By Melissa (written for herself and Lisa)

"Okay, well it’s about time that I get going… it’s late and I need to get to sleep." Melissa typed.

"Yeah, me too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow." Lisa typed back.

"Same Gregg Time …." Melissa typed.

"…. Same Gregg Place!" Lisa typed back.

Melissa signed offline and turned off her computer to get ready to go to sleep. It had been a long day and an even longer night. Between updates to the web site, trying to finish that next chapter in her story, doing research for a paper due in class next week and talking to Lisa online, she hadn’t gotten much accomplished. Well, except for talking to Lisa! They never ran out of things to talk about – especially when it involved The Young Riders and Gregg Rainwater, their favorite actor.

As she climbed into bed and drew the covers up to her chin, she sighed contently and thought about the show.

"Hmmm…. I wonder what it would have been like if we had been friends back then…. " Melissa said to herself. As she closed her eyes she dreamt of a time when there were no such things as computers, the internet or even telephones. She dreamt of a place where everyone traveled by horse, not car, and where there was a place where six of the sexiest men ever lived….

Suddenly Melissa awoke with a start. There was the sound of horses running coming from outside and as she sat up in her bed she banged her head hard on the bunk above her. Wait a minute… bunk? She didn’t have bunk beds in her room! As she rubbed her head and wiped the sleep away from her eyes she took notice of the room around her. Where was her pink carpet and stuffed animals? Where were all her photographs and books? Where was her computer?!? Melissa looked down at herself. She was dressed in a pair of gray long johns! Where were her pink penguin pajamas?

"Hey! You wanna quiet down there? We still have a few more minutes of sleep before breakfast!" a groggy voice called from the bunk above her.

Intrigued Melissa stood up on the edge of her bunk and gripped the one above her. As she slowly pulled her 4’10" frame up to look at where the voice came from, she almost fell off backwards. Lisa!

"Lisa? It’s me!" Melissa whispered excitedly.

Lisa rolled over and opened one eye to peer at her. "And? Who else would you be?"

Melissa frowned, a puzzled look on her face as Lisa rolled back over and started to go back to sleep. Suddenly, just as Melissa had sat up straight in bed, so did Lisa (only she didn’t have that darned bunk above her to bang her head on!)

Lisa looked over at Melissa. "What are you doing in my room?"

Melissa shook her head in amazement. "That’s just it! I’m not in your room… you’re not in your room! Look around and tell me what you see!"

Lisa looked around the room and noticed that they were not alone. Sleeping in the bunks around them were Cody, Hickok, Buck, Ike, Noah, and Kid. (I’m going to leave Lou out of this story…. sorry, but it is a fantasy! ::giggle::)

"Oh my God!!" Lisa squealed. "Is it? Are we? Oh my!"

Melissa laughed. "Lisa my friend, I don’t think we’re in New York anymore!"

Lisa laughed as she shook head. "How did we-"

"-get here?" Melissa finished. "I don’t know… but let’s enjoy it while we can!"

Both girls collapsed into a fit of giggles when suddenly a deep voice growled from across the room. "Ugghhhh…. is it mornin’ already?"

Melissa and Lisa looked at each other with wide eyes. BUCK! Melissa jumped down from Lisa’s bunk with Lisa following. Within a few minutes all the other riders started climbing out of their bunks. The two girls quite nearly lost it when Buck climbed out of his bunk, clad in only his long johns.

Cody walked past them and yawned. "Mornin’ ladies."

Melissa laughed nervously. "Morin’ Steph- uh, Cody." Lisa laughed at Melissa’s near-mistake and Melissa hit her arm.

The door to the bunkhouse opened and Teaspoon walked in. "Mornin’ boys. And girls." Teaspoon nodded in Melissa and Lisa’s direction. "Gonna take a bit if getting’ used to, having you two females here."

Lisa smiled as Melissa looked down, still weirded out by this whole situation. Apparently they seemed to fit right in… nobody found it unusual that they were there. "Mornin’ Teaspoon!" Lisa cried cheerfully.

"Must you be so damn cheerful all the time? I swear, the both of you never seem to stop smiling." Hickok mumbled as he finally climbed out of his bunk.

Lisa glanced at Melissa. They were both red-faced, trying so hard not to laugh.

Teaspoon looked at the two of them with a peculiar expression on his face. He shook his head and continued. "Anyway, I came in here to tell ya that Rachel wants to get breakfast started so you better be up and ready in fifteen minutes."

"Mhmm… I don’t know if my stomach can wait fifteen minutes," Cody laughed as he pulled his pants up over his long johns.

