CHOICESCHOICES
Dawn broke over the near horizon, sending slivered lights of yellow, orange and red streaking in through the muslin curtains of Rachel's bedroom as she dressed herself for the day. Although she had retired early the evening before, Rachel felt as if she hadn't slept nary a wink, with all the worrying she was doing about Lou. Despite their initial awkwardness with each other when she had first replaced Emma as the housekeeper for their Pony Express family, she and the female had become especially close. Being surrounded by men all of the time; it had been a blessing to both of them to have another close at hand to confide in. Rachel would have thought that there wasn't anything that she and Lou couldn't discuss; that they couldn't share, but apparently she had been wrong.
(Why hadn't she come to her?) Rachel thought as she moved from the bedroom, through the living room and into the kitchen. She moved up to the stove and checked on the large pot of porridge she had put on to cook, before she had gotten dressed. She picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the bubbling mixture absently, her thoughts still focused on Lou. Rachel sighed. "I'm sorry, Louise," she muttered aloud to the empty room. "Lord, please allow the boys to find Louise and convince her to come home to her family. Amen."
The short prayer didn't ease her worrying about Lou or the boys' altogether, but it did lessen a little and for that she was grateful. While the porridge continued to cook, Rachel moved about the kitchen gathering other items for breakfast into a wicker basket. When the porridge was finished cooking, Rachel moved the pot to the center of the stove where it would stay warm, but not burn, picked up the wicker basket and moved into the living room. She paused beside the door to wrap her shawl around her shoulders, before leaving.
A cool breeze was blowing as she started across the way station yard toward the bunkhouse a short distance away. Rachel shivered and pulled the ends of her shawl closer together as she reached the bunkhouse and walked up onto the porch. She knocked on the door and waited for Cody or Noah to bid her entrance inside. A moment later the door opened to a smiling Noah.
"Morning Rachel," he said with a smile, reaching to take the basket out of his hands and moving to place it onto the table in the center of the room.
"Thanks Noah. Morning Cody. " Rachel said as she followed him into the bunkhouse and closed the door behind her. " Would one of you boys head over to my house and get the pot of porridge I left sitting on the stove?"
"Noah will do it. I haven't got my boots on yet." Cody said as he stood before the solitary mirror and parted his golden locks.
Noah rolled his eyes behind the blond rider's back eliciting a laugh from Rachel. "You know, Cody, that excuse is getting a little old to be using. Didn't I hear you using it to volunteer Lou to do something for Teaspoon about a week ago?"
No I-," Cody began to protest, turning away from the mirror to look at the black rider and caught sight of the worried expressions on Noah and Rachel's faces. The smile faded from his face, as his thoughts too, turned toward the missing young woman they all loved.
A long silence filled the bunkhouse until Rachel broke it with a loud sigh.
"They're going to find Lou, Rachel." Cody told the housekeeper reassuringly.
"I'm not so sure Cody. Lou went to an awful lot of trouble to sneak out of here without any of us catching her. I don't think she'll make it easy for anyone to find her."
"She doesn't have just anyone tracking her, she's got Buck. He's the best tracker hereabouts. If he can't find her, no one can." Cody said as he turned back to combing his hair.
"It's not so much them not finding her that concerns me, its more them not being able to convince her to come back with them." Rachel said. "Considering all the hurt Kid has caused Lou in the past couple of months, I'd be mighty surprised if she stood still long enough for him to say more than two words before she decks him."
Noah chuckled. "Now that's something I'd pay to see!!"
"It would certainly be a sight to see." Rachel laughingly agreed. "Come on, boys, best be getting on with the days work. Noah, you go on and fetch the porridge from my house, while I get onto the rest of the breakfast."
"I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Noah told her as he left the bunkhouse.
Cody finished combing his hair, tucked the ends of his shirt into the waist of his buckskins, before sitting down on the edge of his bunk to slip on his boots. Rachel unloaded the contents of the wicker basket on to the tabletop, and then moved to crouch down before the stove. She opened the glass door and used a poker to stir the embers within, before reaching to grab more wood from the crate beside it, only to find it empty except for a few pieces of kindling.
"Jesse Woodson James!" She exclaimed loudly in vexation.
"What's the matter Rachel?" Cody asked.
"Jesse didn't fill the wood box again, that's what the matter is! How many times am I going to have to yell at him before he remembers!" Rachel said, rising from her crouched position and moving to assemble the cutting board, knives and a couple of bowls onto the table. "Cody, you'll have to fetch a couple of pieces from the woodpile out back so I can finish breakfast."
"Okay." Cody responded agreeably and moved toward the door, but stopped as his eyes caught sight of the item she was paring. It was an apple. His blue eyes lit up as he took in the assortment of apples and onions on the tabletop. "Fried apples and onions. Mm-mm," he remarked as he opened the door and went outside.
Buck and Ike slowed their mounts into a walk as they entered Rock Creek and started down the main street in the direction of the way station. Storekeepers were busy washing windows, turning over closed signs to open and placing bins, crates and other wares out onto the sidewalks in front of their stores as they rode by.
Jesse was sitting on the steps of the jailhouse waiting for Teaspoon to finish shaving, occupying his time by throwing his knife into the wooden plank of the sidewalk, when he caught sight of two familiar figures riding down the street toward him.
"Buck! Ike!" he called out to them, his eyes straining to see if Kid, Jimmy and Lou were riding behind them. He didn't see no sign of the other riders, especially the female one and felt his heart plummet. He had been so sure that the older boys would find Lou and bring her back.
