Chapter 33

Pain. It was the only thing he was aware of at first. He could feel but he couldn’t move and what he was feeling was what he wanted to run away from but found himself unable to. His body felt numb for a moment, heavy, and the sound of his heart pounding in his ears was beginning to cause his head to spin. Someone was poking and prodding him and each motion was as if a knife was being jabbed into his skin and brought back out again.

He tried to open his eyes, but quickly discovered they would not cooperate. He saw spots of light dancing before his eyes and he thought he could hear a voice. It seemed to come from afar and kept fading in and out; he tried to recognize it but what the person said came out as just a jumbled slur of sounds he imagined to be words.

Kid wanted to call out but his mouth was as uncooperative as his eyes. He wanted to tell the owner of the voice that he could hear him, that he was there, but not a word came over his tongue.

He temporarily forgot all about the voice as a searing pain ripped its way through his shoulder. It was burning and sharp. He tried to move away from the pain as it continued to slice into him, certain that it was tearing its way through to his soul, but he felt helpless. Why couldn’t he do as he wanted? In his mind he pictured himself moving but then why wouldn’t the hurt subside? He heard himself moan and the sound echoed in his head, muting all other sounds for a moment. His head was now pounding as the pain seemed to have left his shoulder and worked its way upward.

The pain suddenly became a little more bearable and that’s when Kid heard it – the voice again, only it came across more clearly this time. It was a man’s voice but he couldn’t make out every word. ‘Son’ filtered in through the daze. Who was talking to him? Was this person calling him ‘son’? Was it Teaspoon? He was the only person to call him by that word so it had to be him.

The voice kept talking but Kid couldn’t figure out what he was saying. He vaguely wondered where he was and what had happened but he couldn’t remember. There was a black hole he couldn’t seem to get past. Was he at the way station? If so, where were the others? Jimmy? Buck? Lou, oh God, Lou. Where was she? Lou would know how to make it all better.

Why couldn’t he hear her voice? He needed to hear it. He tried once more to speak but there was no sound. Why couldn’t he open his eyes? He felt a stab of pain as his arm was lifted then laid across his chest. He imagined cringing, willing the hurt away as his body refused to cooperate and move him away from the source of the harm he was feeling. He felt as if he was floating on pain. God, he wanted to scream.

"You'll be alright, son, your pa's here to take care of you."

There was that voice again; it was much clearer now and very close to him. He could make out what the man was saying and he was also able to realize that it wasn't Teaspoon. Not only did he hear the word ‘son’, he also heard the word ‘pa’ being directed his way. The realization sent his heart racing; he hadn't called anyone pa in years. What was going on? Who was with him? Why couldn’t he remember anything? Lou, he remembered Lou but why wasn’t she talking to him?

Maybe the man was here trying to take Lou away from him. Pure panic suddenly made his breathing intensify – had the man done something to her? The darkness surrounding him was so thick that, as hard as he tried, he couldn’t break through. But then he was aware of a light shining toward him and it began to make things more visible. He managed to finally turn his head slightly in search of his wife.

A shadow came in to the light. He concentrated on that image when suddenly her face appeared before him. Using all his strength, Kid attempted to lift his hand. He needed to reach out to the face he saw before him, those deep brown eyes hidden behind long lashes. He wanted to caress her cheek, tell her he was fine, not to be worried. He opened his mouth in one final attempt at speech. All that came out was a moan.

"Lou."

Charlie sat on his horse, alternating his glances between the setting sun and the Indian on the ground. They were in the middle of the valley floor, trying to decide which direction to start looking.

Finally Buck tossed aside a stick he'd been holding and headed back to the blonde haired young man. He let out his pent up breath, feeling so frustrated right now. Buck had been on more rides as a tracker than he cared to remember but when his skills were needed the most, to help a friend, no, a family member, he felt like a failure. How could he be at such a complete loss? Nothing looked disturbed around them. It was like the Kid had vanished into thin air but that was impossible, wasn't it?

Buck glanced up at Charlie. He was grasping at straws but he had to start somewhere. "Alright, let's say Kid wasn't hurt that bad and managed to get away from the shooting, to rest in order to regain his strength. The one thing he would need is water. Let's head over to the creek; maybe there are some tracks around there. And if not, we'll camp there for the night and look somewhere else in the morning." He shrugged his shoulders. He hoped he would have some answers before Jimmy made it back to Rock Creek and told Lou about her husband, who was still very much missing.

He crouched against the rock wall behind him. He could just see around the bend. He watched the Indian and the blonde kid making their way toward the creek. He needed to get some water; his son would need it as soon as he awoke. But he couldn't take the chance on getting it right at that moment. It would have to wait until morning.

He'd been attending to Joey's wound when he realized all the men but the two below had cleared the area. Gone, too, was the paint mare that Joey had been riding. Bet the boy stole it and that's why the law was after him, the old man reasoned. He'd been in his son's presence for a few hours now and couldn't wait for him to wake up. Father had some questions for his boy - what was that gold band doing on his left hand and who in the world was 'Lou'?