- 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 with a start, rubbing a kink in his back and grimacing at the pins and needles in his right leg, he realized it was his morning to cook but someone had beaten him to it. A quick glance out the window beside him verified it was barely dawn, the sky a lovely shade of rose. Buck stood in the doorway, watching Jezebel move about the kitchen with silent grace. Her hair bound back in a scarf, just like when he has first seen her. “What are you doing?” Jezebel looked up in surprise. “I admit it’s been a couple years since I’ve actually been in a kitchen, but I’d think it’s pretty obvious that I’m making breakfast.” She pointed to the table. “But your hand…” Buck quickly went to her side to help. He was met by a dry look. “I made some tea a bit ago. It’s fine. I’ll live. Now sit down so I can thank you for giving up your bed last night.” “You should be resting.” He said reluctantly but sat down after a withering look was shot his way. “If I took time off every time I got hurt I’d never get a thing done.” She set a big plate of pancakes in front of his worried scowl. “If I need to rest, I will alright?” Footsteps on the stairs signaled the arrival of the other hungry men. “What’s all this?” Teaspoon inquired appreciatively upon seeing the laden table. “You’d think none of you has ever seen breakfast before.” Jezebel rolled her eyes, waving Teaspoon and Jimmy who had appeared close behind him, to the table. With the platter of eggs in her hand, Jezebel joined the three men. A short while later as she was piling the last of the pancakes on her plate, Jezebel looked up at the sudden silence. “What?” Three sets of wide eyes met her innocent inquiry. “Please tell me you’re putting that into a pocket somewhere and that’s not you’re third stack of pancakes?” Teaspoon choked out, seeing her take a big bite. “I like to eat alright? Besides, you all said you were done.” Jezebel replied indignantly after she had finished chewing. “She’d give Cody a run for his money.” Jimmy muttered, catching Buck’s acknowledging smirk. The three men made small talk, all eyeing the quiet woman who had now moved on to finishing the bacon, with guarded amazement. “So Jezebel, that’s a right unusual name…” Teaspoon tossed out. “I couldn’t help but notice the church there in town so I’m sure you’ve heard it before.” She said off handedly, hoping one of them would pick a different topic. Instead, she found three interested faces all looking at her in silence. Ignoring them, she got up and started clearing the dishes but the silence stretched on. Jezebel finally gave in. “My grandfather was a religious man… well at times anyway. Because of him I have horses named, Samson, Delilah and Solomon.” She said, shaking her head and making an annoyed sound. “He had several acts in a circus before I was born, one of which was throwing knives.” She cast a glance at Buck. “My mother, well she did her part too. She was a dancer. The variety that charged extra to be seen parade around in nothing but wispy scarves.” Jezebel clarified. “She was also very friendly, if you get my meaning and used it to her advantage to get what she wanted. Eventually my grandfather caught on to her other activities and started calling her Jezebel, after a woman in the bible who indulged in all sorts of wicked things.” “He found out that she had been pregnant several times but had taken care of it with the help of one of the other women who traveled with them. When he learned, from overhearing a conversation, that she was with child again, he left his livelihood, dragging his daughter with him, decreeing that she was going to live with the result of her actions. As a lovely way of getting back at him for ‘ruining her life’ I ended up with the name.” Jezebel finished in a bored tone that denoted that she had been through this explanation far too many times. “And what about you? Can’t say as I’ve come across a Teaspoon before.” She asked in the wake of uncomfortable silence the always followed that awkward topic. “Just a nickname,” He explained with an uneasy smile as he launched into a story of his earlier days. Once his tale had ended, Buck spoke up. “Your horses and wagon are here in the barn.” He waited nervously for her reaction. “I know. I checked on them this morning. You’re lucky they knew you or you would have never got them in line.” She gave him a faint smile. “Well now, I’m going to go see to all the fur Muyago left on your bed. Sorry, but he’s starting to lose his winter coat.” Jezebel got up from the table. “I’d love to stay and help with the dishes, but I shouldn’t get this wet.” She held up her hand to further her excuse. Several long strides found her quickly up the stairs. What she didn’t want to admit was that she was still dead tired being that she’d really never got back to sleep after her outhouse excursion. An hour of tossing and turning later, she had slipped back outside. It was on that moonlit walk that she had found her horses and already gotten over that fact that Buck had taken it upon himself to bring her wagon to his home. Initially Jezebel had been furious, not used to having anyone else make decisions for her. But after a good deal of muttered venting, the thought that someone actually cared enough to do so, started to calm her to the point that she realized she was hungry. Now with a stomach fuller than it had been in months, Jezebel fell face first into the soft blankets and was asleep seconds later. - ~ - The dishes had been long done. Still no sound could be heard from upstairs. Buck had finally gone up to check on Jezebel, only to find her dead asleep lying face down in his bed. Deciding he quite liked the idea of a woman sleeping in his bed, Buck quietly closed the door. Teaspoon found him a couple hours later where he had just sat down to relax after mucking out the barn. “Can I talk to you for a minute son?” Teaspoon sat down next to Buck without waiting for a response. Seeing that he had Buck’s attention, he plowed on with what was on his mind. “Buck, I know you’ve taken a shining to this woman but you have to admit… she’s a mite odd.” Buck merely shrugged. “I mean who goes around telling people, strangers even, about things like that?” “You asked. She told the truth.” He got an arched eyebrow in response. “Jezebel told me that she doesn’t lie. Bad for the soul, was how she put it I think.” “That might be, but you don’t just go telling people stuff like that.” He shook his head. “And how long has it been since that woman has had a decent meal? She ate enough to feed two Codys!” “She trades for a living and has lived on her own most of her life. I would imagine it’s been awhile.” He could sympathize, having had done a couple years of mostly solid travel of his own before showing up back in Rock Creek. “That’s another thing. What on earth is a woman doing wandering all over country on her own? You know I don’t mind helping people out but I’m telling ya, there’s some people that you just can’t do nothing for. And I don’t know about that crack pot story she gave you about working some special project for the army either.” Buck looked about to say something for a split second but then seemed to think better of it. Maybe he was getting through, at least he hoped so. The poor man had been through enough heartache in his life. The last thing he needed was someone taking advantage of his sometimes far too kind heartedness. It was clear to anyone who took the time to look that Buck was desperately lonely. He would make a good target for a troubled woman like Jezebel to latch on to. Seeing that Buck wasn’t putting up much of a defense, Teaspoon felt justified in continuing. “You know as well as I do, that to drink that much she would have to drink quite often. The only kind of people that do that are the ones that either don’t like themselves very much or have an awful lot they want to forget.” Buck could only nod. That same thought had passed through his mind when he was driving her wagon. Jezebel had seemed so at peace before but maybe it was more that she had come to terms with the fact that she had nothing to lose. “I can see there’s something going on between the two of you, but I think you can do better than this. She seems friendly enough in her own way I suppose. Though I have to say I think Lou made a more convincing woman even dressed as a man than Jezebel does. If I closed my eyes I’d think she was no different from you or Jimmy. And I don’t think that I’ve ever heard either of you cursing as much as I heard that woman in the barn last night when I came back from making my rounds. How much do you really know about her?” A flash of worry crossed Buck’s face. “I don’t want to make it sound like I’m tellin’ you what to do, you’re certainly beyond that, but I don’t want to see you hurt either. I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t settle for some stray just because the right one is taking her sweet time about showing up. She will, son, you just gotta be patient.” He could see the look of hurt in Buck’s eyes but his face remained as impassive as it usually was. “I’m going to the office to see if I can find anything on Jezebel. I want you to keep an eye on her until I get back.” “Then I guess we’ll all be going to town together.” Jezebel said icily as the door slammed shut behind her. She stood on the porch between the two men who both looked as though they would rather be anywhere else. Jezebel glared at Teaspoon, ignoring Buck completely. “I have a wagon to re-supply and I’m sure you fingers are burning to write out those inquires to wire along.” She strode past them off the porch and into the barn. The trip to town was deathly silent. The three riders split once they had left their horses in front of the Marshal’s office. Teaspoon headed inside while Buck accompanied Jezebel to the general store. He didn’t even need to look at her to know how furious she was. He could feel it. Not that he could look her in the eye anyway. Her hair was back to its long single braid and she wore the same plain clothes as the day before. Despite those things, the many earrings and the rings on her fingers, some with two and even three, and the hard weathered look of her face made Jezebel stand apart. The way she walked along the boardwalk, especially now when she was mad, didn’t help to deter the hushed comments and rude stares. The fact that he, the half-breed deputy, was matching her step for step probably didn’t help to make them any less conspicuous. “Would you slow down?” He hissed, not at all liking the looks the two of them were receiving. His only response was a further narrowing her cold blue eyes when she turned to glare at him. Thankfully, their destination was now only yards away. “Excuse me deputy, but who is that strange woman?” An elderly woman stepped in front of him to ask before he could follow Jezebel inside. “Why are you following her like that?” “Everything is fine Mrs. Jenkins.” He put on his best reassuring smile and the stepped around the nosey old woman. Jezebel was already scanning the shelves as though she were taking a mental inventory, frowning at prices here and there. Tompkins, moving more stiffly as the years went by but as surly as ever, noticed the odd woman right away. With a scowl he went over to see what she wanted so that he could get her out of his store all that much more quickly. He didn’t like the look of her one bit. Noticing Buck come in behind her, only served to make him all the more suspicious. “What can I help you with?” He asked without a hint of politeness. “You’re low on molasses, are you expecting more soon?” Jezebel asked without looking away from the shelves of foodstuffs. “Next Tuesday. Those eight bottles not enough for you?” “No, not really. Who is you supplier?” “Excuse me?” His level of dislike climbing higher with her nosiness and blunt questions. “Your wholesaler. Which one do you use?” “What business is it of ours? You buying or not?” “That would depend on what kind of deal you’re going to give me. You got paper and a pencil? I’ll make you a list and you can give me your best price.” “I don’t make deals. The price is what you see.” Jezebel was unfazed by his surliness. “Perhaps your customers would like to hear just how outrageously you’re marking some of these things up? I’ve used all the wholesalers at least once before and I assure you, I’m quite familiar with their prices.” She added in answer to his fish mouth expression. Buck watched with fascination as the two of them walked to the counter, where Jezebel quickly wrote out her list in a very neat and precise hand. Minutes later Tompkins showed her a figure, to which Jezebel laughed at. There was a dark scowl on the gruff store owner’s face but when she began to haggle he was tossing out numbers just as quickly as she was. “Not like it’s going to matter much, you don’t have that kind of money on you.” Tompkins