- Chapter 1 - March 1866 Two riders lazily rode their tired horses over the last big rise on the way back to town. The return trip from Fort Laramie where they had delivered two men for trial had been uneventful to the point of boredom. They were still a day and half out but the horses seemed grateful to be out of the low hills and closer to home. As they hit the tree line a soft cool wind gently rustled through the newly opened leaves bringing with it the sound of an angry male voice. “You hear that?” Jimmy slowed his horse, dropping back alongside his friend. “Think we should check it out?” Buck looked curiously into the trees. “I suppose so, might save us some trouble later.” They veered off from the trail toward the unfriendly sounds. Five minutes later the two deputies came upon a startling scene. Stopping their horses just outside the small clearing both men tried to take in what they saw before them. A makeshift campsite, a wagon, two horses gazing and what appeared to be a woman lying down on a blanket just inside a poorly made lean-to. Those were the normal things. What took them completely by surprise was the disheveled red faced screaming man with a horse whip in hand, beating an oddly dressed woman bound at the wrists suspended from a rope over a the branch of a tree. She was gagged but rather than crying out in pain seemed to be trying to glaring daggers at the man oblivious of any injury he was causing. For that matter, the man looked to have taken a beating himself from the swollen split lip, black eye and various dried bloodied tears in his shirt. “What the hell?” Jimmy muttered under his breath as they both dismounted, securing their horses to a tree. Both men drew their guns as they crept silently closer. That was when things got even more interesting. Being that the whip wielding man had lapsed into a long tirade waving his whip around erratically as he motioned to the lean-to rather than striking the bound woman with it, the two men decided to take a moment to try and figure out just what was going on before they charged into the bizarre situation. Edging around behind the man, they were disturbed to find a rifle lying in the dirt and it appeared from the amount of blood inside the lean-to that the woman inside was in fact dead. Buck had seen enough, he fired a shot into the sky. The man jumped, his whip flying out of his hand as he spun around to see who had come to save him. “Oh thank God you’re here!” Relief washed over his face. “Now you’re going to really get what’s coming to you.” He threatened over his shoulder to the bloodied and bedraggled woman. He went to meet the two men who were slowly walking toward him. Both carried guns and he could see their badges on their coats. Justice would be had at last, he thought confidently to himself. “My name is Elias Malone.” He addressed the clean shaven white man before him, disregarding the obvious half-breed standing beside him. What kind of town hired Indians as lawmen? It was no wonder the likes of that woman was around these parts if that was all the more serious these people were about upholding the law. “I think you’d better get explaining just what exactly is going on here.” Jimmy said, nodding slightly in acknowledgment of Buck leaving to go check on the woman since he seemed unwelcome. - ~ - Jezebel didn’t dare blink. She’d been holding her defiant stare for so long that she felt if she ended it, she’d never open her eyes again. Her body ached in a thousand places and she’d lost feeling in her hands and arms the night before. Sleep had been impossible, her neck and shoulders burned like the fire Elias had threatened to end her life with. A pile of wood he had gathered this morning heaped nearby. She’d only been trying to help but the closed minded ignorant fool had taken it all wrong! As soon as she’d been struck the first time, Jezebel had fought back with everything she had, all the while cursing herself for putting Muyago in the wagon before she had left. Elias would have never got a second chance if he had been with her! But then, Muyago didn’t like strangers and since she was supposed to be helping these people it had seemed like a good idea at the time. When she had spotted the two men walking out of the trees, Jezebel felt the same relief she heard in Elias’ voice. Both looked to be in their mid twenties, one white with a serious face, shoulder length brown hair and dark hooded eyes under his hat. He walked confidently and appeared very comfortable with the gun in his hand, easily taking charge of the situation. The other wore a tight lipped scowl in his copper face, his dark eyes taking in everything around him as he glided closer. Through wearing white mans’ clothes, he looked very much Indian, moving with quiet grace. His long dark hair hung down his back, a well worn black hat on his head and a knife on his boot that he was now removing after putting his gun away as came up beside her. He was tall, easily able to reach the ropes holding her in place. He began to saw her free. “What do you think you’re doing?” Elias shrieked, hearing what was going on behind him. “You had better tell that half-breed to leave that devil right where I had her unless you’re planning on taking her straight into whatever town you came from to hang her!” “You keep calling her that but so far you haven’t given me any reason why.” Jimmy said patiently. “She killed my wife and then my son! Then she tried to put a curse on me! That’s the devil I tell you. Look what she did to me, no woman would do that! There’s a demon inside her, I read about that once in the bible. I’m telling you!” Elias said emphatically, looking on in angry panic as Buck ignored him completely. “Tell that fool to stop! Doesn’t he understand me? Your marshal so hard up for help that he’s hiring deputies that don’t even understand English now?” “That’s enough.” Jimmy growled, having had quite enough and seeing Buck giving Elias a wicked glare. “He understands you just fine but no one deserves what you were doing out here. Just how exactly did this woman kill your wife?” Elias cast a distraught glance toward the lean-to. He still couldn’t believe Claire was gone. He could feel himself beginning to shake all over, his voice breaking as the grief hit him yet again. “Yesterday afternoon Claire mentioned she wasn’t feeling well. She was pregnant and we’ve been delayed several times on our trip out here. It was almost her time but we wanted to get to her sister before the baby came. We were moving there,” he pointed to the heaped wagon as evidence. “I figured it was best if we stop so she could get some rest. But poor Claire couldn’t get comfortable and soon after, she started bleeding. I figured things were taking their natural course but delivering a baby wasn’t something I was ready for. I tried to get her back into the wagon so we could try to make it to the last town we had passed. Just as I was trying to move her, that devil came up out of nowhere.” He pointed vehemently in Jezebel’s direction. I should have known right away she was up to no good, what with her odd looks and all and that huge demon horse. But Claire was feeling awful bad and pleaded with me to put her back down so that devil could help. Right away she started to order me around, sending me off to find what she needed for the poison she later fed my wife. I should have known better. I should have known!” Elias pleaded, looking up into the cloudy spring sky. “And where does the demon horse come into this?” Jimmy asked dryly. “The devil was in the shelter there with my poor Claire, waving smoky sticks over her and whispering devil words, touching her all over, giving me the evil eye the entire time. Claire let out the most horrible scream…” His heart nearly stopped again just remembering the pain in her cry. “There was blood everywhere! I pulled the devil off of her, got her filthy hands off my poor Claire but the damn woman came after me! She kept trying to get back to her evil work. Then that demon horse came charging in, hellfire in its eyes. I tell you, it’s a sight I’ll never forget! The thing started rearing up, going after me with hooves the size of my head! Thankfully I had my rifle close. One shot was all it took to scare it off. I should have just shot her too but I wanted to know why she was doing this too us, why she took my Claire away. She killed my son!” “The baby?” Jimmy clarified, slowly edging closer to the lean-to. Elias followed him slowly. “The devil went crazy after I fired at her horse, attacked me, knocked me out cold.” He frowned, wondering if that made him sound weak. He wasn’t weak and she wasn’t a woman! She was the devil! “When I came to, she was holding my son in her bloody hands, he was blue but he was moving a bit. Her hands her all over him, just like that had been on Claire, chanting her evil words. The next thing I know she’s putting her mouth over his and sucking the life right out of him! I got her good with the butt of my rifle. She never heard me coming. It was too late to save my son and Claire was already cold. She’s been up there ever since. There’s only one thing I want to know before you hang her. I want to know why! Why she took my wife and son away. What did we ever do to deserve this?” Elias knew he couldn’t hold it together much longer, he needed to be alone. No other man was going to see him cry. He walked away from the deputy to check on his horses. Jimmy let the man go, figuring he wouldn’t go far. Poking his head inside the lean-to he was disturbed to see the wife and baby lying openly on the blanket. Nothing had been done for them. He felt his stomach turn and wondered again at the ravings he had just heard. It was time to get the other side of the story. Jimmy went to check on the woman. - ~ - There was no way her feet were going to hold her up. It was all she could do to turn off the searing pain as her first hand was freed and dropped down limply beside her so that she could remain conscious. She had to block out everything, to focus on communicating with these two men, to get free so she could get back to her wagon. Muyago would surely be frantic having her gone this long. Jezebel let her mind wander free of her body for a few moments thinking of what a mess Muyago would be making of her tiny home in his effort to get to her. And dammit she wanted her necklace back! The ungrateful fool had ripped it off after binding her, tossing the turquoise and quartz into the hot ashes. She’d worn the necklace for so many years that she felt naked without its comforting weight around her neck. Jezebel drifted in thought, trying to ignore the agonizing sensation of blood resuming its flow through her arms and hands. Buck quickly caught the suddenly limp woman with an arm around her waist. Her head fell against his shoulder as he hurried to cut the other hand free. Her arms still covered with the birthing blood, wrists raw and ringed with dark with bruises, a large knot split open and crusted with dried blood behind her left ear where from what he had overheard she had been hit with the rifle. He had noticed the light going out in her eyes the moment her first hand had been freed. Whether she was guilty of anything or not, Buck found he admired this woman’s strength. From what he had heard, the only thing she seemed guilty off was not knocking that fool out long enough. That it sounded as though she was using his people’s medicine had him confused. Not only that, but what was this woman doing out here away from town alone? Not being overly welcomed in town since it had nearly doubled in size over the past few years with a great deal of intolerant people from back east looking to make a escape or make a fresh start since the end of the war, Buck didn’t spend a lot of time with the people there, no more than he had to for work purposes actually. But even with his general knowledge of the townspeople, this strange looking woman was not at all familiar. Lowering her limp body gingerly to the ground, he studied her face for any clue to who she could be. With her face as dirty and swollen as it was it was hard to tell just how old she was but he guessed several more years than himself from the fine lines around her eyes and mouth. There were many earrings on her ears, silver, bits of turquoise and other tiny rose and black stones. They were nothing like had seen before, neither from the nearby Indian village where his half brother lived nor from the town. Her hair from what he could see from the loose bits that had escaped the scarf that bound it back, was black as night. The scarf was quite beautiful, black like her hair with small embroidered deep red flowers and long fringe some knotted with more of the rose and black stones. Definitely not Indian by her fair skin but it was quite tanned as though she spent a good deal of time outside. Buck carefully cut the gag away. Jimmy walked up, handing him a canteen. “She out?” He nodded, glad to see the concern on his friends face. What this woman had done for these people was something he understood without question but he had been unsure how Jimmy would take what Elias had said. “I’m surprised she wasn’t out long ago. What this man did was just plain wrong. I don’t care what exactly she was doing. She was trying to help the way she knew how. That’s much more than can be said for him.” Jimmy looked away from the silent woman before him to the man staring up at the sky across the clearing. Buck could only nod, glad to hear his friend agreed with him. “You know her?” Jimmy, having only recently returned to Rock Creek, he most certainly didn’t know everyone in the ever expanding town. “Nope, never seen her before.” Jimmy let out a sigh. “I think I spotted her horse when I was talking to Mr. Malone. It was just through the trees. No saddle on it or anything and it looks very pregnant.” He noted, glancing off through the trees where he had last seen the mare. “She must have come from somewhere nearby, her people might be there, family, husband, someone.” “You’d think someone would have found her by now if that was the case.” Jimmy said thoughtfully, further scanning the trees around them. “I’ll find her trail so that we can take her back. Someone must be worried and hopefully they will have some supplies so that we can get her fixed up. I don’t think asking him would get us much.” Buck looked darkly at the nervously staring man, catching his eye before Elias quickly looked away. At that moment he knew that Elias was only using this woman to vent on for what had happened and Elias knew it too. Buck felt his anger boiling up. The same anger he felt every time he was treated differently because of his skin or how he lived his life. He’d been beaten before, several times as a matter of fact, mostly when he was younger for not fitting in at his village after his mother had died. His older full blooded brother, Red Bear hadn’t always been able to protect him. Then later at the orphanage with the other white children for the same reason. His welcome in town early on was just as friendly was the rest of his life had been. After the express had disbanded, he had struggled to find his own way for nearly three years. Those years of wandering, looking for acceptance but never finding anything like the surrogate family he had left behind, had been hard on his troubled soul. Finally, exhausted and disheartened he had made his way back to the remnants of the family he had left. Finding Kid and Lou with two children living close by to a newly married Rachel, who had reunited with a sober Mike Stalder