Chapter 3
“Too slow Jimmy!” yelled the unknown rider as she came close enough to see her long plait swinging behind.
“Thats not fair! You got a head start!” he retorted.
“I’ll tell you whats not fair. The two of you cut me off back there otherwise I’d have won!” stated Cody.
The other two looked at each other and replied in unison “Sure Cody!” By now all the others had gathered on the porch and were watching this exchange with amusement.
“Jimmy, Cody, aren’t you going to introduce us?” asked Noah.
“Boys I’d like you to meet Miz Amy Hickok, sharpshooter extraordinaire!” proclaimed Cody theatrically.
“Hickok?” queried Lou adjusting her glasses.
“Thats right! This here is Jimmy’s little sister.....and I saved her life!” Jimmy and Amy groaned.
“Your sister? I thought Celinda was your sister” said Lou.
“She is, I got two”.
“You never told us” Lou said accusingly.
“He don’t gotta tell us everything Lou” replied Cody “Besides you never told us you were a girl for ages!”
“I guess” she sighed “Welcome to Sweetwater. How long are you staying for Amy?” Amy glanced at Jimmy “We’re not sure yet” he replied.
“Cody! Jimmy! Did ya get the parcel alright?” A well weathered man emerged from behind the barn and stopped with surprise upon seeing Amy and tipped his hat
“Well I’ll be!” he chuckled “This here parcel is much prettier than I expected! Boys?” Cody reached into his saddle bag for the parcel.
“Teaspoon this is my sister Amy. We found her out on the trail, her stage had been held up and the driver killed” explained Jimmy.
“Pleased to meet you mam. Sounds like you have had a bit of an adventure. We better find you a place to sleep”.
“Amy, I have a spare room if you like to stay there. It is a bit more comfortable than the Bunkhouse” offered the lady.
“Thanks Rachel” answered Jimmy.
“Sounds great” lied Amy, she would have preferred the Bunkhouse rather than being shut away from all the fun but she knew Jimmy would never allow it.
“I’ll help with your things” offered Lou. Amy shook her head “No need, I don’t have much. The rest is coming on the next stage”.
“Do you have any clean things?” asked Rachel.
Jimmy raised his eyebrows at Amy. They had already had that argument when she insisted on packing everything, except the clothes she was currently wearing, into the trunk back in Senoa.
“No” she answered, regretting winning that argument a few days ago. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
“You can borrow one of my dresses until your trunk arrives” offered Lou glancing at Jimmy who met her glance with a warm smile. Amy prickled wondering why she was being so kind and decided to keep an eye on this female rider.
Amy returned downstairs feeling much better after the bath in lilac water that Rachel had prepared for her and she had to admit that it was nice to be back in clean clothes.
Lou’s dress fitted perfectly and blue was her favourite color so all in all things weren’t so bad she decided.
She stepped out on the porch. A muddy Lou threw dirt at Jimmy who ducked in the nick of time.
“It’s not my fault you’re pig-headed!” he yelled.
“You could have told me the fence was busted!”
“I did!” he laughed “but you didn’t listen”.
“You said I couldn’t climb it, not that I shouldn’t climb it!”
“Same thing”.
“No! It is not!” she retorted heaving another clump of mud that this time hit its target.
“Alright! That does it!” Jimmy charged at the culprit grabbing her by the waist and carried her upside down to the mud puddle.
“Put me down!” Lou was hitting at any part of his body that she could reach.
“Not until you agree to wash my jacket that you messed up!”
Amy turned to go back inside “They’re almost as bad as you two” Cody approached grinning, she saw the Kid standing behind him with a sullen face and guessed the reason.
“Mmm” she answered and returned to the house.
At dinner that night the scene was retold for the benefit of those who had missed it, only Amy and the Kid failed to be amused by it. Amy had never seen Jimmy act that way with anyone but her and she felt left out, like he had moved on and left her behind.
Cody noticed her quietness “Cheer up, at least you managed to stay out of trouble for a change!”.
She forced a smile, resisting the urge to say that she wished she had been part of the fun.
Amy awoke to the sun streaming in her window and realised that she had slept longer than she intended.
She leapt out of bed and watched the activity below her window, Buck was saddling his horse and talking to Ike, Cody was precariously trying to spin a lasso and Lou and Jimmy were fixing the offending fence.
She dressed hurriedly and raced downstairs and was out the door before Rachel could ask her about breakfast.
“Hi Jimmy” she hugged her brother.
“Hi Amy” he replied enclosing her in a bear hug “Sleep well?”
“Like a baby”
“Great.” He turned back to Lou “..but no one could figure out where he came from so...”
She left them to their conversation feeling angry and hurt. She hadn’t seen him for years and now that she had a chance to talk to him that girl was monopolizing him!
She looked over towards Cody who was yelling fairly loud expletives and couldn’t help but laugh when she saw the rope tangled around his body.
“What are you laughing about?” he yelled to her upon hearing her laugh.
Amy shook her head still laughing and returned to the house for some breakfast.