growled at her last offer. “Yes or no?” She received an unamused nod. “Good. I’ll be back in an hour. Have it ready.” Jezebel laid her three hundred and sixty dollars on the counter without batting an eyelash. Buck followed her out the door with a wide eyed stare. “Where’d you get that kind of money? I would have thought you would need to trade those horses to get enough to re-supply.” He said quietly as they walked side by side at a slightly more subdued pace than before. “Contrary to what you seem to believe, I do get paid by the army. And I’m not stupid enough to tie up all my money in two horses that may or may not bring in what I’d need to re-supply my wagon.” “Bel, I never said I didn’t believe you.” “I didn’t hear you speaking up either.” Sad brown eyes gazed into her own. “Cut that out.” “What?” Buck asked innocently. “Looking at me like that. I’m trying to be mad at you but you’ve got this… Oh forget it. I’ll be gone as soon as I can load up so it won’t matter anyway. Your friends don’t like me and I don’t want to make trouble for you. Let’s just go get my wagon and I’ll move along.” “Maybe I don’t want you to.” He said quietly. “Honey, I can’t stay. You know that. Especially when your father doesn’t want me around, not to mention him bein the Marshal.” “He’s not my father.” “Close enough. Look, I wish I could stay a day or two longer but even at that, I need to be moving on. I can’t be here when the army arrives. Those horses need to be sold, and the father away the better. I don’t need anyone connecting me to supplying the missing Kiowa and neither do they.” “I’ll buy them. I’ve bought stock from them before so a couple new ones wont stand out.” Jezebel seemed to consider his offer for most of the way back to the house. “I would make better time without the extra horses.” She finally said. “I’ll give you three hundred for both.” Buck offered without hesitation. “Really? Well,” Jezebel flashed him a quick smile. “They’re yours.” “After all that haggling with Tompkins, I expected…” “I’m not going to waste my breath arguing a good deal.” The horses were quickly hitched up and with Jezebel back in her wagon and Buck riding along side, they headed back to town. “Can you at least let me buy you lunch before you go?” Buck asked as they neared the general store. Discomfort clearly written on her face, Jezebel looked around the busy street before resting her gaze on his soulful brown eyes. “You’re doing it again.” She mumbled, looking away. “Doing what?” Jezebel sighed. “Oh alright. Fine, I’ll have lunch with you. Just give me an hour or so to get this all loaded up will you? I’m gonna have a full load so it needs to go in just right.” She got down from the wagon and started for the door. “How about I meet you at the jail when I’m done here?” “You’re kidding right?” Buck asked incredulously. “I was planning on helping you.” Jezebel turned back in surprise. “That’s real nice of you, but I’ve been doing this on my own for years. I can manage just fine. Besides, you’d just be in the way.” Not believing what he’d just heard, he stammered for a moment. Loading a wagon with that many supplies would take two strong men a good deal of time. She was planning on doing it alone? “What about your hand?” He finally managed to spit out. She merely shrugged. “Go on, I’ll find you when I’m done here.” Jezebel said over her shoulder as she opened the door. - ~ - Three stupefied men peered out the window to watch the front of Tompkins’ Store. She’d accepted enough help to have one of the men who worked for Tompkins bring everything outside for her. But there she was, bandaged hand and all, hefting the heavy grain bags over her shoulder like she could keep going all day long. Crates of dry goods and bolts of fabrics disappeared as quickly as they arrived on the front walk. Shortly over an hour later, the back doors were closed and the wagon turned in their direction. A sweating and dusty Jezebel wandered through the door minutes later. “Somewhere I can change? I don’t think you’d want to be sitting anywhere near me right now.” She said with a smirk. Following the pointed direction from the wide eyed silent men, she located a back room complete with a basin of water. The woman that emerged wore a pale yellow blouse with the same long loose sleeves but without a trace of ornamentation. Her simple plain brown skirt completely covered the heavily beaded moccasins. The necklace and multitude of earrings and rings stood out blaringly against the plainness of her clothing. Hair freshly braided and face slightly pink after being vigorously scrubbed clean, Jezebel warily eyed the three men watching her every move. “What?” Unanimously it seemed to be decided that no one would mention the loading of the wagon. Teaspoon nodded slightly in Buck’s direction before wandering off to his desk. Jimmy smiled weakly, then sat down and began polishing one of his guns. “Ready?” Buck asked, ignoring her question. “Sure.” She replied uncertainly. “Wouldn’t want to get on her bad side.” Jimmy remarked the minute the door closed behind couple. Teaspoon let out a long whistle, shaking his head. “Why don’t you head down to the telegraph office and see if we got any answers yet.” Sliding the gleaming colt back into place, Jimmy nodded and headed out the door. - Chapter 7 - “I was thinking we might take a walk first. If that’s alright with you? I mean, if you’re hungry we can go right now. It’s just… well…” Buck felt like a babbling fool. “I’d like that.” Jezebel smiled softly, resting her bandaged hand on his arm. A feeling of ease settled over him, having her willingly so near him again. They walked through the town, Buck pointing out businesses, both chatting companionably. When the buildings ran out, they turned back but walking along the backside, mostly out of view. Jezebel seemed to relax considerably, loosening her hold on his arm. “We don’t have to eat at the restaurant if you don’t want to.” Her step beside him halted. “We can go. I’m hungry enough, I can deal with it. As long as you’re with me that is.” Blue eyes gazed at him. Eating was suddenly far from his mind. “I’m hungry too.” He heard himself say, but his hunger had nothing do with food. A merry sparkle appeared in her eyes. “Well then, we should… eat.” There was no protest when he pulled her closer. A quick glance around, yielded no sign of prying eyes. The noise of the bustling traffic through town faded into nothingness as their lips met. The only things he was aware of were the woman molded against him, her fingers in his hair and the fact that her hunger was ever bit as deep as his own. The curves hidden from everyone else beneath her loose clothing were blatantly apparent when pressed tightly against his body. His hands began to wander. The sound of a throat being loudly cleared brought all passion to a dead halt. “Sorry to interrupt but Mrs. Cooper seems to think she knows you ma’am and well… she’s demanding I arrest you right away.” Kid stood nervously wringing his hat under the scrutinous dark looks Buck was sending his way. Buck turned back to the Jezebel sadly watching the softness vanish before his eyes. Smoothing her blouse, while also lightly running her hands down her arms, no doubt to reassure herself that she was armed, she stepped away from him. Looking resolute, Jezebel turned to Kid. “Well, why don’t we go pay a visit to Mrs. Cooper?” “She’s quite… upset ma’am. Maybe it would be better if you just came with me to see the Marshal?” “I would rather see Mrs. Cooper if you don’t mind.” Jezebel said with forced pleasantness. A questioning look to Buck assured Kid that he had assistance. “Alright then. Right this way ma’am.” A haggard looking Mrs. Cooper stood red faced over her boiling tub of laundry. Two older girls hung laundry on the many ropes stung behind her, both keeping an eye on the two year old boy toddling between the baskets heaped with clothes. The town’s laundry was a very busy business. “You brought that thief here?” The irate woman stood shaking the steaming stick she had been stirring the clothing with at Jezebel. “I told you to bring her to the jail! Lock her up!” She sputtered, face turning even redder. The two girls peeked around the sheets they were hanging with wide eyes. “What was it that she stole from you?” Buck asked, not sure if he really wanted to know. “Four of my children! My babies! She stole my babies!” She yelled loud enough that several passersby started to gather. “What did you do with them? You have to give them back!” She hissed at Jezebel. “Where is your husband?” Jezebel asked, ignoring the gawking eyes around her. “At the saloon I would imagine. Just you wait til he finds out we caught you.” Mrs. Cooper threatened. Buck noticed Jezebel watching the two girls, one of them shaking her head emphatically toward her with a worried look. Jezebel nod was very slight but it was there. He’d seen it. “How do you know she was the one to take your children?” He asked. “Cause she was doing some work for us back in Missouri. Wheat was ready but Harold had hurt his back so we hired on some help. Six days later we woke up to find her gone, along with some money and four of our children. That was three years ago.” “Now don’t be making it sound like I stole money from you. I only took what you owed me.” “I ain’t so concerned about the money, I want my babies back!” “No.” Jezebel said flatly. “So you admit you kidnapped the Cooper children?” Kid asked “If that’s what you want to call it.” She nodded. “Then you’re going to have to come with me until we can get this straightened out ma’am.” - ~ - “This wasn’t exactly the lunch I had planned.” Buck said quietly, holding the plate out through the bars. A wry smile was his only answer as she took the plate. Sitting down, she ate in silence, polishing off every last crumb of food before sliding the plate back under the bars. After a hushed conversation between the four men, Jimmy and Buck left. “You seem quite comfortable in there. You been locked up before?” Teaspoon asked, noting that not only was she not upset about being in jail, she hadn’t said a word in her defense. “A time or two. Someone looking after my horses I hope?” Buck’s takin’ care of ‘em for ya.” Jezebel merely nodded, lay down on the hard cot and went to right to sleep. “She’s a strange one. What’s Buck doing with her?” Kid commented, seeing that she was asleep. “Not quite sure son. I know Lou’s been working real hard to match him up with a decent woman for a long time now. It would seem he’s growing impatient. I just hope he doesn’t get too stuck on this one cause I got a bad feeling that she ain’t no good.” “You could say that.” Jimmy walked in, two pieces of paper in his hand. She’s wanted in both Texas and Colorado. So far anyways.” He sat down next to Kid. “What for?” Kid asked, eyeing the sleeping woman. “Murder in Texas and robbery in Colorado.” Jimmy said, holding up the telegrams he had just retrieved. “Buck’s not gonna like this. Who’s gonna tell him?” “I better.” Teaspoon slowly got up, feeling all his years. Sitting on the bench outside the jail, Teaspoon scanned the street for his Kiowa deputy, not at all looking forward to the impending conversation. “Have a seat a minute.” He said, feeling a heavy weight settle up on him the moment Buck appeared beside him. The man looked miserable enough already. “A couple answers came in from the messages I sent out this morning. Maybe you should read them for yourself.” His hand trembled as he read the first message. Murder? He’d seen the hard edged side of Jezebel when they’d first met. Seen that she was capable and very quick with her knives but could she kill someone? The more he considered it; it didn’t seem as unimaginable as he had thought only seconds before. Being wanted for murder would certainly explain why she was so nervous being seen in town. Robbery? Was that how she came by some of her wares? Had Teaspoon been right? Had she only told him the things she knew he would want to hear, hoping the rest of her past wouldn’t come up? What kind of person took children from their family in the middle of the night? Feeling his blood starting to boil, he got up to go find out. The two papers tightly gripped in his hand, he wrenched the door open to find the office empty but for the bored looking woman staring off into nothingness in the jail cell. - ~ - “Murder? Kidnapping? Robbery? Is there anything else you left out?” He stood fuming just outside the bars. “No wonder you didn’t want to be seen in town! Someone would have you up at the end of a rope in no time.” “That’s been tried. The branch broke.” Blue eyes darted up at him before looking away again. “It wasn’t exactly all done up legal.” “And what was that for?” His heart already turning cold, the warmth she had brought him faded quickly away. “Does it really matter? They felt I was guilty and so do all of you! Just leave me alone.” She turned her back on