Chapter 38

Teaspoon stared in disbelief at the two men standing on the other side of his desk. Neither would look at him after having deposited the prisoners into the jail cells and guiltily filling him in as to the details that had transpired the day before.

Was it possible that he had lost another one of his boys to a senseless act? Teaspoon ran his hand through his hair and shook his head to stay focused.

"Now, Jimmy, you're sure you saw him get shot?" It just made no sense what Jimmy and Sam had recollected from the ambush.

Jimmy walked away then leaned heavily against the side of one of the cells. "Plain as day, Teaspoon, and it looked to be his upper chest, like with Ike. I wish to hell I couldn't be positive but I am. Besides, Buck found a patch of fresh blood on the ground right where Kid fell." He looked at Sam before continuing in a raspy whisper of a voice, "It's bad, Teaspoon, I know it is. He needs tendin' to right away. Too much time's gone by; even if Buck found him by now it could be too late.” He took off his gloves and slapped them into one of his palms in frustration.

How can he survive somethin' like that? Teaspoon wondered then quickly berated himself for even thinking along those lines. He’d seen more than one man get shot and walk away when he should have been down for good. "Now, Jimmy," Teaspoon warned, trying to take control of the situation and trying to keep hope alive. "Sometimes things ain't what they seem. Sam?" He turned toward the other man, hoping he would shed some positive light on the situation.

"He's telling you the truth, Teaspoon," Sam said. "Kid was down before any of us realized what was happening. No one could get to him until we made sure the shooting had stopped. Jimmy and Buck headed back as soon as the gang was apprehended." He paused and moved to take a seat in front of the desk. "It's the strangest thing I ever seen, Teaspoon. It's like he vanished. You get shot hard enough to get thrown off your horse, you don't just walk away from that. But he was nowhere to be found." He slapped his knee in frustration and slowly stood up. “I’m gonna go check on the rest of my men over at the doc’s. I’ll be back.” He had seen the looks of concern passing between Jimmy and Teaspoon and felt like he was intruding on a family moment. They’d been together for a while now so he could understand their need to be alone at a trying time like this.

Sam left without the others acknowledging his words.

Teaspoon saw the anguish on both men’s faces but that still didn't help the situation none. And he knew it was going to get a lot worse as soon as a certain petite young woman got wind of the posse coming back into town. How do they begin to tell Lou that her husband is missing and injured but they don’t know how bad? His heart went out to the young couple; they were finally on their way toward having the happy life they deserved when yet another barrier was thrown in the way. The only comfort he felt was knowing that Lou was not alone; she had people around her who would help her get through the waiting and wondering and be there for her however her husband came home. Damn his mind for going in that direction again. He ran his hands down the length of his face as he exhaled slowly.

Jimmy watched Teaspoon’s actions and wondered if the man was thinking along the same lines as he was. He was sure he was; whenever a person thought of Kid, they automatically connected him to Lou. The two names were synonymous with each other. How could any of them not think about Lou? After all, that was the reason he had returned. He hated the thought of telling Lou but it had to be done now so he could get back out there and search for his friend himself. They'd made good time getting back to Rock Creek - it was a full moon last night so the posse had taken advantage and rode straight through, stopping for a couple hours' rest before dawn. That gave him the opportunity to leave Rock Creek and return to the valley sooner than he thought he would. But everything hinged on Lou's reaction to his news.

"Jimmy, you're back!"

Kid continued to make his way down the rocky slope, doing more stumbling than walking. Each time he moved, he felt a shooting pain throughout his shoulder and upper chest, so to accommodate, he tried to move that side of his body as little as possible. It was impossible because he wound up making himself off balance and kept bumping into more rocks than his body needed to come in contact with. Now he was sure his legs would be bruised as well.

He stopped moving not long after his descent, as he heard someone on the path directly above him. Murray! It had to be the old man, catching up to him already. Who else could it be since there was no one else in the entire valley but the two of them?

Kid crouched behind a boulder, trying to catch his breath, pondering on the mystery of why his friends, his family, would leave without him? Did they think him dead? Kid shuddered at the thought.

His mind wandered to the argument he and Lou had had after he had told Jimmy he was going after the gang with him. Kid had tried to make light of the situation by saying what could possibly go wrong. He closed his eyes to try to shut out the memory. What hasn't gone wrong is more like it.

"Ah, Lou, I'm sorry. I'm tryin', I'm really tryin'. It's just hard, you know," he said to himself, hoping he could somehow relay his thoughts to her. They'd always been able to communicate without saying a word, just by looking at one another, but this was a different situation. He couldn't see her. Would he get the chance to again? How he wanted a glimpse of that dark hair of hers flowing behind her as she ran to greet him as he came into the station yard, or to wrap his arms around her tiny waist and pull her tight against his body in an attempt to feel every curve of her.

He gasped. Her waist - it would be expanding soon, growing as their child grew within her. He wanted to see every little change that took place during the next seven months, to tease her or try to take away some of the discomfort she was bound to feel. He didn't know anything about babies, other than how they came into the world but together, they would be the best parents any child could hope for. How could they not be? They had so much love to offer and wanted to give their offspring the type of home life they weren’t fortunate enough to have lived themselves.

Kid finally pushed all thoughts aside except those most imminent. He glanced toward the ledge he'd just come over. No sound could be heard from above - hopefully Murray had continued on in his search for his 'son'. And if Kid played his cards right, he would be able to stay one step ahead of the old man and get out of the valley. He had no idea what he would do once he made it to the hill outside this area but anything was better than where he was now.