November 1999

Amanda Peterson wished all her students a Happy Thanksgiving as they passed by her desk on the way out of class. One by one, they dropped off their term papers, said good-bye and were gone. When the last student had left, she sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair. Thanksgiving had finally arrived.

She had been looking forward to this week of vacation since Halloween. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving for her was going to be Chinese take-out and Corona’s, on the couch, grading term papers. Her family was back in California where she had grown up. She had gone to Wyoming for college because the State University had offered the best history program in the United States. She had fallen in love with Wyoming and had never left. She visited her family during Christmas, but that was it. High school history teachers did not make enough to fly back and forth across the United States.

Picking up the pile of papers that had been left in disarray on her desk, she carefully packed them inside her briefcase. Snapping it closed, she picked up her purse, and with one last look around her classroom, she left to start her vacation.

Lander, Wyoming was an extremely small town compared to San Francisco where she had grown up. She had never enjoyed the “big city” life, finding it oppressive and violent. The small town life suited her nicely. Amanda looked around the dark, snow covered streets as she walked the few blocks to the small Chinese restaurant. In San Francisco, she never would have walked the streets alone at night. Here, she did not think twice about it. The crime rate was so low compared to what she had grown up with it was almost as if there was no crime at all.

She clutched her bulky jacket closer to her body as she walked. The streets were covered with a thick coat of snow that had fallen the night before. She walked carefully, trying not to slip on the icy sidewalk. The sky was clear and the stars shone bright. The smell of an oncoming storm was thick in the air; the meteorologist had forecasted another heavy snow for the next day.

As a history teacher, she found Lander interesting for its historical significance. Lander now stood a few miles north where the town of Sweetwater had once stood. Before the Civil War, Sweetwater had been special because the Pony Express had had one of its home stations located there. For nineteen months, from 1860 to 1861, riders for the Pony Express had ridden through here on their way to deliver the mail.

An odd feeling suddenly struck Amanda, bringing her thoughts to the present. She clutched her purse tighter against her side. She had not had this feeling in a long time. The last time she had felt it was the last time she had ever walked the streets of San Francisco alone. She had come across a mugging in progress. It had scared her so badly she learned her lesson and never walked alone again. Now the same feeling swept across her in full force.

She continued to walk, her steps more purposeful as her stride lengthened. With feigned casualness, she looked over her shoulder behind her. She did not see anyone lurking behind her, so she casually scanned the sidewalks and streets around her. She still did not see anyone, but her heart was thumping in her chest and her breathing was shallow and quick. She could feel someone, somewhere nearby, watching her.

As she was about to cross the next intersection, she felt someone grab her arm. She spun around to face her attacker, ready to protect herself. Her attacker yanked on her arm and pulled her back into the shadows of the nearby building. She stumbled forward and used the building to balance herself. She felt her attacker grab her purse and pull on it. She instinctively let go of it, willing to let him have it if it meant protecting herself. The strap of her purse caught on the bulkiness of her jacket and refused to come off. Her mugger yanked harder on the purse. The force of his pull caused her to loose her balance on the ice covered sidewalk. She fell forward and the mugger let go of her purse. She tried to put her hands out in front of her to break her fall, but she was to late. She hit the ground and cried out in pain when her head struck the sidewalk.

The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness were the feet of her mugger as he ran away.

Amanda shivered as she started to wake up. The pain in her head was intense and she moaned.

“She’s wakin’ up,” she heard a faint voice say.

“She’s still shivering. Jimmy, go get some more blankets from downstairs,” another voice instructed.

“I wonder how long she was out there,” still another voice wondered.

“She’s lucky Jimmy came across her when he did. If she had been out there much longer she might have died,” the second voice, a female voice, added.

“She sure is Emma. I wonder how she ended up out there,” the third voice replied.

“Someone—attacked—me,” Amanda told them, her voice raspy and dry.

“Here’s that blanket Emma.”

“Thank you Jimmy,” the woman, Emma, said. Amanda felt another blanket laid out over her.

Amanda opened her eyes and squinted at the light. She saw three dark figures standing over her.

“Turn down the lamp, Jimmy. The light’s hurting her eyes,” Emma directed.

The figure on the left moved behind the others and turned down the light. Amanda opened her eyes wider and got a better look at the three people who had taken her in.

Jimmy, the one who had just turned down the light, was probably in his early twenties. He had light brown hair that reached his shoulders. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt and leather vest. Around his waist was an old fashion gun belt that held a single pistol in a holster on his left hip. Amanda wondered at his holster as she studied his pants. They were made out of the same fabric as his shirt. The pants were faded and worn.

Amanda turned her eyes on the woman standing between the two men. Emma, as she had been called, was a small thin woman. Her blonde hair was pulled up into what Amanda thought was a bun. She was wearing an old fashioned dress that had a full skirt that reached the floor and loose fitting bodice that was buttoned clear up to Emma’s collar bone. The last three buttons had been left undone. Tied around her waist and covering the skirt of the dress was an apron.

Moving on to the third person standing in the room, she found herself studying an older gentleman. Amanda guessed him to be in his fifty’s, at least. He had a head of scraggly white hair that was covered by a wide brimmed hat. He was not as thin as Jimmy, or as tall. He was dressed similar, however. He was wearing a white buttoned down shirt that had long sleeves. Around his waist, he also carried a gun holster that housed a pistol that looked similar to the one Jimmy carried.

“How are you feeling?” Emma asked, moving to sit on the side of the bed. She reached a hand out and held it to Amanda’s forehead.

“My head hurts,” Amanda told her.

“You don’t seem to be comin’ down with a fever. That’s a good sign. What’s your name?”

“Amanda. Amanda Peterson.”

“Well, Amanda, my name is Emma. That young man over there is Jimmy and that man over there is Teaspoon Hunter,” Emma introduced them.

“Hi,” Amanda tried to smile.

“You said someone attacked you,” Teaspoon said, taking a step forward.

“Yeah. He tried to grab my purse, but I fell and he ran off.”

“Do you know what he looked like?” Teaspoon asked.

“No, he was wearing a mask. Do you have my purse?”

“It’s right here,” Emma told her, picking up her purse and handing it to her.

“You don’t have any idea what he looked like?”

“No. He was wearing all black and it was dark. I couldn’t even tell you how tall he was.”

“That’s to bad,” Teaspoon told her.

“Jimmy, why don’t you go get her a glass of water,” Emma suggested.

“Sure Emma,” Jimmy replied before leaving the room.

Amanda dug through her purse and sighed in relief when she found everything still there.

“Do you have anyone that you want me to get a hold of?” Emma asked.

“No, my family all lives in California,” Amanda answered.

Jimmy returned with the glass of water and handed it to Amanda. She sat up in the bed and sipped the water. Immediately, she began to feel better. When she was done with the water, the throbbing in her head had settled to a dull ache.

“What time is it?” Amanda suddenly asked.

“It’s about 11:00 at night,” Emma told her.

“11:00? I really should be going,” Amanda told them, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

“You should really stay the night. You took a nasty bump on the head,” Emma disagreed.

“That’s okay. Thank you so much for taking care of me, I really appreciate it, but I should really go home,” Amanda told them standing up.

“Are you sure?” Emma asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. I really thank you though.”

“If you’re sure, I’ll have Jimmy see you home.”

“That really isn’t necessary,” Amanda argued.

“Yes it is. Jimmy, why don’t you go out and get ready to take Amanda home,” Emma suggested and Jimmy left the room.

“You’ve done so much for me already, you don’t have to do this. I don’t live to far from here. I can walk.”

“Nonsense. I won’t have that,” Emma told her firmly.

“Okay,” Amanda finally consented.

“Here’s you coat,” Emma said, handing her her jacket.

Amanda pulled on her jacket and pulled her purse over her shoulder. Zipping up her jacket, Amanda followed Emma and Teaspoon down the stairs.

They reached the front door and Emma opened it. Before walking outside, Amanda turned to Emma and Teaspoon.

“Thank you so much,” she told them again before walking out onto the porch. Amanda stopped in her tracks when she saw Jimmy waiting for her. He was sitting in a buckboard, which was attached to two horses. Amanda had seen a buckboard similar to the one Jimmy now sat in at the Lander Museum near her apartment.

Amanda looked around at her surroundings. Though Lander was a small town, there were buildings everywhere. Emma’s house stood alone, out in the middle of nowhere. There was a barn to her right at the side of the house and another building to her left.

“Where are we?” She asked still looking at the wide expanse of land that surrounded the house.

“We’re just outside of Sweetwater,” Teaspoon told her.

“Sweetwater?” Amanda asked in confusion. Sweetwater had not been a town for over 100 years.

“Yes ma’am,” Jimmy confirmed from the buckboard. “You’re at the Pony Express Station.”

“The Pony Express? But that’s impossible,” she argued.

“Jimmy found you a few miles out of town and brought you here. Where in Sweetwater do you live?” Emma asked.

Amanda did not answer. Her head felt light and everything felt like it was happening far away from her. As she fainted, she heard Emma cry out behind her.

