By Lisa
Buck stood in the doorway barely breathing, while he was standing there she spoke so softly he barely heard her.
"Do you know me?" She asked without looking at him, she was lying in bed and staring at the ceiling.
"What?"
"I said, do you know me? Are we old acquaintances?"
Buck noticed she had a soft voice with a trace of an accent, one he couldn't quite place, "Uh, no. We've never actually met," he shifted uncomfortably, "that is before I found you. My name's Buck, Buck Cross."
She met his eyes and smiled, it was, Buck thought, the most wonderful smile he'd ever seen. He was also stunned to notice her eyes were an amazing shade of gray. She stopped smiling suddenly, "I'm sorry I must look a pitiful sight."
"No, you look just fine."
"Then why are you staring like that at me?"
Buck blushed and looked down at his feet, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was staring so hard. It's just that I've never met anyone with eyes that shade before."
"Oh, I'm sorry but I can't recall what color my eyes or hair is, so forgive me for not introducing myself I seem to have forgotten who I am." she said with a faint giggle.
"So I've been told, Doc Evans says you can get your memory back at any time."
"Or not at all, I know. I just wish I could remember, it's very difficult not having an identity. It's as if you don't really exist."
Buck leaned in close to her, "I'll make you a promise. I will do anything I can to help you find out who you are, you have my word."
She looked at him with tears in her eyes, "Thank you, I know that the word of an Indian doesn't mean much to some people, and the word of a half-breed even less, but it means everything to me, especially because the Kiowa are good people."
Buck was shocked, "How did you know?"
Just then Doctor Evans walked in to inform Buck that the girl needed her rest, Buck agreed and before he left he asked if he could come back to see her later and she agreed.
******************
"So tell me again, what you two blunder heads are doin' here in the middle of the day, where anyone could've followed you?" Jeremy asked irritatedly.
John slowly backed away, he knew the boss would be upset, "I'll let Tom tell ya, I just remembered I've got a lot of things to do."
Jeremy fixed his gaze on his best friend, "Well ---?"
Jeremy swallowed hard before he began, "Well it's like this, after we got into town we noticed some men were watching us real close."
"Do you think they know who you are?"
"No," Tom shook his head, "It's not that, as we were gonna ask questions about them, John noticed people were looking at me kinda strangely and all." At Jeremy's raised eyebrow he continued, "It turns out I look a lot like an old friend of their's who had died."
Jeremy's laughed echoed in the old cave they were using as a hideout, "well, there's something I hadn't counted on. Let's see if we can find a way to use this to our advantage shall we?" Tom nodded, "Good, now what about the girl? Have you found out anything about her?"
"No, after all the strange looks I got, I thought it would be best if I held out with any questions that may link us together. Besides, this town is so small, that even if she were alive and there everyone would know."
"You're absolutely right, keep an eye and ear out for any information." Jeremy said as he ushered Tom out, "And don't ever come back in the middle of the day, I want updates at night, so we can take precautions, alright?"
"Yes sir"
"Good, now see what you can find out about the bank and any other things we can hit, and do it fast, I don't wanna spend any more time here than is necessary."
Jeremy nodded and left.
Teaspoon held the gold chain and locket in his hands turning it slowly. At least he found something along the road, he just hoped it belonged to the girl. As it were he'd have a lot of explaining to do to Rachel, he was very late to dinner.
He nodded hello to the two young men sitting at the table and turned to see a very upset Rachel staring at him, her anger soon became relief when she saw he was unharmed. "Where have you been?" she asked while she gave him a hug.
"I went to see Sam, to find out if he knew anything about the girl."
"And --?" Buck asked.
"Nope sorry Buck, but he did say he would ask around."
"Well you missed all the excitement around here." Jimmy drawled.
"What excitement, Rachel are you okay?"
She smiled to her fiancée, "Yes I'm fine, Jimmy's talking about the mystery girl."
Teaspoon turned to Jimmy and raised his eyebrows, "Well what about her?"
"She's awake." Buck answered.
"Awake really? Well that's a good thing, now we can find out all about her."
"Not exactly," Jimmy answered "tell him the rest Buck."
"Rest what rest?" He looked at the young man.
"She has no memory, she doesn't know who she is or what happened."
