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“Oh Lord,” said Lou. She and Rachel had been sitting on the front porch of the station house, having a little night time tea and talking, when the door to the bunkhouse opened and Kid came walking towards them. Rachel looked over at her friend, who was clearly in no mood to talk to Kid, not after what had happened earlier that day.
Without even asking her, Kid had moved all of Lou’s things out of the bunkhouse and into the station house where Rachel lived, while Lou was out on a mail run. When Lou got home all she wanted to do was wash some of the trail dust off her and get something to eat but Kid had other ideas. He wouldn’t let her go until he showed her the “Big Surprise” he had waiting for her in the house. With all the boys and Rachel watching in trepidation he grabbed Lou’s jacket and practically dragged her inside. Kid was the one who ended up with the ‘Big Surprise’ when Lou yelled out a string of cuss words that would’ve made a sailor proud and he ended up on his keester. To say she was livid would be a major understatement. She came storming out of the house, across the yard and slammed the door to the bunkhouse closed with such ferocity that a couple of the boys jumped. Kid moved her things back.
“Lou?” called Kid from halfway across the yard, “We’re turning in, you coming?”
“In a minute” she shot back, still angry from the events of the day.
“I thought you wanted to move back in with us?”
“I never wanted to move out! I’m talking to Rachel, is that alright with you?”
Kid stared for a couple seconds, nodded, turned around and went back into the bunkhouse.
Lou breathed out an angry sigh of relief when he was gone and Rachel asked, “Don’t you think you’re being just a little hard on him?”
Lou was incredulous, “After that trick he pulled today? He’s lucky I didn’t shoot him.”
Rachel, consoling said, “He was just trying to do the right thing”
“I’ve been livin in the bunkhouse for about a year now, are you saying that that’s a wrong thing?”
“No of course not” Rachel said smiling, not wanting to offend her, “It’s just that sometimes, things change”
“What if you don’t want em to?”
Rachel laughed and said, “You don’t always have a choice”
“Maybe not,” said Lou, “But I got one here and I plan to keep things the way they’ve been.” Rachel let it go.
They’d sat there in silence for a few minutes, sipping their tea, when the bunkhouse door opened and Kid came out again. Lou saw him coming and put her head in her hand, “Seriously?”
“Lou?” he called.
“Best be careful!” she replied, “Lots of critters and varmints running around out here tonight! Wouldn’t want to get accidentally SHOT!” At which Kid took a step back and the sound of laughter erupted from the bunkhouse. Rachel had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Kid turned around and went back inside.
“Louise, you wouldn’t?” Rachel said once he was gone.
“Course not,” said Lou, “I don’t even have my gun. Which he’d know if he bothered to check”
“You could always use the one in the house”
Lou looked at her, “Don’t give me any ideas” and they both laughed.
After a time Lou said, “He’s smothering me Rachel.” Rachel looked to see Lou talking down into her teacup, “He doesn’t want me to live in the bunkhouse, he doesn’t want me to do my runs. Pretty soon he’ll want me to take off my pants and wear a dress all the time.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Yes!” She replied in a tone that startled Rachel. Lou was getting frustrated and had to take a couple of deep breaths before continuing, “Rachel, you’re my friend and I love you and respect you so don’t take this the wrong way, but I could never do your job.” Rachel looked at her, waiting for her to go on. “The cooking and the cleaning and the laundry and everything else? Every day? I’d go crazy!”
Rachel smiled at her, “And I couldn’t do your job Louise.” Lou looked at her. “The riding you do and all the dangers involved? The fights y’all get in sometimes? I don’t have that kind of courage. Or stamina, for that matter,” She smiled. “And that’s not to mention all the chores you do around here, keeping right up with the boys? I watch you sometimes and I just shake my head in amazement.” Lou was looking down at her feet, a slight blush on her face. She hadn’t expected to be complimented. “Louise, look at me,” said Rachel and Lou’s eyes rose to meet hers. Rachel reached out and put a hand on Lou’s arm, “You are an extraordinary woman,” She took a deep breath and went on, “And as much as I like Kid and I’d hoped for the two of you to be together,” she paused, “Maybe you should just wait until you find somebody who sees that.”