1860

When Amanda woke the next time, the sunlight was shining brightly through her bedroom window. Stretching out, she thought back over the strange dream she had had during the night. In it, someone had tried to mug her. She had slipped and fell, hitting her head. When she had woken up, she had found herself back in the 1860’s at the Sweetwater Pony Express Station.

Laughing to herself, she opened her eyes and sat up in her bed.

“Oh my God,” she gasped looking at the room. She was not in her room. She was in the same room as in her dream. Hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand, she willed herself to wake up. Opening her eyes again, she found the room unchanged.

She could feel a panic rising in her body and forced herself to calm down. She needed to think. She pinched herself and cried out in pain.

“I’m not dreaming,” she told herself.

Throwing back her covers, she jumped from the bed. Running to the window, she looked out. Below her, she could see several young men sitting on the fence of a corral while another young man tried to break a horse inside. She watched the young man get bucked off and land on the ground. He jumped to his feet as some of the other young men ran out to get control of the horse.

Turning away from the window, she looked down and was relieved to find she was still wearing her own clothes. She needed to get out of here. She did not know where she was going, but she had to leave. She had to find some way to get back to her own time.

Grabbing her jacket off the back of a chair, she found her purse sitting on the floor next to the bed. Sitting down on the bed, she grabbed her purse and dug through it. Finding her cell phone, she flipped it open and turned it on.

“What the hell are you doing?” She asked herself when she realized what she was doing.

“Who the hell are you going to call here? They don’t have no freakin’ phones,” she admonished herself.

Turning her phone back off, she closed it and tossed it in her purse with disgust. What the hell was she going to do?

Deciding her earlier plan was full of problems, she decided it would probably be in her best interest to stay at the station for as long as possible. Especially since the only money she had on her was useless here. She needed to stay until she found a job. Where that would be, she did not know.

Pulling on her jacket, she left the room and walked down the stairs and outside. She could hear the young men yelling from the corral to her right. She did not want to see them so she headed towards the other building.

“What are ya doin’ out of bed?” She heard a familiar voice ask from behind her. Turning around, she saw Teaspoon with another young man.

“I needed fresh air,” she answered, studying the young man he was with. He looked to be about her age, twenty-four, and maybe a little younger. He had dark brown hair that hung to his shoulders and intense brown eyes. His skin was dark and from his features, she guessed that he was part Native American. He was tall, she noticed, and like Teaspoon and Jimmy, he wore a gun holster slung low around his hips. He was very handsome, she realized.

“Amanda, this is one of our riders, Buck. Buck, this is Amanda. Jimmy found her late yesterday on his way back.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” he greeted her politely.

“You too,” she reciprocated.

“If you’re lookin’ for Emma, she’s inside the bunkhouse getting’ dinner ready,” Teaspoon told her.

“The bunkhouse?” Amanda asked in confusion.

“That’s where the riders sleep. Follow us, we were just headin’ there,” Teaspoon told her. Amanda fell in step beside him.

“Amanda!” Emma said when they stepped inside the bunkhouse. “How are you feelin’?”

“Pretty good. I still have this dull throbbing in my head, but it’s going away.”

“That’s good. You gave us quite a scare when you fainted on the porch last night.”

“I’m sorry about that. I just didn’t expect to wind up in Sweetwater,” she told them. I sure as hell didn’t expect to wind up in 1860, she thought to herself.

“I’m glad that you’re feeling better. Why don’t you take a seat? Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” Emma suggested, motioning towards the benches around the large picnic table.

“Do you need any help?” Amanda offered.

“Don’t be silly. You’re our guest, take a seat. Buck, why don’t you go get the boys?” Emma asked. Buck walked outside as Amanda took a seat at the table. Shrugging out of her jacket, she laid it over her legs and hung her purse from her knee.

A few minutes later, several young men streamed into the bunkhouse, talking loudly and joking with each other. When they saw Amanda, they immediately quieted down and took their seats. Amanda felt uncomfortable as the riders stared at her in curiosity.

“Boys, this is Amanda. She’ll be staying with us for a while,” Emma told them. “Amanda, let me introduce the boys. Starting on your left is Cody, Kid, Lou, Jimmy and Teaspoon you’ve met, Ike, and Buck you met,” Emma introduced.

“Hi,” Amanda greeted them, with a shy, little wave.

The riders began to talk again as Emma set out the plates of food. Amanda was quiet as the food was passed around the table.

“Where are you from Amanda?” She looked up to see who had spoken and saw all the riders looking at her.

“California,” she told them. Lander had not been around until the early 1900’s.

“Where’s about?” This time she noticed it was Lou speaking.

“San Francisco.”

“Really? How’d you end up way out here?” Teaspoon asked, setting down his fork.

“I came out here looking for a job,” she lied.

“What kind of job?” Emma asked.

“I’m a teacher,” she replied.

“Really? You couldn’t teach back in San Francisco?”

“I could have,” she began, thinking quickly for a story that would wash with them. “But they already had a couple of really good teachers there. I decided to come out here where there would be more of a need,” she lied.

“What did your parents think about you comin’ way out here?” Teaspoon asked.

“They weren’t happy,” she told them, thinking back to when she had first broke the news to her parents. “But when they realized it was what I really wanted, they supported me.”

“How nice of them,” Emma told her with a smile.

“We’re actually in need of a teacher here in Sweetwater,” Teaspoon told her.

“Really?” Amanda asked in genuine interest.

“If you’re interested, I’ll see what I can do,” Teaspoon told her.

“That would be so great. I just came into town last night,” she told them.

“And someone tried to rob you? How horrible,” Emma exclaimed.

“At least they didn’t take anything,” she replied, laying a hand on her purse. It was odd the amount of comfort she got from that one simple act.

Buck watched Amanda from across the table. He could not take his eyes off the beautiful, mysterious, woman. She had dark red hair that fell down her back in soft waves. Her green eyes stood out brilliantly against her fair skin. From where he was sitting, he could see the freckles that were sprinkled across her nose and high cheekbones.

When Jimmy had told them about finding her the night before, he had said how he had found her a few miles outside of Sweetwater, unconscious, alone, and with no horse. If she had been robbed, why had her horse been taken, but not her belongings? Was she just really lucky, or was there more to her story than she was letting on?

He could not understand her clothes either. She was wearing pants that were made out of a strange blue material. They were fitted and showed off her slender waist and legs. She was also wearing a light brown, thick, knitted shirt with long sleeves that fit loosely on her. Her coat was like nothing he had ever seen. It was made out of a strange material that reminded him of the parasols the ladies in town carried, but it was stuffed with something that made it bulge out.

He enjoyed listening to her talk. Her voice had a musical lilt to it that drew his attention. He was so caught up listening to her, that he ignored the conversation around him until he heard his name.

“Buck?” Teaspoon asked again. Everyone at the table stopped talking and looked over at him. Buck was embarrassed that he had been caught staring.

“Yeah?” He asked, trying to ignore Amanda and concentrate on what was being said.

“You’re not up today, would you care to show Amanda around Sweetwater?”

“Um—sure, Teaspoon,” Buck agreed, casting a sideways glance towards Amanda. She was watching him intently with those green eyes of hers.

“Great, you two can start out just after dinner, try to be back by supper though,” Teaspoon suggested.

“Hey, Hickok, pass me the meat,” Cody requested.

Amanda’s head snapped up at the mention of the name. She looked over at Jimmy and studied him.

“What?” He asked her, noticing her stare.

“James Butler Hickok?” She asked.

“Yeah, why?” He asked warily.

“Nothing,” she shook her head to get over her shock. “I just didn’t know you rode for the Pony Express, that’s all,” she told him. None of her reading had ever said he had worked for the Express. How did researchers miss such an important fact, she wondered.

The conversation moved on to other subjects, but Buck fazed out. He started thinking about spending the next few hours alone with Amanda. She intrigued him, but he did not trust her. He had not trusted a woman, except for Lou, since Kathleen Devlin. He had fallen in love with her only to find out that she had used him to get back at her father. He would never trust another woman the way he had trusted Kathleen. A woman like Amanda would never be interested in a half-breed like him. He had found out about Kathleen the hard way. He did not need to learn a lesson twice.

Pushing his thoughts of Amanda to the back of his mind, he concentrated on the conversation at the table.

“How long have you ridden for The Pony Express?” Amanda asked as they rode around the countryside surrounding Sweetwater.

“About six months,” Buck answered.

“Do you enjoy it?”

“It’s a job. There aren’t many jobs for a half-breed,” he told her.

“That’s not what I asked,” she told him with a smile. “Do you enjoy it?” She repeated.

“I like the people I work with. We’re a family.”

“What about your ‘real’ family?”

“My mother died a few years back. My half-brother is a Kiowa War Chief.”

“Are you close with your brother?”

“About as close as we can be. We live two separate lives.”

Amanda fell silent. She was puzzled by Buck’s responses towards her. He was being polite enough in his answers, but there was something in his answers that told her that he did not want to talk to her. He had also refused to look at her. He had not looked at her once since they had started out on the ride. She was trying not to get to personal with her questions, but she was curious about the riders.

