"Mr. Spoon?"

Teaspoon looked up as Emma came down the front steps of the house. Leaving his position where he was supervising the work of the riders on extending the corral fence, he walked toward her, tipping his hat. "Mornin' Miss Emma," he said with a flourish. He smiled as he took in her garb - a light jacket and a well-worn riding skirt. "And where might you be off to this fine morning?"

Emma tugged on a leather *glove* as she answered. "I promised Lois Clark I'd help make a dress for her for the summer dance," she said, then pulled on the other glove. "Mr. Tompkins doesn't have the shade of yellow cloth we need so I thought I'd go see if I can find one of the *sulphur* deposits around here."

"Gonna dye your own, huh?"

"That's right. If I find the right deposit, it should give me just the shade I want."

"That stuff is supposed to be good for keeping bugs off plants too, I heard," Lou suggested as the riders gathered around the conversation. "I seen you picking the leaves off o' the plants in the garden."

"We used to get it for fertilizer," Kid added.

"It stinks!" Cody complained.

"Kinda like your feet," Jimmy mumbled, ducking away quickly as Cody swung at him.

Ike held his nose for a moment - clearly agreeing with Cody's assessment of the smell. Then his hands flew as he gestured toward the sky.

"That's right, Ike," Teaspoon agreed. "Got sulphur in gunpowder, like in them fireworks gonna be shot off after the dance." He hooked his thumbs behind his suspenders. "I remember, back in my minin' days, we used to make our own matches. Why we'd go . . ."

"I know where there's a good place," Buck said quietly, but quickly, as the others sighed in relief. They'd all recognized the signs of Teaspoon heading off into one of his long tales. "It's up by those hot springs, north of town."

"Wonderful!" Emma smiled and looked at the stationmaster. "If Mr. Spoon can spare you, Buck, maybe you could show me."

Riding with Emma or staying at the station to toil amid more of Teaspoon's stories . . . "I'd be glad to."

Teaspoon still looked a little miffed about having his story interrupted, but he nodded his agreement. "Best not to ride alone out there anyway," he conceded. "Them springs can be a mite tricky."

"Well good, that's settled," Emma said. "Buck, if you're ready, I'd like to get going. Lois is coming by tomorrow morning, so I'd like to do the first coloring this afternoon."

"I'll saddle the horses," Buck agreed, turning toward the barn.

Emma smiled at the others. "We'll collect as much sulphur as we can. If there's some left after I do the material for Lois, we'll try it on the garden."

"Oh, it's perfect!"

Emma pulled her horse to a stop next to Buck, looking at the area he was pointing at. All around them the ground and the jagged rocks were tinted yellow.

She pointed at a large hill to the west. It might have been cone-shaped once, but now the top looked like it had caved in. "That's an old volcano."

Buck nodded as he dismounted. "The Kiowa knew about sulphur, and how easy it burns. The stories all said it was best found by the mountains without tops - volcanoes." He crouched down and broke off a piece of the yellow rock, which crumbled easily in his hand, releasing fine yellow powder into the air.

Emma came to stand beside him, looking down at her feet. Her boots were already covered in yellow dust.

"Kind of a *mess* to collect," Buck commented.

She just laughed. "Oh, it's an adventure, on a beautiful day! A little mess like this is nothing to worry about - not compared to what you boys can do to the bunkhouse in a matter of minutes!"

Buck just grinned and kept his mouth shut. He had to concede that after a long day's work, Emma's carefully cleaned bunkhouse transformed quite quickly into total chaos. He turned back to his horse and untied the canvas bags attached to his saddle. "Just don't get too close to the water," he warned as he handed over one of the bags. "Sometimes those edges crumble."

Emma pointed over toward a stand of black volcanic rocks nearby. "Some good yellow over there," she said. She dug her garden trowel out of the saddle bags. "I'll try that."

Buck pointed the other way. "I'll be right over there," he said, indicating a bright yellow patch.

They moved off, and Emma headed for the rocks. When she got close she opened the bag and arranged it on the ground so she could fill it. And then she dug the trowel in. The sulphurous rock broke up easily, which was one of the qualities that made it work well for dying.

The fact that it was lightweight helped too, she mused after a few minutes as another yellow area caught her eye. It seemed like it might be even brighter, and she picked up the sack, moving closer to the rocks.

She dug for several minutes, humming to herself. The sun felt good on her back, the breeze was pleasant. All in all, a wonderful day to be out here.

For all the good things about the sulphur deposit, one of the bad things was that the volcanic rock was jagged, and hard on the knees. With a sigh, she got back to her feet to give herself a little break. She brushed idly at the yellow powder covering the knees of her skirt as she looked over her shoulder. She could see Buck a little ways off, busily digging and filling his bag.

Her knees still needed a little more rest, so she looked again at the rocks. They towered over her now, almost like a forest of trees. And almost like a trail through a forest, there was a fairly smooth path leading into the rocks.

She looked around again, almost feeling guilty about the urge to explore. Buck was still working hard on what they were here to do, and it was on her behalf . . .

But the trail beckoned, almost calling her forward.

It was warm enough that she shed her jacket, laying it on top of the sack. Then, with one more glance back, Emma followed the call. Maybe there was more sulphur on the other side. It could even be a brighter yellow than what was here.

The trail grew a little rougher and steeper when she got to the rocks, but she kept going. It wasn't often that she got away from the farm - just away. Trips to town always had a purpose, and when she was at the farm, caring for the riders and Mr. Spoon kept her more than busy enough.

The path twisted, following a narrow gap between two large rocks. She stepped forward . . .

And stopped suddenly as the way was blocked by a large, snarling shape.

Emma took a quick step backward, and stopped just as quickly as the snarling increased. She didn't dare scream for fear of triggering something worse. But she did call out as loudly as she dared. "Buck!"

He always seemed to hear things before the others; hopefully he'd hear her now.

He was lost in thought, enjoying the weather and the work. It was fairly easy, didn't require much thought except to look for yellow, and a welcome change from being at the station. His first bag was almost full, and then he could go see if Emma . . .

"Buck!"

It was so faint he almost missed it, but something triggered an alarm in the back of his mind. Buck looked up, then stood up quickly when he couldn't find Emma anywhere. Then he heard it again.

"Buck!"

He left the bag where it was and moved off, trying to locate the voice. It didn't sound like a frightened scream, and yet there was an urgency in the tone. "Emma?"

He heard it then, another sound, the snarling sound of a wild animal.

Most of the ground was flat, but Emma had been working over near those rocks. That had to be where she was now, and he swiftly headed that way.

The trail leading into the rocks was obvious, as were the scuff marks from her boots, and he hurried up.

The snarling was louder now. He came around a bend in the path, and suddenly there she was, standing right in front of him. "Emma?"

His relief at finding her was short-lived as he saw what had stopped her.

Over her shoulder he could see that the way was blocked by a wolf - one of the largest he'd seen. Its *caramel* colored coat gleamed in some places, and was matted with dirt in others. There appeared to be an open, festering wound on one of its hind legs.

And from its snarling snout massive amounts of foam sprayed in all directions as the animal threw back its head and howled.

"I think it's *rabid*," Emma said softly, not taking her eyes off of the wolf.