and Teaspoon who was still going about his business as Marshal. The welcome home had soothed his spirit and he had agreed to stay on as a deputy. As it was now he was begrudgingly tolerated but he was willing to accept that being that he had his small family to fall back on. For the most part Buck stuck to the horse breeding business he and Teaspoon, as an investing partner only, had started after he had decided that Rock Creek was where he was going to stay. When he wasn’t needed in town, he spent his days with the horses in peaceful solitude. Teaspoon generally kept him busy doing things out of town, grateful he had someone who could communicate with the local Indians when the need arose. He got paid, was making his own way and no one was openly causing him problems, life was pretty good. Kid and Lou had a ranch of their own and Kid was a much better fit for a deputy in town. Jimmy had come back a month ago, having never really settled down after he’d left the first time just before the war broke out. He had made it clear he was more on an extended visit than anything permanent but happily agreed to help out to earn some money. With a reputation like his, he preferred to keep moving. Buck was happy to have him back for however long he chose to stay. Though now Jimmy seemed much more haunted and unhappy than in his younger years, smiles rarely making an appearance on his somber face. A quiet companion on trips such as this one was much preferred over none at all. He’d never been one for much idle chatter anyway. Buck looked down at the battered woman lying on the ground before him. Hopefully her father or husband would ask first and shoot later when he showed up with her. Explaining what had happened wasn’t something he relished the idea of and given the usual reaction to his presence, a half-breed Indian showing up with a beaten unconscious woman probably wouldn’t go over all that well. If he could have sent Jimmy with her he would have, but someone needed to stay with Elias as they weren’t sure what to do with him quite yet and the fact Elias didn’t seem to like him at all, made that a job he wanted even less. He tipped a few drops of water into her mouth, guessing she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since the day before. Noticing the ivory colored shirt she wore was in fact also embroidered with tiny flowers but in almost the same color. Long billowy sleeves in no style he’d ever seen a woman in town wearing, nearly covered her hands now that they weren’t up over her head. Fine stitched ivory lace at the edges of the sleeves was torn and bloody from the birthing and her ordeal. Now that her hands were returning to their normal color, he saw there were in fact silver bands on her fingers, nearly all of them, some etched, some plain but all beautiful on her long thin fingers. Her shirt bearing ragged tears from the recent whipping, hung long over her hips, ending in more lace, not at all giving a hint to her true form underneath. Had he not just had his hand around her waist to catch her, he would have guessed that she was thick about the middle but now he knew that was not the case at all. The women in town were all clamoring to show off their tiny waists with their acceptably tight dresses, and here this one was trying to disguise it. Her long skirt appeared to have many layers of black and red or perhaps it was just many skirts, he wasn’t sure. Looking down, he did find it interesting that rather than wearing woman’s boots, she wore beautifully beaded high laced moccasins. What sort of man lived with this woman? Giving her a few more drops of water, he left her alone for a few minutes to get his horse. When he returned, Buck looked to find Jimmy beginning to ready a grave for the woman and child since Elias wasn’t seeing to it. Carefully lifting the limp woman up, he was about to call Jimmy over to help him get her up on his horse more gently that he could have alone when she started to stir. Long black fluttering eyelashes opened to reveal the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. “Welcome back.” He said with a little smile. “I’ll be leaving again soon.” She said hoarsely. “I’m counting on you to catch me when I do.” A tiny smile appeared on her cracked and swollen lips. Her eyes looked down to the ground and back up at his own. “It’s alright now. I’m going to take you home. Which way?” He was hopeful she’d stay alert long enough to explain the situation herself once they found whomever was out there waiting for her. “Not yet. I need to get something first.” Just listening to her raw voice made his own throat hurt, he put her down, where she swayed unsteadily as he handed her the canteen. He kept one hand on her until she handed the now half empty canteen back. “Thanks.” Her voice was still hoarse but she wasn’t wincing with every word to the degree she had been. She seemed to wait for him before taking a few steps. Perhaps she had been entirely serious about him being ready to catch her. Buck followed closely, his horse brining up the rear. Whoever she was, the fact that he had been holding her didn’t seem to bother her. But then, he quickly quelled his good feelings, she didn’t seem to be entirely of right mind either. He ran to stop her. - ~ - Jezebel had only two things on her mind that needed to be done before she could go back the blessed oblivion of unconsciousness. First she needed her necklace back. She’d received quartz when she was ten, given to her as payment for cleaning out a barn. She’d worked for two days during her week with the kind old man her mother had left her with. The old man had thought it was just a pretty rock, worthless and no loss to himself but to her it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. That had been twenty four years ago and she hadn’t taken it off other than to add to the necklace since. Never in all the things she had been through in her life had it been taken from her. She had always been careful to never put anything that looked like it was worth more than the turquoise she had added over the years, nothing that would make it worth stealing to those she made her living from. This man had taken it from her, for that she had not allowed herself to slip into the darkness during all the things he had done to her in his grief and his ignorance. She was going to get back what he had taken. Reaching the warm ashes, Jezebel knocked the slowly smoldering logs aside with her foot, and then down on her knees, she started to dig for whatever remained of her necklace. It was hot and her fingers were beginning to suffer the heat but when they closed around the familiar roughness of the wire and stones she pulled it out despite the pain it caused. There had been a good sized fire going only a couple hours ago but while the wire was hot, the stones hadn’t cracked. Thankfully the wire hadn’t gotten too brittle and it was all in one piece. Dropping the rescued necklace out of the reach of the fire, Jezebel bit her tongue to keep from screaming as she looked down had her blistered and bruised hand. Smooth red lines where she had touched the wire were already popping up. “What are you doing?” Aghast, Buck stared down at the crazy woman kneeling before him in obvious pain. “My necklace, he took it. I need it. Would you please get it for me?” Intense blue eyes begged as she looked up at him, still holding her hand tightly with the other. “Be careful, it’s hot.” She told him with an actual note of genuine humor despite the fact she was practically talking through clenched teeth. “I noticed.” He found himself smiling wryly as he picked it up with his handkerchief and tucked it into his saddle bag. “My horse, have you seen her?” She wavered unsteadily to her feet. “Jimmy said he saw her around here. We’ll find her, don’t worry.” He said confidently, reaching out to steady her. “What’s your name?” “Jezebel.” She let out a shrill whistle. Feeling a smile come to her cracked lips the moment Delilah came trotting into the camp. “There you are.” Reaching up to pat the big mare’s neck, Jezebel turned back toward the man beside her to see him waiting expectantly. “Just Jezebel. It’s all I’ve got.” She shrugged and then winced as the burning in her shoulders caught up with her for the effort. The world around her suddenly shrunk to the size of the concerned man’s face before her. “I’m Buck Cross.” He said hastily as he reached out to steady her once again. It was the last thing she heard him say before everything went black. - Chapter 2 - Buck picked up the odd woman who had slipped limply into his arms. “Let’s get you home.” Now seeing how pregnant her horse was, she had to have been walking. Home couldn’t be too far. Glancing to find Jimmy busy with digging the grave and Elias finally seeming to snap back to reality to help him, Buck set the woman onto his horse as gently as possible and then got up behind her. “I’m going to see what I can do for her.” He informed Jimmy with a hard glare at the man who had inflicted the wounds on the woman he now held against him. Elias looked up with worry in his nervous eyes, “Where you taking her?” “Back where she came from. Any idea where that would be?” He scanned the trees, looking for any obvious path she might have used. “Over there. She came from that direction.” Elias pointed into the trees. “She had a bag of things too. I don’t want it around her so you best make sure you take it with you.” He waved toward the lean-to. “What, you didn’t burn that too?” Buck snapped as he turned the horse toward the shelter. Jimmy took a break from digging to follow him over and locate it so that he didn’t have to dismount with the woman. “Anything interesting?” He asked, seeing Jimmy open an average looking carpet bag before closing it and then handing it up to him. “Nope just your usual devil things.” He said sarcastically. “I’ll see to him. Go get her back to her family. Or maybe you should just head straight for the doc?” Jimmy gave the limp woman a concerned glance. “Family first, I’m sure they’re worried. If they can’t help her, I’ll head to town.” Getting an acknowledging nod, Buck headed off in the direction Elias had indicated. Jezebel’s horse followed closely behind on its own. The trail she had made wasn’t hard to follow and after a good fifteen minutes of casual riding, he reached a small clearing a short way off the road that he and Jimmy had just ridden in on. Two horses looked up in from their grazing as he halted his own. One of the huge tan horses walked slowly in his direction. Buck noticed both of them were roaming freely and were identical to the one that had followed him. The pregnant one went over to join them. The reason for their size was quickly apparent when he looked away from the impressive approaching animal to see a wooden wagon similar to what he had in a circus once when it had come through years ago. However, this one was plain rather than brightly decorated and looked as though it might have been painted blue at some time in its distant past. A wooden crate sat near a small cold fire pit but otherwise there was no appearance of any sort of camp. No one else seemed to be about. Buck wondered if everyone was off searching for the missing woman. He slid carefully off his horse, pulling the woman with him. She seemed to stir slightly as she dropped into his arms. A soft nose halted his steps toward the wagon. Big brown eyes watched him curiously before nosing toward the woman he held. “You seem to know eachother, so this must be the right place. Where is everyone?” Buck asked the horse rather than admit he was talking to himself. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was going to be really angry with him for bringing her here like this. A sudden scratching sound inside the wagon made him jump. Putting the woman carefully down on the soft grass, he called out. “Is anyone there?” Nothing other than scratching answered him. When he turned back around, it appeared the horse was making an effort to wake its sleeping owner. The second horse started over as well. Buck was almost afraid they would crush her. They were the biggest pair of draft horses he’d ever seen. But seeing that she had someone of sorts watching over her, he went to check out the noise in the wagon. Jezebel felt something soft pushing at her cheek. A familiar nickering roused her from the blackness. “Hey Sampson,” she said softly, raising a hand with great effort to stoke his lowered head. “Where’d that man get to? Muyago…” Jezebel sat up quickly, looking around in panic and fighting the spots before her eyes from moving far too fast. The Indian was just about to open the door at the back of the wagon. “Stop!” she yelled frantically, feeling a great sense of relief as he actually listened to her and stepped quickly away from the door. Her voice startled him nearly as much as her tone. Buck ran to where she was sitting. “You should probably lie down.” She looked white as sheet. “You’re right, I probably should… but I’m not going to. Help me up.” He shook his head but ended up helping her anyway after she made a tenuous effort of her own. “Where is everyone?” He asked once she was on her feet, though leaning heavily on him. “There is no everyone. Just me. Now help me over to the wagon, because you’re right. I need to lie down but I want to do it in my own bed.” “Bed? In there?” “Yeah, in there. Not that I don’t appreciate you helping me, but I really feel like hell right now so can we save the disparaging comments about me living alone in a wagon for another time?” Jezebel felt bad for snapping at him but she was having a hard time staying on her feet and she had Muyago to deal with yet. She was glad when he didn’t seem to take offence, instead giving her a slight smirk. “Sure. What’s all the noise in here?” He asked, reaching for the pull on the door. “My friend Muyago. He’s not fond of strangers so I left him here when I came back for my bag to help those people. He would have only caused a hundred more problems.” She grumbled. “You’re going to want to stand back.” She waved him off to the other side of the wagon behind the door. “Don’t come near me until I tell you to.” From his expression, he clearly thought she was crazy but he nodded and stayed put. Buck watched curiously as Jezebel opened the door, slowly talking calmly in what sounded like something very akin to his own language. As the door opened farther, a black and grey blur jumped down to stand at the woman’s side. She knelt down to give what appeared to be an ecstatic wolf a big hug, talking to him all the while. After accepting a good deal of licking, she motioned Buck to come closer. “Gineli,” the woman said several times, pointing in at him. “So be nice.” She added sternly in English just before she passed out, dropping to the ground beside the wolf. Seeing her crumple yet again, Buck wanted to rush to her side but the golden eyed wolf stood guard over her body so instead, he moved very slowly. The wolf watched as he crept closer but did nothing more than watch him intently. Buck glanced away from the eerie stare to get a look inside the wagon. It seemed piled to the top on one side with crates with only a space wide enough to stand sideways between a stack of crates half as high on the other side. The ceiling was hung with bunches of herbs so that he had to duck to see the thick pile of furs atop the lower stack of crates and what appeared to be several bags of feed. If that was her bed, he was glad it wasn’t him sleeping in it. Turning back to the wolf and the woman, he picked her up