Wildfire

*****

**Winter 1858 -- Dakota Junction, Nebraska Territory**

Her long, dark hair blew wildly about her face as the blizzard winds whipped her scarf off of her head. She ran across the snow-covered terrain, searching frantically though the near-blinding gale prevented her from seeing much past the end of her nose. Still, she wandered further and further into the night and into the worst storm the territory had ever seen, heedless of those who called out after her in an attempt to convince her to turn back and give up her fruitless quest before she, too, was lost in the storm forever.

But it seemed that nothing would make her turn back. Though each new step was infinitely more difficult than the last, she would not be thwarted. With renewed determination, she pulled her scarf back up over her head and tied it tightly around her neck so that it would help keep her already-numb ears from freezing entirely. The wind continued to burn and scorch her skin just as wickedly as the sun on the hottest of summer days. However, she fought with every ounce of strength she could muster to keep her balance in the knee-deep snow, believing that she would either find her way to her beloved, or die trying.

*****

The search party followed behind on foot. They knew that the snow was too deep to even think about taking out the horses. It would kill them for sure.

The wind was absolutely treacherous, constantly tossing both the new snow falling from the sky and the snow that already lay on the ground into their eyes. The men all held hands to prevent them from losing each other in the white-out as they continued to shout with all their might so that the girl might find her way back to them.

"Addy! Addy!"

They cried out to her unceasingly, but it seemed useless. She would not turn back; they knew what he meant to her. She'd not give up of her own free will, they feared.

"Addy! Addy! AAAADDDDDDDDYYYY"

One particular boy among the search party seemed to holler the loudest of all. He was beginning to wonder if they should have taken the horses after all. The distance between Addy and the men was growing by the minute. As her friend, he'd always admired her agility and strong will, especially for a girl, but as the blurred silhouette of her figure began to fade into nothingness before him, he cursed her for it.

"That's it! I'm goin' back and gettin' a horse!" he told the other men. "We're gettin' nowhere fast followin' her on foot!"

Before the others could protest, he broke the link of hands and began to plod back towards the homestead to get his horse.

He nearly lost his way twice, but finally, the outline of the stables came into view. He practically crawled his last few steps to the door, the powerful winds strong enough to knock him flat on his face. Fighting to pull the door open due to the huge snowdrift that had piled against it, the young man found his way in the dark to his faithful steed.

He quickly eyed the empty, busted stall next to the one where his own horse was kept, cursing Addy again but praying for her at the same time. "Foolish girl," he muttered, looking heavenward for a moment. And for the time being, he pushed his own sense of guilt at what was happening deep down inside.

He fastened the bridle onto his horse as fast as his numb fingers would allow. He didn't even bother to get out his saddle; there was no time for that.

He led the horse towards the barn door and rubbed him gently on its nose, apologizing in advance for taking him out in weather such as this and promising to give him extra carrots and sugar when this was all over. Just before he opened the door to set out into the storm once more, he secured his hat around his head and pulled the lapel of his coat back up around his neck.

As he began to open the door, a great gust of wind came into the stables, forcing the door completely open and blowing bridles, brushes, and blankets all around. Many of the animals began rearing up in fear, but the boy had no time to settle or calm them. He had to go back out there. He had to go out and find Addy, or else he knew he'd never forgive himself. He did not even want to think about the consequences of not finding her. That wasn't an option.

*****

She didn't know how long she had been wandering out in the freezing cold. It felt like hours, days even, though she knew it probably wasn't nearly that long. The wind seemed to push her back at least two steps for every one forward that she took. But she had to get to him. He was helpless out there in the storm without her. And for the time being, Addy truly felt that she had enough strength to make it for the both of them. She had to...

*****

"Addy! Addy!" he cried.

He rode as fast and as hard as the snow would permit. His horse snorted and neighed in protest, but he just dug his heels into the horse's sides and proceeded, relentlessly calling her name despite the increasing weakening of his voice.

He called and called, but there was nothing.

"Addy! AAADDDDDDYYY!"

Nothing.

He chided himself inwardly for leaving the group to get his horse and search on his own. Not only had he neither seen nor heard Addy since he left, but now he was afraid that he, too, was lost. But thoughts of his own well being were quickly pushed out of mind as a sudden, overwhelming fear for Addy began to cripple him. For a moment, he found he could neither speak nor move. His voice was gone, and he found that his resolve was too quickly failing him.

He felt himself nearly slip into unconsciousness, into the comforting escape that the other side had to offer. It would be freedom from all of this. There would be no more snow, no more white, no more cold.

But the boy was unexpectedly brought out of subconsciousness when he thought he heard a cry somewhere in the distance. Maybe I'm dreamin', he wondered. So, he shook his head vigorously, trying to knock some alertness back into himself, as he once again became rudely aware of the wind gnawing at his flesh.

Again he heard the cry, and he was certain that he had not been mistaken. The words were indistinguishable with the wind and snow thrashing against his ears, but he knew it was her. His heart began to pump even harder as the rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins, renewing his strength. He strained his eyes to attempt to make out the source of the cry, but they quickly began to tear, burned by the harsh storm gusts, totally blurring his already-limited vision.

Then, he heard the cry a third time, and he knew that he must follow it, blind or not.

"Addy! Addy!" He pushed his voice to its absolute limits, the determination building rapidly within him, though he heard no response to his plea.

He took a deep breath, feeling the burn of the frigid air fill his lungs, and he jabbed his horse fiercely with his boots. But, alas, the horse would not move. Again, he tried, and again, he failed. The horse would not budge.

"To hell with it!" he mumbled as he dismounted his horse and landed in the snow with a loud thud. Horse or no, he thought, he'd find her.

He abandoned his horse and began trudging once more on foot, the snow creeping over the top of his boots with each step, soaking through his socks down to his bare skin. In no time at all, his feet grew numb with cold and wetness, yet he paid it no mind. He could barely see his own hands reaching out in front of him, but he followed in the direction from which he thought Addy's cry had come.

"Addy! Addy!"

Still no answer. The wind carried her voice to him, yet she could not hear him. He called again, this time gathering every bit of strength he had within him. If she heard him, maybe she would find her way to him.

"Addy! Addy! Addy!"

His screams were non-stop while he aimlessly chased Addy's cries deeper into the night. He was getting closer; he could feel it. Her voice was growing clearer, and he could almost make out what she was saying.

His iron-will was now stronger than ever, but it was his physical strength that would give out first. Though exceptionally strong, even for a young man of his age, he found that it was no match against the strength and power of this mighty blizzard. No, the storm simply took too much out of him, and the temporary resurgence from the adrenaline was short-lived. Not even his fierce determination and stubbornness could combat Mother Nature at her worst.

He was almost in a daze now and sensed himself weaving unsteadily as the storm continued to rage all around him. Then, as if in slow motion, he found himself helplessly falling face-first in a ragged, delirious heap into the snow. The numbness that had already begun in his extremities was now making its way through his entire body until he was paralyzed completely. Finally, everything turned from white to black. The last thing he heard before his ears closed up entirely and he succumbed to unconsciousness was Addy's frenzied cry on the wind.

*****

Weary and frozen to the bone, Addy continued to follow the remnants of his footsteps before the storm erased them completely. But soon, an endless white enveloped her until there was no way out. She grew dizzy with exhaustion and sunk to her knees, and yet, her heart urged her to press on. She rose again on trembling legs and began to trudge through the snow, holding her hand in front of her face to shield the biting wind and blinding snowflakes from her eyes.

However, her sight was long gone. The trailing voices of the search party were no longer heard, and only the sound of the wind pounding against her raw, bare skin and the echo of her own desperate screams filled her ears.

"Wildfire! Wildfire! Wildfire!"

But it was too late; he was gone. And now, she feared that she, too, was lost in the storm forever...

**Early Spring 1861 -- Sweetwater, Nebraska Territory**

"Wildfire! Wildfire! Wildfire!"

"Addy!" Jimmy cried out, instantly popping up from his bunk so that he was in a sitting position.

Jimmy's eyes flew wide open, and for several minutes he sat motionless, completely unaware of his surroundings. He didn't know what was going on. The only things Jimmy was aware of were the intense pounding of his heart in his chest, the slight high-pitched ringing in his ears, and the beads of perspiration that were pouring out from his forehead and the back of his neck.

Then Jimmy lifted his hand up in front of his face and studied it intently for a moment, his brow creased in confusion. He made a fist and then released it, noticing that there was no numbness or burning from frostbite as he'd expected. Rather, his hands felt moist and clammy.

Slowly coming to the realization that he was not being buried alive in a snowstorm, Jimmy looked all around, trying to recover from the shock. In the darkness of the night, Jimmy could still make out the figures of the other people in the room from the moonlight that streamed in through the flimsy curtains. There was Kid, Lou, Buck, Ike, and Noah; they were all fast asleep. He could hear Cody snoring from the bunk just above him. For once, Jimmy found it to be a comforting sound. He sighed as he realized that he was in the bunkhouse at the Sweetwater Pony Express Station, safe and sound. It was just a dream.

Wiping the perspiration from his brow, Jimmy dropped back onto his bed again until he could feel the damp pillow under his head. Soon his heart and breathing began returning to their normal rates. But suddenly, he felt a chill run down the length of his spine, and he shuddered uncontrollably, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

Jimmy turned his head to look around the bunkhouse again, his eyes more adjusted to the darkness now. He could see Kid directly across from him, sleeping on his stomach with one arm dangling off the side, the blankets pushed down to the foot of the bunk. His mouth hung agape, and Jimmy mused for a moment about the huge wet spot that Kid was bound to find on his pillow when he awoke.

Jimmy's eyes followed upward to where Lou slept in the bunk just above the Kid's. She also was facing towards him. She was curled up on her side, her knees pulled closely to her chest. Her hair was badly mussed up and hung over her forehead, covering her eyes.

He looked at everyone else in the room in turn -- Buck, who had his back towards him, his backside nearly off the edge of the bunk; Ike, just above Buck, with his eyebrows drawn close together and lips pressed tightly shut; Noah, whose whip was never far from his side, sleeping with his head resting on his arm, his hand only inches from the bedpost where his trusty whip hung. Jimmy even tilted his head up to focus on the bottom of Cody's bunk, which was directly above his.

He sighed again, finding some relief in the fact that his outcry had not caused any of the other riders to stir.

Good, Jimmy thought, at least they won't be askin' me questions in the mornin'. Now I can get back to sleep.

Of course, Jimmy soon found that was easier said than done. Now certain that he was alone in his state of sleeplessness, Jimmy's thoughts wandered back to the reason he was awake and so antsy in the first place -- the dream.

The dream, he thought, sighing deeply.

But it wasn't just a dream; that was the whole problem.

As Jimmy lay there, staring out into nothingness, he knew that he would never get back to sleep now. Not tonight, anyway. He'd seen her face; he'd seen Addy. He'd heard her voice echo in his ears, and instantly he was transported back three years in time. It all seemed real, so real, as if he were reliving the whole ordeal for a second time.

Why, after all these years, visions of Addy and that fateful and stormy night had crept into the foreground of his thoughts, Jimmy did not know. He had tried so hard to bury that part of his life deep in the recesses of his mind, to rid himself of the guilt that had plagued him, to forget the face of the girl that used to light up his world. And Jimmy had succeeded, for quite a while, too. But now, Addy's face was fresh in his mind, and her voice rang as clear in his ears as it had all those years ago. His thoughts held him prisoner in another time and another place.

No, Jimmy knew he'd never get back to sleep now...

*****

Morning had come at last, the bright dawn signaling the fresh start of another day. The riders began awakening slowly, most with extreme reluctance, and their tired yawns and groans of irritation filled the tiny bunkhouse. Eventually, they all managed to pull themselves out of bed and started dressing. All but Jimmy, that is.

Jimmy had finally managed to find escape into sleep in the wee hours of the morning. Though his body found its much-needed rest, his mind remained a flurry of activity. Jimmy could not free himself of thoughts of the dream...of what had happened so long ago...of Addy. No matter how hard he tried to wipe his mind clean like a slate and erase those images -- memories, really -- Jimmy found that he could not. Despite all attempts, he always came back to her -- to Addy. It was a troubled night's sleep indeed.

Now Jimmy lay asleep on his bunk, his forearm resting across his eyes blocking out any sunshine. The rest of the world of the Pony Express seemed to go on without Jimmy, while he was trapped in his own world of bitter dreams, memories, and days gone by..

Of course, knowing the other riders, it would be impossible for Jimmy to be asleep for very long while they were all awake, preparing to take on another day of sweat and toil. If they were being forced to forfeit a day sleeping in, so, too, would Jimmy..

Lou saw her chance to not only awaken Jimmy, but to have a little fun for herself as well. She giggled at the mere thought of her proposed naughtiness and brought her hand up to cover her mouth, stifling the sound of laughter.

Lou walked over to the night table by her bunk, picking up the eagle's feather she had found the other day. She tiptoed over towards Jimmy's bunk, a child-like grin of mischief on her face.

Kid, who had just finished buttoning up his shirt, looked up to see Lou standing over Jimmy with the feather, only an inch away from tickling his nose with it.

"Lou!" Kid reprimanded with a whisper. "I don't know if you wanna do that," he warned her. "Ain't ya never heard the expression: 'let sleeping dogs lie'?"

Lou glanced sideways over at the Kid, slightly annoyed at his lack of a spirit of fun. "Oh, Kid, why ya always gotta spoil my fun?"

"Well," Kid sighed and shook his head, "Just don't say I didn't warn ya."

With that, Lou turned her attention back to Jimmy, who was still sleeping soundly, and slowly lowered the eagle's feather so that it was barely touching his nose. She swept it back and forth gently across his face. Lou's eyes twinkled impishly; Jimmy's nose twitched comically. Again, she tickled his nose, and this time, Jimmy swatted at it with his hand as if it were a fly buzzing around his face just before he sunk down further into his bed, still asleep. She could see his eyes flutter beneath his lids, but they did not open.

"What's goin' on?" Lou heard from behind.

It was Cody. He had just come in from washing up outside when he came across this peculiar scene of Lou leaning over Jimmy's bunk with Kid and the others watching in amusement.

"Shhhh!" Lou shushed him quickly. "You'll wake him!"

"I thought that was the whole idea!" Cody spat back, his voice kept low.

"It is. I just thought it'd be more fun this way," Lou replied.

"Well, at least make sure you move his guns out of reachin' distance, Lou," Cody advised.

Lou simply ignored him and turned back once again to her task of annoying Jimmy. She moved the feather across his cheek, applying more pressure with the hopes that he would finally awaken.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," she murmured quietly, almost in a sing-song fashion.

Suddenly, Jimmy's breathing began to quicken noticeably as visions of the lovely dark-haired girl surrounded by an endless white flashed in his brain for about the hundredth since last night. He was completely unaware of Lou's little game. For all he knew, it was the snow he felt tickling his nose; it only served to pull him deeper into this dream world. All Jimmy could see was the girl -- his friend -- being swallowed up into the storm while he stood helpless, his feet nothing but lead weights under him.

Lou's jovial expression then changed to one of confusion, and finally to concern. Now Jimmy was almost panting for breath. His nostrils flared with each intake of air, and the sweat started to pop out of his forehead. She hadn't mean to get Jimmy all worked up; after all, it was just supposed to be in good fun. But when Jimmy suddenly shot up from his bed, calling out for someone named "Addy", she knew that her childish antics had gone dreadfully wrong.

Jimmy's eyes opened at last. He half-expected to find himself out in the freezing cold again, staring into the horizon with the knowledge that it was too late to save Addy, that he had failed her. But what he saw was the face of Addy melting before his eyes until it was soon replaced by Lou's. He blinked rapidly, pressing his eyelids tightly together to clear his vision. Then Jimmy looked around, only to see the bewilderment on the faces of the rest of his friends and bunkmates, the confusion in their eyes mixed with slight shock and worry.

For several long moments, no one spoke. No one dared speak. Jimmy just sat up in his bed, scanning the room with his brow furrowed, his chest heaving, and his face moistened with sweat. The expression on Jimmy's face was one that none of the riders could quite identify, and frankly, they did not know what to make of it. It wasn't the expected response of annoyance due to Lou's prank. It was something else. Fear, maybe? Shock? Perhaps both.

But that unidentifiable look on Jimmy Hickok's countenance then changed into one that could easily have been mistaken for anger. The tight set of his jaw, the way his brow was squeezed down towards his nose, the hardened look in his eyes were all telltale signs that something was eating at Jimmy...and this something was serious.

Upon seeing this change, Lou finally decided that it was her place to say something since it was she who was trying to wake up Jimmy in a not-so nice way.

"Jimmy...I..." she began meekly.

However, Lou didn't get to finish the apology that she was still composing in her head when Jimmy leapt out of his bunk, grabbed his clothes that lay in a pile next to his bed, and headed for the bunkhouse door without so much as a word to anyone.

Just as Jimmy was pulling the door open forcefully, Rachel was walking up the porch steps of the bunkhouse so that she could fix breakfast for everyone. "Mornin', Jimmy", she greeted cheerfully, not knowing that Jimmy was in the middle of storming out.

Jimmy passed Rachel without acknowledging her presence or her salutation, heading off behind the bunkhouse and out of sight.

Rachel turned around, confused, and huffed sarcastically, "Well! That was some good mornin'!"

She looked around the bunkhouse to see if she could figure out what was going on, but she soon guessed by the expressions on the others' faces that they were nearly as clueless as she was. Rachel shrugged and sighed deeply, making her way to the kitchen area so she could begin the meal before Cody started whining, "Is it ready yet?"

Meanwhile, the six stunned riders remained fixed in their spots, glancing at each other. Silence once again took hold in the bunkhouse, and soon, they were all lost in their own thoughts and hypotheses about what it was that had Jimmy so riled up. Why was he actin' so strange? each of them wondered.

Cody scratched his head and pondered the question he had posed to himself when something seemingly unnoticed by the others occurred to him. "Who's Addy?" he blurted out abruptly.

But that's Cody for you. Cody -- ever the one to break a silence.

*****

Outside near the wash basins and showers, Jimmy began to dress himself. He could still feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his hands shook madly while he struggled over buttoning his pants and shirt. He had to stop and start over two times because he just couldn't seem to get it right with the way his fingers trembled so. Jimmy felt completely out of control and on edge, and he did not like that feeling one least little bit.

He was barely aware of the antics that were going on in the bunkhouse just before he awoke suddenly. All Jimmy remembered was Addy -- her face looking him straight in the eye. She had been not three feet away from Jimmy in his dreams, and though he was awake, he felt that her face and memory had left a permanent imprint on his brain. Even now, as Jimmy stood staring at his own reflection in the mirror, he could see her. Her gray eyes bore into his as if she were standing right in front of him at that very moment. Jimmy flinched for an instant before he felt himself being drawn back into the past and into the memories he thought he'd left behind. He had to look away.

Eyes now tightly shut, Jimmy began to hear Addy's voice reverberate in his ears, and the same hopeless desperation he felt as a boy washed over him with a sudden and unexpected power. "Wildfire! Wildfire! Wildfire!" repeated over and over again until Jimmy thought he would go crazy.

"No!" he muttered through clenched teeth. Jimmy doubled over as if he'd been punched square in the gut, and he used his fingers to stop his ears in an attempt to silence the voice and the demons that came from within.

At last, there was silence. Wonderful, glorious silence. His hands started dropping slowly back to his side as if still preparing for the haunting voices to return at any second. But it was gone. Jimmy sighed and looked back into the mirror and was relieved to see his reflection, and only his reflection.

"Memories, that's all," Jimmy said to himself, though he wasn't so sure he truly believed it.

He poured some water from the pitcher into the wash basin and splashed it vigorously on his face, drying it afterwards with a clean linen towel. Jimmy looked at his reflection in the mirror again and even reached out to touch its cool, silvery surface. He moved closer and peered into his own eyes; they had the look of having just seen a ghost.

Jimmy joggled his head to clear it of such thoughts he knew to be impossible. He snapped his neck back away from the mirror and laughed at himself for what he tried hard to convince himself was just pure foolishness. After all, she was gone. Her face was but a distant memory, her voice just an echo of yesterday.

The nervous laughter soon disappeared, and his expression became sober and solemn once more. Then Jimmy shook his head with a loud sigh, threw the towel down onto the wash stand, and headed back towards the bunkhouse.

"Who's Addy?" Cody blurted out abruptly.

Noah, Kid, Buck, Ike, and Lou all turned and looked at Cody. Puzzled looks crossed their faces almost simultaneously. They had completely forgotten about the unknown name that was on Jimmy's lips when he awoke suddenly just moments ago. It had been lost in the chaos in the morning. However, now that Cody had brought the question back to mind, they all wondered who this 'Addy' person was.

"I don't rightly know," Noah replied, his brow creased in confusion. "I ain't never heard Jimmy mention a 'Addy' before."

Kid shook his head. "No, can't say as I have either."

"Maybe it's that new saloon girl over at Blue Creek," Buck offered his thoughts. "The other week when me, Kid, and Jimmy rode through, she seemed to take a shine to Jimmy." He smiled, remembering just how pretty this girl was. "Maybe he gave in. That little devil..."

"No," Kid shook his head again, "as I recall her name was Mattie, not Addy."

Buck suddenly remembered that Kid was right. "Oh, yeah. Mattie." He paused, and then a slightly wicked smile broke on his face. "But she sure was pretty, whatever her name was, huh?"

Kid blushed and hung his head down in embarrassment, not able to help himself.

"How would you know, Kid?" Lou shot back in irritation. Then she gave the Kid a sharp jab in his side that brought him further back into reality.

He's done it now, Ike signed to Buck. Buck rolled his eyes and looked over at Noah, who couldn't hide the grin of amusement of his face.

"I was just stoppin' off for a sarsaparilla, Lou," Kid remarked in his own defense. "Nothin' happened." He saw the look in Lou's eyes, her stubborn stance where her arms were folded across her chest, and he looked to his friend for help. "Right, Buck?"

"Uh, that's right, Lou," Buck said, coming to the Kid's rescue. "Me 'n' Kid were just sittin' there at the bar, drinkin' our sarsaparillas and eatin' our cheese sandwiches when these girls just came over and sat on our laps. They started talkin' to us, and we couldn't get 'em to leave."

"Yeah, well, I bet ya didn't try too hard to get 'em to leave," Lou said, a hint of hurt starting to show in her eyes now.

"Aww, Lou..." Kid started cautiously, but she would have none of it and turned her back from him.

Cody was beginning to get irritated that his simple question regarding the identity of Addy had turned into another Kid and Lou dispute. They had forgotten all about him, and he hated not being the center of attention. "I hate to bust up a good fight in the makin'," he began, "but all I wanna know is who the devil is Addy? And what's she got to do with Jimmy?"

Once again, Cody's question would remain unanswered as Rachel came into the main part of the bunkhouse with plates stacked sky-high with her world-famous flapjacks and bacon. "Breakfast's ready! C'mon and have a seat."

At the call of food, everyone took their seats at the table, though their minds still raced with the question: "Who's Addy?"

Rachel looked around the table for a moment, noting that Jimmy still had not returned since he'd stormed passed her out of the bunkhouse about ten or fifteen minutes prior. "I wonder what was wrong with Jimmy." She looked concerned.

"We don't really know, Rachel," Lou told her honestly. For the time being, Lou had forgotten about the little spat with the Kid and was now only worried about what was gnawing at Jimmy so.

"He didn't seem too happy the way he ran outta here like that," Rachel stated as she went back into the kitchen area to bring out the fresh pot of coffee.

"You can probably blame Lou for that," Noah teased. "She tried to wake him up by ticklin' his face with a feather."

"Alright," Lou acquiesced, "I admit that wasn't so nice. But you saw the way he jumped outta bed like that. He was practically drenched with sweat! Even though it's spring, it's only been a few weeks since the last snowfall. And then this whole 'Addy' mystery..." her voice trailed off as she shook her head in bewilderment.

"Addy? Who's Addy?" Rachel asked.

"That's what I've been tryin' to find out all mornin'!" Cody huffed, throwing his arms up in frustration. The suspense was just killing him, probably more so than the other riders. In the back of his mind, Cody still suspected that Addy was some saloon girl from one of the towns along the Pony Express trail. Besides, what other kind of women did Jimmy know? It seemed the only logical explanation.

Lou began to elucidate by recounting the happenings in the bunkhouse that morning before Rachel arrived. "When Jimmy woke up..."

The Kid cleared his throat intentionally, so Lou corrected herself just to satisfy him. First she made sure to shoot him an annoyed look. "Okay, when I woke Jimmy up, he called out this girl's name, Addy. I guess he was dreamin' 'bout her or somethin'. Then he ran outta here like a bat outta hell. We never heard him mention her before, so it's got us all wonderin'."

"Well, the way I see it, Jimmy's entitled to his privacy. If he wants to talk about it, he will. But until he does," Rachel gave a warning glance to all the riders, "I suggest you don't go pokin' into his business and askin' a lot of questions that'll just wind up gettin' him upset. D'ya hear?"

Everyone nodded reluctantly. Of course, they knew that Rachel was right. They had no call prying into Jimmy's personal business, especially when it concerned a woman.

At that exact moment, the bunkhouse door swung open with a loud creak, and all eyes instantly fell upon the figure entering. It was Jimmy. He knew that they were looking at him, but he said nothing. Jimmy simply put that familiar, hardened look on his face and walked over to the table, taking his seat right across from Cody.

"Could ya pass the hotcakes, please," he asked Noah.

Noah sent the plate his way, and he didn't miss the way Jimmy's eyes avoided his. Jimmy stacked three large cakes on his plate and then drowned them in maple syrup. He kept his eyes on his plate, though he could feel the weight of everybody's questioning stares upon him. It was enough to make a body want to scream, but he didn't. He just withdrew further and further inside of himself.

Jimmy ate in silence as Rachel proceeded to engage the others in some superficial banter in order to relieve the tension that hung over the bunkhouse like a thick cloud, about to burst with thunder and rain at any second. Getting the riders to converse while their thoughts were all on Jimmy's strange behavior was like pulling teeth. And Jimmy wasn't stupid; he knew what was going on. He just refused to acknowledge it outwardly. Addy was one ghost he planned on keeping to himself...and in the past.

"Rider comin'!" Buck called out from the front porch, upon hearing the approaching hoof beats.

Kid quickly scurried out of the bunkhouse, fastening his gun belt around his waist as he headed towards the barn to saddle up Katy.

"Ben's a bit early today," Buck stated to Lou, who was on her way back to the bunkhouse with a bucket of water for Rachel.

"Sure is," Lou nodded as she set the bucket down and looked out into the horizon, shielding her eyes for the blaze of the mid-morning sun. "If Kid gets a move-on, maybe he'll be back 'fore supper."

"Alright, Katy, it's just a short ride to Willow Springs and back," Kid told his beloved horse while he placed the saddle on her back. "And then you'll have a nice rest. I promise."

Kid turned around at the sound of heavy, determined footsteps coming from behind. "I'm gonna take this ride for ya, Kid," Jimmy said matter-of-factly. It was not up for dispute. He had even fastened his hat up under his chin and was putting on his black leather riding gloves in preparation.

"But this is my run, Jimmy," Kid replied, somewhat confused at the offer. "'Sides, I don't recall that you owe me a run."

"No, I don't," Jimmy said firmly.

"Then why..."

"We ain't got all day, Kid." Jimmy was getting seriously irritated at this point. Good Lord, he didn't remember the last time one of the riders argued over someone doing them a favor by taking his run. If it were Cody, he'd be handing over the reins and the mochila only too willingly. "I just need to take this run," he explained. "I need to get away for a little while."