Buck just nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see that behind her back. He was busy trying to come up with a plan. Emma was directly between him and the wolf, on a very narrow part of the path, blocking any clean shot. He knew he needed to kill the poor beast with his first shot; a wounded, rabid animal was even more likely to bite.

When he was a boy, there had been a girl in the village who'd been bitten by a rabid animal. He remembered how she had died, wasting away and screaming in pain.

He couldn't let that happen to Emma.

He looked around, studying the rocks. It was steep here, and the sides of the rocks were slick with no evident hand or footholds. Climbing to get a clear shot wasn't much of an option.

The stand of rocks stood out here in the open, surrounded by flat ground and the springs. There was a chance he could go around . . . but he hadn't really paid full attention in his hurry to locate Emma. He wasn't sure how big it was, and he didn't know if the way around would be blocked by one of the many hot springs.

And he didn't know how long before the wolf would attack.

"Emma," he said softly. "I can't get a clean shot past you."

She nodded in understanding. "I'm not sure what to do."

Buck eased his pistol out of the holster, using Emma to shield the movement from the wolf. The snarling was more urgent now, and the animal had moved closer. He had to try something, and there might not be much time. Slowly, he reached out his right hand to her shoulder. "I'm going to pull you back," he said. "And off to the side. Just stay down."

He could feel her shoulders tense, but she nodded again. "All right."

The wolf lunged forward, snapping its jaws. It was only a few feet away.

Now or never . . .

Buck pulled on Emma's shoulder, spinning her back and to his right. At the same time his left hand came up even as the wolf lunged again.

CRACK! CRACK!

The shots rang out, echoing loudly in the confined space. For a moment the wolf seemed frozen in mid-air . . . and then it dropped heavily to the ground, sliding to come to rest just inches from his feet.

He couldn't see any indication of life, but just to be sure, Buck hesitantly put a foot out, prodding the animal's back. When there was no sign of movement, he relaxed and turned around.

His relief was short-lived as he saw Emma slumped against the rocks, her left hand grasping her right shoulder. Blood trickled between her fingers.

"Emma!"

She looked up as he knelt next to her." "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding."

He pulled her hand away so he could see her arm. Her sleeve was torn, and he could easily see the blood on a jagged piece of rock just above where she sat. And he'd pushed her into it . . .

"Emma, I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about."

"I pushed you into the rock."

Emma looked over at the wolf, and then back at Buck. "It could have been a lot worse."

He guessed he'd have to agree with that. Now that he'd looked a little closer, the cut didn't really seem to be too deep. "Can you walk?" She nodded, so he continued. "Let's get down to the horses and I'll clean that up."

Emma smiled as he helped her to her feet. "I'm the one supposed to be mothering you boys."

Buck grinned. "Guess it's only fair we return the favor now and then." He took her left arm and turned to lead her down, but stopped when she didn't move with him. "Emma?"

"I wasn't paying attention," she admitted softly. "I was just enjoying the day, wandering . . ."

"Nothing wrong with that."

"I was supposed to be working."

"You've got nothing on Cody when it comes to getting out of work, believe me."

She smiled briefly, then turned serious again. "You could have been bitten."

"You could have been bitten," he returned. He stepped up next to her and put his arm carefully around her shoulders. "But we weren't. That's the important thing."

She looked up at him and smiled. "You're right." But the day no longer seemed quite so perfect, and more adventure was the last thing she wanted right now. "Do you think we have enough of the sulphur?"

Buck nodded. "My bag is full," he said. "With what you've got, should be plenty."

Emma took one more look over at the dead wolf. "All this just to dye some cloth," she sighed. Then she turned and let Buck help her down the path.

Lou was going crazy. She knew it and her friends knew it but she couldn't help it. Someone, most likely Cody, had raided her hidden supply of *caramels* and now she was out... Of all the times for her to run out.

She removed her *gloves* and then began the task of brushing down Lighting. She had walked in to town and couldn't believe both Tompkins and the candy store were out. She tried going for a ride to calm her nerves, but nothing worked... Nothing would work until she got her candy. Well there's always my run to tomorrow, she thought.

After letting Lightning loose in the back paddock, Lou headed towards the bunkhouse. As she entered, she nearly stumbled over Cody's belongings, and she snapped. "Damn it, Cody! First you eat all my candy and now your *mess* nearly kills me. This place is a pigsty, doesn't anyone but me know how to clean up after themselves?"

Cody groaned knowing he'd been caught. He wasn't sure why Lou was going off over a thing like candy, and he didn't want to know. "Lou, I'm sorry... I was hungry and it was just there. Had I known you would've been this upset..."

"It was just there?" she shrieked. "It was in my trunk! You were snoopin' through my stuff... again!"

Kid walked in from his run at that moment and chuckled. Lou was acting like a *rabid* animal and everyone was suffering, including him.

"You think this is funny?" She hissed turning towards Kid. "I forgot, you're a guy, you can live in this filth!"

Kid shook his head as she slammed out of the bunkhouse. Last night she had been in a playful and frisky mood until they had been interrupted by Teaspoon asking Kid to make a special run this morning. Then when he went to kiss her goodbye, she'd nearly taken his head off for waking her so early.

Kid followed her out the door and into the barn. He found her sitting on a bale of hay chewing on her fingernails. "You okay, Lou?" He asked, knowing she wasn't.

Lou shook her head and then placed it on his shoulder. "I hate feelin' like this. Don't know how you guys put up with me."

Kid chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "After more than a year, we're use to it by now. Here," he said reaching into his pocket. "Bought these for you."

Lou looked down at the handful of *caramel* squares in his hand. She grinned ear to ear and chuckled. "You always know the way to my heart, thank you." She grabbed the candy, kissed him on the cheek and ran off leaving Kid shaking his head and laughing.

"No, I just know how you get around this time of the month," he said standing up and heading back to the bunkhouse.

It was getting warm and Cody’s mouth had been watering at the thought of the *caramels in his saddlebag that he’d bought over in Willow Springs when he’d stopped there.

Finally, he could take the wait no longer and stopped his horse near a small pond he seen in the distance and hurried to open his saddlebag.

Sticking a *gloved hand in, he licked his lips in anticipation at the thought of the sweet treat.

Ruffling in the bag, he pulled out his hand to find a sticky, gooey *mess covering his glove.

“Yuck!” he said in disgust, wondering what to do with the mess. Apparently, the caramels melted in the heat of the day, added to the heat of the horse’s flank they’d been next to the whole trip.

Wiping his gloved hand in the grass, he looked around to see if there was anything nearby in which to clean it and his saddlebag with.

“Maybe the water will take most of it off,” he said to himself, walking over to the water. A smell of *sulpher assaulted his nose. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding!” he exclaimed looking at the stagnant water.

If he’d taken a moment away from his candy, he would have noticed the horse wasn’t drinking from the pond.

Since most of the mess was confined to the bag the candies were in from the store, Cody dumped it out in the dirt and figured he’d be able to clean the rest of it from the saddlebag when he got back to the station.

The glove he wasn’t so sure about. The leather was coated in the sticky stuff and he wasn’t sure it’d ever come clean.

With a sigh, he took the offending glove off and tucked it into the saddlebag and walked back to his horse.

