He was riding hard. The wind was whipping up dust all around him. Jimmy smirked a bit as he pushed his black banded hat down farther on his head. This figures, he thought. A dust storm when all he wanted to do was to out run feelin’ dirty.

Two weeks ago he had kissed his best friend’s girl. Okay, technically, they weren’t together. And, okay, he had NOT done that so many times before. He really blamed it on Elias, makin’ them think like that. And then Lou had to be all nice to him like that.

She’d looked so caring and so beautiful and so open that night. He may have wanted it to happen for the longest time, but never had he dreamed it would happen the way it did. He taken the kiss from her. He wanted her to kiss him because she wanted to, not cause he grabbed her arm. He pushed his hat down harder, so it really hurt. He was an idiot.

She was hardly looking where the hay was going. She just kept the pitchfork moving. Stabbing, lifting, turning, throwing, stabbing, lifting, turning, throwing… she guessed it was as close to chopping wood as she would care to get.

"Lou," a familiar voice called. "Lou!!"

"Yeah, Cody," she answered irritated at bein’ interrupted. "What do you want?!"

"Jeesh, ya don’t gotta bite my head off, Lou. I’m just doin’ Rachel a favor. You gonna act like that and someone else’ll have to…

"What do you want, Cody." She said very carefully. Her frustration being held back like a straining stallion.

Hearing this restraint, Cody wisely chose to simply deliver his message. "Rachel says dinner is done and you need to get washed up before all us boys eat it all." He finished with his eyes towards the ceiling as if repeating a lesson learned from school.

"She means before YOU eat it all, Cody!" Lou smiled at him to make up for earlier.

"Well, maybe so," he said, forgiving her with his returned smile. "Either way, I’m guessin’ you better get inside quick!" He said this last as he hightailed it out the door.

Not having to be told twice and thinking about Cody getting to the dinner table before her, she put the pitchfork aside and headed to the trough outside to clean her face and hands.

Lou plunged her head all the way into the cool water – immediately she saw him in her mind. She imagined his low laugh as she heard him saying something about her looking like a drowned rat. Then she’d laugh or punch his arm. Then, just as fast, she saw him in the firelight, strong, sad, alone. He was such a gentle soul. With such beauty on the inside, not to mention his heart stopping beauty on the outside. Just seeing the caring in his eyes, even as he teased her, made her feel so special. He cared for her the way she was now, without a master plan of how she should be.

She threw her head back, water spraying, and caught her breath, not realizing she’d stayed under that long. With her hands she rubbed at her eyes and tried to forget her last thoughts. He didn’t feel that way about her anymore. He had kissed her and then decided she wasn’t worth being around. He avoided her so much since then that these last two weeks had probably been the loneliest she’d had since she came here.

She decided she’d wasted enough time thinking about Jimmy tonight. As she looked up she quickly broke her own promise. He was riding towards her with his shoulders hunched, head down, and covered in dust. She ran towards the bunkhouse yelling, "Rider coming!" And was greeted with Ike rushing out. He ran to the barn, disappeared inside, and reappeared leading his mount. He tugged on the brim of his hat and threw her a big smile.

"Ride safe, Ike!" Lou said as he mounted up and took the mochila from Jimmy. Jimmy slowed his horse, without looking up, dismounted and and began to walk him to the barn. Lou took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and ran around the other side of his horse.

"You look like you had a hard ride, Jimmy" she said to him under Sundancer’s head. "Rachel’s got dinner on. I’ll take care of your horse, why don’t you rinse some of that dust off and go eat." She reached out to take the reins from Jimmy’s gloved hands and accidentally grabbed one of his fingers.

Jimmy’s electrically intense brown eyes jumped to meet her own. Lou thought she might strangle on her last breath. His eyes searched hers for… something. She was surprised he didn’t just yank his hand away repulsed. It was like a moment frozen in time. Each glued to the other by that one touch and stuck in that one spot. Sundancer threw her head up, pulling Lou’s hand loose of Jimmy’s finger. She quickly grabbed the rein that was now hanging loose.

"Oops, sorry…" she smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Lou." Jimmy said his hand going to his head and pushing his hat down hard. Lou smiled a little as she thought, for taking your horse, right? She shook her head at her own foolishness. She was forced to turn around one more time as she heard a splash. She giggled again as she saw that Jimmy, hat in one hand, had done exactly what she had done just minutes before, by plunging his whole head into the water. They had so much in common. Mirror images… her smile gone, Lou took Sundancer into the barn. She wasn’t hungry anyway.

