Rick awoke to find herself tied to a tree and looking into a face she had hoped never to see again.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my little messenger.”

“Get away from me you monster.”

“You were doing so well, you had such a bright future.  Then you had to go and betray me.”

“I said get away from me.  Your men killed my father, and for that they will pay.  You hired them and for that you will pay.”

“That’s mighty big talk for someone in your position.  Your father was one of my best men, if only he didn’t have that little problem with killing people we’d have gotten along fine.  I knew I couldn’t trust him to complete this job so I sent in Swift and Tyson.”

“When he refused to kill the marshal, the half blood shot both the marshal and my father.  You know one thing they did wrong though?  They left me alive.  You seem to be making the same mistake.”

“Don’t worry about that honey, that will be fixed once we get Swift and my map back from the jail.”

“They will never let him go.”

“Oh, I think they will.  Once they see that I have you they won’t have a choice.”

“They wont trade, once I tell them who I really am.”

“You really are stupid aren’t you, and blind too.  I have been watching you, that boy is so head over heals over you.  He wouldn’t care if you killed his whole family, he would still protect you.  Oh don’t you worry about me, I’ll get what I want.  It’s your own life you should be worried about right now.  If your boyfriend gets in my way I will take pleasure in disposing of him too.”

Rick didn’t have a reply.  She needed a plan, what should she do?  All she did know, was she wasn’t going to let this man get anywhere near Ike.

She heard a gun click behind her, she turned slowly and saw ‘the marshal’ staring down the barrel of a gun.  “IKE.”

Her cry distracted Ike for a moment and that was all the marshal needed.  They fell to the ground in a tumble of arms and legs.  The marshal tried to wrestle the gun from Ike’s hand.  The marshal was an older man and not very physically active, but Ike was injured and this made it a pretty even fight.  Suddenly they rolled together and the gun went off, for a moment Rick couldn’t tell who had been shot.  Somewhere in her mind she registered that Cody and Buck had arrived with the wagon.  They pulled their guns and Cody rushed up to the two still forms in the dirt.  It was as if the world stopped turning as she waited to see who would rise from the fight.  She couldn’t hold back her tears when the marshal moved first.  Ike rolled the lifeless body off of his own and climbed painfully to his feet.  He was covered with blood.  He rushed to Rick’s side and quickly had her untied.  She held Ike to her as if she was afraid something might grab him away from her.  She pulled away only when it registered that with all the blood Ike might have been hurt even worse.

Ike saw the look on her face and quickly signed. =I’m fine, really=

Rick smiled, “You seem to be telling me that a lot lately.  I think we should get you back to Sweetwater just to make sure.”

When Ike was safely at the doctors office, she snuck out the back door to head for the stable.

When she got there she was surprised to find Buck learning against her horse’s stall, his crutches lying nearby.

“How’s the leg?”

“Doc said it was going to heal fine not even broken, just said I should stay off it for awhile.”

“Well you don’t seem to be taking his orders, why don’t you sit down.”

“I will if you will.”
Rick smiled sadly and sat down on a bale of hay.  Buck sat across the way on an over turned bucket, he stretched his leg out in front of him.

“How’d you know I would come here?”

“Seems to be a pattern with you, running from someone who cares about you.”

“I can’t stay, he knows the truth about me now, or at least he heard enough of it.  He can’t trust me now.”

“But he does.”

“Then he’s a fool.”

“Yes, he is, most men are when they are in love.”

“He can’t love me.  My father wasn’t a marshal, he was a liar and a cheat and a thief.  I loved him.”

“He was your father, that’s reason enough to love him.  Did you ever do any of the things that he did?”

“NO, he wouldn’t let me help him.  He always had me outside watching his horses, or if he was afraid he might get caught like on this last job he would send me on some stupid errand just to keep me away.”  She looked up at Buck with all honesty in her eyes.  “I would have though, I would have done anything he asked of me, anything to help protect him.”

“That’s what Ike has fallen in love with.  Not your father’s profession, but the love that you hide.  The part of you that would have done anything to protect the one you love.  If I can see that part of you, then Ike can certainly see it, he loves you, and he would still love you even if you rode out right now.  Please don’t. He needs you, and I think you need him too.”

“I can’t stay, but I guess I at least owe him an explanation before I leave.  By the way I may not show it but I am grateful for what you have done.  Not just risking your life, but for this.  I have never had anyone I can really talk to.”

Buck smiled, “believe me, if you want to talk there are plenty of ears around ready to listen, and just as many shoulders to cry on.  You are always welcome here.”  Buck picked up his crutches, satisfied that at least for the moment she wasn’t running away.  He left the stable just in time to see Ike rushing out the back door of the doctors office.  Ike stopped in his tracks as he saw Buck.

