The Locket

For their part, Kid and Buck didn't know what to believe. Save for Kid's initial suspicion about her being one of McCaffrey's girls, Lydia had done nothing to make them suspicious. She was everything she appeared to be...or was she? From the expression on his face, even Buck had his doubts.

That was something Lydia could not stand. She didn't mind so much if Kid or the others had doubts about her (although it did hurt); they just did not know her that well. But for Buck to, when he knew her so well, when he liked her so much (at least according to Emily). Something had to be done about Buck's concerns...

"What are you sayin'?" Lydia asked McMullen again, her tone bordering on hysterical.

"I'm not sayin' anything, Miss Mitchell, if that is your real name. I was merely wonderin' why you would be on the Overland Stage when your circumstances would clearly put you on the Santa Fe. Is it because you're lyin' and that you weren't headin' for Colorado at all? Maybe you were on the Overland Stage for purposes other than just travelin'," the captain did not seem to realise that he was contradicting himself in his accusations. "Maybe you're the gang's inside person, settin' up the raids from the inside..."

"No!" Lydia practically screamed, jumping up and pacing the room. "That's not true! That's not how it happened! I was headin' to Colorado! I caught the Overland Stage to Denver!"

"If you caught the Overland Stage to Denver, then why did you just tell us that you booked passage to Old Bent's Fort? Those were your very words, Miss Mitchell. Why did you tell us you booked passage to Old Bent's Fort if you were headed to Denver? Have you got an answer for that, Miss Mitchell?" A moment of silence followed, broken only by the sound of Lydia sobbing. "No. I didn't think so."

"That's enough!" Buck said, standing.

"I beg your pardon?" Stunned at the interruption, McMullen turned to Buck. "What is the meanin' of this?"

"You said you wanted to clear up a few points. But all you're doin' is badgerin' Lydia. Can't you see it's not helpin'?" Buck went over and took Lydia in his arms, oblivious to Kid's stare.

"Listen, Cross, even you must admit that these are valid questions that need answerin'. This is the best way I know of getting answers from a recalcitrant witness."

Buck blinked at the strange word, but got most of the captain's meaning. "But you're not givin' her a chance to answer. You just keep firin' question after question. How can that be helpin'?"

McMullen gave him a withering look. "When interrogatin' a suspect, you do not give them a chance to come up with a lie."

"But Lydia isn't a criminal. she's just a girl who has been through a lot. And quite frankly, Captain, with all due respect, you're not makin' it any easier on her."

McMullen shook his head. "She really does have you fooled, doesn't she?"

"Captain, why don't you let her answer the questions. She might have a perfectly good explanation," Kid spoke up.

"If you think it would help. I think it's a waste of time."

"If you think it's a waste of time, then why are you botherin'?"

"Why indeed?"

Buck ignored the other men in the room, and focused his attention on Lydia. He gently pulled back from the embrace, and placed both hands on the sides of her face, holding her tenderly but firmly, forcing her to look directly into his eyes. "Are you listenin' to me, Lydia?" he asked softly. When he felt her nod, he continued. "Do you think you can answer the Captain's questions? Now I know you must have a good explanation for all this, but you must tell the Captain or he'll never leave you alone. Can you do that, honey?" When Lydia nodded again, Buck gently kissed her on the forehead, and let go.

Lydia took a deep breath. "Yes, Captain, there is an explanation, but could you let me get it out without interruptin' me, please?

"My father died last January, when I was still in Baltimore. I realised that there was nothin' stoppin' me from comin' back West to look for someone that my father had forbidden me to see. So as soon as weather allowed, I caught the train from Baltimore to Saint Joseph.

"Once in St. joe., I booked passage to Old Bent's Fort. I was told I had to wait a couple of days for the connecting stage to Independence, Missouri. So I booked myself into a hotel, where I met up with Simon Walters, who was an old friend of mine from Old Bent's Fort. I met Simon's wife, Adele, and we had lunch at the hotel. When Simon heard that I was headed back to Colorado, but had to wait for the stage to Independence, he suggested that I switch stages, and catch the Overland with them to Denver. As the Overland stage left the next mornin', I agreed. I wasn't all that anxious to get home anyway."

"If you don't mind my askin', why not?"

"Because the only one left for me at the Bar Mitchell is my stepmother Wendy, and she and I don't get along."

"Does that answer your questions, McMullen?" Buck asked.

"Mostly," McMullen replied. "Just one thing, Miss Mitchell. Can anyone confirm your story about Simon Walters?"

Lydia shrugged. "I don't know, the hotel manager in St Joe might remember. Buck here met Simon years ago when he...Buck, I mean, worked for my father."

"Is this true? Can you describe him?" McMullen turned to Buck.

"Uh huh, tall, deep blue eyes, blond hair, yeah, I knew him."

"Well, you're general description fits the man we found, and he called his wife Adele..." McMullen admitted reluctantly. "Although, that doesn't mean that Miss Mitchell here didn't coach you."