“So, you’re Kiowa?” She asked, trying again.

“Yeah.”

“How long did you live with them?”

“Until I was sixteen, then I left.”

“It must’ve been hard for you,” she told him, sympathetically.

“I got over it,” he lied.

Amanda fell silent again as she tried to think of a way to bring Buck out of his shell. The others riders had been kind enough to her, answering her questions and asking some of their own. Buck, on the other hand, seemed to not want anything to do with her. Why had he agreed to ride with her, showing her the sights, if he did not want to be around her?

She knew somewhat of what Buck’s life had been like from books she had read and her own family history. She understood the difficulties he had faced growing up half Kiowa and half white. Not accepted by either because of his other half. She guessed that a white man had probably raped his mother since he did not speak of a father.

She had been lucky because of the time she had been raised in. She was, herself, a quarter Lakota Sioux. Fortunately, in her time, it was not a sin to have mixed blood. By the time she was born, there was hardly a person in the United States who did not come from a mixed heritage. She could have told him about her own mixed heritage, but for some reason, she did not.

When they finally rode into the home station, she was relieved. The ride had been painful from lack of conversation. She knew that if Buck would just open up to her, be himself, they could be friends, but he was unwilling to give her a chance.

“Thank you for showing me around, Buck,” she told him as they led their horses into the barn.

“Don’t worry about your horse. I’ll take care of it for you,” he told her.

“Are you sure? I can do it myself.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he repeated.

“Okay,” she agreed after a moment of hesitation. She handed the reigns over to him and with one last look at Buck, she left the barn.

“So, how do you like Sweetwater so far?” Lou asked her a week later as they watched Jimmy and Buck break a new horse.

“The people here are being really nice,” she replied, looking at Buck as she spoke.

“Everyone except for Buck?” Lou asked, following her gaze.

“That’s not true. Buck’s been very nice to me,” Amanda lied.

“You don’t have to cover for him, Amanda. We’ve all seen him avoiding you.”

“I just don’t understand him,” Amanda admitted. “Have I done something to offend him?”

“I don’t think that’s it. Buck’s a hard person to get to know. Just give him time,” Lou suggested. Time. It’s funny how it takes on a whole new meaning now, Amanda thought wryly.



“Hey Buck!” Lou called out as she followed Buck into the barn later that day.

“What’s up Lou?” Buck asked, waiting for her to catch up.

“I need to talk to you for a second,” Lou told him as she walked with him to the barn.

“What about?”

“Amanda.”

“What about her?” Buck asked, suddenly wishing he had not waited for Lou.

“Is there a reason you are acting cold towards her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We’ve all seen it Buck. You haven’t exactly been nice to her. Why is that?”

“It must be your imagination Lou.”

“Don’t lie to me Buck, I know you to well. You are normally a very nice guy, but since Amanda showed up, you’ve avoided her like the plague. Did something happen on the ride you guys went on?”

“Nothing happened. There’s just something about her I can’t put my finger on.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, until you do, how ‘bout you give her a chance? She’s a very nice girl,” Lou told him.

That’s what I’m afraid of, he thought to himself.

“So, can you try to be nice to her?” Lou asked him.

“I’ll try to be nicer to her, okay?”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Lou told him before running off.

Maybe I have been to hard on her, Buck thought to himself as he got his horse ready for his ride. He had been going out of his way to avoid her and to be rude when he did encounter her. He was blaming her for what Kathleen had done to him and it was not fair to Amanda.

I guess I could be nicer to her. After all, it’s not like she’d be interested in me as anything more than a friend, he reasoned.

With that decided, he finished getting ready and waited for the rider to come in.

“Good news Amanda,” Teaspoon told her, coming into the bunkhouse for supper.

“What’s that?” She asked, looking up from the plates she had been laying out.

“I talked to some of the town council members today and they’re interested in interviewing you for the teacher’s position when the town council meets next Tuesday.”

“That’s great!” She cried out, hopping up and down in excitement.

“The meetin’s just a formality. I’m sure you’ll get the job, no problem.”

“Thank you, Teaspoon. You don’t know how much this means,” she told him, putting the plates down to give him a hug.

“I’m sure I do. You just impress them like you’ve impressed us and you won’t have any problem,” he told her.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeated.

“Don’t thank me, it’s up to you to get the job, I just set it up for ya,” he said.

“I won’t let you down Teaspoon,” she promised him.

The meeting went well with the town council and by the time Amanda left, they had offered her the job. She raced home to tell Teaspoon and the others the good news. She had never ridden a horse that fast in her life, and when she arrived at the station, she was breathless.

Sliding off the horse, she wrapped the reigns around the corral fence post. Running towards the bunkhouse, she turned the corner and ran right into someone, knocking her flat on her back.

“What are you so excited about?” She heard Buck ask.

Opening her eyes and looking up, she saw him standing over her with his hand extended down to her. Sitting up, she took his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

“So? What are you so excited about?” He repeated.

Amanda wondered at his sudden change of attitude towards her, but she was to excited to let the question linger for long.

“I just got the teaching job in town,” she told him, still breathless from her ride.

“Congratulations,” he told her and she believed he was honestly happy for her.

“Thank you. I was just on my way in to tell Teaspoon,” she told him.

“Go in and tell him the news. Don’t worry about your horse, I’ll put him up for you,” he offered.

“Are you sure?” She asked, thinking back to the last time he had offered to do that for her.

“I’m sure. Go in and tell him. He’s been waitin’ for you to get back to find out how it went,” he told her.

“Thanks a lot Buck,” she told him, smiling as he walked away. She watched him disappear around the corner before heading into the bunkhouse.

“So? How’d the meetin’ go?” Teaspoon asked as she walked through the door. He had been waiting with Emma and the other riders for her to return.

“I got the job!” She told him.

“Yippee!” Teaspoon cheered.

“Congratulations,” Lou told her.

“Yeah, good job Amanda,” The Kid told her.

“I don’t know about havin’ a teacher livin’ with us,” Cody joked with her.

“Hey! If you’re not nice to me, I might have to slap your wrist with a ruler,” she laughed.

“Be careful, Cody might just enjoy that,” Jimmy warned her.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied.

“I think this calls for a celebration,” Emma told her, pulling out a cake she had made.

“You didn’t have to do this, Emma,” Amanda told her.

“I wanted to. I knew how much getting this job meant to you,” Emma disagreed.

They were cutting the cake when Buck walked back into the bunkhouse.

“Hey, did you hear the news Buck? Amanda’s goin’ to be the new school teacher,” Cody announced.

“She told me already,” Buck answered, smiling in Amanda’s direction.

She smiled in return and handed him a piece of cake. She enjoyed the closeness she felt here. They made her feel at home. Even Buck seemed to be warming up to her now. She even found herself not thinking about her past life as often as she had before. In the beginning, she had thought something would happen to send her back, but the longer she stayed, the more she realized she was there for good. In the event she ever did leave, she would miss these people terribly.

“Good morning everyone,” Amanda greeted her first class.

“Good morning,” they echoed back to her. She looked out at the wide range of thirty faces staring back at her expectantly. The students ranged in ages from six to sixteen which made her a little nervous. She was used to teaching 11th grade history, where all the students were studying the same subject and were of the same age. She did not know how she was going to juggle teaching different levels of the same subjects almost simultaneously.

Turning to the blackboard behind her, she wrote her name on the board.

“My name is Amanda Peterson,” she introduced herself as she wrote. “Now, I want us to be friends as well as teacher and students, so you may call me Amanda or Miss Peterson. Whichever you are more comfortable with.”

She waited a moment before continuing.

“Also, I don’t want any of you to feel uncomfortable about asking questions. If you don’t understand something, raise your hand and ask. I’ll be more than happy to try to explain it in a different way. And remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question. The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask. Everyone understand?”

“Yes, Miss Peterson,” they recited.

“Since it’s the first day, I want us to spend time getting to know each other. How many of you can write, even a little bit?” She asked. A small handful of hands went up.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. One at a time, you’re going to stand up and introduce yourself to the class and to me. That way, I can get to know you and eventually put a face to your names. Then I want you to tell the class a little about yourself. Are you an only child….Where are you from….Have you lived in Sweetwater your whole life or did you move here…. What your favorite thing is….What do you like, what you don’t like…. What do you want to be when you grow up…. Those are just some ideas. You don’t have to answer them all, or you can add something I didn’t mention. Then when all of you have finished, I’ll tell you about myself. How does that sound?” She asked. She almost laughed at the expressions of fear that flashed across most of the faces.

“Okay, why don’t we start over here and them move around the class,” she suggested, pointing to a young girl sitting in the front row.

The girl stood up, her legs shaking. Amanda took a seat on the corner of her desk and listened as the girl began to introduce herself in a shaky voice.

Amanda hurried to put the horse and buckboard away. She wanted to get out of the dress Emma had let her borrow until she could buy one of her own. The dress was pretty, but she was uncomfortable in it. She was used to her own loose, comfortable clothing. The dress was much to constricting.