Kid could hear Ben's horse come to a halt outside. He sighed and nodded. He figured he knew his friend well enough to let him have his way when he had that look in his eyes. And he definitely knew better than to start asking him all the questions that were running through his mind. Maybe a little time out on the trails, with the pounding rhythm of hoof beats beneath him and the wind at his back was just what Jimmy needed to settle whatever it was that was bugging him all of the sudden.

Kid lifted the saddle off of Katy's back, and Jimmy took that as his sign to saddle up his own horse.

"I s'pose I'll owe you a run," Kid said lightly.

"Naw, Kid, this one's on me," Jimmy replied, his face not even breaking the slightest smile.

"Kid?" Buck shouted out from the porch. "You ready?"

The Kid watched on as Jimmy finished with the last buckle on the palomino's saddle. He noticed the intense look on Jimmy's face. Finally, the horse was ready, and Jimmy began to walk him out of the barn so he could take the handoff and be on his way to Willow Springs.

"Hey, Jimmy," Kid called from behind. Jimmy stopped, turning to face his friend. "Ride safe."

Jimmy simply nodded, gave a slight thankful smile, and left the barn. Within seconds, he took the mochila from Ben, mounted his horse in one sweeping motion, and spurred it away from the station.

Buck and Lou watched in mystification from the bunkhouse porch as Jimmy rode away and Kid came walking out of the barn as if nothing had happened.

"What's goin' on with Jimmy?" Lou asked. "Why'd he take your run, Kid?"

"He just asked me to let him take this run, that's all," Kid tried to shrug off their questions. "Said he wanted some time away."

Lou and Buck looked at each other, both realizing that there must be much more this 'Addy' thing than Jimmy was willing to let on. The last time Jimmy ran off like that on someone else's run he was so riled that he'd rode like the devil himself was on his tail and knocked the gunfighter Longley off of his horse. They didn't even want to think about all the trouble that had caused.

Jimmy rode in and out of Willow Springs in record time. He thought that the ride would help get his mind off of Addy, but he found that it did not work as well as he had hoped. No matter how hard he tried to think of something else -- of anything else -- his thoughts returned to her. At one point, Jimmy had himself so consumed with thoughts of Addy that he swore he even saw a young woman who looked like an older version of her rushing through the streets of Willow Springs. But by the time he blinked to clear the dust of out his eyes and to get his sights straight, she had vanished, as quickly as she'd appeared. Jimmy tried to dismiss the incident, summing it up to hallucinations due to exhaustion.

If nothing else, the time alone on the trail with nothing to distract his thoughts made it all worse. There were times during the run where Jimmy had felt himself almost black out because he was so lost in his memories. He'd be riding along and lose complete track of time. Then, all of the sudden, he'd look at his surroundings and find himself miles away from the last place he remembered being, the sun lower in the sky than it previously had been. The perfectly timed cadence of the horse's hooves pounding into the dust below only seemed to further entrance him. Thankfully, Jimmy's horse guided him along the correct path, and Jimmy had made it to Willow Springs without encountering any trouble.

The sun was now very low on the horizon, and dusk gradually crept upon the Earth, painting the sky with purples, pinks, and deep blues. Jimmy slowed his horse to a trot as he made his way just outside the Sweetwater Express station. There was no return delivery to be made, so there was no one waiting outside for him, no mochila to handoff to the next lucky rider.

Jimmy dismounted his horse, at once feeling the toll that the long day and hard ride had taken on his body. He hadn't noticed while he was riding; he had been too busy thinking about Addy while he tried not to think about her. Somehow, Jimmy felt that the ride hadn't helped at all. The only thing it did do was make his rear end hurt worse than anything and make him more tired than he'd imagined possible. But he still felt on edge.

He quietly walked it into the barn and began unfastening the saddle, hoping not to disturb the others who were probably inside sitting around the table eating Rachel's delicious stew. The thought of food didn't even make his stomach rumble with hunger, and he'd eaten no lunch that day either. Breakfast sat in his gut during much of the morning like a ton of rocks. And the thought of going back into the bunkhouse to face all those curious eyes and questioning stares did nothing but worsen his appetite.

Jimmy had finished unsaddling his horse and plopped it on the wooden railing when he heard Lou enter the barn.

This is the last thing I need right now, Jimmy thought, not allowing himself to meet her gaze.

"What is it, Lou?" Jimmy asked rather abruptly, turning his back on her as he removed the reins from his horse.

Lou was taken aback by the bitterness in his voice and struggled to regain her composure. She walked nearer, but did so with caution. "Hard ride?" she asked.

"Had worse," was Jimmy's pithy reply.

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two of them as Lou shifted nervously and picked at a stray piece of thread on her shirtsleeve. She could hear Jimmy sigh deeply with annoyance.

Finally, Lou spoke, her voice still filled with discretion. "Jimmy, I just wanted to let you know that if you got anythin' on your mind, that I'm here, we're all here, in case you wanna talk about it." There. She's said it. She only hoped that Jimmy would take her offer as a sign of friendship, and not think of it as prying into his personal matters.

"Lou, the only thing I got on my mind right now is findin' my bunk and gettin' a good night's sleep," Jimmy lied. Though his body most certainly craved sleep, he didn't know if he could bear the thought of another night like the previous one.

He still refused to turn and face the female ride, and Lou couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of hurt by this. She knew that Jimmy had a hard time opening up to people, but she had always thought of them as close. She always hoped that he would open up to her the way she often did with him. But Lou also knew when she was fighting a losing battle.

"Alright, Jimmy," Lou nodded reluctantly. "I guess I'll leave you alone then."

With that, Lou spun on her heels, buried her hands deep in her pockets, and headed back to the bunkhouse. Jimmy only turned around when he knew that she was gone. He watched her walk the last few steps into the bunkhouse, the regret washing over him. He knew he sounded harsher than he'd intended. Jimmy knew that Lou only wanted to help, but he didn't need her help, he tried to convince himself. He didn't need anybody. The only person Jimmy had ever admitted to needing was dead.

Addy, he whispered, his eyes turning sad for a moment before steeling up once more with a newfound resolve. Jimmy decided right then and there that he wasn't about to let that happen again, even if it meant keeping it all buried inside, letting no one in ever again.

Lou closed the bunkhouse door behind her and returned to her place at the table where Rachel had just set down a plate with a large wedge of apple pie. She propped her elbow up on the table and leaned her head against her hand, not even picking up her fork to dive into the pie as Teaspoon and the rest of the riders had done.

The riders all noticed the change in Lou's disposition. They exchanged glances but said nothing.

"Was that Jimmy?" Kid finally asked.

"Yeah," Lou answered half-heartedly. "He just rode in. He's gettin' his horse settled for the night."

Eating of the apple pie was resumed, except for Lou. The still warm slice remained untouched. Lou seemed oblivious to it, and was even less aware of Cody's wide-eyed stare at what he viewed as a chance to get some extra dessert for himself.

"Lou?" he began sheepishly. She looked up at last. "You gonna eat that piece of pie? Because I, for one, would be only too happy to take it off your hands." Cody flashed his impish smile while Noah and Buck just rolled their eyes at his "swinish habits", as Teaspoon had once called them.

"No," she sighed. "You go ahead, Cody. I'm not hungry anymore."

Lou pushed the piece of pie towards Cody, and the look on his face was one of sheer heaven. You'd think he had just struck gold with the way his eyes were gleaming so.

"Mmmm, mmmm!" Teaspoon exclaimed as he finished the last bite of his pie in his typical dramatic fashion. He'd noticed that something funny was going on with his riders, so he figured he'd lighten the mood a bit, as only he could. "Rachel, you have certainly outdone yourself on this one."

Rachel blushed slightly at Teaspoon's comment. "Well, it's just nice to know I'm appreciated 'round here."

"Oh, you are, Rachel," Cody grinned, thoroughly enjoying his second helping of dessert. "You are."

A moment later, Jimmy walked through the door into the bunkhouse, and once again, the entire mood of the room seemed to turn sour. Jimmy went directly to his bunk, took off his mustard-colored coat and black hat and hung them on the bedpost and began unbuckling his gun belts.

"Rough ride, Jimmy?" Rachel inquired, hoping to stir up some sort of response.

"Nope. Not especially," he said curtly as he finished un-strapping the gun belts that held his two Navy Colts, slinging them over the other bedpost.

"Well, ya sure made it back here quick. In record time, I'd say," Teaspoon tried his hand at getting Jimmy to open up.

"I guess," Jimmy said in the same unemotional, mechanical way.

Rachel was saddened by the way Jimmy had barely answered her or Teaspoon and didn't even look in their direction. She recalled what she had said earlier to the other riders about giving Jimmy his space, and letting him come to them on his own if he wanted to talk. But now the boy was really beginning to worry her. Rachel eyed Teaspoon, and the look on his face let her that he was just as concerned.

"Jimmy, if you get washed up I'll have your supper ready for you by the time you get back," Rachel said. At least the offer of a nice hot meal would elicit some sort of response, she hoped, bring a little life back into his eyes. No, wait, this is Jimmy, not Cody, Rachel thought, a subtle smile playing on her lips.

"No thanks, Rachel," Jimmy replied. "If it's all the same to you I think I'd just like to get some sleep."

"Well, if ya change your mind, I've got a plate saved for ya. Even got a piece of apple pie left," Rachel hoped again to coax him. She knew how much everyone loved her pies. Cody's ears perked up at the mention of it, but Rachel sent him a warning glare that silenced his pleading before it began.

"Thanks," was all Jimmy said before he sat down on his bunk, removed his boots, and sank into the mattress.

Not long after Jimmy had crawled into bed, the rest of the riders had also settled in for the night. He'd been lying awake the whole time, his back facing out toward the others so that they would think him asleep and hopefully leave him alone.

Jimmy had been awake through the games of poker. He could tell that Kid, Lou, and Noah were playing, and it was obvious that Lou was winning as usual. He overheard Buck asking to see a sketch that Ike was working on. He heard Cody occasionally spouting out quotations depicting some marvelous feat of the Man in Black from the latest dime novel he had picked up in town. He heard Lou shush him for being too loud, saying, "You'll wake Jimmy."

But silence fell over the bunkhouse once more as the last footstep was heard and the last lantern blown out. Jimmy knew that he couldn't spend another night like last one; he couldn't lie awake in bed for fear of dreams of Addy plaguing his sleep. His troubled heart wouldn't allow it.

It wasn't Addy that frightened him; Lord knows, he could never be afraid of such a tender, beautiful soul as hers. No, she'd been his friend, his best friend. Rather, it was the bitter memories and unconquered demons that came along with thoughts of her that had him struggling to succumb to sleep, although his body needed it more now than ever.

In the end, Jimmy decided that he could not fight it any longer. So he said a silent prayer that his dreams would be free of visions of Addy lost in the storm, closed his eyes, and let sleep overtake him.

And for the first time that day, Jimmy went for hours without seeing images of Addy and the terrible storm. His mind was at peace, it seemed.

**Summer 1857 -- Dakota Junction, Nebraska Territory**

"Happy birthday, Addy!"

Addy's eyes were wide with complete astonishment as she looked all around the main room of the house. She saw her father and all of the hired hands standing around a table filled with presents, refreshments, and the biggest, most beautiful birthday cake Addy had ever seen. She found that she couldn't speak; it was all too wonderful to be true.

Addy was finally sixteen years old, a woman in most people's eyes, though she suspected that she'd never quite be a woman in her papa's. She also knew deep down that she wouldn't have it any other way. But there he stood, in a party hat made of folded newspaper, looking rather silly for a man of his age. The corners of his eyes crinkled merrily, and the biggest grin of pride was lighting up his face. Addy thought that she couldn't have been more surprised, and she felt the tears of joy starting to flood her lovely gray eyes.

"I...I don't know what to say," Addy nearly sobbed. She glanced at all of the men standing before her, the men she had grown up with and grown close to, a look of deepest gratitude in her eyes.

"Then don't say anything," one of the ranch hands, and her best friend, said with a smile.

"Well, don't just stand there gawkin'!" exclaimed Randall, the foreman of the ranch. "Make a wish and blow out the candles!"

The surprised look on her face finally broke into a broad smile. Addy ran over to where her papa stood and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you, Papa!" she cried as she reached up to kiss him.

Lars Bergensen held tightly onto his daughter. She's growing so tall and beautiful, becoming such a young woman, he thought, a tinge of sadness welling up in his throat. But his pride in her quickly overshadowed any sad thoughts that a father has when he thinks about his little girl growing up and moving on.

"Adeline, you are my pride and my joy," he told her. "If only your mother had lived to see you so grown up."

Addy couldn't help but notice the sorrow in her papa's voice amid all the happiness. She felt his pain, though not as acutely. Her mother had died when Addy was still very young; her memories had barely been formed. All she had of her mother were fuzzy images, faded memories of her scent and touch, the song she used to hum, and of course, all the wonderful stories her dear papa had told her while she was growing up.

Her father had told her about when he first came to America from Norway as a young man. He was full of hopes and dreams, like any immigrant coming to this new land. The promise of opportunity and wealth abounding always seemed to dominate the stories that filtered into the old country from those who had actually been to America. The stories of tremendous hardship and toil in order to achieve the dream of wealth and prosperity were rarely told. Only when a young, headstrong Lars Bergensen finally went on his own to make his fortune in America did he learn about true struggle.

Lars arrived in the port of New York City, and almost immediately he felt his dreams had been shattered. He'd expected a land welcoming him with open arms, but he was sadly mistaken. For years, he worked and slaved and saved every penny he earned so that he could afford the trip out west. He had heard about the wide expanses of land, just waiting to be settled by hardworking people like himself. Sometimes the government would even give the land away, trying to encourage more whites to move west, cultivate the land, and fortify their growing domination of the territory previously controlled by the Indians.

While still in New York taking on odd jobs, sometimes two or three at a time, Lars met a young French woman named Adele -- Addy's mother. She was more than ten years his junior. She had recently come to America as well, with her two older sisters, both of whom had gotten married and were settled down. Adele worked in a local restaurant, washing dishes, scrubbing floors, and putting up with all sorts of harassment from its sometimes-rowdy customers. It was more of a bar than a restaurant, actually.

Lars had been enjoying a pint with some friends he had made, most of which were also immigrants like him -- some Irish, some Italian, some Scandinavian -- who were also struggling to make their way in the harsh reality among lofty promises and bloated dreams that they grew up hearing about America. Adele had been serving some drinks to a group of men when one of them went a bit too far. She thought she had grown used to their ogling eyes and roaming hands, but she was wrong. This man truly frightened Adele, and she recognized the smell of cheap whiskey on his breath when he tried to force a kiss. When she protested this man's affections, a fight quickly ensued when Lars jumped up from his seat and started waling on the man who had insulted Adele's modesty.

The fight for Adele's honor was over within minutes. The man who had tried to attack her was so intoxicated that he practically collapsed in a heap on the floor with the first punch. Adele was infinitely grateful to the man who introduced himself to her as Lars, and at that moment, she fell madly in love.

Lars had packed a pretty swift punch, and though victorious, his hand hurt like the dickens. He wouldn't admit it at first, but Adele noticed the way his knuckles began to swell up and discolor. It was closing time by now, and Adele decided to take it upon herself to tend to Lars' sore hand. After all, he did get hurt while defending her. She thought it was the very least she could do.

Adele and Lars sat in the empty restaurant together for most of the night. Adele cleaned and wrapped Lars' hand. They talked about their trips to America, about their hopes and dreams, about reality crashing down upon them. Lars knew that he had found a kindred soul in this beautiful young French woman. She had raven black hair, and the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. Lars knew that he had nothing to offer Adele, but he made his mind up then and there that he was going to marry her.

A year later, the two were married. It had taken that long for Lars to finish saving up his money so that he could afford two passages out west, to where the grass was greener, the sky was bluer, and the land was free for the taking. To finally be away from the noise, congestion, and pollution of the city was a dream come true for the both of them. And when they finally rode onto the land that they would claim in the heart of the Nebraska Territory, they knew that they had come home.

The young couple had big dreams, great plans for their land. They worked and struggled to build a life for themselves and for the children they hoped to have one day. Somehow the hardship brought joy to them knowing that they were working for themselves and for the future generations who would come to own the land. It all seemed so worthwhile.

The years of toil and sweat eventually paid off for Lars and Adele. They had built a flourishing farm that allowed them to be, for the most part, self-sufficient. Soon, they expanded their horizons and began raising and breeding horses, hiring several workers to help them run their growing operation.

Lars thought that he couldn't be a happier man. He had a loving wife and land of his own, but when Adele gave him the news that she was with child, he soon discovered that he was wrong. The thought of bringing a child -- their child -- into the world was the most exciting and overwhelming feeling that he had ever felt in all of his life. And what better place, they thought, to raise a child then on the land they'd worked so hard for and loved so very much.

On July 3rd 1841, Adeline Sonja Bergensen (named after her own mother and her paternal grandmother) was born. Arriving only moments before the nations' holiday to celebrate its independence, her parents always thought the auspicious timing of her birth to be a special omen. It was a proud moment for Lars and Adele both. They loved America, and they loved their new little girl more than they ever believed it was possible to love another human being.

Addy, as she was called, spent her youngest days living the carefree life of the plains that only a child could know, growing to love the land as much her mother and father did. She loved horses also and became quite an expert rider for a girl of just five years old. She longed for her a horse to call her very own and for the day when she could start her own horse ranch and be just like her papa.

But the carefree days ended that winter after her fifth birthday. Her mother had caught the influenza; it was a bad case right from the start. When it turned to pneumonia shortly after, Lars' fears for the worst came to pass. His wife was gone. There was no more mother for his little daughter. Lars was completely lost with Adele.

Lars sunk into a deep depression after Adele died. He abandoned all of his and Adele's old dreams, neglecting the land, the upkeep of the house, even his daughter. He was a man of nearly forty now; he didn't know how to raise a little girl. Fortunately, a neighbor women had agreed to help him for while, to help him get back on his feet, and offered to look after Addy while he worked on getting his life and his business back in order.

For months all Lars did was lock himself in his bedroom -- his and Adele's room -- and stare at the picture of them taken at their wedding just before they left New York. The photograph had been taken nearly ten years ago. He hardly recognized the young man as himself. The years of working long hours in the sun had begun to show in the lines on his face, but it was the grief made him look and feel so much older than he really was. But Lars simply sat in the room, on their bed, clutching onto the faded print picture and to other items belonging to Adele, as if it would somehow bring her back to him.

After many months of neglect, the place started falling deeper into disrepair. The winter had been especially harsh, the winds and heavy snowfall leaving its mark on the house and stable buildings. The ranch foreman and most of the hired hands had quit by that time, believing that Lars Bergensen had all but given up on his former dream.

One late spring day the following year, Randall McCourt showed up. He was a young man of barely twenty years old, stubborn and prideful, but full of ambition and new ideas. He'd been on his own since the age of fifteen, and his travels brought him to the Bergensen homestead. In a nearby town, he'd heard stories of the ranch in its prime: the fertile land, the beautiful horses -- best in the territory, people said -- and the tragic tale of the beautiful Mrs. Adele and her widower husband who had become practically a recluse.

The moment Randall stepped foot on the land, which was vastly rich from the river that flowed right through it, and saw the majestic mountains that marked the western-most boundary, he knew that he had to help return this place to its former glory. And so, Randall McCourt, with the help of the neighbor woman Mrs. MacIntyre, who came by the ranch each day without fail to help take care of young Addy, finally convinced Lars to crawl out of his shell and work the land to build a life for himself and his child. Lars had been shown the selfishness of his ways, and he vowed to never again forsake his daughter or allow himself to sink into his own misery.

It seemed to take almost as much work the second time around to get the ranch up and running, but eventually Randall, Lars, and the new group of men they'd hired rebuilt everything. They bought fresh horses and began breeding again, and the Bergensen name became known once more as the provider of the some of the finest horse blood in territory.

Addy grew up very close to her father. She loved him dearly, and he just adored her. She was all he had left of his beloved Adele, and he felt that when he looked at little Addy he could see his wife looking back. All the ranch hands doted on the girl with her mother's wavy, raven black hair and her father's kind, gray eyes. Addy knew that she was loved, and she loved in return.

Addy's thoughts soon returned to the present and back to the birthday party that the entire ranch had come out to celebrate. The tears threatened to spill at the thought of their kindness and how hard they had all worked to make it such a surprise. But at the same time, a subtle smile crossed her lips when she thought of her mother watching over her in heaven, enjoying this moment right along with her.

"Were you surprised, Addy?" a familiar voice spoke to her.

Addy did not even have to turn to look in order to determine the source of the voice. She knew it like she knew her own voice. She smiled with utter happiness as she replied to her dear friend. "I don't know how you managed to keep this a secret from me, Jimmy."

The seventeen-year-old boy, young man, really, couldn't hide the grin that split his face. He and Addy had been the best of friends since he first stumbled onto the Bergensen ranch looking for work nearly eight months before. They usually shared everything -- dreams, hopes, fears. It was probably the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, keeping this secret from Addy. But it was worth it in the end just to see the look on her face.

"Sometimes I amaze even myself," Jimmy said with mock arrogance.

At once they both started laughing. James Hickok was no good at pretending to be self-important; Addy knew him too well for that. He often did have to don a tough exterior in order to survive out in the west, but she knew the real Jimmy. The quiet, soft-spoken, intelligent young man whom she would grow to love. And now the tears were definitely cascading down Addy's sun-tanned cheek -- the tears of laughter and pure joy.

"Ahem," Addy's father interjected, a knowing grin on his face, "I hate to interrupt you two, but we have over twenty hungry men here wondering when you are going to blow out those candles so they can have a piece of cake!"

"Don't forget to make a wish," Jimmy reminded her.

Addy closed her eyes for several seconds, her face scrunched up with extreme concentration. Birthday wishes only came around once a year and she was determined to wish her hardest to make this one come true. Finally, Addy opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and blew out the candles, each and every one. Everyone in the room applauded and began singing "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow." Randall came up to her and swept her off of her feet, spinning her around in the air until she told him that she was beginning to feel dizzy.

It was no secret that Randall McCourt, though a good fifteen years older than Addy, had had his eye on her since she turned fourteen. Randall was now the foreman of the ranch, and ran much of its operation single-handedly. Addy tried to rebuff his attempts at affection though Randall had never overstepped the boundaries. Jimmy knew that Randall wanted to marry Addy once she old enough, thinking that he was certain to get Lars' permission and blessing. But in the time that Jimmy had known Randall, he wasn't sure how much he really trusted the man.

"What did you wish for, Addy," Lars asked his daughter. He had a slightly mischievous grin on his face.

Addy gave him a sideways glance and said, "Papa, you know if I tell you, it won't come true."

"Well, I have a feeling that maybe it will come true after all," he said cryptically.

Now that the candles were blown out and Addy had made her wish, the cake, courtesy of Mrs. MacIntyre from the next homestead over, was gobbled up in minutes by a brood of hungry men. Then, Addy began opening up her presents. There were so many, she could hardly believe it. She tore through the brown paper wrapping like a ten-year-old at Christmas who just couldn't seem to get the presents opened fast enough. Addy had gotten several new books from some of the hired hands, most of whom felt more like brothers to her, a lovely gold locket from Randall, and a new dress that Mrs. MacIntyre helped some of the other hands to pick out.

She looked at the dress and wrinkled her nose at it. "Now how am I s'posed to ride in this?"

The boys all laughed, knowing that she was only joking with them. Addy could most likely be seen around the ranch in pair of riding breeches and a plain button-down shirt, or sometimes a split skirt and a blouse. And although Addy considered herself to be quite a tomboy, everyone knew that she liked to get all fancied up and go to a town social just as much as any other young woman her age.

"Thank you, all, for everythin'!" Addy said, taking turns hugging everyone in the room.

Suddenly Jimmy appeared in front of her with a piece of black cloth and tied it around her eyes to blindfold her. She was completely confused. "What's goin' on?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Jimmy teased. "The surprise ain't over yet."

Her father led her by the arm, Jimmy staying close by, and everyone followed outside and to the stables where the horses were kept. Addy could feel that she was being directed outside the house, and when she began to smell the scent of horses and hay, she knew for certain.

Lars stopped Addy in front of a stall; Jimmy pulled off the blindfold. It took a few moments for Addy to adjust to the light, but once she did, her eyes grew wide and her face lit up in the most radiant way Jimmy had ever seen. She looked at the horse in the stall directly in front of her. It was an English thoroughbred stallion, as black as midnight, not a speck of white or any other color to be seen marring his flawless, shiny coat. He must have been a good seventeen hands tall, the finest specimen in the all the territory, her father told her. He'd been fairly wild at first but was gentled in time due to her father's expert training. Lars Bergensen still suspected the animal had a wild streak in it that would never be completely tamed, but he also knew that was probably what Addy would love most about him.

While her father continued to tell her all about the horse, his face radiating with pride, all Addy could think was that here was the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes on.

Everyone stood in silence watching her reaction with huge smiles on their faces. They were practically holding their breaths as Addy studied the horse that was now hers.

She looked at her father, unbelieving, and asked meekly, "Is he...mine?"

"He is all yours, my Adeline," he beamed, holding back his own tears. "Happy birthday."

Addy reached out to her father, and he swallowed her up in his loving embrace. All the ranch hands cheered and whistled, Jimmy the loudest of all, knowing just how much this horse meant to her. It wasn't the first horse that Addy had been allowed to take care of and treat as her own, but it was the first one that entirely belonged to her, and only her. It was her father's legacy to her, so she could breed her own horses someday.

"So what do you plan to name him, Addy?" Jimmy asked, the suspense of it driving him nuts.

Addy slipped from her father's arms and turned to face the horse -- her horse. She approached him slowly and patted his furry muzzle. The horse nickered softly with pleasure. Then Addy leaned in a bit, bringing her ear just near the end of his mouth as if expecting him to talk to her.

A smile grew wide on her face, she rubbed the horse's neck, and finally she spun around to see the strange looks on everyone's faces. They eagerly awaited a response, and they leaned in when they saw that she was about to divulge the name she had dubbed her wonderful new horse.

"Wildfire," Addy said plainly. "He told me his name is Wildfire."

Jimmy saw the look on her face when she said those words. It was one that he knew he would never forget as long as he lived.

"Wildfire," he whispered, nodding approval. He liked the sound of that.

And so began the romance between a girl named Addy and a horse named Wildfire.

**Summer 1857 -- Dakota Junction, Nebraska Territory**

It had been a wonderful birthday. Addy knew it was probably the best one she'd ever had. Only an hour or so remained until it would all be over, so Addy crept away from her bed and stole into the stables where her birthday present was. She wanted to enjoy the last few moments of this special day with Wildfire.

Addy lit a lantern that hung on the barn wall and watched as Wildfire became illuminated in its yellow-orange glow. She smiled when she saw the horse turn his head towards her as if in recognition. She knew instantly that she and Wildfire were going to be the best of friends.

She made her way over to his stall and stood leaning with her face up against his. Addy stroked the area around his ears gently, and Wildfire seemed to be thoroughly enjoying her attentions.

"You're so beautiful," Addy said to the horse aloud. "We're gonna have so much fun together, you 'n' me." Her voice began to get dreamy. "We're gonna to ride across the plains, just the two of us. We're gonna go up over Old Yellow Mountain until Papa's ranch is just a speck on the horizon. We're..."

"We're all gonna start thinkin' you've lost your mind if keep talkin' to horses like that."

Addy spun around facing the barn door when she head the voice startle her from behind. She sighed when she realized it was only Jimmy. "Jimmy," she scolded him, "you scared me half to death!"

But Addy couldn't be mad at him. Not Jimmy. She sighed again and then relented until her face could no longer hide a smile.

