Cindy's Stories

Waiting for Author's intro

Swing Stations

With only time for a speedy switch of your horse, there’s just time for a short story.
The One to Carry on A follow-up to the episode "And Then There Was One"
What happened at the Alamo after Teaspoon was shot? Buck and Jimmy help him fight to survive, and then unravel some of the mystery of the stationmaster's past.
Xenopus Legs The xenopus are loose in Sweetwater and Sam enlists the aid of Buck, Lou, and Ike to deal with the problem. But in the end it's Cody who inadvertently changes the rules of the game.
This one is ALL RAYE'S FAULT -- she just HAD to go and ask for an "X" story . . .
Iron Trail Sam Cain leads a posse after a group of clever bank robbers -- they're not leaving much of a trail for Buck to follow, and they have more challenges in store once the posse does catch up.
Second Place in Sweetwater Station's "Bits 'n' Pieces" Contest
Lost and then Found A surprise visitor to Rock Creek triggers memories of the day Buck disappeared from the mission school.
Written for the Welcome to Sweetwater 'Missing' contest.
If You Need a Friend Just how did Buck and Ike come to be friends at the mission school?
Written for the Welcome to Sweetwater 'Alone' contest.
Tis the Season It's Christmas time in Rock Creek, but Teaspoon isn't feeling the holiday spirit. It may take one of the season's miracles to make this Christmas merry.
Sweating It Out Buck, Jimmy, and Lou are sent to the sweat lodge after being involved in a fight. But Lou discovers a hidden benefit to sweating with the two men.

Home Stations

Sit back on your bunk and get comfortable, you've got time for a long story.
Yesterday and Today An old acquaintance returns with a surprise that will turn Buck's world upside down.
Judge Not What You See Sometimes you have to look just below the surface to find real beauty. Buck has been judged by his looks all his life -- too white for one world, too red for another. When he becomes involved with a woman who bears both physical and emotional scars they both learn how to find what's really important.
A Bad Night in Rock Creek Buck rescues a woman who was left for dead after her coach was attacked, but instead of being hailed as a hero, he's accused of committing the crime by the men who really performed the deed. Encouraged by the real murderers, the people of Rock Creek edge closer to condemning Buck to vigilante "justice." The riders and a few brave friends from town must band together to try and make sure that this bad night isn't Buck's LAST night.
Innocence and Guilt Buck's missing, and Jimmy sets out to find his friend. But this is far more than a simple missing person case, and Buck is in a lot more trouble than Jimmy could have imagined.
When I Dream of You Revenge is sweet -- but when everything is based on a lie, things can get dangerous.
Luck o' the Irish After being shot while riding on a posse with Sam, Buck winds up at the O'Halloran ranch to recuperate. But the seemingly quiet town of Shady Creek is harboring a hidden danger, and Buck soon finds himself right in the middle of it.

Series

Title
The Hardest Thing Buck is in the wrong place at the wrong time when he winds up on the same stage with a woman who is kidnapped and held for ransom. They come from two very different worlds, but their differences start to fade as they work together to survive.
Until I Find You Again Sometimes the road to true love is long and full of bumps, as Buck has occasion to find out.

The Buck and Jimmy Chronicles
Days Past
 Written for 2009 Blogathon
Parting Is Such
 Written for 2009 Blogathon
Down the Road
 Written for 2009 Blogathon

