The sweet sound of violins filled the room as the beautiful young lady sipped the last of her punch. She looked around her and was surrounded by delicate silks and taffetas whirling, gents dressed in their finest with nothing but smiles on their faces. Everybody was having a good time.

The lady sighed to herself in sheer pleasure as she meandered around the room searching for the man she loved. Her last dance with him had been cut short by another young fellow, eager to dance with the woman who was most definitely the belle of the ball.

Everyone was completely enchanted by the lady. Her perfectly upswept auburn tresses emphasized her sparkling brown eyes. Her gorgeous mauve silk gown covered with ecru lace accentuated her lovely figure. There was no question as to why every gentleman in the room wanted to dance with this lady, or why every other woman eyed her with curious envy.

When the lady thought her love was nowhere to be found, she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder from behind. "May I have the pleasure of this dance, Louise?"

She turned around to face her beloved, a bashful smile across her lips, and replied, "You may."

Louise slightly lifted the skirt of her gown so she would not step on the hem as she was whisked away to the dance floor. She felt a gentle hand in hers and another around her waist as the two seemed to dance to music all their own.

"Kid, I've never been so happy before," Louise said, her voice soft and delicate. She closed her eyes for a moment, reveling in the glory of the evening, waiting for a similar reply.

"I'm not Kid," Louise heard. She quickly opened her eyes and suddenly, the Kid, whom she had been dancing with just a moment ago, was now Jimmy!

"Jimmy? What are you doing here?" Louise cried out. "Jimmy?"

"Lou? What is it, Lou?"

Suddenly, Lou felt someone shaking her slightly and she opened her eyes.

"Lou?" Jimmy asked, obviously confused. "You were just having a dream."

Lou wrinkled her brow in confusion. She looked around the room and saw Jimmy standing by the edge of her bunk.

"Must've been one heck of a dream, Lou," Jimmy said, a grin beginning to cross his face.

Lou sat up and rubbed her eyes and seemed to return to the real world. "It was a real nice dream," Lou replied, remembering the dance in her dream with fondness. Then, as she recalled the very end of the dream, she seemed disturbed. "But then, I don't know, it became strange...maybe not in a bad way, but strange all the same."

There was no way Lou was going to tell Jimmy how he had popped up in her dream and replaced Kid as her dancing partner. But then she had called out Jimmy's name, not only in the dream. Jimmy had heard her.

Oh, good Lord! Jimmy became my new dancing partner, Lou thought to herself. Buck had mentioned before how Indians believed that there are hidden meanings and truths in dreams. Her eyes widened as she replaced in her mind what the word 'dancing' had become a familiar euphemism for. Lou's face turned a brighter shade of pink as she thought of what the dream could have meant and also of the possibility that Jimmy knew that she was dreaming of him.

"Well, I guess that's what nappin' during the middle of the day does to you. Gives you strange dreams," Jimmy teased. He knew Lou had just come back from a long run and must have collapsed on her bed from sheer exhaustion, as he often did after a similar hard day's work.

Lou smiled nervously as she continued to ponder her dream.

Jimmy just stood by the edge of her bed for an awkward moment of silence before finally turning to walk over to his bunk. "Well, I'm gonna go finish cleanin' my guns."

Lou decided she should leave Jimmy's presence before her face revealed more than it already had. "Yeah, I guess I should start washin' up for supper. Seems like most of the trail dust from my run ended up on me," Lou joked, as she rose from her bunk to make her way to the showers outside.

Jimmy's eyes followed Lou as she exited the bunkhouse. He smiled because he knew Lou's dream involved him in some way. I've dreamt about you, too, Louise, Jimmy said to himself, more than you know.

-The End-