"Sorry," he said, though he knew that Addy wasn't angry.

For a moment Jimmy just stood there and gazed at her, unable to move or speak. She was dressed only in her nightgown, her dark hair falling loosely over her shoulders, and the way the lamplight shone on her hair and made the pale yellow cotton almost translucent made him quiver inside. Everything about her looked absolutely radiant -- the flecks of light that danced in her eyes, the way her smile brightened up the room, the soft glow of moonlight on her skin. Addy definitely had a fire all her own, and it lit her from within. She is so beautiful, he thought.

Brought out of his reverie by Wildfire's insistent neighing, Jimmy approached Addy, feeling a strange shyness wash over him suddenly. His hands were kept behind his back, and Addy looked at him curiously.

Jimmy stopped and stood right next to Addy. He began to speak, but he felt the butterflies and nervousness return. "I have a birthday present for you."

Addy looked surprised, but she began to protest, saying, "You didn't have to do that."

"No, I guess I didn't," Jimmy admitted, "but I wanted to."

"I know I've said it before, Jimmy," Addy said, "but the best present you could give me would be for you to learn how to read. You know I'll help you."

Jimmy sighed, looking somewhat downcast. "I know."

He knew she was right. For a long time, Jimmy convinced himself that he was doing just fine without reading, but since he met Addy, he was beginning to wonder about all sorts of things that he was probably missing.

"But we'll talk about that later," Jimmy quickly changed the subject back. "For now, it's birthday present time."

Jimmy pulled his hands out from behind his back where he held a strangely shaped object wrapped in brown paper and a tied with a string. Addy's gazed at the odd-looking gift as he handed it to her. She untied the string and carefully unwrapped the paper. She gasped when she saw what was inside.

It was a little horse carved out of wood. Addy ran her fingers along the smooth painted surface of the wood, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. The horse was painted almost all black, just like Wildfire, except for the white stockings. Its legs were positioned as if it were racing across the plains, its mane blowing in the wind.

For several minutes, she didn't speak; she just stood with an emotionless look on her face and her head down, studying all the work that went into making such a fine present.

Jimmy's face turned confused at Addy's silence. He thought that maybe she didn't like the gift, and his face automatically fell. "You don't like, do you?"

Addy's head popped back up. She clutched the carved horse to her chest, shaking her head at the idea that she didn't like Jimmy's gift. "Oh, no, Jimmy. I love it. I absolutely love it."

Jimmy sighed when he heard her say that. He had worked so hard on the present, ever since Christmas. And keeping it a secret from Addy had been no simple task. For the most part, Jimmy was forced to work on it at night. Plus, he'd known little to nothing about wood carving, but one of the other ranch hands showed him how and even helped smooth out some of the rough patches that Jimmy had left. It had taken him months of practice, and at least three of his earlier attempts ended up as kindling in the stove. Even this final version wasn't perfect enough in Jimmy's eyes, but it was the best he felt he could do.

He smiled with relief, knowing by the expression on Addy's face that she truly did cherish the gift he'd worked so hard to make for her. "I started workin' on it a long time before I knew about Wildfire here," he said, motioning to the horse, which stood watching on as the two humans interacted. "I knew it wouldn't be as good as the real thing, and after your pa told me he was plannin' on gettin' you a real horse of your own, I thought maybe I shouldn't give it to you."

Addy shook her head and moved closer to where he stood, gazing deep into his eyes. "No, Jimmy. Please don't think that. I really do love it. I just can't believe how much time it must've taken you to make this." She looked down at the little horse and smiled when her eyes met Jimmy's again.

"It was nothin'," Jimmy said bashfully as he shifted his weight on his feet nervously. "'Sides, Hank did most of the work gettin' it to actually look like a horse," he chuckled.

"It doesn't matter," Addy spoke softly, the smile fading into a look that Jimmy couldn't quite place. "It still came from you, and that's all that matters. Even if it looked like a block of wood, I'd still love it just knowin' it was from you."

Addy leaned in, stood on her tiptoes, and gave Jimmy a kiss on the cheek. Her lips lingered there for several moments. Then she backed away slowly, and Jimmy felt his heart fluttering inside him. Even as she stepped back slightly, Jimmy could still feel the warmth on his cheek where her lips had been. He could still feel the way her hair brushed against his nose as she leaned in to him.

As Addy moved away from Jimmy, she began to wonder what had come over her. What had possessed her to kiss Jimmy like that, she asked herself. And what was this new sensation she felt when she did? Jimmy was her friend; he was her good friend. And she was his. Why had she done such a thing? Addy began to feel so confused, but at the same time, she liked the way she was feeling. That made things even more confusing.

How much he loved her, Jimmy thought. Addy was standing so near, and her sweet scent hung in the air around him. More than anything, Jimmy wanted to feel the taste of her mouth on his.

"God, you're beautiful," Jimmy whispered dreamily. He hadn't realized that he had actually said the words aloud until he saw the look of surprise in Addy's eyes. But now that the words had been spoken, Jimmy knew that there was no turning back.

He moved a half step closer to Addy, who remained speechless. Her eyes were wide with astonishment. She couldn't take them off of Jimmy, and they refused to blink, even once. And somehow, Addy knew that Jimmy was going to kiss her. She'd never really been kissed before -- well, except for her papa, or a kiss on the cheek by some of the ranch hands, whom she considered as brothers. This was going to be different, Addy knew, and she also knew that she wanted it -- she wanted this kiss.

Jimmy and Addy gravitated closer and closer together and soon melted into each other as their lips converged in a first kiss. Both closed their eyes and let the moment carry them away. They sank deeper and deeper into each other, becoming less and less aware of the world around them. Addy could feel her knees trembling beneath her slightly, thought she paid it no mind. All she could think was that this surely must be what heaven feels like.

It was slow and tender kiss, subtle and sweet. Neither could have imagined a more perfect kiss. Neither wanted it to end. But finally, it had to. As much as Jimmy and Addy wanted to say locked in each other forever, they also knew that it was late, and they dreaded the thought of her father or someone else catching them together like this.

Their lips broke away, yet their faces stayed close together. Addy's lids fluttered opened, and she found herself staring dumbly into Jimmy's dark but warm eyes. A sudden feeling of embarrassment came over her as she backed away from Jimmy a bit, and she could sense her cheeks turn a burning shade of pink. She glanced away.

Jimmy understood that this was probably Addy's first real kiss, so he didn't take her reaction the wrong way. But he also did not want to embarrass her any further. Jimmy sent her a gentle, telling smile, hoping to make Addy more comfortable. She smiled back at him, and he knew that she did not regret what had just happened.

"Well, I guess we best be gettin' back to bed," Jimmy broke the silence at last. "We'll all be up late tomorrow night watchin' the fireworks anyway."

Addy nodded. "Yeah. Plus, I wouldn't want to be either one of us if Papa finds out I'm not in my room, or that we're standin' out here with me still in my nightgown."

Jimmy could feel his own face coloring now. He'd almost forgotten how improper this all was, though inside, he truly didn't care. Jimmy was never one for following the rules of convention, but he also understood that Addy was not allowed as much freedom to stray from those rules as he was, mostly because she was a woman.

And what a woman, Jimmy thought. Even though he had only know Addy for less than a year, he already felt closer to her than he'd ever felt to anyone else he had ever known. She just had this way about her; it was something indescribable. All Jimmy knew was that whenever he saw her, he felt safe and easy. He could be himself, and not be the cocky gunfighter that he was often presumed to be. When Jimmy was with her, he could tell her anything. He knew she would listen and would understand.

Addy was a kind soul -- and a free spirit, though some would call it just plain stubbornness. She was actually the one who had convinced Randall McCourt and her father that they could use another hand around the place.

Jimmy had come wandering onto the property shortly after he had left the employ of a man known as The Judge. He had no money, only the clothes on his back and few personal items. But he wore a gun -- a beautiful Navy Colt revolver -- which made Mr. Bergensen even more wary of him.

But Addy's heart went out to Jimmy immediately. He was so young, after all, and she knew that he had probably just fallen into some bad circumstances. She wanted to help him, to be his friend. There was something about Jimmy that Addy knew was better than most people made him out to be. So, she convinced everyone to give Jimmy a chance...a chance at an honest living...a chance to prove himself to be the man she knew that he could be.

"Well, goodnight then," Addy nearly whispered, bringing Jimmy back to reality. "And goodnight, my Wildfire," she said, facing the horse and kissing him lightly on the nose.

Jimmy couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head at her. She was a funny one; that was for certain. Maybe that was why he loved her so much.

Addy smiled at him one last time, and then she walked towards the stable door to leave. Jimmy turned to watch her and said quietly, "Happy birthday, sweet sixteen."

Addy spun back around and smiled in such a way that Jimmy thought his heart was going to bust right there in front of her. Saying nothing more, Addy ran back to the house. Just before she closed the door behind her and disappeared into the house, she turned to look at Jimmy, who was standing outside the stable watching.

Inside, Addy leaned against the front door, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. She held the carved horse that Jimmy had given her up to her chest, imagining it was him. She felt her heart still racing as she tried to relive the sensation that Jimmy had created in her when they kissed. Minutes later, Addy left her spot and quietly headed back to her room upstairs. She felt lighter than air -- invincible.

Once in her bed, Addy thought for sure that she'd never get to sleep that night. Her mind was spinning with thoughts of Jimmy and the way he made her feel so special. But finally, Addy could not ward off sleep any longer, and the last thought in her head before she submitted to sweet dreams was that it had been the best birthday ever.

About a hundred yards away from the main house, Jimmy lay wide awake in his bunk among snoring ranch hands and the sound of locusts' chirping that came filtering in through an open window. He sighed in contentment, his thoughts filled with images of Addy...how he'd been able to see the outline of almost every feminine curve of her body through the nightgown, thanks to the lamplight...how it made him feel when he held her so close.

When Jimmy first arrived at the Bergensen ranch, he'd had his share of doubts as to how happy he thought he would be there. After all, Jimmy was no ranch hand, and he didn't think he was the type to stay in one particular place for too long. He told himself that it was only for a little while; he would only stay until he saved up enough money and then keep moving on. But as Jimmy became closer and closer to Addy, and his feelings for her grew deeper, most of which were not consciously known to him, the length of time that he ended up staying kept stretching out longer and longer.

Now, as Jimmy lay staring out the window and into the quiet calm of night, he felt that he could stay there, near Addy, and be truly happy forever.

**Early Spring 1861 -- Sweetwater, Nebraska Territory**

A week had passed since Jimmy had first been awakened in the night with thoughts of Addy. During that time, he was no longer haunted by visions of Addy chasing after Wildfire and getting lost in the storm. He did, however, dream of her every night since then, and he thought about her more than he had since he left the Bergensen homestead just over three years ago. For the time being, it seemed that Jimmy's dreams were filled with the happier memories of Addy, which suited him better compared to the nightmares of the dreadful storm.

Still, Jimmy could not understand what had happened to make him suddenly think of Addy. It had been so many years, but he could still remember every minute detail of her appearance, her laugh, and her voice, as if it were only yesterday. Jimmy had dreamt of things that never even happened. In one of his nighttime visions, he saw a sixteen-year-old Addy riding down from the mountains on Wildfire, coming to rescue him as he was now, a man twenty-one years old who often felt like he was going on fifty. He felt that she had come to rescue him from everything that shadowed him in his present life...to save him from a life as 'Wild Bill Hickok'. With Addy, he could just be Jimmy.

And it all seemed so real. Yet, it didn't change a thing. He was still 'Wild Bill'. Addy was gone, and Jimmy still felt that somehow he was partly to blame.

Throughout the week, the other riders had noticed that Jimmy was still acting somewhat strangely; he was still not back to his normal self. They said nothing about it to him, though. The name 'Addy' was never spoken in Jimmy's company, but the others couldn't help to speculate about the mysterious girl when he was not around.

At one point, Cody and Noah had begun making bets to see if they could figure out the identity of this 'Addy'. When they would stop over in nearby towns during their runs, they would pay special visits to the saloons and cathouses, asking for a girl named Addy. So far, they'd been to Blue Creek, Willow Springs, and Cottonwood, and there was no Addy to be found. Cody, especially, was left feeling highly frustrated and even more intrigued than he was before. He figured that Addy must be one special woman for Jimmy to keep her such a big secret. He could barely keep himself from coming straight out and asking Jimmy who Addy was, but fortunately enough, the other riders kept Cody's big mouth in check.

"Wildfire! Wildfire! Wildfire!"

"Jimmy! Help me!"

Once again Jimmy awoke suddenly from the nightmare of Addy. She had been wandering in the snow, calling out for her horse, which had busted out of its stall and ran off into the storm. She'd called for Wildfire, but then she began calling for Jimmy, asking him to help her. In the dream as in real life, Jimmy was helpless. He couldn't get to Addy before he'd managed to collapse into the snow himself, losing consciousness. It was too much for him to take.

Jimmy sat up on his bunk and began putting on his pants and boots. He was rather loud as he did this, moving about frantically. The other riders began to slowly awaken at the sound of Jimmy's boots hitting against the wood floor with a thud. But Jimmy didn't care. He hardly noticed that everyone was staring at him in confusion. All he knew was that he couldn't stay in bed any longer. He'd had enough. So, Jimmy rose from his bunk quickly and stormed out through the front door.

The six remaining riders all looked around at each other wondering what to do. They'd heeded Rachel's advice and had stayed out of Jimmy's business long enough. But now, they wondered if maybe they should intervene. Jimmy was their friend, and maybe he needed their help. And knowing Jimmy, he was just too stubborn to admit it.

"It seems that Addy has struck again," Cody sighed as he hung his head off the edge of his bunk.

"I don't know what's gotten into him," Noah began, "but he's beginnin' to scare me."

Kid nodded. "Me, too. He's been like this for over a week. Always on edge, don't talk to nobody 'less it's to say 'yes' or 'no' or 'pass me the potatoes'. It's like he's..."

"It's like he's not even here most of the time," Buck finished the thought that Kid was struggling to put into words."

"Yeah," Kid concurred.

"I know what ya mean," Lou stated. "Sometimes I'll be talkin' to him, and he'll look at me as if it's not really me he's seein'. Like he's lookin' right through me, lost in his own world. Gives me the willies." She shuddered at the thought.

What should we do? Ike signed.

Buck simply shook his head, not knowing how to answer his friend.

"All I know is I gotta to find out who Addy is 'fore it drives me crazy," Cody said, frustrated.

"Cody, don't you understand this ain't about you," Buck scolded.

"Maybe someone should try talkin' to Jimmy," Kid suggested.

"You volunteerin' to get your head bit off?" Noah looked at Kid through raised eyebrows.

"No," he replied bashfully.

"I'll do it," Lou spoke up. "I'll go talk to him."

"You sure you wanna do that, Lou?" Kid wondered, his voice filled with concern.

Lou jumped down from her bunk and grabbed her pants. "Jimmy needs us, Kid. He's got somethin' goin' on and it's just eatin' him up inside." She slid into her pants and began putting her boots on. "And y'all know he's just too proud and bull-headed to come to us. I think it's time we tried goin' to him."

Everyone knew she was right. Jimmy did need them, no matter how much he tried to prove otherwise.

Now dressed, Lou left the bunkhouse to try to find Jimmy.

"I just hope whatever she says to him works," Noah said. "'Cause this whole Addy mystery is startin' to make life in the bunkhouse a livin' hell."

The others merely nodded in agreement.

Lou looked around outside for Jimmy. When she didn't see him, she headed towards the barn. Lou found him there standing in front of Lightning's stall.

"Jimmy?" she called out cautiously. "You alright?"

"Go back to bed, Lou," Jimmy replied coolly. He didn't even move or turn around to look at her.

"Jimmy," Lou began as she approached him slowly, "you've been actin' funny all week. First you wake up all riled up from what I can only guess are nightmares, and now it's like...it's like you're a dead man walkin'. We're just worried about you, that's all. We're your friends, Jimmy."

He huffed audibly, hanging his head down for a moment while he silently stewed. He didn't want to hear any of this, and especially not from Lou. Didn't he have enough to deal with without her getting on his case, Jimmy pondered to himself.

"You won't talk to us," she continued, "you won't tell us what's been buggin' ya. You walk around the bunkhouse and it's like you're there, but you're not. You need to talk to someone 'fore it drives ya even more crazy that you're already gettin'!"

Jimmy finally spun around to face her. Lou could see that he was starting to get really angry. His eyes were cold, and his jaw was clenched tightly even as he spoke. "I told you before. I don't need your help, Lou." He shook his head. "I don't need anyone's help."

Normally Lou would not have crossed Jimmy when he had that look in his eye, but she knew that no one would find out where his problem lie unless she pursued this. No one would have a moment's rest, Jimmy most of all, until she learned the source of his troubles. And she had a strong suspicion that the root of it all was a certain girl named Addy.

"You're wrong, Jimmy," Lou proceeded. She could be just as stubborn as he could be. She was not about to back down now. "You do need us, and we need you. That's what bein' a family's all about."

"Well, if that's what this family's about, then maybe I best find myself some place else to be," Jimmy shot back. He looked dead serious.

"Jimmy, don't say that," she shook her head in disbelief. "I know you don't mean it."

"Oh, yeah? Maybe I do," he replied curtly.

"So that's it? You're just gonna run away?" Lou knew she was egging him on, but she didn't care. What she really wanted to do was give Jimmy a swift kick in the pants and knock some sense into him.

"Looks that way, now, don't it?"

The two stood there at a complete standoff for what felt like an eternity. Lou could not believe that Jimmy would actually contemplate leaving the Express -- leaving them. What is goin' on with him? Lou wondered. Whatever it was, she knew it must be serious.

"If you're done talkin', Lou, I think I'd like to end this little discussion," Jimmy said, his voice dripping with bitterness and sarcasm. With that, he brushed past Lou and started heading out of the barn.

Lou watched as Jimmy walked by her. She struggled not to say the words that had been on her mind, and the minds of all the other riders, ever since that first morning when Jimmy had awoken with her name on his lips. She stood completely still, not even turning to watch Jimmy as he walked out through the barn door. It was now or never, she thought. So, Lou took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and blurted out, "This is all about Addy, isn't it?"

Jimmy stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the name. He wished that he hadn't stopped, but somehow it seemed beyond his control. Once he had heard the name 'Addy', he knew that it was all over for him.

Lou heard his heavy footsteps come to a halt. She knew that she had gotten his attention at last, although she wondered if she had gone about it in the right way. Nervously, she spun around to face him. Jimmy still had his back to her. His head dropped suddenly as he sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment and rubbing his temple with his fingers.

I don't believe this, he thought, shaking is head. He realized that Lou had him trapped; he was caught and he couldn't get out of it. Not this time, anyway. Finally, Jimmy lifted his head back up and turned around to look at Lou. The expression on his face was one that Lou could not fathom.

Oh, God, what have I done? Lou wondered.

Jimmy began moving back into the barn, giving Lou a look as he passed her and sat down on a bale of hay. Lou took that as her signal that he would open up and talk, so she sat down next to him, waiting silently for him to speak.

Jimmy sighed again, staring straight ahead of him to collect his thoughts. He knew he was about to break the promise he made to himself only days ago -- the promise that he'd never need anybody again, that he'd keep it all inside no matter what. But realizing he had no other recourse, Jimmy finally began.

"Addy was a girl I used to know before I started workin' for the Express. I used to work on her father's ranch. It was outside a town called Dakota Junction in the westernmost part of the territory, up towards the Dakota line. I helped around the place with the horses and doin' repairs. I was just a kid, runnin' further and further away from the home where I grew up and a past I wanted to forget. And for a while, I did.

"Me 'n' Addy got to be pretty good friends; she was only a year younger than me. She was the kind of person you couldn't help but like. We told each other everythin'. I felt like I could really talk to her, you know...like she understood me." Jimmy's voice drifted off.

"What happened to her?" Lou carefully asked. She could feel herself being drawn deeper and deeper into Jimmy's tale and her fascination was growing with each word.

He paused for a moment and then continued. "Addy always loved horses. She grew up 'round 'em and always dreamed of having a horse all her own. She hoped to run a ranch just like her pa." Jimmy shook his head with bitterness, remembering how full of life and dreams Addy had been before she had so cruelly been taken away. "On her sixteenth birthday, Addy finally got the horse she'd always wanted. It was the most beautiful, most perfect horse I'd ever seen. It was blacker than coal, faster than lightnin'. She named him Wildfire. She loved that horse more than life itself. And you could just tell that he loved her right back.

"The followin' winter saw the worst snow storms the territory had ever seen. One night in January, the wind was blowin' somethin' fierce. Shutters were blowin' off the house, and tree branches were fallin' under the weight of all the snow. We were all sittin' down to supper that night -- all the hired hands always ate in the main house with Addy and her father -- when the wind had begun to pick up even more. We'd had to board up most of the windows in the house to keep the wind from breakin' through."

Lou listened intently as Jimmy recounted the story. She watched him; he looked as if he were living it all over again as he told it.

"Addy was afraid that the horses would get spooked from all the noise, so she wanted to go out and check to make sure they were all secure in their stalls." Jimmy laughed for a moment, "Hell, if her father'd let her, she would've brought every one of those horses into the house." Then his face fell once more. "She couldn't stand the thought of somethin' happenin' to the horses, 'specially Wildfire. She never let anyone else take care of that horse 'cept herself and sometimes me. Addy was ready to throw on her coat and run out to the stables to make sure he was all right. Her pa tried to stop her, tellin' her she was crazy to go out there, that she'd freeze to death, and that the horses would be fine. She finally gave in, but she wasn't happy about it.

"Later on, she asked me privately if I could sneak away and go check the barn to make sure Wildfire was okay. She knew her father would never let her out of his sight, so I was her only hope. She begged me to go, and at that point I was willin' to say anythin' just to ease her mind. So, I said I'd go check after everyone else went to sleep, and that seemed to put her thoughts to rest.

"That night everybody stayed inside the main house where there was plenty of firewood and food to last us through a snow-in. Most of us hands were sleepin' on the parlor floor, but it was better than tryin' to make it back to the bunkhouses. When I thought no one was still awake, I tried to sneak out of the house to check the stables like I said I would. I had barely opened the front door when the foreman, a man named Randall, stopped me." Lou noticed the disdain in Jimmy's voice when he mentioned Randall. "He told me there was no way he was gonna let me go out in that blizzard. He said he'd checked the horse stalls just that afternoon, that he'd made sure everythin' was sturdy. I knew better than to mess with him. He was always jealous of me 'n' Addy, and I knew he was just lookin' for an excuse. He could fire me if he wanted, so I turned back around and went to sleep, thinkin' he was probably right that the horses were okay.

"I had just fallen asleep when I heard Addy callin' my name. I opened my eyes and looked up, and she was standin' over me, dressed with her coat and scarf on. She said, 'Get up, Jimmy. You have to come with me to the stables.' I asked her what was goin' on, and she said that she just had a feelin' that somethin' was wrong with Wildfire. The way she looked at me, I knew she'd never forgive herself, or me, if anythin' happened to that horse. So, against my better judgement, I got dressed, and as quiet as we could, we snuck out of the house through the kitchen door and went out to check on Wildfire.

"The storm was worse than we'd expected. It was a struggle just to get fifty feet over to where the barn was. When we finally did, we saw that the door was open, flappin' in the wind. Addy ran like mad inside, checkin' every stall she could to make sure the horses were all there. All the horses were there, except for Wildfire. I think part of her died right then and there when she saw the empty stall that had been busted through. She ran back outside and started stoopin' down in the snow. She noticed that she could still see hoof prints, so she decided with the way the snow was comin' down that he couldn't have run off too long ago. Then she told me she was goin' out to look for him. I told her she was crazy, that she would never find him. Not in a blizzard like this. But she wouldn't hear any of it. She said she was goin', and that there was nothin' I could do to stop her. I knew her well enough to know when she was dead serious. She had her mind set, and there was no changin' it.

"You let her go out there?" Lou wondered, though not meaning to sound accusatory.

For the first time since Jimmy began the story, he turned to look at Lou. "Lou, I tried to make her see reason. I even tried to convince her to let me go with her to look for that horse." Jimmy's voice grew louder and more impassioned as he explained further. He had to look away again. "But it was no use. I let her convince me to stay behind. She said I should wait for her just in case her father found out she was gone. She didn't want him to worry. Addy was convinced that she could find Wildfire; she thought she was invincible. And what's worse is I was so blind I had myself believin' it for a while, too.

"That was the last time I saw Addy. She went off into the blizzard to look for the horse, and she never came back. It wasn't long before I knew I had to go back and tell her father and the others. We searched for her all that night. The storm kept gettin' worse and worse, but we kept lookin'. After a while I left the search party and went lookin' on my own. Soon, I got lost, too. It was so cold I thought I would die out there. The last thing I remember before I blacked out was Addy screamin', 'Wildfire! Wildfire! Wildfire!'"

Lou sat absolutely speechless for a long while. She felt that she had been holding her breath the entire time, completely riveted. Such a tragic story, she thought. "And they never found her?" she asked.

Jimmy simply shook his head sadly and looked down. "The next thing I remember was wakin' up in the house in bed and seein' Addy's father sittin' next to me. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face as long as I live. I knew they hadn't found Addy, and they found no trace of the horse. I knew she was gone. And somehow, I knew it was all my fault."

"Jimmy, that's not true," Lou protested as she reached out to touch his arm. "You couldn't have known what was gonna happen."

He shook his head again. "But I did, Lou. Somehow, when I saw her walkin' out into that storm, I knew deep down I'd never see her again." Jimmy had to pause for fear that the tears he'd been trying so hard not to shed would finally be released. "It was after midnight, and it was pitch black outside. The snow was comin' down like I never seen before. And I just let her go out there to look for that damned horse. Then I waited too long to tell the others that she'd gone. How can you say it wasn't my fault?"

Jimmy looked to Lou for comfort, but she was afraid she couldn't provide him with what he so desperately needed. She knew that nothing she could say would ever be enough. Lou could feel her heart breaking at her friend's misery and guilt.

"From what you told me, it sounds like Addy was a pretty stubborn person," Lou mentioned, hoping her words would at least help a little. "Seems unlikely you'd have been able to stop her from searchin' for Wildfire anyways."

It's true; she was stubborn, Jimmy knew. "Maybe," he admitted. "Still, I keep thinkin' that there was somethin' I should've done. I should've tied her down and made her stay put, that's what I should've done," Jimmy said firmly, wholeheartedly believing that he could have changed things, if only...

Lou sighed, sensing his pain. "You can't change the past, Jimmy. And it don't do no good to tell yourself 'if only' you'd done this, 'if only' you'd done that."

"I know, Lou," Jimmy confessed forlornly.

Silence reigned the barn once more; each was consumed in his or her own thoughts of what had happened to Addy.

Lou broke the silence when she asked, "What happened next? Did ya stay and work for Addy's father?"

Jimmy shook his head. "I left shortly after I came to. I'd been pretty much out of it for a while. We'd all been snowed in, and there was still no word of Addy. Her father and some of the men went out in the storm anyway, every day for a week. They had to wear snowshoes 'cause it was so deep, and even then they couldn't go very far from the house. I was still sick with fever from bein' out in the storm, but once I knew for sure that Addy was gone, I knew I had to go, too. I didn't care if I died in the storm tryin' to leave. Addy was gone. I couldn't stay in that house and look her father in the eye knowin' that they'd found me -- that I was safe -- and Addy was still out there, buried somewhere under a mound of snow.

