"Good morning, Thomas." Lou greeted her companion as he opened the door separating their rooms. She wore a beautiful gown, and was elegantly groomed. "You look fancy in those duds."

"Shall we go? Who are you tonight, my daughter or my niece or should we be really scandalous and say you're my fiancee'?" Thomas asked her with a smile.

"You are such a tease. I think you've already introduced me as your daughter so you'd better stick to that story. You don't want your reputation to get tarnished. Let's go. We don't want to be late to the Mayor's ball."

Lou and Thomas traveled together for three months, a world that she never imagined existed. Thomas's money and reputation proceeded them and brought invitations to many dances, dinners, and balls. They left St. Joseph in September and went to numerous cities and towns in Kansas and Colorado. Many of the boom towns sprang to life overnight, lived with a flourish and died as soon as the lode ran out. December found the wandering couple in Denver, Colorado, and being invited to numerous high society functions. They often joked about how they would be treated if their hosts knew their real pasts.

Louise never told Thomas her real name, not because of trying to hide it from him but because it belonged to a life that seemed as unreal now as did the attention she received from the young men at the parties. She flirted some but she knew that these men could never hold a candle to the man that still held her heart captive. Knowing she should look to the future, her dreams kept reminding her of her loss.

Lou and Thomas made a complete circuit of the important parties. He loved to buy her pretty dresses and expensive jewelry. They ate at the fancy restaurants. It was a world that Lou never expected to have a chance to experience.

Christmas found them at the home of Denver's mayor who tried courting Thomas into investing in the area's silver mines. Thomas hadn't been swayed but the Mayor was going all out to convince him otherwise making Thomas laugh inside. He knew what he was going to do with his money and until he found his nephews or what happened to them, he wasn't investing in any schemes.

"Welcome and Merry Christmas. We sure are happy to have you living here in Denver. May I introduce you to our guests?" The mayor went out of his way to impress Thomas.

"No, that's not necessary. We can make ourselves at home. Come on Willow, let's go mingle." Thomas looked up at Lou and smiled as she pushed his wheel chair toward the crowd. Fortunately, the mayor hadn't built his home on several levels. Thomas's legs no longer remained steady; he used his chair to get around. He hoped, in the spring, he could go back to using the crutches. He told Lou earlier in the evening that this would be the last year he would spend where the winters got cold enough to freeze. The cold made his legs ache all the more, but he wanted to stay north this year to look for the boys.

"May I dance with your daughter, Mr. Stevens?" asked the young man Thomas recognized from the bank.

"Well, why don't you ask her? She can give her own answer. I'll be all right. Go ahead if you want to." Thomas said looking at the girl beside him.

So Lou spent the first Christmas since she was rescued, dancing in a fancy dress, with an assumed name, and traveling with an older man who she knew less than six months. She felt little joy that night. Soon the evening would be over and no matter how much she did or how late she stayed up when ever she went to bed the dream always waited for her. It was always the same. First she was happy in a beautiful garden until someone grabbed her, dragged her onto a horse and rode away with her as she heard a shot and saw someone fall. She could never see his face, though she knew who was killed. But then why would she see Kid's face sad and worried, looking into a grave. Why could she see his face then? The dream was always the same, leaving her terrified.

"Thank you for the dance," brought her from her thoughts as she looked up at her latest partner.

"You look tired Willow. Should we go home? I feel tired also."

Lou smiled and said, "Merry Christmas, Thomas. Let's go. Will there be coaches available or do you want me to push you back to the hotel?"

"I think it is a mild evening. Do you mind pushing me? It's quite level most of the way and I could use some fresh air."

Louise agreed and helped him down the Mayor's stairs and then she returned to carry his chair down. Somehow all the attentive young men of the evening found something else to keep busy and no one helped her. It didn't surprise Lou though, because most of these frivolous boys only kept one thing on their minds and Lou wasted little time emphatically saying no. They spent no more time on her either.

"Are you happy, Willow? Or is it just the mood of this day that made you so quiet?" Thomas looked up at Lou tenderly.

She shook her head but said nothing. Her mind wasn't listening to her friend but thinking back to another Christmas several years ago, to the only time in her life that gave her happy memories, back when she was a rider for the Pony Express. That Christmas she and the other riders, boys, were eating a special meal the housekeeper, Rachel, prepared. The boys did their usual teasing and bantering. Most of the time she felt on the outside edge of their friendship, but that day something grand happened. Rachel made each of them a present, a shirt, and Lou's sleeves were even short enough. Lou felt that she was truly a member of a family, something she hadn't felt since her mother died.

