“Daddy!”

Jimmy turned and scanned down the street for the source of the voice and saw his young daughter break free of her mother’s grasp and run toward him. When she reached him he swung her up in his arms and gently tickled her side eliciting giggles from the young girl.

“Hello there princess, what are you doing in town?”

“Mommy had to go to doctor,” she replied.

Jimmy looked down at his wife, who had finally made her way to them. He smiled lovingly at her and gently placed a kiss on her lips.

“Everything alright?” he asked as they walked back toward his office.

“Doc says I’m just fine. Your son is strong and healthy.”

“My son?” he asked and looked down at her rounded belly.

“Don’t laugh, but I just know it’s a boy,” she said. “This time is much different than with–“

“Daddy? Daddy, can I have some canny?” the little voice near his ear asked.

The family stopped in front of the general store. Jimmy saw the expectant and hopeful look on his daughter’s face and his heart tugged with desire to indulge her. Then he saw his wife shake her head no behind the little girl’s head.

“Sorry princess, not today. Why don’t you go on home with Mommy and I’ll see you at supper.”

“Alright,” the little girl said sadly as he set her down. She reached up and took her mother’s hand, but looked up at Jimmy. He gave her hand a little squeeze before letting it go and winked when he was sure his wife couldn’t see it. The little girl smiled back and then tugged on his jacket. Laughing at her ritual, he bent down so she could kiss his cheek.

Straightening up he kissed his wife and watched her walk away with their daughter. As soon as his family was in the buckboard and headed home, he went inside the store to pick up a little treat for his daughter. Only a few more hours until his deputy arrived to relieve him and then he could spend the evening home with those he loved.

Walking into the saloon, the marshal grumbled and then instinctively put his hand on his gun. Luke Murphey had been nothing but one aggravation after another ever since he came to town. Nightly, it seemed he was stirring up trouble in the saloons, but nothing ever could be pinned on him. Tonight was different, he’d been caught red-handed cheating and then he’d hit a saloon girl.

“Murphey, I warned you, you caused any more problems in my town I was lockin’ you up.”

“Now Marshal, it was just a spirited disagreement. No harm done.”

“You hit a woman Murphey, and you’re a cheat. I’m takin’ you in and in the mornin’ you’re clearing out.”

Murphey’s hand flashed for his gun, but before it cleared, the marshal’s gun had already fired. Suddenly the air was filled with a second shot and the crowd was stunned as the marshal fell forward to his knees then slumped to the floor. A crimson stain spreading out on his back and blood pooling underneath him. As the crowd searched for the man responsible they were met only with emptiness, the assassin was gone.

“Someone get the deputy!” the barkeep called out.

“Someone get his wife,” another voice called.

Kansas – Late Feb. 1864

Jimmy opened the door and walked out onto the porch. The cold air of the morning burned his lungs and shortened his breath. Gradually he grew accustomed to the sting and was able to draw in a deep breath as he put on his hat and then stretched his arms over his head. Now that the previous days’ storm had passed he contemplated going for a ride. He was feeling claustrophobic in the tiny house and needed to feel the freedom of the trail.

Two days shut in a house with Nathan, Celinda and his nephew William made him long for the silence of the trail. Once enveloped by the solitude and peace he would be able to think and sort through the things plaguing him. With Rosemary still at the Vigilance Committee and not due back for several days he would have plenty of time to himself. For that, he was oddly grateful.

He thought of Rosemary and sighed. After Noah’s funeral, he’d left with her and joined up with the abolitionists. He’d helped where ever he could, working with Nathan and the other elders, and he and Rosemary had been together ever since.

Lately Jimmy was beginning to wonder why he was still with her. Their relationship had not gone the way he thought it would. Ever since Isiah’s death she was driven and sometimes bitter. Her life was becoming consumed by the cause the way her husband’s had and all other things were becoming cursory.

