The one room cabin stank of booze and human waste. The dirt floor was cold, hard, and managed soggy all at the same time. Sitting absolutely still, Miss Patterson shivered, soaking up the chill from the ground she was sitting on. Warily, she watched him sharpening his knife.

"Don’t look at me like that, bitch. Y’knew whatcha’d get for runnin’ away." She knew all right. She knew he was going to use that knife for her punishment. She’d known as soon as he’d dragged her from the doctor’s office that she’d been beaten. He’d cut her so many times in years past that she wasn’t even sure she’d be able to feel it anymore. But then again, he always knew how to make her scream in agony. It was his twisted little gift. She tried hard to think of a time when he wasn’t like this. When he didn’t inflict pain on her in order to feel something besides drunk. She prayed silently that he would kill her this time. Her teeth were chattering. Her tightly
bound hands were blue. She didn’t know if that was from the leather that bound her wrists, or the chill she was absorbing from the floor. She looked at him. She wondered what ever became of the handsome man she’d fallen in love with. It was shameful the way she had loved him. She’d given him everything he asked for. She had even destroyed her own reputation by openly allowing him to court her. The dregs of society, her mother had called him. Her father had put her out the day he found out she was spending time with a savage. She had begged her father to understand that she loved him, that being an Indian didn’t make him a bad person. She let out a rusty laugh, her father had been so very right. She had gone to Striking Bear, and told him of being homeless. He had agreed readily that she move into his crude cabin with him. What she hadn’t understood about the arrangement was that she was to perform all wifely duties without the benefit of being a wife. She was so in love though, that she was willing to do anything to please him. She’d used her teaching credentials to get a job in a neighboring town whose
population was unaware of both the way and with whom she lived her life. She had spent the next four years of her life supporting the man who mutated from prince charming into a drunken lout. It was only weeks after she moved in that the change was complete. Now that she had a grasp of the way his mind worked, she realized that he hadn’t bothered to fight the darker
aspects of his personality any longer because he had her all ready and she had no other place to go. He had put his mark on her. She was branded a ruined maid, and no one else would have her. She endured beatings, whores, and illnesses brought home to her bed. Then after four years she became pregnant. She thought that maybe he would stop drinking. She hoped he would stop hitting her for the sake of his unborn child, but nothing had prepared her for his reaction to becoming a father. Rage. He became utterly enraged. Completely sober for the first time in months, he hit her until the life of her baby seeped out of her hopelessly battered body. As soon as she could walk, she did. She sold her own flesh to get money to board a train travelling as far from Striking Bear as possible. The train deposited her in Rock Creek, where she thought she could make a fresh start. But another heathen monster ruined her new life. This was all the fault of Buck Cross. If it hadn’t been for his meddling, she would still be in her safe little room at the
women’s boarding house. If the damned Injun had been smart enough to know his place, and that of his little bastard, this never would have happened. She was angry with herself for letting him scare her. It was just that for a moment there, she had seen Striking Bear in the angry lines of
Buck’s face.

Abruptly a thought occurred to her. She could punish Buck Cross so easily for doing this to her. All she had to do was …her thoughts were cut off as the unyielding blade of Striking Bear’s knife bit into her skin.