"Also, I have a special delivery that has to be brought to Fort Laramie and I need two riders to go and deliver it. I want you two –" Teaspoon looked at Melissa and Lisa, "to go and bring it."

A ride! Oh my God we’re going to get to go on a ride! Melissa thought happily to herself.

"You’re to leave in thirty minutes and be back here as soon as possible." Teaspoon continued. "I need not remind you that this is a very important run and strictly confidential."

Lisa nodded her said. "You can count on us."

*******************************

Thirty minutes later the two girls clumsily climbed on to their horses with the important document secured in Lisa’s saddlebag. Neither one of them had ever done much horseback riding – in NYC then were used to the buses and subways! As they proceeded to ride off in the direction of town, they couldn’t help but hum the music to "The Young Riders."

Fifteen minutes later, Melissa called out to Lisa. "Hey Lisa? Do you think it would be already if we took a break for a few minutes?"

Lisa slowed her horse down so that Melissa could catch up with her. "What’s wrong?"

Melissa shifted uncomfortably in her saddle. "I don’t know how they do it. My butt is sore already!"

Lisa laughed but agreed. "Yeah, me too. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to rest for a few minutes…." she trailed off and she stopped her horse and nearly fell on her head as she climbed off. Melissa did the same, with not much more grace!

"I can’t believe we saw Buck!" Lisa exclaimed as the two girls sat down to the ground.

Melissa nodded her head enthusiastically. "Uh huh! And in his long johns too, I thought I was going to faint!"

Both girls started to giggle and talk about hoe weird it was to be there with the riders, when their good time was suddenly cut short by the sounds of approaching horses. Lisa and Melissa looked at each other with wide eyes when three mean looking men on horseback came into sight.

"Uh oh." Melissa uttered as she stood up.

"You can say that again."

"What are we going to do?" Melissa turned to Lisa with fear in her eyes.

"For now, let’s just try to stay calm and see what they want. Maybe they won’t bother us?" Lisa answered as she joined Melissa.

The three riders slowed their horses about fifteen feet from where Melissa and Lisa were standing. One was a real ugly man, with a black patch over his left eye and a nasty scar along the length of his left cheekbone. The other two had their hats pulled down low and handkerchiefs covering their mouths.

"Well now, lookie what we have here boys!" the man with the eye patch cackled.

"Hoooeeey! Looks like we hit the jackpot Glenn!" one of the goons replied with an evil gleam in his eyes.

"Hehehe," one of the other riders answered. "What’cha doin’ out here all alone, a couple of purty young ladies like yerselves?"

Melissa glanced quickly at Lisa, but it was Lisa who spoke up. "Nothing. We were just taking a rest. We were just about to be on our way"

"Neil, search ‘em." Patch ordered. "Dan, secure their horses. These ladies ain’t goin’ anywhere until we get what we came for."

*******************************

"Whoa, easy there…" Buck whispered as he eased his horse into a slow walk. From where he was he could see that there was trouble up ahead, and Melissa and Lisa were right in the middle of it. He had just left for a run to St. Joe, but something told him to check up on the girls before going. He was sure glad he had because it didn’t look like they would be able to get out of this themselves.

The three outlaw brothers known as the GND Boys had the two girls surrounded and were starting to rifle through their saddlebags.

"Damn it! They’re looking for the letter!" Buck muttered to himself. What Lisa and Melissa didn’t know was that the "special delivery" that they were carrying was an official document detailing the crimes and the arrest warrants for the GND Boys. Glenn, Neil and Dan must have gotten wind somehow that the girls were carrying that letter and figured they would be easy targets.

"That’s what they think. They didn’t count on me being here." Buck continued to talk to himself. He didn’t know what it was about those two, but they had started to grow on them, and he felt very protective of them.

Buck climbed off his horse and crouched down behind a rock. The three men had their backs turned to him so he tried to get the girls’ attention so that they would know he was there. He peeked his head above the rock and let out an amazing imitation of a crow call. He saw Melissa’s head turn in his direction and give a subtle nod.

*******************************

"Caw! Caw!" came the sound of a crow is the near distance.

"Damn birds, I hate those things." Glenn muttered.

Lisa saw Melissa turn her head to the right and give a slight nod. Her gaze followed Melissa’s and she saw Buck not too far away. He was crouched behind a rock and had his gun aimed towards Glenn.

"What’cha doin’ girl?" Neil asked.

Lisa looked up and tried not to gag as the man’s rancid breath moistened her face. "Thinking."

"Dan! We ain’t here to socialize! I said search ‘em!" Glenn ordered.

"Heheheheh, I am going to enjoy this!" Dan grinned as he reached forward to grab Lisa’s arms.

"Get your filthy hands off of her." Melissa said coolly.