him. “You admitted to taking those kids, what am I supposed to think?” “I don’t know… maybe that I had good reason to?” She jumped off the cot to face him. A flash of hurt broke though her tightly controlled face. Buck felt his resolve crumble slightly. He found himself holding on to a faint hope that she could redeem herself. “What kind of reason?” “I promised not to say. But it was a good one. You’ll just have to believe me. Or not. You’re choice.” She sat down again, only now looking somewhat defeated. Buck took his usual seat, as far from the cell as the room allowed. He tried to focus on the paperwork he had offered to do for Teaspoon but the words just kept jumbling together. The sound of the door opening jarred Buck from his thoughts. Eliza Cooper, the eldest daughter, stood pale faced in the doorway, looking nervously behind her. “Excuse me sir, but would it be alright if I talked to Ms Jezebel for a minute?” She asked timidly. “Sure.” He turned slightly in his chair to get a better clandestine view of their conversation. Noticing her visitor, Jezebel sprang to her feet. “Eliza, you shouldn’t be here. Go on back before your father catches you.” She said urgently. Again Eliza glanced toward the door. “Ms Jezebel, I can’t let you sit in here cause of what you did. It ain’t right. You were only helpin’ like Beth and I asked.” The sixteen year old girl reached through the bars to touch Jezebel. “Are they alright? All of them?” “Yes. I stopped to see them last year. They were all very happy.” She said comfortingly, patting her hand. “Jeremy misses you and Beth but the others were very young. I don’t know how much they remember.” “Thank the Lord for that.” Eliza uttered quickly. “And for you Ms Jezebel. I hate to think how bad things would be if you hadn’t come along when you did.” Jezebel smiled warmly. “What about you and Beth, is he leaving you alone? The new one? I can’t believe she had another one.” She shook her head in dismay. “It’s different now that we’re… older. Especially when he’s been drinking.” She said quietly. “Your mother, she still stands for this?” Eliza only nodded numbly, eyed riveted on the floorboards. “I wish I could have taken you all with me.” “We didn’t ask you to. With the two of us still there, Ma and Pa were mad but not ready to take off after you.” “Are you ready to leave now?” Eliza looked confused. “Leave? Where can Beth and I go? What about Benjy? You’re stuck in here because of me! You can’t help us this time.” “No, but he can.” Jezebel tossed her chin towards Buck’s back. “Tell him what goes on inside your house. You’re old enough now to do this on your own. Your father is out drinking. Do you really want to go home to that again? Think about Beth.” She urged. “I can’t!” Eliza let out a panicked squeak. “Yes, you can. Go on now.” She reached through the bars to give Eliza a little push. - ~ - Teaspoon gave the woman behind the bars a measured glance. “You know that even with this kidnapping cleared up, I can’t let you go. These other charges still stand.” Even with his previous feelings, he was beginning to feel a tad guilty about holding her. Once Eliza had come to he and Buck with the atrocious tales of what her father had done to his children, he began to wonder if the other charges perhaps had similar reasons behind them. His own boys had ridden the fine line of upholding the law in their own hands on more than one occasion. Maybe this woman was doing the same thing. “I’m gonna have to hold ya until someone can come get you for trial.” “I don’t suppose that would be anytime soon?” Jezebel asked hopefully. “At least a week or two.” “Damn.” She sat back down on the bunk looking quite agitated. “Can you at least contact Fort Riley and let them know I’m here? I’m going to be off schedule now and John isn’t going to like that.” Jezebel sighed. “Colonel John Tyler.” “Yes ma’am I can do that.” He said, thinking that at least then he would know for sure if she was bluffing about her army connection. - Chapter 8 - Three days of good meals and extreme boredom where broken by the arrival of a young soldier. “Excuse me, I’m here for Ms. Jezebel?” Kid and Teaspoon both looked up in surprise. “Hey Angel, what took you so long?” Jezebel called out. “So long? I rode hard two days straight after getting the message you were here! What’d you do this time?” He answered with an exasperated laugh. “The usual. Can we get on with this?” “Yes ma’am.” He said with a wide grin. “Corporal Byron Thomas, Sir.” He handed Teaspoon a sealed envelope, moving past him to stride quickly to the woman behind the bars. “Major Rast is here.” He imparted urgently to a suddenly very unhappy Jezebel. “He insisted on riding ahead with me. I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do.” A volley of very unladylike profanity expressed her feelings on this news. Blanching at the severity of her obvious dislike for the Major, Teaspoon approached them. “A pardon from the Governor, that’s quite impressive.” The signature was real enough as was the document and it did indeed have her name on it, yet he had to wonder just who this woman was to have pull with the Governor himself. “He says you owe him dinner. A big one.” Byron snickered at Jezebel as she rolled her eyes. “Just let me out of here already.” Her agitation winning over humor. “He likes my cooking.” Jezebel muttered in response to Teaspoon’s questioning look. The lock clicked. Jezebel stepped out of the cell, giving Byron a grateful smile. The door opened, Major Rast made his arrival known with a scornful glance around the office. “I see someone finally had the right idea, locking you away.” He locked Jezebel in his contemptuous gaze. Buck walked into the office, stopping just inside the door to take in the situation. He could feel the tension between Jezebel and the man he had followed inside crackling in the air. Not only that but the protective stance of the uniformed man beside her, gave him a disturbing pang of jealously. “I don’t buy this vanishing act. You had a part in these Kiowa disappearing.” He accused, moving closer. “There’s been an awful lot of that going on where ever you go lately. You might have the Colonel wrapped around your finger because you warm his bed but I know better.” He jabbed a finger toward Jezebel, coming to stop only a step away. It was then he seemed to notice the man beside her. “Corporal Thomas, don’t tell me that you’re on her damned dance card too?” The bristling look he received answered better than words. “Well the whore of Fort Riley is about to finally do us a favor. You’re going to lead us to the Kiowa or else you’re going to be tried for treason. You’re choice.” Rast held out an envelope of his own to the furious woman before him. “What is this?” “You’re new orders.” He said with great satisfaction. Jezebel tore the envelope open, reading its contents in seconds. “I won’t scout for you. The Colonel knows that.” “You will now or you’ll both be tried.” Rast imparted menacingly. Jezebel scanned the document in her hands again. “You went to General Williams with this?” “I most certainly did.” He answered with a satisfied sneer. Kid, Teaspoon and Buck stood watching, feeling the tension in the room swell by the second. Each man unconsciously felt for the comfort of the weapons on their hips. “I’m sorry Bel.” Byron said quietly, but in the tense silence he might as well have yelled. “The Colonel is too.” Buck felt his breath catch in his throat. ‘Bel’. Only her close friends call her that, she’d said. But then Rast had called her the fort whore. Was she as free with herself with everyone else as she was with him? Just how many men called her Bel? His jealously faded into anger. Anger at giving his heart to yet another woman who was not the one he had waited so long for. Anger that now Jezebel was going to lead the army to his people despite all she had claimed to have done. Jezebel looked miserably torn. “I won’t do this.” The paper in her hands shook. “You will, unless you would like to explain why four other long documented villages have disappeared at the same time as your arrival over the last year? Keep in mind your beloved Colonel will be on trial right beside you.” A look crossed her face that reminded Buck distinctly of Muyago when he had bit Jezebel. “Fine.” She snapped. “Good. I knew you’d see reason.” Rast said triumphantly. “We’ll leave immediately. I have a horse ready for you. My men are only a couple hours behind.” “No. I’ll take my wagon.” “I think not. With your lumbering beasts and that worthless tinderbox it will take days to get anywhere. Those horses should be commandeered for the army and that thing you call a wagon would make a nice campfire. We’re leaving right now or you’ll be sorry.” Having heard quite enough, Corporal Thomas spotted Jezebel’s knives hanging on the wall. He handed them to the enraged woman beside him. Rast might be his superior, but Jezebel was his friend. “You’ll be the sorry one if you touch anything of mine… but only for a few seconds.” Jezebel imparted icily, blue eyes flaring as she slid her knives home. “If you want my help, you’ll wait while I get my wagon, my horses and my wolf. Otherwise, you’ll be explaining to the General how you were too impatient to wait and wandered around in circles for days because your scout didn’t have what she needed to find what you were looking for.” Not waiting for a response, Jezebel stormed out the door. No one moved to follow. Major Rast turned from the door to impart a fierce look at Corporal Thomas. “You go with her. I don’t trust her to not take off and I don’t have time to chase her down. I better see the two of you by sunset.” He said ominously. With a quick nod to the Marshal and his deputies, Byron left. “I see you have a scout of your own.” Rast remarked, flicking his grey eyes over Buck with as much respect as he’d give a dog in the street. “I’ll keep that in mind in case mine ends up at the end of a rope shortly.” “I’m sure Ms. Jezebel will do what she needs to for you sir.” Kid said confidently. Rast barked out a laugh. “I don’t think her dance card has enough room for me. Not to mention the whore has fleas. Course, what do you expect when she sleeps with a wolf.” He shook his head, walking out the door without a backwards glance. - Chapter 9 - Weeks went by without any news on his brother. Buck was getting more irritable by the day. Wherever the army had gone after they had left with Jezebel, their path hadn’t let back through Rock Creek. When word finally came, in the shape of Red Bear himself making a short visit in the middle of the night, Teaspoon had no problem letting Buck take some time off. With both Kid and Jimmy still sticking around, he was set enough for help that they wouldn’t be too shorthanded. “Wolf Heart spoke highly of you.” Red Bear broke the silence that had stretched out in early morning hours of their journey. “If she hadn’t given us warning, many would have died. Many more the second time.” “So she led the army right to you?” “Yes and no. The wolf came into our village with a message. We were able to get the women and children away before the army arrived. We were ready for them. Our people are safe.” “That is good news.” Red Bear turned to see his brother, noticing the tightness in his voice. “Wolf Heart is a very different woman. I do not think she is right for you.” “No she is not.” “You will find a woman.” He said reassuringly. “Come, see the new land that we have found. Perhaps some time away from the white men will help you find your way.” - ~ - Several weeks after his return from the village, Buck accepted an invitation for dinner with Rachel and Mike. When he arrived, he wasn’t surprised to see that Rachel had taken it upon herself also invite Jessica Landry. Having only recently moved to Rock Creek from Chicago, Jessica was very eager to meet people from town. She was also of a similar age, more plain than pretty but friendly just the same. Friendly enough even and not seeming to mind the fact that he was half Kiowa, that Buck offered to walk her home after the very enjoyable conversation they had started over dinner. Buck watched the slender blonde woman walking along next to him and he couldn’t help but smile. Jessica was outgoing and quick with her shining smile. Perhaps he had been too particular before, to wrapped up in the bad memories of his past, that he hadn’t given some of the women that had been introduced to him a fair chance. Jessica smoothed the front of her emerald green dress nervously as they neared the boarding house where she was staying. Buck bid her a good night and then on a whim asked if she would like to have lunch later that week. Jessica flashed him a bashful smile, agreeing without a second thought. Summer saw Buck spending more and more time with Jessica, attending town dances together and they were often seen sharing lunch at the restaurant right across from the dressmakers where she