Chapter 48

"Hey, Kid, you're up!" Buck called out as he walked back into camp and set down the canteens he had just filled from nearby stream. "So how ya feelin'?"

"Better - it's amazing what a little sleep will do," Kid answered. He awkwardly reached forward, since he didn't have his left arm available to lean on, and pulled something out of Buck's saddlebag. He leaned back onto his saddle and started chewing.

"How many of them you had?" Charlie asked in amazement, watching the man next to him.

"I lost count," Kid laughed. "But I'm tellin' ya, this is the best hardtack I have ever had!" He held it up in emphasis before placing it in his mouth.

Charlie scrunched up his face. "You gotta be desperate then ... or insane."

"Well, when you haven't had anything in your stomach, except a little water, in close to twenty-four hours, let's just say even the dirt was starting to look good after a while."

"Kid you really should take it easy," Buck warned. "You're stomach's been without for awhile and too much might make you sick."

"You're right, I know, I just wanna get my strength back," Kid grumbled. "It's embarrassing that I almost can't sit a horse for more than a couple hours.” He got up and walked toward the horses, eager to do something to get ready to leave but quickly realizing that would be hard with only one arm to use.

It had been slow going once they made it out of the valley and onto the hill outside it. Kid was weak from loss of blood and lack of food. It was actually a good thing that they were short an animal and he and Buck had to double up because Buck had to literally hold him in the saddle. After a couple stops so Kid could rest, they had decided it made more sense to stop for the night and let the injured man get a good night's rest. After several arguments that he just wanted to ride through so he get home to Lou, Kid finally gave in and was sleeping almost immediately.

"Let's see how that wound is doing this morning," Buck said, going over to Kid. He had cleaned and dressed the injury before Kid had fallen asleep. "It looks pretty good."

"You do good work, Buck, thanks," Kid said as he sat down once again so Buck could tie a fresh bandage around the wound. "And I don't just mean with taking care of my injury; you've always been there for any of us when we needed you - you're a good friend, you too, Charlie, considering you just met me. What you did for me out there - tracking me down the way you did and refusing to believe I wasn't still alive, I'll never forget it." He and Buck had had a chance to talk while riding together yesterday so Kid was now aware, more than ever, of how special these friends of his were to have around. Buck had tried to apologize for not finding Kid sooner and for walking blindly into the situation with Murray and after a lot of arguing by Kid, he had finally been able to dissuade Buck from thinking he’d done anything less than save his life.

“I didn't do anything a man wouldn't have done for his brother, and that's what you are, what you have been. Besides, there was no way I was looking forward to facing the wrath of Lou if we came back without you. I think I'll have to thank Jimmy too for taking on that situation." He smiled at Kid, feeling more at ease about everything that had transpired after his talk with his friend last night. He picked up his saddle and placed it on his horse’s back.

"Well, if I had known you fellas were there, I woulda probably hung around long enough to see who was following me. I can't believe the two of you were everywhere I was," Kid told them, shaking his head.

"Yeah, it was a big runaround, wasn't it?" Charlie agreed as he got up and started packing away the supplies they had scattered on the ground.

"I actually believed him when he said you boys thought I was dead and had left me. How could I even think that?" Kid asked softly, looking from one man to the other.

"Kid, you were injured, you weren't thinking straight," Buck explained. "It's happened to all of us at one time or another. None of that's important anyway - we found you, you're healing up just fine, and we're headed home toward your wife." He smiled.

Kid grinned. "She's gonna be madder than hell at me for scarin' her this way. If I show up at the bunkhouse to spend the night, it's because I couldn't take any more of her reprimanding me." As the others started to laugh, he insisted, "You know I'm right, Buck, you know her and what she's like once she's not worried and her temper flares up."

"Yeah, you were always the lucky one to be on the receiving end of that part of Lou," Buck chuckled then he suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked out over the bare land. "Riders coming." He pulled out his gun.

"How can you tell?" Charlie asked, following Buck's stare but not seeing anything.

"That's Buck for you. Don't ask about it, just accept it," Kid said as his hand automatically went to his weapon. He couldn’t deny it felt good to have it strapped on once again.

The next moment, riders could be seen. Buck turned around to Kid, reholstering his weapon at the same time. "It's for you, Kid," he grinned.

Kid unconsciously leaned forward to get a better look at the riders then straightened up, grinning broadly. "Well I'll be damned!"

"Kid!"

Jimmy and Teaspoon had been riding most of the night, trying to get to the valley as soon as they could. They were surprised when they saw campfire smoke from the distance and certainly never expected that they would know the campers.

"Kid!" Jimmy called once again as they got closer. He jumped off his horse in front of a grinning Kid.

"You miss me, Jimmy?" Kid teased, chuckling.

"If you ain't the best damn sight I've ever seen," Jimmy said.

"And here I thought I looked like hell," Kid grinned.

Jimmy shook his head then pointed his finger at his best friend and said, "You know I oughta shoot you for scarin' the hell out of me that way. But I won't - I'm sure Lou can dish it out better than any of us could." He grinned and offered his hand. When Kid took it, Jimmy drew him into a hug instead.

"Just don't ever do that to me again, you hear?" Jimmy warned, playfully smacking his friend in the chest.

"Believe me, I don't intend to," Kid agreed. "Teaspoon, I can't believe you came after me too." Kid felt touched at the sentiment.

"What was I gonna do? Sit in my office shufflin' papers? Not when one of my boys is in trouble I ain't." Teaspoon gathered Kid into a big bear hug.

"Well it sure is good to know I have such great friends," Kid said sincerely. "Now what do you say we head home?"

"Sounds good to me," Jimmy said.

As he turned to mount his ride, Kid stopped Jimmy by walking up behind him. "Jimmy, how's Lou handling all this? She doesn't think I'm dead, does she?"

Jimmy shuffled his feet and found himself nervously slapping one of his gloves into his other hand. He'd been expecting these questions but that didn't make it any easier to answer them. He took a deep breath. "I thought I was doing the right thing. I scared her good for a while there but you know that wife of yours, she wouldn't give up on you ... even when I had," Jimmy admitted quietly. "I'm sorry, Kid." He directed his eyes toward the ground, afraid to look his friend in the face.

"From what I hear, you did nothing wrong, in fact you did everything right - you were there for Lou when she needed someone. If anyone had to be, I'm glad it was you, thanks." Kid grinned as Jimmy climbed into his saddle then held his arm out to offer Kid a ride.

"Are we gonna stand around all day in the middle of nowhere bein' all sweet to each other or are we gonna head home to that young lady I know is goin' stir crazy 'bout now?" Teaspoon bellowed.

Kid took hold of Jimmy’s arm and swung up behind his friend as the others laughed and mounted up. The group rode off, heading toward Rock Creek.