“Come on boy,” he said sadly as he mounted again. “Seems like we are both out of luck. Me with my candy and you with the water…”

Yes, he was certain he heard something that time. Reining in Sundance, Jimmy spoke in a low, comforting voice to his mount and then sat silently and listened. For a while he heard nothing and he was beginning to think that his mind was playing tricks on him. Then, from somewhere amid the trees off to his left, it came again.

“*Caramel*! Ca-ra-mel!”

Jimmy’s shoulders sank. Even at this apparent distance you could tell that the voice was both female and distressed. He looked on down the trail towards home and for a moment, for the most fleeting split-second, he thought about riding on. He was tired, cold and sick of both his own company and his own cooking. Cursing under his breath he turned Sundance in the direction the shouts had come from, drew one of his colts and resigned himself to not making it home before the storm, which had been threatening all day, broke.

After a very short distance the trees and undergrowth gave way to an open space which angled down steeply into a rock-strewn river bed. A break in the clouds was letting though a stream of light which illuminated a rocky outcrop at the base of the gully next to which a figure was standing. Jimmy’s brow creased as he took in the surprising sight of a slim, velvet-clothed woman standing ankle deep in the slow running water, one hand placed on the rocks for support, the other clutching a delicate lace-trimmed parasol which obscured Jimmy’s view of her head and shoulders.

“For heaven’s sake, Caramel!” The woman snapped, directing her voice downstream out of Jimmy’s line of sight. “Come back here this instant.”

Jimmy holstered his colt and, having tethered Sundance, made his way to the edge of the narrow valley. The woman standing in the water below him seemed unaware of his presence and so Jimmy cleared his throat awkwardly. When that failed to attract her attention he called down to her, trying his best not to startle her.

“Uh, miss? Can I be of –”

As soon as he spoke, the lady’s parasol dropped and her head whipped around and Jimmy found himself looking into the face of a svelte, composed woman who was, by Jimmy’s reckoning, eighty if she was a day.

Before Jimmy could get over the surprise of having come across a damsel in distress who was easily old enough to be his grandmother, his ‘damsel’ was calling back to him.

“Well, what’s taken you, boy? Are you just going to stand there gawping or might you manage to offer a lady some assistance?”

Nearly choking on his surprise now, Jimmy managed to get out a “Be right down, ma’am,” then began picking his way carefully down the side of the gully.

Jimmy descended cautiously, edging down the incline slowly as the loose rocks slipped away beneath his feet. By the time he had reached the bottom, the woman had sat herself down on the rock she had previously been leaning on. She wasn’t looking at him but downstream and as Jimmy followed her gaze he saw a horse, presumably the disobedient Caramel, standing quietly fifty yards away. She was far from being a good looking creature and, like her rider, looked like she’d been around for a good few years. Jimmy was about to ask what had led the unlikely pair out here when the woman started talking.

“I’ve been following that ridiculous animal along the river for miles,” she announced in an aggravated tone. “Well, a hundred yards, at least. And that feels like miles with this damn ankle giving up on me. I’ve just about had enough. You hear me, you stupid damn creature?”

It took a moment for Jimmy to realize that she was talking to the horse and not to him and then another few moments to reconcile the curse words he was hearing with the gentile little old lady sitting in front of him. When he managed to direct his full attention back to his new acquaintance he found her looking up at him with a puzzled and slightly concerned expression.

“Forgive me for asking, dear,” she said after a short silence, her tone suddenly gentle and encouraging. “But are you a little…slow?”

“What? No, I ain’t ‘slow’!” Jimmy snapped, self-consciously straightening his stance and closing his gaping mouth.

“Well, in that case, you can stop loafing around looking dim and fetch my horse. Then you might like to improvise a way out of this *mess* – I’m 87 years of age and I appear to have broken my ankle so I won’t be ambling back up that cliff face in the near future.”

Fighting the desire to tell the charming old woman that she was just going to have to wait it out at the bottom of the ravine until her ankle healed, Jimmy satisfied himself with throwing a heartfelt glare at the back of her head and then trudged off after Caramel. The old woman seemed to have overlooked the fact that Jimmy was a perfect stranger who had stopped out of the goodness of his heart to offer her assistance. However, seeing as pointing this out to her would no doubt cause more trouble than it was worth, Jimmy resolved to get the woman and her horse into town and off his hands as soon as possible. She was obviously loosing her marbles.

And slow? Who the hell was she calling ‘slow’?

Getting the scruffy old horse back up the ravine had been the easy part. She obviously wasn’t keen on heading back up the rocky embankment but with a firm hand Jimmy had managed to coax her to the top. Probably dying for the chance to get away from her crotchety owner, Jimmy reasoned, giving the horse a conciliatory pat before turning and heading back down to the river.

“And the plan is?” the woman asked when he returned.

“The plan?” Jimmy asked. “Well, I guess I’m gonna have to carry you.”

She let out a long sigh. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

“If you have a better idea, ma’am, I’m ready to hear it,” Jimmy responded, doing his best to remain courteous.

She responded by tucking her folded parasol under her arm and beckoning with one hand. “Let’s get it over with then. Miss Josephine Walker, by the way.”

“Sorry?” Jimmy asked, pausing in the process of gathering the slender woman into his arms.

“My name,” Josephine explained, with the condescending patience of a parent trying to explain something to a particularly obtuse child, “is Miss Walker. Surely if you’re about to cart my old bag of bones up that hill it would be appropriate that we be introduced.”

Jimmy lifted Miss Walker into his arms. She felt frail and gaunt and Jimmy felt a sudden gush of remorse for the unkind thoughts he’d been having about her. “James Hickok,” he provided.

“Hickok? Oh good Lord,” Miss Walker muttered with a roll of her eyes. “Rescued by an infamous gunfighter. What a wonderful touch.”

Jimmy’s remorse vanished instantaneously.

The climb up the hill was harder than Jimmy had bargained for. Holding Miss Walker in front of him made it hard for him to see to pick out safe places to put his feet and her added weight made it difficult to balance. Not only that but Miss Walker was offering ‘helpful’ suggestions with every step.

“Mind that rock.”

“Careful now.”

“Watch where you’re going.”

“If you’re going to grunt like that, young man, could you try not to do it in my ear?”

Deciding he needed a break, Jimmy lowered the woman to the ground a little less gently than he could have managed and straightened himself up gingerly, his hands pressed against the small of his back.

“My, this is taking some time,” Miss Walker announced. “I thought we would be home by now…”

“You bite your tongue, woman, and we might get there a little faster,” Jimmy growled, finally loosing his patience.

It was at that point that Jimmy felt the parasol connect with his temple with a crack. For a frantic moment he tried to regain his balance, his arms waving in the air in wide circles, and then he was tumbling back down the slope feeling every jolt and bump as he went.

When his fall finally ended next to the river on top of a few particularly jagged rocks, Jimmy waited a moment and then let out a long painful breath.

“Mr. Hickok? Can you hear me, Mr. Hickok?”

Jimmy felt his anger rise just at the sound of her voice.

“You’re not dead, are you?”

“No such luck,” Jimmy muttered, struggling up from the ground and checking himself for injuries. He turned his attention to his companion half way up the ravine. “What the hell was that for?” he demanded.

