"But Teaspoon, I know something is wrong!"

Buck stood in front of Teaspoon, trying to control his anger. He had been trying to convince him for a while now to let him go out and find Ike. Behind him, Rachel sat, keeping her thoughts to herself. She knew that this was Buck’s battle with Teaspoon, and would not be able to help him.

"Now Buck, I know I promised you I would let you go, but you don’t have any proof of what you’re saying," Teaspoon said. "Right now, we’re still short a rider, and with Cody being in Rock Creek, we aren’t going to have any lee-way on letting riders go off on their own. Once I get some proof on this, then I will be more than happy to send all of you out to help, but until then, my hands are tied."

"But Teaspoon – "

"That’s my final words, Buck. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to deal with. Rachel…" Teaspoon tipped his hat to Rachel, then left.

Buck sat down, defeated. "I don’t know what to do, Rachel. Ike needs me, but I can’t get to him."

Rachel went over to him and pulled him into a hug in which the young man did not resist. "Ike knows you will come for him, Buck. Until then, he can take care of himself. Just wait until Cody gets back… he should only be a few days more."

"But even then, how will I find him?"

"I’m sure that something will pop up to let us know. Have faith, Buck."

In Rock Creek, Cody sat at the saloon, eating a quick meal before heading back to the station. It was going to be a hard ride, and he wanted to make sure the he had his fill to last him. And with Cody, that meant a lot.

As he finished up his meal, one of the town’s deputies walked in with a stack of papers. He stood beside Cody at the bar and gave a few to the bartender. Cody looked over the man’s arms at the picture.

"Can I get one of those?" Cody asked.

The deputy nodded and gave it to Cody. "You know this man?" the deputy asked.

Cody looked at the picture and shook his head. "No sir, but I can take one into the next town on my ride."

"Pony Express, huh?" the deputy nodded. "Take care and have a safe journey."

"Thanks," Cody replied, then looked at the picture in front of him. There were two men on the picture, and he could see the Ike was the one on the left, and Wilson was on the right. "What have you gotten yourself into, Ike?" Cody whispered to himself, then paid for his meal. He jumped onto his horse and started riding for home.

Ike stood at the window of another bank, holding the bag open as the teller stuffed money into it. Wilson stood a few paces away, watching while his gun was on both him and the teller.

"That’s all I got," the teller stated.

Wilson looked around. "What about the vault?"

"I don’t… I don’t have the combination…."

"Who does?"

From behind the window, an older man raised his hand. Wilson turned his attention to the man while he opened the vault. Using that moment, Ike took a piece of paper from his pocket and slipped it to the teller. The teller looked at it like it was a bomb, but Ike motioned for him to take it. The teller did so and hid it in his pocket.

Wilson came back with another bag of money from the vault. "Let’s go boys," he said, and Ike and Marcus followed him out. They then stripped off their masks and ran to the wagon that Adam and Josiah had waiting for them, and they took off. Ike crawled over to Julie and they hugged.

Wilson laughed as he looked into the bags of money. "A fast stop and we have some easy cash," he stated.

We might be in trouble, Marcus signed to Wilson.

"Why is that?" Wilson asked.

Marcus motioned to Ike and Julie. He gave the teller a note, and before I could stop him, you came back.

Wilson’s eyes hardened. He sat still for almost a half-hour. Marcus watched him carefully while Josiah steered the wagon into the woods. Finally, Wilson stood up. "Stop the wagon, Josiah!"

The wagon stopped suddenly, and everything in the back jarred around. Wilson jumped down from the front seat and stormed to the back of the wagon. "Ike!"

Inside, Julie held onto Ike, a fearful gaze in her eyes. "He knows," she whispered.

I will deal with it, Ike stated. He does not know it was you too.

"He could kill you!" Julie told him.

I won't let him. Ike released Julie from his grasp and crawled out of the wagon. As his head exited the cover, Wilson grabbed his collar and pulled him out, dragging him to the floor.

"What did you do?" Wilson asked.

Ike stood and dusted himself off. I wrote a letter home to my friends.

"About what?" Ike didn't answer. Wilson gritted his teeth, then punched Ike in his stomach, doubling the boy over in pain. "About what?!"

Ike pointed at Wilson. You. I told them everything.

"Why?"

Ike stood back up and held an icy stare with Wilson. Because I want out.

Wilson let out a wild cry, and then he punched Ike in the face. Ike tried to block it, but he didn't see it coming that fast, and his face jammed to the side as the bone in his nose broke. Another punch to his head sent Ike to his knees. But Wilson did not stop there. He continued to punch and kick, and Ike did nothing to try and stop it from coming.

"Ike!" Julie yelled, and she tried to jump out of the wagon, but Marcus held him back. Adam and Josiah also came around and watched, but no one came between the two.

"You could have us all killed!" Wilson shouted as he continued to rain hits upon Ike. "Is that what you want? Do you want us to be hung? What about Julie and Adam?"

At those words, Ike lifted his head and stared at Wilson. What do you care about them?

Wilson slapped Ike again. "I'm the one who rescued you all in your times of need. You owe me, all of you." He looked down at Ike, then at the others. "Get back inside, the lot of you. We're leaving… without Ike."

"You can't leave him out here!" Julie stated.

Wilson reared back his hand to slap her, but Ike jumped up and grabbed his hand. He stood there, blood streaming from his nose, his face red from slap marks and the start of bruises. One eye was closed with a cut right beside it, and his nose was in a strange position. He held onto Wilson's wrist, while Julie cowered behind his back.

Disgusted, Wilson pulled his wrist free and nodded at Marcus. "Put her inside."

Julie struggled against Marcus' grasp, but could not get free. He put her inside the wagon, then crawled in after her. Adam tried to follow, but Josiah grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the front of the wagon. Wilson stared at Ike, then walked past him into the wagon. "Don't try anything stupid, boy, or I will kill her."

Ike watched as the wagon left him alone in the woods. He looked around, then saw a river nearby. He limped his way over to it, feeling the pain in his back and side now. He didn't fight back to Wilson because he knew that he would have been killed. He saw the gun in Wilson's holster, and knew that if he fought, that would have been drawn.

He reached the river and started to wash his face. He didn't know what to do now. In the letter he had written to Buck, he had told him what was happening, and where he had last been. He hoped that Buck was going to be able to find him from there. Now, however, he wasn't so sure. He couldn't go back into the town, but he had nothing to help him survive in the woods alone.

Then he felt a strong hand grip his shoulder, and a gunpoint at his back. "Well, lookie here." A voice stated. "I seem to have caught meself a bank robber."

Ike started to turn his head, but the back end of the gun slammed into his head and he blacked out.