The sky was cloudy and a low fog covered the ground. Those were two of the things that fit perfectly with the heavy matters on the young man’s mind as he rode towards his destination. His horse was blowing hard, and his thoughts were racing.

He’d assumed, for years now that he was doing everything exactly as he should. The answers to all his questions seemed so simple. In fact he had rehearsed his response to this very scenario over and over in his head. Now though, it didn’t seem that significant, or appropriate. Why was he beginning to doubt what he knew was the right thing to do?

As he rode on he began to wonder how could these facts that were laid before him even be true? There was no way, he refused to believe it. Especially not after all of the pain and suffering that he had experienced. He was not going to let someone come in and ruin his life, not now. There was too much at stake, and too many things going on that he didn’t want to be interfered with. His life was so different now than it used to be five years ago...he wasn’t the same scared, lost boy...instead, he had transfigured into a stable, self-supporting man.

“I’ll just tell him that I don’t want him in my life,” he said aloud, as his words were carried away by the wind. “It’s that easy!”

No, he thought to himself, it isn’t that simple. I can’t fool myself. This goes much deeper. I have to face this head on, no matter what it brings about.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, he made sure that the letter Buck had given him was still safely tucked inside. He knew that before this day was over he would re-read it at least a dozen times just to make sure it hadn’t been a dream.

“Rider comin’!” Noah shouted from the porch where he sat trying to sew up the torn seam of his pants. It didn’t seem to be working too well though, as he had worked on it for the past hour. “It’s Kid,” he continued as Cody came out of the bunkhouse, hat in hand, and a gun securely fasted around his waist.

“See you in a day,” he said before mounting his horse.

“Have a great ride,” Noah offered with a tip of his hat. After the storms that had been sweeping across the plains these past few weeks, Noah wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was thrilled not to be the one riding out. It was without a doubt, Twister season...the most dreaded time of the year.

Kid came to a quick stop, pulling on Katy’s reins as she kicked up a cloud of dust. He was clearly distracted, and didn’t even hear the welcome that Noah tossed his way.

He stormed into the bunkhouse, letting the door slam behind him. Lou was sitting with her back to the door, so at the sudden noise, she jumped. “Oh, hi Kid,” she greeted warmly, not missing the distracted look on his face.

Ignoring her as well, he hurried over to his bunk where he began to dig through some of his belongings nervously. He was at a loss as to what he would do, where he would go, and how exactly he was going to handle this situation.

“Something wrong?” Lou asked as she walked over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. When he didn’t respond, she tried again, this time a little more forceful, “Kid, what’s going on?”

Kid apparently heard her this time, and he turned to face her. She noticed the flushed color of his cheeks, and the absence of sparkle in his eyes. Her worry was now growing rapidly. Kid only became this upset over extremely serious issues.

“Tell me,” she said softly, trying to coax him into revealing whatever it was that was troubling him so greatly.

The sound of her voice was a refreshing breeze to his unsettled mind, and he sat down on his bunk. Without speaking, he pulled the message out of his pocket and handed to her. She would not be able to interpret it completely, but what she didn’t understand, he could explain.

“What’s this?” She carefully unfolded it and began to read the fading print. At the words that were solemn and serious, yet void of emotion, she knew why he was so disturbed. He had been called upon, not as a voluntary service, but as a man being ordered to serve his duty to a cause that they had not specified.

Lou’s face fell downcast and she sat down next to Kid with a sigh. “The Army?” It was a rhetorical question, she knew that...but what she couldn’t comprehend is why they chose him of all people.

He nodded absentmindedly. The man who had “requested” that he offer his services had been one of Kid’s friends back in Virginia. In fact, he had saved his life on one specific occasion, so naturally Kid had indebted himself to his companion whenever or if ever he was truly needed. Unfortunately, however, that was before he knew that Seth was a Colonel in the Army.

“I don’t know that I want to see him, Lou. I’m afraid of what he’s going to ask me to do.” Kid said, looking directly at her for the first time since his arrival. She could see the dark circles forming under his eyes, a sure sign of his loss of sleep. No doubt it was from the anxiety and drudgery of what might occur in the next week to come.

In her concern, she placed her warm hand over his. This situation was very much something that she could relate to. The memories of her past were not fond either, in fact it hurt so much that she had to shut them out completely. “Kid, you can’t run away from here. What about the people you’d be leaving behind?” Louise knew that she was anticipating his thoughts at the moment. But at the same time, she knew that he was not the type of person to run away from his problems.

Kid’s eyes clearly showed how torn he was that point. It was hard to tell which was stronger, his love an admiration for her, their family, and his job...or his determination not to be called into any form of duty. “I don’t want to leave, Lou,” he said taking her other free hand in his, “But I’m not sure that I can’t go where he wants me. I owe this man my life. I realize it doesn’t make any sense, but I hope that you can understand.”

She nodded, wanting to believe that she could grasp what he must be going through. She knew that his friend must have done something incredible for him to ask Kid to pull away from his own life like this, “Yes, I can,” was her soft reply. Lou only hoped that the answers and resolution would soon appear to solve the distress being felt by both of them.

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Lou stood up and paced across the room, “What are you going to do?”

What am I going to do? The words seemed to flood the whole room with an ominous feeling. From where he was sitting right now, there wasn’t even one thing he could think of. “I don’t know, I guess I’ll just wait for him to find me like the message says.”

It was definitely one of those rides where Cody thought that everything would go perfectly and nobody would be bothering him. Or so that was his conclusion until a rather burly man rode out in front of him and blocked his path. Reacting on pure instinct at the sight of something instantly appearing, Cody’s horse rared up and threw his unsuspecting rider off.

“Oh mister, I’m sorry!” The man exclaimed as he jumped from his horse to help Cody back to his feet. “You aren’t hurt are you?”

Cody shook his head and tried to figure out where it hurt the most. He’d been thrown a lot harder than that, so he knew that he would survive without too many bruises. “Yeah, I’m fine thanks,” he stated as he began to brush the dirt from his clothes.

Once he was sure that the young man was well, the stranger posed his question. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the Rock Creek Pony Express Station is, would you?”

Cody smirked, “Actually I’m one of the riders. You’re about 5 miles from it. Just follow this trail and it will take you right there.”

The man tipped his hat. How convenient this was all working out to be! He couldn’t believe it. “Thank you very much. Have a great ride,” he added before mounting his horse. After Mark had heard where she was, he had made it his young ambition to find her once more. It had been so many years, and he wasn’t even sure if she’d remember him...but like with many things in life, it was worth a try...

“Thanks,” Cody replied before heading back on his way. He couldn’t help but wonder who would be looking for the Express station. Maybe he’s just a friend of Teaspoon, he thought to himself.

Despite his rational, there was a eerie feeling inside of him. More often than not when anyone came looking for Rock Creek, and more specifically the station, that person brought about every type of abominable situation one could imagine.

Cody began thinking that perhaps it wasn’t so horrible after all that he was the one riding out...

On to Chapter Two

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