“Can’t abide cheek from youngsters,” Miss Walker called down, managing to look composed and stern even perched on the side of a ravine. “Never could. I didn’t expect you to go throwing yourself down the cliff, though. Are you still in one piece?”

“More or less,” Jimmy conceded, snatching his hat up from where it had landed and dusting it off. “Wait there, I’m coming up.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hickok.”

Jimmy looked up sharply at this polite response and checked Miss Walker’s face for signs of sarcasm or derision. Finding none he began his way back up the hillside, his feelings of annoyance ebbing despite his bruised head and bleeding nose.

It took them some time to reach the top of the ravine and the first spits of rain had started hitting the ground by the time they struggled over the edge. Jimmy assessed the clouds above and, having helped Miss Walker to a comfortable seat under a tree, began preparing the horses for the ride to Rock Creek.

“Oh!”

Jimmy turned and looked at Miss Walker with a stern expression on his face. “What now?”

“My *glove*”

“What about it?”

“I, um, I believe I might have left it down below. I don’t suppose…?”

“No,” Jimmy answered sharply, turning his attention back to Sundance.

“Fair enough, fair enough,” she nodded, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

There was a short silence.

“Chilly, isn’t it?” Miss Walker began rubbing her hands together briskly.

Jimmy turned to her with an amused expression. “Alright, here,” Jimmy threw his own gloves over so that they landed in Josephine’s lap. “They won’t do much for your outfit but they’ll keep your hands warm as we ride. You’d better take this too.”

Miss Walker took the jacket he held out to her with a smile. “Such gallantry, Mr. Hickok. If I were sixty years younger I might be tempted to swoon.”

“Swoon all you like but I’m not carrying you one inch further,” Jimmy replied, leading Sundance over to where she sat and offering her his hand. “Let’s go.”

An hour later the two were well on their way down the trail to Rock Creek. Josephine sat in front of Jimmy on Sundance’s back, Caramel trailing behind. Their pace was slow in concession to the injured ankle and they still had some way to go. Luckily the rain was holding off, though the air had turned extremely cold.

“So are you going to tell me what you were doing out here?” Jimmy asked after they had traveled a good way in silence. “How did you get stuck at the bottom of that gully?”

“Ah, well, we were running away from home, Mr. Hickok.”

“Running away from home?”

“Yes.”

“To the bottom of a gully?”

“Oh, I suppose that part was a bit of an accident,” Miss Walker conceded. “My equestrian skills have taken something of a decline of late, I must admit. And Caramel was probably a bit unsure of me, a strange old woman. We had something of a misunderstanding which led to a very rapid descent of the ravine.”

“Caramel’s not yours?” Jimmy asked.

Miss Walker shook her head. “No, no. She’s stolen.”

Jimmy’s brow creased. “You’ll need to explain that one.”

“You are just a little slow, aren’t you, Mr. Hickok?” Miss Walker reproved. “Caramel is stolen. I stole her. She’s not mine.”

“Caramel belongs to someone else?” Jimmy attempted to clarify.

“Oh goodness,” Josephine sighed, impatiently. “Did I not make that clear, boy?”

Jimmy ignored her tone. “What did you need to steal a horse for? What were you running away from?”

“Old age, I suppose,” Miss Walker responded with a touch of melancholy. Sensing Jimmy’s confusion she elaborated. “When one gets to my advanced age, Mr. Hickok, people, especially one’s family, are prone to treating one as though old age and common sense are incompatible. I live with my son and his family, you see, and we’re traveling west for ‘business opportunities’, whatever that means. Not once have I been consulted about this decision. Not once have I had the respect shown to me which is my due.”

Miss Walker punched the air to add emphasis to her words and Jimmy could practically feel the frustration rising up inside her body. When she spoke again she was calmer and more composed.

“It’s very difficult to be relegated to the status of a child; to have your life decided for you by someone else and to be told who you are and what you do. I don’t know if you can understand that, Mr. Hickok?”

“I might have an idea,” Jimmy assured her quietly.

“So what do I do to prove I’m still capable and of sound mind? Sneak out of the hotel, steal a horse and run away from home,” Miss Walker sighed dejectedly. “Oh dear. I’ve been a little bit of a fool. I have a tendency to overreact and be a little stubborn.”

Jimmy laughed. “You don’t say!”

The rain had begun to pour in earnest about half an hour out from Rock Creek and as Jimmy finally walked through the door of the bunkhouse, soaked to the bone and bruised and bloodied, Cody laughed out loud.

“Now there’s a sorry sight! What happened to you?”

Lou looked up from where she was sitting at the table reading. “Good run, Jimmy?” she asked with a smile.

“Just the usual until this afternoon,” Jimmy muttered, making his way to his bunk.

“This afternoon must have been a bundle of laughs then,” Cody chortled. “Glad it was you not me.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t really your thing, Cody,” Jimmy agreed, beginning to strip off his clothes. “I had to rescue a lady who’d gotten into trouble out on the trail. Just dropped her off with her family.”

“A lady? What lady?” Cody asked, sitting up now and paying notice.

“Her name’s Josephine. Tall, thin, fair haired. A real fine lady.”

Cody shook his head in disgust. “She must have been real disappointed with you, then.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jimmy answered, slipping on a dry shirt and giving Cody a wide grin. “She said I was very gallant. She’s something else, that’s for sure – knocked me head over heels.”

“Right,” Cody sprung to his feet and began to hastily throw on his jacket. “If anyone asks I’m in town.”

Lou laughed and shook her head. “Cody, what are you doin’? It’s pouring with rain out there.”

“I’m gonna find this Josephine,” Cody answered as he marched out the door. “If Hickok impressed her, she’s gonna love me!”

Jimmy lay back on his bunk and laughed to himself. Something told him Cody might be about to meet his match.

The Kid & Buck Horse Ranch over the past few weeks had been boisterous with joy and excitement anticipating the upcoming births of two new additions to the old Pony Express family. With the addition of spring arriving, after a *rabid* winter filled with deceit, dishonesty, and shattered hopes and dreams between the families that reside at the ranch, the contentment of both Lou and Jane is at the top of everyone’s priority list of what needs to be done.

A few miles outside the ranch there are two people that don’t consider Lou and Jane’s needs to be at the top of their priority list. Charlene has been manipulating Jane and Buck’s lives since she took up residing in Buck’s home late last summer. Cody is Charlene’s accomplice, but unfortunately for poor Cody he doesn’t realize that Charlene receives most of her orders of ruination for the family that owns The Kid & Buck Horse Ranch from Jesse James.

“We have to stop meeting in secret Charlene. It is way past the time that both of us need to just more on,” Cody spoke trying his army best to convince Charlene that she must give up on her crazy notions that she and Buck will someday live happily ever after.

“I won’t ever give up. Buck and I belong together, and he will soon realize that. I have one last plan that should permanently break the two of them apart forever,” Charlene spoke her smile more devious then ever.

“Ever other plan that you have tried has failed. Buck and Jane are having a baby. They are starting a family. You have to stop meddling with their lives,” Cody spoke his tone of voice showing the amount of frustration that he is feeling over not being able to stand up to Charlene in the past and allowing her to convince him that Jane could be his.

“I know that you still love Jane. I know that you would still like to have her as your wife,” Charlene spoke softly convincing Cody that he could possibly still have Jane in his life.

