Sweetwater, Wyoming Territory – 14 February 1861

They were all sitting at the table for breakfast. Kid and Lou were making goo-goo eyes at each other again. Cody was bemoaning about Abigail Chesterfield’s beauty…Jimmy was telling Cody to shut up while Ike rolled his eyes and Rachel was laughing at all of them. 

“I’m so sick of them bein’ all lovey-dovey”, Buck thought. “Noah lucked out.” Then as he got up from the table, he told Rachel that he was going into town to see if Teaspoon needed any help at the office. He breathed in a deep sigh of relief when he was out the door.

As he and Cactus raced across the land towards Sweetwater, Buck thought of his days at his village and of a crystal blue eyed girl they had named Little Bird. Then he shakes his head with a sigh and slows Cactus to a more relaxing run. When he reaches town, he heads straight to Teaspoons office.

“Hey Teaspoon, you in here?” he called out as he stepped into the office.

“What’re you doin’ here Buck?”

“The other’s were talkin’ about bein’ in love and stuff…I just had to get away.”

“Well son,” Teaspoon says as he drapes an arm around this quiet rider of his, “someday it’ll happen to you. Mark my words, ‘cause when Cupid comes a callin’, you’ll know it…happened to me six times you know.”

Buck just shook his head with a smile and replies, “Well if he does come a callin’…once will be plenty enough for me, thank you very much.”

They were still talking when they heard some commotion going on down the street and went outside to investigate. When they saw that it was coming from Thompkins’ store, they glanced at each other with a sigh and walked over.

“Thompkins!” Teaspoon yells out as they cross the street. “What in tarnation is goin’ on now?”

“Jerry here was botherin’ the young lady over there,” he replied as he held the boy by the collar and nodded in the direction of where the girl was sitting.

“Jerry?”

“Aw Teaspoon, I didn’t mean no harm. Just never seen no half…” he stuttered to a stop when he noticed Buck standing quietly, next to Teaspoon, with his eyebrow raised.

“Never seen what?” Buck asked softly.

“Uhmmm,” he replies as he glances toward the young lady, who was now getting to her feet.

Erika had calmed herself down a bit and prepared to face the jerk who dared to call her a half-breed when he could plainly see that she was entirely human. Then with narrowed eyes, she marched over to him and slapped his face.

“You ever,” she hissed, “talk that way to anybody again…I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and feed your tongue to the coyotes. Understand?”

Jerry bobbed his head so hard that he practically tumbled over his own two feet when Thompkins let him go. They all laughed as they watched him run down the street, then Erika turned to the shopkeeper to thank him for intervening.

“If you didn’t grab him when you did, I would’ve had to beat some sense into him,” she said with a smile. Then she looked at the other two men who were standing there also. The older gentleman looked somewhat familiar and the younger one…well…he was perfection, but she sighed softly when she remembered that she was a newly married woman.

“Excuse me miss,” Teaspoon said.

“Yes sir?”

“You in town by yourself?”

“No sir. My father and husband are at the livery seein’ about a horse.”

“Your mother didn’t come?”

Before she could answer, she noticed her father and Bruce coming down the street and waves at them. Then she excuses herself and walks towards them as Teaspoon and Buck follow behind her.

“Daddy, were you able to get the horse?”

“Yes Erika, I w…Teaspoon?”

“Joe…Joseph Two Hawks?”

“Well I’ll be a snake in the grass. I thought that was you,” Joseph says. “How’ve you been my friend?”

“Same as always.”

As the old friends caught up on things, Buck had lowered his eyes and was watching the young Comanche beauty through his lashes while thinking himself a fool for hoping that she was single. Then he’s jolted out of his thoughts as Teaspoon nudged him in the ribs.

“Buck…this here’s my old friend Two Hawks, his daughter Erika and…” Teaspoon paused as he watched the young man’s reaction to Erika. “And her husband, Bruce. Last time I’d seen her was not too long after her mother’s funeral.”

Buck’s heart went out to the young woman, and then he slowly raised his eyes to tell her that he was sorry for her loss. When his eyes came into contact with her dark golden brown ones, he took an involuntary step back.

~>THWACK<~

He glanced at Teaspoon, mumbled an apology then headed back towards the Marshals office. Teaspoon watched as Buck carefully walked down the street while his left hand went to clutch the shirt covering his heart…as if to protect it. Cupids bow had struck this quiet rider of his and Teaspoon knew it would be quite a while before Buck would be able to retrieve it again.
 