"We'll meet you at the way station." Buck called out to Jesse as he and Ike rode by.
The two riders exchanged weary looks. Neither of them were anticipating answering a slew of questions from Teaspoon, Rachel and the others about whether or not they had found Lou and had convinced her to come back with them.
(Maybe we should ride around town a couple of times?) Ike signed to Buck as they drew closer to the way station.
"What good is that going to do?" Buck retorted. "You know the first thing that Jesse did as soon as we rode by, was dash inside the jailhouse to tell Teaspoon we were back. We'll just have to stall as best we can until Kid, Jimmy and Lou arrive."
(I suppose you're right.) Ike said. (I hope they get here real quick. I'm not aching to get Teaspoon riled up at us.)
"Neither am I. Anyone deserves getting a good tongue-lashing is Jimmy and Kid for what they did to Lou." Buck agreed as they rode into the way station and brought their horses to a halt outside of the stables.
They dismounted and led their tired mounts into the barn and proceeded to slowly unsaddle them, in unspoken agreement to procrastinate facing Teaspoon and the others as long as possible. With any luck Kid, Jimmy and their hostage Lou would ride into the waystation at any moment and they would be saved with the task of trying to explain what had happened while they were gone themselves.
"Teaspoon!" Jesse called out the older man's name as he dashed back inside the jailhouse. "Hey, Teaspoon!"
"Quit your hollering Jesse! It's too blasted early in the morning for you to be carrying on at the top of your lungs like that!" Teaspoon commanded sharply as he stepped back into the front part of the jailhouse from his morning trek to the outhouse.
"Ah Teaspoon." Jesse exclaimed, lowering his voice a notch despite his protest. "But their back."
"Who's back?" Teaspoon asked as he moved over to the wood stove and poured a mug of coffee.
"The boys are." Jesse told him.
"Was Lou with them?" Teaspoon asked, taking a sip of the coffee he had poured and grimaced at the hot liquid's bitter taste.
"No. But then I only saw Buck and Ike riding past on their way to the way station." Jesse replied.
"That can only mean one of two things." Teaspoon said thoughtfully. "Either Jimmy and Kid are keeping to a slower pace for Lou's sake, or they've had another falling out and neither Buck or Ike wanted to stick with them and get caught in the crossfire. I expect we best head on over to the way station and find out what's going on."
He set his unfinished mug down on top of the desk and slung an arm around Jesse's shoulders as they left the jailhouse and headed down the wooden sidewalk toward the way station.
Cody hefted the axe over one shoulder, steady another piece of log onto the
chopping block, and then swung the axe down, splitting the log into two individual
pieces. He wiped a bead of sweat from his face with the back of his hand, and
eyed the pile of wood on the ground beside the chopping block. It was more than
enough to cook breakfast, and lunch as well. He tossed the axe aside and began
gathering up the load of wood into his arms and headed toward the bunkhouse
with it.
He had just cleared the side of the bunkhouse, heading for the porch, when out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Ike and Buck coming out of the barn He shook his head. He must have been too caught up in chopping wood not to have heard the two riders' mounts as they came into the way station yard.
"When did the two of you get back? Any luck finding Lou?" He asked them as the mute rider and the Kiowa joined him near the porch steps.
"We just got back." Buck told him crisply. "And, yes, we did find Lou, but…"
His sentence was cut off by the simultaneous arrival of Teaspoon and Jesse on foot, and Kid, Jimmy, and Lou on horseback. Cody's eyes widened in surprise as he noted Lou's hands tied in front of her with a bandanna as the trio passed by where he, Buck, and Ike stood in the way station yard as they rode their mounts up to the barn.
"What in the hell?" he exclaimed as he glanced at Buck and Ike. "Are they out of their minds?"
"Must be." Buck commented. "Ike and I didn't want any part of tying Lou up like she was an outlaw, so we headed off without them. "
"Smart move." Teaspoon snapped angrily as he passed by Buck, Ike, and Cody as he stalked toward the trio of riders who had just ridden up to the barn.
Buck, Ike, and Cody exchanged worried looks at the irate expression on the stationmaster's face.
"This is going to be ugly." Cody commented.
"Isn't it though?" Jesse commented gleefully, as he paused besides them. "Teaspoon's fit to be tied. Come on, before we miss the show."
"You're getting a little too much pleasure out of seeing Jimmy and Kid in trouble." Buck told Jesse.
"Why shouldn't I be?" Jesse said defensively. "It's their fault they chased Lou off in the first place with all their fighting. And now they've added to their grievances against her by bringing her back home against her will. I want to be there when Teaspoon rips into them because they deserve everything they get."
He brushed past them and continued on to the barn, where all three riders were now dismounted and they could hear the sound of Teaspoon's voice ripping into the two male riders, though they were too far away to comprehend what it was he saying to them.
"Maybe we should go get Rachel?" Cody suggested. "Surely she might be able to cool Teaspoon down before he does something too rash."
Ike snorted. (She's liable to help him shoot them rather than keep him from doing something rash once she catches sight of Lou tied up.)
A door banged shut behind them and the threesome turned to see Rachel storming off of the bunkhouse steps toward them, with an equally upset Noah behind her.
"Uh…oh." Buck exclaimed as both the housekeeper and the black rider stalked passed them, without so much as a glance in the trio's direction. "Looks like we've got no choice now but to go listen in and make sure Kid and Jimmy don't end up in shallow graves by the time Teaspoon and Rachel get done with them."
"I think you're right." Cody agreed as reluctantly he, Buck, and
Ike moved to join the others outside the barn.
To be continuned...