“I do still love Jane, but Jane loves Buck and there is nothing in this world that will end the love that the two of them have for one another. Charlene we have tried for months to tear them apart from each other and nothing we have tried has worked,” Cody stated remembering how much he loves Jane, but he had to let her go before he completely destroyed his ties with his Pony Express family.

“There is one last plan that we can put into action. Here is what you are going to do,” Charlene spoke her manipulative voice rising slightly to tell Cody their new plan.

Lou walks into the kitchen of Teaspoon and Rachel Hunter’s home on the ranch only to be once again meant up with the delicious smell of the *caramel* candle that Rachel burns whenever she is cooking a supper for Teaspoon that has a less than desirable smell. It had been nearly three weeks since Teaspoon had promised Lou that he would be able to duplicate the flavorful aroma of the candle into a cool drinkable beverage that would satisfy her cravings.

“Good afternoon Rachel, “ Lou spoke as she walked into the kitchen determined to wrap her delicate sense of smell close to the fumes of the burning *caramel* candle.

Rachel watched Lou intensely as the young pregnant woman of just six months struggled to sit down on a chair extremely close to the fumes of the *caramel* candle. Rachel rushed over to blow out the candle. “I’m sorry Lou, I forgot that the fumes from the candle makes your cravings go wild,” Rachel stated as she attempts to blow out the candle.

Lou waves her hands in an attempt to keep Rachel from blowing out the candle. “Actually Rachel I don’t mind breathing in the fumes. The smell helps me to think of all the foods that I could possibly devour with a massive *mess* of *caramel* topping piled on top. I’ve even imagined how mashed potatoes would taste with a rich *caramel* topping on top of them instead of a heaping spoonful of greasy gravy. How does that sound to you?”

For Rachel the thought of a *caramel* topping on mashed potatoes sounds like something if devoured would come right back up, and the expression on her face of how awful Lou’s concoction sounds assures Lou that Rachel won’t be sharing her mashed potato recipe with her anytime soon. “I’m not too sure that concoction would agree with my stomach.”

“Didn’t you have cravings when you were pregnant with Addison and Daniel?” Lou asked forgetting that she didn’t have these strong of cravings when she was pregnant with Abigail or Emma.

“If my memory serves me correctly with Addison I craved chicken from an open fire pit which Teaspoon cooked for me quite often even at three in the morning if I requested, and with Daniel I craved to have my back rubbed. That child was situated in the most uncomfortable position for me, but I’m sure he was quite comfortable.”

Louise and Rachel both giggle at Rachel’s apparent discomfort when she was pregnant with Daniel as Teaspoon walks through the kitchen door smiling broadly. “What are you two beautiful women giggling about?”

“Lou’s unsatisfied cravings,” Rachel stated as she receives a kiss on the cheek from her husband.

Teaspoon backs away from Rachel and with a pleasing smile he puts his hand out for Lou to grab hold of him. “I might just have the thing to take care of that *caramel* craving you and Jane have both been having.”

“For weeks now Teaspoon,” Lou stated insinuating that Teaspoon has been stalling on finding a solution for her cravings.

“Follow me out to the front porch,” Teaspoon spoke as he guides Lou out to the front porch with Rachel following close behind.

It is a pleasant day for the end of April. Lou had witnessed her life in the past few months become a complete *mess*. She had done the unthinkable as a married woman and then before she and Kid could sort out their unhappy marriage she was kidnapped with Jane by Jesse James and his ruthless bunch of outlaws. By the time she made it back home to Kid it was evident by the size of her belly that she was indeed pregnant. Her heartache is truly not knowing who the father is of her unborn baby, but Kid wanting desperately to save their marriage has become a more attentive husband.

When the three of them make their way outside to the front porch they are met their by Buck, Jane and Kid. On the table there is a wooden contraption that Lou has never seen before.

What is this, and how is it going to satisfy my craving for *caramel*?” Lou asked unhappy with Teaspoon’s solution to her problem.

Before Teaspoon can get on with his demonstration of the wooden device that is resting on the porch table Jack Morgan and Jimmy ride onto the ranch. They both bring their horses to a complete stop in front of the Hunter home. “It’s time to go Buck,” Jimmy hollered from his horse not wanting to interrupt the happy family moment, but knowing that the sooner they leave Rock Creek the better their chances will be at tracking Jesse and his gang from their most recent bank robbery.

Buck kisses Lou lightly on the cheek, and then stands in front of Kid. The two grown men hug. “Ride safe,” Kid spoke his tone unsure that Buck should be going on another mission to track down Jesse after the tragic events that took place the last time they all went searching for Jesse and his gang of outlaws.

“I’ll be careful. Take care of Jane and Lou while I’m gone,” Buck spoke as he and Jane walk hand and hand down to meet up with Jimmy and Jack Morgan.

Jane grabs onto Buck rather tightly, but her large stomach keeps them apart, her eyes misting over with tears. “Be careful, and please come back to me safely.”

Buck kisses her deeply. “I promise that the only person that might end up shot this time will be Jesse,” Buck stated as he leans in to steal one last kiss from Jane before he, Jack Morgan and Jimmy ride off the ranch.

Teaspoon had been intensely watching Buck as he prepared to leave the ranch and while he said his good-byes to Jane. “Ride safe son,” Teaspoon whispered silently as he watches Buck ride off the ranch until he is out of Teaspoon’s sight.

Kid places his hand around Teaspoon’s forearm for comfort. Kid knows the secret that Teaspoon is keeping from Buck. He looks deeply into Teaspoon’s eyes to reassure the marshal that Buck will come back home safely. “He’ll be fine. Now how about showing us how this wooden piece of whatever it is, is going to help with Jane and Lou’s *rabid* *caramel* cravings.”

“Don’t forget about my feverish chocolate craving as well,” Jane spoke trying to overcome her fears of Buck going after Jesse James again.

Teaspoon runs his fingers through his suspenders acknowledging to the small family gathering that he is proud of the fact that he has come up with a way to get Lou and Jane happily through the last three months of their pregnancies without anymore grumbling about their cravings. “This here is a wooden hand-crank ice cream freezer. I ordered it a couple of weeks ago from Thompkins, it just came in today along with….” Teaspoon reaches for two jars that sit on the table next to the ice cream maker. “This jar is *caramel* topping, and this jar is filled with chocolate topping, made especially for eating vanilla ice cream.”

Lou and Jane’s eyes both widen like a child seeing Christmas presents under the Christmas tree bright and early on Christmas morning. Lou reaches for the jar filled with *caramel* topping and Jane reaches for the jar filled with chocolate topping, but Teaspoon pulls both jars out from the women’s reach.

“Teaspoon, you can’t mean to keep me from having just a small taste of the *caramel* topping. It will take hours before the ice cream will be ready,” Lou grumbled loudly.

“I mean to do just that. Now Kid you will have to do the cranking once Rachel and I get all the ingredients into the ice cream maker. We’ll be a few minutes getting everything ready in the kitchen. In the mean time I’ll take this *caramel* and chocolate topping into the kitchen with me so Lou and Jane here don’t get any ideas about eating both jars of topping before we all get to taste the delicious topping on the ice cream,” Teaspoon stated as he and Rachel retrieve the ingredients from the kitchen to make vanilla ice cream.

