Everyday that passed seemed to bring the thought of war closer and closer to Sweetwater. Army men drifted into town, trying to fill their regiments with young, unknowing men. Most of the riders didn't seem to notice them, or didn't seem to care, but Alex did. She knew that there was a chance her father could blow into town and find her.

She became distant, and isolated herself from the rest of the riders. When a two party ride came up Lou volunteered herself, and Alex. The ride meant 3 days away from the guys. They packed their bags and headed out.
"So, is this going to be three days of silence?" asked Lou.
"Huh? I'm sorry I was off..."
"You've been off a lot lately."
"He's coming for me."
"Who your father?"
"Yes,..."
"What? He doesn't know where your at, how can he find you?"
"I don't know...but I feel him all around me. Every soldier's face is his, every time I close my eyes he's there. I'll never get away from him will I?"
"God, what did he do to you?" asked Lou.
Her question went unanswered. They rode the rest of the day with no conversation. After dusk they settled down in a grove of walnut trees. Camp was quickly setup, and dinner was slowly cooking. Lou finished rolling out her make shift bed while Alex watched over dinner.
"I hate him," she mumbled.
"Who?"
"My father, I hate him."
"Why? What did he do to you?"
"He found me when I was a baby, my young mother had left me on his door step. The town thought of him and his wife as saints, taking on the abandoned child. As I got older I grew very close to her, she was sweet, and loved me, but he was very mean and abused her. She got sick and died, well that's what he told everyone. He continued to raised me, as his daughter but he treated me more like her everyday."
"My God, what did you do?"
"I ran."
Alex laid down and rolled away from Lou. The next morning the two of them got up earlier and rode out. After dropping off their package Lou and Alex checked themselves into a small hotel.
"A good hot bath and warm meal will make you relax!" said Lou.
Lou and Alex headed out at dawn. The day was perfect, and everything was going good for the two girls. But they didn't know about the army that lay in wait for them. They rode all day and eventually came back to that grove. Something was different this time. no animals were around, and the place seemed to have eyes. Lou blew it off and stopped her horse to graze, but Alex wasn't as eased.
"No, Lou, get back on..."
"But the horses need water Alex."
"Somewhere else, not here. Please Lou get back on your horse."
Just then shot rang out from the woods. Lou was hit in the arm, she collapsed to the ground. Alex tried to ride over to her, but was stopped by a man.
"Alexandra...it's over."
Without words her face showed the fear that paralyzed her. She looked down at Lou as she rolled on the ground in pain.
"Come to daddy and I let the boy go."
Lou's sat up and screamed for Alex to make a run for it, then was shot again, this time it looked fatale. Alex slapped the leather strap down and took off in a cloud of dust. Just as she seemed to make ground a sharp pain hit her in the shoulder, she fell off of her horse and blacked out. Hours passed and soon it was nightfall. Back at the bunk house the others started to worry.
"It's not like either of them to be late Teaspoon" said Kid.
"I know Kid but I can't call out Sam, because they're a couple hours late."
"But Teaspoon they could be hurt, in trouble, dead..."
"If they're not back tomorrow we'll go out looking for them."
Morning came and there was still no sign of Lou and Alex. Buck, Kid, Jimmy, and Teaspoon mounted up and went out looking for them. Buck and Jimmy took the regular path to Rock Creek, while Teaspoon and Kid covered the side trail.
They rode all morning without finding anything. Finally Buck and Jimmy stumbled across the grove. Nothing out of the ordinary, seemed to catch their attention. They continued through the grove. Buck stopped his horse and spotted Lou's lifeless body in the middle of the road.
"Lou!"
Jimmy got down off of his horse and rushed to her side. Blood covered her and the ground around her.
"She's not dead, seriously hurt but not dead."
Lou had spent the night were she fell. Jimmy and Buck picked her up and leaned her up against a tree.
"Where's Alex?" asked Buck.
Lou slowly bobbed her head up and down.
"Whoa...calm down Lou, you need to stay still."
"Dad...dad"
"Well he's losing it," said Jimmy.
"He's got Alex..." gasped Lou.
"Dad...who's dad, what's going on?"
Lou passed out. Jimmy and Buck stayed with her until the others arrived and told them about Lou's ramblings.
"Well, maybe Lou was trying to say Alex's dad shot him," said kid. "What? Why?"
"Well, that's the best lead we have right now, I mean how else can you explain Alex missing and Lou being shot!"
Ike and Teaspoon loaded Lou's limp body on to a wagon and headed back to Sweetwater. The others rode out to search for Alex.
"This don't make no sense! Why would Alex's dad want to shot Lou?" asked Cody.
"I bet Alex turned on him, he probably shot him...I always had a bad feelin' 'bout him," said Jimmy.
The boys rode all afternoon, they reached Blue Creek by the early evening hours. Each of them went off asking around about Alex. No one was talking, but it was clear that they knew something. Finally after hours of nothing, Jimmy found a saloon girl that remembered seeing Lou and Alex. The girl also claimed that Alex was being held at the Blue Creek hotel, room 4. Before Jimmy could find out who was holding Alex the girl ran off. Jimmy went and found the others. As they approached the Hotel, Kid noticed a line of army mules. He tapped Bucks shoulder.
"The Army's in there..."
"Ok, Alex is wanted by the army, I told you I didn't like him," said Jimmy. In the hotel, young men in uniforms seem to fill the whole room. Jimmy walked right through them, and they others quickly followed. As they walked up the stairs some of the men stood up Cody pulled out his shot gun and Jimmy his pearl handled colts. Buck and Kid ran down the hallway to room 4. They paused long enough to take a deep breath before breaking down the door. As they entered the room Kid quickly turned his gun on the man standing above Alex.
"Stop it right now...and let him go!" shouted Kid.
The man turned around, he had a sick grin on his face.
"Him? Let him go?...oh no are you sadly mistaken. That him is my daughter."
Kid's eyes lit up with confusion. The man picked Alex up by the arm. Her face was battered and bruised. Alex was a woman, a woman in a lot of trouble.
Buck slowly reached for the knife at his leg. The man threw Alex down and went for his gun. Before he could even take it out of the holster, Buck's blade had landed. Kid rushed to Alex's side. She was laid out on the floor.
"Is Lou...?" she asked.
"No, she's hurt but she'll be OK," replied Kid.
Jimmy and Cody ran into the room. Buck pulled them aside and told them the truth about Alex. Kid and Buck helped Alex to her feet. As they headed out of the hotel the uniformed men stood aside. After getting her cleaned up the riders started back for Sweetwater.
"So your a girl?" asked Cody.
"Yeah, I am Cody."
"I knew all along...your too pretty to be a man."
"WHATEVER!" laughed Jimmy.
Once in Sweetwater, Alex went to see Lou. She was still weak but she smiled when Alex walked into the room.
"Well, they know about me..." said Lou.
"The guys know about me..." said Alex.
"So much for our little secret," laughed Alex.
Emma looked in on the two of them.
"Well, Mr. Spoon we've got a little problem. Two girls, five boys, one bunk house, do you want the girls to stay there or here?"
"Emma they've been doing fine were they are so let 'em stay."