Kayla was enjoying the view immensely. The jagged vista of her new home, she could take or leave, but the delicious creature beside her was breathtaking. She, Buck, and Noah were bouncing along down the road in the buckboard. She sat on the bench, next to Buck. Noah was in the back with his head stuck in between the bench and back rest jabbering happily about his
horse who was about to be a mommy. Kayla sneaked another glance at Buck. The more of these peeks she stole, the more difficult it became to keep them quick. She was afraid he, or more likely Noah, would notice her staring at him. She couldn’t help herself though; he was nice to stare at. His straight black hair flowed from his head, gaining wings on the rush of the wind. She had never before seen a man whose hair was so long. In New York, all of the men she had met wore their hair close cropped to their skulls on the back and sides, and a little longer on the top. Buck’s was one length, and a good deal past his shoulders. Kayla noticed that he had something dangling from his ear. She needed a closer inspection to figure out what it was, but she didn’t want to risk staring at him so obviously for the time being. She assumed it was an earring. After all, what else could it be? Her mother had told her once that only the misfits of society were so crude as to pierce their bodies. She explained that Sailors, savages, and such were the kind of riffraff to be avoided at all costs. She had told Kayla that an obvious way to tell these men apart from decent ones was if they had tattoos or earrings. She had regaled Kayla with terrifying stories about how these horrible men were the kind to steal away her virtue, beat her, and steal her money. Remembering her first glance of Buck in the store, she decided that her mother was dead wrong. She was known by Kayla and her father to commonly get her facts wrong. Her mother wasn’t a hateful person, but she was very easily lead. She probably heard this information somewhere, and took it for gospel. After all, she’d described these "bad men" to Kayla as having beady, evil, little eyes, and Buck had the kindest eyes she had ever had the good fortune to
witness. She glanced up at his face again, noticing that he was quite a bit larger than she. Of course, most people were. She was only five feet and two inches. He must be around six feet, she surmised. She eyed his hands. A wry grin tugged at her lips. She had always been a strange one. She had a crazy preoccupation with men’s hands. She had decided through trial and error
that she could not trust a man with soft hands. Ben had had soft hands, and that had been a disaster. He’d been so bold as to call on the constable to bar her way from the train. Ben had told the poor old man that his fiancée was having trouble with pre-wedding jitters. She almost missed boarding, wasting her time trying to explain that she was not Ben’s fiancée. She pushed that fiasco out of her head, and decided to focus on better things. Buck’s hands were much better things, after all. His hands looked like those of a man who made a rough living through the strength of his body, and the skin of his hands was a testament to that. His hands looked hard. They seemed, to her inquisitive eye, to have been fashioned from tree bark. He had numerous obvious calluses, and when he helped her into the buckboard she relished the hard, warm, sandpaper texture of his hands. She tugged at the hem of her bodice, wishing she had a better view of his face.

"Why are you staring at my Pa?" Noah inquired. Kayla jumped at the unexpected switch in  topics. She shouldn’t be surprised. After all, she had expected it. Why did children have to be so observant? Deeply embarrassed, and worrying about what Buck must think of her rude behavior, she formulated her words carefully.

Immediately pulling his gaze from the road, Buck watched Kayla’s eyes go wide and bright bursts of crimson bloom over her face. Buck inspected her expression with one black brow upraised. Why had she been staring at him? Had she only now realized that she was traveling with Indians, savages? Was she trying to figure out a way to escape his filthy clutches? He’d been through this so many times. The minute he found a woman he thought might be decent, a woman that might judge him as a man, and not by the color of his skin. She would remember the social stigma that would be stuck to her as a savage’s whore for the rest of her life, and never so much as look at him again. Buck was thinking himself into a flare of temper when Kayla’s answer
began to penetrate his thick scull.

"Well Noah, your father is very nice to look at."

There it was again. That delicious warmth was wrapping itself around Buck’s heart. He couldn’t help but smile. She was a vocal girl if nothing else. Before he could stop it, his tongue took off independent of its owner. "I’m not the only one."

Pulling his head from between the wooden cage his head was in, Noah puffed out his chest. "I know, Pa. I’m nice to look at too, but you don’t want to make Miss Lambert feel bad cuz she’d not part of our beauteous bloodline!" Buck had often kidded with his son using the exact same phrase, "beauteous bloodlines" trying to combat the effect of social prejudice on his son’s
self-worth. It just couldn’t be a muttered curse while working with the animals, or a momentary lapse in manners, or even a lengthy conversation about bodily functions with his child that came back to bite him on the butt. It had to be something that under any other circumstance would seem so benign that just embarrassed the hell out of him now. It was Buck’s turn to blush.

Looking Buck square in the eye, Kayla quirked her head to the side, "beauteous bloodlines?" She murmured, all the while thinking, Damn right. Though, the schoolmarm in her was outraged at  the naughty thought the woman in her was without apology. Finding the reins in his hand of
particular interest, Buck just shrugged. "We’re almost there," was his noncommittal reply.

Striking Bear was afire with rage. He was shaking with it. He hadn’t planned on this turn of events. How could she say such things? Worse yet, how could she humiliate him so happily? She always did have a hateful streak. That’s what had originally attracted him to the pasty colored, white woman. He had always known that she left for a reason, but she had no idea it was for
another man. He could barely think of her betrayal without the assumption that he’d burst into flame. Whore! What was that name? Oh yes, it was burned in his mind forever. Buck Cross. She’d lain with him, when she knew she was his possession. His woman. His! He could barely think straight, but he didn’t need to think to consider retribution. There was no question about
that. Buck Cross had defiled his woman. Well, Striking bear would find this half-breed’s woman. He'd have her begging for him like Robin had. And if, by chance, this man had no woman, Striking Bear would destroy all that he did have.
 