"Wait a minute," Lydia cut in. "Simon called for his wife. Simon's alive? What about Adele?"

"Both passengers were alive, just barely when we found them. Last I heard, they were doin' better."

"Oh, thank God," Lydia murmured.

Kid was the one who caught on to the relevance of this particular revelation. "So if Simon is alive, why don't you ask him to confirm Lydia's story? Better yet, ask him if he knows Buck."

"That's a good idea," Marshal Pierce finally spoke up after watching the whole scene.

"Was that all, Captain McMullen? Because if it is, could you please wrap it up? It's getting late, and there are children in the house."

"Yes, that will be all for now. I may come round again shortly, though, as new evidence comes to hand. Don't think this is over, young lady," he said to Lydia.

"It is for tonight," Kid said firmly, leading them to the door.

"I hope you're sure about her, Kid," McMullen said in an undertone. "I would hate to see a man with so much to live for go down because he trusted the wrong woman. But then again, maybe you're in on it too. Maybe you're helpin' her now because you know it will help you're beloved Virginia." With that as a parting shot, McMullen left an open-mouthed, frowning Kid staring after him.

"You don't really think that Lydia is involved, do you?" Pierce asked as they were riding away.

"Marshal, if there is one thing I have learned during my career is to never underestimate what a woman is capable of. What I didn't say in there was that Lydia's 'friend', this Simon Walters was calling out her name when he came to. And he was absolutely terrified."

"That could mean anything, " Lone Tree Valley's Marshal pointed out.

"That it could, Marshal, that it could."

Kid was still standing in the doorway when Lou came downstairs with Jeremiah and Teresa. "What happened?" Teresa asked. "We heard yellin'."

"Was there any fightin'?" Jeremiah asked eagerly.

Lou noticed it at first, the protective way Buck was holding Lydia and the silent, straight stance of her husband. The tightness of his back clearly told her that he was upset about something. "All right, you two, show's over," she told her younger brother and sister. "off to bed."

"Aw Louise..."

"Aw nothin'. Go to bed." Lou waited until the children had gone before placing her hand on the Kid's shoulder. "What happened Kid?" He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Kid," Lydia spoke up shakily.

"Sorry? For what?" Lou's head whipped from Kid to Lydia.

Quietly Buck told Lou what happened when Captain McMullen was interrogating Lydia. She was horrified at the lengths the captain would go to, including accusing her husband of being a Southern Sympathiser.

"I'm sorry," Lydia repeated. "I'll leave in the mornin'. I'll..."

"Shh, Lydia, shh. It's all right. You don't have to leave. Come on, why don't you go upstairs and try to get some sleep."

"You're not gonna send Lydia away, are you?" Lou asked after they'd gone.

"No, it ain't her fault. McMullen never really trusted me when it came to the War. And despite what McMullen was tryin' to say, Lydia never really lied about that whole stage mix-up. I think it was just what Lydia said."

Lou smiled slightly. "Time was you'd have been suspicious of Lydia. Especially if someone was accusin' her like that."

"Yeah, well, I am suspicious... a little. I don't know, I want to trust her, and I don't really believe she was behind the stage hold-up..."

"But..."

"But part of me keeps thinkin' that it could all be an act. Lord knows I don't want to think that, and for the most part, I don't, but it's happened before, Lou. Margaret, Sarah... And every now and then, like tonight when McMullen was goin' at Lydia, I just start thinkin' 'what if'?"

"Do you want to know what I think?"

"What?"

"That you're thinkin' too much, and that we should get some sleep. Come on."

It was the dead of night, and the place was quiet. Not completely silent, but quiet enough. Out of the silence they came. Riders, a dozen of them. They carried no torches, relying on moonlight to show the way. They were all armed with six-shooters and a variety of shotguns and rifles. They had one mission: to raid the pXp, make off with Lydia Mitchell and the half-breed Buck Cross (alive), and shoot to kill anyone who got in their way.

Buck was the first to hear them. He had a natural instinct for danger and was a fairly light sleeper, so the distant sound of thundering hooves awoke and instantly alerted him. He warned Lou and Kid, so they were prepared to mount a defence from the house, and they even had time to warn the men in the bunkhouse that trouble was coming. They knew that it wasn't a legitimate posse when one opened fire on Buck as he was coming back from the bunkhouse.

The gunfight was fierce. This band knew what to do. They stayed well hidden and focused on the shooting from the house. They were outnumbered, but they stayed out of the bunkhouse line of fire. Lou. Buck, Kid, Emily, and Lydia soon realised that things were going to get messy, especially when Emily had to abandon the shooting to comfort her baby. Then Teresa screamed.

Jeremiah and Teresa were always warned if a gunfight occurred, they were to get under their beds and stay there. Jeremiah hated this, but Lou was adamant that he wasn't going to have access to a gun. They did what they were told this time... until one of the outlaws used the confusion to gain access to the house. The first room he checked was Teresa's bedroom, and her saw her under the bed.