Bursting into the house, she raced up the stairs; the dress pulled up to her waist so she could take the steps two at a time. As she ran, she thought back to her first day. She felt it had gone well, and after the first few students had gone, the others had loosened up, even adding more information to their introductions.

Opening the door to her room, she stopped in her tracks when she saw Buck on his knees by her bed, the contents of her purse lying out on the floor in front of him.

“What are you doing?” She asked him, the anger and fear evident in her voice. She rushed to the bed and began to shove her belongings back into her purse.

“What is all that stuff?” He asked her, standing up so she could get all her things.

“It’s none of your business. What the hell gave you the right to go through my stuff?” She asked him, turning to face him.

“I wasn’t going through it,” he told her.

“Like hell you weren’t, I saw you,” she accused him.

“Emma wanted me to bring up your clothes after she washed them. I knocked your purse over when I set the clothes on the bed,” he told her, indicating the pile of clothes sitting on the foot of her bed.

“So then you decided to go through my purse?” She asked him, the sarcasm evident in her voice.

“I knocked over your purse. I’m sorry,” he apologized. When she did not answer him, he turned and silently left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Amanda sat on her bed, her purse in her lap. Opening it, she began to pull things out to see if anything was missing. When she pulled out her pager, she noticed that the display was cracked. She had had the case of her pager replaced a few days before she was mugged. She was always dropping her pager and cracking it someplace, but she had not cracked this one. If Buck had been going through her things like she had accused him of, her pager would not have been broken. However, if he had knocked over her purse and it had fallen to the floor….

Then he would be telling the truth, she told herself. She needed to find him and apologize for accusing him of something he did not do. She changed quickly, still desperate to get out of the dress. She took the purse with her when she went to look for Buck, knowing that she might have to conceivably “come clean” about where she had come from since he had obviously seen the contents of her purse.

She found Buck in the barn, brushing down one of the horses. She stood at the opening of the stall, waiting for him to acknowledge her. When he did not, she cleared her throat. He still refused to look up.

“Buck,” she began.

“I wasn’t goin’ through your things,” he insisted, still not looking at her.

“I know. I want to apologize for accusing you of that. I was wrong,” she admitted, relieved when he stopped brushing and looked at her.

“It’s just that the things in my purse are personal, and when I came in and saw you with them, I jumped to the wrong conclusions,” she continued.

“You shoulda believed me.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” she apologized again.

“What were those things? Where are you from?” He asked her.

She had hoped he would not have asked her that, but she had expected it. She would have asked the same questions if their places had been reversed.

“It’s a really long story,” she told him.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“Then you might want to take a seat,” she told him. She waited until he was seated on a bail of hay before continuing.

“I’m, not from around here,” she began, unsure of how to tell him the truth.

“I know. You’re from California,” he told her. She could see he was not going to make this any easier for her.

“What I mean is….I’m,” she paused, trying to find the right words. “I’m, not from this…. Time,” she finally forced out.

“What are you talkin’ about?” He asked.

“What I’m telling you is that…. I’m from the future,” she struggled to find the right words.

“The future? What are you talking about?”

“I mean, I’m from the future. When I was mugged, I fell and hit my head. I woke up here.”

“That’s because Jimmy brought you here.”

“I know that. But where Jimmy found me was where I was standing in my own time. Haven’t you wondered how I ended up there without a horse and the robber didn’t take my purse? Doesn’t that seem odd?”

“I figured your horse ran away.”

“I don’t own a horse. I never have.”

“So you’re tellin’ me you’re from the future?”

“Yes.”

“When in the future?”

“I was born in 1975. When I came here, it was the year 1999.”

“That’s over a hundred years from now.”

“I know.”

“If you didn’t want to tell me the truth, you could’ve told me to mind my business,” he told her.

“What?”

“You don’t have ta lie.”

“I’m not lying, Buck. Look,” she told him, pulling out her cellular phone.

“What’s that?”

“It’s call a cellular phone.”

“What’s that?” He repeated.

“There will be an invention called the telephone. They’ll allow people to communicate from one place to another. Kinda like the telegraph, but not quite. You will actually be able to talk to a person hundreds of miles away. Hear their voice.”

“That’s not possible,” he argued.

“Not now, but it will be. This phone is similar. Except that in my time, I could be anywhere and call someone with it.”

“Sure,” he told her, not believing her story.

“Okay, try this. If I’m not from the future, how do you explain this?” She asked, flipping open her phone and turning it on. There was a beep as the power came on. She saw Buck’s eyes go wide in astonishment. She handed him the phone so he could look at the display screen that had information like date, time, her name, and a power bar.

“How’d you do this?” He asked her.

“I can’t explain it so that you would understand it. But I’m from the future. How about this?” She asked, taking the phone from him and pulling out her pager. She flipped the on/off switch several times, making it beep. Then she handed it to him.

“Push that black switch all the way down,” she instructed him. She watched him as he carefully pushed the switch. When the pager vibrated in his hand, he dropped it in astonishment.

She picked up the pager and put it back in her purse. Pulling out her wallet, she opened it and handed it to him.

“See that white card with my picture on it?” She asked him, indicating her driver’s license.

“Yeah.”

“See right here, where it says DOB? That means date of birth. And see that red bar? That says I turned 21 in the year 1996. See this?” She asked, pulling out her paper money. She handed them to him.

“See where it says Series? Under it is says 1993. What you’re holding now is what we use for money in my time.”

She pulled out the pictures in her wallet next.

“This is a picture of my nephew when he was born. See here? It says he was born on November 21, 1995.”

“This can’t be true,” he told her, but she could tell that somewhere inside him, he believed her.

“Then how do you explain my having these things? I’m from the future Buck. I could give you more proof by telling you things that will happen soon in the future.”

“Like what?”

“Like this war everyone is worried about? It will happen, and soon. It will become known as The Civil War. Lincoln will be elected President. Slavery will be abolished in a few years. Blacks will even run for President in my time,” she told him. She could see the astonishment in his face. He believed her.

“You believe me now, don’t you?”

“I guess I have to. I don’t know how else to explain all this. So how did you end up here?”

“That I don’t know. Something happened when I hit my head. I don’t understand this. In my time, it’s still impossible to time travel, though somewhere in my time, I’m sure there’s some scientist trying.”

“Is that how you knew Jimmy?” Buck asked, referring back to her first dinner with them. “Does he become famous or something?”

“Or something,” Amanda answered vaguely. She could not tell him that Jimmy would become a famous gunfighter who would die when someone shot him in the back. She had been trying to find a way to warn Jimmy about it, but had not found a way yet.

“Oh,” Buck replied, knowing she was hiding something about Jimmy’s future, but he did not want to push her into revealing something she did not want to.

“You can’t tell anyone else about this, okay? I don’t want everyone finding out about me.”

“Okay. This will all be between you and me,” he promised.

“Thank you, Buck. For believing me.”

Amanda arrived at the schoolhouse early the next morning to get everything ready for her students. Walking inside, she began to open the drapes and windows to allow the fresh air and sunshine in. Walking to her desk, she noticed for the first time, the bouquet of flowers lying on her desk with a letter.

Picking up the flowers, she held them to her nose and smelled them. Lying them back on the desk, she picked up the folded letter and began to read.

My Dearest Miss Peterson,
Please forgive my assertive nature in leaving these flowers for you. However, since I first saw you, I have been unable to stop thinking about you. You are the prettiest and smartest woman I have ever seen. I hope you like the flowers. When I saw them, I immediately thought of you.

She had a secret admirer. She smiled at the thought. She had never had one before and she felt honored by it.

I wonder who it is? She thought to herself. She had met quite a few people since she first came to Sweetwater. The letter could be from several of them. Whoever it was, had access to the schoolhouse, though.

She set the letter down on the desk and walked outside. She looked around the countryside, seeing if there was not a clue out there as to who had left her the flowers. Not seeing anything, she walked around the schoolhouse, hoping to find a clue. Coming to the back door, something caught her attention.

Kneeling in front of the door handle, she examined the lock. She was not an expert, but she had taken several classes and read books on criminal investigation. Running a finger over the lock, she felt the scratch marks around the locking mechanism. Someone had picked this lock. She was sure of it. When she had received the keys to the schoolhouse, she had immediately tried them out on all the doors, to make sure they worked. The scratches on the lock were not there when she had done that.

She stood up and looked around again. The scratches on the lock completely changed the tone of the letter. She began to feel a little frightened. Her admirer did not have access to the schoolhouse; he had broken into it. A sincere admirer would have left the flowers on the porch. Someone who would break into a home or school to leave flowers could not be sincere. There was something more sinister behind it.

She wanted to leave and go get Teaspoon, to have him look at this and give her his thoughts about it all, but her students began to arrive. Forcing herself to push thoughts of her admirer and his actions to the back of her mind, she focused on the day ahead. After school was over, she would show this to Teaspoon.

“Well, you’re right, Amanda,” Teaspoon agreed, standing up to stretch his back. “Whoever left you those flowers isn’t ta be trusted. ‘Specially since he broke into the school to leave them.”