Chapter 5

Buck had turned out to be a fairly good cook. Kayla supposed it was because he had to feed both himself and his son, so he had to become at least moderately proficient in the kitchen. After their meal of roasted turkey, biscuits, and spinach, which Noah kept "accidentally dropping" on the table, Kayla helped Buck do the dishes while Noah cleaned the table and swept up the crumbs. Kayla would have been more than happy to do dishes forever if it entitled her to more time with such wonderful company. She was going to have to be very careful not to show any favoritism to Noah. She had already instructed him that tomorrow he was to treat her as if they didn’t know each other. She didn’t want him to get grief for being the teacher’s pet. She smiled
at the thought of the Cross men. Their house was amazingly neat for it to be the home of a bachelor and his boy. It was cozy, comfortable, and smelled of Buck’s spicy, soapy, delightful scent.

Kayla was so exhausted that she could barely speak, but she didn’t want to leave. She wanted to enjoy Buck’s company all night. It didn’t matter that she had her first day of school tomorrow. It didn’t matter that it looked awful for the new teacher to spend half the night with a student and his bachelor father. It didn’t matter that she’d only known Buck for a matter of hours. She didn’t care. Every time common sense or exhaustion almost got the best of her, she would just immerse herself in those extraordinary eyes of his. Kayla decided that they were the color one would get if they mixed chocolate and honey. They were sweet, delectable, and she couldn’t look away from
them. In fact, all of him was excessively easy on the eyes. His features were perfectly chiseled, and from what she could tell, his body was as well. Just as Noah had "accidentally" lost most of his spinach, Kayla often "accidentally" bumped into Buck. He seemed to be made of stone. All of her brief collisions with him had her entire body acutely aware of his physical strength as well as her ever-increasing attraction to him. She had always had a bold tongue, but she had never been so bold personally as to go alone, to dinner at a man’s house. There was some serious kind of chemistry hard at work between the two of them; she’d sensed it immediately. Her skin felt too
hot, too tight, and energized all at the same time. She watched, entranced as bits of his hair fell into his face while he scrubbed dish after dish. She fought diligently, the urge to pull it back for him, and leave her hands to her dish drying. After all of two minutes of this diligence, she gave her resolve the proverbial, "get lost", and laced her fingers through his silken ebony tresses, gently tucking them behind his ear. He gave her a startled glance, then a smoldering smile. She really needed to get home!

"That’s so funny!" Kayla whispered, still fighting giggles. She didn’t want to jar Noah, who was half sprawled across her lap, sound asleep. Past the point of exhaustion, she was seated on a masculine looking, rough hewn, but very comfortable bench that sufficed for a sofa in the Cross home. "You seriously told him that smearing bear grease all over himself, and coating that with
sand would placate the spirits?"

"Yip," Buck grinned. "He believed it too. Well, he did until every one jumped out of the bushes with buckets of water. Then he figured it out, and chased me halfway home before he realized he was still in his underwear." Trying too hard to contain her laughter, Kayla snorted. "They sound like a wonderful group of people." Buck smiled sadly, "They were."

"So this Cody fellow really followed you halfway home in his unmentionables?"

"Isn’t that what I just said?" Buck laughed. He hadn’t had this much fun just talking to someone since Ike. Kayla had a crazy sense of humor just like his lost friend. She found humor in the strangest things. She made Buck miss him more, all the while filling some kind of void in him that he had not realized was empty. "You never had any funny friends like that?" Kayla almost
mentioned Ben, who had his funny moments, but quickly ruled that out. She shook her head, but stopped abruptly. "Well, I did have this dog." Eyebrows drawing together, Buck smirked. "A dog?"

"Yes," she crinkled her nose, indignant. Pursing her lips, she replied. "They are man’s best friend! Anyway, this dog, Toby was his name. If he did something, like gnawing up a shoe or clawing up the couch he would be just fine with that until someone started yelling at him. Then as soon as he
understood that one of us was angry with him, he would play dead. It was the oddest thing you could ever see. That dog died something like ten thousand times in his career as a rascal!" Kayla fought a yawn unsuccessfully.

"Oh Kayla, I’m so sorry! It’s past midnight, and I haven’t even offered to take you home. I can’t believe I did that!"

"It’s okay, really. I most likely would have refused anyway. I’ve been enjoying myself far too much."