The early morning air made Buck shiver as he stumbled out of the bunkhouse pulling on his jacket. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. His breath made a little cloud of fog against the chill. Wrapping his coat closer, he made his way to the barn. He readied his horse. Ike would be riding in sometime in the next half-hour or so and he wanted to be ready.

Two hours later, Buck sat on the bunkhouse porch, swinging his feet. The chill was gone from the air and the bunkhouse was alive with the sounds of the others grumbling into a new day. The first person out the door was Lou. She was scrubbing her face with her hands, while covering a yawn. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Buck sitting on the porch.

"Buck!" she exclaimed. "You bout scared the bejeesees out of me! Didn’t you have a run this morning? Ain’t Ike back yet?

"Sorry, and no, he’s not" he answered her. Ordinarily, he would have laughed over her jumping, but he was worried. Ike was never late. He was never late unless he had a reason.

Next out the door was Kid. He took in the scene with Buck sitting there and worry took over his face. "Ike’s not back?"

"No," answered Lou, as she walked down the stairs. "He’s never late, Kid". She disappeared around the corner.

Kid, knowing he’d have to wait his turn now anyway, sat next to Buck on the porch and they started swinging their legs in unison. There wasn’t anything to say. They’d have to wait a while longer before they could do anything.

"Is this a private dance or can anyone join in?" Jimmy asked as he came out the door and observed the two swinging their legs back and forth. Cody, right behind Jimmy, guffawed loudly. They all grimaced at Cody’s loud laugh. Jimmy put his hand to his face, regretting saying anything at all. Lou walked back around the corner.

"God, Cody," she said rubbing an ear. "It’s a little early to be scaring away the deer ain’t it? What’s so funny, anyway?"

Jimmy smiled at Lou’s comment and looked to Kid and Buck to answer her question. Kid and Buck looked at each other and Buck raised his eyebrows. Then shook his head as he lowered it.

"You had to be there," was all Kid could think of to say. Then he stopped himself just as he felt his legs start to swing. He jumped off the porch and raced Cody around the corner of the bunkhouse, yelling something about having been next after Lou.

"Don’t worry Buck, I’m sure he’ll come riding in any minute now." Lou tried to reassure Buck. She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled down at him. He looked up at her and tried to smile back.

"Let’s go take care of the horses." she said. Buck nodded and they walked off to the barn.

Jimmy leaned up against the porch post and watched them walk away. He knew she was trying to keep Buck’s spirits up. He also knew that if Ike wasn’t back by this afternoon they would go after him. If he wasn’t back by this afternoon, something had happened.

Watching Lou and Buck walk away made him want to run and join them. Just to be part of her company. It had gotten so easy. Even Kid had stopped minding them spending so much time together. Well, he may have still minded, but he was too busy with Sara in town.

Sara was the new Pastor’s daughter. She wasn’t nearly as pretty as Lou, Jimmy thought, but she was easy to look at and even easier to spend time with apparently. Kid was going to her place on a daily basis. Jimmy would hate to admit it, but every day he went, he came back happier than the day before. The girl was actually good for him.

Jimmy didn’t know how much Lou knew about all this. Kid had asked him to keep quiet for a while. Let things settle a little. After what he’d done by the fire, guilt had made Jimmy very cooperative. While this was surprising to Kid, who was sure Jimmy would prefer to beat the crap out of him for hurting Lou again, he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

So Kid had blissfully gone about courting Sara, while Jimmy continued beating himself up about betraying his friend. As Jimmy thought this through, for the thirtieth time, the guilt cloud started clearing and he saw that somehow this picture didn’t make a lot of sense. The person losing out here was Lou.

"Hmmm…" he said aloud. "I might have to think on that some more."

"What Jimmy? Were you talking to someone?" Rachel had walked up while Jimmy was in his reverie.

Caught with his hand on his chin, lips puckered, lost in thought, Jimmy just had to chuckle at himself as he answered her, "No Rachel, just doin’ some thinking. Oh, and to let you know, Ike ain’t back yet."

Rachel didn’t answer, just put her hand to her mouth and shook her head. She knew what this meant. "I’ll gather some things ya’ll might need after breakfast. Call the others in to eat in ten minutes for me, will ya?"

"Sure Rachel," Jimmy said. Then, passing a grinning Kid and Cody, Jimmy went around the corner of the bunkhouse. A man needed some thinking space.

Late that afternoon, the boys were on the porch again all talking at the same time to Teaspoon. The older man was scratching his chin. The situation worried him and he hated sending even more of his boys into danger. But, there was no way around it. As he saw it, their friend was in trouble, and family is first.