"After that, I wandered around for a while, tryin' to find work, but the winter had been hard on everybody. When I left, I hadn't even collected the wages I was due, so I ran outta money real quick. I'd gotten caught stealin' some eggs from a henhouse one time, so I was put to work by the town's sheriff. He saw that I could fire a gun, so he figured he could use me. But that's another story for another time."

Jimmy's face turned acrid when he spoke of those days he'd kept buried inside for years now. And Lou didn't miss the meaning in his words "put to work". She knew he'd been forced to work as a hired gun, and she also knew how it must have killed Jimmy to take innocent lives like that.

Lou and Jimmy sat in the barn for what felt like hours. Actually it was pretty close to it. For the most part, they just sat there, staring out the barn door, not speaking, simply feeling some sort of comfort in each other's presence. Jimmy didn't know why, but somehow he felt a little bit relieved in having finally told someone about Addy and what had happened all those years ago. He knew it could never bring her back -- nothing ever could -- but Jimmy felt that a weight had been lifted from his heart, and he hoped that maybe now he could start to heal.

The two of them stayed there all night and watched as the rising sun came up over the plains. The sky was painted with all the radiant colors of dawn, and the newness in the air brought a strange, but fleeting, sense of peace to Jimmy's soul.

At last Jimmy decided that it was probably time they returned to the bunkhouse before the others sent out a search party to find them. He stood up and helped Lou to rise to her feet. Jimmy gazed at her with grateful eyes, and Lou smiled at him knowingly, wordlessly promising to keep safe all that Jimmy had revealed to her that night.

Lou and Jimmy then walked back to the bunkhouse together, blanketed in silence. No words were required. After all, they were friends; they were good friends.

**Late Summer 1857 -- Dakota Junction, Nebraska Territory**

Addy spent the rest of that summer even more carefree than ever before. Now she had Wildfire, and she spent almost every waking moment of the day out riding. It gave her such a thrill and a tremendous sense of freedom to be out on the open plains, her horse moving so fast under her that she felt as if she were flying. It was a feeling that was unparalleled; Addy knew there was nothing else quite like it in all the world.

When Addy wasn't out gallivanting all over the countryside on Wildfire, she spent much of her free time with Jimmy. They would take evening walks, ride together, or simply sit around and talk. Though they were still the best of friends, something in their relationship was different. Both of them could feel it. Each of them knew that it had something to do with the one kiss they shared that night of Addy's sixteenth birthday and the feelings that had been evoked from it, but neither of them ever discussed what had happened openly. Neither one of them had the courage to put their feelings on the line like that. Not yet, anyway. Addy and Jimmy were already afraid that things were beginning to happen too fast all around them, so they did their best to see that they stayed the same amongst so much change. Of course, they also realized that it was impossible to stop the hands of time, though it didn't keep them from trying their best to.

It was one of the last beautiful days of summer, just before the leaves on the trees began changing into the brilliant hues of autumn. Jimmy and Addy were outside, sitting on the coral fence enjoying another gorgeous late summer sunset.

"It'll be fall soon," Addy said, breaking the comfortable silence. "And then it'll be winter." She sighed wistfully.

Jimmy laughed at her in a friendly way. "And then it'll be spring, and then summer again..."

Addy gave Jimmy a light punch on the arm for the way he was teasing her. "Stop it, Jimmy! I'm being serious," Addy scolded him through a smile.

"Well, so was I!" he joked, his dimples pressing into his cheeks.

Addy shook her head at Jimmy. Sometimes he was just impossible. But she also knew that life would be so different without him around in her life. It was something she didn't even want to think about it frightened her so much.

"No, I was just thinkin' how the time goes by so fast," Addy said, turning her focus back to the magnificent sunset serving as the backdrop to Old Yellow Mountain. "It's scary sometimes," she admitted.

Jimmy's face became serious when he realized what Addy meant. He nodded and sighed also. "Yeah, sometimes I think I'm just gonna wake up one mornin' and find I'm an old man and wonder where all those years went. I know it probably sounds crazy."

"No, Jimmy." Addy turned to look at him. "No. It's not crazy. I feel that way, too, sometimes. Sometimes when I'm just layin' in bed, thinkin', all these strange ideas come into my mind and keep me up for hours. What's stranger is feelin' this way when I'm so happy!" Her face suddenly lit up when she spoke, her eyes dancing. "I mean, I couldn't imagine my life bein' any different. I've got everything I want, right here." Addy whirled her head around as she took in the beautiful surroundings that she knew as home. "Look at all this! I don't imagine there's a more beautiful spot on Earth. And it's ours, Jimmy!"

Jimmy could feel his heart leap inside his chest from the way Addy spoke so vehemently. She always made him feel and think all sorts of things he never thought himself capable of. When she was near, he felt what she felt, and when she felt alive, he couldn't help but feel more alive himself.

Then Addy's voice became thoughtful once more. "That's what makes everythin' even more confusing."

"It's just part of growin' up, I guess," Jimmy surmised.

Addy shrugged.

There was a long pause before Addy finally began speaking again. "Jimmy, do you ever wonder what'll be in five or ten years from now?"

He thought for a moment, but then simply shook his head. "I can't say as I ever really thought much about it." Jimmy knew he wasn't telling Addy the truth. Lately he'd been thinking about the future more than he'd like to admit. He didn't know where he'd be, or what he'd be doing; all Jimmy knew was that whatever the future brought, he wanted it to be with Addy.

"Well, I have," she said resolutely. "This is my future." She spread her arms out, as if trying to encompass everything around her in them -- the land, the mountains, the sky. "Right here on this land. I was born here, and I plan on livin' and dyin' here."

"Addy, don't talk like that," Jimmy said in a concerned voice. The thought of her dying...well, it was just not the most pleasant topic of conversation.

"Oh, Jimmy, I'm not talkin' about dyin' tomorrow," she teased. "I'm only sayin' that I'm gonna stay here as long as I live. I'm gonna help Papa with the ranch, and then take over for him when he gets too old to manage. He and Mama worked so hard for this place, and I'm never gonna let anyone take it away from us."

Jimmy believed it, too. He knew Addy, and if Addy set her mind to something, she would never let anything stand in her way. She was a lot like her father, people would say. Determined, strong-willed, unafraid of hard work, though she was somewhat of a dreamer, a quality people say she got from her mother. Addy had Jimmy believing all sorts of things lately, like he was good for more than just being a gunfighter as he'd so many times been told.

They sat once more in a contented silence. Suddenly, Addy began breaking up in laughter. Jimmy looked at her, completely baffled by her unexpected change in mood.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothin'!" she shook her head, her voice still cracking with laughter. "It's just we're beginnin' to sound like a bunch of old folks with all this talk!"

"Well, you're the one who started all this talk!" Jimmy exclaimed, shaking his head at her.

"So I did," she said with a mischievous grin playing on her face.

Jimmy thought Addy had gone completely bonkers at first, but then he couldn't help but laugh, too. Even if it wasn't funny, the look on her face was enough to bring a smile to his. He laughed right alongside of Addy, and he thought he'd never felt happier to be alive.

"Jimmy!? Jimmy!?" Addy screamed out in horror. "Oh, my God! What's happened?"

Addy had come racing across the land on Wildfire when she heard the sound of gunshots echo in the distance. When she finally arrived at the scene where the shots had been fired, she gasped as she found Jimmy lying in an unconscious, crumpled heap in the dirt, a gaping, bloody bullet hole in his gut. She also heard the sound of several horses galloping away at full speed.

Addy cried out in fear, shaking Jimmy's limp body fiercely in an attempt to awaken him. She felt his chest for a heartbeat, and lowered her ear to his mouth to check for breathing. Addy sighed with relief when she heard the slow, but steady, pounding of his heart and felt on her cheek the warmth of his breath.

They were at the most remote part of the ranch, near the westernmost corals. No one else was near enough to hear her screams for help. So Addy used all her might -- more strength than she thought she possessed -- to pull Jimmy's body over the saddle of her horse, and she rode with him towards the house to get help.

Back at the house, Addy frantically told her father what had happened, how she found Jimmy shot, knowing that while he was still alive, he was losing a lot of blood and was in immediate need of a doctor.

"Papa!" Addy screamed, struggling to speak through her heaving breaths. "Jimmy's been shot! I heard horses ridin' away, but I didn't see who they were!"

"Brent," Lars said to one of the hands who was there, "go into town to get the doctor, now!" Her father knew the urgency in Addy's voice, and he saw the way the tears were streaming down her face.

"No, Papa," she protested. "Wildfire's the fastest. I'll go. Just help me get Jimmy inside."

Mr. Bergensen nodded, seeing the resolve and determination in his daughter's eyes. He knew Addy cared for Jimmy very much, and he knew how much she wanted to help him. Addy, her father, and Brent lifted Jimmy from the horse's saddle and carried him inside into the parlor. Addy felt her heart catch in her throat when she saw just how much blood was staining Jimmy's shirt. It was a bright, deadly shade of crimson. She had to hurry, she knew. And within moments, Addy and Wildfire were off and running at breakneck speed away from the ranch and towards town.

Jimmy felt himself floating in and out of consciousness the whole time. He felt himself being lowered onto the couch, and he barely opened his eyes to see Addy running out the front door. "Addy," he murmured.

"Addy's gone to get the doctor, Jimmy." Lars tried to soothe him as he unbuttoned Jimmy's shirt to better see the wound.

Jimmy flinched he became suddenly aware of the acute, indescribable pain ripping through his abdomen when he so much as breathed. It was enough to send a jolt of alertness to his mind. He wished more than ever to be pulled back into the realm of darkness and nothingness where such pain did not seem to exist.

"You are going to be fine," Addy's father told him. He used some thick towels to try to stop some of the bleeding and attempted to clean the area surrounding the wound a bit. "We're going to take care of you."

"Mr. Bergensen! Mr. Bergensen!" Hank, one of the other ranch hands came into the house calling. "Three of the horses from the western corals are missing! And I couldn't find Jimmy anywhere!" Hank finally looked over to the couch and saw Jimmy lying there, his shirt blood-stained. "Oh, my Lord! What happened?"

"Take it easy, Hank," Lars said to him. He didn't want Jimmy to get all worked up because of Hank. "Find Randall and tell him what happened. Tell him and the others to go out and try to track the men who did this."

"But today's Randall's day off. He's nowhere to be found," Hank said.

"Then go tell all the others, and hurry!"

Hank nodded, and ran back out of the house.

Addy arrived with the doctor sooner than expected, although it was not soon enough for Jimmy who was in a great deal of pain. When Addy saw Jimmy in the parlor, she sighed with slight relief when she realized that he was at least awake. Jimmy did his best to smile when he saw her standing just inside the doorway, but the agony wouldn't really let him.

Doc Hartley did a quick examination of the lesion and then said, "This bullet needs to come out. I'll need lots of clean towels and boiling water, but then I want everyone to clear the room."

Addy took the doctor's words as a signal to run to the kitchen and start putting pots of water on the stove. She opened the cupboard doors in a mad frenzy, grabbing all the towels she could and bringing them to the doctor in the parlor. She ran in and out of the kitchen several times, bringing out the steaming pots and kettles of water and more towels.

"Doc?" Jimmy asked quietly, "Am I gonna die?" He thought for sure that he would; he'd never experienced a pain quite like this before.

"I'm gonna take the bullet out, son," Doc Hartley began, "and if we can manage to keep the wound clean and free from infection, you'll be just fine."

Then the doctor reached into his medical bag and pulled out a packet containing powdered laudanum. He asked Addy to also bring him a glass of cold water and a spoon, which she did. Then he mixed the powder into the water and held it up to Jimmy's lips so he could drink it. Jimmy made an awful face as he swallowed the bitter liquid. The doctor smiled knowingly, saying how Jimmy will be thanking him later when he starts cutting out the bullet.

The affects of the drug seemed to be working fairly quickly. The sharp, stabbing pain became more of a dull, constant ache, and Jimmy could feel his senses growing slightly numb. Soon, the doctor pronounced that he was going to start the operation and that everyone should leave the room, except for Addy's father, whose help he might need.

Addy felt utterly helpless watching Jimmy suffering so, and she knew it was only going to get worse when the doctor actually started cutting through his flesh to dig out the bullet. She wished more than anything that there was something she could do to ease his pain, but she knew there wasn't. She began heading towards the front door with Brent where they would have to wait outside, away from Jimmy.

"Addy?" Jimmy called out to her as he watched her move across the room. "Stay with me. Please...stay."

Addy looked at Jimmy, and saw the desperation in his eyes. She heard the fear in his voice when he spoke to her.

"Addy...Addy, I need you," he said, his voice nearly a whisper.

She wanted to stay. Jimmy needed her, and she needed to be with him. Addy turned to the doctor. "Doc?" She asked simply, her eyes pleading with him.

The doctor sighed and nodded, giving his permission for Addy to stay while he worked on Jimmy. "Alright, you can help me by keeping this compress on his head." Then he turned to her father. "Mr. Bergensen, I'm afraid it looks like you've been replaced."

Lars smiled knowingly. He was proud of his daughter for being so strong and for wanting to help Jimmy so much. He rose from his seat by Jimmy's side, and approached Addy, hugging her tightly. Addy smiled at him through her tears, and then sat down next to Jimmy and held his hand gently. When he felt her warm, soothing touch on his hand, Jimmy knew that he was going to be all right.

Addy had stayed with Jimmy throughout the ordeal. There were times when she thought she'd be sick to her stomach because there was so much blood, but she knew she had to be strong for Jimmy. Addy's support was unwavering, and Jimmy found more comfort in her presence then he could have ever hoped for.

Even now that the doctor was finished and had bandaged the wound, Addy remained at Jimmy's side, hoping to ease his pain as much as possible. She held onto Jimmy's hand steadfastly, and eventually he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

"You'll have to keep a close watch on him," Doc Hartley said to Mr. Bergensen, who had come back into the parlor, "to be sure infection doesn't set in. But I think if we keep the area clean and change the bandages regularly, the young man will be back in fine form in no time."

He nodded and extended his hand out to the doctor. "Thank you, doctor. We appreciate all you have done for him."

The two men shook hands. Doc Hartley then glanced over to where Addy was sitting next to Jimmy, still holding his hand and wiping his brow with a cool cloth, oblivious of the talk going on just on the other side of the room. He turned back to Mr. Bergensen with a telling smile on his face. "Somehow I don't think I'll have to worry, from the way your daughter is looking out for him."

Lars chuckled and nodded, acknowledging what he's suspected for quite a while. "Yes, I know. My Adeline is very fond of young Mr. Hickok. They are very good friends."

"Well, I think we can all rest easy for a while," the doctor said. "I'll be sure to stop by tomorrow to check up on our patient."

"I am afraid I cannot rest easy, doctor, until I find out who has done this terrible thing."

"I'm sure your boys will find out who's responsible, Lars," he said, "and then you can put all this behind you."

With that, Mr. Bergensen escorted Doc Hartley outside to his horse where the doctor promptly rode off, back to his office in the township of Dakota Junction several miles away.

By now it was nearly sundown, and the crescent moon had already begun making its appearance in the clear blue sky above. Addy, however, was completely unaware of the time. The only thing she was aware of was the steady rise and fall of Jimmy's chest when he breathed. For the time being, it was all that mattered in the world to her.

Jimmy looks so peaceful sleepin', Addy thought. She turned her head slightly and began studying Jimmy's facial features intently, realizing that she might not get such an opportunity to do so again while he wasn't aware of it. He had a lovely, clear complexion; a fine, straight nose; thin, but soft, lips; a strong, masculine jaw line; dark, medium-length hair which framed his whole face perfectly. He is handsome, Addy mused to herself.

And suddenly, Addy began to think back to the night of her birthday only about two months ago and how wonderful it had felt to have his lips touching hers. Then her heart fell for a moment when she began to think how close she had just come to losing Jimmy. It was something she didn't even want to ponder. But just a few hours ago, it was a very real and very frightening possibility. Addy tried to banish such thoughts from her mind as she leaned in closer to Jimmy and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Her face stayed close to his as she rested her weary head on the pillow next to Jimmy's and closed her eyes. The tears began to slowly descend down her pale cheeks, though she unaware of it. Soon, Addy had fallen fast asleep alongside Jimmy, her forehead touching his.

**Early Spring 1861 -- Sweetwater, Nebraska Territory**

"Jimmy, can ya hand me that crate over there?" Buck asked, his voice straining from having just lifted a fifty-pound bag of feed into the back of the wagon.

"Sure thing," Jimmy replied, bending down to pick up the crate. "Woah! What the hell's in this thing?" He wondered as he felt the weight of the heavy box compressing the vertebrae in his back.

"I don't know," Buck shook his head. "Maybe another one of Teaspoon's famous surprises?" He gave a crooked smile.

"Well, I'm thinkin' the surprise would be if I can still walk in the mornin'," Jimmy said, rubbing his already-aching back after making the handoff to Buck.

Lou came up behind them, carrying several packages she had gotten from Thompkins' store. "You two done here yet?" she asked as she loaded the wagon even more.

"Think so," said Jimmy. "Buck, is that everythin' on Rachel and Teaspoon's list?"

Buck took the piece of paper out of his pants pocket, which listed everything they were supposed to pick up in town for the way station. He glanced over it and checked the contents in the back of the buckboard and pronounced, "Yup. That's it. Looks like we can head on back now."

"What's that?" Lou inquired, having just noticed the big box that weighed the back of the wagon down heavily.

"Beats us," Jimmy shrugged. "All we know is it was waitin' at the freight office for us."

"Sweetwater Express Station," Lou read the address marked on the crate. She looked up again, her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "It don't even say who it's for."

"I guess we'll just have to wait to find out till we get back," Buck said, scratching his head with curiosity.

"I just hope it ain't another one of Teaspoon's ideas of fun," Lou stated. "Like that time he bought that baseball set, or the time he made us learn tennis."

Buck rolled his eyes at the memory while Jimmy chuckled lightly, recalling the brawl they had all gotten into over a simple game of baseball, and the time when he had shot at the ball during the "dirt tennis" match. He did have to admit, looking back on it, they certainly had their fair share of fun with Teaspoon's surprises, even if they were forced to wear silly white short pants or floppy baseball caps.

Jimmy was now completely lost in thought. Those were good times, he mused to himself. Not that things were so bad now, but they sure did have fun then.

Jimmy stood by the buckboard outside Thompkins' store, staring out into the street, engrossed in his own pensiveness while Buck and Lou secured the boxes and sacks in the back with some rope. Suddenly, Jimmy's daydream was interrupted when he saw a familiar mass of long, dark wavy hair separate from a crowd of passersby just outside the hotel.

Then the face of the girl turned towards him, and he was immediately transfixed. She couldn't have been more than twenty years old. All at once, like a ton of bricks falling on his head, it hit Jimmy who the young woman was. Addy. His lips silently formed her name as he continued to stare dumbly ahead of him, a mixture of recognition and pure shock on his face. Jimmy then froze completely; he found that he could not move, or speak, or blink, or even breathe. And he thought he'd surely gone mad, for he was now staring at what he could only conclude was a ghost.

Jimmy stood there, unmoving, for what felt like hours. Eventually, he began approaching the figure slowly and automatically, his legs carrying him without even thinking. It was as if he were in a trance, and some sort of external force was causing him to move towards her.

Buck and Lou turned to find Jimmy walking away from them. They glanced at each other, bewildered, and called out his name to no avail. They both understood that Jimmy had been acting weird as of late, ever since the nightmare that had awoken him with such a start nearly two weeks ago. Only Lou knew the source of his troubles, but everyone had started to think that things were finally beginning to return to normal for Jimmy in the last few days. His spirits were higher, and there was no mention of the mysterious Addy. Now Lou and Buck were starting to have serious doubts again as they watched Jimmy walk towards some unknown woman.

Jimmy was aware of no one but her, and everything around him seemed to be happening in slow motion. Jimmy's ears closed up to all outside noises; only the hushed voices of a boy and girl from a time thought long gone echoed in his mind. He was completely oblivious to the strange and curious looks on people's faces as they passed by. All he saw was her, or what he thought was her, even though logic told Jimmy he couldn't really be seeing what he thought he was seeing.

The woman finished tying a sack to the back of her horse when she turned around and saw him coming towards her. She did a double take, not believing it was really him, not after all those years. Her mouth hung agape as immediate recognition washed over her. She pivoted to face him, and he stopped only inches away from her.

"Addy?" Jimmy cried out in disbelief.

"Jimmy?" she muttered. "Jimmy Hickok?" Her face lit up and her heart soared as a flood of girlhood memories came back to her all at once.

"I can't believe it's really you!" Addy exclaimed, moving in to embrace him. "It's been a long time, Jimmy. Such a long time."

She waited for several moments expecting a similar reaction from Jimmy. Instead, she got nothing. Jimmy just stood there as cold and motionless as a statue, and Addy began to back away, uncertain.

"Addy, I thought you were..." he cut himself off and joggled his head, trying to figure out if this was really happening -- if he was really seeing Addy. Jimmy was still in utter shock. He didn't know what was going on anymore. Surely, he must he be dreaming, he thought, and if not, then someone was playing a mighty cruel joke on him

"Addy?" Lou and Buck blurted out simultaneously.

Buck's face was split with a huge grin. "So, it looks like we finally get to find out who Addy is," he said.

Lou's face, on the other hand, had an expression of total stupefaction and disbelief. "But Jimmy told me she was dead," she muttered, not really intending to say it aloud.

"Well, she sure don't look dead to me," Buck replied with a smile as he watched Jimmy and Addy. "In fact, I'd say she looks very much alive," he said with a slightly wicked tone in his voice upon seeing how beautiful Addy truly was.

Addy was indeed very beautiful, her dark brown hair being a standout feature. Her hair hung down to the middle of her back, falling in large, soft curls. She had a lovely complexion, a delicate nose, high, accentuated cheekbones, a long, graceful neck. And her eyes -- her deep gray eyes -- looked like pools you could drown in.

She was a few inches taller that Lou, probably about five-foot-six or so, and she was slim but very feminine. Addy was dressed in a tan split skirt and wore a cream-colored, button-down blouse, which had tiny polka dots matching the color of the skirt. At her waistline, she wore a crimson sash that emphasized her hourglass figure, its fringed ends blowing in the chilly spring breeze.

"I don't understand," Lou simply shook her head.

"Jimmy?" Addy seemed almost as confused as Jimmy now by the way he was acting towards her.

"I thought you were dead, Addy." Jimmy finally managed to get the words out, and once the words were out, they sounded rather harsh.

Addy was taken aback while Jimmy gulped hard to push down the lump of indescribable emotion that had formed in his throat. Jimmy reasoned by now that what he was experiencing was real -- very real indeed. Addy was alive, and somehow he felt a fool.

"What? Why, Jimmy?" she wondered, her face instantly falling and her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach when she saw Jimmy's eyes turn cold and angry.

"Why?" He echoed incredulously.

Jimmy shook his head. It was all too much to take in. First, Addy had appeared out of nowhere, and now she was asking why it was he had come to think she wad dead? And all the pain and torment that Jimmy had felt when he thought Addy had been lost forever struck like with a sudden and violent blow.

The shock that Jimmy felt only moments ago was now transforming into another very strong emotion -- anger. He didn't understand what was happening; he didn't know what to think seeing Addy like this. For three years -- three long, guilt-ridden years -- he had thought she was dead, that he was partly to blame for it. And to see Addy standing in front of him like this...alive...It was too much for him to handle. Jimmy did not know how to react to such a severe shock, so he instinctively turned on the defensive. He'd allowed himself to be hurt once before when he thought she had died, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let himself get hurt all over again now that he found out she still alive.

"Addy, you ran out in a blizzard!" His voice was nearly a scream, eliciting looks from people in the streets, but he didn't see them. "You chased that stupid horse out into the worst snow storm in history and even after a week of searchin' no one found any trace of you. And you ask me why I thought you were dead." Jimmy shook his head again, laughing with bitter sarcasm, his steely, piercing eyes cutting through Addy like the blade of the sharpest knife.

She had thought of Jimmy so many times in the years since she had last seen him -- since he had left her father's ranch so unexpectedly. Addy always held onto a secret wish that, someday, she would meet up with him again, and that things would be as they were before. But now, she felt her dreams shatter as she looked up at his apathetic, hardened expression.

The hurt that she felt was tremendous, but Addy fought the tears as she tried to explain. "Oh, Jimmy. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I...I thought you'd found out what really happened."

Jimmy didn't know why, but he felt as if he'd been betrayed. He'd felt so much guilt tearing at his soul -- he'd blamed himself for what had happened to Addy -- when all along, she was alive.

That fateful night three years ago started Jimmy on a path of bad decisions, guilt, and regrets from which he felt he could never return. After he ran away from the Bergensen ranch, unable to face up to his feelings of self-blame, things ended up only getting worse for Jimmy. He ended up in a town called Clinton, where he felt the full force of hardship when he was caught stealing food. But the marshal, named Dobbins, saw promise in young Hickok's exceptional skill with a gun and fast draw, and decided that instead of putting him in jail, he'd put Jimmy to work for him. Jimmy acquired even more notches on his gun and built up even more guilt and regrets while forced to do Dobbin's dirty work. He had led to innocent men getting killed. And for now, all Jimmy could think was that none of that would have happened if he had never been led to believe that Addy had died.

No longer able to listen to any more, Jimmy spun away from her and headed back towards Buck and Lou with long, determined strides. Addy was left standing alone in the street looking back at him, dumbfounded and totally crushed.

"Let's go, Buck," Jimmy said curtly as he brushed quickly by, not even looking at him.

Jimmy mounted his horse while Lou and Buck eyed one another in astonishment. But they knew better than to cross Jimmy when he was a mood like this, and frankly, they were too confused to even know what to say to him at the moment. They glanced back one final time at Addy standing there with a broken-hearted look on her face and tears welling in her eyes, and then they hopped up onto the wagon seat.

Jimmy spurred his horse forward with a swift jab of his heels, his eyes keeping straight ahead of him. With a slap of the reins, the wagon drove away following Jimmy's horse, Lou turning her head to look back at Addy's shrinking figure behind.

Back at the station, Jimmy began unsaddling his horse in the barn with a tremendous sense of urgency. His mind was racing with thoughts of what had just happened in town, of what had just happened with Addy.

How could this be happenin'? Jimmy wondered. He had gone so long believing that Addy was gone. And now...now Jimmy didn't know what he believed anymore. Everything was completely mixed up and beyond his control. And he hated that feeling more than anything else in the world.

"Jimmy?" a voice called out from behind.

"Lou, I don't wanna talk about it," he replied harshly as he spun around to face her.

Jimmy's eyes were cold, his voice brimming with anger. However, Lou realized that if she didn't get him to talk about what happened in town with Addy, he'd never find any peace. And neither would anyone else who had to live with him.

"Jimmy, you have to talk about what happened," she demanded.

"You really don't know when to give up, do ya, Lou," Jimmy shouted, growing extremely annoyed.

"Nope," Lou shook her head as she sat down on a bale of hay. "I s'pose I don't." She knew she had to stand her ground in order to get any answers from Jimmy.

He saw that she wasn't going to leave him with any choice, and Jimmy knew he wouldn't have a moment's rest until Lou was satisfied. He sighed and rolled his eyes slightly, cursing her for her stubbornness, but admiring her for it, too.

Jimmy gathered his composure and began to speak in spite of every instinct he had telling him otherwise. "When I thought Addy had died, it nearly killed me," he explained while pacing the floor of the barn. He shook his head as he came to a halt, and he looked deeply into Lou's sympathetic brown eyes. "I couldn't bear to lose her again. I won't," he added with fierce determination.

"So you're just gonna shut yourself off of from her?" Lou asked in disbelief. "You're just gonna pretend like she's not here, like she really is dead?"