gingerly and lifted her into the wagon. The wolf walked right beside him every step of the way, growling slightly but not moving to attack. It was tight getting her up onto the furs with so little room to move inside and as he laid her down, the wolf immediately hopped up near her feet, taking up every extra inch of space inside. “Now what?” he asked the horse that stood closest by. Big brown eyes only blinked at him before spotting some grass. Running his fingers through his hair and then settling his hat back on his head, Buck went to his own horse to get some water. With no one else around, it seemed to fall to him to take care of her the best he could. Her three huge horses didn’t seem remotely bothered by the scent of the wolf. However, his own was far less tolerant so he led her over to the tree farthest from the wagon, yet near a good deal of grass and tied her securely in case the wolf decided to reappear. The last thing he needed was his own horse running off. At least he hadn’t had to deal with any irate family members, he thought to himself as he sat down on the crate to think about what do to next. Jezebel was sleeping and it hadn’t looked like she had any life threatening injuries so sleep was probably the best thing for her. He knew that her cuts and the burns should be cleaned and taken care of but being that she was under the watchful guard of a very healthy sized wolf, he wasn’t about to start checking her wounds or even touching her for that matter if he didn’t have to. Deciding that he’d give her a couple hours of uninterrupted rest before attempting to wake her to see to taking care of her, Buck went to check on her horses. All three seemed well fed and healthy. The pregnant one looked like she didn’t have much time left, a day or two at most. In his exploration, he found the harnesses on the bench on the front of the wagon. Everything appeared in good repair. With nothing pressing to do, he got what food he had remaining in his saddlebags and proceeded to have a quick meal, saving some for the sleeping woman inside. Three hours later, the wolf quietly leapt out of the wagon. After giving him a long stare, it wandered off into the woods only to return a short while later with a bloody muzzle and a rabbit dangling from his sharp teeth. Standing on his hind legs, the wolf laid the rabbit just inside the wagon and then promptly sat down on the ground, looking inside expectantly. Buck watched the wolf with great curiosity for awhile, wondering just how the wolf and the woman had come to trust eachother. Muyago was definitely all wolf, there didn’t appear to be a hint of dog in him. Buck slowly got up to see how Jezebel was doing since the wolf seemed to be giving her some room for the time being. Once inside the narrow confines of the heavily laden wagon, he found Jezebel was still sound asleep. Putting his hand to her forehead, he checked for a fever and was relieved to find none. Unwilling to wake her yet, Buck decided to see to the rabbit. Surely she would be hungry when she did wake. - ~ - A most wonderful smell drifted into the wagon, tempting Jezebel to open her leaden eyes. From the amount of light inside, she realized the wagon door was open, sending Jezebel into an instant state of alert. Seconds later her bleary eyes made out the shape of Muyago sitting calmly just outside the door. Nature was suddenly calling in a bad way now that she was awake so she slowly got up from the furs to make her way outside. The sun was just getting ready to set she noted as she reached down to give Muyago a good scratch. The sight of the man sitting next to the fire made her breath catch in her throat as events came flooding back. Her hands immediately went for her knives but her arms were bare under her shirt. They weren’t there. Things began to fall into place as she remembered hearing the frantic yelling for help while out walking Delilah. After a few moments of covert observing, she had made the choice to help and run back to the wagon to remove her weapons, lock up Muyago and grab her bag. It had been a really bad choice, Jezebel decided as the pain that the ungrateful fool had inflicted on her sunk in. The Indian had said his name hadn’t he? She fought to remember the last hazy details. “There’s rabbit if you’re hungry.” Buck called out, trying to think of something calming to put her at ease. Her face seemed to be warring between panicked and angry. He just hoped she wasn’t angry at him. “Save some for me. I’ll be back in a bit.” Jezebel said shortly. She needed more time to get herself together. Being attacked was nothing new, a woman traveling alone for as long as she had was used to such things. A stranger stepping in to help her… now that was unusual. Was he expecting something now or was he merely doing his job? There had been a star on his coat, she remembered that. But even men that wore shiny stars were often just men with wants, no different than the rest. She needed to get clean and to think. A quick trip back inside the wagon later, Jezebel was off without another word and Muyago in tow. A stream was close by. She’d watered the horses there when they’d stopped two days before. The path was clear where the horses had found their own way during her absence. Feeling much more herself, except for her missing necklace, Jezebel cautiously made her way back in the dusky light. Wearing a clean shirt, her knives back in their usual places and a pair of pants rather than a skirt so that if her savior had unwelcome ideas, he would at least have to work a little harder for it, Jezebel worked her fingers through her hair as she watched the man sitting by the fire. He seemed relaxed but watchful, the deepening shadows playing off him from the light of the fire. She decided he had had kind face, that and she was really hungry. Jezebel stepped out from the trees, feeling slightly gratified that she’d startled him. Buck felt someone watching him and knew it had to be Jezebel but he couldn’t see her. It wasn’t so much her sudden arrival into the light of the clearing as how much she had changed that caused his far more audible than he had wanted intake of breath. Years seemed to have fallen off her face in the soft light of the fire. Black hair hung loose past her waist, her long fingers absently running through it searching for tangles. Moving to retrieve a second crate from the wagon, Jezebel gingerly and very slowly sat across the fire from him. The wolf settled in at her side, watching Buck with a similar expression to her own. Her face had a hard edge to it, blue eyes intense in her open assessment of him. Her shirt, similar to the one she had previously worn, was a soft blue. Her pants appeared light brown and worn. He also noted that she certainly didn’t walk like any lady he’d ever met. She stalked. “You gave Muyago his share?” Jezebel asked, never taking her eyes from him as she removed the rabbit from the stick Buck held out to her. Buck nodded. It hadn’t been as if he’d had much say in the matter. The rabbit had barely been cleaned when the wolf had dodged in beside him to gobble up the entrails. “Good.” Jezebel turned to the wolf beside her to thank him for the meal she was about to eat. “Have you eaten?” In her sudden rush to satisfy her hunger, Jezebel belatedly realized he’d offered her the entire rabbit and she had it nearly half gone. “I’m fine, go ahead.” Buck watched, amused as Jezebel managed to polish off the entire rabbit without wasting a single speck of meat so quickly. After she had taken care of what remained of the meal, blue eyes again returned to their scrutiny. “Mr. Cross is it?” “Buck, please.” “Alright then Buck, I guess I should thank you for saving me from that…” Jezebel couldn’t think of any nice word for him so instead she uttered a stream of angry Cherokee which thankfully Buck didn’t seem to understand or she was sure he would have had an even worse opinion of her. “Closed minded idiot,” she finally forced herself to say, ending her venting streak. “You’re welcome.” Whatever she was saying, he was very glad it wasn’t directed at him. Buck was just about to ask which tribes language she was speaking when she cut him off. “So which town did I get too close to this time?” That took him off guard. “Too close?” “I don’t like towns, they don’t like me.” Jezebel shrugged, wincing again. The pain was making her more short tempered than usual. “Which one?” “Rock Creek. Not that you’re too close really. We just happened to be heading back home and heard voices.” Buck watched the wary woman across the fire as she reached down to pet Muyago as if to reassure herself of his presence. “So why don’t you like towns?” Suddenly wary himself, he began to wonder if she was wanted for something. A woman as strange and unfamiliar as this one could be wanted for just about anything. “I’m tired and it’s a long story. Look, I’m sure you have work to get back to. If you want to stay here and share the fire tonight, that’s fine but we’re gonna even up now and then you can leave anytime.” “Leave? You’re hurt and there’s no one here to look after you.” “Honey, I’ve been hurt a hell of a lot worse than this. I’ll be fine and I certainly don’t need anyone lookin’ after me.” Jezebel just wanted to get back to bed without having to worry about an unfamiliar man hanging around outside her wagon. “Now if you would please give me my necklace, I’ll see if I can find something to repay you for helping me.” “But you’re horse, she’s about ready to give birth any day…” “And you think I can’t handle that?” Jezebel nearly snorted her annoyance. “I’ve been on my own for the last seventeen years, at least for the most part. I think I’ll be just fine.” Jezebel cautiously rose, feeling her sore muscles and the cuts from the whip protesting with every move. “I mostly trade for a living so I’ve got a bit of everything. What do you need?” ‘You to sit down.’ Came to mind but Buck didn’t think she’d listen or welcome his overtures no matter how friendly he attempted to be. Instead, he decided to try and get some answers. “Who do you trade with?” “Mountain men, miners, Indians, farmers far from towns, pretty much anyone. Also do some doctoring and over the years, pretty much any odd job you can name.” Jezebel carefully got up into the wagon, seeing that he was coming over to join her. She began to search for a couple crates she thought he might be interested in. “I don’t sell guns, so don’t even ask. Don’t like ‘em and most men would happily rob me if they knew I had any. Got a couple nice knives though if you’re interested.” Locating one of the crates, more by memory than anything being as it was quite dark away from the fire, Jezebel bent over to pick it up. Seeing the woman struggle with what appeared to be a heavy crate and obviously still in pain, no matter that she told him point blank that she didn’t need help, Buck stepped up behind her to lend a hand. But before he could even reach out for the crate, there was a knife at his throat. “Back off Sunshine. My wagon. Get out.” There was no fear in her hard edged voice. Buck recalled Elias’ beaten face and how he’d claimed this woman had attacked him. She certainly seemed capable of doing just that. “I was just trying to help.” He muttered, backing out of the wagon. Once his feet hit the ground, sounds of crates being shifted around again filled the quiet night. “Why don’t you go get my necklace? I’ll meet you by the fire in a minute.” Jezebel offered in a more friendly tone in an attempt to make up for threatening him when he had sounded so sincere about helping. Three crates sat beside the one she sat on by the time he returned from his horse, having spent several minutes blindly rummaging through his saddle bags for the necklace. “Here.” Buck held it out to her as he walked past to on his way to his seat. “Thanks.” Jezebel sounded genuinely pleased to have it back, holding the necklace up to examine it for damage. “Doesn’t look too bad, I suppose I’ll have plenty of time to clean it up while I wait for our new addition.” With a moment of adjustment the closure was set to rights. Jezebel put it on. “That’s better.” Buck watched in amazement as a perfectly serene smile broke out on her face. For a moment she was beautiful. “Alright then, what’s the going reward for rescuing devils these days?” Blue eyes sparkled humorously in the light of the fire. He sat silently, thinking of anything that he might need or want that she might happen to have. Nothing came to mind. The house that he shared with Teaspoon and now Jimmy, was comfortable enough for three bachelors. He had enough money, being that he wasn’t often welcome to spend it. Only one thing came to mind, a friendly conversation with a pretty woman who didn’t mind talking to him because of what he was. “I’d like to stay if that’s alright with you.” “We covered that didn’t we? The question is what do you want from me?” Jezebel opened the nearest crate. “I happen to have several, I’m sure we could find some that fit.” She held up a pair of buckskin leggings. “Or perhaps one of these?” she asked, holding out a knife with a well crafted leather sheath. “And if nothing else, I’ve got every man’s weakness.” Jezebel grinned, pulling out a bottle of whiskey from the last crate. “I don’t drink much and I already have a knife. Where’d you get those?” Buck pointed to the pants. “I made them.” Jezebel said a bit defensively. “Where did you get the buckskin?” “I didn’t steal it if that’s what you’re getting at.” Jezebel returned the items back to their crates. “You get accused of stealing a lot?” He asked quietly, feeling a kindred reaction to such a simple question. “You could say that. So what’s it gonna be?” “I’d like to stay, just until the foal is born at least. You’ll be stuck here until then. I can make sure no one else bothers you until you’re able to leave.” “More like, you want to make sure that I won’t bother anyone else until I can get far away from your town.” Jezebel muttered, walking away from the fire to put the crates away. “I didn’t say that.” Buck said softly, intrigued by her level of defensiveness. When Jezebel returned, it was with an armload of furs which she laid out near the fire. “Since you’re going to be keeping this thing going all night, I might as well be warm.” “I thought you slept in the wagon.” Jezebel just stared at him across the fire. “You just want to make sure I don’t try and make off with one of your horses while you have the wolf keeping you company in the wagon.” Buck accused. “I didn’t say that.” Jezebel threw back at him the slightest hint of a smirk. “So you’re alright with me staying then?” “Don’t really have much of a choice now do I? What with you being the law around here and me only a troublemaking traveler and all.” She let out a sigh. “Just so we’re clear, you’re sticking around is all you’re gonna get out of me. Agreed?” Jezebel sat down on her pile of furs to watch the handsome man across the fire, making sure to keep Muyago close, despite his apparent friendliness. He nodded. “So where are you from?” Buck asked, seeing that she wasn’t looking like she was ready to turn in quite yet. He set to laying out his bed roll that he had grabbed when retrieving the necklace. “Most everywhere, I wander while the weather is good. When I get sick of being alone, I find a job for a couple days or weeks and then move on. I winter with the Cherokee.” Buck frowned thinking that the Cherokee had gotten a pretty good deal, getting their own bit of land while many of the other tribes were forced onto miserable reservations or plainly hunted