"You have to start a new job tomorrow, and here I am keeping you up all hours of the night. Let me take you home now. I’ll just put Noah to bed, then we’ll be on our way."

Kayla watched with a swelling sense of fondness as Buck gently tucked his child into bed, wrapped his little arm around a ragged teddy bear, and kissed him tenderly on the forehead. With a desperation that astounded her, Kayla longed to be part of this loving little family. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why this man was without a wife. Surely he had been married
before, after all he had a son. She wanted to know more about Buck’s life, but was afraid to put him off with her nosiness. As they walked toward the door, curiosity overruled her fear of seeming rude.

"Buck?" She paused, trying to formulate her question into a less obtrusive one. That not working, she asked, "Why aren’t you married?" 

He looked overwhelmed, then thoughtful. "Well, I guess I have so many things running against me…I have lots of qualities…women tend not to like."
Pausing briefly, Buck decided to put all of his cards on the table. "Lots of women won’t even walk on the same side of the street as me because I’m Kiowa. That’s enough reason not to like me for most, but other women don’t like that I have a son. While I consider him my life, they consider him baggage. You see, he isn’t really my son. He’s my brother Red Bear’s son, but Red Bear died when Noah was only four months old. I guess that any woman who might have given me a chance despite my descent was unwilling to help raise a child that wasn’t hers or mine."

Kayla had a far away look in her eyes, and an odd little grin twisted her lips up at the corners. "He’s your son. You’re his Pa. You feed him. You put a roof over his head. You love him. You care for him when he’s sick. You love him like a father. That’s all anyone should see, not the mechanics of family dynamics." Raising her eyes to see his reaction to her blatant prying, she
nervously tugged at her bodice. The gravity of Buck’s stare was turning her knees to water. She couldn’t figure out exactly what it meant. There were so many different emotions afloat in his eyes, all the while his face was set in a mask of pure intensity. Leaning up against the interior of the front door, Kayla felt like all the air left her. Buck took one step, swallowing up the distance between them. The solid pressure of his big body nudged her more firmly into the door. She could feel his heart pounding through the cloth that separated them. Slowly, he bent his head to hers. Pausing, he looked into her eyes. Seeing no panic, he continued on his path to her lips. Before comprehension dawned, Kayla felt rough hands frame her face. The sensation of his thumb running across her lower lip brought her into reality. He was going to kiss her. His intoxicating scent surrounded her. Inhaling deeply, she lightly ran her hands up his chest, and wound them around his neck. She lifted her chin up, trying to meet him halfway. It seemed to
take an eternity to meet his lips to hers, but when they did, nothing else mattered.

Buck felt like he was melting into her. All of the sharp angles of his body met and molded to the soft curves of hers. What began as a gentle nudging of lips, and light nipping of teeth, changed into something more passionate and desperate than either of them was ready to contend with.

Without comprehending what he was doing, one of Buck hands slid into her hair, firmly grasping the back of her head, pulling her closer, tasting her, smelling her, trying to absorb her. His other hand ran down her face, her throat, her arm, and came to rest heavily on her ribcage, the tip of his thumb grazing the bottom curve of her breast. His senses were rioting from the overindulgence in arousing sensation. Somewhere in the farthest recesses of his mind, his conscience was deriding him for his lecherous behavior, but it went ignored. Leaving his right hand tangled in a mass of satiny hair, Buck’s left hand slipped up to her breast, but the corset she wore hampered
the feel of her against his palm. He moved his hand further up to her throat. He traced the outline of her button down collar down to the swell of her breasts. He followed the same path his hands had taken with his mouth, raining soft wet kisses on her sensitive flesh.

"Watcha doin’?" 

Buck leapt back from the door as well as the woman pressed against it. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Thirsty. What were you doin?" 

Floundering, Buck stammered, "saying goodbye." 

The boy’s grin grew impossibly wide. "How come you don’t say goodbye to Grandpa Teaspoon, or Aunt Lou like that then?" 

Buck blew an errant strand of hair from his flushed face. "Son, get your water, and go back to bed. It’s way past your bedtime." 

Noah’s bare feet slapped noisily on the floor, but his sleepy muttering could still be heard. "There he goes again with the son thing. All I did was catch him smooching my teacher." 