Teaspoon looked around at his adopted family, he had come to love each of them a great deal. He slowly nodded. "Well than it would probably do no good to ask her if this was hers." He pulled out the locket, and held it out.
Rachel, who had been laying out dinner grasped the chain. It was delicate and most definitely gold. "Oh my, this is beautiful." She looked up at Teaspoon, "where did you find it?"
"Out on the road Buck found her, I'm surprised you missed it." he told Buck.
Buck took it from Rachel and examined it himself, "Well I wasn't exactly searching for anything, I was more concerned about her." He turned it in his hands and opened it, "It's got a picture inside, and some words etched in."
"What's it say?" Jimmy asked.
"'To Clara, Love Miguel' Do you suppose that's her name?"
"Could be, let me see it Buck. The picture is of a man, quite a handsome fella too, could be a husband." Rachel answered, "But what are the chances that belongs to her anyway."
"What do you mean Rachel?" Jimmy asked.
Rachel sat at the other side of the table, "Well, it's just that the way she was dressed you said she looked like a saloon girl, and in my experience they don't have such fancy things."
"What are you saying Rachel?" Buck asked.
"I'm saying, maybe this isn't hers or--"
Teaspoon cut in "She's not what we thought she was."
The silence in the room seemed like it lasted an eternity, "Well there's only one way to find out," Buck replied, "I'll see y'all later I'm gonna see a girl about a locket."
"Buck Cross you sit down, and eat your supper." Rachel said excitedly.
Buck leaned over Rachel's shoulder and placed a quick kiss on her cheek, "Could you keep a plate warm for me, I can't eat until I know one way or the other." And with that Buck left.
"He's getting too involved with that girl," Jimmy said as he played with his potatoes. At the silence he received in answer he looked up to find both Rachel and Teaspoon looking at him with raised eyebrows. "No, I'm not jealous. It's just that Buck sets his heart on the line only to have it broken, it's sad. I don't want him to go through that again."
"Well that's kind of you Jimmy." Rachel smiled.
As dinner went on, Jimmy told Teaspoon about the two men at the hotel, and especially about Ike's double. Both Teaspoon and Rachel agreed that Jimmy should let things be as Buck had said.
"I can't, and you know it Teaspoon. I just got a bad feeling about them."
"Are you sure this is about finding out for Buck or is it about you." Rachel asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Teaspoon nodded his agreement, "I think what Rachel is saying is that you've been complaining about the lack of excitement around here. Are you sure you're just not trying to make some up, so's you have something to do."
"No, I'm not." Jimmy said unconvincingly. "And if you're not gonna help me, I'll do it on my own." He said as he rose to leave to the bunkhouse.
Both Rachel and Teaspoon knew he would keep that last vow even if it killed him, and that's what scared Rachel most. She eyed her future husband somberly, he needed no words to understand and he nodded, "I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry."
As Buck rode up to the small clinic he thought about what he and the other's had spoken of. Clara, he thought, the name didn't quite suit her. Then there was the mystery of the husband or whatever he was. Buck couldn't accept that she was married, she looked too young, then again, he thought most women got married very young. Why should she be any different.
Buck entered the clinic and headed straight to the recovery room where the girl had been placed. What he saw stopped him in mid-stride, the girl was sitting at a small desk trying to write on a small slate. Her head was out of the bandage she had been wearing and was hanging loosely down her back. It was an amazing shade of deep red, and shone in the lamplight as if it had just been washed.
After hours of trying to remember anything of her past the girl had sat down and tried to write her name, anything to try to jog her memory. It didn't work. She was sitting staring at the blank page in front of her, when she sensed him enter. She slowly looked up and saw the strange look on his face. What is it now, she thought, she gathered up her courage and met his eyes, she giggled softly as he jerked back as if he were struck.
"Is there anything wrong with my appearance? I hope that I'm not dressed inappropriately." She said.
"No, there's nothing wrong. I'm just shocked that your hair is that color. It's a little darker than the hair of the woman I live with."
"Yes the Doctor allowed me to take the big bandage off and wash up a little, I feel like a whole different person. You're married?"
Buck smiled widely and shook his head, "No, I'm not married, why"
"But you said you live with a woman."
"Yes, she's started out like a housekeeper, but has become like a mother to both me and Jimmy."