Chapter 1

Victoria, Texas - July 1861

Gasping as she woke up, Erika shuddered at the intense erotic dream she’d ever had. Even when her Bruce was still alive, she never had a dream quite like that. It was so real and caused her such sweet pleasure that she thought she would surely die from the pure joy of it. Then she scolds herself with a shake of the head, “Get a hold of yourself Erika…it’s only a dream”. After a few moments of just sitting on the bed, with her knees to her chest, she decides its time for some breakfast and…a strong cup of coffee.

While sitting in her bright, airy kitchen feeling a little lonely, Erika thinks that maybe it would be a good idea to head north to Rock Creek, Nebraska to check on the land that her father had bought back in May. As she finishes the dishes, she knows she has made the right decision and then heads over to Maria’s house to discuss the plans with her. When she reaches her friend’s house, she couldn’t help but to laugh. Two year old Pedro was running around the yard again with nothing but a smile on his face.

“You need any help with Little Bare Bottom?” she asked her friend as she dismounted from the horse.

“Oh, hi Erika. No thanks…I think I finally got him wore down enough. Why don’t you go on in?”

Erika shakes her head with a smile and watches her friend take off after Pedro again then goes into the house that felt like a second home to her. She sat on the sofa, reading the paper when she heard the squealing laughter coming from Pedro as his mother finally caught up to him. When they entered the house, she looked at her friend saying, “You sure you don’t want any help with him?”

Maria just nodded her head as she placed her son in the tub that was already half filled with warm water. When she heard Erika sigh, she looked up and asked if everything was ok.

“I’m not sure,” Erika replied. “Maybe its just that I miss Bruce so much.”

“Mmmm, I suppose…it has been sometime since he passed on.”

“But that’s not the only thing.”

“What else is there?” Maria asked as she washed Pedro’s hair.

“I had that dream again.”

“The one with…” Maria said as she looked at her friend again.

With a nod of her head, Erika just sat there with her eyes closed as the memories of the dream came flooding back. Then she slowly opened her eyes again and whispered, “Is it wrong to have dreams like that involvin’ someone other than your husband?”

“I don’t think so,” Maria replied as she took her son out of the tub. “Besides, Bruce is gone…so don’t be too hard on yourself.”

After Maria had put Pedro in his room for a nap, the two friends sat at the kitchen table drinking tea and discussing the dream. When Erika said that she had decided to travel to Rock Creek, Maria wasn’t the least bit surprised, but concern for her friend had her asking, “Are you sure? I mean, that is an awfully long way to travel alone.”

“Yes I know, but it’s time to get away from here. I’m tired of people still sayin’ how sorry they are and givin’ me those pittyin’ looks.”

A few days later, her memories of Bruce stored away in Maria’s extra room; Erika boards the northbound stage to Rock Creek.

Meanwhile at the weigh station in Rock Creek, a lone man was shuffling around the grounds lost in his own thoughts of the day when Cupid aimed an arrow at his heart.

“Hey Buck,” Cody called out as he stepped from the barn. “Are you ok?”

Buck didn’t answer; he just turned towards the bunkhouse, sat on the steps with a sigh and wondered when his heart would ever beat a “normal” rhythm again. Then Cody came over and just looked at his friend, not sure of what was bothering him this time.

“Buck?”

He slowly raised his head and looked blankly at his friend. Then Cody said, “Come on Buck, you got to quit bein’ this way. Ike’s been gone awhile and we all know how much you still miss him, but this just ain’t healthy.”

“Don’t think it’s because of Ike, Cody,” Teaspoon said as he walked up.

“What else could it be?”

“I think it has to do with a certain young woman we met in Sweetwater.”

Buck’s eyes snapped over to Teaspoon, surprised that he would figure out that it wasn’t because he’d lost his best friend then he raised an eyebrow in question.

“I have been married six times, remember?” Teaspoon answered with a smile. “Besides, like I told you before…when Cupid comes a callin’, you’ll know it.”
 

Chapter 2

“This is my last stop folks,” the stage-master called out to his passengers. “If you want to continue north, you’ll have to check with the office for the next stage.”

Erika sighed as she stepped from the stage, then picks up her bags and heads for the hotel. While signing in, she asks the clerk if he knew when the next stage to Rock Creek would be arriving.

“Friday afternoon Miss.”

“Friday?” she repeated. “Are you sure?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Very well…I guess I’ll have to wait till then.” She thanks him then gathers her bags and heads up the stairs to her room. As she turned, she inadvertently bumped into another person and began to apologize.

“No apology necessary,” said the young man with a smile. “I should be apologizin’ for standin’ too close.”

He was so tall, she nearly fell backwards just by trying to look at him. Then she smiled and said, “I’m Erika. Where’d you come from…giant land?”

His laugh was deep and rich. When his laughter died down, he replied, “No. I came from Rock Creek. Name’s Jimmy.”

