Dream A Little Dream of Me
By Aimee & Alisha
Copyright 1999
Chapter One
It was a hot summer day, the kind of day where the air is so thick you can't even breathe. Teaspoon stood on the bunkhouse porch watching the exchange taking place. As Lou handed the pouch to Buck, he walked over to her.
"Lou, you look terrible. Why don't you go get cleaned up and I'll take care of Lightning for you."
"Thanks Teaspoon," the petite rider said, truely grateful for the offer. It had been an unusually hard run, the heat making both her and Lightning loose energy rather quickly. All she wanted was a cold shower and some sleep.
Teaspoon took Lightning's reins and watched as Lou headed toward the bunkhouse. He still couldn't believe that only a week ago he had thought she was a boy. Now that he knew her secret, there was no way he could ever mistake her for a boy. "I guess we believe what we want to don't we?" He said to Lightning, realizing that he was still staring at where she had disappeared into the bunkhouse. He shook his head and led the horse to the stable.
Lou was surprised to find the bunkhouse empty when she walked in. Rachel must have sent the boys to town for something, since all evidence that they might be around somewhere was gone. Her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted a supply list on the table. This was the second week in a row that they had forgotten the list. Rachel wouldn't be happy with the boys at all.
She decided to sit on her bunk for just a minute. Her energy was drained so much that she didn't think she would be able to survive the walk to the shower stall behind the bunkhouse.
Teaspoon knocked on the door a couple times. He didn't want to disturb Lou if she was changing or something. When there was no answer he opened the door. Lou was fast asleep on her bunk. Teaspoon hated to wake her, but he knew Rachel would kill her if she found her sleeping in those dirty clothes. He shook her shoulder to wake her up.
"Lou, come on wake up."
"Go away Teaspoon." Lou was very cranky when she was tired.
"Do you want Rachel to catch you on her clean sheets in those filthy clothes? Get cleaned up and you can sleep as long as you want to."
Grumbling, Lou climbed out of bed, and throwing Teaspoon a dirty look gathered a towel and clean clothes and headed for the shower. Teaspoon just laughed as she slammed the door.
Lou was still grumbling to herself as she stepped into the shower. All she wanted was some peace and quiet, but no, she had to be awakened by Teaspoon. She calmed down as the cool shower helped wash the dirt away and cool her down. Looking back at the week that had passed since Teaspoon found out that she was a girl, she couldn't stay mad at him. After he had recovered from his initial shock, which she still wasn't sure had completely worn off, he had not treated her any different than before. He knew she was capable of doing her job and he didn't try to make anything an easier for her. Which was more than she could say for the other boys, especially Kid. "Why can't they be more like Teaspooon?" she sighed to herself.
Stepping out of the shower and dressing, Lou headed back to the bunkhouse and sleep. Teaspoon was still there when she entered. At her puzzled glance he smiled. "I just thought I should explain where the boys are," he said.
"I thought they went to town for Rachel," Lou pointed toward the paper lying on the table. "They forgot the list again."
"Actually, they were about to head into town when we got word of Indian trouble between Willow Springs and Ft. Laramie. The riders at Willow Springs were ambushed. They barely got away with their lives, but they were in no condition to ride, so I sent the boys to warn the other stations in the territory. They probably won't be back for at least two or three days, so it looks like its just you and me for the next few days."
"What about all the runs?" Lou asked.
"The riders from Willow Springs will take them. Doc said they should be able to ride again tomorrow. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten that you are supposed to have some time off. You can stay with Rachel while the other riders are here if you want to." Teaspoon looked at Lou and started to say something, but then shook his head as he obviously changed his mind.
"What?" Lou questioned.
"Nothing, I just had an idea, but I doubt you'd like it."
"Well, you never know until you tell me Teaspoon." Seeing that Teaspoon wasn't going to tell her, Lou pressed further. "Come on Teaspoon, you've got me curious now."
"Well, I was just going to suggest that you could dress up like a lady for a few days. You could say you were Rachel's niece or something, just coming to visit for a couple days. No one would know who you really were because they think all of you are out on runs or something."
Lou considered it for a moment before she smiled at Teaspoon. "I think that's a great idea."
Teaspoon smiled at her. "I'll help you move whatever you might need over there now. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for you to come in here looking for something while the others are here."
Lou laughed. "I guess it wouldn't."
Teaspoon knocked on the door of Rachel's house later that evening. Rachel invited him into the kitchen where she and Lou had just been having a cooking lesson...one of disasterous proportions it seemed from the looks of the kitchen.
"I was just wondering if you two lovely ladies would like to accompany me to dinner at our town's wonderful eating establishment," he said. Rachel and Lou looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"We were just going to go anyway," Rachel explained waving her hand toward the kitchen. "Lou's cooking skills are sadly lacking, and so we have no dinner."
Lou's eyes twinkled merrily. "I tried to tell her, but still she insisted we have a lesson. I tell you, many have tried to teach me and none have succeeded."
"Well, I'll wait for you ladies to clean up," Teaspoon said, trying not to laugh at the two who were covered with flour.
"Oh, we were just going to go like this, weren't we Rachel?" Lou said innocently.
"Of course," Rachel said, playing along. "I was just going to grab my shawl."
"If you say so," Teaspoon said, getting into the spirit of things.
"Give us five minutes," Rachel laughed.
A couple hours later the three walked back toward Rachel's house, full from the delicious meal. Teaspoon had kept them laughing with stories from his days as a Texas Ranger. They all sat down on the porch to talk for a while, before Teaspoon left to check on the town for the night.
After he had left Rachel gave Lou a funny look. "What?" Lou asked.
"Did you notice something different aboutTeaspoon this evening?” Rachel asked.
Lou hesitated for a moment, wondering if Rachel had seen the same thing as she had seen
this evening. Lou decided she should have Rachel clarify what she meant, “What did you
notice that was different about him?”she managed to get out. Lou noticed that she was
taking shorter breaths as the anxiety in her nerves begin to build, she tried to gain control
by tighting the muscles in her hands, as she pressed them together. She didn’t want Rachel
to notice her reaction, but it was all so strange, "Could this really be happening?" she thought.
“Well I don’t know, but, well, it just seemed so odd of him. He was sitting there telling us
the same old stories that he has always told, but they were different, he was different.
Most of the time when he starts a story, it is like he goes there. You can tell when you
look into is eyes that he isn’t really with you but he is inside his story. But today, today
was different. After every line he kept looking up, as if he was looking for some kind of
approval. He wanted his stories to make an impression. Normally he just takes people as
they are and figures that they will do the same for him, but today he was really looking to
find favor. I know this may sound odd to you, but well I think that Teaspoon has a romatic
interest.”
“What!!!” Lou shouted, she could not believe what she was hearing. Rachel must have
seen the same thing as she had seen.
“Well, I guess that I could be wrong, but I think that Teaspoon may be interested in me.”
Rachel said.
To be continued...
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