was working. While Jessica was everything a lady should be or at least could be in a town far from the east where she had left her family behind, Buck often found himself comparing her to Jezebel. Jessica was far opposite from the wild, sharp tongued, peculiar woman who had no qualms about sleeping with him after only knowing him for a day and seemingly sharing the same desires with little thought to what others might think. Every date with Jessica required a chaperone. They were never alone. No sneaking off the back alley for a few stolen kisses. Everything was proper and the women of the town loved her. She had a beautiful voice and often sung in church. Buck had even begun attending whereas he rarely had before unless he was guilted into it by Rachel or Teaspoon. She’d never outrightly said anything but he often had felt uncomfortable wearing his medicine pouch and earring when they went out together. Always impeccably dressed, he wanted to do the same for her so he began to leave his knife and other things behind. Less condescending looks came his way when he was with Jessica. She made him feel like part of the town like he never had before. The two most important women in his life, Lou and Rachel, both emphatically approved of her. He had never been happier. Buck proposed on Christmas to a delighted Jessica. She gifted him with a long deep kiss the likes of which she’d never allowed between them before. They stood on the sunny but cold porch wrapped in each others arms, enjoying what privacy they had while still not being alone since Teaspoon and Jimmy were inside. Buck was distraught to find himself comparing her kiss to Jezebel’s. Here he was planning to spend the rest of his life with the woman in his arms but he couldn’t get the other out of his mind. Jessica’s kiss was soft and sweet, shy even in a passion filled moment such as this. Jezebel had been just as aggressive as he was, creating a molten flame that had him lost to everything but the need quench the fire. Buck vowed to put her out of his mind, to focus solely on his soon to be wife. Wanting time to get a proper wedding together and time for her family to travel out west to join them, Jessica asked that they wait until early summer for their wedding. It was a long time to wait and truthfully he was getting quite frustrated with the amount of affection Jessica allowed before their wedding. He wouldn’t embarrass her by going to the saloon but when the occasion for him to travel came up, several ladies of the night took his money with no questions asked. - Chapter 10 - Late February 1867 Teaspoon sat reading the telegram that had just been delivered, glancing over the top of the paper at Buck staring out the window beside him. “I know this ain’t something you like doin’, but I got a message here from that Colonel Tyler fellow that Ms Jezebel worked for. He says he needs a scout to locate a couple missing soldiers that were taken by the Cherokee. It would seem Major Rast suggested you for the job. With all the planning goin’ on around here I suspect you could use a little time away. Them women have been thick as thieves over at the dress shop, the church and darn near everywhere else for that matter. What do ya say Buck?” “I’ll think about it.” Buck had been staring out the window wondering just what on earth he’d gotten himself into. Teaspoon hadn’t been kidding about the women going overboard with the wedding plans. With Jessica being so popular, every woman in town wanted to help in someway. Not only that but to impress her family, which it turns out had a good deal of money, Jessica wanted the best of everything. That meant special orders from Tompkins and numerous trips with her friends to other towns to find exactly what she was looking for. It was all making her deliriously happy so Buck didn’t feel right arguing the need for all she was doing but it was very much on his nerves. Kid had assured him it would all be worth it after the ceremony and that sometimes you just had to ‘let women go about their business as long as they were happy. It’s certainly better than the alternative.’ He’d said with a weak smile. - ~ - Hours of deliberation later, with memories of the last time he had led soldiers into an Indian village running through his head, Buck walked back into the jail to tell Teaspoon that he wouldn’t do it. “Oh good I caught you here!” Jessica beamed, popping inside before the door even had a chance to close behind him. “I was thinking we could go to St Joe this weekend so you could look at those suits I told you about. Mabel Hawkins agreed to go with us. It will be so much fun!” She said excitedly. Buck groaned inwardly. He could get a suit just fine right here in town. Traveling with Jessica and one of her chattiest friends all the way there and back was one of the last things he wanted to do. “I’m sure the Marshal could get by without you for a couple days. Couldn’t you?” She asked with a cheery grin toward Teaspoon. He was about to answer when Buck shot him a look. “I’d love to but I have to leave for a couple weeks to do a job for the army.” Buck said quickly. “Just when were you going to tell me this?” The annoyance at having her plans disrupted was plain to see. “I just found out a couple hours ago.” “And you didn’t tell me right away?” He couldn’t exactly tell her that he had just seconds ago decided to take the job because of her, so he went along with another of Kid’s lessons on women. ‘Accept that you are always wrong and just apologize.’ “I’m sorry. I know I should have told you right away. I was just coming to talk to Teaspoon about when I would be leaving and then I was going to tell you.” “I see.” Jessica sounded mostly appeased but still not entirely happy. She still wasn’t happy when she saw him off but Buck was desperately looking forward to some quiet uncomplicated days on the trail so he didn’t let her mood bother him too much. - Chapter 11 - The further into Kansas he pushed the more at peace he felt. The feeling of his horse enjoying the plains beneath him made him think of years gone by. Memories of Ike came and went but instead of sadness, he was reminded of all the good times they had had together. At Fort Riley he was greeted with less distain that most places. Soldiers tended to know the value of a good Indian guide. He had been hoping to meet Colonel Tyler but instead was led directly to Major Rast. “Ten men were sent to meet with a troublesome band of Cherokee three weeks ago. They have not been heard from since. They were proposing an agreement that the Colonel had set up last fall. We had been told that it was as good as accepted. There shouldn’t have been any problems. Lieutenant Orson will be taking twenty five men. You will lead him to the Cherokee camp. They have likely moved from their last location, which is why we need you.” Rast handed Buck a rough map of the area they suspected them to be in. Curiosity was eating him up since he had set foot inside the fort. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to Ms Jezebel? I was under the impression that she took care of this sort of thing for you?” Rast snorted, rolling his eyes. “Since that Kiowa nightmare, she’s been pretty scarce. The only one she was ever helpful to, if that’s what you want to call it, was the Colonel.” He imparted dryly. “Couple of her favorite customers died in that fight along with most everyone else that didn’t make the retreat when I called it.” “The last she was seen around here was a couple days early last fall when she filed her last reports for the year and then disappeared like she does every winter. She’s usually checked in by now. Maybe the snow got her. It was a bad winter.” Rast shrugged. “You’ll be leaving in the morning.” “Hobbs!” He called out. A short greasy looking man limped into the room. “Show Mr. Cross here where he can stay for the night. Make sure he gets a good meal in him too.” Rast waved them out, returning to the papers on his desk. - ~ - Heading west, Buck again consulted the map Rast had given him. They had found the previous location of the camp along with what remained of the bodies of the missing soldiers the day before. He was sure that they were getting close. Too many tribes had been granted territory in the area, there just wasn’t much room for them to go without finding themselves in someone else’s land. It was getting late in the day so the Lieutenant had called a halt. They would move in by early mid morning. Riding ahead he spotted two women out gathering food. Satisfied that they had indeed located the missing tribe, Buck rode back to inform the Lieutenant Orson. When morning broke, he had asked to stay behind and let the soldiers do their job now that his was done but the Lieutenant asked him to join them. They needed someone who could communicate with the Cherokee. That someone was him. Feeling his heart race, Buck rode into the camp with the soldiers following closely behind. He was not surprised to see the warriors were ready for them. The soldiers behind him were anything but quiet in their approach. The camp appeared mostly empty. The few teepees stood in silence. Even the couple dogs he saw appeared subdued. No one other than the tired, hungry looking men waiting with dark eyes and darker looks were visible. Dismounting and handing the reins to a soldier, Buck approached the man who looked to be the chief. He began to interpret into sign what Lieutenant Orson said beside him. When the flinty eyed chief introduced himself as Laughing Crow, Buck felt his heart drop. This was Jezebel’s family. He had led the army straight to them. He was torn between feeling guilty and feeling that he was getting even for her leading them to Red Bear. The Lieutenant was demanding to know what happened to his men as well as demanding to know why the treaty that had been previously discussed had been seemingly rejected. From the tight looks on the faces of the warriors closest to the chief and the tone Orson was using toward them, the conversation was not going well. Laughing Crow turned away abruptly, ignoring his signs and the Lieutenants angry demands. Bellowing out several words, he turned back toward them to stand with his arms crossed resolutely over his chest, refusing to acknowledge any of them. Buck let his hands fall to his sides, looking nervously around the camp, gauging the anxious expressions of the men around him. Even Orson came to a halt in his verbal tirade. A long tension filled silence fell over them all. Motion from one of the further teepees caught Buck’s eye. The wolf came out first, followed by the woman. Jezebel, her face gaunt as those before him, stalked toward the chief wearing a doeskin dress adorned with tiny stones. As she drew closer, he could see that there were stones also braided into her hair. Blue eyes scanned over the gathered uniformed men, coming to rest for seconds at a time on a particular man here and there, finally widening with shock as they came to rest on him. There ensued an earnest conversation between Jezebel and the chief, punctuated with an occasional finger pointed by Jezebel and several angry gestures from Laughing Crow. While the two of them talked, Buck noticed a boy’s face watching curiously from the doorway of the teepee Jezebel had come from. A worried looking older woman appeared beside him and then suddenly they were both gone from view. “Why have you come here?” Jezebel left the chief to walk toward the Lieutenant. Orson balked upon recognizing just who addressed him. “What are you wearing woman? What are you doing here?” He asked incredulously. “I live here.” She said tightly, again looking to all the men arranged behind them. “Then you better tell Laughing Crow to sign this treaty.” He shoved the papers into Jezebels hand. “Then tell me why we passed what was left of ten good men yesterday.” Buck stood uncomfortably next to the irate Lieutenant, watching Jezebel’s eyes narrow, her fingers unconsciously drifting over her bare arms. “Those men didn’t like that we wouldn’t sign the agreement. They left our village only to wait down by the stream for someone to come. They attacked and killed three women. One of which was my niece. It does not bother me overly much to find that the wolves have left only bones behind.” She said coldly. “These are Rast’s words, not the Colonel’s. We will not sign it. Not now or ever.” Jezebel threw the papers at Orson’s feet. “This is the only chance you will get. I advise you to pick it up if you truly want to save these damned heathens you seem so fond of.” He hissed. “No.” Orson shook with fury. He spat in her face. “Then you will die with them.” He vowed. Raising a gloved hand he signaled the men behind him to attack. Jezebel looked as though she was going to attack the Lieutenant with her bare hands but instead threw herself at Buck, knocking both of them to the ground. Gunfire erupted all around them. Buck wasn’t the only one