“Hi Jimmy. Are you really from Rock Creek?”

“Yes ma’am. I ride for the Pony Express.”

“Well it certainly is good to meet someone from Rock Creek,” she replied. “I’m headin’ that way myself.” Then her stomach began to grumble again so she excused herself and started up the stairs as Jimmy turned back to the desk clerk and asked for a room.

“Same room?”

“If it’s available and Ruben…could you send up a bath? I got to get some of this prairie dust off me before I visit with Celinda.”

When Erika entered her room, she sighed as she placed her bags on the bed, then she sat down for a moment. A few seconds later, her stomach growled in displeasure of not being fed and she smiled. She washed her face and re-did her hair before heading downstairs to the dining hall. As she turned from shutting her door, she ran into someone again. When she saw that it was the young man she’d met at the front desk, she smiled again.

“Seems we keep bumpin’ into each other,” he said.

“Yes it does.” Then she asked him if he would care to join her for dinner.

“It’d be my pleasure. I’ll meet you there in about half an hour.”

“That’ll be fine,” she replied.

When Jimmy stepped into the dining hall thirty minutes later, he spotted her at a table by the window and smiled when he saw her pushing the remains of her meal around the plate.  Then with the smile still on his face, he walked over to join her.

“Hello again,” he said as he sat down.

“Oh…hi.”

“You seem to be sad about somethin’.”

She gave him a small sad smile before replying, “A little I suppose.”

“I’m a good listener.”

“How ‘bout you tell me about Rock Creek instead?”

“Alright.”

So the two new friends sat in the dining hall for a good hour or so talking about their families and places they’ve lived when she asked him a question that surprised him.

“Would you mind me taggin’ along when you return to Rock Creek?”

“The stage would be more comfortable for you,” he responded.

“Why? Is it because I’m a woman?”

“No, that’s n…”

“Jimmy…I’ve traveled with my father to places farther away than Rock Creek. Why this past February, we went by horseback to a small town called Sweetwater in the Wyo…”

“Wait a minute,” he interrupted. “You were in Sweetwater in February?”

She nodded her head as she replied, “Yes. Why?”

“I don’t believe this,” he answered with a laugh. “You’re the girl Buck’s been mumblin’ about since Valentines.” When he sees the stunned look on her face, he laughs even more and says, “We used to deliver mail out of the Sweetwater Station before the company transferred us to the Rock Creek location.”

“H-he delivers the m-mail too?”

“Yes ma’am.”

She began to feel a little flushed; then excuses herself and went outside for some fresh air. Jimmy walked up to her a few minutes later and as he knelt before her, he asked if she was ok.

“No,” she whispered.

“You need a doctor?”

“No.”

“Anythin’ I can do?”

“Yes. Take me to Rock Creek when you leave here.”

He started to argue with her, but when she held her hand up, he stopped talking and listened to her explanation. When she had finished, he reluctantly agreed to let her accompany him on his way back to Rock Creek.
 

Chapter 3

Rock Creek - Nebraska Territory

“Well here we are,” Jimmy said as they reached the edge of town just after sun-up a few days later. “You sure you wou…”

“The hotel will be fine Jimmy, but thanks for your concern anyway.”

“All right then…why don’t you join us for dinner this evenin’?”

She shook her head as she whispered, “I-I don’t thin…”

When she suddenly stopped talking, he looked in the direction that she was staring. Buck had just exited the bunkhouse and was heading in their direction. The next thing that happened, Erika had jumped from the horse and hid on the opposite side as she continued towards the hotel. Jimmy laughed as he shook his head and headed toward the station.

“You’re late Jimmy,” Buck called out when he noticed his friend.

“Got a little sidetracked while I was in Seneca.”

“Oh. Did Celinda have her baby?”

“Nope…was a pint size Comanche beauty by the name of Erika,” he replied with a smile. Then he left Buck standing there with a shocked look upon his handsome face, as he went to hand the mail over to the next rider.

Meanwhile, Erika had gotten a room at the hotel and was now going to check on the land that her father had bought. As she walked out of the land office with directions and a map to the area, she swung back up onto the horse she had purchased in Seneca. He was such a huge horse that, when she’d bought him, she’d promptly named him Beast. As she rode towards her father’s land, she was completely unaware that Buck had spotted her and was now getting his horse ready to follow her.

Buck watched her as she walked around the old shack on the property, then smiled when she shook her head as she took note of the condition the place was in. When she started to head towards a small stream at the back of the property, he followed in silence. Once she was at the stream, she sat on an old log, took off her riding boots and when she began to roll up her trousers, his breath became hitched in his throat. He stared at her slender ankles and well-muscled legs as she splashed around then stifled a gasp when she began to undo her shirt. He shut his eyes tightly to block the vision from his sight then took a deep breath and made his presence known.