down. “Over in the Indian territory?” Jezebel shook her head, staring at the fire. She hated spring when she had to leave her family behind. But even they could only tolerate her for so long. “No, not all of them are ready to give in yet.” She said sadly. “I wish they would. Every year there are more faces missing. They can’t win and now they have good safe land to go to.” Watching the fire dance before her, Jezebel thought of all those that died because the obstinate chief wouldn’t listen to her. “They shouldn’t have to leave their land.” Buck said tightly. “I know that!” Jezebel snapped. “They’re my family… as much as I have one. I’d like to not lose any more of them to these idiot soldiers who take advantage of them any chance they get. I want them safe.” From the ferocity of her words, he wondered if it was more than a trading arrangement that led her to call them family. “Where you captured by the Cherokee?” It would certainly explain where she would have picked up on Indian medicine amongst other things. Jezebel sighed deeply, not looking away from the flames. “Only my heart.” A quick glance up met with surprised brown eyes. She felt a smile beg its way to the surface. Lawmen were never ones to get to know, she chided herself. They always were asking questions and questions only led to getting her into trouble. And trouble with the law was always something to be avoided. John would only pull so many strings for her and she knew it. But this particular lawman, he was different. At least that’s what Jezebel tried to convince herself of as she sat lost in his dark gaze. It had been a long time since she’d felt the impulse to share her past with anyone but her impulses were usually a good thing so she went with it. “I had just seen my mother and her husband and their son killed by an angry mob.” She ignored his confused look at her choice of words. “I ran, taking off with the wagon, the horses and everything they owned. For weeks I wandered, staying away from any towns, trading with anyone who was willing, as we had always done.” She shook her head at his questioning face. “That’s another story and not one you’re likely to ever hear.” Jezebel watched him settle back, still listening avidly. “I was seventeen but I had learned a few things from my mother. We often put on shows when we went to the smaller settlements. A good way to generate interest, you know? I had her clothes and with the help of some of her tricks, I looked a good deal older than I really was. No one ever questioned my being too young to be on my own. Maybe that’s because they were to busy having conniptions over me being on my own to begin with.” Jezebel rolled her eyes. “I was wandering my way further west when I came across a man lying beside the road. He had been beaten, shot and likely left for dead. I pulled off into the woods a ways and went back for him. I didn’t understand a word he said but he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.” Jezebel smiled fondly. “He stayed with me for four days until he was well enough to get on one of my horses. By then I had enough grasp of Indian sign to understand Dark Sky, he wanted me to come back to his village with him. I hadn’t seen anything like it before but it was wonderful. I was so used to people looking at me strangely that even the rudest looks didn’t bother me.” “Dark Sky took me to meet his family, explaining that I had saved him. His father, the chief was happy that his son was alive, but none to excited about me being in his village. His mother Red Flower, on the other hand, was very friendly. I remember watching in amazement as she waved off her husbands angry protests like they were nothing and led me into their teepee. She sat patiently and showed me how to make dinner and even though we couldn’t understand eachother in words, we got along very well.” “Just before dusk, she sent Dark Sky with me to return me to my camp, and to return the horse that he had borrowed. I stayed there alone that night after he had left. It was a very long, cold and lonely night. When morning finally came, I sat wondering if he would come back or if I should leave. I didn’t dare head into the village on my own.” Jezebel explained. “I might not have minded the rude looks but there had been many hostile ones as well.” “He came back?” Jezebel smiled again, nodding. “Not long after noon. I had everything packed and all four horses hitched up. Poor things, they had been ready for two hours while I just sat there staring off into the trees hoping he’d be there every time I blinked. I lost one three years back. She was very old.” Jezebel said in answer to his unspoken question. “You’ve been working with three for that long? Why not buy another?” “I just travel slower and a little lighter. In some things I can be patient and look,” she waved her hand off into the darkness toward where the very uncomfortable looking Delilah stood. “You’ll have to wait quite awhile yet before you’ll have a full team.” “I can wait.” She said as if being inconvenienced meant nothing at all. “So we were all just standing there when Dark Sky silently popped out of the trees. We talked the best we could and improvised with other methods to clarify the gist of the conversation.” Jezebel could feel her cheeks heat up and it had nothing to do with the nearby fire, as she remembered how passionately Dark Sky had persuaded her to move to the village with him. “It was nearly dusk when we arrived back in the village with my wagon. His father, Laughing Crow, was not at all pleased when Dark Sky claimed me for his own but again Red Flower took my side. Two hours later, the elders had given their blessing and off we went with giant grins on our faces.” “You knew this man for five days and became his wife?” Buck asked the smiling, bemused woman. “Mmmhmm,” Jezebel was too lost in remembering every detail of his copper face, the way his long silky midnight hair felt against her cheek, his rough hands on her skin. The way his dark eyes narrowed when they fought, how his voice dropped to a low rumble when they yelled at each other. Slowly she returned to the man now across from her. His eyes dark but a softer brown, copper skin but not as dark, hair more brown than black. Buck felt her looking at him so he felt it was only fair to look back since she was being so obvious about it. She looked relaxed and smiling it was certainly a nice look on her. Her long dark hair was beginning to curl loosely as it dried, softening her face slightly. Seeing her like this was much better than how she had been only a short time ago in the wagon. Though not stunning or what would probably be defined as beautiful, Buck decided Jezebel had a sense of peace about her that when she allowed herself to let her guard down, was very attractive. It had been many years since he’d allowed himself to feel any sort of peace. After the deaths of Ike and Noah and his surrogate family drifting away to their own lives, Buck felt as though he’d lost his place. He felt welcome enough to stick around now, Teaspoon made sure of that as did Kid and Lou, but the days just went by with no real gratification, no great purpose. He dearly wanted what Jezebel had. She’d erected a solid wall that nothing seemed to penetrate unless she allowed it to. Nothing seemed to touch the tranquility she had hidden inside. Elias Malone hadn’t touched her, even after beating her. She didn’t seem remotely afraid of him either. She was alone and apparently had been for a long time but even the absence of people didn’t bother her. It sounded as though she’d seen her family murdered, she obviously wasn’t with Dark Sky, who she looked so happy to talking about. There were demons in her past. What Buck needed was to learn how she conquered them so that he could possibly do it too and finally find where he fit into life again. Jezebel watched a wave of sadness seem to come over Buck. The degree of desolation in his soft gaze tugged at her heart. She decided that she would try to chase it away with her own story. After all, she tried to help or heal anyone she ran across, why not this man. “It was hard at first, living amongst so many people that could talk about or down to you right to your face. They never did it when Dark Sky was around, but he was off hunting a good deal of the time. Red Flower kept me by her side for the most part and I worked very hard to pick up the language as quickly as possible.” “I never liked my own mother but I loved Red Flower right away. Within the first two months, several of the other women took to me as well and soon after, the hostile looks from nearly everyone had disappeared, though there have always been those that still have never accepted me.” Jezebel glanced up to make sure he was still listening and was glad to see his sadness had disappeared. “That first winter in the village was when I learned why he was called Dark Sky. It had nothing to do with the weather. He had a horrible temper. That was why he, the chief’s eldest son, was still all alone at nineteen summers. When the snow storms raged and he was stuck inside with nothing to do, he would pick a fight. He was always full of energy and it if he couldn’t release it by doing his normal daily activities, he would burst.” Jezebel shook her head. “Burst how?” Buck was almost afraid to ask. “Oh, yell mostly, one time he hit me.” She could see Buck’s face harden over, anger leaping into his eyes. “Don’t worry. I hit him back.” Jezebel grinned, watching the conflicting emotions pour over his face. “I have no problem hitting men, especially ones who hit me first.” “But he was a warrior and you were his woman!” “True. Unfortunately for poor Dark Sky,” Jezebel fought back a laugh when it looked like his eyes might bug out at her sympathetic tone. “I had been doing ten years worth of labor all over the country before I met him. After my mother had met her husband, she would farm me out to whoever would pay a couple bits for the extra help every time we hit a new town. They didn’t want me around, even more so after she found out she was pregnant.” “You would have been what, seven?” Buck asked incredulously. Jezebel nodded. “As far as I can tell, yeah. My Grandfather was still alive then, living with us. This was his wagon.” She gestured to the dark shape behind them. “He didn’t talk much but he was nice to me in his own way. He didn’t like what my mother was doing but he was old and often sick so he depended on her and wasn’t willing to cross her on my behalf. Instead he taught me how to take care of myself and gave me his knives.” Jezebel pulled down her sleeves to give him a glimpse of the thin daggers she wore on her forearms. “He was in a circus, so was my mother. They left just before I was born. Don’t ask which one or where because I don’t know.” Jezebel let out a tiny laugh at Buck’s ever changing face, now looking confused. “How do you keep doing that?” “Knowing exactly what you’re gonna ask me?” He nodded. “I just do.” She said mysteriously. So maybe it was because she was good at reading people. She had to be in her line of work. But Jezebel wasn’t going to tell him that, she much preferred keeping people on their toes. “I’d put the knives away when I came to live in the village but I’d dealt with years of being bullied by the children of the people I was sold to. I think we were pretty evenly bruised once the snow stopped.” Jezebel let out a little laugh. “Dark Sky was so embarrassed that I had left marks on him that he refused to leave the teepee. However, one of us needed to get wood, so I went. Laughing Crow saw me first. He gave me an angry glare, which was nothing out of the ordinary from him so didn’t think much of it but then he grabbed my arm and hauled me with him to go talk to his son. The moment he stepped inside and got a good look at Dark Sky, he laughed. I’d never heard him laugh before. From the stunned look on his face, I don’t think Dark Sky had either. After he had dried his eyes and caught his breath, Laughing Crow hugged me tightly and gave me my name.” She could see that look on his face again. “Dark Sky had his own name for me but everyone else just called me Jezebel and it would not surprise me if that was Laughing Crow’s decree. But that day he informed Dark Sky that my name was now Waya Adonvdo, Wolf Heart. He then gave us his heartfelt blessing and left us alone.” “After that, Dark Sky stuck to yelling but I admittedly have quite a temper of my own when pushed to it. I have no doubt that the entire village heard a good deal of our arguments.” Jezebel drifted off into memories of much younger and happier times. “What happened between you?” Buck finally asked, seeing that she was lost in silence. “It was my second year with Dark Sky. Spring, just like now.” Jezebel began to regret deciding to tell her story, knowing now that she wouldn’t be able to sleep after giving voice to these memories. “Only days before, I had given birth to our son when the soldiers came. They rode into the village with guns drawn, just looking for cause to begin shooting. One of them saw me, the color of my skin. He tried to pull me onto his horse but I didn’t want to go. None of them listened to me when I tried to explain that I wanted to stay, that I was perfectly happy there.” Buck saw a terrible sadness fall over Jezebel and instantly regretted prodding her onward. Memories of finding Tompkins’ family and the tragedy that had followed filled his mind. “Dark sky came running out of our teepee, hearing my protests. He tried to pull me down from the arms of a soldier and succeeded in toppling us all onto the ground. Seconds later, after getting back to our feet, he pulled at me again, trying to get me away from the soldiers closing in around us. They shot him. So many of them, all at once.” Jezebel felt her throat close off, hearing the gunfire as if it were happening all over again. “I’m sorry.” Buck offered quietly, knowing that he had caused similar tragedy when he had led soldiers into a Lakota camp years before. He could see the firelight shining in the trail of tears on her face but to offer any sort of comfort he would need to cross to her side of the fire and though she had shared this glimpse of her life with him, Buck didn’t feel that he was welcome in close quarters. “Your son?” He asked, hoping he would be leading her back into happier ground. “Do you see him here?” Jezebel asked bitterly, feeling the hurt of only so recently having to part with him for another year. “I’m going to go check on the horses. Good night.” She needed to be alone, far away from the kind and comforting looks she was getting from the man across the fire. Comfort in the arms of a handsome stranger might not be all that unwelcome, but with the memories of her lost love swirling chaotically in her head, she didn’t trust herself to think straight. She just wanted to be alone. - Chapter 3 - A pale sunless sky welcomed Buck into a new day. Jezebel was no where in sight. After attending to his needs, he wandered over to check on Delilah. The miserable looking horse gave him a forlorn glance before resuming her fidgeting. His own horse was next in line for his attention. As he returned, leading his horse back along the well beaten path to the nearby stream, Jezebel stepped from her wagon with Muyago at her heels. “Hungry?” She tossed him an apple. “Enjoy. I only have a few left.” She said with a smile on her tired face. “Thanks.” It was still nice and crisp, he noticed appreciatively. “Looks like it won’t be much longer.” He mentioned between bites, gesturing to the rotund horse. “You know a lot about horses?” Jezebel asked with interest. She was very grateful as well as impressed that he didn’t bring up her snapping at him the night before. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to get to know him a little better she reasoned. “I breed them, so yeah I do.” Buck gave her a little smile in an attempt to encourage her into more friendly conversation. Twenty minutes later and well into explaining how he managed to find time for his horses as well as work for Teaspoon, he finally felt like he had her trust. Jezebel dropped to her knees in front of the wolf, talking to him softly in what Buck now knew to be Cherokee. Two minutes later, he was loping off into the trees. Buck continued on as though he hadn’t noticed that she had sent her guardian away. He had so many questions to ask about what she had said over the fire, but as the morning wore on, he could see how much her words had cost her. It didn’t look as though she had slept at all and the aches and cuts she has suffered at Elias’ hands seemed to be bothering her much more. So instead of getting any answers, he settled for telling her about himself. By the time the sun had finally broke through the generally grey sky, it was directly overhead and Buck and Jezebel had dropped into a companionable silence to watch Delilah settle in for birthing. “Where did Muyago go?” He finally asked, surprised that she didn’t seem alarmed that he had been gone for several hours. “He’s a wolf, not a pet.” She shrugged lightly this time, knowing that it was going to hurt but not letting that stop her. “I don’t usually keep him with me for such long periods of time. He comes and goes as he wishes unless I ask him to stay but he gets antsy after too long. Mostly, he stays with me at night and often brings me dinner.” It seemed a safe topic and the poor woman looked ready to drift off to sleep right where she was sitting. “How did you come together?” Jezebel stifled a yawn and shifted where she sat on the ground a couple feet away from Buck, trying yet again, to find a less painful position. “I was back in Wisconsin, ever been there?” He shook his head. “It’s beautiful. So many trees, green everywhere. So different from out here,” she mused. “Anyway, I was wandering between one place and the next when I heard this pitiful sound coming from the trees near the stream where I had stopped to water the horses. That’s where I found him stuck in a trap. Poor little thing, he couldn’t have been more than a couple months old. One leg was broken and he was feeling pretty poorly by the looks of him. I managed to get him free with only a few half hearted nips. Setting his leg back to rights earned me this,” she pushed up her sleeve to not only fully reveal the knife she kept there but also a large scar in the shape of teeth marks. “I stayed camped there for almost three weeks, hoping I would see some sign of his pack but they had either moved on or left him for dead and were staying away from me. So I kept him fed. After I took the splint off I had hoped he would go look for his family but he never did. When I left, Muyago followed. They mate for life you know?” She looked off into the trees. “He keeps me safe and makes sure I have food. I suppose I should be grateful. At least a wolf doesn’t steal the covers at night.” Jezebel grinned. Buck grinned back. “Well that explains your name pretty well then.” “Actually I found Muyago only eight years ago. You should have seen Laughing Crow’s face the first time I showed up with Muyago. I thought he was going to faint.” Jezebel laughed. Buck really liked the sound of her laugher. Nothing held her back, she laughed from her heart and the sound that came from her lips was pure and unbridled. “It’s time.” He noted, tearing his gaze away from the woman beside him, drawn by the sounds of a horse in labor. They both got to their feet quickly to join Delilah where she lay in the grass. Jezebel went to her head, talking to her comfortingly and occasionally running her hand down the horses glistening neck as she labored. Buck stood aside, ready to help if the need arose but the foal was born quickly and with no extra help required. Buck and Jezebel stepped away, letting them get acquainted. He was actually sad that it had happened so quickly since he was truly enjoying the time he was spending with Jezebel. Now that his allotted time was over, she would no doubt be asking him to leave. “Would you mind terribly, if I asked you to stick around for a couple hours? I really need to get some sleep before I can keep trust myself to stay awake to watch over them and well with Muyago gone…” Exhausted blue eyes looked up at him hopefully. “I don’t mind at all.” He said with an inward smile. “Thanks.” Jezebel said gratefully as she walked away slowly toward her beckoning pile of furs. Buck felt his smile leaking outward as she turned for one backward glance, almost as if she were doing some further revisions on her view of him. - ~ - Nearly six hours later, a dismayed Jezebel woke to see the sun setting. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to sleep that long.” She’d definitely meant to let Buck get on his way before nightfall but after taking a good look at him, he didn’t appear all that put out from the little upward curl on his lips or the twinkle in his dark eyes. “It’s alright. You needed to rest.” That was very true and she did feel better but she truly hadn’t meant to hold him up. “Well, I’m sure you have someone waiting anxiously for you by now.” “Not really. Well, I’m sure Teaspoon and Jimmy will be wondering where I am but it would take another day for them to come looking for me I would think.” So no wife at home then, Jezebel noted. “Looks like you might as well stay here again tonight but you better start out right away in the morning. I’ve held you up long enough.” Held him up? Buck laughed to himself. From what he remembered, it had been her wanting him to leave and him asking to stay. “Alright but I promise to get out of your hair at first light. You’ve graciously let me stay even after our bargain was over and I’m sure you’re more than ready to have me gone.” He watched her closely, knowing that even though he barely knew Jezebel he would be hurt if she really did just want him gone. “I didn’t say that.” Jezebel smirked, catching the hopeful look in his big brown eyes. “Besides I can’t really send you off at first light without breakfast, that would just be inhospitable and all.” Glancing off in to the surrounding trees and then up into the darkening sky, she sighed. “I guess its just potatoes. It looks like my furry mate won’t be joining us for dinner. Sorry, it might be awhile before they’re ready.” After tossing another log on the low fire, Jezebel went off to the wagon to gather what she needed for dinner. An hour later, Buck decided ‘just potatoes’ was nothing to complain about. Jezebel had obviously been cooking over a fire with whatever she happened to have in supply for as long as she claimed because he certainly found no complaint with the meal. There was cheese, roasted mushrooms and the potatoes had herbs cooked inside when she’d pulled them from the rocks surrounding the fire. Tonight they sat on the same side of the fire, though a good arms length apart. It was a very welcome improvement he decided. “So which is it? Kiowa?” Jezebel asked between bites. Buck looked up from his plate in surprise. Jezebel smiled, feeling pleased with herself. “I understand there are still some around here. Are you involved with them or have you always lived in town?” “I grew up with my tribe but later left them.” “You’re not full blooded are you?” She asked as though she already knew the answer. Buck found that he rather liked they way she tactfully skirted the hated word ‘half-breed’. “No, my father was white but I never knew him.” Jezebel nodded thoughtfully, seemingly understanding without further need for words. “I didn’t ever fit in, despite every effort by my mother and brother. There was an attack on our village while we were out hunting. It was my first hunt.” He said sadly, remembering the horrible sight that had greeted them upon their return. “Many were killed, my mother died shortly after we found her and Camille, Little Bird, who was to be my woman was taken by the white men. Things got worse for me then and I left shortly after.” “Where did you go?” She asked sympathically. “I found my way to a mission school that Little Bird had told me about. It was the one place I knew in the white world to look for her, but she had left only days before me to go live with her Aunt and Uncle who had claimed her. So I stayed to learn the ways of the world of my father. That’s where I met Ike. He was my best friend.” Buck paused to take a few bites and then found himself telling Jezebel all about Ike and how they had joined the pony express together. The moon was high in the sky by the time he reached the telling of Ike’s death. She had shared her tragic story, so while it wasn’t something he normally shared, he felt comfortable telling Jezebel. When the words had run out, he turned to Jezebel only to find that she looked much the same as the night before. A glistening trail of tears ran down each cheek but this time she also wore a soft smile. Jezebel did not know the man Buck spoke of but she could feel how much the loss, even years old, still hurt the man beside her. Hurt was something she’d had plenty of experience with. She reached out, closing the distance between them to cover his trembling hand with her own. Dark sorrowful eyes pulled her closer and quickly she found herself hugging this man she had only just met. It took only seconds for him to return the embrace. Tears long unshed soaking into her soft shirt. Buck was lost in the comfort of a totally accepting and understanding woman. For the first time in many long years, he felt peace and he dearly did not want her to let go. Regretfully, he felt her shifting out of his grasp but to his relief, she didn’t go far. Feeling that his grief had run its course, Jezebel sat down beside him, basking in his warmth on the slightly chilly evening. “Your brother, is he still with your people?” “Red Bear, yes he’s the chief now.” Buck felt her jump and then quickly try to cover it. “Do you know him?” “Not yet. I’m on my way to meet with him.” Jezebel said quietly, watching him to gauge his reaction. She was glad it was shock rather than anger. “Why? How do you expect to even get to find him? I’d stay far away if I were you. The warriors that are left with him are looking for any white blood they can get.” “I heard they were hungry and I have food to trade.” She said carefully. “Heard from who? They are running from the army, they have nothing to trade.” “That’s who I heard it from.” Jezebel felt him pulling away, radiating distrust. “Heard it how?” Buck warily watched her face in the golden glow of the fire. Jezebel sighed. “Let me explain something, I don’t lie to people I like but there some questions that are better not asked. Are you sure you want to know cause we were getting along pretty good here and I don’t know as you’ll like this answer real well.” So she admitted that she liked him, Buck tucked that nice thought away to focus on the immediate question. Granted he was the law and required to cooperate with the army, but when it came to the army dealing with his people, with or without his help, it always led to more heartache. “Answer the question.” “I sort of work for the army,” Jezebel quietly admitted as though it were distasteful. “The army doesn’t take women.” “Thanks, I hadn’t heard that one before.” Jezebel sat back sighing. “It’s not an official position. More like as a consultant.” “So you infiltrate Indian camps under the guise of trading and sell the information to the army.” Buck stated harshly. “Not exactly. Would you at least let me explain before you get all mad about it?” Buck waved her on, looking thoroughly irritated. Jezebel moved a little farther away and began poking at the low fire with a stick as she gathered her thoughts. “When the army killed Dark Sky and took me away, we went to Fort Riley in Kansas. I was both furious and overwhelmed with grief. When I wasn’t lost in mourning, I was screaming at them to let me go back. I think they were all overjoyed when we reached the fort days later and could be rid of me.” “Some of the women at the fort took me in, making their best effort to clean me up and get me in a dress. That was the last thing I wanted,” Jezebel felt angry all over again. “I demanded to see someone in charge and after a good deal of ranting was taken to see Colonel John Tyler who was overseeing Indian affairs in the area. He was kind enough to hear me out and then apologize profusely. John actually listened to me, asking about the well being of the tribe and what damage his men had caused with their intrusion. He was nothing like the idiots who had come storming in to ruin my life.” Jezebel hazarded a glance at Buck, who was still looking unsatisfied. “After a week of staying at the fort and talking to him nearly everyday, we came to an agreement. John would allow me to resume my trading…” She caught his slight grimace. “Yeah I know… allow. That’s exactly how he said it and I didn’t like it but he was rather taken with me and made it clear he would much rather have me stay on at the fort, giving up my life to be a proper lady. Let me tell you, I’m certainly not a lady and I have no intention of ever being one. So I took ‘allow’ with a grain of salt and focused on getting back to my life. John wanted me to specifically trade with any Indians I ran across, making note of the size of their village, if there were any captives, if they were well armed and more importantly how receptive they might be to a treaty. I report back to him at least twice a year in person and or by wire when I have something urgent.” “So you rat out the people who trust you and trade with you.” Buck let her have a taste of his own anger. “I said that’s what he pays me for.” Jezebel shot him an angry look right back. “If I could, I’d convince John to tell all these idiots and their wagon trains that they don’t belong out here where they’re not welcome but he just looks at me like I’m crazy and shakes his head. So since none of my arguments have gotten me anywhere, I do what I can.” “By leading the army straight into unarmed villages? By giving the army exactly enough information to coherence my people into signing meaningless pieces of paper so they can get the medicine and food they need now that the white men have brought their diseases and took their hunting land so they starve? If you think I’m going to let you meet with Red Bear just so you can report where he his and how many warriors he has with him, you’re sorely mistaken.” Buck spat vehemently. “And if you think that I would do that after what I’ve told you, you’re welcome to try and stop me right now.” Jezebel growled, jumping to her feet to glare down at him. She stood, every muscle waiting for him to get to his feet, to make a move toward her. Buck looked up at the irate woman, shocked by her equally angry reaction. Wolf Heart fit her very well. “So what do you plan to do if you meet Red Bear?” He asked hesitantly. “If his people are hungry, I will give them food. If they are sick, I have medicine. I will take most anything for trade, from pretty stones and beads to captives and slaves that become extra mouths to feed when the entire tribe is hungry or running. I will take note of how many warriors he has and