“So what do I do now?” She asked him.

“Well, first of all, you’re not goin’ anywhere alone ‘til we figure out who this admirer of yours is.”

“Teaspoon, I have a school to run. I can’t teach with a bodyguard watching my every move,” she argued.

“It’s the only way. We can’t have you goin’ around by yourself. Who knows what he might do next.”

“So far it’s pretty harmless, Teaspoon. Maybe he was just over anxious and didn’t think about what he was doing or how it would look,” she told him.

“Do ya honestly believe that?”

“No,” she admitted.

Though she would not admit it, the whole thing made her a little nervous. The situation had the ring of a potential stalker. When she was in college, she had once found herself the object of a co-workers unwanted affections. She had only wanted to be friends, but he wanted a relationship. He had not stalked her, per-se, but he had blown up her pager for weeks. Some days, she would receive over 20 voice-mails and pages from him. She ended up having to quit her job because he had made her uncomfortable. Eventually, he had given up, but she knew that not all situations ended that way. Many stalkers believed their victims loved them. If the stalker begins to believe their victims affections are changing, or someone comes between them, they, more often than not, turn violent.

“So then it’s agreed, one of the boys will stay with you at all times,” Teaspoon told her.

“Nothings agreed, Teaspoon. The fact hasn’t changed that I have a school to run, and I can’t do that effectively if someone’s watching me all the time. I can take care of myself.”

“Let me rephrase it then. It’s not up for discussion. You will not go anywhere by yourself. One of the boys will escort you to and from school. They don’t have to stay during the day, but they will be here before schools out so that they can see you home. Understand?”

Amanda realized arguing was useless. She nodded her head in agreement.

“We will have these locks changed though, even though it’s probably useless to do so. If he picked this lock, he can pick any that we put in.”

“Okay,” she agreed. Suddenly, she was not scared anymore, but angry. Angry that whoever had left her the flowers had forced her to change her life so drastically. She was an independent woman. She was used to taking care of herself, and now she unwillingly had a bodyguard. She had faith in Teaspoon though. He would find out who had left her the flowers. Then everything would go back to normal.

“You don’t know who sent these to you?” Lou asked, turning the flowers over in her hands.

“No. It could be anyone,” Amanda answered. They were all sitting around the table in the bunkhouse. Teaspoon had explained what they had found to the riders.

“The point is, whoever sent her these, broke inta the school ta leave them. Maybe he didn’t mean nothin’ by it, but we’re not takin’ that chance. One of you will ride with Amanda to and from school every day ‘til we find out who left ‘er these flowers,” Teaspoon instructed.

“We can do that,” Cody agreed, looking at the other riders who nodded their agreement.

“Good. Amanda’s not to leave your sight. Even for a minute, understand?”

“Yes,” the riders told him at the same time.

“Good. Jimmy, you’re goin’ ta go with Amanda tomorrow morning. Ya don’t have to stay there the whole day, but ya have ta be there at two o’clock when school gets out. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Jimmy told him.

“I don’t know Teaspoon,” Cody disagreed. “Don’t ya think maybe Jimmy should stay there? Maybe he could learn ta read,” he finished.

“That’s up ta him. I’m just want ya there when school’s over,” Teaspoon re-iterated, not laughing at the joke.

“Is that understood, Amanda?” Teaspoon asked, looking over at her.

“Yes,” she sullenly answered.

The ride to the schoolhouse the next morning was void of conversation. Amanda wanted to talk, but Jimmy was preoccupied with watching their surroundings, looking for anyone who might be following them. She wanted to get to the schoolhouse early today since she had decided, the night before, to leave the cleaning until the morning.

“You don’t have to stay, Jimmy,” she told him as they pulled up in front.

“Teaspoon wants me to stay, and I’m stayin’,” he told her as they climbed down from the buckboard.

Amanda unlocked the front door and they stepped inside.

“I thought you wanted to clean up this morning? It looks pretty clean,” Jimmy told her. “I did. When I left yesterday, all these desks were in a circle. There were drawings all over my desk that I wanted to tape to the walls. The trash can was full of trash, there was dirt on the floor and I hadn’t erased the chalkboard,” she told him as she looked around the immaculate schoolroom. The desks were lined up perfectly, the pictures had all been put up on the walls in neat rows, the chalkboard was a shiny black again, and the trashcan was empty. The floor was spotless and there was the distinct smell of wood polish in the air. The schoolhouse was cleaner than it had been on the first day of school.

“Stay here,” Jimmy ordered her. She stayed where she was as he searched the school, not because he had told her to, but because she was still in awe of how clean everything was.

“There’s no one here,” he told her when he returned.

“I didn’t think so,” she replied.

“I found this on the desk,” he told her, handing her a letter.

“’My Dearest Miss Peterson,’” Amanda read aloud.
“’I am so happy you liked the flowers. I could tell by your smile that you thought they were pretty. Unfortunately, they were no where near as beautiful as you are. I have been unable to stop thinking about the way your smile lit up you face. I love to watch you with the children. You are so good with them. When you have children of your own, I know you will be a good mother. I cleaned up your classroom for you. You rushed out of there so quickly last night. Did you have somewhere important that you needed to be? I hope you like what I did. I did it to celebrate our first anniversary since we met. I wish I could have done something more romantic, but these feelings I have for you are new to me. Please be patient with me. I’m sure you’ve had many suitors, but none will treat you as nicely as I will. I can’t wait until I can see you again. I will count the minutes until I can see your beautiful smiling face once again.
Until I see you next time.’”

“Your first anniversary?” Jimmy asked when she lowered the letter.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” she told him.

“The guy sounds crazy.”

“Maybe,” Amanda agreed.

“Teaspoon’s gonna want ta see that letter.”

“I know. Why don’t you take it to him?” She asked, handing it over to him.

“Okay,” he responded, taking the letter from her. He folded it and put it in his pocket.

“He was watching me,” she told him.

“What do you mean?”

“That part in his letter where he said he could tell by my smile that I liked his flowers. He had to be watching me then.”

“He was that close and you didn’t see him?”

“He had to be looking through a window, he wasn’t inside,” she answered.

“That’s to close for me. I’m not leaving you here alone today.”

“There is going to be fifteen students with me all day until school’s out. I’ll be fine. You can go back home.”

“I’m not leaving you here with some strange guy out there watching you.”

“Jimmy,” she began, her voice firm, “I will be fine. I am telling you to go home as soon as the kids start coming. Come back after school.”

“Are you sure?” He asked reluctantly.

“I’m sure,” she insisted.

“’My Dearest Amanda,
I wish I could have stayed to see how you liked my anniversary gift to you, but I had to go to work early today. I promise that won’t happen again. I did come by the school after it was out so I could see you home. You really shouldn’t travel this area alone. A woman as beautiful as you might attract some men who would not be concerned with making you happy. They would only bring you harm. Unfortunately, James Hickok was already there. I know that he stays with you at the Pony Express Station, but to travel with him alone. What would people think? I will not have anyone in town think unkindly of you. Maybe you did it to hurt me? Have I done something to offend you? Is that it? I do not understand why else you would risk your reputation to be seen alone with him. Is there something between you two? You don’t have to be afraid to tell me. It would never change my feelings for you. Unless he’s threatening you. Is that it? He has the nickname “Wild Bill” for a reason. I won’t let him hurt you. I promise you that. I’ll take care of him. Don’t you worry about it anymore. I promise you, I won’t let anything come between us.’”

“What do you think he means by he won’t let anything come between you two?” Cody asked her, taking the letter from her and rereading it.

“He’s threatening him. He thinks that Jimmy is a threat to him. And to this “relationship” he thinks we have. Someone needs to warn him,” Amanda told him.

“He’s already left on his run by now. There’s no way to warn him now,” Cody reminded her.

“I forgot. Isn’t there some way to catch up to him?”

“Not likely, he has to much of a head start. The best we can do is wait for him to get back. Don’t worry,” Cody assured her, “Jimmy can take care of himself.”

“How can he protect himself against something he doesn’t know about?”

“This is hard for me too, but there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Cody told her.

Amanda could not believe how slowly the day dragged by. She could hardly concentrate on the lessons she was teaching. By the time two o’clock arrived, Amanda thought she would go crazy.

“Okay, I’m ready, let’s go,” she told Cody after the last student had left. She pulled her cloak around her shoulders as she ran ahead of him out of the schoolhouse. She locked the door behind him and ran to the buckboard where she waited impatiently for Cody.

Cody climbed up beside her and they made their way to the station as quickly as they could. Amanda could tell by his silence that Cody was just as worried as she was. He was trying not to show it, but Cody was never quiet unless something was wrong.

When they pulled into the station, Amanda could tell immediately that something was wrong. Everything was quiet except for a wind cutting through the trees. It was to quiet for a day like today. Except for Jimmy, no one had a ride, so someone should have been outside. The horses were still slowing down when Amanda jumped from the buckboard.

“Amanda!” Cody called after her as she raced to the bunkhouse. She threw open the door and saw everyone inside, huddled around Jimmy’s bed.

