there and if anyone is, trust me, they've got more important things they wanna get to than wastin' their time talkin' to the likes of me. I don't know why you worry - you think I'm gonna ride off with someone? In my condition, I probably couldn't even get up on a horse if I wanted to. Now leave me be!" she reprimanded.
Stan had checked out the livery while Louise was going on to Hank. He gave a nod to Hank that all was okay then followed him out.
Buck heard Lou mention her condition, as he's sure Cody did, and was feeling more nervous. What was going on with her? - she sounded like the same old Lou. He wanted to sneak a look at her but didn't dare until he was sure the others weren't coming back in.
"Hey, Eli, how's it going?"
"How ya feeling, Louise?"
"Big." Louise gave a slight smile and headed toward Lightning's stall.
Eli knew Hank and Stan could be easily distracted with conversation so he went out to give Louise some freedom to be with her friends.
Louise had just passed the empty stall before Lightning's when a hand reached out and covered her mouth while another one grabbed her arm and pulled her into the stall. Louise instantly panicked and covered her stomach with her free hand, while trying to squirm out of the grasp her attacker had on her.
"Lou, take it easy! You make a sound and we'll have company real fast,"
Buck warned before he slowly removed his hands.
Louise stopped moving immediately. 'Lou'. She hadn't been called by that name
in five months, and that voice...
Cody peeked out the door then he joined Buck in the stall. "It's all clear. Eli's keeping them occupied."
Louise's eyes started to fill with tears. Was it just wishful thinking that she was hearing two voices that she knew so well, two of the many voices she thought she'd never hear again? "Buck? Cody?" she asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah, it's us, Lou." Buck watched as Lou slowly turned around and that's when he saw it. Her profile had changed drastically. He just stared at her in shock.
Lou looked at them, unbelievingly, then broke into a big smile. Cody was the closest so she threw herself into his arms and exclaimed, "Cody, I can't believe it! I never thought I'd see any of you boys again!"
Cody thought for a brief moment that she felt different but didn't pay it any mind. It just felt so good to hold her and know they were going to help get her out of there.
Lou finally let go of Cody and turned to Buck. "Buck!" She put her arms around him but when he didn't return the hug, she broke away. "Buck? What's wrong?" She tried to read his face but couldn't.
Buck couldn't take his eyes off her stomach. He could only think of one thing to say, "You're with child!"
