The boys were just loading the last of the station’s supplies onto the wagon outside of Tompkins’ store when they heard a blood curdling scream. Hands reaching for their guns, they started towards the direction of the scream. Suddenly rounding the corner, and running hell for leather, came a girl about their age, her blue striped dress hitched up over her knees, her braided hair in disarray, her freckled face covered with smirches of black coal and red clay. She screamed again as a bunch of wildly hollering, be-feathered and war-painted schoolboys rounded the corner after her. The riders could only stare as she was tackled at their feet and began grappling with her pursuers in the dust, all of them laughing, and shrieking. Buck was not amused. Before any of them had decided what to do about the situation, Tompkins himself came barreling out of the store. “You boys get on now, don’t be startin’ a ruckus in front of my store!” he bellowed gruffly. The writhing pile of arms and legs stopped abruptly, and several guilty looking faces peered up at the store-keeper, none looking as guilty as the girl’s. She picked herself up and dusted herself off, trying to squelch the mischief that sparkled in her eyes, “Mr. Tompkins is right boys, you’ve got math problems to do. That’s enough fun for tonight.” The boys dug their toes into the dirt, stuffed hands into pockets, sighed wistfully, and muttered, “Goodnight, Miss Ginn.” as they wandered off. “You sure have a talent for ruining people’s fun, Tompkins.” She said spryly, squinting up at him. Tompkins just shook his head, looking more amused than perturbed however, as he said, “You don’t act like any school marm, I’ve ever known.” And he went back into his store. The schoolteacher attended to the futile task of smoothing her hair and skirt, before noticing the riders, who had returned to loading up the wagon and were attempting not to laugh. She grinned at them, and stuck out her hand towards Jimmy, who happened to be closest. “Name’s Molly Ginn. You’re the Express riders, aren’t you?” “Yes, mame, we are.” Said Cody, quickly maneuvering his way next to her, “My name is William F. Cody. Might I escort you back to the school house, or your lodgings?” Noah snorted and Lou coughed in an attempt not to laugh out loud. Molly looked close to laughing herself as she responded, “If you really want to.” She looked back at the riders in mute appeal as they walked off down the street. ~*~ That night at dinner, Cody was full of all the exciting details that made up the personality of Miss Molly Ginn. She was apparently from a wealthy Boston family, come out west because she was tired of embarrassing her family by her unorthodox behavior at various society functions. She had a college education, knew all sorts of things about Shakespeare, and stars, and any other topic under the sun. “And I suppose she’s purty too?” asked Teaspoon, after Cody had remunerated all her other benefits. For the first time that night Cody paused. “No, can’t say that she is, Teaspoon.” The other riders had to agree. Teaspoon arched an eyebrow, and leaned forward in his chair, “Cody, looks like you are learning the lesson that love is blind.” Cody shook his head and laughed, “Love? I don’t think so, Teaspoon. Molly’s more of a sister type. Anyway, she’s lookin’ for a horse, I told her we had that paint to sell. She might stop by to look at him.” Buck snapped to attention, “That’s an Indian horse.” “Yeah.” Cody said. “She won’t be able to ride him; he ain’t even broke yet.” “Not that it should matter to you, Buck,” Cody replied, “but I promised to break him for her if she wanted him.” There was general laughter, “Cody, since when can you break a horse like that? He threw Kid just yesterday,” said Jimmy. “Besides,” added Buck darkly, “a horse like that will never be broke enough for an Eastern girl.” Cody looked at Buck for a moment, “She might surprise you,” he said. ~*~ A few days later Buck was alone at the station. He was trying to break the paint Cody had mentioned, and finding it difficult. The horse was covered in roan freckles, its dark eyes glinted maliciously, and it seemed to delight in being recalcitrant and wild. Buck peered at it over the corral fence, brooding. He was so lost in his dark thoughts that he only vaguely heard someone approach. He jumped when a hand touched his shoulder, and a lilting voice said, “Hey.” Buck whirled around and found himself confronted by a pair of sparkling gray eyes, Molly Ginn. “Are you alright?” she asked gently. In response, Buck stepped away and muttered a grim, “Fine.” He ignored the way Molly’s eyebrows tilted upwards at the response. “Is Cody around somewhere?” she asked, most of the warmth gone out of her voice. “He’s on a run.” “Oh.” For a moment she just looked at him, and then turned her attention to the horse. “Is this the horse he was telling me about?” Buck looked at the horse as well and then back at the girl. “He ain’t broke,” he said. At that Molly laughed. It was more of a guffaw actually, loud and guttural, full of joy. Buck didn’t like it. “I can see that,” she quipped. Buck went back to gazing at the horse. He didn’t immediately notice the distasteful girl clambering over the fence and into the corral. “Hey!” He shouted, “Don’t do that, he’s dangerous.” Molly just looked over her shoulder at him and grinned. She walked towards the animal, who was nervously prancing in the far corner of the corral. Buck jumped over the fence after her. He could just barely hear her whispering to the horse, but he could see the