Kayla and Buck took one guilty look at one another, and instantly burst into laughter. "Son, I’m taking Miss Lambert home." He called into the kitchen.
"I’ll be back real soon." Buck opened the door for a still giggling Kayla, but as she stepped out onto the porch her laughter turned to screams. Sprawled across the front porch, covered in congealing blood, was the lifeless body of Miss Patterson.

What a beautiful woman Buck Cross had. Striking Bear paced his shack aimlessly as he contemplated the night’s events. He’d watched them talking, from his perch outside the window, for what seemed like hours. What a sweet picture they made, a man and his pretty lady, with his child sleeping in her lap. He had to laugh. He had his little surprise dumped outside the door for
hours while he watched them chat. They never heard a thing. Just chatting, chatting, chatting, chatting. He wondered briefly if that’s all they ever did. What a waste of a pretty woman. He didn’t waste Robin though. She told Striking Bear how thoroughly Buck Cross had used her, and she’d gone into excruciating detail about how much better she liked it than she did with him. It was going to be fun teaching that half-breed not to touch women that didn’t belong to him. Maybe he’d even keep Buck’s woman as his own. It just depended on if she was as sweet as she looked. He curled up on his bedroll. He needed his rest after all; he had work to do tomorrow.

Kayla was shaking uncontrollably. She had never seen so much blood in all her life. She clutched Noah more tightly to her chest, whispering in his ear. "Now honey, remember what I told you. Keep your eyes shut until I tell you it’s okay."

Buck ushered her out of the door, blocking her view of the carnage with his body. She ran from the porch straight to the buckboard. With Noah’s little arms and legs still wrapped securely around her waist and neck, she scrambled into the buckboard. Squirming, trying to see what all the fuss was about, Noah tried to lift his head. Kayla placed her hand gently against the back of his skull. "It’s not time yet." She said in a hushed tone.

"Why are you whispering?" He mumbled into her throat.

"I have no idea," she spoke into his hair. She felt the bench sink down under Buck’s weight. She peeked at him from around Noah’s head. She must have looked terrified because Buck gave her arm a comforting rub. He took the reigns, and the horses pulled them away from the terrible sight on the porch. Kayla removed her hand from Noah’s head. It immediately popped up. "What’s goin’ on Pa?"

"We’re going to see Uncle Kid."

"What’s wrong Pa?" The gravity in his father’s voice, and his terse reply had Noah on edge. Something was very very wrong.

"Don’t mind that, Noah. Everything will be fine." A thousand different scenarios played themselves out in Buck’s head. Who had done this, and why dump the evidence on his porch? Was someone trying to frame him? The predatory way of the whole thing had Buck on guard. He was dealing with an enemy, no doubt about that. The act of dumping a kill on the territory of
another was a blatant animalistic warning of danger or vengeance to come. Furious with himself, Buck worried for Noah and Kayla’s safety. If only he hadn’t been so immersed in Kayla that he missed all sounds of an intruder’s arrival. Whoever had done this could have very likely been watching them. They might know what these two people meant to him. He couldn’t abide the
thought of having Kayla taken from him after having just found her. Before this disaster, Buck had been enjoying the night of his life. He could still smell the fresh flowery sweetness of her on his clothes.

"Kayla I really think you should stay with Kid and Lou tonight."

"But I don’t even know these people. I don’t have clothes for tomorrow. I can’t look like I crawled out of bed in the clothes I slept in, and come to work without bothering to look decent."

Her head was swimming. She had so many questions to ask Buck, but she couldn’t without alarming Noah. Dear Lord, she wondered, who was that poor woman?

"I don’t think you should go to work tomorrow either."

"What?" Kayla felt her temper rising. She hated it when men got territorial on her. She’d only known Buck for a number of hours, phenomenal hours though they were she couldn’t let him have so much power over her. If there was hope for a relationship with him, he had to know that she wouldn’t be taking orders from him or any other man. It had taken her moving across country for Ben to get that through his thick scull.

"I thank you for your concern, Mr. Cross, but I’ll be going to work in the morning." 

Buck started. She’d just called him Mr. Cross.

She was mad. She was really mad. "I just want you safe Kayla. The man who did this might think he has a score to settle with me. He could have been watching us all night. He might try to go through you or Noah to get to me." 

Kayla paled.

"Pa, what’s going on!" Noah shrieked. "Why would anyone want to hurt us?"

"I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt us, but someone hurt your old teacher Miss Patterson and left her on our porch." 

Alarm rang out through every cell in her body, "That was the old teacher?" Buck simply nodded.