Upon hearing the scream, Lydia raced downstairs to cover Lou's younger siblings. By the time she got there, Jeremiah had smashed a vase over the man's head and knocked him out. Jeremiah then insisted on grabbing the outlaw's discarded rifle and covering the study, and Lydia was too busy to argue.

When Wilson, Durand, Taylor, and some of the pXp men advanced from the bunkhouse, Loran knew that he and McCaffrey's men would be slowly picked off if they made a dash for the house. So he called a retreat.

Lydia froze. Even through the sound of the gunfire, she knew that voice! It was the man who shot Adele, one of the men behind the stage robbery, among other things. She told this to Lou, Buck, and the Kid when everything was over. They exchanged grim glances. This did not bode well. Silently Kid and Buck loaded the bodies of the men they felled onto the wagon, tied up the one Jeremiah knocked out, and Kid drove them into town.

Due to the interrupted night, breakfast was somewhat late the next morning, but even so, Kid was not back from town yet. It was a quiet affair, everyone was subdued from the events of the previous night, and there was level of tension between Lou and Jeremiah. Something else was odd, too. Lydia felt and was acting completely awkward around Buck. Buck noticed this, of course, as did Emily and Jeremiah. The latter was about to make a caustic remark, only Emily kicked him under the table, a maneuver Lydia thanked her lucky stars nobody noticed. She didn't feel explaining anything.

The gunfight made her realise something... that she had fallen in love with Buck Cross. That thought had never occurred to her prior to Emily suggesting it, but now everything made sense. Her pulse quickening, her breathing becoming shallow and ragged whenever he was around, the way she would stare at him, the sick fear whenever he was in danger...

Underlying these feelings was guilt. She felt she shouldn't feel this way. She had spent so long loving Ike. dreaming of him, that it seemed disloyal to suddenly fall for another man; especially his best friend. She felt inconstant, fickle, dirty. She had to leave, to get away from the temptation.

"Is everything all right, Lydia?" Lou asked.

Lydia started. "Er, yeah. I was just thinkin', maybe it would be better if I left."

"Why?" Buck asked immediately.

"Because those men were after me last night. They'll come again. They are never gonna stop until they find me, and I don't want to bring down trouble on you all." It was the first excuse Lydia could think of, but that did not make it untrue.

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know..."

"Lydia, you can't..."

"I can't stay here. Sooner or later you will all get hurt, and I don't want that. I don't want to go, bit it would be better if I leave. Excuse me," Lydia stood and ran out the back door."

"I'll go talk to her, see what this is all about." Buck said.

Buck found Lydia where he'd expected she would be—in the barn. It was the place she would always run to when she was upset. "Thought I'd find you in here."

Lydia started and looked up as Buck walked over to her. Her blue-green eyes were filled with unshed tears, making them appear eerily green. She only made eye contact for a moment before looking back down at her hands.

"Why do you want to leave, Lydia?" Buck couched down beside the bale of hay she was perched on

"I don't, but I have to. Teresa nearly died last night because of me. I can't live with that."

"I think there is more to it than that," Buck persisted. "What? Is it Ike? Because runnin' away won't help you grieve. Or is it Emily and the baby?"

Lydia shook her head to these questions, wishing that Buck would stop asking them. The more he asked, the closer he would get to the truth... that she had fallen in love with him. What would Buck think then? If she felt guilty, how would he take it, the fickle nature of her feelings? Would he believe it? Would he still respect her?

"What is it?" Buck asked again, wanting desperately to help her, to help the woman he was fast falling in love with.

Lydia stood and went over to Katy's stall. Absent-mindedly she patted the mare and changed the subject. "This reminds me of the old days."

"Huh? What are you talkin' about?"

"The barn. You and me. Ike. How we used to talk in Papa's barn... all the good times we had."

Buck smiled at the memory. "Yeah, we had some great times."

"I was in the barn when Ike told me how he felt about me, where we shared our first kiss, where he gave me the locket..."

"You really have a thing for barns, don't you?" Buck straightened and came up behind her to place his hand on her shoulder.

"I could always get away from Papa and Wendy in the barn. It has always been a good place to collect my thoughts, when I've fought with somebody... or when I've fallen in love and I don't know how to face you..." The pronoun slipped out without Lydia realising she had said it. Her hand flew to her mouth as she turned to look at Buck. The stunned expression on his face and his unreadable deep, brown eyes spoke volumes to her. Instantly, she realised she'd blown it, and turned to go. Buck gently restrained her from leaving by placing his hand on her waist, as his other hand slid from her shoulder to cup her head and draw her face down to his. His lips were warm and tender as he tentatively kissed her, and she was startled into responding. She soon warmed into the kiss and opened her mouth under his. The moment seemed to last forever, until..."