She noticed he had not entered the room and motioned for him to sit beside her, "So you have a brother."
"No, Jimmy's an old friend." he said, then added quickly "actually he has become like a brother."
"I'm a little confused, but I hope to get to know more about you."
"I'd be happy to tell you all about me but first I've got something to show you," Buck reached into his pocket and pulled out the locket, as he handed it to her he asked her if she had recognized it. She seemed pensive and slowly turned it in her hands, but Buck was not prepared for her reaction when she opened it. The tears came without warning, and Buck's instincts led him to gather her into his arms and soothe her before any more questions could be asked.
After a short while the sobs became less frequent, and Buck thought it would be a good time to ask her what happened. Slowly he pulled away from her, "This is your locket, are you Clara?"
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, "No, I am not Clara. She was my mother, this picture is of my father. My mother wore this until her death," she shivered and looked into his eyes, "my name is Sarah Morales."
Buck was shocked, the Doc had told him her memory could return suddenly, but he couldn't believe it. He took her shoulders and looked into her eyes, the pain was evident she must have lost her mother very recently. "How much do you remember?"
"All of it--"
"Maybe I should get the Doc." Buck said as he rose and turned to the door.
"No!!" The intensity of the one word stopped him, "I mean please stay here I need to get this out, to explain." Buck resumed his seat as she continued, "My mother died four months ago, she got very sick and there was nothing the doctors could do. That left me and papa to run the ranch."
"You own a ranch?"
"My father did, we raised and trained horses. Anyway, papa died last month. The doctor said it seemed more likely from a broken heart than the fever, that had taken ma." Buck was impressed with the way she held herself, the only evidence of her pain was the one tear that had managed to escape.
"It didn't take long for the creditors to come and take everything we had to settle debts. I had to find a way to survive, an old friend of my pa's, who owned a ranch of his own, helped me to find a job training horses in Kentucky. So two days after my pa's funeral I left with only this locket, a few dresses, and my knowledge of horses."
She smiled in thought, "I am a trick rider," she said with some pride. "The best in all of Texas. I must have been on my way there when you found me, I just don't remember how I got hurt."
Buck had been thinking about something she had said, "Did you say you were headed to Kentucky?" she nodded, "You must've made a wrong turn somewhere."
"What do you mean?"
" Well you're in the Nebraska Territory. Rock Creek to be exact. You came up north instead of east."
"No, I began my journey with Raul, one of our ranch hands. We left September 16, 1861. I couldn't have been traveling more than a couple of days, which would put me somewhere in east Texas or the Louisiana Territory." Something she said had made Buck very serious, and it frightened her. "What's wrong, I am correct, aren't I?"
"You would be if everything you said were right."
Sarah began to panic, "What do you mean if?"
Buck couldn't look at her, he rose off the chair and walked to the window on the far side of the room. Looking through it he said, "I don't know how to tell you this--"
Sarah could hold in her hysteria any longer she was out of her chair and by his side instantly, she grabbed his shirt front and turned him to face her. "Tell me!! What is it!! What is it!!"
Buck held her hands in his trying to will some strength into her, "Alright calm down."
Just then Doc Evans walked in with a bewildered look in his eyes. "What's goin' on in here?" He saw his patient with a wild look in her eyes, and he noticed Buck was trying to calm her, "Buck--?"
Sarah would have no part of it, "Tell me please."
"Sarah--" Buck began
"No Buck she's not ready" Doc Evan's said.
"Please Buck Please"
Buck looked from the doctor to the young woman who had just relived the worst moments of her life with him, he looked into her eyes. "Sarah, it is not 1861. It's 1866."
Sarah shook her head slowly and took slow steps away from Buck, murmuring it can't be, she took one look at the Doc and slowly turned, only to find Buck standing directly behind her. "No" she said softly, and fainted.
Doctor Evans motioned for Buck to put her into the bed, after it had been done he shook his head sadly, "I knew this was going to happen," he stated.
"Why didn't you try to stop me, or tell me."
The Doc looked at the younger man, "That's what I was trying to do, before you let a pretty little thing cloud your judgment, now what will we do?"
"You're the doctor, don't you know?"
TO BE CONTINUED...Chapters IV and V
Copyright 1998-This work is not to be reproduced without the permission of the author
The Way Station
Campfire Tales