shocked to see rifles appear in the hands of the warriors. They were good shots too by the sounds of men falling off horses behind them. “Get out of here.” Jezebel yelled over the din once they had crawled out of the crossfire. Shoving him in the direction of the surrounding trees, she took off for the teepee she had emerged from. Thinking she was going to join him, Buck waited beside a thick oak hoping no one noticed him. Jezebel did not join him. Instead, he watched in horror as she emerged from the teepee with her knives ready and stood firmly in place to guard those within. Muyago stood bristling at her side. He noted two uniformed men in particular subtly keeping the others away from where she stood but neither of them lasted more than a few minutes. Both were taken down by the warriors as they swept through the camp to protect their own. Her eyes echoed the despair on her face, watching two of her friends die at the hands of the people she called her family. In that instant Buck felt extremely grateful that he had never been put in that position. He was lost in dismal thought for a few seconds. One of those men could have easily been Cody. A stray bullet whizzing by only a foot a way snapped him back to the situation at hand. His anxious eyes again located Jezebel. Two men were closing in on her, almost within an arms reach with yet another man close behind them. They seemed hesitant to attack, be it the fact that she was a woman or that perhaps that they knew her. Jezebel turned, yelling frantically to those inside just before she charged the closest soldier. With great efficiency she slit his throat and moved to the next before the first had even dropped to the ground. After his second attempt to grab ahold of her, the second man doubled over, clutching his stomach with both hands. He crumbled to his knees seconds later with a stunned look on his face as he looked around blankly at the carnage that surrounded all of them. The third man, Buck belatedly recognized as the Lieutenant himself, took no chances. Taking aim, he fired a shot at Jezebel. Having seen the gun in his hand, Jezebel had launched herself at Orson to draw him away from the teepee. Muyago leapt for his throat, taking the bullet meant for her. The wounded wolf fell to the ground snarling. Upon seeing Muyago go down, Jezebel let out a heart rendering cry, momentarily halting her assault on the Lieutenant. It was enough time for Orson to fire again before she reached him. The bullet ripped into her flesh, driving her backwards and to the ground. Jezebel looked at the bloody hole halfway between her left shoulder and her neck, grateful that his aim had been several inches too high. It wasn’t his fight. Neither side was his but when he saw Jezebel fall to the ground he felt his own feet moving despite the gunfire and screams of dying going on around him. Orson fired again, this time into the teepee. He’d fired twice before the knife buried in his chest registered, his eyes widening in surprise as he looked down at the hilt protruding there. Jezebel, looking ashen but furious was on her feet with the other knife in her right hand poised to throw, watching him carefully. The gun fell from his hand and his legs gave out beneath him. The Lieutenant toppled over. Jezebel was on him quickly, ripping her knife free. She heard Buck’s warning just as a second bullet ripped into her left shoulder. Locating the man who had shot her, Jezebel again let one of her knives fly. Her strength quickly fading, Jezebel sat down only to find herself next to Muyago. Despite the large amount of blood glistening on his dark fur, he was still conscious. He licked her hand weakly, making a low whining sound before dropping his head back to the ground. Jezebel felt tears streaming down her cheeks knowing there was nothing that could be done to save her friend. By the time Buck reached her, the fighting had all but ceased. The remaining exhausted and heavy hearted Cherokee wandered amongst the bodies of the army men to gather up their own. A tall brave with two gashes across his bare chest approached them. Jezebel spoke a few quiet halting words before he turned away to go into the teepee she had been guarding. Seconds later a cry of despair cut through the eerily still air. “Find Laughing Crow.” Jezebel whispered. Watching the life drain from her with every second and hearing the utter desolation in her voice, Buck ran to find the Chief. - ~ - Buck finished with his hasty bandaging of Jezebel’s shoulder. She sat stroking Muyago’s blood splattered fur, looking very pale and lost to the world. Anguished cries came from inside the teepee where Laughing Crow had entered moments before. The boy he had seen before, now with bloody hands and a look of shock was led out of the teepee by the tall brave. The two of them joined Buck and Jezebel. The boy with tears flowing freely down his face, dropped to the ground beside Jezebel. She halted her petting of Muyago to pull the boy in for a tight one armed embrace. The look of relief on her face was clear. She quietly murmured what sounded like words of comfort to the distraught boy. The tall man gestured for Buck to follow him a short ways away. “If Wolf Heart had not spoken for you, you would be dead with the others.” He stated flatly in fairly good English. Buck nodded solemnly, casting a glance in her direction. He noted that blood was beginning to seep through her bandages and perhaps it was now only due to the boy huddled close to her that she was sitting up at all. He began to worry about his fate if Jezebel should die. “I am Two Fists, brother to Wolf Heart.” Buck opened his mouth to introduce himself but a fierce shake of the head made him close it again. “I do not have much time. My father is very angry. He blames Wolf Heart for the death of my mother.” Two Fists jutted his chin toward the teepee. “And also these two attacks. He is going to send her away from us with her son, who is also my brother, so that she has no reason to try to come back. Many of the others who have lost family blame her also. It is not safe for her here any longer. I do not know you but Wolf Heart has told me of you and your life with the white men. I must ask you to take her back with you and protect my brother’s family as I no longer can. Will you do this?” “Yes.” Buck said simply, looking again to Jezebel. Now that he looked closely, he could see the slight resemblance in the face of the boy who he now knew to be Little Fox. For the most part he looked much more like Two Fists than his mother. That was probably a blessing he thought to himself, remembering his own troubled childhood. “Then I must warn you, her tongue is just as sharp as those knives of hers.” Two Fists said with a slight smirk. “I’ve seen that.” “I doubt that you truly have, you agreed to take her too quickly.” He said, humor fading as quickly as it came. “There is nothing more I can do for her. My fathers words are not my own. Make sure she knows that.” With one last forlorn look at the woman who was his sister and the boy who was his brother, Two Fists went to join his father in he teepee. Moments later, Two Fists emerged with Laughing Crow. Bare chest smeared with blood and fury in his eyes, he strode off to join the remaining braves where they were massed around a low fire. Angry words reached Buck’s ears even on the other side of the camp. He went to check on the ashen woman who was using the boy beside her to get to her feet. “You need to lie down.” Buck offered his arm to steady her. “I need to see her first.” Jezebel said hollowly. Little Fox stood beside her resolutely, giving Buck a glare that dared him to defy her wishes. After her first wavering step, Buck carefully picked her up and carried her inside. A bloody scene greeted them. Little Fox began crying again, kneeling down to stroke the older woman’s long black hair. “I need to see her.” Jezebel whispered. Buck set her down next to the dead woman. She began speaking softly in words he did not understand. Buck stepped back to give her some privacy, only to be joined seconds later by Little Fox. They both watched in surprise as Jezebel removed her necklace. After fastening it around the dead woman’s neck, she kissed her cheek and then sat back with a pain filled grimace. When they emerged from the teepee, they were greeted by an angry crowd. Jezebel motioned for Buck to put her down but he stood by her side, Little Fox on the other. Laughing Crow stepped forward, coming to stand barely an arms length away. In a threatening tone, he began to speak. Jezebel shook her head slowly in denial. He could feel her entire body trembling beside him. No one seemed inclined to tell him what was going on but when Jezebel began pleading with tear filled eyes, he understood that whatever was happening wasn’t good. Little Fox took up her cause but was quickly silenced with a warning look from the chief. Several sets of widened eyes compelled Buck to turn his head away from the scene before him to see what the men behind the chief were looking at. Muyago, limping and panting heavily pried his way between Little Fox and Jezebel, coming to stand between her and Laughing Crow. The bloody wolf bared his teeth, growling menacingly. No one seemed willing to tempt him even terribly wounded as he was, all taking several steps backward. Jezebel spoke briefly to the wolf then turned away, taking a couple steps toward the pen where the horses watched with curious eyes. It was then that she collapsed. Muyago was at her side instantly, licking her face but she did not wake. He let out a low whine and renewed his efforts. He turned to give Buck a look that if it had been on a human, he would have said was desperation. Buck approached slowly but Muyago did not challenge him. Kneeling down next to her, he was relieved to find her breathing although shallowly. Looking around for help, he found that everyone had gone about their business, leaving only Little Fox nearby. The boy already had two of Jezebel’s horses standing outside the makeshift pen and was after the other two. Buck noted that the horses appeared just as hungry as the people did. The hard winter and the sudden trek to new land had taken its toll on them all. “We must go quickly.” Little Fox said in English over his shoulder, leading the four horses away from the pen. “We?” Little Fox turned to face him. “My father…” He faltered. “Laughing Crow does not wish to have any reminders of the woman who is responsible for the deaths of so many who were dear to his heart. Mother was scared we would die when the army men came and she knew that since the last attack that Father was angry with Wolf Heart. She told me that Wolf Heart is my true mother and that because of this I might be punished as well.” He took a deep breath, looking around the camp and the people who had been his family for his entire life. “Laughing Crow believes that if he can rid our people of her taint, they will be safe once more. Only if she is dead, may I return.” The boy again resumed his walk, though with perhaps with more of a slump to his shoulders. Buck gingerly picked up Jezebel to follow. Muyago hobbled along behind him. - ~ - The horses were quickly harnessed into place. Buck placed Jezebel onto her pile of furs inside the mostly empty wagon with the wounded wolf curled by her side. No one came to see Little Fox on his way, not even Two Fists or the man he had called Father. The air felt thick and silence weighed heavily on them as the four horses carried them down the path the army had made. Buck held the reins but the horses knew their business and required little guidance from him. Well over two hours had passed but Little Fox had yet to say another word. Buck was also very concerned about Jezebel. They were far enough away from the camp that he when he came to a small stream he felt it was safe to stop. Little Fox jumped down beside him, following closely as he went to open the back doors. Jezebel greeted them with downcast eyes and silence. She made no move to get out. Muyago lay with his head in her lap, breathing laboriously. “I’m going to go find us something to eat.” Buck said to no one in particular. “I will come with you.” Little Fox said quietly, discomfort at seeing the wounded pair in the wagon plainly written on his face. The two of them set out into the field of tall grass to see what they could find. “She told me about you, how you helped her last spring.” Little Fox finally broke his silence on the bank of the stream where they had stopped to get a drink. “Wolf Heart always has many stories to tell when she comes back to stay with us. She would sit by the fire with the women and children and tell us what she had seen and of the silly things the white men do.” He paused, lost in thought. “She always said that one day we would have no choice. That we would see these things for ourselves or we would die. That did not make my