“I hope your ears aren’t too delicate” Rachel was standing on the porch smiling.
“Hardly” replied Amy.
There was a knock on the door, Rachel looked up and called “Come on in Louise.”
“I was just wondering if Amy was around”. Amy entered the room “Hi, I’m on my way to the swimming hole and wondered if you want to come” explained Lou.
Amy would dearly have loved to go swimming, the morning sun was already hot but she remembered how this woman was behaving with Jimmy and shook her head. “No, thank you. I really don’t feel like it” she answered coldly and left the room again but not before noticing the look of confusion pass between Lou and Rachel.
“Let them think what they wanted” she thought to herself, she didn’t have to like everyone she met and she certainly didn’t like or trust this boyish woman.
“Rachel, are you ready?” called Cody.
“No not really” Amy could hear the reply “What about taking Amy with you? She might like to see the town.”
She could hear Rachel moving towards the stairs “Amy, Cody is going into town to get supplies. Do you want to go with him?”
“Cody was fun” she thought to herself, besides she had been here nearly two weeks and hadn’t been back to town since collecting her trunk last week.
“Coming” she called back while grabbing her bonnet and stuffing her feet into her boots.
She waddled out to the buckboard with the laces trailing on the ground. Cody clicked the horse to move then noticed Amy with her feet on the seat facing him while fastening her boot laces.
“Surprised you didn’t come in bare feet!” he teased.
Amy looked up and poked her tongue out at him. “If we break a wheel you’ll bite it off!” he warned trying not to laugh.
“If you watch where you are going instead of sassing me we’ll be fine!” she retorted with mock annoyance. She looked around her at the landscape and wondered if this sight would ever become mundane to her, she doubted it.
“Beautiful land out here isn’t it!” said Cody as though reading her mind.
“Sure is. Were you born out here?” “Nope, I came from back east but I read about this wild, untamed land and knew that if I really wanted to find out what life was all about then I had to head west” Cody explained.
Amy laughed “You sound like Jimmy! I remember him saying much the same thing before he left”.
“Why did you come west? It seems strange for a lady to travel west by herself”. “So now I’m lady” Amy teased.
“I was scared you’d use that gun if I called you anything else” he joked. “You never answered my question”
“Lots of reasons I guess - curiosity, boredom... and a chance to see my big brother again. Things were getting a little strange in Topeka, what with the war coming and all...” her voice trailed off.
Cody glanced over waiting for her to continue but she was obviously lost in thought so he let her be.
While Sweetwater was not as large as Topeka it was more likely to be referred to as a bustling little town rather than a sleepy one.
As usual horses lined the outside of the saloon and there were several women, some with children, walking through the street or chatting to a neighbor.
Amy spotted Teaspoon standing near the Marshal office talking to an elderly gentleman, he was well dressed and she guessed him to be doctor or lawyer or some other businessman.
“Where did I put the list?” asked Cody rummaging around in his sleeves.
“You didn’t. Rachel gave it to me on my way out”, she removed the list from her bodice.
Cody laughed “Sure glad I didn’t think to look there!”
“There are no pockets in this dress so it was the only place. Come on” she jumped down from the buckboard before Cody even had a chance to offer her a hand.
Inside Tompkins store was quiet but Amy recognized the mother and daughter that she had shared the stage with to Senoa, they were with a bearded man that Amy guessed to be the father.
“Hello” she greeted them “Did you come out on the next stage?”
“Oh hello Miss Hickok. Yes we did and thankfully it was much quieter than our previous trip” she turned to remove her daughter’s hand from the candy jar that it had just entered, “are you staying with your brother?”
“Yes he rides for the pony express that has a station just out of the town.”
“We are in the Robertson’s old place which is near to the station. Come by some time for a visit” the woman offered kindly.
“I’d like that” Amy replied with genuine enthusiasm, she felt a little guilty that she hadn’t remembered the woman’s name or her daughter’s but she had been so caught up with herself on that trip that it hadn’t seemed important at the time.
She found Cody by the counter checking things off on the list.
“Is that everything?” she asked peering over his shoulder to read the list. “Almost. Just need the coffee”
“I’ll get that. I saw it on my way in”. She returned quickly with the coffee and placed it on the pile of supplies.
Tompkins totaled the bill as Cody separated off the lighter items for Amy to carry to the wagon.
“Mind your toes!” warned Cody as he pushed a sack of sugar off the wagon while he reorganized the other sacks.
As she stepped back she saw a man walking towards the hotel, it was more the walk than the figure that she recognized, it was a sort of springing step.
She held her breath as he turned to talk to a passing horseman. “Amy!” she realised Cody was talking to her.
“Help me lift this back on”.
“Ok” she was visibly shaken and Cody turned to see what had upset her.
“Do you know him?”
“No” she lied.
Cody knew she was hiding something but already he knew her well enough to know that there was no point trying to get information out of her that she didn’t want you to have.
“Lets go” she said briskly “I’m starving”.
Cody laughed, with her and her appetite around the others left off their usual jokes about his eating habits!