"Why didn’t you try to fix her Pa?"

"She was gone son."

"Oh." The smallness of Noah’s normally boisterous voice disturbed Buck.

"Is it my fault?" The little boy asked. Kayla’s heart broke at the sight of his big black eyes swimming in unshed tears.

"No!" Came Kayla and Buck’s simultaneous and emphatic reply. Buck watched in awe as Kayla wrapped his son in her arms, and began to rock him back and forth. Something seemed to squeeze his heart as he watched his child bury his face in her long dark hair. He’d never realized how much Noah needed a mother. Until this moment, Buck hadn’t realized how much he needed a companion. Would she ever give him a chance after this mess? As their destination drew nearer, Buck tried to persuade Kayla again to stay with his family. "Kayla, I need to find out who did this, and I won’t be able to if I’m worried about your safety." Kayla seemed to mull his words over for a while.

"If your friends don‘t mind me staying tonight, I will. As for skipping my first day in a new job, that’s absolutely out of the question." 

Buck heaved a great sigh. That was close enough for now. "Thank you, Kayla." His thanks caught her off guard. She was expecting the usual male orders and recriminations. The last time she gave Ben a flat out no, he’d accused her of being a seductress bent on driving him mad. Buck was certainly a breed apart. Her mind flashed back to his tenderness in tucking in his son, as well as initiating their kiss. He was so much more of a man
than any she had ever known, besides her father perhaps. He was so much better than what she could ever have hoped to have in her life. Her eyes locked on his. She gave a faint nod in acknowledgment of his thanks, but his eyes didn’t leave hers. He brought the horses to a halt in front of a large house. That’s all she could tell out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t care to
change her view to inspect the building better. Buck’s hand went up to her cheek, pulling strands soaked with Noah’s tears away from her face. He leaned over, and smoothly placed a chaste kiss, one on her cheek and another on the top of Noah’s head. Noah, who had recently lapsed into a deep sleep didn’t move, but Kayla was fighting to let him leave it at that. She wanted more than a mere peck on the cheek. She wondered briefly where their first kiss would have gone, had Noah not gotten thirsty. She pushed the thought out of her head. There were much bigger things for her to contend with, like school tomorrow.
 

Chapter 6

"I’m so sorry about this Louise. I didn’t mean to be an imposition tonight. I thought Buck was staying here too."

"You aren’t an imposition. Besides you’ve been through somethin’ terrible tonight. You deserve a safe place to rest. Anyways, it’s nice to have another woman around. For the longest, the only girls in this clan have been Rachel, Teresa, and me. You haven’t met Teresa yet. She was all ready asleep when you got here. She’s my baby sister. I know I’m talking way too much, and
that’s because I want to ask you some questions. But I don’t know you, and I don’t want you to get all uppity and decide I’m nosy."

"Well, Louise, considering that you were kind enough to take me in for the night with no prior notice at all, I’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you have."

"How long have you known Buck?" There was a faint accusation in her voice, but Kayla didn’t mind at all. From the way Buck spoke of this woman, she was his sister in every way but blood. She was entitled to be wary of new people in Buck’s life.

"What time is it?" Kayla joked. Lou stared at Kayla, incredulous.

"You’ve only known him for hours?"

"Yes, we met about four this afternoon. If it’s any consolation we’ve been inseparable since."   

Lou’s eyes narrowed. "Did you have anything to do with this mess?" 

Kayla’s eyes went wide, "Well of course not!" 

Lou watched the girl. There was something about the way Buck was when
he came in with her. It was like he was seeking protection for another loved one, not a virtual stranger. She hadn’t seen Buck that taken by a woman that quickly since that Devlin woman, and what a disaster that had been. "So let me get this straight. You just happen to move here recently," she looked at Kayla for confirmation. Kayla nodded. "You just happened to meet Buck today, and you just happened to be at his house when this dead woman was found there. Now that’s a few too many coincidences for me."

"I’m very sorry you feel that way, but I have to admit that in your shoes, I would feel the same way. I should probably go back to the boarding house. Do you think I could borrow a horse?"

"No way. If I let you leave here Buck would have my hide."

"I really don’t mean to be any trouble. I…I know I’ve just met Buck, but I all ready care a great deal about him. He’s a very special person. I understand why you want so much to protect him."

