Chapter 24
Kid walked across the way station yard, just as the sun was making its
appearance. He pulled open the barn door
and paused in surprise. A lantern was
lit inside and upon careful inspection, he noticed his best friend in one of
the stalls.
Hearing the door open, Jimmy whirled around to see who it was.
Both men stared at each other then started to laugh.
"Couldn't sleep?" Kid
asked, walking into the barn.
"Nah, you either?" Jimmy
asked, coming out of the stall.
"Got a few hours in but my tossing and turning kept waking Lou up
so I gave up trying."
"Speaking of which, where is that wife of yours?"
"In bed," Kid replied, smiling. He knew that was a change in her Jimmy wouldn't
expect.
"Still?! She was always the
first one up when we were in the bunkhouse - alright, I know that was mainly
so she could dress in private. But she
wouldn't stay sleeping, especially if she knew you were up."
"It's the baby - makes her real tired, that and sick to her stomach,"
Kid informed him. He tossed his saddlebag
onto a nearby hay bale and sat down.
"I can't believe you two are gonna be parents,"
Jimmy said, smiling, as he came and leaned against one of the stalls, next to
where Kid was.
"She sure surprised me with that news," Kid admitted.
"Thank goodness for honeymoons, huh, Kid?" Jimmy teased, playfully
hitting his friend on the arm.
"Engagements work real well, too,"
Jimmy looked closely at Kid. The
man looked to be blushing. "You
can't be serious. But Teaspoon and I
witnessed you two gettin' engaged and we were with
you on the whole ride back."
"Yeah, but you weren't with us the night we got back." Kid glanced at him sideways, waiting for his
meaning to sink in.
Jimmy shook his head and chuckled. "Just
felt the need to abandon your bunkmates and keep the horses company, was that
how it went, Kid?" He smiled at
the man beside him, knowing full well he wouldn't be getting an answer, but
also not needing one for confirmation - the man's red face said it all.
Small talk aside, the two ex-riders silently looked around the barn at
anything but one another.
"I'm sorry that things ..."
"I'm sorry I gave you ..."
Both men looked at each other and laughed again. Here they were trying to get up the nerve to
talk serious and they wound up stepping on each others' words.
Jimmy motioned for Kid to go first.
"I'm sorry that things didn't work out with you and Rosemary."
Jimmy studied the Kid’s face. There
was no anger or scorn upon it, only the support of a true friend.
"I'm not," Jimmy told him, shrugging.
"I'm not a crusader and that's what she wanted.
I couldn't put all of myself into her cause and she couldn't give any
of herself to anything but. I actually
thought she was falling in love with me but she was in love with the notion
of having William Hickok’s son working with her."
Kid nodded in understanding. He
wanted to say so much more but was afraid to harp on what had caused the arguments
in the first place.
Jimmy broke the silence that had developed once again. "I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time
whenever you tried to talk to me. See,
I knew what you were gonna say before you said it
and I didn't want to hear it. I didn't
want to admit that you might be right so it was easier to just attack you. I said a lot of things I had no right to say,
things I didn't even want to say." He
looked at the ground as he finished his verbal apology.
"Jimmy, we both said things we shouldn't have. You know me and my soap box," Kid admitted,
chuckling as he shook his head at himself. "I just couldn't leave well enough alone. The others tried to talk to you and gave up
once they knew you weren't listening but I had to keep at you, like a splinter
that gets deeper and deeper under your skin."
Jimmy shifted on his feet, feeling an uncomfortable nudge from his conscience.
"Kid, I don't want you risking anything just to help me out.
That's not why I came; it was just an excuse for ..."
"Jimmy, I know," Kid interrupted as he stood and went to his
friend. "I know it and Buck knows
it.
"Kid ..."
"I hope you know why I'm going - the same reason why you're here."
Kid looked Jimmy directly in the eye and in that moment, all was forgiven.
Each understood the other's wishes and feelings and would respect them.
"Kid, I just need to say I've always respected your opinion, even
if I couldn't admit it out loud."
"Thanks, Jimmy, that means a lot to me. And I'm sorry we let things get so out of hand,
won't happen again."
"You better believe it won't. Well,
what do you say we go see if the others are up yet?" Jimmy suggested.
"I don't know about you but I'm starving and since this is our last
big meal for a while, I want to enjoy it!"
"Sounds good to me," Kid agreed. "I should see how Lou is feeling this morning
anyway."
As the two friends walked out into the early morning sun, Kid filled Jimmy
in on Lou's morning sickness and her runs out in her nightgown. They were still laughing as they parted way,
heading toward opposite buildings.