Father happy. The two of them would often argue and Two Fists would take her away before Father got too angry. Wolf Heart always brings many gifts to make Father happy. I think that is why he let’s her stay even when he doesn’t like her very much.” “What kind of gifts does she bring?” Buck asked, intrigued by this sudden insight into her life. “Food usually, blankets, medicine for the sicknesses the white men bring. Two Fists said that she knew there was going to be trouble because this time she brought us rifles. Father sat with her a long time when she offered the guns to us but in the end he agreed to take them and she showed us how to use them. If she hadn’t done this, we all would have been dead. Yet Father still punished her.” Little Fox sat down heavily on a fallen log beside the stream, staring into the slow moving water. “He is taking his anger out on her. I brought those men to your camp, not her.” “Yes, but she knew they were coming. They were her friends, at least some of them. That is what she told Father when she begged him not to kill all of you. He told her she could only save one. She chose you.” Little Fox turned to look at the man beside him. “You must be very special to Wolf Heart, she has known many of the soldiers for a very long time.” “I only knew her for a few days a year ago. I have not seen her since.” Buck said meekly, thinking of all the men who had died that Jezebel hadn’t been able to save. “They must have been very good days.” Little Fox sagely. Buck stared down uncomfortably at the meager pile of mushrooms and the thin rabbit he had been able to catch. “We should be getting back. I don’t think Muyago will last much longer. I don’t want her to be alone when he goes.” Little Fox nodded, getting to his feet. “Wolf Heart believes Muyago is the spirit of Dark Sky come back to watch over her. He was my father.” He added quietly, just coming to realize who his true parents were. Having seen the interaction between the wolf and the woman, Buck found he couldn’t disagree with the possibility. He hurried his steps. When they reached the wagon, it was empty. Fresher drops of blood lay over the dried up small puddle where Muyago had lain. Neither of them were in sight in any direction. Buck saw panic in the boy’s eyes. “She probably just went off a short way.” He said reassuringly. Little Fox shook his head, madly scanning for any sign of them. “She would have told Muyago to stay. He was hurt too badly to get out for no good reason. Wild animals go off to die alone.” Buck took a deep breath. Little Fox had a point. Hurt as badly as she was, it wouldn’t do Jezebel any good to go wandering off into the woods. He hadn’t said anything to Little Fox but he suspected that from the amount of blood she had lost and her shaky ashen appearance, Jezebel wasn’t much better off than Muyago. Her left arm had hung limply until he had made his hasty effort at a sling. One of the bullets had gone through but the one in her shoulder had gone into bone. Her only real hope was to keep her still and to get to a town with a good doctor quickly. “We’ll find her.” He said confidently as he began to look closely for her tracks. As it turned out, Muyago’s were easier to find due to his limp and the trail of blood that became more pronounced the further they got from the wagon. After a while the blood pattern changed and it was only Jezebel’s footprints that they followed. They both walked quicker. Buck spotted Jezebel first, sitting against a large oak. She stared off to her right, not acknowledging either of them. Little Fox ran ahead of him, Buck hurried to catch up. “Wolf Heart!” Little Fox cried out, dropping down beside her. Buck could see that she was still breathing and it looked as though she was talking but no sound came out and her movements were sluggish when she turned slowly to face Little Fox. Her eyes had a far away look to them. Buck got to his knees beside Little Fox to check on Muyago. The wolf was dead, lying with his head in her lap. “He is gone.” He said in answer to Little Fox’s panicked look. “No, he’s right there. He’s waiting for me.” Jezebel whispered, turning back to her right. “Who is waiting for you?” Little Fox asked, a tear slipping down his cheek. “Your father.” She smiled at something neither of them could see. “Tell him to stop waiting.” Little Fox cried. “I have already lost one mother today. I do not wish to lose another.” Looking down at the boy who clung desperately to her, Jezebel seemed to become more aware, her eyes brightened slightly. She stroked his hair weakly with her right hand. “My sweet little boy.” She leaned slightly to kiss his forehead. “You don’t understand. I made a promise to your father that I would never take you away from his people. I do not break promises. Just let me be, then you can go home.” She turned again to the empty shadows. “Your father is waiting.” “No. Please Mother do not leave me.” He sobbed on her chest. “I will never leave you little one.” “I am not little.” Little Fox said defiantly, looking up at her through his tears. “No, you are not so little as you used to be.” Jezebel agreed quietly, a single tear escaping. “I missed so much and now you are already grown.” “So don’t miss anymore. Stay with me! I do not wish to go home. Take me with you like you have done for others. If I want to leave, you are not breaking your promise.” He pleaded. “I suppose you are right.” Jezebel looked to the shadows once again. “Mother.” Little Fox fought for her attention. “Promise me you will not die here.” Tearing her gaze from the shadows, Jezebel smiled weakly. “I promise.” Her hand fell to her side as her eyes drifted shut. “Come on, we need to get her back to the wagon.” Buck urged, his voice thick with emotion. He kept remembering himself in the same situation. He would do all he could to keep this boy from going through what he had after the death of his own mother. “Wait.” Little Fox stopped him before he could pick up the unconscious woman. He slipped a ring off one of her fingers, placing it in Muyago’s mouth as he lifted the wolf’s head from Jezebel’s lap. After settling him into a sleeping pose, Little Fox stood to wait for Buck. “Why did you do that?” Buck asked to break the ominous silence on the way back to the wagon. “The ring is a circle. We all come back to the circle through this life and the next. Wolf Heart marks those who carry a piece of her heart with a ring so she will recognize them again the next time they meet.” Buck thought of the ring that rested in his medicine pouch that no longer was around his neck but locked in a chest beside his bed far away. He had placed it there because she had shown him that he didn’t have to be alone. Because of Jezebel he had had he courage to really try with Jessica and now they were to get married in a matter of weeks. Buck felt a cold sweat break out across his brow. What of the promise he had made to Two Fists to protect Little Fox and his mother? Would they be accepted in Rock Creek? What would Jessica say about their arrival? For that matter, if Jezebel lived, what were her plans? “She must have many rings.” Buck said to cover for his internal discomfort. He was hoping to find that his statement was true so that he wouldn’t feel so guilty about the fact he was basking in the idea that she had really cared that much about him. “She does but almost all of them are still on her fingers. When I was five, she gave one to me and told me what it meant. I thought she gave them to all the children but I was the only one that I ever saw wearing one. He held up his hand to show the intricately etched silver band on his little finger. I had to wear it on my thumb when I was little but now it is almost too small.” He smiled fondly. “My mother… Red Flower,” He faltered for a moment before going on. “She wore one as does Two Fists. Once, when I asked about the rings, she told me there was a soldier named John that also wore one. She taught me to count your numbers with them when I was younger. I know them all by heart. Last winter when she came to stay with us, I saw that one was missing. Do you have it?” He asked curiously. Buck felt his throat go dry. He nodded, feeling dark curls brush his cheek as he did so. She felt feverishly hot against him. He walked as fast as he could without jarring her too badly in his arms. The bandages were soaked with new blood. He could only surmise that she had carried Muyago from where his had tracks ended. When they reached the wagon, he had Little Fox ride in back with her, rubbing her down with cool water they had gathered from the stream. Buck drove the horses as fast as he dared on the rough trail that hours later led to a fairly smooth road. It was almost too dark to go any farther when he caught saw lights. The small town welcomed them with distrustful glances and near outright hostility. Buck finally located the doctor and only by finally flashing the tin star he kept in his pocket, convinced him that he needed to see to Jezebel immediately. Neither he nor Little Fox was allowed inside his office but the doctor did bring Jezebel in, telling them that he would take care of her. One of the town’s deputies was dispatched to make sure the wagon and its occupants left town. The doctor had assured the confused and distraught Little Fox that a message would be sent in the morning as to her condition. Until then, it would be best for them to stay out of sight. That left Buck to explain over their very delayed meal of rabbit and mushrooms, that many towns treated their kind much the same way. He also felt the urge to point out that Rock Creek was better than this one, though he wasn’t sure if its occupants would abide by more Indian blood in their town. Still, his news seemed to ease the hurt and fear in the young boys eyes. He spent an hour telling Little Fox about Rock Creek and some of the people who lived there to try to distract him from thinking about how his new found mother could very well be lying dead in a strange unfriendly town while they sat pushing tough rabbit around on their plates. - ~ - Morning came too early and yet not soon enough for the exhausted and emotionally drained pair who anxiously awaited any word on Jezebel. Buck explained to the fretful boy that it would be wise for them to wait as they had been told to rather than to go into town and risk being arrested, attacked or barred from any news on her condition out of spite. He decided to learn more about Jezebel to pass the time. “How is it that you and Two Fists speak English so well?” “Wolf Heart has been telling us since I was very little that we would all need to learn certain things to fit into the white world. The world we would have to go to at some point or die. She’s been trying to convince Laughing Crow of this since I can remember but he fights with her every time. Two Fists told me that she has tried many times to get him to accept an agreement that would allow us to move in peace to the reservation but he would never do it. So instead every year, she convinces a few more of us to leave, though she always makes it look as though she wasn’t involved. Families sneak off in the night, sometimes days after Wolf Heart has left in the spring, leaving nearly everything behind. Two Fists was caught between Fa… Laughing Crow and Wolf Heart many times. He told me that he had made her tell him what was going on. She admitted to taking anyone who was willing to the reservation so that they could live without the constant threat of army attacks.” Buck took a moment to put together the information the boy had delivered, finding he had never answered the actual question. “She taught you English?” He tried again. “Yes. Any of us that would listen, she taught. During the long cold days, Wolf Heart would go one of the teepees where the women would gather to work. She told us stories and taught us words and numbers. It was mostly the children and some of the women who agreed to learn but Two Fists was always by her side whenever he could be so he learned too.” Buck felt a surge of jealousy. “We’re they… together?” Then suddenly he regretted even asking. This boy had no reason to answer his questions yet he was doing so without hesitation. “He always acted as though they were. She lived with us but they never lay together at night.” Little Fox absentmindedly pulled bark from a stick he picked up at his feet while he talked. “He wanted them to be since I was little, but Wolf Heart called him brother and refused to be anything more than sister to him. One time I found him sitting alone outside of the village. He was mad and hurt that she had refused him again. He said that she had told him that she would only give her heart to a man who was an equal to his brother. She must have loved my father very much.” He mused, he looked down the road to they way they had come. Buck nodded, remembering her face when she had spoken of Dark Sky when they