Lou blew a chunk of her bangs out of her face. She had been all set to hate this new woman in Buck’s life, and then she had to go and say something nice like that. "You really like him don’t you?" Kayla didn’t get a chance to answer. Noah appeared in the doorway, tears streaming down his little brown cheeks. "My Pa went to go find the bad man didn’t he?" Lou watched
astounded as Kayla opened her arms, and the boy came running straight to her. She hauled him up to her hip, kissed his nose, and began to quietly utter assurances in his ear. The woman had a gift. She had Noah back to sleep within moments. Silently, Lou followed her as she took him back to Jeremiah’s room, and tucked him in beside Jeremiah without waking either child. The outright affection she kissed his forehead with left Lou completely without a doubt that she did care for Buck as well as his son.

Kid and Buck hastened their way to the Marshall’s office. They understood that they were grasping at straws, but they wanted to check out the wanted posters anyway, just in case they recognized someone. As soon as they walked in, Barnett greeted them enthusiastically. "Hey Buck, I'm glad to see you here. There was an Indian feller here lookin’ fer ya."

"What?" Buck stared open mouthed.

"Yip, I just told ‘im where ya lived so ya’ll could get reacquainted." Realization dawned on Buck, so that’s how the madman had known where to leave the body. Unfortunately, he still had to figure out the why of the matter. "You sent a stranger to my house?"

"Well, I thought you was friends."

"What gave you that idea?"

"Well he knowed yer name, and he’s Indian, like you."

"He’s Kiowa?"

"Well how should I know?" Barnett whined.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, and releasing it through his mouth, Buck tried with little result to force down his rising temper. "Barnett, would you know this man if you saw him again?"

"Well sure."

Come on then, we’re going to look for him."

"Are you boys gonna tell me what’s goin’ on here?" As the threesome went on the prowl for their murderous enigma, they explained the night’s events to the deputy.

Kayla had no idea how she could still be standing. She hadn’t bothered to go to bed at all the preceding night. It would have been a pointless pursuit anyway. Every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was a ruined body covered with blood. She wanted to know what was going on. Why would any one kill the other teacher? Noah had said that she’d gone crazy. Why hadn’t she been in an institution? Why would Buck be the recipient of such a sick offering? She absolutely refused to believe that Buck had anything to do with this mess. He'd been as shocked as she had. Instead of obsessing about questions she had no hope to answer, she went to Louise. She had ended up talking the latter half of the night away with a woman she now knew simply as Lou. Kayla could understand why Buck loved her so much. She was smart, funny, and she could keep those men in line like nothing Kayla had ever seen. They had shared the morning chores, as well as preparing breakfasts for the crowd that had assembled in the Marshall’s household during the early morning hours.

Upon dawn, Kid, Buck, and some man they called Barnett had shown up haggard, hungry, and empty-handed. The Mayor followed not too much later than that, inquiring as to why the Marshall’s office was locked up.

The jail was supposed to be manned at all times to watch the jailed criminals as well as to be available for emergencies of the town folk. Teaspoon and Kid had made it a habit of being there for anyone who needed them for any reason, which was very likely why the town revered them so. His office being upstairs from the Marshall’s office let him know that something big was amiss as soon as he showed up to work in an empty building. Upon finding Kid’s house full of his deputy staff, his Marshall, his family sans his wife, and the school teacher he’d hired the day before, Teaspoon hitched his pants up, tipped his hat, and inquired, "What the flamin’ hell is goin’ on here?" Everyone clamored to answer his question at the same time. So, he plopped down in front of Lou’s dining table to wait out the loud cacophony of raised voices. He spied Miss Lambert who was sitting silently across from him. He raised his brow at her. She looked around the room, smirked, and shrugged at him.

After he managed to drag a coherent story from the group, Teaspoon sent Barnett to man the office, and he decided to take Buck’s place in the search for clues so that he could take care of Miss Lambert. Teaspoon agreed that she shouldn’t be left alone, and he was all fired happy to see Buck take such a powerful shine to such a nice lady. He was so relieved to see that she
seemed to share Buck’s feelings. That boy deserved some happiness. He’s spent his life being so damn responsible that he hadn’t bothered to do anything for himself. Teaspoon figured that she’d be good for Buck. He personally agreed with Buck about her just staying put, but he was old
and wise enough to know that it is pointless to argue with a woman who has her mind made up. That thought reminded him of his wife who was at home alone and oblivious to what was happening. He'd run by on his way out to explain things to her. Hopefully she’d decide to go to Kid and Lou’s house to stay with Lou, Jeremiah, Teresa, and Noah. He doubted there would be
trouble there, but you couldn’t be too careful. They would be safer together.

