The Blessing
~~ Part 7 ~~
After a brief meeting, the search party decided to split in to three teams of two people each. Lou went with one deputy north towards the hills, the Marshal and another deputy went east following the common trails, and Kid and the last deputy called Michaels headed south towards Kansas City along the rain swollen Missouri river.
The Marshal also stopped in at the St. Joe's station and asked that the next rider out send word along the route to the Rock Creek station letting them know what was going on. Chances were by the time they received it, Jeremiah will have been found safe and sound, and Kid and Lou would be on their way back, but at least this way, if they were delayed for any reason, Teaspoon and the others would know why.
Kid could barely see where he was going. The strong winds were blowing the freezing rain into his eyes, and with the thunder it was hard to listen for any sounds that might help them find Jeremiah. The search party had decided to meet back at the Marshal's office in the late afternoon, and if Jeremiah hadn't been found by then, to decide how to continue, if they should continue during the storm.
Kid knew Lou would not stop searching for her brother no matter what. She would continue to search through the night if she had too and so would Kid. He wished more than anything Buck were with them, as his tracking abilities would make finding him so much easier, but they had to make do with what they had.
"We need to start headin' back soon. It's late and too dangerous to keep searchin'." The deputy said pulling up beside Kid. The young boy had complained most of the trip, but he knew the area better than Kid.
"If you want to head back you can. I want to keep searchin'."
"Why? He's an orphan. He's not the first one to run away and won't be the last. I don't see why we have to waste our time and freeze looking for some kid no one cares about."
Kid stopped Katy and looked over at the deputy. "That orphan has a sister that's about to become my wife. He may not mean much to you, but he sure as hell means a lot to us! If you don't want to search anymore, then go ahead and leave, I can do this on my own." Kid spurred Katy in to a gallop and started to call out for Jeremiah. He turned around and saw the deputy still stopped looking as if he wasn't sure what to do.
As Kid started to round a bend covered by a lot of trees, he continued to call out for Jeremiah. He stopped when he thought he heard something. "Jeremiah?" he called loudly and listened.
"Over here!" Kid heard faintly. As he finished rounding the bend, Kid saw Jeremiah lying half in the river and half on the bank; he was tightly clutching a downed tree.
"Michaels!" Kid yelled back towards where he hoped the deputy was still at. "I found him!" Kid stopped Katy and ran to Jeremiah. "Are you ok?"
Jeremiah shook his head. "I fell in the water, and now my leg is stuck under this tree. I can't move."
Kid tried lifting the tree, but it was too heavy. The deputy came up beside them and tried helping Kid lift the tree. "There's no way we can lift this off him."
"Do you have an axe or something we can cut it with?" The deputy shook his head and Kid frowned. "OK, first grab the blankets under my saddle and the roll behind it. Then hurry back to the Marshall's office. Bring back anyone who might be able to help lift this and an axe in case we can't. Do you understand?"
The deputy nodded and went to get the blankets. "Anything else?"
Kid nodded as he started to wrap the blankets around Jeremiah. "Don't bring Lou back with you. Tell her I said to head back to the orphanage to wait for us. Bring the doc back too if you can. We don't know how bad Jeremiah's injuries are and it'd be best if he looked over him first, ok? Take my horse, she may be tired, but she'll get you there quicker."
The deputy turned and went back to the horses. He mounted Katy and took off in a gallop. Kid knew help wouldn't be back for at least several hours, and that was if they decided to come back during the night. It was still raining so making a fire would be next to impossible.
Jeremiah remained silent as he watched Kid make a shelter to keep them dry. He knew it had been stupid to run away, but he had been so angry about what Lou had told him, he didn't think. Lou often told Jeremiah to give Kid a chance that he was a good guy, but up until last night, he'd thought their father had been a good guy too.
Kid noticed Jeremiah shivering from the cold and went to wrap some more dry blankets around him. The makeshift shelter consisted of a couple of large branches and his bed roll. It wouldn't keep them warm, but it would hold of the rain as long as the wind didn't pick up or change direction.
"Hopefully help will arrive soon and we can get you out of there. This should help keep the rain off 'till then." Kid said as he sat beside Jeremiah. He didn't expect Jeremiah to say anything.
"Thanks." Jeremiah said before going silent again. After a few minutes, he spoke again. "Kid, is what Lou said true about our father? Did he really beat them?" Jeremiah asked softly.
"Yeah, it's true."
"Why?"
"Sometimes we don't know why people do things like that. My father was the same way."
"Really?" Kid nodded. "Does that mean you'll be bad like him? Lou said if I had stayed with him that I would be."
"No, he ran off when I was younger than you. But she's right. My brother was older and even though he felt what he was doing was right, it was still wrong. He did a lot of bad things and it was because he probably learned it from our father."
"Do you regret killing my father?"
Kid wasn't sure how to answer and paused for some time thinking of a way to tell him the truth without getting Jeremiah even more upset.
"I never like havin' to kill someone, but if it's a choice between them and someone I care about, then I have no choice. Do you understand?"
Jeremiah closed his eyes and nodded. Kid let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and placed some more dry blankets over Jeremiah. Soon he could hear Jeremiah's soft snoring, much like Lou's, and Kid prayed that it would either stop raining or help would arrive soon.