"I don't know what I'm gonna do, Lou," Jimmy responded rather sharply. He lowered his gaze from hers for a moment and shook his head again. When Jimmy began to speak again his voice was softer, filled with sadness, and his eyes revealed the true pain and turmoil he struggled with inside. "All I know is I can't let myself feel that way again."

Lou saw clear into Jimmy's soul when he raised his eyes back to meet with hers. "You loved her, didn't you?" She asked, though she somehow already knew the answer in her heart.

Jimmy simply nodded, sighing deeply as he dropped his gaze once more. "I loved her," he admitted at last. "God, how I loved her." Jimmy saw the understanding on Lou's face, so he continued spilling his deeply buried emotions. "Maybe I never really stopped lovin' her, even after all these years." He moved closer and sat down next to Lou. He exhaled loudly, but then, he returned to that hardened, defensive tone and said, "And that's why I can't let myself be with her now. I already lost her once. I couldn't take it if I lost her a second time."

"But you haven't lost her," she told him. "Not really. Maybe...maybe you knew all along she wasn't gone -- that you'd find her again. Maybe that's why those memories started stirrin' up so sudden."

"In my mind, she was gone, Lou," Jimmy responded. "For three years, she was dead to me. She was out of my life, and I don't know if I can let her back in."

"I know you're afraid of gettin' hurt, Jimmy, but..."

"No, Lou," he cut her off abruptly. "I'm more afraid of Addy gettin' hurt. Gettin' hurt because of me...because of 'Wild Bill Hickok'."

Lou could hear the bitterness in Jimmy's voice when he spoke the moniker that had been thrust upon him after a single, but unforgettable, incident of youthful folly. It was something he would never be allowed to forget.

"But you're not that that man, Jimmy," she tried to convince him. She reached out to touch his arm, hoping to console her friend. "I know the real Jimmy. All of us here do."

He shook her hand free. "It don't matter, Lou. Not so long as there's somebody still out there printin' those lies about me and somebody else willin' to believe 'em. I'll always be 'Wild Bill Hickok', and there'll always be someone wantin' to take 'im down," Jimmy said fervently, believing it with all his heart and soul. "And I'd never be able to forgive myself if someone I cared about got hurt because of that."

Lou could hardly believe what she was hearing. She never thought for a moment that Jimmy would let himself be sucked into living out the stories and lies that all the money-hungry, fame-seeking leeches concocted about him.

Oh, Jimmy, if you stop carin' about other people...if you stop lettin' other people care about you...Lou couldn't get herself to finish such a dismal thought. And she saw it as part of her job as Jimmy's friend to help him see otherwise.

"Seems to me you still haven't forgiven yourself from the first time you thought Addy had died," she said boldly. "Seems to me that's your whole problem, Jimmy."

Jimmy was speechless at the bluntness of Lou's words. He didn't know what to say. Maybe, deep down inside, it was because he knew she was right.

"You can't change the past, Jimmy," Lou sighed, "but I think you need to at least give Addy a chance to explain what happened. I think you owe her that much. And if you don't..." she paused, looking downward for a brief instant, gathering the courage to say what she felt strongly. "If you don't, Jimmy, you'll just be runnin' away scared forever. Ya gotta face up to it...'fore you destroy yourself with all that guilt."

Lou's statement had struck a chord deep in Jimmy's soul. He never took himself to be a coward, but now, he was beginning to doubt it. Jimmy was beginning to feel smaller than he'd ever felt before, and he knew it was because Lou spoke the truth. He needed to talk to her -- to Addy. He needed to understand what had happened that stormy night more than three years ago. And he needed to know now.

"Lou?" Jimmy began meekly.

She smiled at him with understanding, nodded her head, and rose from her seat in the hay. "I'll go tell Rachel you'll be late for supper."

Jimmy looked at Lou with unspoken appreciation in his eyes as he saddled his horse again, mounted up, and rode back towards town.

"What do ya think it is, Buck?" Cody asked as he examined the large crate that sat in the middle of the bunkhouse floor.

"Haven't got a clue," he replied, shaking his head.

Noah crouched down and studied the box as well, the same baffled expression on his face. "It don't even say where it's from."

Maybe it's some more of them baseball bats, Ike signed, his eyes twinkling teasingly.

"Yeah, I seem to recall us needin' some more," Kid said with a mischievous grin on his face. "We used up all the ones from the first set doin' target practice some time ago."

"You boys best steer clear of that box, if you know what's good for you," Rachel warned, peeking her head out from the kitchen area where she was making the final preparations before serving up supper.

"Awww, Rachel," Cody whined. "Ain't ya even the least bit interested in what's in here?"

"'Course I am, Cody," she said, "but like I told you before, we're not gonna open it till Teaspoon gets back. Supper's almost ready. He should be here any minute."

Cody reluctantly returned to his seat at the table, propping his elbow up and resting his head on his hand with a great huff of disappointment.

Moments later, the bunkhouse door swung open as Teaspoon stepped inside.

"Finally," Cody said, hoping the anticipation would end now that Teaspoon was there.

Teaspoon looked up at him with a raised eyebrow that seemed to disappear under the brim of his trademark hat. "What? Am I holdin' up yer supper, Cody?"

Rachel walked towards the table with a large plate of food. "Teaspoon, these boys have been drivin' themselves crazy wonderin' what's in that crate over there." She motioned with her eyes to the big box sitting on the floor. Rachel had to confess, she was beginning to wonder what it was herself. "It doesn't have a particular name on it, and there's no label to say where it came from."

Teaspoon flashed a mysterious, crooked grin. "No, it don't, now, does it? Well, I have to admit; it's a little surprise." He scanned the room, taking in the looks on everyone's faces. "It's a surprise I got for all o' ya."

"Well, what is it?" Cody asked excitedly.

"Now hold on, son," Teaspoon raised his hands to calm the eager young rider who was practically jumping out of his pants. "I said it's a surprise for all o' ya." He paused, noticing that Jimmy was not present. "And we ain't gonna open it till everybody's here to see."

Disgruntled groans erupted in the bunkhouse at once upon Teaspoon's declaration.

"Now let's all sit down and enjoy Rachel's delicious supper," Teaspoon began, "and then we'll see what's in the box when Jimmy comes in. Which reminds me, where is Jimmy? He ain't got a run scheduled for today, as far as I know."

Lou glanced at Buck, who looked like he was about to spill the beans about having seen Addy in town, but Lou quickly spoke up before he had the chance. "Uh, Jimmy went back to town for a while to take care of some business he forgot about earlier. He said he'd be back sometime after supper."

"Oh, great," Cody began huffing again. "Now we're likely to wait all night to find out what the surprise is."

"Hush, now, Cody," Teaspoon admonished lightly. He turned back to Lou. "Now just what kind of 'business' does Jimmy feel is so urgent he needs to attend to right at suppertime?"

"Uh, I think it's personal business, Teaspoon," Lou nodded, hoping he'd ask no further questions.

"Personal, huh?" He sighed loudly and shook his head, knowing how oddly Jimmy had been acting as of late. "I think I'm gonna have to take Jimmy on a little trip to the sweatlodge later."

Jimmy rode into town as fast as he could get his horse to carry him. All the while his head was racing with thoughts of seeing Addy again and what he would actually say to her when he did. He suddenly grew very nervous as he dismounted his horse just outside the hotel and tethered it to the hitching post. Jimmy walked inside, not knowing for certain if she would be there, just praying that she would.

He approached the front desk and asked the clerk, "'Scuse me, I'm lookin' for an Adeline Bergensen. I'm not positive she's stayin' here, but if you could check for me, I'd be much obliged."

The portly hotel clerk studied Jimmy for a moment, his eyes lingering on the ivory gun handle that stuck out from his holster. He looked at the young man's face once more, and then decided it didn't appear like he was looking to start any trouble. Finally the clerk opened up the leather-bound registry book, scanning the list of names while he moved his finger down the page. It came to a stop when he saw the name of the woman in question and then moved horizontally across the page to where the room number was written. The clerk looked up at Jimmy again and simply said, "Room 17. Upstairs and to your right."

"Thank you," Jimmy nodded as he turned to head up the stairs towards Addy's room.

Jimmy paused just outside the door with '17' on it in shiny brass numbers. He moved his hand up to knock, but stopped before his fist made contact with the door, unable to go through with it. He gathered himself for another few moments, eventually deciding that this was something he had to do. Raising his fisted hand once more, Jimmy knocked on the door and waited nervously for it to open.

Jimmy felt his heart catch in his throat as he heard the key turning from the other side. He held his breath as the door opened and he saw Addy standing just on the other side of the threshold.

He hadn't really taken the time to notice in town earlier, but Jimmy suddenly realized just how beautiful Addy truly was. In most ways, she looked exactly the same as he'd remembered her. She had the same strikingly dark hair, which contrasted against her pale skin, setting off her mesmerizing, gray eyes. Her body had grown and changed some -- obviously -- and Jimmy couldn't believe how much of a woman she had become.

"Can I come in?" he asked softly, breaking out of his reverie.

Addy said nothing as she swung the door open fully and moved aside so Jimmy could enter. Jimmy could see the hurt in her eyes, and it killed him knowing that he was the cause of it.

For several long moments, neither of them said a word. Jimmy stood still, his eyes downcast as his hands fidgeted, twirling his hat around in them nervously. Finally, Jimmy looked up into Addy's eyes, seeking the courage to speak to her.

"Addy," he began, "I never meant to hurt you like that. It's just when I saw you in town earlier..." Jimmy paused as the emotion began welling up inside of him. "I guess I was just so shocked and confused...I didn't know what think or how to react. I spent the last three years thinkin' you were dead, and I didn't know how to handle it when I saw you like that."

Addy licked her lips unconsciously, preparing to speak. "I'm so sorry, Jimmy. I never knew," she shook her head, sighing sympathetically. "I only knew that you'd run off after the storm before I got back...that you didn't wait for me. I always thought you found out what really happened."

"What happened, Addy?" Jimmy asked, his heart needing to know the truth of what occurred that stormy night, three long years ago. "What happened that night of the blizzard?"

Addy sat down on the bed and motioned for Jimmy to pull up a chair. She knew this was going to take a while.

"That night, I ran into the storm searching for Wildfire, as you know," she began. "I followed his footprints until they disappeared in the snow, and even then I refused to give up. I thought I'd find him, somehow." Addy's gray eyes at once began filling with tears when she remembered that horrible night. She quickly blinked them away. "I thought I'd be able to find him, Jimmy, and that we'd make our way back to the house, safe and sound. But the longer I stayed out there, and the further away I got from the house, the more lost I became. The sound of the voices callin' after me grew fainter, and eventually vanished entirely. All I could see was white.

"I didn't know what to do." Addy shook her head as she recalled the paralyzing fear that she felt then. "I thought I was gonna die out there for sure. But I guess I wandered even further than I'd thought. I eventually saw the windmill of the MacIntyre's homestead right in front of me. I nearly bumped into it. I knew I would be all right if I could just make it to the house. When I finally did, I practically collapsed in a heap of snow by the front door. I banged on the door as hard as I could, and luckily, Mrs. MacIntyre heard me and brought me inside.

"I didn't found Wildfire that night," she said sadly, her eyes taking on a faraway look that Jimmy couldn't fathom. "I stayed at the MacIntyre's for nearly a week while the storm only got worse and worse. I was so sick; my feet and hands were burning with frostbite." Addy shuddered as she relived those awful sensations all over again. "I wanted to get back out there to let Papa know I was safe, that I was alive, but we were snowed in. There was no way to get word to Papa without risking gettin' lost in the storm again. And the MacIntyres were in no condition to go."

Jimmy listened intently as Addy recounted the tale of the night she disappeared. Suddenly, he began to feel ashamed for having thought the worst and for not staying around long enough to find out the truth.

"When the week was up, the snow had stopped fallin'. The snow that was already on the ground was still deep. We had to dig our way out the front door, but with Mr. MacIntyre's help, I made it back to Papa's house when I was just well enough to go outside again." Addy paused as a solitary tear made its slow descent down her left cheek. "When I finally arrived home, the first thing Papa did was hug me and praise God that I was alive. The second thing he did was scold me for havin' done such a foolish thing as chasin' after a horse in a blizzard."

She paused briefly, gazing into Jimmy's tender eyes deeply. "Then Papa told me about you. He told me you'd left...that you'd left without saying so much as a word to anyone. You didn't even leave a note saying where you were goin'. I can't describe how devastated I was when he told me."

"Awww, Addy," Jimmy leaned in towards her and placed a comforting hand on her cheek, wiping away the tears that streamed down her face freely. "Don't cry. Please don't. It's alright, now," he said in a soothing voice.

"No, Jimmy," she shook her head in moderate protest, "it's not. I can't even begin to tell you how much I needed you then. But you just left. Why didn't you wait for me?"

Finally, all the bottled-up emotions were beginning to spill after so many years kept hidden and repressed deep within.

"I thought you were dead, Addy," Jimmy attempted to explain. "You didn't come back for a week. I didn't think it was possible that you'd make it outta that storm alive. Even your pa thought you were dead. We all did!"

Addy shook her head again. "But did you feel it, Jimmy? How can you tell me, as close as we were, that you truly believed in your heart of hearts that I was dead? Surely, you would have felt it if I was dead."

She looked into his eyes searchingly, trying to find out why Jimmy had allowed himself to think that she was gone forever. At the time, Addy had felt that she and Jimmy were bound by something stronger than the forces of life and death. They had known each other implicitly, intimately, and Addy could not understand how Jimmy could not have known that she was still alive...how he could have just given up on her like that.

But Jimmy did not have an answer for her. Not the answer she was looking for, anyway. All Jimmy knew was the way he felt when he first thought Addy had been killed in the storm and the blame he'd placed on himself because of it. He felt like he wanted to die, too. He felt as if the light had been taken from his life, that all meaning and inner purpose in his life had died in the storm along with Addy.

"I don't know, Addy," Jimmy said plainly. "Maybe I should've believed more...had more faith...but I didn't. I let the guilt eat me up inside, and I couldn't stand the thought of bein' in that house with your father, knowin' that I was the one who should've been dead instead of you."

Addy felt her own sense of guilt settle over her as Jimmy described the pain he felt thinking that she had died because of him. "I'm so sorry, Jimmy," she whispered. "I didn't mean to blame you. It wasn't your fault I went out there that night. I was stubborn and foolish, chasin' after some girlish fantasy that didn't really exit. I guess I just hoped that you'd wait for me, and I was angry and hurt when you didn't."

"I wish now more than ever that I had waited," he confessed. He paused for a while, and then his brow became creased with confusion as a new and painful thought entered his mind. "Why didn't you ever come lookin' for me, Addy?" he wondered all of the sudden.

"I didn't know where you were, Jimmy," she replied. "After you left, I asked everyone I could think of, but no one knew where you'd gone."

Jimmy snorted bitterly, his anguish turning to anger. His reaction threw Addy completely off guard. "Don't tell me you never heard that the famous 'Wild Bill Hickok' lived in Sweetwater?"

Addy was baffled by the sudden change in Jimmy's attitude and tone of voice. She shook her head incredulously. "No, Jimmy. Sure, I've heard of 'Wild Bill Hickok' before, but I never knew he lived in Sweetwater. And I certainly never linked that name to you before!" she cried out in her own defense. "I never linked a man capable of such things to you. Not to the Jimmy I know."

"Well, I'm afraid, then, that you were wrong," he snapped back, rising from his chair in anger. It fell to the floor with a loud thud. "Like it or not, Addy, 'Wild Bill Hickok' is me. I am 'Wild Bill Hickok'." He pointed to himself, his voice growing louder and harsher with both disgust and fury.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She continued to shake her head, refusing to believe what Jimmy was saying. "No. I know you, Jimmy. I know the kind of man you are. And you're not what people say. I know it."

Jimmy laughed again cynically. "Maybe you knew me once, Addy, but it's been three years. A lot has happened in that time. I'm not the same man I was back then."

Addy rose from her seat on the bed. She wasn't going to let herself be intimidated by him anymore; she was fully capable of standing up to him -- to any man. "How can you look me in the eye and say you're not the same hardheaded, but gentle, boy who I fell madly in love with all those years ago?" she declared, her chin held high and that stubborn set of her jaw already in place. If a fight was what Jimmy wanted, then she was more than ready to indulge him.

But Addy had caught Jimmy at a loss for words. Did he hear her right? Did he hear her say that she loved him? It was the first time that words of love had ever passed between them, and Jimmy immediately felt a flood of emotion wash away any bitterness that he'd tried to project only moments ago.

"You...you were in love with me?" He asked with disbelief. Somehow, Jimmy needed to hear her say those words again; he needed to be sure.

Addy's eyes became pools of crystal tears once more as she nodded and confessed her heart to the man who had broken it when he left so long ago. "Oh, yes, Jimmy! I loved you more than I ever loved any man before. And I don't care what people say about you. In my heart, I know it's all lies. My heart knows yours, Jimmy!"

She moved towards him cautiously, taking his hand in hers, and placing it over his own heart. Feeling the warmth of her touch, Jimmy became swept up in the power of the moment, and he leaned in to claim Addy's lips with his own in a kiss of such passion and purity, unlike any either of them had ever known. When their mouths finally separated, Jimmy wrapped her up in his strong arms, and Addy twined hers around him as well.

"Oh, God, Addy," Jimmy spoke, his voice cracking as his emotions overwhelmed him, "I loved you, too! I loved you so much I wanted to die when I thought you had died!"

They held each other tightly for what felt like hours. Jimmy and Addy had waited three long years for this moment, and they intended to make the most of it.

Jimmy felt his heart take flight even as Addy loosened up her grip on him so that she could gaze into the dark eyes she loved so much. "Oh, Jimmy, I always knew we'd find each other again someday. And that day has finally come!"

Addy's eyes began clouding over fresh tears as she fell into Jimmy's embrace once more and clung onto him tightly, pressing her face into this chest and inhaling the scent of him. As soon as she had her emotions under control, she lifted her head to gaze into Jimmy's dark eyes. "Fate's brought us together at last, Jimmy!"

"Addy, I couldn't be happier about seein' you again. Just knowin' your alive..." Jimmy still couldn't believe everything that was happening to him. It all seemed so surreal. "But Addy, I've got to go back with you -- I've got to go back and face your father again...to tell him I'm sorry."

When Jimmy said this, Addy's face instantly dropped. He saw the change come over her, and his face turned to an expression of concern.

"He's gone. Papa's gone, Jimmy." She looked so sad and helpless, the pain and grief of having lost her father still very fresh. It made Jimmy want to just wrap her up in his arms and make all the hurt go away. "He died nearly three months ago. His heart just gave out."

"Oh, Addy. I'm so sorry," he whispered, pulling her close. "He was a good man, Addy. I always looked up to him like a father."

"I know you loved him, Jimmy," Addy told him, "and he loved you, too. He always thought of you as a son, right up through the very end."

Feeling slightly comforted by her words of reassurance, Jimmy caressed Addy's hair with gentle, soothing motions as she sobbed against his chest. She cursed herself inwardly for letting herself lose control like that. She had carried the burden of her father's death alone for what felt like an eternity. She thought she was strong enough to handle it. But now, Addy felt as weak and vulnerable as a little girl, and she hated that feeling, though she was extremely grateful that Jimmy was with her.

"Well, it's probably good that you decided to get away for awhile," Jimmy stated. "It must be awful lonely on the ranch without him. What in earth possessed you to come to Sweetwater?"

Addy lifted her head from his chest, looking at Jimmy with even more heartbreak in her eyes. "It's gone, Jimmy. The land, the ranch, everythin'. It's all gone."

Jimmy stood unable to speak. He was in complete shock when he heard that the land, which her pa had worked so hard for and sweated over, the land that Addy loved so much, had been taken away. All he could hear was Addy's voice echo in his head, saying over and over again, "It's all gone."

"I don't understand," Jimmy shook his head. "The ranch? It's gone? What happened?" He simply could not comprehend what could have gone so terribly wrong.

"Jimmy, you know that Papa was a very trusting man," Addy began, as she and Jimmy both moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He nodded. "He was always one to see the good in people. That's one of reasons people loved him so much. Unfortunately, he was blinded by the person he thought he could trust the most."

"Randall," Jimmy said in a sudden revelation.

Addy nodded, confirming Jimmy's suspicions. "After Papa died, I went back east for a few weeks to stay with my mother's sisters and their families at their request. I was devastated as it was after losin' Papa, and then when I came back to Dakota Junction -- back home -- I learned I didn't even have a home anymore."

She paused for a moment to sort through her emotions. "While I was gone, Randall was in charge, of course. I'd thought nothin' of it at the time. All I knew was Papa was gone, and for once in my life, I needed to get away from the place that reminded me most of him. When I returned, I found the ranch abandoned. All the horses and livestock were gone. All the hired hands had been run off. Apparently, Randall fired everyone, sold all the stock at auction -- along with every stitch of furniture in the house --, and then he sold the land to the bank."

"How could he have managed that?" Jimmy wondered.

"Randall had access to a lot of Papa's documents -- personal documents," Addy continued. "I had no idea just how much control that man had until it was too late." She shook her head in disgust. "I went back into town when I saw the sign on the front door of the house sayin' the property was for sale through the bank. I found out that Randall had stolen the deed to the land and had produced some kind of phony papers that willed everythin' Papa owned to him...including all the money and the land."

"I always suspected Randall was crooked," Jimmy stated. "There was just somethin' about that man I didn't quite trust."

"I know what you mean, Jimmy," Addy concurred. "Growin' up, I thought he was probably one of the friendliest, most honest man I knew. Then, when I was a little older, I saw the way he looked at me, and -- I don't know -- it began to frighten me. Lookin' back, I know now I should've trusted my instincts. But I never said anythin' to Papa about it because I knew he felt that without Randall, he'd have nothin'. Papa felt he owed him so much. Maybe at one time, Randall was a good man, but I guess he just got too greedy. I never imagined he could be capable of somethin' like this, though."

"Addy, don't you have the real will your father left? Wouldn't that prove that the land belonged to you, that Randall had no right to sell it?"

Addy shook her head and sighed. "I searched high and low for it. I scoured the house and everywhere else I thought it might be, but I didn't find it. I knew Randall had taken it. I never actually saw the will up close, so I don't even know who countersigned it. I don't know who has the other copy of it."

"It just don't make sense," Jimmy muttered, his brow drawn close to his nose. "Everyone in town knew your father, the bank especially! How could they have believed he'd up 'n' leave everythin' to Randall?"

"Randall told everyone that he was goin' to marry me. That we were sellin' everythin' off and movin' west to California," Addy explained. "He must've done a good job convincin' 'em, too. He told everyone that part of the reason I was visitin' my relatives was to break the 'good news' to them." Her voice was dripping with disdain at the mention of her and Randall getting married as 'good news'. The thought sickened her. "Randall made everyone believe that Papa knew about it and was happy about us supposedly gettin' married...that he'd changed the will to name Randall the heir as the soon-to-be only male relative. He told them how Papa was glad 'to see the money stay in the family'. The townsfolk knew and dealt with Randall for years; they felt they had no reason to doubt him."

She paused for a moment and took a deep breath to help dissipate the anger she felt rising in her throat when she thought of how Randall had swindled both her and her father out of everything they ever held dear -- everything they ever worked for. "And now, I have nothing. I scraped together every last penny I had just to buy that bag of bones they called a horse out there."

"We can't let Randall get away with this." The rage was growing stronger and stronger inside of Jimmy when he heard Addy's terrible predicament, and he was afraid it was all going to erupt. "We've gotta make him pay for what he's done, Addy."

"That's why I'm here, Jimmy. Ever since I found out what Randall had done, I've been searchin' every town, every corner of the territory, tryin' to find him so I can get my land back...before it's too late." Addy sighed and looked deeply into Jimmy's eyes. "I never expected to find you here, Jimmy. I just came from Willow Springs and Blue Creek because I had some initial clues that Randall was headin' this way towards St. Joseph. So far, I've found nothing. Sweetwater was simply the next stop along the trail."

Jimmy reached his arms out, grabbing onto Addy's shoulders firmly and lovingly. "Addy, I can't let you do this alone. I'm gonna help you find him...I'm gonna help you find Randall."

Addy looked at him with defiance and said matter-of-factly, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

He regarded her with confusion. "You can't let me do what?"

"I can't let you risk yourself to help me, Jimmy," she told him plainly. "Randall is a dangerous man. When I found out he'd swindled me dry, I did a little research at the local Marshall's office. I found out some pretty interestin' stuff, and all I gotta say is he's not someone to be trifled with, Jimmy."

"Addy, listen to yourself for a second!" he declared. "You're not makin' any sense! Here you are tellin' me how dangerous Randall is...how can you not expect me to try to stop you from doin' this? You can't go out there all alone, Addy. You just can't! Even if you did manage to find Randall, how d'you plan to make him hand over the will?"

"Jimmy," she finally spoke up, trying to sound as strong and determined as she could, "I know how to handle a gun. I can shoot and ride as good as any man, probably even better. You know that."

Sure, Jimmy knew. Having been raised most of her life by only her father, and constantly being around the hired hands who helped work the ranch, Addy grew up very much the tomboy. She was taught how to handle a gun, mostly by Jimmy, and people said she must have been born on a horse, the way she rode. However, Jimmy couldn't agree to let her take on such a risk all by herself.

"I know that probably better than anyone, Addy. But I still can't let you do this. Not alone."

"This is my business, Jimmy. Family business." Addy took on that headstrong tone full-fledged. She'd been doing just fine on her own up till now, she thought. She wasn't about to let anyone -- and definitely not any man -- tell her what she could or couldn't do. She was her own woman, just as she'd always been. And more than anything, Addy thought she'd be damned if anyone made her say that she needed them.

"Yeah? Well, I thought we were a family once, too," Jimmy retorted, his face showing a tinge of hurt.

Addy dropped her gaze and became silent. Jimmy sighed and shook his head at her stubbornness. She rose from the bed slowly and walked across the room, her arms folded across her chest and her back towards Jimmy. Somehow, he always feared that her willful nature would be her downfall. But not if I have any say-so in the matter, Jimmy thought.

Jimmy got up from the bed, too, and approached Addy carefully, gently. He blocked her path, standing right in front of her. Jimmy searched Addy's face for moment, trying to find one iota of logic in that obstinate head of hers. He was afraid he'd be standing there looking all day at the rate she was carrying on. Then, he reached out his hand to lift her chin up so that she was staring straight into his eyes. He could see the emotional turmoil welling in them.

Jimmy began speaking again, his voice now soft and vulnerable as he bore his heart and soul to her, something he rarely, if ever, did with anyone. "Addy, I couldn't bear it if somethin' were to happen to you. It was hard enough the first time I thought you were gone. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again."

Lost in Jimmy's soulful, sensitive eyes that were boring into hers, Addy absently raised her hand to push away a loose strand of his hair, which had fallen across his forehead. Her finger brushed past his cheek as she tucked the strand of hair behind his ear. She touched him so lightly, but it was enough to cause tremendous stirrings deep in his heart. Now, the idea of something bad happening to Addy became unthinkable. He wouldn't lose her again, Jimmy thought. He just wouldn't.

"I'm not gonna let you do this alone, Addy," Jimmy told her firmly, a new resolve and strength carried in his voice. After all, he could be just as bull-headed as she could -- even more so. "You ain't gonna get rid of me so easily." He shook his head and gazed at her with those dark, piercing eyes of his. "Not this time."

Addy had known Jimmy well enough to remember that he meant business when he got that look in his eye; he would not be persuaded to do otherwise. Addy realized she would just have to give in, whether she liked it or not. And at the same time that she felt irked at Jimmy's unwavering insistence, she also felt her heart warm at his obvious concern and affection for her. Addy knew Jimmy would not let her down, and she would not let him down either by refusing his help. Besides, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed him...now more than ever.