Kayla decided she was being ridiculous. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been alone with Buck before. She had, well, sort of. Noah was always around, but he was not always in the room. That qualified as alone didn’t it? She took a deep breath. She couldn’t think straight. Every time she almost managed a logical thought, her mind would short circuit, and remind her how good he looked, or how intimately she had let him touch her the night before. Thinking about that was her undoing. She had no idea how she was going to keep her mind on her job today. He asked her if it was okay for him to sit in and keep an eye on her. Considering it was the old school teacher who’d been murdered she had agreed, but how was she going to keep her eyes off of him? As soon as she’d agreed to his playing guard for her at the school, he lit into her about not staying alone in the boarding house. She had been so lonely since leaving New York that staying with friends sounded wonderful. Especially since she and Lou had overcome their initial problems, and become fast friends. She was willing to be talked into it even more because she was too stubborn
to admit to being frightened. She realized, though that she was also hoping to see a great deal of Buck while she was with his family. She knew for a fact that Noah wasn’t going to be allowed back into his home until Buck had a chance to sand down and paint the porch to erase any lasting vestiges of the gore that had befallen it the night before. If Noah was going to be there,
then surely Buck would be too.

Buck was worried about his loved ones’ safety. After a night of searching they had found nothing. Even another search of not only the Doctor’s property that Robin disappeared from, but also Buck’s property, yielded no new information to their search. Now that Buck knew that their suspect was of some kind of Indian heritage he could understand how he managed to leave no trace. Though it disconcerted Buck even more because this led him to the conclusion that his enemy was extremely stealthy. Buck had a suspicion that this man was the one responsible for the healed wounds of Miss Patterson’s that the doctor had described to him. But still, his most
important question was left unanswered. Why him?

Kayla and Buck made their way into the boarding house, not missing the scornful glare the boardinghouse mistress, Mrs. Koniker gave them. They had tried to pass her without comment, but she blocked the hall, and informed Kayla that men were not allowed in her room, and furthermore, Indians were not allowed at all. Kayla had spoken as if her tongue were coated with
honey. She described the last night’s events as sweetly as if she were reading a bedtime story to an infant. Buck had to smile. Kayla was spoon feeding this horrific story to the rude matron knowing that afterward, she’d be terrified enough to let Kayla do whatever she wanted as long as she didn’t involve her in the trouble. Kayla led Buck to her room as soon as she artfully
dismissed Mrs. Koniker with a wave and a smile. Buck was falling heavily for Kayla. The woman was lion hearted. Nothing stopped her.

"Buck, would you mind waiting out here while I freshen up?"

"Of course not." Buck was happy to give her privacy, but he was worried about not being able to see her. He wanted to be certain of her safety. As soon as the door shut, he strained his ears so that he wouldn’t miss any kind of a struggle. Unfortunately, his listening for danger plan backfired
when he heard the noises of clothes being removed, and water being pored. He stood beside her door with visions of a naked and glistening Kayla floating around in his mind. After Buck had managed to rile himself into a lust-fueled frenzy, Kayla opened the door to invite him into her domain. She had changed into a flattering pink dress. It accented the smallness of her waist, and it complemented the color of her eyes and hair. Her raven hair was pulled atop her head in a loose bun. Silken tresses were falling about her face and neck, adhering to the moisture that still resided on her smooth skin after her makeshift bath. He knew he should be asking to help her with her bags. He knew he should be helping her check the room to make sure she hadn’t left any of her things. He knew he should be getting her to work as quickly as he could. But he also knew that he would explode it he didn’t touch her, and that he might well explode if he did. He reached up to gently tug on a loose strand. "You look beautiful." 

She blushed profusely. "Do I look beautiful enough for a good luck kiss?" Her answer came in the form of Buck’s hand sliding to the back of her neck, and pulling her to him.

It was a miracle that they managed to get to the school at all. Luckily, another renter at the boarding house had passed by giggling at the site of them. That had sobered them up enough to get moving. Kayla was astounded to find that she had beaten all of her pupils to the school. She pointed Buck to a desk in the back of the room, and managed to familiarize herself with the space to her satisfaction as her first few students began to trickle in. The day had been a flurry of questions, many of which were about the man in the back, rule constituting, and getting to know some of the children of Rock Creek. Through all of it, Buck’s eyes never wavered from her, and her thoughts never left him.