“She’s in there, and I think she wants to talk to you.”

Ike didn’t know why but he was sure that yet again Buck had come to his rescue.  =Thanks again.=

Buck smiled.

Ike walked slowly into the stable, he wasn’t sure what to expect, she had seemed fine on the ride back, but had disappeared the moment they reached the doctors office.  When he realized she was gone he was afraid she had run away from him again.

Rick gave Ike a searching look as he entered.  Even though she had seen him just minutes before she needed to make sure he wasn’t hurt or sick just to reassure her mind that he was ok.  She had a sick feeling in her stomach as she saw the bandage on Ike’s forehead.  He wasn’t nearly as badly injured as Buck, but even though she cared for Buck, his injuries didn’t give her the heart ache that seeing any harm to Ike gave her.  She didn’t know if that was love, or guilt from knowing that it was all her fault.  Her eyes met Ike’s briefly but she quickly lowered her gaze to the floor, she had no right to look at him like that.  “What did the doctor say?”

=He says I’ll be fine I just need to take it easy for a while and avoid being knocked on the head anymore. Cody says I can’t spare to have any more sense knocked out of me.=

“He’s probably right.” She smiled sadly, thinking Cody probably meant Ike’s bad judgment in sticking his neck out for her life.  “How much of what I said did you hear.”

=I heard enough.=

“I want you to know the whole story, you deserve it.”

Ike didn’t say anything, he decided not to interrupt her, it was better if she got it all off her chest at once.  He knew in his heart it wouldn’t matter what she said, but figured it mattered to her that he knew.

“I have lied to you, more times than I would care to point out.  I am not the daughter of an honorable marshal.  I am the daughter of a no good lying thief.  I rode with him.  I knew what he was doing was wrong and I stood by him.  I wish for your sake I could tell you I hated him, but I didn’t.  I couldn’t have loved him more if he was a honest man.” The words were tumbling out now, she couldn’t look at Ike for a reaction afraid of the disgust she might find there.  She wasn’t sure that she could stand seeing Ike look at her like that.  She continued, “The man that you shot was the marshal from Green Creek, he hired my father to steal the map from Mitch Carson.  Apparently he was also supposed to kill him, but my father didn’t tell me that part.  From what I have pieced together the marshal knew my father wouldn’t kill Carson so he sent two of his other men to make sure it was done.  They killed my father and the marshal and took off with the map.  I didn’t know either of these men except what I had picked up from the town gossip.  I stole a deputy star and set out to track them down, I found you and Buck and you know the rest.  Carson did have a daughter, but she was only 5 years old.  I figured the two men would be easier to handle if they thought I was a deputy.  I was angry but I am still not a killer I wanted to bring my father’s killers to justice.  I have done nothing except cause trouble and hurt to more kind people.  For that I will never forgive myself, and I will understand when you don’t either, but I thought you should know the whole truth before I leave.” She turned toward her horse and was about to mount when a hand grasped her arm. She turned but still stared at the floor.

Ike cupped his hand under her chin and lifted her face until she was looking into his eyes.  He released her long enough to sign =There’s nothing to forgive, I love you=

She opened her mouth to speak but Ike silenced her with a touch to her lips.

=You are so special to me, I can’t think of my life without you there to share it with me.  I realize that this is a bad time to ask you this but….=

Ike stopped his signing as Rick turned and ran for the door.  Ike caught her several steps out the door. =Please stop running, yell at me, cry, but don’t run from me.  What is wrong?=

“I don’t deserve this, I hurt you and you tell me I am special.  I come between you and your best friend and you tell me you still care for me.  I nearly get you and your friends killed and you tell me you love me.  How am I supposed to react.  I am scum, I have no right to expect love from anyone, especially you.” She paused not sure what to say exactly, all she could come up with to say anymore was, “Why?”

Ike turned her face to him again and wiped the tears from her cheeks before he answered, =Because I still trust you, you have done nothing to betray that trust.  You forgave your father for everything he did.  You didn’t shoot to kill even when you had your father’s killer in your sights.  Why can’t you believe that anyone else could forgive too?=

She didn’t know what to say she still felt deep down that she wanted to turn and run, but her heart held her here, she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

Ike took this as a good sign and held onto one of her hands as her kneeled before her. =I love you Marie, will you marry me?=
Rick didn’t blink, she suddenly felt that if she let her eyes drift from Ike’s that she would sink.  She stared into his eyes lost for several moments as she thought back to their few happy times together.  They had been her happiest times ever.  When she looked into his eyes the world just disappeared.  Nothing else mattered as long as he was there with her.  All confusion was gone as his words sank in.  He loved her and he wanted to marry her.  She too sank to her knees and they kissed.  It was more than just a kiss though, it was forgiveness, it was friendship, it was love, it was trust, and it was her answer.
 