Jimmy wondered if he and Rosemary were together because they really wanted to be, or if it was just convenient to be. Being with her was comfortable, like an old pair of gloves, but sometimes gloves wear out and you have to get rid of them. He didn’t know if his growing restlessness was because he was tired of Rosemary, tired of being in one place for so long, or both.

Added to all this were the troubling dreams that started several months ago. The dreams caught him off guard at first. Dreams of a wife and child, which were so real and vivid, he would first awaken feeling dismayed that it was only a dream. At first he didn’t know who the woman he was dreaming about was, but one morning he woke up and realized it was Alexis. After that morning, Alexis Dawes had filled his thoughts and, ever increasingly, his dreams.

Buck had always given great importance to dreams, but Jimmy never had. However, since he had begun dreaming of Alexis and a family, he had been thinking more of the family he’d left behind in Rock Creek. He hadn’t remained in contact with them after he left, and at first he held tight to his belief that he was right in that decision. As time passed he wondered what was happening with them and how their lives had turned out, but it had been over a year that he’d been gone and it was easier to just not write. The one year stretched into two and then three until he felt further and further isolated from them. He’d received one letter from Teaspoon over a year ago, but had never answered it. Then they had all moved once again and he knew that it would take the others a while to find him, if they even looked.

Jimmy was roused from his thoughts by the sound of hoofbeats fast approaching. He listened as the thudding sound echoed in the stillness and was amplified by the frozen earth and cold air. He could tell by the sound that it was a single rider, but instantly he began preparing himself for possible trouble. He pulled up his collar and rubbed his hands together to warm and loosen them.

The approaching rider slowed upon sight of the house and approached with deliberateness. Jimmy realized the rider was a woman as she came nearer and he saw her deep auburn hair escaping from under her hat. There was something oddly familiar about her, but he was unable to place it.

“Can I help you with something?” he asked as she stopped her horse.

They both looked over as the door opened and Nathan stepped out onto the porch.

“Everything alright James?”

“Everything’s fine Nathan.”

“Can we help you?” Nathan asked the rider.

“I actually came here looking for you,” she said directly to Jimmy, ignoring the man next to him.

Jimmy’s senses immediately came alive wondering what trouble was bound to follow. Was it problems with for the abolitionists, or was it someone looking for “Wild Bill” Hickok? Then the woman pushed back her hat and Jimmy found himself at a near loss for words.

“Alexis?”

Sitting at the table in the house Alexis reflected on the flurry that ended with her sitting across from Jimmy. He insisted she come inside and put her horse in the barn so it wouldn’t become chilled. He’d taken it there himself leaving her alone with his sister, brother-in-law and nephew so that he could compose himself after seeing her in person.

Celinda and Nathan had eyed her warily as she sat waiting for Jimmy to come back. Only William, Celinda and Nathan’s son, didn’t seem bothered by her presence.

“So how do you know James?” Nathan asked her.

“I knew him in Rock Creek when he rode for the Express,” she replied.

“So why are you looking for him?” he asked back rather bluntly.

Mercifully she was spared answering as Jimmy came in the door. He looked at the trio sitting stoically and could understand Nathan and Celinda’s wariness. With their work and the war going on, any stranger was viewed with trepidation. Alexis could feel their distrust and was obviously grateful for his return.

“Would you like some coffee?” he asked her to break the tension.

“Thanks, that would be great.”

Suddenly, Celinda seemed to snap out of her hesitancy and she got up and went into the kitchen. Jimmy motioned for Alexis to follow and as she did she noticed Nathan coming right behind her. Sitting down at the table and accepting the cup with Celinda offered her, Alexis took a deep breath to steel her nerves.

“So,” Jimmy asked her finally, “why’d you come looking for me?”

“I’m afraid it’s bad news,” she said softly. “I’m headed back to Rock Creek. Teaspoon-“

“Sent you to find me?” he asked sharply. He didn’t know what possessed him to say that and was immediately remorseful when he saw her face.

“No,” she said steely.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “What about Teaspoon?”

“There’s no easy way to say this, except just to tell you. He’s dead Jimmy, I’m so sorry.”