I will see how they are armed and I will report what I see.” She stared at his conflicted eyes levelly. “I have seen the offer that will be proposed to Red Bear and I will tell him what I have read in language he can understand. If he is ready to make peace I will pass along the word. If not I will suggest that he find somewhere else to be because men are already coming. I’m only a couple weeks ahead of the last schedule I saw. So my report in this case, is only for peace of mind in John’s eyes. If I can tell him that Red Bear is willing to talk, he can divert some of the men elsewhere.” Buck found his anger quickly dissipating. “So you’re not really helping the army.” “Yes, in a way I am. I’ve come to know many of these men over the years when I stay at the Fort. I don’t want so see them dead any more than I would want to see more of your people dead. If I can convince any chief that his people would be better off alive and moving peacefully to a reservation than being eventually hunted down and forced onto one or killed, I’ll do it. If I can convince any heathen hating captain that his men would get to live another day if he would just meet with the Indians instead of charging into their village, I will. So I suppose you could say I’m playing both sides.” “Which side is yours?” He asked curiously. “Neither really. What about you?” “I haven’t been welcome amongst my brother’s people in many years but I still meet him privately on occasion. I’ve done some scouting work for the army in the past but I wouldn’t do it again.” “But you live and work in town. So do you consider yourself white or Indian?” Jezebel asked as she sat back down. “I live as a white man, well as much as the people around me allow. But on the inside I am still Kiowa.” “Good.” Jezebel cast him a warm smile. “It’s a beautiful culture. It would be a shame to lose it because of the ignorance and greedy ways of these men who seem hell bent on running every last Indian into the ground.” Buck felt himself very much warming to this truly unique woman who could be so angry one moment and so heartfelt the next. He took a chance, edging closer to sit beside her. “Would you like me to come with you to met Red Bear?” Jezebel turned toward him, the ghost of a smile still on her lips. “I wouldn’t ask that of you, but thank you for offering. You have to get back to your life and now that Cocoa is among us, I need to be moving on as quickly as I can.” “You’ve picked a name already?” “Mmmhmm,” Jezebel smiled, gazing into the orange embers. “When I was eight, I went to stay with two old spinster sisters for an entire winter. They taught me how to read and write and gave me warm clothes and best of all, didn’t make me do more than some laundry and washing the dishes. I think they were just lonely and wanted someone to talk to.” She paused, remembering one of the few good memories of her childhood. “It was Christmas Eve and I can’t say as that ever meant much of anything to me but they insisted that we all sit down and have a cup of hot cocoa. I’d never had anything like that before and I loved it. It made me feel warm all over and was so comforting. They were very kind and I don’t think I ever got so much to eat as I had that winter. When my mother came for me, my old clothes didn’t fit, so the sisters had made me new ones. I’d never had new clothes before. They also gave me a tin of cocoa to take with me after seeing how much I had liked it. It had become a treat we shared frequently during my stay. But as soon as we got down the road, my mother took it from me and I never saw it again.” What she didn’t say outloud was that his eyes reminded her of that same warm comforting feeling and this time no one was going to take away her reminder of this new pleasant moment. Buck felt himself fall back into a peaceful silence as Jezebel closed the few inches that remained between them, leaning her head lightly against his shoulder. She smelled like earth and the sun, reminding him of his childhood before he had come to the smells of women with their scented soaps and perfumes. It had been many years since he’d had a woman willingly, other than those he considered family, this close to him. He had all but given up trying to find a wife after several disastrous attempts. It seemed that even if he found a woman willing to have dinner with him, the despising looks from others in town quickly drove her to decline a second meeting. If the looks didn’t do it, the whispered comments did and even if he managed to get someone past that, her parents were a surefire end to any true intent at courting. His friends kept encouraging him to keep trying and Lou had even gone so far as to set him up with friends or sisters of friends or even one time a visiting cousin of a friend from back east but nothing ever worked out. He’d finally broken down to the degree that he had starting going to the saloon to find companionship for an evening now and then when he couldn’t take the loneliness anymore. It wasn’t something he was proud of and the not so whispered comments behind his back were enough to keep him away for months at a time. Jezebel heard a contented sounding sigh escape the man beside her. Looking up at the star filled sky, she was shocked to see how much time had passed since they had sat down. It was well past midnight. He was definitely going to get a late start. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt too terribly much to make it a bit later. “We should probably get to sleep, morning isn’t far off.” She suggested without moving. From the moment she had given into temptation by resting her cheek on his large hard shoulder, she knew she was willing to give in much farther. “I suppose you’re right.” Buck replied, not really hiding his disappointment. Jezebel smiled, hearing the confirmation of what she was hoping to hear. He was just as lonely as she was. Slowly and carefully getting to her feet, she looked down to see him staring forlornly off into the embers. “Come on,” she offered him a hand up. She grinned at his confused glance. “My bed is softer than yours.” Jezebel looked pointedly from her hand to his pleasantly bemused face. “I snore.” Buck said quietly, taking her hand. Excitement wiping away all hint of sleepiness. “I usually sleep with a wolf.” Jezebel shrugged lightly, leading Buck to her awaiting pile of furs. Her hand was hard with calluses, but her touch was soft as silk in his mind as Jezebel ran her fingers along his cheek and then trailed them gently down his neck and down to his waist. “You’re gonna want to take that off.” The dim firelight caught the playful gleam in her eyes. Her hands explored further, distracting him as he undid his gun belt and carefully set it down close by. “You might want to take those off too.” He ran his hands down her arms to the knives hidden beneath her sleeves. Jezebel looked into his eyes for a long moment, then deciding she trusted her instincts, undid the sheaths and dropped the knives near his gun belt. After seeing her gaze up at him with the moonlight shining softly down, Buck could barely wait until she dropped the knives to the ground and again faced him. Reaching one arm around, he pulled her closer and was met with no resistance. She looked up at him again, desire plainly stated in her hooded eyes and approving smirk as he leaned down for a kiss. He wasn’t sure the first kiss ever ended, it seemed to go on, intensifying and deepening until he was aware of nothing but the woman in his arms. The woman who had managed to rid him of his vest and shirt and who now ran her hand hungrily over his chest and down his back leaving trails of fire behind seemed to share the same urgent longing. After a few moments of frustrating exploration on his part, Jezebel broke away for only the seconds it took to pull her shirt over her head. Hands and lips became a flurry of activity and soon all trace of clothing was gone as two bodies long deprived of love finally found the solace they had been craving for so long. - Chapter 4 - Sunlight and the realization that he couldn’t move his legs woke Buck from a heavy sleep. Black curls tickled his nose as he turned to see what was wrong. Jezebel stirred beside him but didn’t wake. Slowly Buck lifted his head and was met with the silent stare of golden eyes. Muyago had joined them on the furs, draping his body across their legs. With only a couple hours of sleep, he wasn’t looking forward to beginning the rest of the ride home but Buck knew that if he delayed much longer Jimmy would likely be out looking for him. Not that he was complaining about the reason for the lack of sleep. He lay back contentedly, resting his head on his arm to watch the sleeping woman curled beside him. He was lost in thought, trying to think of a way to get her to come to town with him or any excuse to see her again, when a sudden intake of breath startled him. Jezebel felt the sun begin to warm her as the light registered behind closed eyelids. The breathing next to her wasn’t Muyago’s and the shape was all wrong. Reaching for her knives, her eyes opened in panic when her hands met with bare arms. Seconds passed as the events of the night before broke through the haze of sleep. “Sorry.” Jezebel exhaled loudly, dropping back down next to Buck. “Not exactly used to waking up next to someone that’s not panting and covered in fur.” She explained weakly, trying to get her wild heartbeat under control. “I could pant if it would make you feel better.” Buck offered with a big grin. Jezebel laughed. “That’s quite alright.” She shooed Muyago off of them and begun to gather her clothes. “Give me a few minutes. I believe I promised you breakfast.” After indulging in one last look at the lean muscled, bare-chested man nestled in her furs, Jezebel headed off to the stream. Sitting at the edge, splashing water onto her face, Jezebel couldn’t stop grinning as she remembered the early morning’s events. She wasn’t ever going to be able to look at poor little Cocoa without a big smile for the rest of his life. Since Dark Sky’s death the only other man she’d willingly been with was John and that had been almost year and half ago. John was a safe and eager partner when she allowed him to be during her infrequent visits to Fort Riley. Unfortunately the pleasure wasn’t without price. John had long been after her to marry him. He was a good friend but he never truly understood her and the reasons for how she lived. A husband wasn’t something she was looking for, especially the kind that wanted her to settle down to be a dutiful wife. The night before just seemed right and she didn’t feel one ounce of regret. The more she did think about it, Jezebel found that she didn’t want him to leave. Buck was dressed and seeing to his horse when he noticed Jezebel’s return. “You wouldn’t happen to have any coffee would you? I’m out.” His eyes were already drooping and he had a long day of riding ahead of him. “Sorry, no. Don’t drink it myself and neither do the tribes I trade with so I use the space for more important things.” Buck nodded agreeably at her logic but dearly wished for a steaming cup of coffee anyway. At least his horse appeared well rested, he noted without enthusiasm. Breakfast consisted of some jerky and a pair of Jezebel’s few remaining apples. They sat side by side without hesitation, chewing in sleepy silence. “My son lives with Laughing Crow and Red Flower. He will have just turned twelve.” Jezebel stopped herself, wondering why she felt the urge to share so much with Buck. It was both disconcerting and yet uplifting at the same time. Buck forced himself to keep eating, not wanting her to stop talking. He desperately wanted to know more about her and that she suddenly was willing to talk about her son after her reaction to his question before, surprised him. “Twelve is an important age.” He said quickly, hoping to spur her onward. “Yes it is.” Jezebel sighed, wishing she could be there for him. “His name is Little Fox. He looks just like his father but thankfully without his temper. Or mine.” She added with a wry laugh. Thoughts of his own plagued childhood assaulted him. “Why isn’t he with you?” ‘Don’t you want him?’ Was on the tip of his tongue but he managed to hold it back. Jezebel dropped into a long silence, finally turning to meet his questioning gaze. “When the army killed Dark Sky, I was lost. Everything happened so quickly, I barely had a moment to talk to Red Flower before they pulled me up onto a horse and took me away. She had lost one son, I gave her another.” “But you could have taken him with you.” Was she ashamed of her half-breed son? “I couldn’t do that to him.” Jezebel looked to the half eaten apple in her hands. “My entire life, moving from place to place I had seen how cruel people were to anyone with skin a shade off from white. By leaving him, Little Fox has been raised as the youngest son of the chief without my constant presence to remind everyone otherwise. He has two older brothers that adore him and parents that love him as their own. He is surrounded by his father’s people and being raised in the world he belongs in. I don’t have much to offer in comparison.” She waved halfheartedly at the wagon behind them. Buck set the remnants of his breakfast aside to pull the forlorn woman towards him. He could see that the sacrifice weighed heavily on her. Jezebel leaned into his solidly muscled chest. Her head resting against his shoulder, soaking in the comfort that he offered. “You said you winter with them. So you get to be with him some of the time then?” “He doesn’t know that I’m his mother, if that’s what you asking. But yes, I do get to see him, to watch him grow up. I’ve been there every winter except for one. I got snowed in early up in the mountains where I had been helping a few miners. Little fox was four that year. I missed it.” “It is good that he has a family who cares for him. With two mothers to keep an eye on him, I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” Buck said reassuringly. Jezebel felt herself sinking deeper into his comforting embrace, basking in his understanding. It didn’t take long for her to nearly drift off to sleep listening to the rhythmic beat of his heat. With a great deal of regret, Jezebel pulled herself away. “I should get moving.” The whisper floated up from the woman in his arms. “Me too.” He uttered quietly, but held on to her a few more moments before letting go. Buck watched as she stiffly rose to her feet and moved of to begin breaking down her camp. Buck walked away to reluctantly saddle his horse. All the while sneaking glances over his shoulder and marveling at the speed and efficiency with which Jezebel readied for travel. Cocoa was tied to the back of the wagon, the fire was out and the crates they had used for seats and her sleeping furs had vanished. Sampson was in place and Jezebel was in the process of getting the other two huge horses in line. Granted he hadn’t been moving too quickly to prepare to leave but he had to admit, the woman was fast. Buck waited for her to finish hitching up the horses while he checked his saddle over for the fifth time. Drawing a deep breath, he stood nervously as Jezebel walked toward him with Muyago at her side. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Jezebel shook her head slightly. “No, I’m used to working alone. Besides, you need to get back. Your friends will be worried about you.” Buck nodded in reluctant agreement. “Jezebel, I know you need to get going if the army is on the way but if you come back this way to meet them or wire a report, would you stop in Rock Creek?” He asked, not caring if he came off sounding desperate for an excuse to see her again. Looking up at him, he seemed so lost again. Jezebel bit her lip in thought, calculating out the days in her mind. “Bel, my friends call me Bel.” He broke out in such a boyish grin, Jezebel had to laugh. “Alright, my really good friends,” she amended. “It will depend on your where I find your brother and what he has to say as to whether I wire a report or ride out to meet the men to give them what information I’m willing to share. But if I can I’ll try to come back this way to let you know how it went before my next assignment. Fair enough?” Buck nodded, disappointed but understanding that she had a job to do. One that he happened to be quite sympathic about now that he understood her reasons. Stepping closer, she reached out a hand to his cheek, locking him into her blue gaze. “Don’t look so sad, we’ll meet again. Several times, I think.” “How can you know that?” Buck asked quietly, reveling in her touch. “You ever just know that you know something, even though you can’t explain why?” “Once or twice, yes.” Jezebel smiled softly. “I get that a lot.” She pulled him closer. “I need to go.” “Me too.” He leaned down to give her one last kiss. She met him halfway. Minutes later and breathless, Jezebel broke away. “You better get on that horse before we both end up far later than we already are.” Gleaming blue eyes teased as she put several steps between them. Buck sighed, swinging up onto his horse. It was going to be a very long and lonely day and a half back to town. “Goodbye Bel.” Jezebel decided right then that that was the best her name had ever sounded. She dearly hoped her premonitions were correct because she wanted to hear him say it many more times. The sooner the better. “Goodbye Buck.” - Chapter 5 - The trip back to Rock Creek didn’t take near as long as Buck had thought it would. Entire hours seemed to drift by in minutes as he thought back to the two days he had spent with Jezebel. “Where on earth have you been boy?” Teaspoon inquired upon seeing his tardy deputy wander into the Marshals office. “Helping that woman Jimmy and I found. She didn’t have anyone to help her, so I stayed until she was feeling better.” “I see. This woman have a name?” There was a look about him that made Teaspoon suspect that she wasn’t the only one feeling better for his help. Buck had been so down these last couple years it was nice to see a genuine smile as he got his answer. “Jezebel.” “Can’t say as I know anyone around here with that name.” Teaspoon mused, kicking back in his chair and biding his time for some details. Buck didn’t say much but neither did he make Teaspoon wait too long for what he was willing to share. Jimmy showed up a short time later to get the same short story but didn’t miss the amusement in Teaspoon’s eyes at the retelling. Days passed, each one slowly becoming longer than the next. Buck dropped back into his more often than not sullen silences, though willing enough to talk if someone else started the conversation. His horses received a good deal of extra attention and the barn had never been so clean. Buck tried to stay busy, in hopes that the next day Bel might reappear. Knowing that she was close by but might chose not to visit him again was weighing heavily on his heart. Maybe he expecting too much. After all she hadn’t been shy about sleeping with him. Perhaps her morning panicked reaction was just because of what he was. Buck began to feel no better about sleeping with Jezebel than he did with the women down at the saloon. Having felt happiness once again after so long, the empty loneliness hit him that much harder as days turned into a week. One week turned into two. Buck’s mood had darkened to the point that Teaspoon had given him a couple days off to ‘get his priorities in order’ as he had called it when Buck had snapped at him over who should take care of a disturbance down at the saloon one evening. Even though the three men were sharing a house, Buck managed to avoid them completely by eating breakfast before Jimmy or Teaspoon got up and then taking his meals when they were both still at the office. Buck finally came to the reasoning that he was never meant to find a woman but at least he had friends so he had better take what he could get and go back to work. That and he was running out of things to do out in the barn. Every speck of tack had been oiled and repaired to near pristine condition and if he rubbed down the horses one more time they might start getting bare spots. It was time to accept his fate. Buck trudged to the office to find Teaspoon in his usual position, kicked back in his chair with his boots on his desk and his hat over his eyes. His apology was short but accepted with a friendly smile all the same. Buck went to the back of the room and was pouring himself a cup of coffee when he heard the door open. “Can I help you ma’am?” Teaspoon asked the hesitant looking woman standing just inside the door looking uncomfortable under his inquisitive gaze. A long plain dusty blue skirt and simple white blouse with lose sleeves effectively hid her figure. Her black hair was pulled into a braid that hung well down her back. The only things remarkable about her were the brilliantly blue eyes that looked him over intently and the multitude of stones hanging from her ears. She appeared ready to dodge back out the door at any given moment. “I’m looking for Buck Cross.” Her voice was steady, belying the uncertainty that seemed to fill the room around her. “Jezebel?” A shocked Buck called out from the shadowed back corner of the room. He about dropped his cup of coffee at the sound of her voice. Buck quickly introduced Jezebel to Teaspoon. “Where have you been?” The question came out more accusingly than he had meant it to as he set the steaming cup on his desk. “Where I told you I was going to be.” She retuned matter of factly but giving him an annoyed look. Teaspoon looked between the two of them with raised eyebrows. “Maybe I should take a stroll around town for a bit.” Jezebel took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. Buck, is there somewhere more private we can talk?” “Would you mind if I took off for a while?” Buck asked, knowing he was pushing his luck. “I’ve done without you for a couple days, what’s one more? Go on.” Teaspoon waved him off with mock annoyance. “If you see Jimmy, send him over.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause problems.” Jezebel said the moment the door closed behind them. “Don’t worry about it. So where would you like to go?” “Anywhere but here.” Buck watched the woman who had been in total control of herself the last time he had seen her, look around nervously, eyes darting to every person on the street. “Are you hungry? We could get some lunch at the restaurant.” “I’d rather not.” She muttered, feeling tension taking over her entire body. There were just too damn many people moving around. She couldn’t keep an eye on them all. ‘What was she doing?’ Jezebel asked herself for the fiftieth time since deciding to come find Buck after wiring her report to John. Fighting the panic that was about to overwhelm her, Jezebel stepped away from Buck to put her back against a solid wall. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Buck was devastated. Jezebel was no different than the rest of them. They were all happy enough to see him out of the public eye but ask a woman to walk through town with him or been seen having a meal with him and they all backed out as fast as they could run. “Jimmy is at the house but we could go to the barn if that would be far enough from notice for you.” He said tightly. “That sounds just fine. Is it a very long way? I left Sampson at the livery and he’s rather tired out after the last few days.” “No. We can take my horse, if you don’t mind riding with me.” Jezebel merely followed silently after him, desperately wanting nothing more than to be somewhere quiet. Somewhere where she didn’t feel like a hundred eyes were watching her every move. After a silent ride to the barn, Buck saw to his horse. Jezebel sat down on a bale of hay to try and put herself back together. She was feeling much better by the time Buck pulled up a bale of hay across from her. “Your brother sends his greetings. I told him you were well. I hope I wasn’t wrong?” Buck gave her a questioning look. “Teaspoon said you had been out for a couple days. Were you sick?” “No. I was just taking some time off.” He explained shortly. “I take it Red Bear signed the treaty then?” “No.” Jezebel said sadly. “It wasn’t a particularly good treaty as far as treaties go anyway. Once he understood the deal, I couldn’t blame him for not agreeing to it.” “I’m surprised he even spoke with you.” He had many questions about his brother but Buck couldn’t seem to get past the all too familiar hurt she that had inflicted. Jezebel looked surprised at his remark. “I told him that his mother must have been very beautiful to have created two such handsome sons.” She said in perfect Kiowa, feeling a tad smug at his stunned reaction. The smugness quickly faded when Buck jumped up to stand glaring at her. His jaw clenched and hands curled to fists as he stalked away without a word. Not one to walk away from an argument, especially one she was unknowingly involved in, Jezebel went after him. “What the hell is your problem?” She snapped, darting in front of him to block his exit from the barn. Dark angry eyes stared her down in silence. His lips drawn into a tight perfectly straight line on his flushed coppery face. “Just leave.” He growled, turning to slip past her. “No.” Jezebel shoved him backwards into the barn. “I thought you wanted me to come here? Don’t you at least want to hear what I have to say?” She started to seriously doubt her reasons for seeking him out. He had obviously only been nice to her to get what she had willingly given. She had been foolish to think otherwise. Buck stood his ground, waiting to make his move to get past her. He had been surprised that she had managed to shove him several feet backwards against his momentum. She was apparently stronger than she appeared. Then he remembered the feel of her, the hard sinewy muscles over her entire body, as though she never got enough to eat and yet worked every moment of every day. Remembering what they had shared did nothing to improve his dark mood. “To hear how you used me to get Red Bear to trust you?” He went to charge past her again. “I didn’t use you! Just stop already.” Jezebel put all her weight into a shove on his left shoulder that sent Buck off balance and landing him on his backside in the dirt. “I’ve heard enough. Get out of my barn.” Buck got to his feet, clenching his teeth so hard his jaw ached. “You’re lucky I’m not like Dark Sky. I don’t hit women. Go.” He yelled in her stunned face. Blue eyes wide with hurt, Jezebel blinked at him once before dropping her head and turning away. A snarling streak of black flew toward him. Muyago was just about to the door of the barn before Jezebel shouted out a single word in a flat voice, halting the wolf in his tracks. She called to him as she walked out of the barn but the wolf wouldn’t move. Muyago stood only feet away from Buck, unmoving other than to bare his teeth and growl menacingly. Not even the angry string of Cherokee that Jezebel threw at him got any result. He watched as the she got on her knees in front of the wolf to talk to him quietly, running a hand apprehensively down his back. In a single instant, the wolf turned to Jezebel, snapping at her hand. Muyago snarled once and then bounded off out of sight. Jezebel sat cradling her bleeding hand in the other, blood dripping down to the dirt between her fingers. Shakily she got to her feet and walked slowly towards the door. “Let me get some bandages for you.” He called out. “I’ll be fine.” Jezebel said in the same flat detached voice that she had used with Muyago. From the amount of blood still dripping from her hands, it sure looked like something she should have looked at in his opinion. “Come on. We can at least get that cleaned up before you go.” The wolf had bit her because of him, he couldn’t help but feel guilty about that. She could have just as easily not stopped Muyago and he would have been the one bleeding, likely much more than she was. Jezebel gave him a slight assenting nod without turning to face him. Buck had to turn back to make sure she was following as he led her toward the house. Her footsteps were as quiet as his own. Waving her to the table he went to a shelf to pull down the basket of clean rags. Along with a bottle, a glass, a basin of water and a handful of cloth, he joined her at the table. “Here, let me see.” He reached out a hand, a wet cloth in the other. Jezebel held out her hand with nothing more than a scowl and an icy blue glare. “You need to get that looked at. It needs stitches.” The jagged teeth marks had sunk deep into her hand. “You got a needle and thread? Something to drink would be nice and I’m not talking coffee.” The hardness in her voice was the exact same tone she had used when he had been in her wagon. All hint of friendliness had disappeared. Buck quickly vacated his seat to find the requested items. When he returned, she hadn’t moved nor had her expression changed. Her icy stare watched his every move. “You ever do stitches?” “No, we have a doctor for that. Let me bring you to him.” Jezebel rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he has more important things to do.” Washing her other hand with a clean rag, Jezebel managed the thread the needle with little help from her wounded hand. She gratefully noted the bottle was whiskey. Her hand hurt like crazy but she was trying not to think about it too much, instead focusing on fixing it so she could leave as quickly as possible. Pouring a small amount of the liquid into the glass he had thoughtfully provided, Jezebel dipped the needle in and then poured the rest over her hand. It burned badly but ignored it the best she could. Buck watched with morbid fascination as Jezebel laid her hand on the table and began to sew up the three longest and deepest cuts with great precision, only pausing between each cut to take a long swig from the bottle. The previously full bottle was half empty by the time she was through wrapping a few strips of the cloth around her hand. “You’ve done this before? To yourself I mean?” “Not exactly a lot of doctors where I usually travel. So yeah I have.” Reaching down into the pocket sewn inside her skirt, she pulled out a few coins. As she got up from the bench, she dropped them on the table. “Goodbye.” Buck stared at the table, the needle cleaned and the thread neatly wound back on its bobbin. The last coin stopped rolling and fell over next to his hand. “What’s this for?” He called out, seeing she was already at the door. “Whiskey isn’t free.” She snapped over her shoulder. “Jezebel, wait. Maybe you should lie down for a bit.” The front of her blouse was covered in blood. He didn’t want her walking through town like that. Not to mention how much she’d just drank. “I’ll be fine. You wanted me gone! I’m leaving.” She yelled as she slammed the door behind her. “What on earth was that?” Jimmy called out, running down the stairs looking still half asleep. “Jezebel wait!” Buck barely spared Jimmy a glance before running out the door. He heard Jimmy following but his footsteps halted on the porch. “At least let me find you clean shirt. You can’t go into town like