The day of the wedding finally arrived.  Everyone was busy getting everything ready, but none was as busy as Buck.  He had his hands full trying to keep the two love birds calm.  A couple of times he had already thought they would have to be tied down to keep them from running off in panic.  This was especially a problem after Cody decided he would help by giving each of them some of his words of wisdom.

Buck swung out of the bunkhouse and headed toward the house again after reassuring Ike that Cody was wrong, a woman wouldn’t necessarily string up her husband if he had one too many drinks.  Buck was sure that Ike would never have believed a dumb story like that on a normal day, but his tension was so high every bad thought sent him into a panic.  Buck wished he could lose these crutches they were certainly slowing him down and his arms were getting sore, this was at least his tenth time across the station this morning.  ‘Maybe I should just get me a chair and sit between the two buildings then when these two start panicing they can come to me,’ he thought as he approached the house.  He heard loud sobs and Cody’s voice saying, “that’s not what I meant, what I meant to say was…”

“CODY,” Buck yelled into the house. Cody came trudging out of the main house where Rick had been staying for the last 2 weeks.  “I’m back now, maybe you should go help Rachael and Lou with the decorations.”

“I think I will go and see if Ike is ok, he seemed pretty upset when I left him, these two sure are jumpy today.”

Buck just rolled his eyes, he just hoped Cody could keep his mouth shut about anymore horror stories of marriage at least until after the wedding but somehow he doubted it.  Buck was about to tell Cody to leave Ike alone for a while when he heard the sobs start again inside the house.  He made it up onto the porch with some difficulty and headed inside.

“Rick? You feeling ok?”

“Is what Cody said true?”

“Probably not, but just to be on the safe side what did he say?”

“He said that ½ of all marriages that start in April end in tragedy.”

“Now why in the world would Cody know a thing like that?”

“I don’t know, do you think it’s true?”

“No, I certainly don’t.  Cody just has a big mouth that he doesn’t seem to know when to close.”

Rick smiled, “Do you think I am doing the right thing?”

“Yes, I think you two are absolutely perfect for each other.  I don’t think that April, the day of the week, the weather or even Ike drinking could mess up your marriage, you two love each other.”

Rick had missed the last part of his statement, “Ike’s been drinking?”

“No, no, it was something Cody said to Ike earlier, never mind.  He’s just as nervous as you are you know.”

“What if I’m not good enough?”

Buck smiled, Ike had asked him the very same question about himself.  So he was ready to deliver the very same answer.  “You are everything he wants.   He loves you.”

Rick smiled, “What would we ever do without you?”

“You know Ike just asked me the same thing.”

“And what did you say?”

“I told him you better hope you never have to find out.”

Rick laughed and gave Buck a big hug. Cody stepped into the room just then and he just stared at the crazy woman who a few minutes ago had been ready to jump on her horse and head for the hills.  Now she simply smiled at Cody and went into her room to start getting dressed.

Cody finally found his voice, “Buck, I think Ike needs you.”

Buck rolled his eyes. “Now what did you do to him?”

“I didn’t do nothing, I was just talking and suddenly he had his gun pointed at me.  He was waving his arms all around I couldn’t understand what he was saying, something about my mouth and that I should get out.  Some of those gestured he’s got sure ain’t for church.”

Buck smiled and swung out the door and back out onto the porch, Cody following close behind.

“What did you say to her to get her so calm anyway?”

“I just told her that Ike loved her and that everything would be fine.”

“I told her the same thing and she went crazy.  How come she listens to you and not me.”

Buck smiled and turned to head back to the bunkhouse.  “Because Cody, I’ve got better hair than you.”

“Oh,” Cody said simply, then a confused look crossed his face and he turned to yell back at Buck, “You do not.”  He stepped over to the horse troth and looked at his reflection and ran his fingers through his hair, he smiled and shook his head, “Naaah, that ain’t it.”

There was only one hour left til the wedding began but Ike wasn’t sure that he could make it that long.  He hadn’t really seriously considered killing Cody before today, but all his yammering was getting to him.  He collapsed onto his bunk staring over at his new suit of clothes.  When Buck came back into the bunk house Ike was still trying to decide weather or not to wear his lucky bandanna to the wedding.