“Is he---?” Amanda asked, unable to finish the sentence.

“He was shot on his way back from his ride,” Teaspoon told her quietly.

“How is he?”

“The doctor says he’ll be okay. He was lucky, the bullet only went clean through and there was no internal damage. The Kid found him on his way into town to run errands for Emma.”

Amanda leaned against the doorframe, afraid her legs would give out. Cody came inside and Teaspoon repeated what he had told Amanda.

“How did you know something was wrong?” Emma asked her.

“He left me this letter today,” Amanda answered, pulling the letter from her apron pocket and handing it to Teaspoon.

Teaspoon quickly read it before passing it to Emma.

“I can’t believe it,” Emma said aloud.

“Now he thinks we’re threats to him,” Cody added.

“That’s absurd. Everyone in town knows that Amanda lives here with us. This guy must know too. How can he think one of us is a threat?” Lou asked.

“No one knows how the mind of someone like this works,” Teaspoon answered.

“The important thing to remember is that it isn’t your fault Amanda,” Emma told her.

“It might not be my fault directly, but this guy thinks we have a relationship. And until I know who he is, you all are in danger,” Amanda told them before leaving the bunkhouse. She walked to the house and up to her room. She changed quickly and headed for the barn where she saddled her favorite horse.

Leading him from the barn, she saw Buck walk out of the bunkhouse.

“Amanda!” He called, running towards her.

She ignored him and mounted the horse. Before Buck could reach her, she kicked the horse in his haunches and rode out of the station.

She headed for the hills west of town. When Buck had showed her around the area when she first arrived, he had shown her a hill that had a group of large rocks. She had fallen in love with that spot and the view it offered her. She had ridden there several times when she wanted to be alone. She headed there now.

She reached the rocks a small while later. Allowing the reigns to drag on the ground, she climbed the rocks. She reached her favorite rock and sat down. She loved this rock. It was larger than the rest and was shaped like a chair, somewhat.

Pulling her knees up, she looked out over the town of Sweetwater. She could see someone riding towards her. She could tell from the way he rode that it was Buck. He disappeared at the base of the hill and she knew it would only be a few minutes before he reached her.

She did not hear him walk up behind her, but she could sense him standing there, watching her.

“You can go ahead and sit down, I know you’re there,” she told him, not bothering to turn around. He came up beside her and sat down next to her.

“You shouldn’t have left by yourself,” he told her.

“I needed to get away. To think,” she told him.

“I know you’re worried about Jimmy, but he’ll be fine,” Buck assured her.

“I know he’ll be okay. I’m worried about the rest of you. Maybe next time one of you won’t be so lucky,” Amanda told him.

“We can take care of ourselves.”

“That’s what Jimmy thought and look what happened to him. We don’t know who this guy is. He could get any one of you anytime he wants too. He thought Jimmy was a threat to “us”. What happens next time he thinks one of you is a threat? Hell, he could be out there right now watching us. In fact, I’m sure he is. He’s probably planning how he’s going to get rid of you right now,” Amanda told him.

“He could try, but he won’t succeed,” Buck promised her.

“Don’t you understand Buck? He could be anyone. He could be the guy Teaspoon buys horses from. Or the blacksmith, or one of the guys in the bank, or the post office, or the telegraph office. He could be anyone. He could be the guy you pass on the street but wouldn’t look twice at.”

“Well then, I guess I’m going to have to be even more careful.”

“I just don’t want anything to happen to you,” she told him.

“Nothing will happen to me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just do.”

She searched his face for a sign, anything that could tell her how he could be so sure. All she could see was how positive he was that he would come out of this harm free.

“Why did you hate me so much when I first arrived?” She asked him suddenly.

“What?” He asked, confused by the sudden change in subject.

“When I first came here, you hated me. Why?” She repeated.

“I didn’t hate you.”

“You sure acted like you did.”

“I’m sorry about that,” he apologized.

“But why?”

“It’s a long story,” he told her.

“I’m not going anywhere. I really want to know, Buck. Did I do something that rubbed you wrong? What was it?”

“It wasn’t anything you did,” he assured her.

“Then what was it?” She asked, refusing to give up.

“A few months before you came, there was this girl. Kathleen Devlin. She was the daughter of the new owner of the bank,” Buck began, thinking back on a time that he had forced himself to stop thinking about a long time ago.

“She was beautiful. I was surprised when she seemed interested in me.”

Amanda wanted to ask him why he would be surprised, but she forced herself to remain silent.

“We started to seeing each other. I honestly thought that there was something special between us. But it turned out that she was only seeing me so that she could get back at her father and force him to get rid of one of his men. When you arrived, you reminded me of her a little. Her hair had more brown in it, but she had the same green eyes that you have. Except yours have this way of changing color that’s just amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“They change color depending on what I wear,” she told him.

“They’re beautiful.”

She smiled at his compliment and lowered her eyes. She never did learn how to take a compliment graciously.

Suddenly, Buck reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand. She leaned her head against his hand and he pulled her forward.

When he kissed her, she jumped at the electricity she felt pass between them. She responded eagerly to his kiss. When he pulled away from her suddenly, she was confused.

“What?” She asked him. He refused to look at her.

“I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry,” he told her.

“Why?”

“This just isn’t right, I’m sorry,” he repeated. Amanda knew there was more, but she did not ask. Something inside her told her it was about Kathleen. She wondered who this girl was and how she could have hurt Buck the way she did. Did she not realize just how lucky she was?

“Let’s go back,” she told him, standing up. She wanted to stay out there longer. She still had things she needed to think over, but she knew Buck would not let her stay alone. She could tell he was anxious to leave and she did not want to add to the torment he was obviously already feeling.

She led the way back down the rocks and mounted her horse. When he had mounted his, they rode silently back home.

Amanda,
I just don’t understand what’s happening. I told you I would take care of Hickok and I did. I could have killed him, but I didn’t. I just wanted him to get the message that he needed to stay away from you. He won’t bother you anymore. But then you repay me by going out alone with that Indian? I saw you with him on those rocks outside of town. I saw him kiss you. I waited for you to push him away, to slap him, to tell him that you are a lady. I waited for you to call me to come and protect you. But you kissed him back. Don’t deny it, because I saw you. Are you getting back at me for something? If I did something wrong, please tell me. We can work through this together. But you need to stay away from that Indian. Indians are dangerous to be around. I don’t know why Teaspoon Hunter even lets him ride for The Pony Express. He’s a savage who will turn against you the first chance he’s given. He’ll scalp you without giving it a thought. Remember that, Amanda. I’m only looking out for your best interests.

Amanda felt the anger rise within her as she read the letter. She had never been faced with such brutal prejudice against herself or her people before. Of course, he did not know she was part Native American, which suited her just fine. The less he knew about her, the happier she was.

“What is it?” Buck asked her. He had not wanted to come with her today, but something inside him made him go. Although he had pushed her away the day before, he could not stop thinking about her.

“Nothing,” she told him quickly, folding the letter.

“Can I read it?” He asked, holding out his hand.

“No,” she answered as quickly as before. She would never let him see this letter. If it had made her this angry, what would it do to him? She knew she could not protect him from all the prejudice he might face, but she could protect him from this.

“Why not?” He asked. He wanted to read the letter. Whatever was in it had made her angry. He had never seen her this angry before. He wanted to reach out to her, but he did not.

“Because I said so,” she snapped, instantly regretting the tone of her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out that way,” she apologized.

“That’s okay. I understand. This has been tough on you,” he told her. He did understand, but he still wanted to see that letter. He got the feeling she was trying to protect him from whatever was inside that letter.

“The kids are coming,” she told him as feet began to trample across the porch. She forced herself to smile as the students began to pile into the school.

As the day went on, she forgot about the letter, at least for the time. By the end of the day, snow had begun to fall.

“I know you are all anxious to get out of school and play in the snow,” she informed her class at the end of school. “I just want to let you all know that if it’s not snowing tomorrow, we will have school. But in the event that it is still snowing tomorrow morning, I will cancel school for the day. So if it’s snowing tomorrow morning, don’t bother coming to school, okay?” She asked the class. They nodded their understanding.

“Okay then. School is dismissed for the day.” She watched as they jumped to their feet and gathered their schoolbooks. They bundled themselves up and ran out the door. She helped some of the smaller children with their coats and watched them run after the older kids.

“You’re really good with them,” Buck told her when they were finally alone.

“They are good kids,” she replied, pulling on her own coat.

“You’ll be a great mother when you have kids of your own.”

“I guess. I never really thought about it,” she told him as they left the schoolhouse.

“Really? Why not?” He asked.

“I just never wanted kids of my own.”

“I thought all woman wanted children.”

“Maybe here they do, but in my time it’s different. A lot of women choose not to have children. I just never wanted to go through the misery of being pregnant for nine months. Morning sickness, hemorrhoids, swelling, weight gain, none of that appeals to me.”

“But to have a child of your own?” He asked.

“I just never wanted one. Maybe one of these days I’ll change my mind, but for now, I’m happy being responsible for only myself.”