Dan turned towards Melissa. "And what are you," he looked Melissa up and down taking in her small size, "going to do if I don’t?" Dan must have towered at least a foot and a half over her.

Melissa smiled, looked at Lisa and then Dan, and then in one swift movement raised her right leg and kicked Dan as hard as she could in his left knee. As Dan’s eyes widened as he crouched down, Melissa raised her leg again and kneed him square in the groin. After that, everything seemed to happen in a matter of seconds. At the same time that Dan fell to the ground howling in pain, Glenn and Neil turned and lunged towards Melissa and Lisa, their guns drawn and cocked. But they didn’t stand a chance because two successive shots rang out and Glenn fell, followed by Neil.

Buck came running down the hill. "Are you alright?" Buck asked them.

Melissa and Lisa turned and smiled. "Yeah we’re okay," Melissa answered.

"What about these goons?" Lisa asked, nudging a still groaning Dan with the toe of her boot. Dan was crawled in the fetal position, rocking and moaning, Glenn and Neil were both shot, but alive.

Buck walked over to them, and clunked them each on the head with his gun, knocking them unconscious. "We’ll go back to the waystation and send Teaspoon back here. They’ll arrest them and send them on to Fort Laramie, where they will await trial."

Lisa let out a sigh of relief. "I was really worried there for a second."

Melissa nodded her head. "Me too. But what I can’t understand, is they said they weren’t leaving until they had what they came for. What were they talking about?"

Buck walked over to Lisa’s horse, and opened the inside pocket of the saddlebag. He pulled out the envelope that they had been given earlier and opened it. He handed it to Lisa and Melissa peered over her shoulder to read it with her.

"If they had succeeded in getting this warrant from you, they could have gone another week or so without anyone on their trail. Enough time for them to clear outta here." Buck stated. "But the two of you were brave, and I’m proud of you both. Just remind me never to make you angry with me!" He laughed as he turned towards Melissa.

"Nah, I’d be sure to take it easy on you!" Melissa laughed. Heeheehee…if you only knew…. she thought to herself.

Buck arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Well, I think we should head on back to the waystation before these guys wake up." He nodded his head towards the unconscious men.

He helped Melissa and Lisa climb onto their horses and walked back to retrieve his from the top of the hill. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the waystation where they proceeded to tell Teaspoon the whole story.

"Well girls, I’m proud of ya both." Teaspoon smiled warmly at the girls. He called for Jimmy and Noah to accompany him back to collect the outlaws. As the three men walked out of the bunkhouse, Lisa yawned and Melissa did the same.

"Tired?" Buck asked them.

Lisa nodded.

"Yeah me too," Melissa answered.

"Well, the two of you really had an eventful morning. I don’t think Teaspoon would mind too much if you both went back to sleep for a while. Besides, I really have to take that run to St. Joe’s now." Buck reasoned.

"Mhmm.. sleep, yes that sounds like a good idea to me." Lisa agreed.

As Melissa and Lisa climbed into their bunks, clothes and all, Buck walked over to them.

"I don’t know what it is about you two, but you’re both really special to me. I’m so relieved that neither one of you were hurt today." He smiled at them both, and then leaned down and kissed them both on their foreheads. "I’ll see you in a couple of days." he called as he walked out of the bunkhouse.

"Ride safe…" Melissa said as she slowly drifted back into dreamland, where Buck was in the middle of telling her that he loved her. Just as he was about to lean down to kiss her, she was jarred awake for the second time that day. But this time it wasn’t by the sound of an approaching horse, but rather a loud obnoxious buzzing. She sat up straight in bed again, half expecting to bang her head again, but encountered only empty space above her. She opened her eyes and tried to find the source of that awful noise that interrupted her wonderful dream.

"What?" Melissa asked herself as she looked around the room. She was no longer in the bunkhouse, she was back in her room again! And that obnoxious sound was coming from her alarm clock on her nightstand! "Oh no!!" Melissa exclaimed as she noticed the time on her clock. It was 6:30am, and time for her to get up for class! Suddenly the phone on her nightstand began to ring.

"Who can be calling me at this time?" she mumbled to herself as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Melissa?"

"Lisa?"

"Yeah, it’s me. I’m sorry to be calling you so early, but I just had to tell you about the dream that I had!"

Melissa pulled the receiver away from her ear and stared at it. No way… she thought to herself. "Lisa, does it have anything to do with the two of us being riders of the Pony Express?"

Lisa gasped. "You had it too?"

For the next twenty minutes Melissa and Lisa talked about their joint-dream. How it happened, they’d never know. But before hanging up, they agreed to meet at the "same Gregg time, same Gregg place" later that night.