So, Addy nodded sharply, keeping her eyes directly on his, not flinching in the least. She might be giving in, but she'd never give up. "We'll start lookin' at sunup," she said resolutely.

Jimmy nodded, too, his face breaking into a contented smile. He whispered, "Alright."

"Alright," she echoed quietly, still trying to feel as if she'd had the last word in the matter. But soon, Addy found the hardened, determined look on her face began melting away in spite of herself.

And for the first time in a long while, they both looked at each other and smiled, having made a new resolution to find Randall -- to fight for Addy's land and her dreams -- together.

"Awww, come on, Teaspoon," Cody continued to whine.

"Cody," Teaspoon sighed in exasperation, "you been whinin' all through dinner. You really know how to fray an old man's nerves!"

The wooden crate that still sat untouched in the middle of the bunkhouse floor continued to be a puzzlement to all the riders, and to Rachel as well. But Cody was starting to get annoying, and not just to Teaspoon, but to everyone. They had gotten to the point of not even wanting to open the box for the sake of the surprise, but simply as a way to shut Cody up, once and for all.

"Jimmy's never gonna be back at this rate," Cody complained further. "I don't see why the rest of us have to suffer just because of him."

Noah rolled his eyes at Cody. "Well, I don't see why the rest of us have to suffer by listenin' to your non-stop complainin', Cody."

Cody threw Noah a murdering glare, but Noah simply shook his head at the impatient rider's demeanor.

"I second the motion!" Lou called out, raising her hand in the air. She wanted Cody to shut up just as much as they all did.

Kid continued along those same lines. "All those in favor of openin' up the box just to get Cody to be quiet, please signify by sayin', 'Aye'!"

"Aye!" They chorused enthusiastically, raising their hands up in the air as Cody looked on with a sour expression.

"Has Your Honor reached a verdict?" Buck asked, a sly grin on his face.

Teaspoon let out another great sign, glancing over to Rachel who stood watching in amusement. "What am I gonna do with the lot o' ya?" He looked around at all the faces of the boys -- and girl -- who he had come to know and love as his own. "Well," he began, "this is a democracy, after all, and majority does tend to rule in most cases. So, as the sayin' goes: I guess the 'Ayes' have it, then."

The bunkhouse was filled with the clamor of chairs and benches scraping against the floor and feet shuffling over to where the crate was set. The excitement had returned to the riders' eyes, and they were awaiting the grand unveiling of this latest present of Teaspoon's with tremendous anticipation. Teaspoon grabbed a hammer and a bar with which to pry the lid open and pushed his way through everyone who had gathered in a mob around the box.

Cody looked like his eyes were about to pop out of the sockets. Teaspoon looked at him sympathetically, and then handed him the hammer and pry bar with a crooked smile. "Cody, I think I'll let you do the honors."

The blonde rider's sapphire eyes lit up even more. He took the tools, bent down over the crate, and began hammering away. With some work, he managed to lift the lid loose. And when he slid the lid off to the side, everyone leaned in to get a closer look as the 'present' was revealed.

The facial expressions on the riders slowly metamorphosed from surprise to confusion to looking just plain let down. All the while, Teaspoon grinned incessantly, awaiting their joyous reactions, which did not come. When Teaspoon realized that the boys -- and Lou -- were all still standing there, looking down at the contents of the crate, not having quite the reaction he had hoped for, his face fell as well.

"What is it, Teaspoon?" Kid wondered. He and the others were hoping it was actually more than it appeared. And right now, it didn't appear to be much.

"A box?" Cody shouted in disbelief. Then his eyes moved and he saw several fat metal tubes with bumps on them. "And some bumpy metal things? Is that was this whole 'surprise' thing was all about, Teaspoon?"

Rachel leaned over to examine the 'box' a little closer. She stopped down next to it and ran her hands along the smooth wooden surface. It was intricately painted with a delicate design of scrolls and tiny flowers that ran along the border of the top. When she saw the crank on the side, Rachel realized just what the 'surprise' was. "It's a music box, everyone," she declared, her face glowing with a smile as she opened the top up to reveal the internal mechanism. It made no sound, for it needed to be wound up first.

"A music box?" Noah asked, his eyes raised. It certainly was not the surprise they had all expected. Although when they really thought about it, Teaspoon always did have funny ideas of presents.

Teaspoon couldn't help but feel a little stung by the lack of enthusiasm. "For your information, this ain't just no ordinary music box. This here is what's known as a 'Swiss-made wind cylinder music box'," he struggled to recall the exact wording used by the auctioneer in Scotts Bluff where he had seen it. "Imported all the way from Switzerland way over there in Europe." He snapped his suspenders with self-satisfaction as he hoped his explanation would turn things around a bit.

But the riders still looked confused. "So how's that different from a regular old music box?" Kid inquired.

"Here, let me just take it out of the crate and show ya," Teaspoon replied.

Teaspoon bent down to pick up the 'Swiss-made wind cylinder music box'. He heaved, trying to lift it out of the crate, but it didn't budge. He tried again, and failed again. Finally, he rose to his feet, raising a hand to his sore back, and cleared his throat to say, "Uh, Buck, why don't you set it right up here on the table."

Buck smiled at the older man teasingly and lifted the music box with little effort. It seemed that much of the weight was in the actual crate that surrounded the music box. Then he went back to the crate to retrieve, as Cody called them, the "bumpy metal things".

Everyone stood surrounding the table, still waiting to see what all the excitement was supposed to be about. Rachel appreciated it, of course, and even Lou had to admit that at least the box was pretty. But it was definitely the biggest music box either of them had ever seen before.

"Now," Teaspoon began as he stood in front of the music box, "like I said, this ain't no ordinary music box."

"Yeah, we know," Cody interrupted him, rolling his eyes, "it's a 'Swiss somethin'-or-other music box."

Teaspoon gave Cody an annoyed look, as if to say, "Are you finished yet?" Then he cleared his throat again and started over. "Like I was sayin', most music boxes ya may have seen before can only play one tune. Ya just keep windin' it up, but it'll keep playin' the same song over and over again till ya just get so sick of it ya wanna throw it out the window."

"Sounds like someone else we know," Buck whispered to Ike, who chuckled at the remark impishly.

"I heard that!" Teaspoon scolded before he went back to his explanation. "But, you see, this here music box has these metal cylinders with all these bumps on 'em. And each of 'em has diff'rent kinds of bumps so they each play a diff'rent song."

"So now, instead of gettin' sick of just one song, you can get sick of a whole bunch o' songs?" Noah asked with raised eyebrows, still not seeing much point to it all.

Rachel saw what a hard time the boys were giving Teaspoon, so she felt compelled to jump in. "Boys, I think you're missin' the whole point here. Teaspoon has been kind enough to get this present for everyone to enjoy. I think y'all owe him an apology for actin' so ungrateful."

The six riders hung their heads in shame. They knew Rachel was right. Teaspoon may not have the best taste in presents, but he always did have the best intentions in mind.

"Sorry, Teaspoon," they all mumbled.

"If it makes ya feel any better, Teaspoon," Lou spoke up, "I think it's real nice." She smiled at him sincerely.

"Ya do?" His eyes were starting to perk up with hope.

Lou nodded. "Yeah. 'Sides the fact it's probably the prettiest thing I ever laid my eyes on, I think it'll be nice to have around the place."

"How do ya mean, Lou?" The Kid wondered.

"Well, for instance, it'll be good to have some music so you can practice some steps 'fore the next dance," she said with a smirk.

"Why'd I wanna do that?" He asked.

Lou was afraid she'd put her foot in her mouth this time, but she proceeded. "Uh, Kid, I think ya could really use the practice. After the last dance, I had to soak my feet for next two days." She gave him a shrug and an innocent smile in apology.

The others started snickering at Kid as he hung his head in embarrassment, but Lou quickly came to his rescue. "I wouldn't laugh too hard, Cody. I overheard Mary Ellen Wilson say you were the worst dancin' partner in the whole town. 'Sides the fact ya couldn't keep your hands to yourself, she said you kept makin' her bump into other people." That put a sobering look on his face, and Kid could feel his own mood begin to lighten. "And Buck, Ike, Noah...let's just say I think your dancin' skills leave somethin' to be desired."

Now nobody was laughing, except Rachel and Teaspoon who fought hard to stifle it.

"So how does this thing work, anyway?" Rachel finally asked, trying to change the subject a bit before a screaming match ensued.

Teaspoon opened the lid of the music box and showed everyone how to change the song by changing the metal cylinders. Then, he turned the crank on the side of the box and the little fingers inside began to move up and down according to the pattern of bumps on the cylinders. Everyone listened intently to the sound it produced. They had to admit, it was pleasant to listen to, and the sound was about ten times louder and clearer than any of the miniature hand-held music boxes they might have heard before. The tune it played was "Home on the Range".

"Let's hear what other songs there are," Kid said.

Teaspoon was beginning to feel better after all now that the interest in his surprise had been sparked. This time Lou tried her hand at the interchangeable cylinders. She gave it a crank, and the song "Down in the Valley" soon became recognizable. Then, Rachel began humming along with the familiar tune.

They were all so engrossed in the music that they did not even hear the two horses that had come to a halt in front of the bunkhouse. They finally spun around when they heard the sound of the door opening and then closing shut. When they looked towards the source of the disturbance, they saw Jimmy standing there with some young woman.

Buck and Lou glanced at each other knowingly, for they already knew about the presence of Addy. But Noah, Kid, Cody, and Ike all stared at the mysterious, and very beautiful, woman, pondering over who she could be.

When Addy stepped into the bunkhouse, she immediately recognized the song "Down in the Valley" being played by the music box. (**Please see the note at the bottom of the page**)

Down in the valley, the valley so low,
Hang your head over, hear the winds blow.
Hear the winds blow, love, hear the winds blow.
Hang your head over, hear the winds blow.

Within a matter of moments, Addy, still staring at the strange faces in front of her, felt herself being drawn back in time, to a time when things in her life seemed perfect. To a time when she had everything she knew she ever wanted out of life -- her father, the land, Wildfire...and Jimmy.

"Down in the valley, the valley so low. Hang your head over, hear the winds blow," the young woman of nearly sixteen-and-a-quarter sang brightly. "Hear the winds blow, love, hear the winds blow. Hang your head over, hear the winds blow."

Addy sat astride Wildfire, riding bareback with Jimmy sitting behind her. It was a lovely autumn afternoon -- peaceful -- and the trees all around were dressed in their finest seasonal colors, making for quite picturesque surroundings. The two were trotting along at a slow, relaxed pace, enjoying the beauty of nature all around them as well as each other's company.

"Sing it with me, Jimmy," Addy turned her head towards him, trying to coax him into joining in.

Jimmy shook his head bashfully at her. "Naw. You know I can't sing, Addy."

"And when was the last time you tried, Jimmy Hickok?" She asked with a slightly wicked grin on her lips.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it was Fourth of July, at the picnic and fireworks. We all had to sing 'The Star Spangled Banner'."

"That's right, and as I recall, no one was sent runnin' away 'cause they thought their ears were gonna fall off when they heard ya. So there, ya see? You can, too, sing," Addy concluded, very pleased with her analysis. She turned back around so she could steer Wildfire.

"But there was a whole group o' people singin' then. No one could hear how bad I really sounded," Jimmy replied.

"Nonsense. Here, I'll start it, and you join right in," she told him flatly. "You know the words, don't ya?"

Jimmy nodded in defeat, knowing better than to argue with a female's logic.

"Alright, then. We'll start off with the second verse. Here goes: Down in the valley, walking between, telling our story -- come on, Jimmy."

He gave in, and finally joined in to sing. "...Here's what it means. Here's what it means, dear, here's what it means. Telling our story, here's what it means."

Addy twisted her neck to look at Jimmy again. She smiled and said, "That was nice, Jimmy, real nice. You should give yourself more credit."

She faced forward again before she could see Jimmy's face light up. Suddenly, he became aware of how close Addy was sitting to him; her legs were between his, her back touching his chest every now and then. Jimmy could smell the fresh, clean scent of her hair, which was pulled back in a low, loose ponytail, the breeze sending strands of it up near his nose. If only she knew what she did to him, Jimmy thought.

It had been a tough couple of weeks for Jimmy. It wasn't so long that he was laid up in bed after suffering from a nasty gunshot to his abdomen. The only thing that made it all bearable was Addy. She'd taken care of him when he was in pain; she comforted him when it all got to be too much. Jimmy felt he owed her everything -- owed her so much more than he thought he could ever give.

His feelings for Addy had been steadily growing, probably ever since he'd first laid eyes on her, he reckoned. Jimmy knew Addy cared about him a great deal, too, yet neither of them had ever spoken the actual words to each other before. Sometimes Jimmy wanted so much to hear them; sometimes he felt he already knew it deep down.

"Now for the third verse," Addy said, breaking into Jimmy's thoughts.

They sang in union: "Roses love sunshine, violets love dew. Angels in heaven know I love you; know I love you, dear, know I love you, angels in heaven know I love you."

All at once, a strange feeling told hold of her, and Addy stopped at the third verse, though she knew the rest of the song only too well. It had always been one of her favorite songs, but she never really thought about what it meant before...at least not until now.

But saying those last words -- angels in heaven know I love you -- made it all so clear to her. The words were like a revelation to her. And at that exact moment, Addy made up her mind that she loved Jimmy Hickok, and that she always would.

"Well, I'll be damned," Noah muttered to himself.

"Looks like Jimmy was holdin' out on us after all, fellas," Cody smirked, his voice kept low but still audible to Noah, Buck, Ike, Kid, and Lou who stood close by. However, the grin soon disappeared when Cody felt a sharp jab to his ribs coming from Lou who stood next to him with a warning glare in her eyes. "Hey!" he cried.

Upon seeing what Cody's big mouth had gotten him, Kid decided to keep any opinions he had to himself for fear of the wrath of Lou. Instead, Kid grinned innocently as Lou looked at him over the rim of her glasses.

She sure is pretty, Ike signed. Buck simply nodded, having already come to that same conclusion when he'd seen Addy earlier in town.

"Uh, everyone, this is Addy. Addy Bergensen," Jimmy said, introducing the woman by his side to the people he considered family. "She's an old friend of mine."

Addy was brought back to the present when Jimmy spoke, and she instantly hoped that she hadn't made a fool of herself from the look she imagined she'd had on her face when she was lost in her thoughts of nostalgia. For a moment, she wondered also if maybe Jimmy had recognized the song as she had -- if hearing it brought back the same sweet memories. However, he didn't appear to have any particular reaction to it, so Addy figured Jimmy had forgotten. She banished the topic from her mind.

She felt Jimmy's hand reach out and grasp hers as he led her into the middle of the bunkhouse. A strange mixture of expressions was cast on the faces of Rachel and the other riders who now stood in silence once they realized that, standing before them, was the infamous Addy they'd heard absolutely nothing about, other than her name.

"Looks like you owe me two dollars, Cody," Noah leaned in and whispered. "I don't think Addy works at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon after all." But all Noah got in return for the moment was a sideways glare from a sour-faced Cody, who had lost yet another bet.

"Rachel, I told Addy, she could stay the night here in the house," Jimmy mentioned, "if that's alright with you."

Rachel quickly changed the look on her face and put on a warm smile for Addy. "That'll be just fine," she said. "Any friend of Jimmy's is welcome here."

"Thank you..." Addy began, not knowing the name of the woman who had offered her a place in her house.

"Rachel Dunne," she extended her hand out to Addy. "But just call me Rachel."

"Alright, Rachel," she beamed at being the recipient of such warmth and kindness.

Teaspoon, having never heard anyone mention the name Addy or any details concerning the odd behavior in Jimmy with which the name had become associated, took his opportunity to greet the attractive girl. He tipped his ragged black hat ceremoniously and flashed a lopsided grin. "Aloysius Hunter, marshal of Sweetwater and Pony Express stationmaster. Otherwise known as Teaspoon. At your service, ma'am."

"Teaspoon," Addy curtseyed, blushing slightly at his gentlemanly welcome.

Teaspoon then pointed to each of the riders in turn, presenting them to Addy. She smiled at each of them, sensing the tremendous closeness that they all shared. She had no trouble understanding how Jimmy had found such a good life with them. Good friends were hard to come by, Addy knew, and she imagined that Jimmy cherished them greatly.

Following the introductions, Rachel offered Jimmy and Addy some supper since they'd had none earlier in town. While the two of them sat down at the table, whispers began to circulate among some of the riders. Most of them couldn't believe that Addy really existed; they had begun to think she was just a figment of Jimmy's imagination. And the ones who believed that there really was an Addy were still in shock when they saw how pretty she was. But everyone, with the exception of Lou, who knew more of the story than they did, thought that they'd finally get to understand why Addy had Jimmy acting so funny for the past couple of weeks.

Rachel served up the plates, and, the curiosity getting the better of her, she asked Addy, "So, how do you and Jimmy know each other?"

Not giving Addy a chance to answer, Teaspoon realized what was going on behind his back, with the whispering, so he cleared his throat authoritatively. "Boys, Lou. It ain't polite to whisper."

"Oh, it's alright. Really." Addy defended them. "I can't blame everyone for bein' be curious." She turned to Jimmy, wordlessly asking if it was okay to talk about how they had come to know each other. Jimmy gave his tacit permission, and Addy began speaking, everyone's attention focusing on her. "Over four years ago, Jimmy came to work on my father's ranch. We raised horses mostly, and Jimmy worked as a hand, helpin' to take care of the animals and such. He stayed on for about a year, and we got to be good friends in that time. I was in town earlier today when I ran into Jimmy all of the sudden. It had been at least three years since we last saw each other. You can imagine how shocking it was. So, here we are," she smiled.

Of course, Addy left out many, many details of her relationship with Jimmy, opting to tell the short version. Also, she didn't know exactly how much Jimmy wanted her to tell them about everything that had gone on, and everything that was currently going on. She figured if he wanted to inform the others of anything else, as their friend, it was Jimmy's place to do so.

Rachel came to the table with supper for Addy and Jimmy. The music box was still set in the center of the table, so she served the plates and then went to slide the music box so it wasn't right in front of them.

Addy's eyes were locked on the music box as Rachel went to move it away. "It's beautiful," she said absently.

Rachel smiled, "Well, Teaspoon'll be happy to hear that somebody else likes the gift he bought for us."

"It reminds me so much of the one my mother had. She brought it all the way to America from France, where she came from." As Addy explained she found herself getting more and more lost in the memory the music box had evoked. "When I was a little girl, before my mother died, she used to let me lie in bed with her when I'd get scared of the thunder storms. She had a music box, just like this one, that sat on a stand next to the bed. She used to play it till I fell asleep."

Addy then realized that everyone was staring at her, and she felt very self-conscious all of the sudden.

Rachel saw that she was looking uncomfortable, so she tried to relieve some of the tension when she asked, "Do ya plan on stayin' in town long, Addy?"

Jimmy jumped in and spoke up for Addy. "Actually, Rachel, Addy's just stayin' the night, and then she'll be headin' out." Jimmy paused and glanced over at Teaspoon. "And I'll be goin' with her."

"What about your runs? If I remember right, ya got a one scheduled to Blue Creek tomorrow. Ya still got a job to do here, Jimmy, and responsibilities to take care of," Teaspoon stated matter-of-factly.

"I know I do, Teaspoon," Jimmy began, "and I plan on comin' back and takin' care of 'em. But right now, I got some important business to take care of with Addy. It's somethin' that can't wait," he said firmly.

Teaspoon saw the meaning and urgency in Jimmy's eyes. He began to stroke his stubble-covered chin pensively, realizing that whatever was going on was serious and that it was their business. It wasn't his place to interfere. He conceded with a nod of his head. "How long will ya need off?"

Jimmy shook his head, not the answer Teaspoon had been looking for. "I can't say, Teaspoon. As long as it takes. I'm sorry, but that's the best answer I can give ya right now."

Teaspoon let out a loud sigh. He figured he knew Jimmy well enough to trust his judgment. "Alright, Jimmy. I guess this is somethin' pretty serious, huh?"

"Yeah, it is," he said solemnly.

The older man realized that he probably wasn't going to get anywhere with Jimmy as far as finding out exactly what kind of mess was stirring up. He glanced at Addy who had an expression of slight relief on her face, a gratefulness that Teaspoon agreed to let Jimmy take a leave of absence from work so he could help her straighten out her situation.

"Well," Teaspoon began, "I'll leave yer business for you to take care of. Just know that we're all here for ya if ya need us."

The six other riders nodded in confirmation. And Jimmy knew they would all be there for him, like they always were, ready to stand up for him or back him up when he was in trouble, even at the risk of their own lives. Yes, they had an unspoken pact, and it would not be broken.

Jimmy did not think he would take them up on their offer, but it felt good knowing it was there if he needed. He decided that this was something he needed to take care of. It was something that had begun long before he made a new life in Sweetwater, and he intended to see it through...for himself as much as Addy.

"Sure is a beautiful night," Teaspoon sighed as he approached Jimmy who stood leaning against the coral fence.

"Yeah, it is," was Jimmy's terse reply. He had been lost in his thoughts -- thoughts of Addy, thoughts of what might happen on their quest to reclaim her land, thoughts of the past, questions about the future...

Silence enveloped the two as they stared out into the darkening night sky. Teaspoon realized that Jimmy was not in the most talkative mood, and understandably so. Obviously he had a lot on his mind, though for the time being, Teaspoon didn't know what that was. Part of him wanted to ask Jimmy straight out why he needed time off and where he was going with Addy. But Teaspoon never considered himself to be one to pry into other people's personal matters, yet he would always listen with a willing and open ear if ever any of the riders needed someone to confide in. For now, Teaspoon was fighting off the urge to question Jimmy so he could learn exactly what was going on. So, he decided to go about bringing up the topic in a subtler manner.

Still looking straight ahead, Teaspoon said, "You know, Jimmy, I could demand to know just where you're plannin' on goin' or what you're gonna be doin' with your time off. After all, ya still work for the company."

Jimmy sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know you could." Turning to face his boss and respected friend, he asked, "But you won't, will ya?"

"No. I won't," Teaspoon confessed. "But I am askin' ya this, Jimmy." He placed a fatherly hand on Jimmy's shoulder and looked deep into his eyes. "I'm askin' ya to make sure ya come to us -- me, Rachel, the boys -- if ever you need us. Don't think ya can take on somethin' all by yourself and end up findin' out too late that you were wrong. There ain't no shame in askin' for help, son."

"I will," Jimmy nodded. "It's just now ain't one of those times. Me and Addy...we been through a lot together. We sort of have a history, me 'n' her. This is somethin' we just need to do on our own."

"Alright, Jimmy," Teaspoon conceded. "That's your call to make." He paused before doing a complete change of tone and asking half-jokingly, half-seriously, "Now you sure you don't wanna at least tell me where you're goin' in case somethin' was to go wrong?"

"I swear, Teaspoon, you're startin' to sound more 'n' more like Lou." Jimmy shook his head and laughed in frustration to himself.

The man gave his hallmark crooked smile. "And that's a bad thing?"

"No," Jimmy sighed. "It's just neither of you know when to give up."

"Most people consider that to be a good thing. It's called perseverance." Teaspoon seemed very satisfied with himself for using such a big word and actually knowing what it meant.

"More like bullheadedness, ya mean," Jimmy corrected him.

"Humph. Sounds a lot like someone else I know," Teaspoon grinned knowingly.

Jimmy threw Teaspoon a sideways glance but said nothing in response. He knew he could be stubborn and sometimes just plain ornery. But he also knew when to let things be.

Jimmy understood that Teaspoon only wanted the best for him and the other riders and wanted to be sure they were using their best judgment. Sighing, Jimmy resigned himself to the fact that maybe the older man was right. Maybe Jimmy should let him in on the situation with Addy, if for no other reason than to simply ease the man's mind.

"Full house!" Addy cried out triumphantly, spreading her cards down on the table for all of her opponents to admire.

Cody looked down at her cards, mystified. "I don't believe it! She's done it again!"

"Yup, she sure did," Noah grinned, taking some pleasure in his friend's misfortune, that is, until he remembered that Cody still owed him two dollars from the earlier bet he'd lost. His face fell as Noah realized he'd probably never see the money that was owed him after Cody's latest loss.

"I think that's it for me," Buck said. "I'm all cleaned out."

Lou looked on and chuckled, shaking her head at how quick Cody always seemed to lose money. "Looks like Addy here is a real card shark, huh?"

Addy smiled at her victory. She had won the last four hands easily, once when she was only bluffing. She supposed that all those times she'd sneaked out late to play cards with the ranch hands was finally paying off, even though Addy knew she didn't have the heart to keep Cody or Buck's money.

"Well, Jimmy should've at least warned us about her," Cody barked in frustration.

Addy couldn't help but let out a giggle at Cody. She was really enjoying herself, she decided. It had been a pleasant evening. After she and Jimmy had their supper, they all sat around the table for a while enjoying the music box. They took turns testing out the different songs it could play; there were ten in all.

At one point, Kid, wanting to disprove the rumor that he couldn't dance, asked Lou to join him in a turn around the room while the music box played a tune. Lou obliged, though she was instantly sorry when she felt his weight crush her toes into the floor, not once, but twice. However, she saw that the Kid was having so much fun, and he really was trying his best, poor dear, that she didn't have the heart to tell him. Lou grinned through the pain and ended up enjoying herself after all.

Cody, being the flashiest and boldest of all the riders, then asked Addy for dance. He had dipped down low, even going so far as to kiss her hand. It was an offer Addy knew she couldn't refuse. They tromped around the bunkhouse, causing so much raucous that Rachel thought the dishes that leaned precariously against the wall on a shelf would surely come crashing to the ground. Addy soon felt dizzy and breathless, but she was having the time of her life. Teaspoon and all of the male riders, with the exception of Jimmy, took turns dancing with her. For time being, Addy felt all of her troubles disappear into thin air. She felt alive and free, and it showed in everything about her.

Jimmy sat on the edge of his bunk, out of the way of the dancing, simply content to watch Addy enjoying herself so much. She took on a radiant glow; she exuded energy and vivacity in abundance. And she had a smile that could light up an entire room, Jimmy thought as he watched star-struck as Addy whirled around the room, the long, dark waves of her hair bouncing all about her face.

Addy appeared to be moving in slow motion as Jimmy looked on dreamily. Her eyes were wide with joy, and the broadest, most beautiful smile adorned her face. And though everyone was up and dancing, he only saw her. Addy was all that filled his thoughts and desires; she was all he ever wanted to.

Kid saw that Jimmy was sitting down while everyone else was up and dancing and enjoying themselves immensely. He had tried to get Jimmy to join them, but Jimmy simply shook his head, saying how he needed a breath of fresh air. He crossed the bunkhouse, adeptly avoiding bumping into the others who were kicking up their feet to a lively tune, and walked outside into the chilly night air. Teaspoon followed soon after with the hopes of talking to him.

Seeing Jimmy leave, Addy suddenly felt her spirits fall. However, she tried to hide it from everyone as she felt Cody pulling on her arm to engage her in another dance.

When they were utterly exhausted, they decided to sit down for a rousing game of poker. Addy was sucked into the game even after first refusing. But Cody persisted, telling her that he'd be 'easy on her' and wouldn't actually keep anything he won from her. Being the sporting woman she was, Addy knew she couldn't miss an opportunity to show them all, especially Cody, just what she could do when it came to card playing.