had first met. “Did Two Fists choose someone else?” “Yes. After she had told him that, he wouldn’t speak to her for days. It made things very uncomfortable when we were all together. Finally one night, Laughing Crow had enough of it and told Two Fists that Wolf Heart had already caused the death of one son and he wasn’t about to give her another so he had better find someone else. Two Fists stopped ignoring the other women and before the snow stopped, had claimed one for his own. Wolf Heart was awfully quiet and she left very early that year.” Buck sat lost in thought while Little Fox got up to check on the horses. “You do very well with her horses.” Buck complemented, when he sat back down a while later. “Wolf Heart let me help her with them for many years now. It was one of the things she would do with me alone. She was always helping with everyone’s children but she always found time to do something with just the two of us. Sometimes she would bring me candy from the towns or spend extra time teaching me about the medicine she uses or words and numbers. I always thought of her as a special friend but now I see why she wanted to be with me more than the others. Someone is coming.” He stood up to get a better look down the road. Minutes later, the deputy from the night before slowed his horse to a stop. “Doc sent me to get you. He says you can see her. Follow me, but leave that wagon behind, we’ll be better off if no one knows you’re there. After making sure the other three horses were secured, Buck mounted his own horse. Little Fox took Cocoa, who had grown considerably but was more his size than the other massive horses. They followed behind the deputy as he led them back to town and in the back door of the doctor’s office. The doctor was waiting for them. “She’s not awake but you can see her.” He offered gruffly, opening the door to a small room with a narrow bed and a single chair. Little Fox approached the pale and sleeping Jezebel with apprehension. Buck looked to the doctor, waiting for more information. “I was able to remove the bullet but there was some damage to her shoulder bone. A large chip was taken off where it hit and there is nothing I can do to repair it. If she makes it through the next few days, I doubt she’ll ever recover full use of her arm without a good deal of discomfort. Right now I’m more concerned with today and tomorrow. Quite honestly, I’m surprised she’s made it this long.” “She promised.” Little Fox said from the chair beside the bed. He gave Buck a look that begged for him to be told she was going to be alright. “Yes she did.” Buck offered reassuringly, finding that he was becoming attached to his boy who seemed to trust him without question. - Chapter 12 - They stayed with her until their stomachs protested. Jezebel hadn’t moved at all other than the steady rise and fall of her chest. There was nothing either of them could do for her so they took the horses back to the wagon, saying they would be back later in the evening to check on her. Late the second day with still no change, Buck sent Little Fox back to the wagon before hazarding a trip to the telegraph office to send a message on to Fort Riley about their failed mission. Then, using the last of the money he had on him, made a quick stop at the general store for some much needed food supplies. Both of them were distracted by Jezebel’s condition and hunting hadn’t yielded any great results. The boy looked like he hadn’t had a full meal in weeks. The man behind the counter didn’t smile when he put his purchases down but took his money all the same. Buck felt relief at seeing Little Fox calmly caring for the horses upon his return. He seemed fully capable of taking care of himself and Buck had yet to have to outrightly ask him to do anything around their little camp. It was just that with Jezebel still unconscious, the promise he had made to Two Fists weighed heavily upon him. He had also said other words to a certain woman who was likely getting very impatient for his return. Teaspoon and the others who were filling in for him were probably getting anxious him to take his shifts back as well. He sighed heavily, feeling pulled in two directions. The more they spent time together, Buck decided he really liked Jezebel’s son. Little Fox was quiet but willing to talk if a topic was brought up. Buck found himself telling the boy who was eager to hear more of the white world about some of the horses he had. Little Fox took to the subject with great zeal. Seeing the boy’s excitement, Buck assured him that if it was alright with Jezebel, he would be allowed to work with the horses. It wasn’t that he needed the help so much as Little Fox would need something to do to keep him busy and Buck wasn’t opposed to having someone else to muck out the stalls after all the years he had had to do it. The morning of the fourth day finally brought some improvement in Jezebel’s condition. Buck had just returned from wiring a message to Teaspoon and Jessica about the delay in his return. Little Fox was sitting next to Jezebel right were he had left him. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed that her eyes were open. After seeing only her eyelids for days, the vivid blue gaze brought a grin to his face. “You’re awake!” He exclaimed, rushing to her side. “So I’ve been told.” Jezebel said hoarsely, giving Little Fox a little smile. “How are you feeling?” The smile left her face. “Been better.” Hearing her awake, the doctor came in to offer some broth and a dose of laudanum, both of which Jezebel accepted. Buck left Little Fox to spoon feeding duty so that he could have a word with the doctor. “How long until we can move her?” “Move? She should stay in bed for at least another week then perhaps we can try her sitting up. Any movement is only going to make her shoulder worse.” The doctor snipped disdainfully. “What if we moved her lying down?” Buck couldn’t afford to live out of a wagon for another couple weeks. He had a job, a ranch and a mostly likely very irate fiancé waiting for him. “Honestly, as long as I get paid, you can do whatever you want with her. I’ve given you my recommendation that’s all I’m going to do.” After inquiring as to the bill, Buck belatedly remembered that he’d spend all his money. Somehow, he had a feeling that the doctor wasn’t about to trust him to mail the money later. He would have to figure something out. “You’ll get paid. We will be back later this afternoon for her.” “What’s she wanted for?” “What?” “Well a woman looking like that with all those scars and a half-breed son, she’s isn’t exactly the upstanding sort of lady. You being a deputy and all, I just figured you were here waiting to take her to trial somewhere if she lived.” “No.” Buck said tightly. Turning his back on the doctor, he stormed into the room only to find Jezebel sound asleep. “Come on, we are going to pack up and come back for her. I don’t want any of us to stay here a minute longer than we have to.” Buck snapped. Little Fox looked up quickly, confused by his tone. He nodded, slipping his hand out of Jezebel’s and following Buck out of the office. The ride back to the camp was quiet. “Have I done something to make you angry?” Little Fox finally asked. “No. Its just time we got moving. I need to get back home and your mother can lie down in the back of the wagon just as well as the bed in town.” This time Buck tried to keep the anger at the doctor’s assumptions out of his voice. - ~ - The horses were hitched up quickly and all evidence of their home for four days disappeared into the back of the wagon. “One of us should stay in back with her. I hope you don’t mind doing that.” Buck cast a sideways glance at the boy, hoping for acceptance. While Little Fox was adept at driving the wagon, having a very Indian looking boy be the only one in sight to anyone they passed along the road, didn’t set well with him. He might very well get some aggravation, but at least he had a badge to work with. “I will stay with her.” Little Fox said quietly. Buck was unsure how to broach the next topic but he needed to know, so he asked. “Do you know if she has any money? We need to pay the doctor.” Little Fox nodded, staring at the backs of the horses as they made quick work of the road into town. “I will get it for you when we stop.” “Thanks.” He said gratefully, trying to regain some of the easygoing companionship that seemed to have disappeared since he had announced they were leaving. When they got to town Buck followed the doctor’s suggestion of pulling the wagon around back. Little Fox disappeared inside the wagon as soon as the horses stopped. He returned with a small but heavy bag. “Here.” He dropped it into Bucks hand. “I will wait here and get her bed ready.” The boy disappeared back inside the wagon before Buck had a chance to say a word. The back door was unlocked as it had been for their previous visits. Buck went inside, finding the doctor in Jezebel’s room. He was just finishing changing her bandages. He turned, hearing Buck enter. “You’re back sooner than I expected. I was just about to give her more laudanum but you might as well just take it with you. Do you have the money?” Buck nodded, handing over the correct amount. There had been more than enough in the bag to cover the bill and allow them to buy more food along the way home if they needed to. “Good, then get that fifth out of here.” The doctor left the room as though he couldn’t get away quick enough. After giving the doctor’s backside a dark glare, Buck turned to Jezebel. She was awake but her whole face had a hollow look about it. “Where is Little Fox?” She asked quietly. “Outside waiting. We’re taking you home.” “I don’t have a home. Not anymore.” Her forlorn whisper pulled heavily on his heart. “You can stay with me.” The words rolled off his tongue before his brain had a chance to stop them. “There’s an old bunk house, we could fix it up a bit… you know, so you would have a place of your own. We’ll figure something out.” He said reassuringly. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” “I’ll need clean clothes. It seems I bled all over the other ones.” Jezebel halted his effort to lift the blanket that covered her. “Right, of course. I’ll be right back.” Buck turned quickly and left to retrieve them before the heat on his cheeks became too apparent. Returning with the shirt and pants that Little Fox had found for him, Buck handed them to Jezebel then turned to leave the room. “I can’t exactly do this by myself.” She sighed heavily. “You want me to help?” “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.” Jezebel said matter of factly. Buck found himself smiling. “If you’re sure.” “Don’t make me nod. It hurts.” She offered him a tiny smile. The pants were not problem but the shirt took a good deal of effort on both parts. Jezebel was still grimacing now that it was over and Buck noticed that she felt clammy against him when he helped her sit up. “Can you walk?” “I think so.” With his help, she slowly got to her feet. He stayed close by but she did not need his help until they got to the wagon. Little Fox watched them anxiously the closer they came. “I can’t climb up there.” Jezebel whispered, not wanting to appear as weak as she felt in front of her son. Buck picked her up, being as careful as he could of her shoulder. Jezebel wrapped her good arm around his shoulders to help support her weight as he lifted her up. “You cut your hair!” She whispered unbelievingly in his ear when he set her down on her pile of furs, her hand lingering in the hair that now only just came to his shoulders. Her eyes seemed to suddenly lock on to him, searching over his face and neck frantically as she took count of the things that were missing. “We will talk about this later.” She stated with a momentary glimpse of the fire she had been missing since the attack. The spark left her quickly and she sunk back into the furs with a bit back groan. Buck could see sweat on her face now. “You need to rest. Here.” He handed the bottle of laudanum to the worried looking boy and explained how to give it to Jezebel. After closing up the door, he took the seat on the wagon and started off on the long road home. - Chapter 13 - The ride to Rock Creek was agonizingly slow. It might have been true that Jezebel was laying down the same as she had been in the bed before they left, but every rut and root on the trail made her suffer. She bore the pain silently but it was Little Fox’s pleading for his mother’s comfort after the first couple hours of travel that convinced Buck to keep the horses at a leisurely walk. Little Fox stayed near her, making sure she had everything she needed when they stopped for the night. Jezebel ate well but fell asleep soon after the finishing her last bite. By the end of the third day, Buck was getting frustrated with the pace, knowing he had obligations to get back too. Rather than take Little Fox’s