animal’s muscles stop twitching, his movements becoming calmer. She ran her hand along his neck and then in one swift motion, far more graceful than anything she’d shown herself capable of, mounted. Buck stopped in his tracks and stared at her. He couldn’t believe it. Then the horse reared, that he could believe. Molly looked startled but unafraid. Buck started to approach the horse in an attempt to calm it down, but it bolted, jumped the fence and ran for all it was worth. “Damn!” Buck whispered, and quickly exited the corral and chased after them on his own mount. Molly’s screams for help sounded oddly like laughter, and after awhile in pursuit, Buck realized that the girl was laughing, and smiling, and even urging the horse to more extreme bursts of speed. Buck knew that the plains would soon run out, and though neither horse nor rider could see it, a steep arroyo lay right in their path. They would both fall down the ridge, end over teakettle, and Buck thought, that would be the loss of a great horse. Despite his best efforts, he could not catch up, and he cringed waiting for the fall that was to come. But it didn’t. Instead Molly and the horse pulled up short and it was with surprise that Buck realized Molly was guiding her mount back towards him at a slow gallop. Buck stopped, and then headed home. Molly called after him, “Hey! Wait!” Buck did not turn around. She caught up, and looked at him, puzzled. “That was some ride, wasn’t it?” she said cheerily. “It was dangerous,’ he replied. Molly sighed. “Well, anyway, I’ll take him. How much?” Buck didn’t look at her. “You’ll have to ask Teaspoon about that,” he said as he nudged his horse ahead and stayed that way the rest of the way back to the station. ~*~ When they arrived back, Teaspoon, Rachel, and the Kid had just returned from a trip to town. Buck didn’t say anything to them, just walked his horse into the stable and started to put away his gear. Molly returned her horse to the corral, this time through the gate and looked a little shame-faced as she approached the others. “I came to see about the horse. Cody told me about him.” Teaspoon nodded, “Sorry, but we don’t have that horse anymore.” Molly looked perplexed, “But I thought that paint was…look, the grumpy fella didn’t say anything…well, isn’t that the horse?” “Nope,” said Teaspoon with a wink, “The horse we had to sell was a demon, unbroken and unlikely to change. That one there looks downright peaceable in comparison.” Molly grinned back at him. Teaspoon continued, “Looks like that horse is yours.” Teaspoon clapped a hand on her back and led her towards the corral to work out the details. Rachel and the Kid just shook their heads and went inside. No one noticed Buck stalking out of the stable, glowering. ~*~ Of course she stayed for dinner. It was a rambunctious meal, and except for Buck sitting taciturn and quiet at the end of the table, everyone was in high spirits. All the riders were flabbergasted at Molly’s facility with her new horse. “Tell us, Buck,” said Kid, “she really break that horse as easy as she says?” Buck didn’t immediately answer, and everyone felt the chill in the air. The smile faded from Molly’s face. “I don’t know; I was too busy trying to keep her from breaking her neck.” Cody chose to treat this comment as a joke, and everyone else followed suit, except for Molly. Buck stood up abruptly, “I’ve got things to do,” he muttered and left. Teaspoon watched him go with a shake of his head. Despite Cody’s best efforts, the night never did regain its merry spirit. And he was uncharacteristically quiet when he rode with Molly back to town. “Don’t pay no mind to Buck,” said Cody, “He doesn’t mean anything by it.” Molly hmmphed at the remark. “What’s wrong with him, anyway? Doesn’t he ever laugh, or even smile? And he just took an instant dislike to me, for no reason I can figure.” Cody sighed, “Well, Buck’s been through a lot. His best friend got killed a while back and I guess he ain’t quite himself yet.” At Molly’s prompting, Cody told the whole story of Ike, his friendship with Buck, his relationship with Emily, his tragic death. Molly was sympathetic. “I didn’t know,” she said. She looked up at the sky and stars and deeply inhaled the sweet wild air, so different from the perfumed and cloistered, richly furnished rooms she’d left behind in Boston. “Still,” she said after a minute, “Buck isn’t the one that died, is he?” Cody didn’t answer. Buck’s continued mourning and foul mood worried him, as it did all the riders, but no one felt like they could really say or do anything. Buck was hurting, and surely he was entitled to being upset over the loss of his best friend. Cody did not know Molly well, but he did know that she wasn’t as light and flippant as she pretended to be. She was determinedly happy, but he could tell that something about Buck bothered her. ~*~ A week went by. Cody stopped by the school house when he could. Molly had lent him a copy of Shakespeare’s comedies and he liked to stop by and discuss whatever he happened to be reading that day, as well as getting into whatever mischief there was to be found. The other riders also found reason to stop by and chat, all except Buck. Then Molly decided to accept Rachel’s standing dinner invitation. It was a crisp evening and the crickets had just begun to chirp as Molly rode up to the station. As she approached Molly was surprised not to see anyone but Buck who was staring blindly out at the prairie from the steps of the porch. There had been a fire at a nearby station and most of the