At first, Addy had even played up to her part of the ignorant little girl who never touched a deck of cards, let alone gambled with them. Then, the mischievous side of her was unleashed when she felt she'd been patronized one too many times by the charming William F. Cody. But he was in for the shock of his life when Addy started winning hand after hand after hand. Cody was dumbfounded, and Addy couldn't have been more pleased.

The evening was wonderful for Addy. She had been so warmly embraced by all the members of the Sweetwater Express family that she felt as if they were part of it, too. These people barely knew anything about her, Addy marveled, yet they had accepted her with open arms, let her into their home and into their lives with no strings attached. She instantly understood why it was Jimmy felt such a part of them, and of this place. She knew Jimmy would never want to give that up, and she knew she could never ask him to.

Addy was drawn back out of her thoughts by the sound of Cody arguing with Lou about her lending him some money. "Aww, come on, Lou! I just need a dollar so I can win back what I lost!"

"No way, Cody. Uh-uh." Lou shook her head. "I'm not gonna give you another penny just so you can lose it like the last two dollars I lent you." She would not be swayed. Addy just looked on with amusement, shaking her head at the goings-on.

"So you plan to just find 'im, and make 'im hand over the will to you? Just like that?" Teaspoon asked, having just been told why Jimmy was leaving with Addy.

"That's the plan," Jimmy replied matter-of-factly.

"Just how do you expect to find this Randall fella, anyway?"

"Addy says she ran into one of the fellas who used to work for her father before Randall came along and fired everyone," Jimmy began. "He said he'd crossed paths with Randall a few weeks back outside Fort Kearney. He overheard Randall sayin' he had some business in St. Joe. Somethin' about 'plannin' to make his fortune'."

"What makes ya think he's still in St. Joe?" Teaspoon wondered.

Jimmy shook his head, uncertain. "I don't know if is or he ain't. All I know is it's the only lead we got right now, so that's where we're headed."

"So, you'll be ridin' out in the mornin'." It was more a statement than a question.

Jimmy nodded.

"Well," Teaspoon sighed, "you're sure you don't want some of the other boys to go with ya? Buck, maybe, to help you track Randall?"

"Nope," he said flatly. "This is somethin' Addy and me gotta take care of on our own. 'Sides, I think Randall maybe be too far ahead of us to consider trackin' him."

"Alright, then."

"I'll need to borrow a horse for Addy. The one she's got is slower than a drunken mule."

"That can be arranged," he replied.

"Thanks, Teaspoon," Jimmy said with sincerity. "I really appreciate everythin' you've done. I know I don't always let on, but I do. And I know Addy does, too."

Teaspoon gushed internally at Jimmy's words, but he just scrunched up his face and gave him a fatherly pat on the back as the two of them turned back towards the bunkhouse.

Suddenly, the bunkhouse door flew open, and Cody came rushing out like the devil himself was after him.

"Woah, now, Cody!" Teaspoon held his hands up. "What seems to be the trouble?"

Cody was practically seething. "Her! She! Addy!" He struggled to get the words out.

Teaspoon and Jimmy glanced at each other in confusion.

"Jimmy, why didn't ya tell me Addy was a card shark?" Cody hollered in frustration.

Jimmy just looked at Cody, his brow creased down close to his eyes. Suddenly, his face lit up as he found much humor in the situation, while Cody only grew more irritated. By now, everyone had filtered out of the bunkhouse to see what the commotion was all about. Addy stood on the porch, a roguish expression on her face.

Jimmy shook his head and chuckled at Cody as he approached his friend and slung his arm around his shoulder. "All I can say is don't blame me. Addy always seems to find these hidden talents up her sleeve."

Somehow, Cody felt no better than he had before with Jimmy's cryptic response. However, no more on the matter was said. It was getting late, and Jimmy and Addy had to get an early start the next day. So the two of them headed back towards to bunkhouse along with everyone else. As Jimmy walked up the steps to the porch, he sent Addy an amused grin and a wink. Addy felt the blood rushing to her cheeks at the way Jimmy looked at her and the way she felt when he did. She only hoped he didn't see as she returned the smile and ducked back inside.

"That's Cody for ya," Jimmy said, still laughing over the face Cody made when he demanded to know why he hadn't been informed of Addy's skill at cards.

"Your friends are wonderful, Jimmy," Addy said as they walked towards Rachel's house to settle her in for the night. "You really are lucky."

"Yeah, I guess I am," he had to admit. "They've stood by me through a lot, you know. There've been times I wouldn't have made it out alive if it weren't for them."

Addy smiled at him, internally wishing that she had such a group of friends as his. Growing up on a ranch, Addy was primarily surrounded by men -- not that she minded it terribly -- but she didn't get the opportunity to interact with a lot of other people her age, especially girls. The nearest town to where she lived was nearly five miles away, and for many years there weren't enough young children to merit opening up a school.

Addy did her lessons at home, though, primarily taught by her father who could be a rather strict schoolmaster at times. He had a vast collection of books, covering every topic imaginable, and Addy soon found a passion for learning. What her father couldn't teach her, such as cooking and sewing and other "female things", Addy learned from the neighbor woman, Mrs. MacIntyre. She and her husband were middle-aged and, having no surviving children of their own, they made Addy sort of their adopted daughter..

Suddenly, Addy thought about the MacIntyres and how much she really missed them. They were the ones who had taken care of her after the night of the storm. But eventually they had decided that they couldn't handle the operation of their homestead, especially since it was so far on the outskirts of town, so they picked up and moved to Colorado Springs, where their nephew and his family lived.

Jimmy and Addy continued in silence up the stairs to the porch of Rachel's house. Rachel sat on the swing, her shawl wrapped around her shoulders to ward off the night chill. When she saw the two approaching, she leaned forward to rise from the swing so she could show Addy where she'd be staying.

"Oh, no, Rachel," Jimmy protested. "I'll show Addy in."

"Alright. Thank you, Jimmy," the woman smiled. "I'll just sit out here a while longer. Mmmm," she sighed, "it's chilly, but it is a fine, clear night."

"Thank you again, Rachel," Addy said, "for lettin' me spend the night."

"You are very welcome," Rachel smiled brightly. "And I hope when you and Jimmy are finished takin' care of things you'll consider comin' back to stay for a while."

"I will."

With that, Jimmy opened the door for Addy and followed her inside carrying her valise.

The parlor of the house was alight with the glow of the kerosene lamp that sat on a table by the staircase. Jimmy led the way up the stairs, Addy staying close behind. Once at the top, he entered the spare bedroom, set Addy's well-worn carpetbag on the bed, and struck a match to light the lamp. The soft, orange-yellow luminescence danced in Addy's eyes and on her skin when he looked at her. Though she was as lovely as ever, Jimmy could tell she was tired -- tired from the shock of the day, tired from chasing after Randall, tired from being all alone and keeping it all inside.

"Thanks, Jimmy," Addy said, her voice soft and low.

He merely nodded and started for the door. Before Jimmy was out of the room, he turned around halfway, gave a subtle smile, and said, "Goodnight, Addy."

"Goodnight," she whispered as he left and closed the door behind him.

Addy stood there for several moments, staring at the door as if Jimmy were still there in front of it. Finally, she pulled herself out of her daydream and turned around towards the bed and opened her valise in search of a nightgown. Rummaging around inside, she suddenly stopped when she felt a cool, smooth surface under her fingertips. Slowly, Addy pulled out the object. It was the little wooden horse that Jimmy had carved and given to her on her sixteenth birthday nearly four years ago.

When Addy had returned to her home after her father's death only to find it abandoned and up for sale, she searched the house for anything that might not have been sold at auction. On the floor, hidden behind some empty crates and covered with dust, she found Jimmy's gift to her. It was one of the only things left since it had been deemed un-sellable and worthless. But it wasn't worthless to Addy, even though the paint was scratched and chipping off in places and one of the legs had broken off. Now, as it was when Jimmy first gave it her, it was more precious to her than anything. It had been something to hold on to after she had lost Wildfire, after she had lost her father, and after she thought she had lost Jimmy.

As Addy gazed at the little black horse with its now three white-stocking feet, tears beginning to fill her weary eyes. She collapsed on the bed out of sheer exhaustion and brought the figure up to her bosom, clutching onto it for dear life. Then she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that, whatever happens on this journey, she not lose Jimmy. Addy soon drifted off into a sleep haunted by old memories, old dreams, and old love.

Morning seemed to arrive in no time at all, and very soon it would be time for Jimmy and Addy to start heading out towards St. Joseph to search for Randall McCourt. Only a few short minutes remained until they would be riding away from the station towards an uncertain destiny.

After a hearty breakfast, it was time to depart. Teaspoon, Rachel, and all the riders filed out of the bunkhouse, ready to see them off. Lou and Jimmy had gone to the barn to saddle up the horses and now returned with Sundancer, Jimmy's golden palomino, and Firecracker, the black mustang with the wide white blaze that Addy would be riding.

Addy was the last one out of the bunkhouse, putting on her tan hat and pulling the tie up under her chin as she walked. Since she knew she'd be riding hard and fast, Addy wore a pair of dark brown riding breeches and a man's shirt, attire she felt most comfortable in anyway. Her gun was slung low on her left hip, handle forward just as Jimmy's was. After all, she owed much her skill with a gun to Jimmy, who had taught her how to shoot while she was still a girl of only fifteen or so. Addy remembered back to when she was first learning to shoot; Jimmy had determined that she was a natural.

"You might wanna be careful with ol' Firecracker here, Addy," Lou gave a word of caution. "He's one of the fastest horses we got, but he's also fairly new and he's known to have a wild streak in 'im."

Jimmy laughed lightly, knowing that with his so-called "wild streak" Firecracker would be the perfect traveling companion for Addy. First of all, she always loved a challenge, and secondly, if there was anyone who could handle an ornery horse, it was Addy.

"Thanks for the warning, Lou," Addy said as she approached the horse and stroked its muzzle, "but I got a feelin' we're gonna get along just fine." She smiled and hopped up into the saddle in one easy, graceful motion, the born rider in her evident right away.

Jimmy followed suit, mounting his horse, which stood alongside Addy's.

"Well," Jimmy sighed as he glanced over at Addy. "I guess this is it."

"Let's go," she replied, that fiery look of determination that Jimmy had always loved shimmering in her eyes.

After a chorus of "Good luck", "Goodbye", and "Ride safe", Jimmy and Addy sped away from the stationhouse, riding towards the sun which hung low on the eastern horizon.

"Stay safe, you two," Teaspoon said, even though they were well past the point of being able to hear him, their figures obscured by a cloud of dust, quickly shrinking and fading into the distance.

Jimmy and Addy rode hard and fast all day long and well into the night. St. Joseph was a two-day ride from Sweetwater, and they had already made it well past the halfway point. Fatigue had long since set in, so Jimmy decided it would be a good time to stop and make camp for the night.

They found a nice, quiet patch of wood that had a small stream running by. It was a clear, but chilly, night, as most April nights are. After seeing that the horses were taken care of, Jimmy searched for some branches and twigs so he could start a fire while Addy went to wash up a bit by the creek.

Jimmy had gotten the kindling ready for the fire and checked his coat pocket for some matches so he could light it. Finding none, he called to Addy, "Ya got any matches?"

"Check my saddlebags!" She told him as she was crouched down near the creek, splashing water on her dust-covered face.

Jimmy went over to Firecracker and started checking Addy's saddlebags for the matches. He opened the first pocket and felt around inside. He didn't find the matches, but his face suddenly froze as he pulled out the carved horse -- the one he had made for Addy for her sixteenth birthday. Jimmy was shocked; he was shocked that Addy had kept it after all those years. He'd nearly forgotten about it. But as Jimmy held the wooden horse in his hand, memories of when he gave it to her immediately came flashing in his mind.

He remembered standing there in front of Addy, feeling more nervous than he'd felt before. He remembered every detail about the way she looked -- the pale lamplight ablaze in her eyes and flickering on her skin, the silhouette of her womanly figure visible through her nightgown, the feeling of her lips on his when they kissed. All of these memories and sensations came rushing back to him all at once while he stood there, swept away by visions of that night.

Jimmy wondered what it all meant. Why had she kept it? He asked himself. Why had she held onto my gift for so long? Then his heart began surging inside with a hope unexplained as Jimmy found himself wishing more than anything that what he felt subconsciously was true.

Suddenly, Jimmy heard Addy's footsteps approaching from behind, shattering the images of the past and pushing away his dreams of the future. So he quickly put the carved figure back into the pouch and checked the other pocket for the matches. Luckily for him, Jimmy found the matches and Addy hadn't seen that he knew about the gift she'd kept with her.

Jimmy and Addy ate a light supper -- some sandwiches that Rachel had packed for them -- while they got comfortable around the fire. They sat close, sharing the warmth of the fire and each other. Jimmy stared at the flickering light as the flames crackled and danced, sending tiny sparks flying up into the sky. A shroud of silence covered them both as Addy couldn't stop thinking about what might happen when they finally find Randall and Jimmy couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Addy had kept the present he'd made her.

Jimmy knew that he still loved Addy, and he realized that though he had admitted to having loved her once, he never actually told her that he loved her still, that he would love her always. He thought for a moment about telling her right then and there how he felt, but then he decided that the time just wasn't right. There was too much going on around them, too much anxiety and stress. No, Jimmy wanted to wait until the time was perfect to tell Addy what burned so impassioned in his heart and soul.

Soon, Addy and Jimmy lay down in their bedrolls to sleep, both wondering and dreading what tomorrow would bring.

Another day spent bumping relentlessly in the saddle ensued the next morning. It was now late afternoon, and Jimmy and Addy finally arrived in St. Joseph, Missouri. Compared to a small town like Sweetwater, St. Joe was a bustling metropolis, its streets lined with multiple hotels, shops, restaurants, and of course, saloons and cathouses.

Jimmy and Addy didn't really know where to begin looking for Randall. The most logical place seemed to be one of the four saloons where he'd probably be living it up, gambling away the money Addy's father had left her, or spending it on a tumble in the hay with some whore.

"Listen up, boys, tomorrow's the big day."

"Finally!"

"I can't wait to get my hands on all that money!"

"The shipment's been delayed nearly three weeks as it is. I was startin' to get bored sittin' 'round here waitin'."

"Well, that's all gonna be over soon, fellas, 'cause we're gonna be rich. Very rich!"

"Ya already are rich, Randall, after ya stole that brat's inheritance."

"Aww, that's nothin' compared to what we'll see tomorrow," he sneered.

Randall and his men sat around their smoky hotel room, making their final plans for the big robbery the next day. A shipment of treasury bonds -- over $150,000 worth -- had been due in St. Joe weeks ago but got delayed as the freight company decided to plot out a different, more circuitous route in order to avoid the bands of rogues and thieves they knew would be after it. They also arranged for armed guards to be travelling with the money, and it was supposed to arrive on the morning stage.

But Randall was a patient man, willing to bide his time when he knew he'd profit from it in the end. After all, he'd worked for Lars Bergensen for years under the guise of a hardworking, trustworthy ranch foreman who's never think of stealing even if he were in a room with an open safe full of money. All the while, he was robbing the man blind, and he never even know it.

Sure, Randall McCourt had started out as an honest young man with no intentions of becoming a criminal, but soon he realized that he was getting nowhere fast. He felt that he was doing all the work while folks like Lars Bergensen were sitting around getting all the riches and respect. Randall decided he'd had enough of it. And tomorrow, if his plan went right, he and his boys would leave town very wealthy men.

"Well, it looks like Randall's nowhere to be found," Addy began to get discouraged. "Maybe he's not here after all."

"We can't give up on this, Addy," Jimmy tried to reassure her.

Addy glanced at Jimmy and smiled. "Who said anythin' about givin' up?"

He nodded, his face breaking into a smile as well. "You're right. I shoulda known better than to think you'd give up on somethin'."

"Damn right," she replied, grinning playfully.

"C'mon, it's gettin' late," Jimmy said. "Let's see 'bout gettin' us a hotel room."

Addy came to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk. She stood with her feet shoulder-width apart and her hands on her hips. "Jimmy? Let's see 'bout gettin' us a hotel room?" She knew he hadn't meant it like that, but Addy couldn't help but to tease him with a feigned reaction of shock at the idea of her agreeing to such an improper thing.

Jimmy sighed, rolling his eyes. "You know what I mean. Let's see 'bout gettin' us some hotel rooms," he corrected himself, much to Addy's satisfaction.

Addy then took Jimmy's arm as they headed down the street to the hotel where they would try to get a good night's sleep before continuing their search tomorrow.

The entered the hotel, which was very modest but appeared to be clean and respectable. They approached the clerk at the front desk who greeted them. "Welcome to the Hotel Camelot. Will you be needing one room or two?"

Suddenly, the thought of staying in a room all by herself -- without Jimmy -- seemed very frightening to Addy. So, without even thinking, she answered the clerk, "One. We'll only be needin' one room."

Jimmy whipped his head around to look at her with an expression of pure puzzlement on his face. What does this mean, he wondered. Addy smiled at him meekly, for it seemed as much a surprise to her when she actually heard the words leave her mouth. The hotel clerk didn't seem to notice their odd interaction while he searched the registry for an available room.

"I have room 14 available. It has a window that faces out to the street," the clerk said.

"That's fine," Jimmy replied.

"And what name will this be under?"

"Butler," Addy blurted out, having subconsciously chosen not to reveal Jimmy's real name. After all, Hickok was a well-known name in those parts, and unfortunately, it attracted the most undesirable kinds of people. "Mr. and Mrs. James Butler."

Oh, Lord, Addy? What in the world made you say that? She wondered. But it was too late to take it back now, she decided.

Jimmy couldn't believe what he was hearing. The hotel clerk handed him the key while Jimmy stood practically in a stupor. Only after Addy gave him a firm nudge did he start to move forward and up the stairs to the room. Once inside they were inside the room, Jimmy shut the door quietly behind him. He turned around slowly, his face drawn with confusion, only to find Addy's back towards him as she stared out the window.

Addy didn't know what to say or what to do. Suddenly, she felt like a nervous little schoolgirl, and she began biting her nails neurotically, something she hadn't done since she was about ten years old. Finally she decided that she needed to explain why she had done what she did, and she spun on her heels to face Jimmy's mystified gaze.

"Jimmy, I..." Addy began, stopping herself before went very far so she could have a moment to collect and organize the thoughts that were racing around in her brain. She took a deep breath and prepared to speak. "Jimmy, I just didn't want to be alone. Not tonight," she said simply, hoping he would understand that it was not a proposition, but rather her soul crying out to be near his.

Approaching her cautiously, Jimmy nodded. He smiled, and Addy knew that he understood. "Don't worry, Addy. You'll never be alone as long as I can help it. I'm gonna be right here for you."

Sighing with relief, Addy flung herself into Jimmy's arms for what felt like the hundredth time in just the short time since she was first reunited with him three days ago. But those three days seemed like a lifetime to her now...to both of them. So much had happened to them, separately as well as together. A whirlwind of memories and sensations had come flooding back to Jimmy and Addy all at once. It was enough to send them both reeling.

Sensing the heat that radiated from her body which was so near to his, Jimmy wanted desperately to tell Addy what he felt burning in his heart. He wanted to tell her how much he cared for her...how much he still loved her even after their many years apart. Then, as fast as this tremendous feeling of urgency had come crashing down upon him, it simply disappeared again into an ethereal cloud of contentment. Jimmy's heart had secretly longed for her for years, and for the time being -- just holding Addy close, feeling her heartbeat against his, living their love without words to detract from what they both subconsciously knew was in their hearts -- it was enough.

"C'mon," Jimmy pulled away slightly and softly broke the silence that had enveloped them, feeling strangely and wonderfully at ease. "Let's get some sleep."

That night, Jimmy and Addy shared the bed, satisfied to have the void next to them and inside of them filled with the other, as they dreamed of what once was and what they hoped would be again.

** Warning -- This chapter contains some strong language and moderate violence. **

The sound of gunshots rang through the otherwise peaceful streets of St. Joseph that fine day sometime around mid-morning. Jimmy and Addy had been were in the mercantile, trying to find out if anyone had any information that might lead them to Randall when they heard the shots coming from not too far away. The gunshots were quickly followed by frenzied screams. And without even saying a word to each other, Jimmy and Addy instinctively ran out of the store and towards the source of the disturbance, their hands already poised to fire their guns if necessary. Once outside, they realized where the gunfire had come from. It was the bank.

"Quick! They're gettin' away!" a bald, skinny-looking man, who had apparently been shot in the leg, called out as he limped out of the bank.

Addy and Jimmy turned to see the group of three men who had jumped onto their horses, firing their guns haphazardly all around them as they kicked their heels and began to their mad dash out of town with sacks full of the treasury bonds they'd stolen.

Everything happened so fast. One of the deputies tried to shoot the men, but he ended up getting killed himself. Several of the other bank employees had come running out of the building, firing their guns after the thieves as well. Even with all that was going on, Addy still had enough time to catch a glimpse of one of them men who had just robbed the bank. It was Randall. Her face was struck with a mixture of shock and recognition, and for a few seconds, she felt crippled and couldn't move or even speak. Then she grabbed a hold of Jimmy's arm as she led him frantically to the other side of the street where the horses were tied up.

"Addy? What's goin' on?" Jimmy asked.

Addy mounted Firecracker, and finally managed to say, "It's Randall, Jimmy! We have to go after him!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Jimmy hopped up onto his horse and they rode out of town in the direction of the Randall and the other two men.

Jimmy and Addy were coming up behind them as they reached the outskirts of town. Jimmy pulled out one of his guns and started firing.

"Jimmy! No!" Addy cried. "If you kill Randall, I may never find out where he's hidden the will!"

"Don't worry, Addy! I'm just tryin' to get rid of the other two," he told her.

Addy reached for her own gun as the bullets came whizzing past. They'd been spotted, and now Randall and his men were firing at them as well.

"Stay down, Addy!" Jimmy shouted, just before he fired off another shot.

Addy did as she was told, keeping herself down low behind the horse's head, still firing away at the two men riding alongside Randall. The sound of their guns going off filled Addy's ears as they raced across the open field chasing the three riders. A few milliseconds later, Jimmy's bullet had hit its target, sending one man tumbling from his horse and onto the ground in a ragged heap, dead. One down, one more to go.

They were closing in on Randall and the other rider fast, having the advantage of extremely swift and powerful horses that were used to running at breakneck speeds like this on a regular basis. Addy fired her gun again, her bullet finding its mark in the middle of the other man's back. He slumped forward at impact, eventually keeling over and falling in the dirt face first while his horse continued running ahead carrying a sack of the money. Now it was only Randall left, and Jimmy and Addy followed him as he veered off into a wooded area.

They chased him through an unfamiliar landscape, leaping over fallen trees and dodging hanging branches while doing their best to keep up at their present speed. Jimmy saw that Randall seemed to be slowing his pace down somewhat, and he saw it as his chance to put an end to it all. Feeling the adrenaline coursing through his veins, his heart pounding in his chest with full force, Jimmy dug his heels into the horse's sides, pushing both the animal and himself to the absolute limit. He rode faster than he ever thought possible, his eyes wide with fury, his teeth clenched, the sheer velocity at which he moved strong enough to whip his hat right off of his head. Addy struggled to keep up with him, and she fell slightly behind as Jimmy surged forward to within fifty feet or so of Randall's horse.

Randall had been firing away at Jimmy with his gun the entire time, but luckily, Jimmy managed to avoid getting hit as he adroitly ducked and weaved around the bullets. Since Randall was also trying to avoid plowing right into a tree, he wasn't able to really aim well, either. He only had a few moments to turn around and fire a shot before having to face front again, so his bullets flew fairly randomly.

The distance between Jimmy and Randall became shorter and shorter. Randall went to fire again, but the chamber was empty. He was out of bullets. He reached into his holster for his other gun, and that one had been all fired out as well. Randall grew wide-eyed with fear as he thought his luck had run out, not knowing that his pursuers were not out to kill him, at least not until they got what they wanted from him.

Jimmy was gaining on Randall even more, and now, he was only a horse length behind. Realizing that Randall was out of bullets, Jimmy leapt out of his saddle and plunged onto the back of Randall's horse, pulling him down to the ground with a fierce blow to the head.

Addy came to a halt a few moments later, the look on Randall's face upon seeing her one of utter fury. Randall then took a good look at his assailant, and from the look on his face, Jimmy knew that Randall remembered him. Jimmy grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, holding it tight enough to make him gasp for air, as he pulled him roughly to his feet.

"Hickok!" Randall croaked.

Jimmy gave a disgusted smile. "Hello, Randall. Long time no see, huh?"

"What the hell do you want, Hickok?" Randall spat through clenched teeth.

"You got somethin' that don't belong to you," Jimmy said forcefully.

Addy came up behind Jimmy and looked Randall square in the eye with her steely gaze. "That's right," she said her voice steady and unwavering.

Randall's eyes dropped to the gun she held in her hand when he heard the familiar clicking sound when she cocked it. He could feel the fear rising in his throat as she neared him, her icy eyes piercing into his like a thousand daggers. "Addy, awww, come on, Addy. You don't wanna do that now, do ya? We're old friends, you and me," he said, his vice terribly shaky. Randall was trying his damnedest to butter her up, but it was to no avail.

"Friends?" She laughed with bitter sarcasm. "You stole everythin' my papa worked for, Randall. Everythin'! You're just a low-down, dirty, thievin' bastard who deserves nothin' more than to swing from a rope! And I'd be only too happy to pull the lever."

Enraged further by her words, Randall then turned his malicious glare to Jimmy, whose face was only inches from his. He felt the barrel of Jimmy's gun digging into his throat so that he could barely swallow. "I shoulda killed you when I had the chance three years ago, Hickok!" Randall retorted cruelly.

An instant wave of shock hit Jimmy upon hearing this. It had been Randall! He was the one who had stolen the horses and shot Jimmy that day more than three years ago. He had been stealing from Addy's father even way back then. Jimmy couldn't believe it, and Randall spouted a deranged laugh that was like a slap to the face.

"You son of..." Jimmy began, raising his fist to strike Randall before he was cut off by the sound of Addy screaming from behind.

"Jimmy!"

He jerked his head around and saw three men surrounding them, their guns aimed, and one of them had Addy. Addy shuddered with terror as she felt the cold metal barrel of a gun pressing into her neck and two hands grabbing and holding her with enough force to shake the gun out of her hand.

"Addy!" he cried out, suddenly overcome by an overwhelming and paralyzing fear at the sight of her being held at gunpoint. Jimmy didn't even seem to care about the fact that the two other men had their guns pointed on him. All he could think of was Addy. He couldn't lose her again. He just couldn't.

"Drop your gun!" One of the other men told Jimmy. "Drop your gun, or the girl dies!"

"Good work, boys. Perfect timin' as always," Randall sneered, his lips curling defiantly.

Now having the upper hand, he sauntered over to Addy and took over for the burly, bearded man who held her. Randall handled her roughly, and took the gun from his colleague while keeping it aimed directly at her jugular vein. He laughed maniacally as Jimmy's face turned a ghostly shade of white while he watched Addy struggle to free herself from Randall's vice-tight grip.

Randall licked his lips lasciviously as he glanced up and down her body with evil intent gleaming in his eyes. "Oh, Addy. Dear, sweet Addy. I always knew you'd turn out to be real beauty." Then he forced his mouth and tongue on her lips in a hard, violent kiss that Addy fought with every ounce of strength she had left.

"Go to hell!" She shouted once her lips were free of his disgusting hold.

"Well, now, that's not a very ladylike thing to say," he jeered. "I think your pa taught you better than that!"

Addy's response was to send a gob of spit flying in Randall's face. If nothing else, she hoped it would at least get the filthy, venomous taste of him out of her mouth.