Topic 1: Conundrum
Topic 2: Food Emergency
Topic 3: Window to the World
Topic 4: Nine Hours
Topic 5: Gone Swimmin'
Topic 5: Into the Fire
Topic 6: I Thee Wed
Topic 7: If Only
Topic 7: Sweet Onion Dreams
Topic 7: Fade to Black
Topic 7: That Was His Name
Topic 8: As the Wheel Falls
Topic 8: To Find Where I Belong
Topic 9: A Question of Negligence
Topic 9: Terror in the Night
Topic 10: Anything's Possible in Impossible
Topic 11: Blowin' in the Wind
Topic 12: A Dark and Stormy Night
Topic 13: Time to Heal
Topic 14: Living on Dreams and Beans
Topic 15: Christmas Shoes
Topic 16: Alone
Topic 16: Frozen Memories
Topic 16: Tales to Tell
Topic 17: Going Home
Topic 18: Thunder What?
Topic 18: Risky Business
Topic 19: First Steps
Topic 19: Waiting
Topic 20: Bottled Up
Topic 21: Ain't Gonna Hang
Topic 22: The Ring that Binds
Topic 23: The Blue and the Bold
Topic 24: You Can Do Magic
Topic 25: Starting Over
Topic 26: Fate in a Box
Topic 27: What Goes Around
Topic 28: The Path We Follow
Topic 29: Saying Goodbye
Topic 29: Time to Leave
Topic 30: Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Topic 31: What Was and Will Be
 Topic 32: Time for Love
Topic 33: The Thunder Rolls
Topic 34: Spirit of the Sky
Topic 34: I Heard the Owl
Topic 35: Dreams With No Beans
Topic 36: Oh Night Divine
Topic 37: The Island
Topic 38: The Winning Hand
Topic 39: Somewhere Over the Pass
Topic 40: Moving On
Topic 41: One Good Egg...
Topic 42: Aftermath
Topic 43: Epiphany
Topic 44: Teaspoon's Box
Topic 45: I'll Be Home
Topic 46: Faith Renewed
Topic 47: Darkness
Topic 48: It Happened One Day
Topic 49: Rescue on the Road
Topic 50: A Mother Knows
Topic 51: The Search
Topic 52: Home by Night
Topic 53: On the Edge
Topic 54: To Help a Friend
Topic 54: Just a Misunderstanding
Topic 55: Someday
Topic 55: Good Samaritan
Topic 56: Job Well Done
Topic 57: Pins and Needles
Topic 58: Trouble Comes to Town
Topic 59: Running
Topic 60: Still Too Young
Topic 61: Fine Print
Topic 62: All's Fair
Topic 63: Where Destiny Leads
Topic 64: Mittens and Dances
Topic 65: A Small Consolation
Topic 66: Desperate Times
Topic 66: No Time to Say It
Topic 67: To Dye For
Topic 68: Thief!
Topic 69: The Mother of Invention
 Topic 70: Once a Texian
Topic 71: Welcome to the Neighborhood
Topic 72: Joe Wade
Topic 73: Direct from Paris
Topic 74: Luck or Not
Topic 75: Child of Mine
Topic 75: The Past Comes Back
Topic 75: Time in a Bottle
Topic 75: I Promise
Topic 75: Words We Say
Topic 76: Believe It
Topic 77: Do It for Me
Topic 78: 'Til the End of Days
Topic 79: Rescue
Topic 80: No Good Deed
Topic 81: Find Him
Topic 82: This Is My Family
Topic 83: Silver Lining
Topic 84: Change of Direciton
Topic 85: Give Peace a Chance
Topic 86: In Good Hands
Topic 87: Snow and Fall
Topic 88: And the Winner Is...
Topic 89: Did You Hear...
Topic 90: One Fine Day
Topic 91: Out of the Dark
Topic 91: By the Book
Topic 91: Consequences
Topic 91: To Us
Topic 92: Time and Again
Topic 92: Home Is Where...
Topic 93: Memories and Nightmares
Topic 94: The Best Advice
Topic 95: A Touch of Comfort
Topic 96: Sweet Opportunity
Topic 97: Don't Fence Me In
Topic 98: The Right Moment
Topic 99: Adjusting
Topic 100: I Followed
Topic 101: On the Edge
Topic 102: The Eyes Have It
Topic 103: Thankful

Reunions
Family
 2002 When "Home of the Brave" ended, Buck rode off with Kid and Ike. But an awful lot had happened, both in the Kiowa village and back at the Sweetwater station. Could he really just step back into the life of a Pony Express rider, or was it a little more complicated to get the Express family back together . . .
The Royal Treatment
 2003 Buck and Jimmy get the royal treatment after rescuing a Princess.
Voted Best of Fanfic Night
A Good Education
 2004 A bank robbery in Rock Creek leaves one of the town's citizens dead, another injured -- and Rachel as the witness who can identify the killer. With the outlaw gang still on the loose, Teaspoon decides she may need some protection. Buck thinks it's a simple assignment to watch for trouble while Rachel teaches. Little does he know how much he, and the rest of the people in Rock Creek, will learn.
Life's Lessons
 2005 Some people learn to hate, while others learn to love. Buck wanders into a family saga of both love and hate in a town called White Falls.
Abilene
 2007 Lou's on the run from mysterious pursuers, and she hopes to find help in Abilene where "Wild Bill" is the Marshal. He's gone by the time she gets there, but she finds help from another old friend, Buck Cross, instead.
Come Home
 2008 Buck has finally found happiness -- will he be willing to risk losing it when a surprise visitor from the past shows up?