Teaspoon turns back toward the entrance to the ranch when he hears a horse hoping that Buck has decided not to go with Jack and Jimmy, but the rider turns out to be Cody. “Cody, since you’re here you can help Kid crank the ice cream maker.”

“What?” Cody asked as he gets off his horse and makes his way to the front porch with the rest of his family.

While Teaspoon and Rachel are in the kitchen preparing the ingredients for the ice cream, Lou takes it upon herself to make sure Cody is not here to cause trouble. “What are you doing today Cody? I hope nothing that will come back to haunt all of us in the future.”

The second that Lou asks her question Kid is looking at her as if she wished she would have kept her mouth quiet. Cody looks at Jane who looks uncomfortable with him being near and especially without Buck being close by.

“I realize because you are pregnant and your cravings are out of your control that you think that I’m always up to no good, but that is simply not the case,” Cody stated feeling slightly hurt from Lou’s accusations.

Before a fight can erupt between Lou and Cody, Rachel and Teaspoon are bringing out the ingredients to put in the ice cream freezer. “We’ve beat the eggs until they were fluffy and then we added all other ingredients, sugar, milk, cream, vanilla and salt, and we beat them until the mixture was good and thick,” Teaspoon spoke as he pours the mixture into the hand-crank ice cream freezer.

“I guess it is time for me to get to work,” Kid spoke as he begins to crank the ice cream maker.

“Let’s see if you have the strength to make good ice cream Kid,” Cody spoke in a boisterous tone.

The entire family lets out a laugh at poor Kid’s laborious efforts as he begins to crank the ice cream maker while his family watches on with intense interest. Jane and Lou both are hypnotized by the constant motion of the crank going round and round. Teaspoon and Rachel thinking this procedure is going to take a long time sit down on two chairs where they can both still witness the cranking action, and Cody simply stands in the foreground contemplating when Buck will be home so he can put his final plan into action on getting Jane back into his life forever.

“How long is this going to take?” Lou asked whining just a bit when the cranking seems to go on for awhile.

Kid’s arm appears to be getting a little tired. “Cody would you like to take over?” Kid asked his voice a little strained from his work load.

“I don’t think so. I could get blisters on my hands,” Cody spoke his tone resembling that of a child crying over a skinned knee from a fall on the ground.

Teaspoon grabs a *glove* from his jacket pocket and hands it over to Cody. “This should keep your woman like hand from getting any blisters Cody,” Teaspoon spoke as Cody hesitatingly takes the single *glove* from Teaspoon.

Jane and Lou both embark on a laugh that makes their large bellies jiggle. “The *glove* fits your hand perfectly,” Jane stated in a sarcastic tone remembering back when Cody tried to pin the murders of his army men on Buck, but the *glove* that was used in the murders didn’t fit Buck’s hands.

As Cody begins to crank the ice cream maker he wonders if Jane would turn back to him for support once Buck declares that he wants nothing to do with her. Jane will be hurt and deeply in need of someone’s support when Cody delivers his news of Jane’s betrayal to Buck. “It seems to me that the ice cream is getting very thick, I can hardly turn the crank,” Cody stated in a whining tone.

“That is because I did all the work for you,” Kid spoke as he checks the thickness of the ice cream in the wooden freezer. “I think Cody is right for a change.” The ice cream appears to be quite thick as Kid scoops out some ice cream and places it in Lou’s bowl.

“Teaspoon it is time you turned over that jar of *caramel* topping to me,” Lou stated as she tastes the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream with her fingers.

Teaspoon begins to hand the jar of *caramel* topping over to Lou and instead he teases her by pulling the jar away from her as soon as she is about to grab it from him.

“Teaspoon, you’re playing a dangerous game keeping food from an expectant woman,” Kid spoke as he knows from dealing with Lou through three pregnancies.

Jane is already working on her first bowl of ice cream with chocolate topping that she had managed to get away from Teaspoon because he was so busy keeping the *caramel* topping from Lou that he wasn’t paying attention to her.

Kid dishes out a bowl of ice cream for Cody and in the process accidently drops a spoonful of the cold desert onto Cody’s hand. Cody looks flabbergasted at Kid thinking that Kid spooned the cold ice cream onto his hand on purpose. Cody takes the desert and flings it toward Kid’s face, but Kid turns slightly and the cold ice cream lands on Teaspoons face!

“Oops!” Cody spoke wondering just how much trouble he is in with Teaspoon Hunter.

Teaspoon looks at Cody with a disgusted look as he’s trying to wipe the cold ice cream from his face and eyes. “Cody, I swear every time you are in my presence you are up to no good,” Teaspoon spoke as he shovels a large spoon into the ice cream maker and spoons out a heap of ice cream and deliberately aims it at Cody’s face making a direct hit, but also catching Rachel in the hair!

Rachel reaches around in her hair and tries to shake the vanilla ice cream out of her hair. She reaches for Jane’s jar of chocolate topping.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Jane spoke commandingly as she reaches for and grabs onto her jar of topping.

At that moment before anyone gets any ideas about throwing Lou’s *caramel* topping at anyone, she holds onto her jar of topping tightly in her one hand and her bowl of ice cream in the other hand.

Teaspoon has finally cleaned the ice cream from his eyes, and upon seeing more clearly he aims his full bowl of ice cream mixed with *caramel* topping at Cody’s face. Cody catches the full bowl of ice cream in the face and in his blonde locks, but Kid catches most of the *caramel* topping on his face!

Lou gladly helps Kid clean off his face with kisses on his *caramel* topping lips. “Your lips have never tasted so good,” Lou spoke as she continues to clean off Kid’s lips.

Rachel has managed to find a large spoon and proceeds to make sure Teaspoon gets a spoonful aimed not at his mouth, but rather on his head. “I suppose I deserved that,” Teaspoon spoke as he receives a flying bowl full of ice cream compliments from Cody.

Everyone suddenly on the porch realizes that Lou and Jane are completely clean of ice cream on their face or in their hair. “Perhaps the two of you need to get in on the action,” Cody spoke aiming a spoonful of ice cream at Lou and Jane. Together the two women take a spoonful from their bowl and shoot the spoons at Cody making a perfect landing right in Cody’s eyes.

“Bulls eye,” Jane and Lou shouted in unison.

Lou and Jane stand back from the others watching them as they slip and slide all over the front porch as they take aim with spoonfuls of ice cream. Lou and Jane look at one another. “You would think we were watching Abigail, Emma, Addison, and Daniel playing in the ice cream instead of four grown-ups,” Jane spoke as the two shrug their shoulders.

“At least we’ve managed to save our *caramel* and chocolate toppings,” Lou stated as the two pregnant women turn and walk away from the mayhem taking place on the Hunter front porch each with a full bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with the favorite topping, and each woman carrying their favorite topping tucked underneath their arm. THE END

San Francisco 1863

The street was crowded, messy and loud. Somehow that suited Jimmy Hickok just fine. Loud and crowded meant that he could walk around invisible and for his peace of mind and Lou’s safety that was all he cared about.