"I don't think you shoulda done that," he said angrily as he jabbed the gun further into her throat, causing her to wince in pain. "You shoulda just been a good little girl and stayed outta this, Addy. I didn't wanna hafta kill ya, but don't think I'm lyin' when I say I will. And it's all up to you, Hickok!" He turned towards Jimmy. "Drop your gun, and we can all go home and pretend none of this ever happened."

Jimmy felt completely helpless through all of this. Addy...Oh, God! His mind was a jumble of thoughts. No amount of target practice could ever have prepared him for this moment. Not even in his wildest nightmares could Jimmy imagine he'd feel so utterly powerless and defenseless with Addy's life on the line. He hated to let Randall go, but he couldn't let Addy get hurt. He couldn't let her die. So Jimmy slowly released the trigger of his gun, dropping it to the ground.

An arrogant grin on his face, Randall moved the gun away from Addy's throat, though he still held on to her so tightly that she couldn't move, and now took aim at Jimmy. "See that wasn't too hard, now, was it?"

Now three guns were pointed at Jimmy, and Addy was still in the middle of it.

"Randall, you son of a bitch!" Addy shrieked. "Where is it? Where's the will you stole from my father?" Her voice was rapidly escalating as she seethed with anger. "Where is it, damnit?"

Randall turned towards her, taken aback for an instant at the stabbing glare she sent him, before recovering with his wicked laughter. "I always keep it close to my heart," he snorted sardonically, looking downward towards his coat. "'Sides, what we got today is worth far more than what you're worth."

It must in the inside pocket, Addy thought. And somehow, she knew she had to get it, but not while Jimmy was in such danger.

"Your pa was a fool," Randall scoffed. "Didn't even notice when I stealin' from his pocket right under his nose."

An indescribably rage bubbled deep within Addy, and Randall's last remarks were enough to send her over the edge. Nobody talked about her papa like that. Nobody. Addy saw an opening, and in one cold, calculated move she managed to bring her knee to meet with Randall's groin painfully hard and fast, causing his gun to fly out of his hand and temporarily sending him doubling over with agony.

Addy knew she would not be able to hold him off long, especially with his anger on the rise, and fortunately for both her and Jimmy, she didn't have to. While Randall was still caught off guard, bent over in excruciating pain, Jimmy and Addy suddenly heard the familiar sound of hoof beats pounding against the ground all around them. Shots quickly followed. Within a flashing instant of time, Jimmy watched another of Randall's men fall to his knees dead. And when he looked up towards the source of the gunfire, he saw Kid, Buck, Lou, Ike, Noah, and Cody riding in towards them with their guns blazing, the smell of smoke and gunpowder hanging heavy in the air all around.

Jimmy expelled a sigh of relief as he saw the other two men take bullets to their chests, perishing almost immediately. Randall did not react fast enough upon the realization that he was surrounded and his men were all dead. Addy broke free from his grip, picking up the gun he had dropped after she'd kicked him in his most sensitive spot. She stood in front of him defiantly, aiming the gun straight at his chest.

"Looks like we made it just in time for the party," Cody gave Jimmy a knowing smirk as he dismounted his horse, his gun still pointed in Randall's direction.

"Oh, Lord, Cody! Am I happy to see you!" Jimmy cried out, his voice still shaking with anxiety.

"Teaspoon thought you might need some help," Lou told him.

Buck jumped off of his horse and looked around at the dead, bloodied bodies scattered on the ground. "Guess he was right," he concluded.

"Don't me mad at Teaspoon, Jimmy," Kid said. "He knows ya didn't want us comin' after ya, but then he said he just had this funny feelin' we should. And when we found out about that bond shipment comin' in, we figured we were on the right track."

Jimmy nodded and a slight smile broke on his face. "Teaspoon's always got funny feelin's. Good thing for me he was actually right 'bout this one."

Looking like there was no way out for him, Randall laughed nervously and shouted, "You ain't gonna get away with this!"

"Oh, no, Randall?" Addy continued to close in on him, her gun held steadfastly and her eyes indicating that she would not hesitate to use it. "Give me the will! Now!"

Randall heard the click of metal against metal as she cocked the pistol, prepared to fire. His hands in the air, he moved one hand slowly and deliberately to the left-hand inside pocket of his grungy coat, pulling out a folded piece of paper. Addy snatched it from him, glancing down and away from Randall for only an instant to verify that it was indeed the true will. Satisfied, she released the gun, lowering it to her side carefully while Noah came up on him from behind and took over for Addy. Randall began to choke as he felt the handle of Noah's whip thrusting into his throat tighter and tighter.

"Jimmy!" Addy ran back to where he stood and threw herself into his willing arms, still clutching the will in her hand. She felt the gun slip from her fingertips as she let it fall to the ground and buried her head in Jimmy's chest, overcome with emotion as the full impact of this entire ordeal suddenly came crashing down on her.

Jimmy stood there holding Addy and comforting her with his presence and his gentle, soothing caresses. It was all over, he thought. All over.

But Randall wasn't ready to give up just yet. No. He'd rather die first than let Hickok and some female get the best of him. When Randall thought no one was really paying any attention to him -- the riders were sort of celebrating the fact that Jimmy and Addy had come through unharmed and had let down their defenses -- he stealthily reached his hand into his pants pocket, pulling out the tiny derringer he always kept on reserve for just an occasion like this. Randall suddenly threw his neck back with a quick and forceful jerk, causing Noah to loosen his hold and sending him tumbling backwards as the stun of the head blow sank in.

Hearing the sickening crack of skull against skull, Jimmy plunged himself and Addy to the ground, just managing to avoid Randall's bullet. Jimmy landed on top of her and reached for the gun she'd dropped with lightning fast reflexes. He saw the smoking barrel of Randall's derringer lowering to meet with his eyes, but Jimmy managed to fire his pistol first, embedding a bullet squarely in Randall's black heart.

Randall stood for a moment on wobbly legs even after the bullet had made contact. He looked down at the hole in his chest with disbelief and then back at Jimmy before blood came spewing from his mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the ground with a resounding thud of finality.

"Oh, God, Jimmy!" Addy wept. "It's over! It's finally over."

Jimmy helped Addy rise to her feet as the riders approached them cautiously, letting the two experience the moment together in silence. Jimmy encircled Addy in his arms; they drowned into each other and held on fiercely, neither ever wanting to let go again.

"You get to go home now, Addy," Jimmy whispered soothingly while he stroked her disheveled hair. "You can go home."

"And not only that," Noah spoke up with a grin plastered on his face. He held one hand up to his aching head, the other hand held up Randall's saddlebags, which were filled with money -- Addy's money. "But you get to go back home a very rich woman."

"We saw the horses of the other two fellas you shot in the clearing back there," Kid said. "They were carryin' bags full of these treasury bonds." Standing next to him, Ike held one up to show them and smiled broadly. "Looks like you two are due for a reward."

"I don't care about any of that," Addy shook her head. "All I care about we're safe...alive. Thanks to all of you." She smiled with sincere gratitude as she glanced around at all the friends she had surrounding her. New friends -- Cody, Noah, Buck, Ike, Lou and Kid. They had risked themselves to help a stranger. An old friend -- Jimmy, who was more dear to her than she could ever hope to express in words. He had put aside his own grief and anger and guilt to help her fight for her dream, and together they knew they were going to see it come true.

"I'm goin' home, Jimmy," she murmured quietly, her face aglow with a fire and passion that made his heart surge.

Lost in the rapture of her shimmering, gray eyes, Jimmy reached out to touch Addy's face. His hand felt warm and soft against her skin -- familiar and comforting. Addy closed her eyes and sighed deeply under his tender caress, leaning in and pressing her face closer to his hand. Finally, Addy sank once again into Jimmy's embrace, feeling tears of joy mixed with tears of weariness streaking through the dirt on her cheeks.

"I'm goin' home."

Following the final confrontation with Randall, Jimmy and the rest of the riders returned to Sweetwater to get some much-needed rest, and also to recuperate on a steady diet of Rachel's rabbit stew and homemade apple pie. Addy had come with them, both because it was on the way back to Dakota Junction -- back home -- and also to spend a day or two visiting before she went on her way. Jimmy would go along with Addy when she left, just to help her when she went to buy back her land from the bank and make sure she was taken care of. Then he would return to his job and responsibilities at the way station, knowing it was where his family was; it was where Jimmy knew he belonged.

"Thank the Lord we're home, Rachel," Cody said as he reclined in his chair to let his full belly expand, "'cause I don't think I could take another day without your cookin'."

Rachel smiled at him, genuinely happy to see the faces of "her boys and girls" after they'd been gone for five days. They were home safe, and for the time being, Cody could stuff himself silly and she'd happily make more.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality," Addy said to Rachel and Teaspoon. "I really appreciate everythin' you've done for me...all of you," she added as she glanced around the table at the other riders.

"We were happy to help ya, Addy," Teaspoon spoke up for everyone. "We're just happy to know you'll be gettin' your rightful inheritance back."

"Well, Randall did manage to squander a large portion of what Papa left me, but at least I'll have enough to buy back the ranch. And with the reward for recoverin' those stolen treasury bonds, I'll be able to start restockin' the corals and eventually begin breeding them," Addy stated. "But I do wish you'd reconsider takin' the reward money," she urged the riders. "After all, it's as much your reward as mine the way you killed three of Randall's men. If y'all hadn't shown up, I don't even want to think about what would have happened to Jimmy and me."

The riders all shook their heads and began spouting their own protests to Addy's offer to give them any money.

"No, no."

"We couldn't do that."

"You take keep the money."

"We want to see you start a new life with it."

"Maybe the Express will buy your horses someday."

Ike's hands moved rapidly, his meaning Addy could only surmise.

Addy tried to absorb everything they were saying, but they were talking at once, making it nearly impossible to pick up more than a few words here or there. But she got the general idea of what they meant, and she smiled thankfully at them, realizing that she had found a group of true and lasting friends.

She reached her hand under the table, and Jimmy took her hand in his, squeezing tightly and reassuringly.

Then, all at once, Lou, Kid, Cody, Ike, Noah, and Buck rose from their seats at the bunkhouse table very mysteriously. They walked over to the corner where their beds were, huddling near the window and whispering so that no one could hear. Addy looked at Jimmy curiously, but he simply shrugged, with a look that made her even more suspicious that something funny was going on.

Finally, the six riders, who, by now, were all wearing mischievous smirks on their faces, turned around and approached Addy, keeping their bodies close together to hide the surprise they were about to give her.

"Surprise, Addy!" Lou cried out as she the others parted the way for Buck, who stepped forward with the music box -- the very one that Teaspoon had given them only days ago. "We want you to have this. All of us do."

Addy's mouth hung agape as she stared in complete shock at the music box, the present they were making to her. She didn't know what to say; she didn't know if anything she could say would even be enough. It reminded her so much of two of the most important people in her life, two people whose memories she always wanted to keep close to her heart at all times -- her mother and Jimmy.

As her eyes stayed transfixed on the beautiful wooden music box, Addy's mind flickered with images of her youth, which had become associated with the music. Her mother sitting by her on the bed, humming along to the music box and stroking her hair to calm her fears. Jimmy, riding behind her on Wildfire, his warm breath on her neck sending shivers down her spine while they sang to an audience of trees.

Bringing herself back to the present, Addy glanced to her right where Jimmy sat with a knowing grin of satisfaction on his face.

"I...I don't know what to say," was all Addy managed to get out of her mouth.

"Then don't say anything," Jimmy told her, his voice low and husky with his own emotion welling up inside.

Teaspoon, Rachel, and the rest of the riders looked happily on as Jimmy and Addy seemed to get lost in each other's eyes. Everyone thought surely they would kiss, but they didn't. They were beyond that.

The silence was finally shattered when Cody hollered, "Well, how 'bout we get this dance started!"

Everyone cheered and applauded. And so, Addy cranked the music box, and Kid took the opportunity to dust off his harmonica and see if his skills had improved any since his last attempt. Soon everyone was dancing around the room in a lively fashion. Even Jimmy was trying his hand at dancing, and if anyone had asked him that night, he'd truthfully say he was having the time of his life. They all were. Addy had gotten to dance with all of the boys, as well as Teaspoon, who took her for a turn about the room that proved he wasn't over the hill yet. All the while Addy skipped and whirled around the bunkhouse, her eyes hardly ever left Jimmy's.

Later that night, Jimmy and Addy strolled outside after the others had long gone to sleep. It was another quiet, breezy night, though the warmer temperatures made it was evident that spring had finally arrived. Everything seemed perfect for the first time in a very long while; the moon appeared to shine down upon them brighter than ever before, and there seemed to be infinitely more stars than they remembered twinkling against the background of a velvety, navy blue sky. For the first time in quite a while, they could take the opportunity to appreciate their surroundings. It was breathtaking.

Jimmy and Addy walked along in the soundless beauty of the night, content to share in each other's company and feeling the presence of true friendship and understanding all around them. And because the moment felt so right -- so perfect -- Jimmy finally decided to speak the words that had been echoing in his mind for days.

"I can't believe you kept it." Jimmy began awkwardly, and Addy looked at him puzzled at first. "The horse I made. I...I saw it in your saddlebags that night when I needed some matches. I can't believe you kept it, Addy...after all these years...after all that's happened."

The look of confusion was erased off of Addy's countenance when she saw the vulnerability and tenderness in Jimmy's eyes. Of course, she had kept it. It meant more to her than she could ever say, more than she ever thought possible until she lost almost everything else she'd cherished. Though words could never express what she felt so strongly in her heart and soul, she felt that she at least needed to try.

"Jimmy, I've kept your gift close to my heart ever since you first gave it to my that night in the stables. When you left and I thought I'd lost you, I clung to it even more. It was somethin' to hold on to, somethin' to bring back all the wonderful and happy times we shared. Whenever I felt at my lowest, I'd close my eyes, and you'd be there with me." Addy paused, her eyes boring into his with an indescribable power. "It's somethin' I'll never part with. Never."

Jimmy's heart leapt in his chest at Addy's declaration. He knew it was more than the horse; she was also talking about him. Addy had never stopped loving him. He knew that now. She hadn't said it in so many words, but Jimmy knew just the same. The effect was the same, and it meant as much to hear her say it.

Then, Jimmy moved in closer to Addy and held out his hand to her with the most handsome expression on his face. "May I have the pleasure of this dance, Miss Adeline Bergensen?" He asked as he bowed forward slightly in a very gentlemanly manner.

Addy regarded him oddly for a moment and then smiled, saying in a haughty tone, "Well, of course, I'd love to accept, kind sir, but --"

Jimmy simply grinned and swept her up in his arms before she could finish her protest or have a chance to refuse. Addy squealed with surprise and then delight as she felt herself pressing tightly against his masculine chest, one hand taking hers firmly into his while the other arm reached around behind her to hold fast to her waist. They stood so close; she could feel his breath on her face, and Addy was certain that Jimmy could feel her heart pounding in her chest. But she smiled in spite of herself, her eyes lighting up as the moonlight deflected off of her pupils to contrast with the blackness that hung all around them.

"But in case you haven't noticed, Mr. Hickok, we have no music," Addy pointed out, finishing her previous statement.

Jimmy just smiled and said with a wink, "I think I can remedy that."

The two started swaying in time as Jimmy began humming softly. The hard, dirt ground became their dance floor and the brightly shining moon above became their spotlight. Addy sighed deeply as she closed her eyes and rested her head in the hollow between Jimmy's neck and shoulder. She could feel the vibration in his chest when he hummed; Addy found it be soothing and comforting.

Soon, Jimmy stopped humming the impromptu, unidentifiable tune and began singing softly in Addy's ear. "Roses love sunshine, violets love dew, angels in heaven know I love you..."

The instant Jimmy began singing the words of the familiar song, Addy raised her head up slowly off of his shoulder, her eyes growing wide with recognition and wonderment as they were drawn deep into his. He'd remembered; he actually remembered. Jimmy spoke more than just words from a song; he spoke from his heart, Addy knew. He loved her still, and she felt as if she were going to burst from the overwhelming joy she felt at that moment.

She listened with tears glistening in her eyes as Jimmy continued to sing, his eyes never leaving hers. "...Know I love you, dear, know I love you, angels in heaven know I love you."

Jimmy's feet came to a halt; his voice trailed off until the final words 'I love you' were merely a spoken whisper. He had come as close as he knew he ever could to telling Addy how strongly he felt about her -- how much he truly loved her. Jimmy eyes searched hers for a moment, waiting for some sort of tacit response or acknowledgment to his admission. When he did, Jimmy saw the look on Addy's face, and the love gleaming in her eyes told him that she knew...that no further words were needed...that she loved him as he loved her. Their secret love was free at last, and after so many years apart, they could be free to love.

While the couple stood locked in each other's embrace, all sense of time and all questions of what was to be were carried away in the gently blowing gust of wind. It flared Addy's skirt about her legs, caused the fabric of her blouse to ripple prettily across her arms and bosom, and sent her long hair fluttering all about. The moonlight reflected off the ends of her dark hair, creating a halo-like affect around her head. Jimmy thought she looked like an angel, and to him, she was. She had saved him after all, just as she had in his dream. Addy had saved Jimmy from his own guilt and inner torment; she'd saved him from himself.

Addy lifted her hand up to lightly brush back a stray lock of Jimmy's dark hair, which had made its way from behind his ear in front of his face. Her hand lingered on his cheek, feeling the warmth he radiated. Her fingers then slowly and sensually traced the line of his jaw, the touch of her fingertips on his skin thrilling Jimmy down to his toes.

Then Addy leaned her forehead towards Jimmy, and he bent his neck to rest his head against hers. Then she, too, began singing, and though her voice cracked terribly due to the tremendous onslaught of emotion, Jimmy thought it was the loveliest sound in the entire world.

"Throw your arms 'round me, before it's too late; throw your arms 'round me, feel my heart break. Feel my heart break, dear, feel my heart break. Throw your arms 'round me, feel my heart break."

And Jimmy was only too happy to oblige, and he wrapped his arms even tighter around her. Their feet began shuffling once more as they danced beneath the shimmering, star-filled Nebraska sky. What a wonderful world, they both thought. Lost in this perfect world, neither wanted to ever part. However, Jimmy and Addy both knew that while the spiritual bond that they shared would remain unbroken, different dreams and different life roads would henceforth separate them physically.

Jimmy then felt Addy press her soft, moist cheek against his, her arms twined around his neck, fingers running through his hair, while she whispered one final, prophetic verse.

"Build me a castle forty feet high, so I can see you as you ride by; as you ride by dear, as you ride by, so I can see you as you ride by."

**Early Spring 1861 -- Dakota Junction, Nebraska Territory**

"You look happier than I've ever seen you before, Addy."

Addy turned to look at Jimmy with the most beautiful, serene smile on her lips, wisps of her dark wavy hair flying all about her face in the late afternoon air. "I am, Jimmy. I'm home. And I don't ever plan on leavin' here." She paused for a moment, her facial expression becoming solemn. "I owe you a great deal, Jimmy. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you or thank you enough."

Jimmy shook his head. "No, Addy. You don't owe me nothin'. Actually, helpin' you...it was somethin' I needed to do. For myself as much as you." He felt himself stumbling over his words, struggling to express what was in his heart. Helping Addy fight to get her land and rightful inheritance back was a way for Jimmy to ease his guilty conscience at last. It was a way for him to start healing. Addy read the meaning in his words, and her eyes told Jimmy that she understood.

The two walked in silence along the vast stretch of prairie where the horses used to run when the corals were filled. Addy stared at the empty corals, her mind already envisioning what they would look like when she filled them once again with the best, most beautiful horses in all the territory. She would make the place grand again; she'd make her father and mother proud. It had been their dream, and now it was her dream. And Addy knew it was going to come true for her.

"I don't believe it," Jimmy blurted out, dumbfounded. He stopped dead in his tracks. "I don't believe I'm really seein' what I think I'm seein'. Look." He pointed out towards the western horizon where he saw a large, graceful horse moving down towards the base of the mountain.

"Wildfire," Addy whispered as she, too, stopped and saw her beloved horse positioned only a couple hundred yards in front of her. She knew the moment she laid eyes on him that it was none other than Wildfire. He was unmistakable.

"I can't believe he came back after all these years," Jimmy shook his head in astonishment.

"It isn't the first time," Addy replied wistfully, a subtle smile playing on the corners of her mouth while she gazed in the direction of the horse. "He's visited me many times in my dreams for the past three years." Addy turned to face Jimmy, her eyes aglow with joy. "Even after he ran off in the storm, I knew he wasn't dead. I knew he'd be back." She returned her eyes to the horizon and continued. "I used to dream of him comin' down from Yellow Mountain, and I'd awaken in the middle of the night and look out my window to see if he was really there. Sometimes, I felt it so strongly that he was. I'd see a dark shadow dancin' under the moonlight, and I'd know it was him."

"Didn't you ever go after him?" Jimmy wondered. He knew how much Addy loved Wildfire, and it stunned him that she wouldn't go back and try to catch him.

Addy simply sighed contentedly and said, "No, Jimmy. I should've known he was really a wild horse after all. He's only come back to say goodbye."

Jimmy was utterly flabbergasted, but Addy kept her focus on the horse as it reared up on its hind legs, braying loudly in greeting and recognition. She had a knowing and peaceful smile on her face and felt an awesome tranquility enter her soul.

"Now I've got my land back, and I'm home safe, Wildfire doesn't need to watch over me anymore. He knows I'm taken care of." She whirled her head around to gaze deeply into Jimmy's tender eyes. "It's the way things were meant to be, Jimmy."

Jimmy understood that Addy was not only talking about Wildfire, but also about the two of them. This is how things were meant to be, he mused. He shook his head at her in sheer amazement. "You are one hell of a woman, Adeline Bergensen. But I don't know if I'll ever understand the connection you have with that horse."

Addy tossed back her head in laughter, her long, dark hair swaying in the breeze. When her eyes returned to meet his, Jimmy saw the fire that burned from within her gleaming back at him. "That's alright, Jimmy. I don't think he understands us either."

Jimmy laughed, too, as he moved in closer to Addy. She sensed his nearness, and she reached out her hand to him. He clasped onto hers tightly and instantly felt his conscience become exonerated of all the demons, guilt, and regrets that he'd harbored inside for the past three years of his life. He felt free at last. As free as Wildfire.

Addy then leaned her head to rest on Jimmy's shoulder, closing her eyes for several moments. She inhaled deeply, feeling the clean, country air penetrate down into her lungs. She, too, finally felt as if all the previously unresolved emotions and unspoken words that had been locked away in her heart were finally liberated.

Addy and Jimmy remained there for what surely felt like hours. Their hands still entwined, they eventually started to lose all awareness of where their own hand ended and the other's began. Jimmy never wanted to let go, and for the first time, he knew that no matter what happened, he didn't have to. Addy was a part of him, and he was part of her. Nothing could ever change that, both of them knew. No words of love or promises to wait for each other were necessary. Just knowing that they loved each other was enough. Nothing else mattered.

Addy knew that Jimmy's life was back in Sweetwater, with the people he considered his family, and Jimmy knew that Addy's life was on the land she loved so much. They both accepted and understood that, knowing that their spirits would always be as one and their love would always be true, though they might live separate lives and follow different dreams.

So, the two of them stood cloaked in a contended, comforting silence, watching as the sun sank deeper and deeper behind Old Yellow Mountain, the chill of the early spring evening beginning to settle around them though they only felt the warmth of each other. Wildfire was poised in the distance, looking on before he reared up one last time in farewell, turned, and ran away.

Jimmy and Addy watched until the dark, shadowy figure of the horse disappeared back into the mountains forever. The horse was gone, but never forgotten.

Soon, Jimmy and Addy became lost in their thoughts -- the same thoughts. They thought of how they had been torn apart by the hand of Destiny and then reunited years later by that same miraculous force at a time when they needed each other most. They thought of the feelings that dwelled deep in their hearts, two hearts that would be inextricably bound together for all eternity. It was a bond that neither time nor distance, not even death, could ever hope to destroy. For Addy and Jimmy's love was one that was written in the stars, born long ago when a headstrong boy on the brink of manhood and a nervous, timid girl-not-quite-woman shared a first kiss on the night of her sixteenth birthday.

Finally, they thought of a horse -- a horse as black as midnight and as fast as lightning. A horse now running and living free as nature had always intended, their spirits soaring high into the mountains and up towards the open, limitless sky right along with him.

Together, Jimmy and Addy had found a never-ending love that would survive no matter which separate directions the future would take them. And it all began with a horse...A horse named Wildfire.

The inspiration for this story is due in large part to the song "Wildfire", written and performed by country-western artist Michael Martin Murphey. I first heard the song several months ago when a co-worker of mine sang and played it for me on his acoustic guitar. I thought it was such a beautiful song, and I immediately fell in love with the music and with the story behind it. This was strange for me because I've never considered myself a fan of country music. But the song has been in my head ever since (I even bought the CD!), and I knew I had to write my own story about it. And, I thought, what better forum than that of The Young Riders fan fiction!

The song, like my story, tells the tale of a girl who follows her horse named Wildfire into a storm on a "cold Nebraska night" after he "busted down his stall". She searches in the snow, calling out for her horse, but she gets lost in the blizzard along with Wildfire. Soon, a legend grows around the long lost girl and her horse, and the ghosts of Wildfire and the girl become a symbol of freedom and escape for people struggling to work the land, wanting to "leave sodbustin' behind".

Michael Martin Murphey describes in his own words the meaning behind the song and how it was written:

That's what I hope people understand most about my story -- the use of the horse Wildfire an underlying symbol of freedom for both Jimmy and Addy, particularly at the end of the story. Jimmy at last finds the freedom to let go of the past and of his guilt, and Jimmy and Addy both find the freedom (and acceptance) to hold onto each other's love in their hearts though they may never get to physically share their love or their lives together. To me, this is a very satisfying and more realistic conclusion.

I realize that my story may not fit in well with the rest of the television series because of the way Jimmy continues to struggle with his growing reputation and with his past demons, especially at the end of Season 2 and throughout Season 3, which would take place after my story. But I hope everyone was able to stretch his or her imagination a little and enjoy the story nonetheless. I know I have. I can honestly say that no other story that I've written has ever kept me awake at night as much as this one; no other story has had that kind of power over me. Most of the time I felt as if Wildfire were writing itself.

You can find an instrumental midi version of "Wildfire" on the Michael Martin Murphey Official Web Site. Typed below are the lyrics to the song. Please note that no infringement of any kind is intended in my use of the name Wildfire or in my adaptation of the song for my story. I am making no profits from the story, other than a wonderful sense of joy in writing it.

"Wildfire"
by Michael Martin Murphey

Another song I think applies to my story is "Ghost" written by Amy Saliers of the Indigo Girls. Below are the lyrics and my analysis of how it pertains to my story. It would be spoken in Jimmy's voice before he learns that Addy is still alive. I hope you find it interesting.

"Ghost"
by Amy Saliers

I would like to send a very special thank you out to Starbright, who was instrumental in helping me sort of out many of the details of this story. She put up with my long, rambling emails where I tried to develop the plot of the story and create a believable source of conflict. With her great knowledge of psychology, she helped me to refine how the characters acted so that they would behave in the way real human beings would. And since I know absolutely nothing about horses, Starbright also helped me straighten out my horse facts. Thank you, Starbright, for all your endless help and encouragement! I couldn't have finished Wildfire without you!

Thank you also to everyone who has sent me kind words of encouragement during the writing of Wildfire. I live for the feedback of the readers and fans of The Young Riders. You make it all worthwhile, and I only hope you have gotten as much pleasure out of reading my story as I had in writing it. Thank you, and ride safe, everyone.