=On one hand it’s lucky, but on the other hand a bandanna with a suit?  What do you think Rick would rather?  What did we do with the rings, Do you still have them? oh no I’ve lost them.  Where are they, what will Rick say?=
Ike’s hands were moving so fast even Buck was having trouble understanding him, he was just glad that at least this one time it wasn’t Cody’s fault. “Ike, Ike, slow down it doesn’t matter, believe me she wont care either way?”
=What do you mean?=

Buck smiled, “The last thing she is going to care about walking down that aisle is weather or not you are wearing a dusty old bandanna.”

Ike smiled at the thought, he could almost see it in his mind that beautiful way her nose almost curled up when she smiled.  He wanted nothing more than to keep that smile on her face always.  He saw her in his mind as she walked down the aisle toward him.

“Ike, Ike, I know you are in your own little world right now, but don’t you think you should start getting dressed, you need to meet your guests.  I know women who get dressed faster than you.”

Ike smiled, it was true, he had been trying to get ready for 3 hours but he kept getting distracted.  =ok, but you do have the rings don’t you?=

“No, Cody’s got them.”

=What? You gave them to Cody!!!!= Ike signed furiously. Then he realized that Buck was smiling again, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box.

“Will you calm down?  I have the rings, now will you get dressed, Rick has enough to worry about without dealing with a half naked husband.”
 

Ike stood at the front of the aisle, they had decided to have the wedding right at the express station since it was the only real home that Ike had ever known and Rick was getting to feel the same way.  The weather was beautiful despite Cody’s horrible predictions.  Ike had finally decided not to wear his lucky bandanna but Buck had it neatly folded in his pocket just in case Ike changed his mind about it again.  He had already done so 5 times in the last 15 minutes.  Ike smiled politely at the arriving guests, but Buck seriously doubted he even knew who he was looking at, he was in his own little world.
Finally the job of keeping Rick calm had been turned over to Rachael and Lou who were helping her with her dress.  Rick adopted the attitude that if she was going to do this she wanted to start now, not half an hour from now.  She nearly ripped her dress trying to get ready faster.

By the time the musicians started playing everyone was tired out, all that changed though as all heads turned to watch Rick start down the aisle.  Although silent, the look on Ike’s face spoke a thousand words.  His jaw dropped as he saw what he felt to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  She nearly glowed in her pristine white gown.  Her hair had been curled and some piled on top her head, the rest cascaded over her shoulders in little wisps.  Ike couldn’t help but stare and nearly didn’t realize that they had started when Teaspoon began “Dearly beloved….”

The wedding was like a dream, Rick and Ike couldn’t have asked for more.  Both sets of vows were given in sign.  Rick wanted it that way.  When they were finally pronounced husband and wife their kiss seemed to last forever.  Both had been kissed before, but neither had ever felt the love that they received from each other.  When they finally broke apart, they were each so lost in each others eyes that the world didn’t even exist.

Buck finally tapped Ike on the shoulder.  “Umm Ike?”

Ike broke away from Rick’s gaze and blushed as he realized that everyone was still there watching them.  Cody gave them a little wave and Ike silently chuckled.

People crowded up to Rick and Ike congratulating them and wishing them the best.  There were refreshments and dancing.  Rick and Ike danced together every dance.  Finally Teaspoon decided it was time for the speeches before everyone was dead on their feet.

Teaspoon rose from his seat and cleared his throat several times, no one seemed to be paying attention so Jimmy shot into the air with his colt which he insisted on wearing even to the wedding. “Thank you Jimmy, now I’m sure as much as they enjoy our company, I’m sure that Ike and Rick don’t want to be here with us all evening so I think it’s time for speeches.  It’s customary for the best man Buck to give the first speeches but I’m older and grumpier than he is so I’m going first.” He waited for the chuckling to stop. “I’ve watched these express riders grow from restless boys to fine men.  Ike, you have been through a lot in your young life, I don’t know if I could have lived through half the things you have… and you seemed to have become even stronger because of these things.  Rick, you are a strong willful girl, that type seems to be the taste of more than one of these riders… I know that you two have enough love to make your lives wonderful.  I wish you all the best.”  Ike and Rick were beaming Ike stepped up to give Teaspoon a handshake.

Buck rose from his seat looking very uncomfortable.  “Ok, now I’m not much for speeches, especially following a man like Teaspoon with enough words for everyone.  Let me simply say this.  Marie, you are a better woman than you give yourself credit for, I can tell because Ike loves you.  Ike, I don’t know what I can say to you except you are my best friend and always will be, I wish the two of you all the happiness in the world.”

 As Ike and Marie rode into town to the hotel Marie stared up at the sky.  The stars seemed to shine more brightly that night than they ever had before, she leaned her head on Ike’s shoulder and he turned to meet her eyes.  In that moment she wished that no matter what life threw at her she would always be loved and she would have love.  As the two rode off in the darkness a star twinkled and it was so.