“Thanks Rachel,” said Lou, “To be honest, I’ve been thinking along those same lines, I’m not sure how much longer this all can last.” She looked back down at her now empty tea cup, “And I appreciate your understanding. Seems like the only other person around here who understands me is...” she hesitated.
“Jimmy Hickok?” Rachel finished it for her.
Lou’s head snapped around, “You know?”
Rachel started laughing, “I have eyes Louise, of course I know. Me and Teaspoon were talking about it just the other day.”
“Teaspoon knows?!” said Lou, wide eyed.
Rachel laughed even harder, “Honey, everyone knows!” Lou buried her face in her hands. “If it’s supposed to be a secret that you two are close, you do a pretty poor job of it. I think some of the boys even have a bet going on where you both disappear to, two or three times a week.”
Lou, her head still in her hands said, “It’s just shooting practice.”
Rachel wasn’t sure she heard right and leaned closer, “What was that?”
Lou glanced at her and saw the curiosity written on her face. She sat up and said, “Shooting practice. Jimmy takes me shooting with him.”
Rachel, surprised, asked, “What on earth for?”
Lou shook her head and sighed, “Because like you said Rachel, it’s a dangerous business we’re in. And I knew that I was ok with a gun but I thought I could be better. So I asked Jimmy if he would help me and he said yes.”
“Why didn’t you ask Kid?”
Lou sighed again, “Because with Kid it wouldn’t be serious. Oh he’d be fine with it for a while, especially if it kept me away from Jimmy. But then it would be...”, and she imitated Kid's voice, ‘A woman shooting a gun, ha ha ha. Not for long! Not my woman!’
Rachel chuckled
“But with Jimmy it’s serious, deadly serious.” Rachel stopped laughing. “I’ve gotten better, at least I can hold my own now.” She nodded towards the bunkhouse, “And I can protect my boys.”
Rachel sat back in her chair, astonished at how much Louise had grown in the short time that she’d known her, “Wow. ‘Your Boys’. And taking lessons from James Butler Hickok himself. My estimation of you just went up a few notches Louise.”
Lou chuckled, “Well they are ‘my boys’. I take care of them and they take care of me. I know that they watch over me like a bunch of hawks, even though they try not to show it. Sometimes it can be annoying but it’s nice knowing that they care about me.”
Rachel nodded, “Yes they do, and it is nice to see that Jimmy has someone else to confide in besides Teaspoon. That’s what we were talking about with you two.”
Lou thought about it for a moment and shrugged, “He’s my friend. I mean, they’re all my friends but Jimmy’s my best friend. Somewhere along the way I understood that he had always been there for me. He listened to me when I talked and at least tried to understand what I was saying. He never tried to tell me that I couldn’t do something. He just accepted me the way I am. I guess I realized that I could trust him. Eventually I guess he figured he could trust me too.”
“That must’ve been difficult,” said Rachel, “Hickok’s the type of man who doesn’t open up to just anyone.”
“Well, I may have had ta beat it outta him once or twice,” said Lou, grinning.
Rachel leaned back and broke up laughing.
Eventually it was time to call it a night. Lou asked if she could help clean up but Rachel said, “No honey, I got this. You go on ahead.” They gave each other a soft hug and said ‘goodnight.’ The lights were off in the bunkhouse when she entered but Lou was able to easily find her way with the ambient light coming in from outside. She padded over to the bench to take her shoes off and saw Kid looking at her from his bunk. She ignored him. She stood up and started to take off her pants but then stopped and for the first time in a long time, climbed up into her bunk before finishing taking off her clothes for the night. As she pulled up her blanket and lay down she said, “Goodnight guys” into the dark and broke into a big smile when she was rewarded with a chorus of “Goodnight Lou” back from all the riders. As she laid her head down on her pillow and drifted off to sleep her last thought was, ‘My boys.’