"Alright, boys, alright!" he said. "You don’t need to convince me. If it was Hickock or one you other boys, I’d say wait until mornin’. But seeing as how it’s Ike, I agree that we need to go after him. I need at least two of you to stay here, though."

Grumbles went up all around. Each person throwing in their "I’m going!" Teaspoon threw his hands in the air. "Now you ain’t all going and that is that!" the grumbling stopped.

"I’m going, Teaspoon" Buck said seriously.

"I kinda figured that, son." Teaspoon replied. You can take Lou and Jimmy with you. "They’re the last down on the list of runs. That be alright with you?"

"Absolutely, Teaspoon," Buck replied. Let’s get going Hickock. And where’s Lou?"

"I’m here!" she yelled from where she was walking out of the barn with their three horses. Buck and Jimmy looked questioningly back at Teaspoon. He shrugged.

"You boys ride safe! You too, Lou!" Teaspoon said as he made his way into the bunkhouse for some coffee.

Buck and Jimmy got to Lou and looked at her with the same wonder they shown Teaspoon.

"Just a hunch," Lou shrugged. "Let’s go!"

Kicking up dust, the three headed out to find their friend. Each offered a silent prayer that he was okay. They barely heard the round of "Ride Safe!" following them.

Back on the porch, Cody was hitting Kid in the arm. "See what you done?"

"What’d I do?"

"Got us left out!"

"How’d I get us left out?" Kid shouted back.

"I don’t know yet, but I know it was your fault all the same!"

"Cody!" Teaspoon bellowed from inside. "Ain’t you got chores to do?"

"Yeah, Teaspoon," Cody answered. He made a face at Kid as he went down the steps. Kid stood on the porch, his hands in the air, still asking, "What’d I do?"

The riders started fast and then slowed as they tried to find Ike’s trail. Buck found it quickly. He said that it was the trail he’d left when he rode out yesterday. They followed it. There was no return trail. Because they had left late afternoon, dusk began to fall. They kept on as long as they could. Then they went a little farther. Then, they made camp.

After eating a meal of beef jerky and bread, the three rested back on their saddles. They watched the fire in silence, broken every now and then with words of reassurance that they’d find Ike tomorrow. They were sure it would be tomorrow. Soon, the day took its toll on Buck and he rolled away from the fire, snoring softly.

Lou looked at Buck and smiled quietly. It was so hard for him being away from his best friend. God forbid anything had actually happened to Ike. She didn’t know how any of them would survive it, let alone Buck. She thought about her friends and how important they were to her. She sighed and looked over at Jimmy.

Her heart froze and again her breath caught. He was staring at her over the fire. She wasn’t imagining it. He was actually staring at her with those probing eyes. He didn’t look away.

"Jimmy? Is something wrong?" she asked quietly.

He didn’t answer her for a minute. Just continued looking for a second, then seemed to come to a decision. He shook his head at her. "Get some sleep," he said as he rolled away from the fire. "Goodnight, Lou" Jimmy said over his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Jimmy," Lou said with a question in her voice. He heard it, but wasn’t ready yet to deal with his decision. He needed to sleep on it.

The morning light didn’t wake her, it was the sound of footsteps busily walking around her head.

"Jeesh, boys! You could say something simple like, ‘Lou, time to wake up now’ Would that be so hard?"

"Wouldn’t be hard," answered Jimmy. "But it also wouldn’t be near as much fun." He smiled at Buck and then smiled at her. It was a big smile. One that held the happiness of a decision made, no matter the outcome. He was not a man that lived well with indecision.

His smile was gorgeous and Lou found herself grinning back at him, even as she tried to untangle herself from her blanket. His whole demeanor was different today. She could feel it. In that first minute, she felt the cloud lift. Her Jimmy was back!

Buck shook his head as he observed the actions of his two friends. He might as well have been back at the bunkhouse for all they would have noticed. Still, it was a good thing. Something had changed in Jimmy. Then, he saw the same in Lou. He wondered with a smile what he had missed last night. They would be a good match, if they could survive the kindling.

The three got their things together and got started. Two hours later they stopped. They were in Willow Springs. This was where Ike had been headed. The tracks had become unreadable an hour back, but Buck said that was because of all the other traffic. They had to assume that he got here. Jimmy and Lou shared a smile as they passed an old carnival sign.

Buck, Jimmy, and Lou headed to the express station. They would be able to tell them whether they’d seen Ike and where he was headed after that. A gnarly looking rider sat on the porch of the bunkhouse they approached.

"Hey Hickock!" the unkempt man yelled. "What are y’all doing here? Ike tell you we were having all the fun out here?"