that.” He offered after catching up with Jezebel’s determined stride. “I didn’t intend to. I’m going back to my wagon to change and to have a talk with Muyago. At least he listens to me!” “He bit you!” “He’s a wolf Buck. He does that when he gets mad. Better me than you. The last thing I need is for him to attack someone, let alone a deputy for heavens sake. Someone would hunt him down for sure.” “Thank you.” “For what?” Jezebel spun around to face the man who yelled at her furiously to leave yet now kept dogging her heels for doing just that. “Calling him off, I have a feeling he would have done a lot more to me than he did to you.” “You have no idea how right you are.” From the look on her face, she knew exactly how much more damage Muyago could do. “Listen, you drank an awful lot in there,” not that he could tell by the way she was acting. “Why don’t you come back inside for awhile?” “Oh yes, we wouldn’t want the crazy lady wandering drunkenly through town with a bloody shirt after leaving your house now would we.” She snapped in annoyance. “I didn’t say that.” Buck said with forced calmness. Jezebel held him in her steely gaze for a long minute. “For the record, I can drink more than that before you have to get concerned with my conduct. Now if you’re so intent on keeping an eye on me, give me a ride back to my wagon and then leave me alone.” She stood watching as Buck dashed back to the barn to get his horse. Buck paused by the porch, seeing Jimmy looking confused. “Is that Jezebel?” He asked, nodding toward the impatient looking woman glaring at them both. “Yes. Her wolf bit her and now I’m going to take her back to her wagon.” “What?” Jimmy was stuck on the getting bit by a wolf like it was nothing to be overly concerned about and that a wolf was even around this close to town. “I’ll explain later. Teaspoon wants you at the office.” Buck said shortly, heading off towards Jezebel. - ~ - Using her good hand, she mounted up in front of Buck and settled in for a tense hour ride back to where she had left her wagon. The throbbing in her hand was becoming intense and the pleasant haze from the whiskey was wearing thin. It was doing nothing to improve her mood toward the hard chest that rocked gently against her back every step closer to home. The arms that she had dreamt about were indeed again around her but now they offered no comfort. Seeing his hands in front of her on the reins just reminded her of the fists they had been clenched into not that long ago. “There.” Jezebel pointed to a dense grouping of scraggly trees in the distance. “Does Muyago bite you often?” Buck was suddenly concerned for her wellbeing, knowing that he was returning her to the wolf’s side. “No. He’s just very protective. He saw you as a threat but then I called him off. He disagreed.” She considered just telling Buck to let her down now, but he was already most of the way there and the more she thought about it, she didn’t exactly feel like walking. “Where did you get those?” Buck asked, spotting the two Indian ponies tethered alongside Cocoa. “Where do you think?” Jezebel said tiredly, slipping down from the horse as Buck came to a halt. “What did you trade for them?” Buck asked tightly, wondering how desperate his brother had become to trade two good horses for a couple crates of food. “Almost everything I had. I also traveled with your people to bring what I had so that they didn’t have to carry it. Two men were sick and I let them ride in the wagon on my bed and gave them medicine. By the last day, they were both riding their own horses again. Three children, who had lost their parents, rode beside me the entire way. I fed them and cared for them as if they were my own. One little girl, maybe four, she was the cutest little thing, taught me some silly little songs for giving her a ride. The two boys, brothers, they picked me flowers every day when we stopped. They were very sweet.” Jezebel smiled, thinking of their happy little faces in light of the hardships they were enduring. “They were all very hungry. Muyago brought down a deer and then led me to it. Everyone ate well for once. They have a good new home that I hope they will be safe in for a long time.” She felt her smile slip away, seeing Buck in front of her. “You have a very kind family. Maybe you should spend more time with them. It might rub off.” She added snidely, kneeling to try to start a fire with her one good hand. Buck was without words for several minutes, finally snapping to when he realized what she was trying to do and the difficulty she was having. “Here, let me help.” Taking the flint from her, he quickly got the fire going. “I would have thought you would have wired a report if a treaty was possible.” He found himself sitting across the low fire from her again on opposite sides. “If it was possible, I would have rode out to brief the Captain of the exact location and then joined them as a translator if they needed me. Since Red Bear was not interested, and as I said, I don’t blame him, I explained my delay as searching for the missing Indians but that I was unable to locate them. The army will likely be here within days, but they will have a very hard time finding them. I’ve done all I can.” Jezebel got to her feet and went to open the wagon. When she returned to the fire, it was with a clean shirt and another bottle of whiskey. “I thought you said you traded all you had.” Jezebel held up the bottle. “I don’t trade whiskey with Indians. Never leads to anything good for them.” She took a long draw on the bottle, hoping it would kill the pain in her hand or at least take away the caring about it. “Where did they go?” He asked out of curiosity, feeling his anger with her rapidly fading. He was also concerned about her surprising tolerance for whiskey. “I can’t tell you that.” She met his unbelieving eyes. “You might be his brother, but you also have one of those tin stars so nicely pined to your vest there. When the army comes looking for your people, they’re going to question you and if I don’t tell you, you won’t be lying when you tell them you don’t know where they are.” “But what about you?” “I don’t plan on being here… unless you’re going to arrest me for something.” “Hadn’t planned on it.” He said softly. “Why would you do all this for them?” “I could tell you it was because he was your brother… that would be partly true. But this certainly isn’t the first time I’ve found tribes missing from their reported homes.” She took another long drink from the bottle, starting to feel the hazy effects kicking in once again. Buck watched as the whiskey started to take hold, reducing her steel stare to a sullen tired one. “If you were so willing to help them, to live along side Indians, why was even the thought being seen at a restaurant with me so discomforting for you?” He asked, not hiding the hurt that crept onto his face. Jezebel looked at him blankly for a moment. “Is that what you thought? That I didn’t want to be seen in public with you? The yelling and wanting me to leave… that is what this is really all about?” Buck nodded hesitantly. Jezebel unsteadily got to her feet, kneeling down in front of him to look him in the eye and taking his hand in hers. “Honey, I’d be honored to go anywhere with you! Where on earth would you get that idea? Haven’t you listened to anything I’ve said?” She shook her head sadly. “I just hate towns, the people and noise. Not to mention, with that badge of yours, you’re better off not being seen with me.” “What do you mean? Are you wanted for something?” He choked out, seeing he earnest look on her face and hearing the utter sincerity in her voice. “In some places perhaps, I don’t exactly stick around to find out how far people take their feelings against me. It’s more that for every person I’ve helped over the years, there’s almost always someone on the other side of the situation that doesn’t take too kindly to my interference. If one of those people were to recognize me, you’d have no choice but to arrest me and I’m not about to deny anything I’ve done. So you can see why I wouldn’t want to put you in that position. Can’t you?” “Bel, I’m sorry.” Buck said quietly, lost in the sorrowful eyes before him. He felt her squeeze his hand, a soft smile warming her face. “How is your hand feeling?” “Hurts like hell. I just don’t care as much.” Jezebel looked around, “Have you seen my missing wolf?” “Not yet but I bet he’s sorry too.” “He will be.” She grinned sleepily. “Would you mind playing wolf for awhile? I’m afraid my eyelids are gonna win the battle. I’ve been riding all day for three days straight to get here and it was a very early morning.” “I don’t mind at all. Get some rest. Did you get your report out quick enough after pushing so hard to get here?” He fought the urge to sigh contently when Jezebel sat down right where she was, resting her body against his chest. “No stupid, I sent the report long before I rode here. I thought you wanted me here, I was coming to see you.” She held her sore hand against her chest but the other snaked around to hug him tightly. “Oh.” Buck said weakly, pulling her more tightly against him. Minutes later, her breathing slowed as she dropped into sleep. He held her for nearly an hour, cursing himself for almost having chased her away. His back started to cramp up from holding her weight against him. Gently, Buck laid Jezebel on his coat on the ground. He got up to stretch and check the horses. The two older draft horses seemed perfectly happy on their own but the two new ones and Cocoa wouldn’t be so used to fending for themselves in strange surroundings. It was then that he got an idea. Tethering the three other horses, along with his own to the back of her wagon, he approached the larger of the two, the one she had called Solomon when he had watched her hitch them up before. Neither of the two big horses wanted much to do with him but he eventually got them hitched up to the wagon. Being that it was far lighter than before, he hoped they would have little trouble pulling it. Next he gingerly picked Jezebel up and deposited her in the mostly empty wagon atop her pile of furs. She didn’t stir or wake. Buck belatedly wondered if she was actually sleeping that soundly or if she had passed out. Putting out the fire, he surveyed her camp. Like the last one, there was little to it and no sign other than animal droppings and small ring of rocks to show that she had ever been there once he got the wagon moving. It only took minutes before he caught a glimpse of Muyago loping along side while keeping his distance. Buck lost sight of him a short time later but as he neared the ranch, he saw Muyago stop short, hanging back in the field. “Whatcha got there Buck?” Teaspoon asked from his seat on the porch. “Starting a new herd?” He raised an eyebrow at the strange collection of horses. With a deep breath, Buck leapt down from the seat. “It’s Jezebel’s wagon and they’re hers. I figured we had some extra room in the barn since I sold a couple horses last week.” “And where is Miss Jezebel?” Teaspoon craned his neck around in an attempt to spot her. “Passed out in the back here.” Buck opened the door to find her still dead to the world and in much the same position as he’d left her. “Passed out? What happened?” Teaspoon vacated his chair to take a curious look inside the worn, flaking wagon. “Her wolf bit her and after sewing up her hand, I think the whiskey did the rest.” Buck gently got his arms around her and lifted the sleeping woman carefully out of the wagon. “I was thinking she could stay here for a couple days. You don’t mind do you?” “You haven’t been gone that long yet you managed to let this woman get bit by a wolf and then get blind drunk? I don’t even know where to start with you son.” He shook his head disbelievingly. “There wasn’t a whole lot of ‘letting’ involved.” Buck mumbled sullenly. “So do you mind if she stays?” “I don’t think I’m the one you need to be asking.” Teaspoon cast a worried glance over Buck’s shoulder. “Not to alarm you son but there’s a wolf right behind you.” He whispered urgently. “Gineli Muyago.” Buck said steadily, turning to face the bristling black wolf. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was telling him but it had been the word Jezebel had used so he knew it had some meaning in his favor. “You’re the one who bit her, so you’re just as much to blame as me in this.” Muyago seemed to back down a few degrees of hostility. “I suppose you’ll be wanting to come in too.” He grumbled, turning from the bulging eyed Teaspoon to the door with Jezebel limply in his arms and Muyago with bared teeth, right on his heels. “You’re letting a wolf into the house?” Teaspoon hissed but he held the door open all the same. “She’ll panic if he’s not there when she wakes up and I don’t even want to think about what Muyago would do if we tried to keep him away.” Buck carried her up the stairs and into his room. Jimmy was using the guest bedroom so other than the sofa, it was the only place to go with her. Muyago jumped up onto the bed to stand protectively over Jezebel while Buck checked her bandages and then pulled his blanket up over her. He made sure to leave the door open so that the wolf wouldn’t feel trapped. Then he went down to explain, at least loosely, why Jezebel was staying with them. - Chapter 6 - Jezebel woke with a start. Unfamiliar surroundings set her on immediate edge and reaching reflexively for her knives. Muyago picked up his head, eyeing her steadily. That was the second her encumbered hand bumped against her sheath and set a sharp wave of pain through her body. A sharp hiss leapt from her mouth, followed by some choice words under her breath. With a knife in her good hand, Jezebel quietly got out of the bed and began to look around the room. The last thing she remembered was going to sleep after talking with Buck. The headache and wretched taste in her mouth reminded her that she had been drinking. It was quickly apparent the room she was in was his. It smelled of him, of the wind, earth and horses. It was untidy but not dirty, decidedly masculine in its general austerity. Jezebel put the knife away, sitting down next to Muyago and running her fingers through his thick fur while she digested her surroundings. From a look out the window, it was well into the night but the moon was full, illuminating the room nicely. A bed was not a comfort she got often, usually just the couple weeks out of the year she spent at Fort Riley. When she stopped to do odd jobs for people along the way, she always stayed in her wagon or occasionally a hayloft if there was room for her horses in the barn. If not for the nagging urge to visit the outhouse, Jezebel would have happily sunk back into the bed replete with its comforting smells and waited until morning to figure out exactly why she was here. Taking Muyago with her, she carefully opened the door. A quick look down the hall revealed two other closed doors to the right and a stairway to the left. Uttering a quick prayer that the floorboards wouldn’t squeak, Jezebel tip toed down the stairs to find herself in the kitchen. Off to the left was an open doorway. Peering inside, she caught a glimpse of Buck lying on a sofa, his feet hanging off one end and an arm dangling off the side. In the moonlight she could see a slight smile on his peaceful face, his long hair splayed out around his head. With a smile of her own, Jezebel turned back to the door in the kitchen. - ~ - Pleasant smells wafted in from the kitchen, waking Buck from an equally pleasant dream. Sitting up wit