“And women in your time actually think this way?”

“Yeah. It’s not socially acceptable. Whenever I told people I didn’t want to have children, they would always tell me that I would. That I would change my mind. Maybe I will. But no one will be more surprised than me if that happens. Mainly, I just could never see myself with anyone that I would want to have children with.”

“I find that hard to believe,” he disagreed.

“There just aren’t a lot of men in my time that I would want to have a child with. Let alone be a good father to that child.”

“What about here?”

“Who knows?” She told him, shrugging her shoulders.

Actually, there is one guy, she thought to herself as they pulled away from the schoolhouse. She looked over at Buck. She could see him being a good father.

Maybe if he ever gets over whatever is keeping him back. Then we’ll see what happens, she thought as they rode along.

Amanda could not sleep. Everytime she closed her eyes, she thought about the letters. When she did manage to sleep, she tossed and turned as nightmares assaulted her. Finally, at dawn, she gave up sleeping. She climbed out of bed exhausted, dreading the day ahead of her. Walking to the window, she looked out and was relieved to see it was still snowing. She just did not feel like teaching today. Having the day off would actually give her time to catch up on her grading. She had been pushing it off, her time preoccupied with thoughts of her “admirer”.

She walked across the room to her desk. Opening her satchel, she realized she had left the tests the students had taken the day before back at the school. She really wanted to get all her grading out of the way at once. She did not know when she would next have an opportunity to do it.

Getting dressed, she pulled quietly went downstairs, not wanting to wake Emma. She opened the front door and silently shut it behind her. She walked to the bunkhouse and was about to walk in when she stopped.

She really did not want to wake anyone to go with her. Because of the snow, this was the first day in a long time the riders would be able to sleep in for a long time. She just did not have the heart to take that from anyone. Besides, the school really was not that far from the station, only a few miles. She could get there and back before anyone even woke up. She knew Teaspoon would kill her when he found out, but by then, she would be back safely.

The thought of riding to the school alone did frighten her a little. Especially with her “admirer” stalking her. As a precaution, she decided, she would take a gun with her. What gun though? Emma only had rifles in her house and Amanda really did not want to ride with such a bulky weapon. Especially since she was not that proficient at firing them.

But if I had a handgun….she thought to herself as an idea formed in her head.

Quietly opening the door to the bunkhouse, she crept across the floor to Buck’s bed. Hanging on his bedpost was his holster with his two revolvers. Slipping one out, she tucked it into the back of her jeans. Tip-toeing back out of the bunkhouse, she shut the door behind her. She walked across the yard to the barn and quickly saddled a horse.

She rode as quickly as she could to the schoolhouse, carefully scanning the countryside around her. When she reached the schoolhouse, she wrapped the reigns around the porch railing and unlocked the door. Shutting the door behind her to keep the snow out, she walked to her desk.

Opening the top drawer, she pulled the stack of tests out. She sat in her chair and began to flip through them to make sure she was not missing any.

Suddenly, her chest began to tighten and her breathing became shallow. She froze. She strained her ears, listening for the smallest sound. All she could hear was the snow blowing outside, but her body told her someone was nearby.

She pulled the revolver from the back of her jeans and checked the chamber although she knew Buck always kept it completely loaded. Snapping the chamber closed, she set the revolver on the desk. She continued to listen, her body telling her that whoever had triggered the reaction was still out there.

Then she heard it. Footsteps walking up the stairs of the porch. She snatched the revolver off the desk and aimed it at the door. The footsteps approached the door and stopped. She held her breath as she waited for their next move. When they knocked, she jumped in her chair. Of all the things that had gone through her mind, knocking had not even occurred to her.

“Who is it?” She asked, forcing herself to sound normal. She stood up and walked to the front of the desk.

“Miss Peterson?” An unfamiliar voice called through the door.

“Who is it?” She repeated.

“It’s Mr. Paulson. From the town council? We met when you came to interview for the job. Can I come in?” He asked.

She searched her memory. She vaguely remembered the name, but she could not place a face to the name. Her chest was still tight, though her breathing had returned to normal. She returned to her seat and laid the revolver on her legs, keeping one hand on it.

“The door’s open,” she called.

She watched the door open and when he stepped through the door, she finally remembered who he was.

“Good morning, Mr. Paulson,” she greeted him warmly, though she was still wary.

“Good morning, Miss Peterson,” he reciprocated, closing the door behind him.

“What are you doing out here on a morning like this?” She asked him politely.

“Actually, I came out here because I wasn’t sure if you knew to cancel school today.”

“Oh yes. I told the students yesterday that if it was snowing this morning then school was canceled.”

“Good. I realized last night that after we hired you we never went over things like this. If school is canceled, why are you here? Especially on a morning like this?”

“I forgot to take their tests home with me last night, so I rode out here to grab them, especially since I have a whole day to spend grading papers.”

“That’s a good idea. Is that them there?” He asked, pointing to the pile in her hand.

“Yeah.”

“Well, listen. It’s still snowing pretty lightly right now, but we’re due for a pretty heavy snow anytime now. You really should head back home while the going’s still easy,” he recommended to her.

“That’s a good idea,” she agreed, taking the tests and tucking them into her satchel. She stood up, not realizing she still held the revolver.

“That’s a nice revolver,” he commented, bringing her attention to it.

“What? Oh. Thank you. The one thing Emma and Teaspoon have drilled into my head is that it’s not safe out here for a woman alone. I don’t normally carry a gun, especially to school,” she assured him.

“Don’t worry about it. Teaspoon and Emma are right, and you can never be to careful,” he agreed, opening the door and stepping outside. He waited by his horse while she locked the door. She was careful not to completely turn her back on him, because she still did not trust him fully. Especially since her chest had yet to loosen up.

She hung her satchel on her back and walked down the stairs to her horse. She unwrapped the reigns and pulled them over the horses head. She started to pull herself into the saddle, but the stirrup broke and she fell to the ground.

“Miss Peterson!” Mr. Paulson yelled, running to her side. “Are you okay?” He asked, helping her to her feet.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, brushing the snow off. “I hate it when that happens,” she continued, trying to make a joke to cover her embarrassment.

She bent down to pick up her satchel, which had fallen off when she fell. At that moment, when her guard was down, she felt a blinding pain on the back of her head. She fell forward into the snow, the pain to intense for her to react quickly. She knew instantly that her intuition had been right as she blacked out.

“Yeah? Well, consider it not accepted,” she shot back.

“I just don’t understand you Amanda. We were getting along so well. Everything was so perfect between us. I actually thought that we had a future together. But then you started seeing that Hickok fella,” he told her.

“We are just friends,” she interrupted him.

“And then I saw you kissing that Indian. What were you thinking?” He asked her.

“What makes you think I share your prejudice against the Native Americans?” She asked him.

“Native American? They aren’t Americans. They’re savages who murder people at will.”

“They are more American than you are. They were here first, and then the white man came and began to steal their land. What would you do?”

“I don’t understand this thinking of yours, Amanda.”

“Well don’t try. It’s above you.”

His slap stunned her and brought stars to her eyes. The ringing in her head reappeared and for a second she thought she would pass out again. She closed her eyes and willed herself to stay conscious. When the stars and ringing faded, she opened her eyes again. She decided to try another tactic. One she should have tried from the beginning.

“If you love me, than why are you doing this to me?” She asked him, her voice softer.

“It’s because I love you. I couldn’t just stand by and watch you destroy what we shared.”

“I wasn’t trying to destroy anything.”

“Then why did you kiss that Indian?”

“I was confused. Jimmy had been shot and they weren’t sure if he would make it. Why did you have to shoot him? We are just friends. He works for Teaspoon, who was kind enough to take me in when I was robbed and stranded out in the middle of nowhere. In fact, Jimmy was the one who found me and probably saved my life.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that he had saved your life. If I had known….Well, that can’t be changed now. I didn’t shoot him with the intent to kill him. I only wanted to injure him.”

“Thank you for that,” she told him. Talking to him like this was making her sick to her stomach, but she did not see any other choice.

“Could you bring me some water?” She asked him.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Of course you would be thirsty.”

He grabbed his water jug and brought it to her. Taking it from him, she tried to drink from it with her hands tied, but was unsuccessful.

“I can’t drink with my hands tied. Could you untie them for me?” She asked him.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t,” he told her.

“I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you. It’s just that I’m not used to being treated as nicely as you have treated me. It scared me, and I guess I let that fear get the best of me. I’m sorry I hurt you,” she told him, praying he would take the bait.

“Really?” He asked, coming closer to her.

“Really. I didn’t know you loved me so much until now. No one has ever gone to such lengths to show me they cared before.”

“I really do love you,” he told her, kneeling down in front of her.

“I know that now,” she replied, her voice becoming even softer.

He reached down and grabbed a hold of the ropes that tied her ankles. She held her breath in anticipation of becoming free. He looked up at her and stopped. Her heart began to beat quickly when she realized he had changed his mind.

“I’m sorry. I can’t. Not yet. Soon we’ll both be free,” he told her. She went cold with the realization of what his words meant.