word, Buck decided to get a chance to talk to Jezebel alone before she fell asleep for the night. He waited until the boy had wandered off on a necessity walk. “How are you feeling?” He asked the worn looking woman who was finishing off her dinner with little vigor. Tired blue eyes gazed at him from across the fire. “I can’t sleep. The medicine is almost gone and it’s the only thing that makes me able to close my eyes for more than a few minutes at a time.” She looked around, making sure they were still alone. “I know he told you to go slowly, but it makes no difference. Please, just get us there as fast as you can. I can’t take many more days like this.” Little Fox returned, looking between the two of them suspiciously. “How are you feeling Mother?” “Well enough. Get some rest. We have another long day tomorrow.” Jezebel waved him to the few furs she had given to him. Nodding dutifully, Little Fox, who was beginning to look healthier after several days of good meals, got comfortable and was breathing softly a short while later. Jezebel watched her son fall asleep before sighing heavily and beginning the painful descent to her own bed. The emptiness washed over her as it did every night since Muyago had died. Her heart ached, not hearing the familiar breathing, feeling the rise and fall of the warm fur next to her, not waking to the rough lick or playful nip as she had for so many years. Her family, her safe haven from the hard months and loneliness on the road no longer wanted her. Those she had most wanted to help had only been hurt by her efforts. The woman who had been her mother, her best friend, her comfort, was dead because she had been unable to protect the two people she held most dear. Her son had lost the only family he had known, had been shoved into the life she had never wanted for him just to sever the last tie between her and the people who never wanted to see her again. The night was chilly and the moon dim behind the fast moving clouds. The constant throbbing in her shoulder wore her down even father. Jezebel loved her son very much, but his protective presence was getting on her nerves. When she was on the road, she was alone or if she had passengers, they were apart from her. Having someone hover over her, even with the best intentions had her on edge as much as everything else. The poor boy had only been trying to help pass the time earlier when he had suggested that he brush out her hair and braid it, being that it hadn’t been done since the attack. But his fingers caught on every tangle, making her head jerk backwards and causing her to wince once too loudly to cover. He got nervous after that, making his efforts more hesitant which made it even worse. She had finally snapped at him to stop and then had immediately apologized because she felt so awful for doing so. The rest of the day had passed in a drug induced haze of half sleep. A movement next to her broke her out of her dismal thoughts. - ~ - Buck watched the woman across the fire stare into the sky from his bedroll. ‘Would you mind being my wolf for a couple hours?’ She had asked him once. Perhaps that is just what she needed to get some real sleep. He had almost got up once but then his mind started spinning. He kept thinking about the ring that lay hidden in the chest by his bed. That ring led him to thinking of the other ring that also resided in that same chest but within a tiny box, just waiting to be slipped around Jessica’s finger. He needed to get Jezebel home and settled in so that he could get back to Jessica. In order to do that Jezebel needed to sleep. At least that’s what he rationalized to himself as he got up and laid his bedroll on the ground next to her. “What are you doing?” She whispered, turning towards him as far as the pain in her neck and shoulder would allow. “Nothing. Go to sleep.” Buck whispered back, disturbed to find his heart beating just a little faster as her face softened when he lay down beside her. The beating intensified when she adjusted herself against him and didn’t calm until a good while after she had closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. When he woke, Buck was pleased to see Jezebel still sleeping beside him. She was no longer so pale and her face had lost the painful pinched look that she had worn for days. Not wanting to wake her, Buck laid there looking around their small camp. Little Fox sat watching them from across the barely smoldering fire of the night before. A curt nod was all he got before the boy got up to put his bedding in the wagon and then went tend to the horses. His stomach finally growled loud enough to wake Jezebel, her eyes fluttering open beneath his watchful gaze. “How long have you been awake?” She asked sleepily, rubbing a hand over her face. “Just a little while,” He lied. “I’m going to find something for us to eat then we need to get moving.” Jezebel merely nodded and with his help, managed to attain a seated position with only moderate discomfort. She watched as Buck wandered off into the woods, her attention wandering until she became aware that Little Fox stood before her. His aloof and somewhat disgruntled expression brought her back to reality. “I am well enough now. You don’t need to be cooped up with me any longer. I would like you to ride up front with Buck.” “So I can know this man who holds you heart?” His questioning tone verged on accusation. “What?” Jezebel was caught off guard, looking around to make sure Buck was still out of sight. “I have trained you. You know the herbs I need so I was hoping you could look for them as we traveled. I used everything I had over the winter and now there is nothing left.” “So what I saw this morning… that meant nothing? Two Fists has wanted you for as long as I can remember but I wake up this morning to find you with this man who says you have only known eachother for a couple days some time ago? This is the man who is equal to my father? This man who you barely know? Or is this common for you when you leave us, that you share yourself with any man?” Little Fox stood over her, shouting his accusations. Jezebel floundered only for a moment before shooting to her feet with a grimace that was as much from the pain as it was her anger. “What you saw this morning was me sleeping. That is all. As far as Buck goes, I know him well enough. He has offered to help us and right now, we need it. So you will do as he says and you will sit with him.” She leaned in close. “And if you take that tone with me again you’ll be walking the rest of the way to Rock Creek.” Buck watched as Jezebel strode angrily past the suddenly quiet boy and closed herself in the back of the wagon. Glad it wasn’t him on the receiving end of her tongue, he figured it was now safe to leave the tree he had lost himself behind upon returning to hear Little Fox’s accusations. He went straight for the horses to begin harnessing them up. As if sensing their owners’ anger, the three large horses were extremely uncooperative, only Cocoa went without protest. Finally noticing the delay, Little Fox snapped out of his staring trance to help get the horses in line. Once all was in order, Buck suggested he be the one to return the furs to the wagon while Little Fox took care of the fire. Opening the door, he was not surprised to see Jezebel sitting on one of her few remaining crates with an expression that verged on fuming but being that it would only make things more uncomfortable for everyone if he acknowledged what he had overheard, he didn’t say anything when she acknowledged him with a solemn nod. Once the doors were closed he went to join a sullen Little Fox for what he expected to be a long quiet day. He was right. Even with the several stops that they had made to locate the herbs Jezebel requested, they made good time. “We should be there by noon tomorrow.” Buck announced as they sat around the evening fire. Jezebel sat in silence sipping the tea she had made from some of the plants Little Fox had gathered. The boy looked uneasily into the darkness and then with a heavy sigh found his furs. With his back to both of them, Little Fox fell asleep quickly, effectively leaving them alone. Absently poking at the fire, Buck felt her eyes on him. “How’s your shoulder feeling?” “Better.” She paused, staring into the fire. “I’m going to guess that Two Fists put you up to this? Once you are home, I am well enough to go on. Do not feel obligated to do more than what you have already done.” It would be so easy to allow her to leave once home was in sight, to not have to explain her presence to Jessica but other words came out of his mouth. “I already told you that you can stay. We have room and we could use the help.” “Help of what sort?” She asked quietly so as not to wake Little Fox. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “A housekeeper or a cook? I already asked Little Fox if he would like to help with the horses. He’s very good with yours. I’m not sure. What can you do?” “Anything that needs doing.” She answered with the barest hint of a challenge. “Well then I’m sure we can work something out.” He said more confidently than he felt. How was he going to explain to Teaspoon why he had offered her an open position without even consulting him first? The business was only half his. “Living on the road is not a good place for my son. I will think on it.” Jezebel gave him one last deep look before easing herself down on her furs. Even though Little Fox was sound asleep, Buck didn’t want to antagonize the situation any further. He stuck to his own bedroll a proper distance away. When the first rays of morning began to light the sky Buck woke, quietly saying his prayers to the rising sun. Little Fox was awake shortly after. Figuring Jezebel had gone off for privacy, he wasn’t alarmed when the morning light revealed her empty pile of furs. But when the horses had been tended to and she still hadn’t returned, worry began to gnaw at him. “Have you seen your mother this morning?” He asked Little Fox, finally breaking the uneasy silence that had prevailed since the day before. “No. She woke me hours ago to tell me she was going to talk to the trees.” He noticed Buck’s quizzical look. “That’s what she calls it. Pray, talk to the spirits…” He shrugged. “She’s always had her own way of doing things. Most of my people didn’t like her but her visions were true ones.” “She’s not well enough to be wandering alone. We should find her.” Little Fox nodded, following as Buck began to look for her tracks. Being that they had all been in and out of the surrounding woods since the night before, it took him a few minutes to locate her trail. They walked a good way, coming to a break in the trees that led out into open grass with only a few sparse trees. It was under one of those that they found her. They approached slowly but she paid no attention to them, instead staring down into the cup of slightly milky liquid that sat on the ground before her. A quick glance at Little Fox assured him that the boy wasn’t about to distract her from whatever it was that she saw. That was going to be up to him. “Jezebel,” He called out softly. Tear filled blue eyes slowly looked up at him through long tangled strands of her dark hair. “We will stay with you.” The words came out resolutely but from the sorrowful look on her face, he would have thought that he had offered her a noose rather than a home. Little Fox looked between them, finally stopping on his mothers face when he caught her eyes. “Mother, what did you see?” Jezebel didn’t answer right away, rather bowing her head and then emptying her cup. Once on her feet, she swayed, catching herself on the tree for balance. Little Fox was immediately at her side, his anger with her quickly forgotten. They walked slowly back toward the wagon waiting for Jezebel to answer. “Your father no longer waits. He is angry with me for not choosing to go with him.” She looked sadly to the rising sun, walking a short way in silence. “I have seen what you will become.” She said solemnly to the boy beside her. Little Fox stopped dead in his tracks, looking to her for explanation. All he got was a shake of her head and a weak smile. “You will succeed where I have failed.” “That doesn’t sound so bad.” Little Fox looked confused. “What did you see that made you sad? Did I do something awful?” “No, nothing like that.” She squeezed his arm reassuringly. “When I walked with your father, he showed me many things. He also took me to the place where I will die, telling me that he will not be there. Then he was gone.” Her voice was hollow, flat against the cheerful morning chirping of the birds and the warming air that promised a beautiful spring day ahead of them. “I’m tired. Wake me when we get there.” Jezebel announced upon reaching their camp. Little Fox put her bedding in the wagon without question and then went to help Buck with the horses. Continue On Email Gypsywitch HOME