After the meal and opening packages sent from Emma and Sam, the riders were getting ready for bed. The next day Lou and another rider were scheduled to make express runs. Just as she was ready to take her shirt off and crawl into bed, a blanket descended over her head and her arms were held at her sides. She struggled, trying to free herself. Lou feared the worst, they were up to their tricks again. She was forced to sit down and the blanket was held around her tight. She heard the door open and close. What are they going to do now, she worried. She kept her screams stifled and sat ridged. Slowly the blanket was pulled off her head and she found herself alone in the bunkhouse with only one other rider, Kid. He gently kissed her and handed her a present. His eyes said everything she wanted to hear. Before even opening the small package she reached over and gave him a tight hug. He whispered "Merry Christmas" to her. Inside the package, rested the cameo on a gold chain that she admired in town. What he said next made her heart start to race."I know we can't do anything now, not while we both still have jobs with the company, but will you, well," She stopped herself from laughing at his attempts to be romantic. "Well, soon the telegraph will take over our jobs and well, then, when that happens, will you consider being mine forever? I care about you a lot. Am I making any sense?" That night she agreed to be his forever and they sealed their promises to each other with a kiss that lasted a long time. So long that it only ended when some stomping outside of the door reminded them that there were other residents of the bunkhouse, kind enough to leave for awhile, but who were getting tired and wanted to go to sleep.

If only she knew where those boys she loved as brothers were now. "Merry Christmas Jimmy, Billy, Ike, Buck, Noah, where ever you are." She looked up at the stars and said softly "I miss you, Kid. I miss you a lot."

"What did you say Willow? Were you talking to me?" Lou came out of her dreaming and realized that Thomas asked her a question.

"What? Did I miss something?"

Two men ran out of a side street, running into Lou and knocked her down. She lost her hold on Thomas's wheelchair and it started rolling down the street. He grabbed a lightpost and stopped. Eventually he turned around and saw Lou laying on the boardwalk, remembering how he met Willow or what ever was her real name. He knew for sometime that she hadn't told him the truth about her name but it didn't matter. Seeing her face down on the street did matter. It hurt deep inside. He knew that he loved her but this chair kept him from helping her. Damn the chair and damn that war. Why hadn't he met someone like her years ago? He shook his head and knew that he had met someone as grand as Willow, but he took the cowardly way and left her to his older brother. The same brother that abandoned her and left two sons to grew up fatherless, probably wasting their lives. Well, he wasn't going to let that happen to his girl. She needed to find out the truth about that lost love of hers. One way or the other she needed know so that she could leave the past and live in a world where she could discover happiness again.

A Denver peace officer approached him as he hung onto the lightpost. "You ok mister?" he asked.

"I'm fine but my daughter was knocked down and is laying up there on the street. I can't push myself up that hill. Would you please go help her and tell her I'm alright?"

"Sure Mister. You be alright there hang'n on for a minute?"

"Yes, yes. Yes. Now go, go help her. Hurry I'm afraid she's injured."

"It's just a bloody nose and I scraped my arm, but I'm afraid the gown is ruined."

"Oh, that doesn't matter. Just that you are all right. What happened?"

"Were you attacked?" the officer questioned.

"Two men ran into us and one of them grabbed my reticule."

"Was there anything of value in it? Did you get a look at either of them?" The man tried to be gentle but also do his job. "Why don't you go to our office and we'll file a report. I'll get a cabby to take you home. You've had enough excitement for one Christmas evening."

"Come on in. This will just take a few minute and then you can be on your way. Excuse us, Colt" the officer said to the bearded man leaving the office as they were about to enter. The man leaving held the door for them as Lou pushed Thomas into the office. This had been a long night and everyone was tired. It was very dark on the porch; it would have saved them all a lot of grief if their eyes were alert and they each took a good look at each other. What a Christmas present undelivered in a simple missed moment.

Colt mounted his horse and rode out of the city. His mission was half complete, when he turned over to the marshal in Denver, two of the murders and thieves that attacked his late wife's stage. The law would return them to Laramie for trial and their eventual hanging. Colt needed to find one more criminal. These two had been relatively easy to catch. They spent their ill gotten spoils freely and bragged about their easy money. When Colt apprehended them, he was surprised to feel no desire to harm them. He took them straight to the Denver jail, explained who they were and was ready to wash his hands of them. He thought about the couple entering the jail as he left. They looked like they just left a fancy ball. She looked a little roughed up, probably had been mugged. That poor guy stuck in a wheelchair, that would certainly be a tough life, even with a beautiful young woman to push him around. Suppose she was his daughter or a goldbricker figuring to get her hands on all the old man's money. He bet himself that neither one ever spent a night without a soft bed under their heads, or a warm meal in their bellies. Well, those city softies didn't interest him. He needed to ride miles before he'd be returning to his bed and to the little boy growing up without a father.

Damn, Christmas and he'd forgotten all about it.

On to Chapter Nine

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