Jimmy looked like he’d been punched in the gut, and Alexis couldn’t say she blamed him. It was the same way she felt when she read Lou’s letter. She had just visited everyone in Rock Creek in December, and now Teaspoon was gone.

“What happened?” Jimmy asked with a heavy voice.

“A gunfighter named Luke Murphey came into town.”

“I’ve heard of him,” Jimmy commented.

“So have I, none of it’s good. People were nervous about him, so Teaspoon was keepin’ an eye on him. He couldn’t do anything, because Murphey hadn’t done anything wrong. One night though, he started a fight in one of the saloons and roughed up a girl. Teaspoon came in and told Murphey to clear out.

“Murphey went to draw his gun, but Teaspoon drew first and shot him. Then suddenly, Teaspoon was shot from behind and was dead instantly. When the people in the bar looked for who did it, there was nobody to be seen.”

“So they didn’t get who did this?” Jimmy asked.

“No, Buck and Kid looked for whoever it was, but they couldn’t find anything. They think it was someone working with Murphey, but they don’t know. Kid and Buck have taken over until a new marshal gets appointed.”

As Alexis finished speaking, silence fell over the room, broken only briefly by William’s playful sounds from the front room. Alexis felt that she could hardly breathe, the sorrow and unease crowded into the room filling every space. She’d done her duty. She found Jimmy, told him of Teaspoon, and now she couldn’t stay one more minute. Seeing Jimmy for the first time in over two years was still too painfully raw to bear.

“I’m sorry Jimmy,” she said to him. “I know you and Teaspoon were once very close. I need to get goin’ though. It’s still a long way to Rock Creek and I want to get there as soon as I can.”

She stood up and turned to Celinda, “thanks for coffee.”

Jimmy numbly stood and followed behind the others as Alexis started towards the door. She had her hand on the latch and was just about the open the door when he finally spoke up.

“Alexis, wait. I’m goin’ with you.”

“James?”

“I have to Nathan. I owe it to him, and I need to do this,” he said with determination. “Let me just get my things.”

Alexis was frozen in place at the door and nodded briefly to show she’d heard him. Her heart was racing and felt like it’d been torn in two. When she showed up here, part of her wished he’d hear the news and return with her and part of her wished he would just let her leave by herself. As much as she thought she wanted the former, she was still bitterly disappointed he hadn’t done the latter.

After a few minutes of standing inside the room watching the domestic scene in front of her, she began fighting the urge to flee. Jimmy was gathering his belongings, his sister was packing food for their journey and his nephew was sitting on the floor playing quietly with toys. Alexis silently studied him, noticing the deep family resemblence he shared with his mother and his uncle, and suddenly she could no longer fight the urge.

“Could you tell Jimmy I’ll just be outside?” she said suddenly called out to Celinda. Then she opened the door and rushed outside causing Nathan to abruptly look up from the horses he’d brought out of the barn. He hadn’t said very much to Alexis and seemed to be eyeing her with distrust, but being outside with him was a vast improvement over waiting inside.

Finally Jimmy came outside and he and Alexis climbed onto their horses. His face was expressionless, looking like it’d been carved from marble. Nothing was said between Alexis and Jimmy, they each didn’t know what to say.

“James, what should I tell Rosemary?” Celinda asked just before they were ready to leave. Alexis looked away sharply, grateful that no one noticed.

“Tell her about Teaspoon. I’m not sure how long I’ll be in Rock Creek, but I’ll write you when I have an idea Celinda.”

“Alright,” she said quietly, not pressing the issue further.

“Be safe James,” she said.

“I will. Bye Celinda, Nathan,” he said dipping his head in her brother-in-law’s direction.

“Good-bye Alexis,” Celinda called out.

Alexis turned and briefly smiled and weakly returned the good-bye. Then she turned her horse to the trail and gave him a strong nudge causing him to start abruptly. Jimmy, caught off guard, quickly recovered and spurred his horse to catch up with her.

On to Chapter 3!