He peered into each and every store window that they passed and tugged at a cuff here… a button there… and then a seam…

“Jimmy?” Louise tugged on his string tie until he looked right down into her eyes. “What’s wrong?” There was a decided twinkle in her eye as she smoothed out the tie over his shirt, a laugh tugging at the corners of her mouth. “You’re not worried about ‘how’ you look, you know you look wonderful.”

“I just ain’t used to wearin’ duds like this.”

Louise turned until they were both facing the clear glass window and folded her arms over her stomach. “If you think I’m used to puttin’ on these infernal corsets and hoops… just relax, or I’m gonna have to jab you in the ribs every few blocks just to get to you smile a bit.” To illustrate her point she jabbed her *glove*d finger into his ribs and smiled at his grumbling huff. “Now, offer me your arm and-” something over his shoulder caught her eyes and she froze mid-thought.

Prepared for nearly anything, Jimmy turned around and saw the problem instantly. The busy streets of San Francisco were too busy to notice when a child had entered the midst of the action. Wrapped up in the delicious confection in her hands, the little girl had wandered out into the middle of the muddy street and had no idea that there was a stage rumbling down the street right at her.

Jimmy dove through the foot traffic and horses heedless of his hat blown free of his head or the mud squishing up along the outsides of his boots. The girl only gave a slight squeak as he swung her up into his arms and leapt for the far walk, barely making it onto the wooden struts before his energy and breath gave out.

“I’m gettin’ too old for this kind of cr-“

The girl started wailing at that very moment and Jimmy worried that he’d smashed her somehow. The crowd obscured Lou from his site, but the girl in his lap was actively trying to disentangle herself from his embrace. It would have… should have been a simple thing, but for some reason she was stuck to his hair.

“Oh, dear Lord in heaven, Maybelle. What happened?” A rather harried old man knelt down beside him and gave him a weary smile. “I take it you’re the brave young man that just saved my grand-daughter from certain death?”

Jimmy swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. “Does she do this often?”

The man thought about it for a moment and paused from his task to give the younger man a smile. “Oh, enough that I had a full head of hair when she came to live with me two years ago.” He tilted his chin down so that Jimmy could see the wide expanse of skin over the top of his head. “I’m just glad you were here this time. I don’t think she’s ever done ‘this’ before.”

Suddenly, her hands were freed and she dropped her sweet on the floor beside his leg. Jimmy groaned even as his hand reached up to investigate. His face contorted in discomfort as his fingers came in contact with the sticky *mess* webbed through his hair.

He heard a low giggle and squeezed his eyes shut. “How bad is it?”

Lou sat down beside him and gave him a wink. “Nothing a barber can’t cure.”

“It’s merely a *caramel* apple, “ the man started, “a good hot soak and a vigorous scrub should have it out in a blink.” He extended his hand and then seemed to think better when Jimmy offered him his right hand, still sticky with the sugary treat. “I’m Seth Bartles, owner of the Main Street Hotel, the finest establishment in the Bay Area. I insist that you stay as our guests as long as you’re in town and I’ll have my staff send up a tub and an endless supply of hot water to help.”

He helped his young grand-daughter up onto her feet and laid a card in Louise’s hand. “Just present that to the manager, Mr. Phelps. He’ll be more than happy to help you.” With one last sorrowful look at Jimmy’s hair, Mr. Bartles disappeared into the crowd.

Jimmy got up to his feet and resisted the urge to cover his hair with his hat. Caramel coming out of his hair was one thing, coming out of wool-felt? That he wasn’t so sure about. Leaning closer to Louise he whispered. “How far is it to this hotel?”

She looked at the address and nodded down the west end of the street.  “Should be two streets down that way.”

He wanted to groan out loud, but changed his mind about doing ‘anything’ that might draw more attention to his plight. “Well… lead the way.”

***** 

Several buckets of hot water and the hotel’s sweet smelling soap left his hair smelling like roses, but still in a tangle. Still, Jimmy wasn’t ready to admit defeat… even when there was another knock at the door.
“Are you done yet?”

Jimmy threw his bath towel at the door and was satisfied at the wet thump it made against the wood. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

“You’ll be a raisin before long and if I’m correct, Mr. Bartles and his ‘vigorous scrub’ did nothing to help.”

Hanging his head in near defeat, Jimmy sank lower in the tub. “Come on in then, see if you can do better.”

The door clicked open and Louise looked down at the arch of water across the doorway from Jimmy’s towel sliding along behind. “Frustrated, Mr. Butler?”

“I ain’t never been a fan of fancy bathtubs, but the waters been nice. I just don’t want folks to think I use rose petal soap on purpose.”

She nodded a sage look on her face. “Right. A big, bad gunfighter using rose-smelling soap… doesn’t add to the mystery.”

“I ain’t Hickok anymore, Louise… you know that.”

Waving off his warning tone she approached the tub, her tools displayed in her open hands. “Now before you think I’m here to murder you in the tub, I just knew that scrubbin’ at the caramel wasn’t goin’ to do much good. So, along with your new name… you’ll have a new look.”

He shrugged, more resigned than happy. “It ain’t like I got much of a choice.”

“You want me to call a barber for you? I’m sure the hotel would be happy to send for one.”

“Naw… you can do it, I’m just glad Rachel isn’t here to see this, she’d probably pass out from the shock.”

Louise laughed, it was true. Rachel had tried to get Jimmy to cut his hair many a time, but the men had acted like doing it would have sapped his strength or something silly like that. She pulled over a small table, setting aside the lamp that sat on it and laid out her scissors and towels. “I stepped out to the general store and bought a bar of their lye soap. I have to warn you though; it smells like that soap Emma used to scrub the tar out of Buck’s clothes.”

“He smelled like *sulphur* for days.” He looked like he was going to object for a moment and then changed his mind. “Go ahead and get it over with… my toes are starting to smart.”

“All right, then.” Louise reached out the bar, “here go ahead and work the suds into your hair. I’ll do my best to cut off only what I have to, and-”  She let go a moment too soon and the bar plummeted just past Jimmy’s fingertips and into the water. “Oops sorry.” Louise dropped down to her knees and plunged her hand in after the bar of soap. It was only after the giddy shock wore off a moment later that she realized what she had done. “I… ah…”

Jimmy’s gaze never left her face as he leaned forward wrapping an arm around her waist and pulled her, wide-eyed, into the water with him. When she came up sputtering and dripping water from the ends of her hair he gave her a wink. “Oops sorry.”

A Continuation of QF #65

Emmaline had discovered that there were certain advantages to working in and living above a bakery. Every day she was treated to the delicious smells of cinnamon, nutmeg and toasted nuts. Sure the *caramel* could be a bit of a *mess*, but she’d gotten used to it. And once she’d learned Mrs. Robbins’ tips and tricks, she no longer returned to her room covered in flour and sticky dough. Being a baker’s assistant was actually fun.

Her parents would no doubt be shocked at the fact that she was performing manual labor. She’d grown up in a household with a cook; she’d rarely stepped inside the kitchen. Or so her mother had thought. But when her parents would go to their functions and gatherings, little Emmaline would sit in the kitchen with her governess and the cook and listen to them talk. She loved to watch the cook working, and as she got older, the kind woman began to teach her.