Blogathon

2008
The Lady and the Gunfighter A cold and rainy ride leads Jimmy and Buck to Langdon, Kansas -- where they find a ray of sunshine at the end of the trail.

2009
Heart on the Run
 Sam is on the run after being set up for murder by van Dorn. He's left places in a hurry before, but it's different this time.
From My Window
 Buck and Skunk have house guests on a stormy night, and Buck muses about the differences this brings.
Days Past
 Set just after the Pony Express ends, Buck and Jimmy contemplate the future and set off on a road trip together.
Parting Is Such
 Set just after the Pony Express ends, Buck and Jimmy contemplate the future and set off on a road trip together.
Down the Road
 Set just after the Pony Express ends, Buck and Jimmy contemplate the future and set off on a road trip together.

Challenges

Head2Head
Hard to Let Go
 2006: "Letting Go" by George Canyon
A follow-up to the episode "Survivors" finds Buck trying to come to terms with Ike's death -- and with some of his own recent actions.
This caused Cindy a bunny attack...read the rest in her CD Challenge George Canyon's One Good Friend
High Lonesome
 2009: "Better as a Memory" by Kenny Chesney
Romance has never come easily for Buck, but will his luck finally change in the mountains of Colorado?

Fic Fest
Mother's Day Set I - A re-write of the ending of Pride and Prejudice -- what if Sally Tompkins didn't die?

Five Senses
Dear Louise Sight: Lou gets a letter that causes her to see some things about family differently.
I Heard the Bells Sound: It's Emma's wedding day, and the things she hears create special memories.
The Smell of Success? Smell: Jimmy has a hot date for the dance, but things didn't go quite the way he planned.
Good Medicine Taste: Buck tries to recreate a medicinal brew based on a taste he remembers from childhood.
The Touch of Time Touch: A cold, rainy day leads Ike down the path to his past.

Teaspoon is...
A Little Inconvenience ...a Survivor
Teaspoon and Buck encounter a little inconvenience while on a posse.

CD
One Good Friend by George Canyon The saga starts at the end of the Pony Express, then follows Buck's memories of his life, finally winding up back at the beginning of the story.

General
The Choices We Make
 7 Deadly Sins: Greed
Sometimes you don't realize what you've got until you lose it. That idea takes on new meaning when a cold night brings Buck a surprise visitor -- and an even more surprising tale.
I Think I'll Stay
 Adoption
Buck finds himself with an unlikely houseguest as they ride out a snow storm. But the guest may have plans to stay longer.
11 Part Harmony: Set I
 Board challenge by Cathy
11 stories, one for each character listed in the challenge from 33 song titles by The Statler Brothers.

Contests

Anniversaries
Lending a Helping Hand
 4th: True Women
Buck's good deed turns into a lot more than he bargained for . . .
Hostage!
 7th: Luck of the Draw
The chase is on after the Sweetwater bank is robbed -- and hostages are taken.

General
The Way We Were
 Lyrical Inspirations...song: "The Way We Were" sung by Barbara Streisand
Years after the Pony Express ended and the riders drifted apart, Jimmy finds himself reminiscing, and wishing for a way to recapture that simpler time.
Winter Watch
 Wilds of Winter
Buck and Lou are on a special run when a blizzard hits the plains. Survival becomes the only goal, and desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.
Pass Over Me
 A Story Before Bed
Buck finds himself volunteered as a last-minute babysitter for Sam and Emma's children. But Thomas is afraid of Indians, Grace may have more questions than Buck has answers, and there's a storm moving in. Will Buck survive the night?


Pass Over Me
Hostage!
Fine Print

Buck in Family
Tis the Season
A Bad Night in Rock Creek

Winter Watch
Thief!
Sally Tompkins in Mother's Day

Hostage!
Skunk the Cat in Welcome to the Neighborhood
The Mother of Invention