"Yeah, Verner," Jimmy answered. "And he said you was the one in charge of the party."

"Sure enough," mumbled Verner chuckling with his hands on his suspenders.

"Seriously, Verner," Jimmy began, "We’re here cause Ike never made it back."

"He never made it back?" Verner asked.

"So he stopped here?" Buck asked. "When did he leave?"

"Did you see him ride out of town?" Lou jumped in. "Where did he go when he left here?"

"Hold it now, y’all" Verner said, hands in the air. "Ike was here yesterday just after lunch. Which is why I suggested to him that he go over to the saloon and get him a sandwich, which they serve over there. No, I did not see him leave town." He paused and scratched his bearded chin. "Come to think of it, I ain’t seen him at all since he went in the Saloon."

He looked up to see the riders already walking away. "Hey! Hey boys! You want to watch out for Shepton!"

They turned to look at him.

"Who’s Shepton?" Jimmy asked.

"He’s the new owner over there. They say he’s pretty nasty. You don’t want to go in with your guns blazing or he’ll likely knock you out, put you in a sack weighted down with bricks and throw you in the nearest river!" Verner was out of breath when he stopped talking.

Lou just stared at him in amazement of the sentence he had just uttered. Buck looked down, shaking his head. And Jimmy just turned around again towards the saloon.

"Come on," he said.

The bar was hopping. They could hear the music out on the street. The people were already staggering in and out the swinging doors and it was barely noon. Walking through the doors, they saw eight or more round tables. Three of these tables had ongoing card games with loud, smelly drinking men of all description. There was smoke hanging over their heads like thunderclouds. They found three seats at an unoccupied table and sat down. They didn’t wait long.

"What’ll you have, boys?" A seductive voice asked from right behind Jimmy’s ear. Buck and Lou both jumped, startled, and turned in their seats to see her. Jimmy just kept his eyes forward and tilted his head her way.

"Just sasparillas, Ma’am."

"Fine, just fine," she purred. "I’ll bring em right back."

Lou watched her sashay away and then turned to Jimmy. She just looked at him for a second and then said, "She didn’t startle you, sneakin up like that?"

"I smelled her coming." Jimmy said matter of factly.

"You what?" Lou exclaimed!

"She wears a lot of cheap perfume, Lou." Jimmy answered smiling at Lou’s reaction. "I didn’t say I liked it. I just said I smelt it."

Right about then, several large men and one tall skinny one, came out of a back room laughing boisterously. The largest man was pounding the skinny one on the back. This almost knocked the lighter man over. He kept his balance and smiled back, forcing a laugh. Suddenly the large man stopped, his hand still on the other man’s back. He was staring directly at the Pony Express riders who had been watching his loud entry.

When they saw him looking, the riders looked at each other with caution in their eyes. The large man ran a hand through his stringy hair, pushing it to the side to hide his baldness. He had developed a sneer on his face and was approaching their table. The other men followed him.

"Excuse me, you kind folks," he said with a false politeness and enthusiasm. Putting his hands on the back of Lou and Buck’s chairs as he continued. "Just what in the Hell do you think you’re doing bringing an injun into my fine establishment?!" he finished with a roar.

Buck shot out of his chair. Jimmy stood quickly and edged in front of him, hands in the air said, "Hey mister, we’re just looking for our friend who came through here…"

"I don’t give a rat’s furry behind about your friend. We don’t serve his kind in here. And any friends of his are welcome to leave, too," the man interrupted.

Jimmy’s hands were on his guns and Buck was wound tighter than a spring. Lou realized that this man might have been the last to see Ike. They needed him to talk. She turned to the boys and warned them with a look to not blow just yet.

"Mr. Shepton?" Lou began, as she turned to face him. "We are riders for the Pony Express. You know, the people who bring you your mail? Anyway, our friend, he’s bald and he probably didn’t say much, he stopped in here for a sandwich two days ago and we haven’t seen him since. All we want to know is if you’ve seen him."

Shepton looked at Lou with an amused smile coming over his face. "Yeah, we seen that freak, alright. Dummy who couldn’t talk and no hair to boot? Yeah, we seen him" He looked back at his friends and laughed. They laughed.

Click, click, click… The laughing stopped as Jimmy, Buck, and Lou cocked their guns and held them aimed at the men. Lou’s gun was pointed directly at Shepton’s nose.

"Where is our friend, Mr. Shepton." She asked in a low dangerous voice.

"Why, he walked out of here two days ago."