Emmaline could follow a recipe, and if the need arose, she could prepare food. Her parents had always kept a cook, so she’d never had to take care of herself. But as she grew older and realized that she didn’t necessarily care for the men her parents hoped she would marry – men who would be able to care and provide for her in the manner she was accustomed to – she’d been glad for those lessons. If she ever married, it would be for love. And love may not be able to afford a cook, so her knowing how to would be essential. She’d just never thought those lessons would translate into a job for her.

When Mr. Lovelace told her one day that he thought he’d found the perfect position for her, Emmaline had been certain it would be a teaching position. After all, that’s what she’d been applying to, always just missing out on the post. Instead, Mr. Lovelace told her knew someone who wanted to hire a baker’s assistant. He knew most of her secrets, including the fact that she could cook. The sweets and treats that her parents enjoyed so well weren’t made by the family’s servant, but by Emmaline herself. And she had shared some of her baked goods with Mr. Lovelace.

The newspaper owner was too young to be a kind grandfather, so instead, she thought of him as a favorite uncle. He was not going to let Emmaline leave to go just anywhere and get just any job, he would make sure the situation was safe and that she would properly be able to survive on her earnings. He also seemed to know a lot of people, and his excitement had been great the day she’d walked into his office and he said he knew just the perfect job for her.

His sister lived in the next territory, and she’d told him about a new widow in her town. She and her husband had owned the bakery and Mrs. Robbins was struggling to keep up with business since her husband’s death. They’d never been blessed with children, so there was nobody there to help her and she dreaded the thought of having to sell the place. What’d she love, she told Mr. Lovelace’s sister, would be to hire someone who loved to bake as much as she and her husband had. Someone that she could maybe pass the business to eventually.

“You love to bake,” Mr. Lovelace said with great enthusiasm. “And you’re a crack shot at it, too. Your desserts are delicious and I know if you ever entered them in the town’s fair you’d win first prize for sure.

“I talked with my sister,” he continued on, “and I’ve met Mrs. Robbins before when I went and visited Eunice. She’s a kind woman, and her husband was a very good man. Eunice and her husband would be able to keep an eye on you as well, and you could stay with Eunice if you’d like. One day the bakery could be yours, if you want it.”

His enthusiasm, his belief that that would be perfect for her had been contagious, and before she left that day, Emmaline had written a letter to Mrs. Robbins. She heard back from her the next week, and the week after that, Emmaline had boarded the stagecoach while her parents had been out of town for the weekend. Mrs. Robbins was like a grandmother Emmaline’s had never been. She was warm, she was sweet, she wasn’t rigid or demanding, and when she offered Emmaline the guest bedroom above the bakery, she’d accepted it. She’d told Mr. Lovelace’s sister that it would be better if she stayed there because she would have to get up early to begin baking and she wouldn’t want to wake the woman or her family. Mrs. Peterson had understood, but she had insisted that young woman come at least once a week for supper so that she would be able to tell her brother that she was looking out for her like Eunice had promised.

It was the contact with Mr. Lovelace that was the one part of this whole situation that left Emmaline sad. She’d learned from the newspaper owner that her parents had been incredibly upset at her disappearance. They’d searched for her, not so much out of concern for her, but because it reflected poorly on them that their only child had run away from home. They’d blamed James for her disappearance, something that she found exasperating. Instead of believing the note she’d left for them, that she was going because she could no longer bear to stay there any longer and have them try to control her life forever, they’d tried to blame an innocent man simply because they didn’t like him. She sadly believed her parents would never change, and there was very little chance of them accepting her for who she really was.

The parts of Mr. Lovelace’s letters that surprised Emmaline was the description of James’ actions. He’d continued to search for her, long after most people in town just accepted that she was gone. He’d tried to get Mr. Lovelace and Clarence over at the stage office to tell him where she’d gone. He wasn’t doing this for her parents, Mr. Lovelace was quick to point out, he seemed to be doing this for himself. He wanted to know that she was alright. Emmaline simply couldn’t understand why he was bothering so with this.

Hopefully with time, he would just accept that she wasn’t coming back and move onto other things. Like she had. She hadn’t completely forgotten about James Hickok, and maybe she never would. But she wasn’t sitting in her room pining over the fact that he had never loved her. He was handsome, he was kind, and she’d always hated that the townsfolk had never really accepted him, but Emmaline knew that dreams of a life with him were merely that, dreams. She had been scared to leave her home, and she had been worried about coming to a strange place, and she had been sad that she would no longer see her friends anymore, but she hadn’t let those worries, or the fact that she would never see James again, stop her. She’d forged forward with her life.

Sometimes she still thought of him and she wondered what he was doing, but she knew that she was just a girl to him. It had been a schoolgirl crush that she let get carried away, and she simply didn’t have time for such silly nonsense anymore. She was on her own, and she needed to be careful with her money and the people she trusted enough to get near her. She was making friends slowly, and Mrs. Robbins and Mrs. Peterson looked out for her, and she did what she could to help them out when they needed it. This was her life now; Rock Creek was in the past.

If only it would stay there.

Her eyes were wide and her voice wouldn’t work except for a low squeak as she stepped back from the solid chest she’d just walked into. The *glove* in her hand fluttered to the ground, falling from her lax fingers. He stooped to retrieve it, holding it out to her with an apologetic grin on his face. When she made no move to retrieve it, he let his hand fall to his side, still holding the linen accessory.

“Miss Howard?” he asked softly. “Emmaline?”

“Deputy Hickok.” Her voice was a whisper as she continued to stare in disbelief at the man before her. “What…what are you doing here?”

“I came to see you, Miss Howard,” he stated, sweeping his hat off his head and fairly crushing the brim in his clenching hands.

She pressed back against the side door of the bakery. “Why?”

“Miss Howard?” he asked, his brows pulling together. “Are you alright?”

With a shake, she pushed herself off the door and nodded briskly, adjusting her empty shopping basket over her arm. “I’m fine, Deputy. I just…I was surprised to see you is all. I…”

She was going to kill Mr. Lovelace. He had to have told James where she was. Even though Clarence knew which direction she’d headed on the stage, he didn’t know that she had to switch stages, so he wouldn’t be able to direct the deputy here. The only reason James Hickok was standing here was because Mr. Lovelace had told him. For whatever purpose.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Miss Howard. I…” He paused and cleared his throat. “Everyone was mighty worried when you suddenly left town.”

“Yes, I…worried that they might. I hoped that they wouldn’t. I explained it all to my parents,” she said as she turned right, then stopped and turned around. The general store was the opposite direction. “I certainly didn’t mean to give anyone any trouble.”

“Oh, it’s nothing that Clarence and Mr. Lovelace couldn’t handle,” he shook his head. “I think they secretly liked it all.”

“Oh, good…well, good then.”

She was about to step off the wooden sidewalk to cross the street when James lightly touched her arm, stopping her instantly. “Miss Howard, miss, are you…are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m sure, Deputy,” she said, turning to look at him briefly. “I just…I need to get to the general store. Mrs. Robbins isn’t feeling well and I promised her I’d make her some soup after I did her shopping for the week. I just…I don’t want to leave her waiting too long.”

“I understand,” he nodded as he reached for her basket, then looked at her in surprise when she didn’t relinquish it.

“Deputy Hickok,” she frowned, knowing she would sound rude as she asked, but not seeing any other way around it. “What exactly are you doing here?”

To Be Continued…