He’s going to kill us both, she thought to herself in horror. She needed to get free, and soon.

“I understand,” she lied.

After it had been dark for some time, with no sign of Buck, Amanda realized she was on her own. Amanda looked over at Mr. Paulson, whose first name she had yet to learn. He was sound asleep on his bedroll. She watched him sleep, half-afraid to move, lest she wake him.

Finally, she realized she had no choice. She needed to get as far away from him as possible. Curling her legs up, she bent backwards so her hands could reach her boots. Her fingers were numb from lack of circulation. She pulled up the leg of her jeans and felt for the sheath that held her knife. Finding it, she worked her fingers up until they reached the strap that kept the knife in its sheath. She pulled at the strap. Her fingers slipped off several times before she got a good hold and finally managed to unsnap it. Grabbing the handle of the knife, she pulled it out.

She twisted the knife in her hands so the blade was facing up. Carefully, she began to move her hand up and down, sliding the blade against the rope. Her wrists became tired and soar. She almost gave up when she felt the rope give a little. With renewed hope, she began to cut faster.

When the rope fell from her wrists, she almost cried in relief. Getting control of herself, she looked over at Mr. Paulson before continuing. Pulling her knees up, she bent over her legs and quickly cut the rope away. She rubbed some of the circulation back into her wrists and ankles.

Standing up, she crept over to Mr. Paulson’s sleeping form. His gun was lying next to him, within easy reach of his hand. Bending down, she held her breath as she reached out to take hold of the gun. Suddenly, his hand snaked out and grabbed a hold of her wrist. She cried out in surprise as he lifted his head to look at her.

Without thinking, she fell back onto her bottom. Her sudden movement wrenched her wrist from his grasp. She took that moment to kick out with all her strength. Her feet connected with his face and a crunching sound was heard as she broke his nose. He screamed in pain. Grabbing the gun, she ran as fast as she could away from the campsite.

She did not know where she was going, just that she had to get away. As she ran, she kept looking behind her to see if he was following. She did not see anything, but she was sure he was there. She ran for as long as she could until she was gasping for air. She was not sure how long she had run though. She was an avid runner, running several miles several times a week. However, with her current circumstances, her ability to run was effectively hindered.

Unable to run any more, she ducked behind a tree to rest only to run into him. He wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side. She dropped the gun as she struggled to get free of him.

“Let me go!” She begged him, kicking him and hitting him in his chest with her head.

“It’s me, Amanda. It is Buck. You’re safe.” She heard Buck’s voice somewhere in her hysteria and thought it to be her imagination.

“No, no! Let me go!” She repeated, her hysteria quickly coming to the surface.

He let go of her with one arm and put his hand over her mouth. She tried to bite his hand, but he had cupped it out of the reach of her teeth. With his other arm, he pulled her closer to him and lowered his head so that his mouth was next to her ear.

“Amanda,” he whispered, “it’s me, Buck. You are safe now. Calm down,” he told her.

“Buck?” She asked, calming down enough to realize it was not her imagination.

“It’s me. Are you okay?” He asked her as he released her.

“Oh thank God!” She gasped, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him.

“Are you okay?” He asked again, hugging her back.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, pulling away from him.

“How’d you get away?”

“I managed to cut the ropes. We have to get out of here. He’s behind me somewhere.”

“My horse is nearby. Follow me,” he told her, taking her hand to lead the way.

Suddenly a shot rang out and Amanda was struck by flying pieces of bark from where the bullet struck. They stopped where they were and spun around to face the shooter.

“I can’t let you go with him, Amanda,” Mr. Paulson’s voice rang out.

Buck grabbed her and pulled her behind him.

“You don’t have any say in my life,” she yelled to him.

“I thought you loved me.”

“How could I love someone who shoots my friends, kidnaps me, and tries to kill me?”

“I’m only doing what’s good for you.”

“You’re not my father! You’re a freak!” She yelled back, taunting him. She knew better, but she could not help it. She hated him.

Buck reached back, grabbed a hold of her wrist, and gave it a little squeeze. She understood his message and fell silent.

“You don’t mean that Amanda. We were meant for each other! You know that!” He yelled back.

Amanda remembered the gun she had dropped. Slowly, she kneeled down and felt around their feet for the gun. When her fingers touched the cold barrel, she tightened her hand around it and stood up just as slowly.

“When I say go, run behind the tree,” Buck whispered. He did not say anything more, but she understood perfectly his plan.

“We’re meant for each other!” He yelled again. They could tell by the sound of his voice that he was loosing control.

“Go!” Buck told her. Amanda ran for the closest tree and jumped behind it. She heard several shots fire, and ducked down trying to make herself as small as possible. One last shot sounded, then the night was silent.

She raised her head and listened. She could not hear anything. She clutched the gun tightly in her hand. She sensed someone approaching the tree. Turning around silently, she aimed the gun.

“Buck?” She called out in a loud whisper.

“It’s me,” his familiar voice answered.

She lowered the gun in relief as he appeared.

“Is he?” She asked, unable to finish the sentence.

“He’s dead.”

“Thank God,” she sighed. Dropping the gun, she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck.

“It’s all over,” he told her, hugging her to him.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” She asked him suddenly, taking a step back to look at him.

“I’m fine. How are you?” He asked, reaching up to touch her face.

“Relieved,” she answered, covering his hand with hers.

She looked up at him and new he was going to kiss her. She closed her eyes as he lowered his head. When she felt his lips on hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

This time, she knew when he was going to pull away.

“Buck, don’t pull away from me,” she begged him.

“I can’t do this,” he told her before walking away.

“Is this because of Kathleen?” She called after him. She watched as he jerked.

“It has nothing to do with Kathleen,” he told her.

“That’s bullshit Buck,” she disagreed.

“What do you know about it?” He asked her, spinning around to face her.

“I know that there’s something between us.”

“Well, nothing can happen.”

“I’m not Kathleen, Buck. I’m not using you to get back at someone.”

“Leave Kathleen out of this.”

“I’m not going to do that Buck.”

“Well you don’t have a choice.”

“You know what, Buck? Fine. Have it your way,” she told him, her body shaking from the anger coursing through her.

“Obviously, we’re not going anywhere tonight. So you just stay over there and….and….” she stumbled over her words, as she tried to figure out what she wanted to say.

“Just stay over there,” she finally spat out, upset with herself that she could not come up with anything more substantial.

Dropping to the ground, she curled up into a ball. It was freezing, but she vowed not to let Buck see her shiver. She heard him walk off. A few minutes later, he returned and threw her a blanket and a bedroll. Sitting up, she set up her bed. Crawling under the blanket, she rolled onto her side away from Buck and pulled her knees up.

Silently, he made a fire that gave her a little more warmth. Bending her arm under her head, she closed her eyes. She knew she would not sleep, but she would not let him know it.

“Good job, Jessica. Elizabeth, you’re up next,” Amanda said as Jessica finished her report. As Jessica walked to her seat, the door opened and Buck walked in.

Amanda was surprised to see him. He had avoided her since they returned home over a week ago. She was still angry with him, and seeing him in her school flustered her.

“I guess this is your lucky day, Elizabeth. You guys can go home early today. But you’re up first thing tomorrow, Elizabeth,” she warned her.

She watched her students gather their schoolbooks and run out the door, laughing and talking.

“What do you want?” She asked after the last student had left.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Go ahead and talk,” she told him, gathering her papers together.

“I’ve spent the last week thinking about what happened. About what you said.”

“Good for you.”

“Just listen, will you? I’ve been thinking about what you said. And you’re right.”

Amanda’s head snapped up and she looked at him.

“What are you saying, Buck?”

“I’m saying that you were right. I’ve been comparing you to Kathleen, and you’re not her.”

“You finally realized that?” She asked, a small smile coming to her face.

Buck took that as a positive response and took a few steps forward. Amanda stepped from behind her desk and walked in front of it. She leaned back against her desk as she waited for him to continue.

“It took me a while to realize it, but I finally did. If it’s not to late….” he paused.

“Yeah?” She asked, stepping forward in anticipation.

“If it’s not to late, maybe we could start over?”

“Start over?” She asked, teasing him, but at the same time, wanting to hear him say the words.

“Yeah. You know….start over from where I screwed up last week.”

Amanda walked up to him.

“Where would that be?”

“Right about here,” he replied, pulling her to him.

“Here?” She asked.

“Actually, here,” he corrected her, leaning down to kiss her.

She returned his kiss eagerly.

“Okay,” she told him, when he pulled back. “You need to stop doing that.”

“I just wanted to say that I thought it was pretty incredible what you did that day

“What did I do?”

“When you told me to follow the tracks. That you were still alive.”

“You heard that?”

“Yeah. It was pretty incredible.”

“It worked. Huh, who knew,” she told him with a shrug of her shoulders.

“How’d you do it?” He asked her.

“It must be the Lakota in me.”

“Lakota?”

“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I’ll tell you about it sometime,” she told him, grabbing a hold of his shirt and pulling him to her. Pulling his head down, she kissed him.