"I don’t believe you, Mr. Shepton." She changed the aim of her gun. "Maybe I can refresh your memory and help out the female population of this town at the same time. What do you say?" She shot just between his legs. The man behind him screamed and began jumping around holding his foot.

"Wait! Stop!" Shepton’s hair falling to the side, showing his own baldness. "He’s in the gameroom, but I warn you, if you take him outta here – you’re all DEAD!"

"You first," Jimmy said. He fired his gun and Shepton fell to the floor crying and grabbing onto his arm. His men watched him as they stood with their hands in the air. Buck and Lou ran into the back room while Jimmy covered the men.

A minute later, they came out with Ike between them, bruised and bloody. Jimmy looked at them with concern.

"He’s okay, Jimmy" Lou said. "They beat him good though. Guess they were too dumb to find anything better to do. I feel sorry for people like you," she said as she, Ike, and Buck walked over the man who had inflicted such suffering. Lou ‘accidentally’ stood on Shepton’s arm on her way over him. He whimpered like a dog.

Suddenly, they felt Ike stiffen and stand straight. They watched as he turned around and faced the men who had caged him. Shrugging off the support of his friends, he walked over to where the tall man stood. Next to Ike, the man was almost a foot taller. Ike got right up to him and stared in his eyes. He shook his head and began to walk away. The tall man made an audible sigh. Ike stopped, turned and punched, sending the man over a table, breaking glasses, until he landed with a crash on the other side. Ike turned back to his friends and walked out the door on his own.

Backing out the door, Jimmy looked the sorry men over. He shook his head at them as he said, "Tsk, Tsk, gentlemen. Never underestimate a man, no matter what he looks like. Oh, and also, never underestimate what he means to his friends!" Jimmy backed out, still shaking his head.

The men started to move around and help their wounded up. The doors flew back open and they heard the cocking of guns…

"By the way, if any if you follow us, it won’t be just a hand or foot that needs mending. Gentlemen." Jimmy pulled at the brim of his hat and left. There was a collective sigh along with a scream of impotence from the once mighty saloon keeper.

Outside, Lou sat on Lightening, holding Sundancer’s reins, waiting for Jimmy. Buck and Ike had gone on ahead. Jimmy ran down the stairs and mounted up. He and Lou set out to catch up to their friend.

It didn’t take long before they were all riding side by side. No one said anything for a while. They were all just thankful that they were together. When they did stop a few hours later, they cleaned Ike’s wounds. All the wounds, while painful, were superficial and he would be okay. They fixed him a comfortable place to rest. They decided they should post a lookout that night, just in case. They took turns through the night, while Ike rested. It went by thankfully quiet.

When they got home everyone was very thankful that Ike was okay, at the same time being enraged by what had happened to him. He never shared the details with anyone but Buck. But he recovered.

A few nights after they had gotten back, they had a bonfire outside the bunkhouse. They celebrated Ike’s return. They celebrated their family. The party went on late. Eventually there were only two standing by the now dying fire.

"Lou," Jimmy began quietly.

"Yeah, Jimmy?" she answered.

"I been thinking," he said

"Always dangerous," Lou quipped.

Smiling, Jimmy walked over and took Lou’s hand. He felt it trembling. This made him more sure of what he wanted to say. The step he was about to take.

"Lou," he started again. "You are my best friend. You are the most amazing woman I have ever known."

"Jimmy, stop," with her head down, Lou pulled away from him.

He didn’t let her go.

"Lou," he said gently raising her chin with his hand. "You are my best friend and I am so afraid of messing that up by what I want to tell you." His head dropped as he looked at his feet. She heard him sigh, unsure of what to do.

Seeing his vulnerability was almost overwhelming to Lou. Her heart went out to him, wishing she could reassure him, but being so scared herself. What if she was misunderstanding his intentions… his feelings? She set her shoulders and took a deep breath and with a silent prayer, she moved one step closer to him.

"Jimmy," she started quietly. His head snapped up and his eyes sought hers. "You are my best friend, too. You have seen me through hard times and you have made me laugh. You’ve been by my side and protected me and you have let me protect you. You have set me free. You have made me free to be me and free to love you."

With this last said she leaned in to the stunned Jimmy and enveloped his lips with hers. Shy only at first, soon she was opening her lips and beckoning him in. Their kiss by the fire was deep, passionate, magical.

"Lou", Jimmy taking a ragged breath, he looked down to see her eyes fixed on his.

"Lou, I love you."

Lou sighed deeply and then kissed him.

That night their smiles lit the moon. Lou needed to be the strong, capable woman she was. Jimmy needed a woman who could see inside. They both needed someone with a fire to match their own. Talk about combustible.