“Miss Erika?”

She gasped as she spun towards the voice, then nearly fell to her knees when she noticed who it was. “Wh-what are you d-doin’ here?”

“Wanted to know why you’re here by yourself,” he replied as he stepped closer.

“Why?”

“Just curious.”

When he took a few more steps closer, she wanted to run, but the connection from her brain to her feet must not have been working properly because her feet stayed firmly rooted to the bottom of the stream. She just stood there as he inched closer and closer till he stood mere inches from her. Then he leaned his face nearer till his nose barely touched hers and whispered, “If I were you husband, I would make it a point to be with you at all times possible…anywhere you went.”

~>THWACK<~>THWACK<~

They both jumped apart in shock as the lightning coursed through their veins and then he shook his head as he barely choked out, “Where is your husband?”

“Dead,” she whispered in response.
 

Epilogue

October 1861

“It’s official boys,” Teaspoon said as they sat down for lunch a few days before Halloween. “Russell, Majors & Waddell are lettin’ us go.”

Rachel, Louise, Kid, Jimmy, Buck and Erika all just looked at each other for a few moments as they absorb the news then Rachel asks, “What are we goin’ to do now?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy replied. “And when do we have to be out of the bunkhouse?”

“Well…as far as the bunkhouse goes, they haven’t given me an answer on that, but I know that they will let Rachel keep the house since she’s still teachin’.”

“Do you know if they have any positions with the wire services that would be available to us…if we decided to work there?”

“Not sure about that either Kid.”

Everybody was silent once again, then they all nearly jumped out of their skin when the door banged open revealing a smiling, but soaking wet Mr. William F. Cody. As he hung up his gun belt, jacket and hat, he proceeded to drench his friends with the shake of his head while mumbling about how cold the Nebraska rain could get.

“Well if you didn’t go and join up with the Army, you wouldn’t be out in this kind of weather all the time,” Rachel scolded with a smile as she handed him a towel.

“Yeah…well we got drenched just runnin’ the mail,” he complained half-heartedly, “so I don’t see much of a difference.”

“Maybe not, but it still don’t give you cause to barge in here and pour half the rain on us.” When he gave her that hangdog look, she laughed and told him to sit while she fixed him a plate.

“So,” he began as he sat down, “did I miss anythin’ important?”

Louise and Kid had been quietly discussing their options while Rachel and Cody were arguing with each other. Then Kid spoke up. “We’ve decided to travel to St. Joe so that we could pick up Louise’s brother and sister.”

“What about Virginia?”

Kid looked at his wife then said, “No point in goin’ there. Ain’t nobody left to see, so we might build a house here or maybe travel to California.”

“That seems like a good idea,” Jimmy replied as he got up from the table. Then he turned to Buck and Erika. “What about you two? What are your plans?”

Erika looked at this man who had become a good friend, then slowly looked at the rest of them one by one till her eyes came to rest on Buck’s golden brown orbs. He had become her husband not long after Kid and Louise became husband and wife. All of them had become like a second family to her. Louise and Rachel were like sisters she never had. The boys, like brothers and Teaspoon…well, he’d become the grandfather she never knew. She missed Noah and wondered if Jesse were still riding with his brother Frank.  Then she sighed and turned her focus back to Jimmy before answering, “We’ve discussed several options, but I think the one that we’ll end up doin’ is makin’ the farm a place where orphans can put down some roots till their old enough to be on their own.”

“That is a wonderful idea,” Teaspoon replied. “You goin’ to change the name or keep as is?”

“We’ll be keepin’ it as Hawks Haven,” Buck said softly. 

As Rachel served up the desert, Louise kept looking at Erika with a question on her face. Erika barely shook her head in response to the question, then when all the dishes were cleared from the table and the boys had their coffee while the girls drank their tea, Erika slowly stood up and cleared her throat.

“I have an announcement that will brighten up this rain soaked day a bit more,” she said quietly. Then she waited till everyone, including Buck, was looking at her before she replied, “We’re goin’ to have a baby.”

Buck nearly choked on his coffee. Then he stood, gathered his tiny wife into his arms and gazed into her beautiful dark eyes as he barely whispered, “A baby?”

“Yes.”

They lay cuddled in each other’s arms later that night. He whispered lovely little words, causing her entire body to blush then he placed a tender kiss upon her belly as she finally fell asleep.

“Teaspoon was right,” he thought as he closed his own eyes, “when Cupid strikes...he strikes.”