riders were helping with repairs. She dismounted and tied up her horse, turned towards the door. “Cody’s not here,” said Buck, “It’s just me and Teaspoon.” “Oh.” Molly turned back to her horse, paused and turned back, “Buck, can I ask you a question?” He didn’t answer. “How come you don’t like me? Is it something I did or said, because I never meant…well, look here, I think we could be friends, I mean everyone else likes you and everyone else likes me so shouldn’t we be friends?” They were both quiet. Buck stood up and walked towards her a-bristle with indignation. “There’s more important things than if people like you or not. This ain’t some fancy Boston parlor, okay? You can’t just waltz in and…people die out here, did you know that? We wear guns for a reason. You’re playing Indian and riding that horse like he was a rich girl’s pony and you don’t even realize that it ain’t a game. Life ain’t a game.” Molly’s lower lip trembled. When she spoke her voice was low and almost as angry as Buck’s, “I know what life is, Buck. I don’t think you do. I’ve been feeling sorry for you because I know you’ve been through a lot, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to just stop living. Do you know how selfish you’re being? You’ve got friends who care for you and are worried about you because you’re so locked up inside yourself and feeling nothing but pain. Well, life is more than pain. Maybe you forgot that, but that doesn’t give you the right to stalk around making everybody else feel as miserable as you are.” She turned away angrily and swung onto her horse, making for town as fast as she could. Buck slammed his hand against the porch rail, and squeezed his eyes tight against the tears that threatened to pour forth. Teaspoon opened the door and took a step outside, “Buck,” he said, “I think it’s time you and I did a little sweatin’.” ~*~ There had been times when Buck found the sweat lodge calming. This wasn’t one of them. He was still angry at Molly. She didn’t have any right in talking to him like that, in pretending to understand what he was feeling, the way his guts were torn up inside. For a long while he and Teaspoon just sat there in the heat, saying nothing. “Well?” Teaspoon finally said. “Well what?” replied Buck, “This was your idea.” Teaspoon sighed and poured a ladleful of water over his head. “Son, don’t you think it’s about time you stopped being so surly with everyone? None of us pulled the trigger on Ike.” Buck’s eyes blazed for a moment, and then his face collapsed as he sobbed, “I know that, Teaspoon.” “Then do you want to explain why you’ve been so angry with everyone?” Buck didn’t respond, just wiped away the tears that mixed with the sweat on his face. “Particularly why you seem to have a problem with a very lovely school mistress who ain’t done nothin’ but niceness to you?” “I don’t know, Teaspoon.” Buck stared at the ground. “I try, I try to forget but it’s like there’s a rock in my stomach and I can’t just ignore it.” “No, I don’t guess you can.” Teaspoon pondered for a moment in silence and then spoke again, “Sometimes something happens that Ike would have laughed at, or smiled that big goofy smile of his, and I guess I miss him more those times than most others.” Buck looked up at him. “For instance,” Teaspoon continued, “the look on your face when you came back from chasing Molly on that paint. That was something else.” And Teaspoon chuckled with a sly look at Buck, who found himself smiling weakly in spite of himself. ~*~ The next time Molly came out to the station it was because Jesse had promised her the pick of the new litter of pups in the stable. She had already chosen one, a squirmy little thing with droopy ears and sad eyes, and was sitting on the corral fence watching the sun go down. She had been pressed into staying for dinner, and was almost looking forward to it, happy and just a little regretful that Buck had decided to completely avoid her since their altercation. She was lost in her own thoughts, not taking part in the general folderol around her, just feeling content with these people she had found a family with. She didn’t hear Rachel call people in, nor did she notice the gradual quiet as they all filtered in to the table. Inside, Rachel shook her head, “Somebody go fetch Molly, she’s still out there daydreaming.” Cody started for the door but Buck held him back. “I’ll go” he said. He looked back at Teaspoon, who merely tipped his head. Buck started out towards the corral, his eyes focused on the figure of Molly silhouetted against the sunset. He stepped around a damp mud puddle at the edge of the fence and leaned up against it. “Hey,” he said gently, “we’re waitin’ on you.” “Oh, Buck,” She said startled. “Sorry, I’ll be right in.” She made a move to get off the fence but Buck stopped her. “Wait,” he said “I’m sorry for, well, for just being so rough on you. I know you only ever meant well.” She laughed and this time the sound wasn’t so harsh on Buck’s ears, “I just want to see you smile sometime is all.” He looked up at her with a veritable grin, “I’m working on it.” She bent down to kiss him on the cheek and they both were surprised when instead he softly kissed her on the lips. She straightened back up looking at him and opened her mouth to say something. Instead she let out a shrill “whoop!”, her arms flailed about her wildly and she tipped over backwards into the mud puddle. Buck couldn’t help himself, and laughed as he offered her his hand. He was still laughing when she pulled him into the mud himself. Email Beulah HOME