TITLE: I Take You With Me
AUTHOR: Irene F. Anulacion
FEEDBACK: eifa@hotmail.com
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: The Young Riders don't belong to the author, but to
MGM/UA Television, Ed Spielman and Josh Kane. No copyright infringement
intended.

                             I Take You With Me
                            BY IRENE F. ANULACION
                                   [Image]

LATE SEPTEMBER, 1861

The sound of an ax chopping wood and horses neighing in the barn mingled
with the sounds of Rock Creek awakening to face another day. The shopkeepers
and store owners were throwing open their shutters and unlocking their
doors. Women were preparing breakfast for their families. The sun was coming
up to cast its might over all.

At the edge of town, closest to the sounds of the ax and the horses, two
women were readying coffee and eggs for a quartet of Pony Express riders.
Louise McCloud and Rachel Dunne sat in the station's bunkhouse over steaming
mugs of coffee and waited for the riders to arrive for breakfast.

"Rachel, is this right? There are only three runs scheduled this week?" Lou
asked as she read the log containing the times and dates of the upcoming
mail runs.

"From what I hear, that's the most any station has been getting lately,"
Rachel confirmed with a nod. "But at least the company never paid on a
run-basis. Or else everyone would be in trouble -- especially Cody."

Lou smiled at Rachel's attempt at levity. It had been a sad few months since
her wedding. How ironic, Lou thought. It should have been the happiest time
of my life. She and Kid were both happy, but times were just too sad to
really appreciate it. Noah and Jesse were gone, Kid and Jimmy hardly spoke,
Buck had withdrawn further from everyone, and Cody was getting ready to ride
off permanently with the Army.

Then there was the damned war. Rosemary Burke had become another casualty of
it. Shortly after Noah's funeral, she had taken an overdose of laudanum. Lou
thought she hadn't been able to live with the guilt of knowing she had lead
Noah into the ambush by the Pierson gang, the southern sympathizers who had
murdered Rosemary's abolitionist husband, Isaiah. The note she left told
Jimmy that she hoped her death would allow him and the others to heal.
Instead, it had caused an even bigger rift between Kid and Jimmy, which was
a complicated relationship from the start. Lou wondered if Jimmy still
blamed Kid for Rosemary's death. Kid had made it clear he held Rosemary
responsible for Noah.

Having to deal with all the turmoil of the situation, Lou still didn't feel
as though she and Kid were married. They hadn't yet found a place to live.
Rachel had been more than happy to let them stay with her in the meantime,
but Lou knew they needed to start looking for their own home. She accepted
the fact that Kid wanted to return to Virginia, but she couldn't bear the
thought of him fighting in the war. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to
stay in Rock Creek once the Express closed. The thought of staying behind
while the others moved on was something else she couldn't bear. They had
talked about it, but a decision was far from being made. Instead, she and
Kid had put thoughts of the future into the background.

Realizing Rachel was waiting for a response, Lou told her, "If that were
true, Cody would have made all of five dollars working for the Express." She
smiled, just thinking of some of the schemes William Frederick Cody pulled
to get out of his share of the work was almost enough to make her laugh out
loud.

As if he possessed some sixth sense, the blond, blue-eyed Cody burst through
the door. "Are those bacon and eggs I smell, Rachel? I'm starved."

"You're always 'starved', Cody. What are you going to do when Captain Erbach
comes back from Washington with your orders and expects his scout to lead
him through the Wild West? You'll probably be eating tinned beans and
hardtack," Rachel told him.

"That's why I have to shore up now. It was real good of the captain to let
me stay here instead of going with the squad to Washington. It gives me a
chance to enjoy your cooking a while longer."

"I'm happy that Erbach let you stay, too. It'll be hard seeing you go,"
Rachel confessed as she loaded up his plate with bacon, eggs, and potatoes.

Cody's face fell and he grew quiet. Even his gregariousness seemed forced
these days. A weight as oppressive as two hours in Teaspoon's sweat lodge
was pressing down on all of them.

As Kid and Buck finished their morning chores, Jimmy arrived from his run to
Apple Creek.

"How was your run, Jimmy?" Rachel asked from the head of the table.

"Quiet. Most of the men in Apple Creek are gone. Went off to the city to
join the Army," Jimmy told her as he sat down on her left, next to the
munching Cody.

"It seems like the war's forcing everyone to take sides," Kid sat down
opposite Jimmy.

"Well, it wasn't too hard for you, now, was it?" Jimmy angrily turned on his
friend. "I'm surprised you haven't run off to Virginia yet. Or do you just
pick on innocent women?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kid returned, shocked.

Trying to avoid a fight, Cody spoke up. "Will you two button it, please? I'm
trying to eat here."

"You know good and damn well what that means," Jimmy said icily, ignoring
Cody.

From Cody's left came a calm voice. "Jimmy, Rosemary killed herself. Kid had
nothing to do with it," Buck, as always, tried to defuse the situation.

"Buck's right, Jimmy." Rachel lightly touched Jimmy's arm. "Rosemary chose
to end her life. Now, I don't agree with what she did, but there's nothing
more we can do for her."

"Yes, there is," Jimmy told her cryptically as he pulled his arm away. "You
are responsible for what happened to her -- all of you. The way you treated
her after Noah's death was something I can never forgive. The way you
excluded her. The way you made her feel. You stopped short of running her
out of town."

"Jimmy, we didn't do any of that," Lou told him as she brought the coffeepot
to the table and sat next to Kid. We tried to welcome Rosemary. She just
didn't want to be a part of us."

With a short laugh Jimmy asked, "Is that you or your husband talking, Lou?
You gave up a lot more than just riding for the Express, didn't you?"

Kid rose from his chair. "That's enough! You're out of line," he told the
man opposite him.

Looking at the hurt on Lou's face, Jimmy conceded -- that much. "Sorry, Lou.
I don't have a problem with you."

"None of us know what we're saying or doing these days. Let's just try to
get through one meal without any bloodshed. Please," Rachel asked her
charges.

The six occupants of the room were chewing in silence when Teaspoon, the
waystation manager, took his seat at the other end of the table.

"Boys, Lou, Rachel," he began and took out a folded piece of paper. "There's
something I've been meaning to talk to you about. I guess y'all know what it
is. I just received a message from the head office. It says it'll be a
matter of weeks before the last of the telegraph lines are up. Once they
are, I don't have to tell you that'll be the end of the Express. Frankly,
Russell, Majors, and Waddell will be bankrupt. They'd be crazy to try to
compete with the telegraph. They plan to keep a handful of riders in case of
emergency, but nothing permanent.

"I'm telling you this because it's time that all of you started thinking
about what you want to do. Some of you have already," he glanced at Cody.
"But it's time all of you decided. I don't want any of you caught without a
plan. So you should know that the time of the Express is over. Maybe you
should start looking for other jobs. The sooner, the better. They're looking
for people to run the telegraph offices. It may not be as exciting as
dodging bullets and bandits, but the pay's not bad. Just something to think
about."

Teaspoon chose not to mention the war. He didn't want to encourage the
growing animosity among them. He knew the war would factor into the
decisions made by all. He wanted them to find a way to stay together. In
times like these, a man's place was were his roots were. Family: nothing
more important, nothing more sacred. These boys -- and girl -- were as much
a part of him as his own blood kin were. And they were just as much a part
of one another.

He just hoped they could all remember that.

                                    *****

"Sometimes I think you may be the lucky one," Cody said as he sat down by
the small plot of land in the middle of the cemetery. "You don't wake up
every morning with a big space in your chest. Something's missing, Noah.
Something's very wrong. But what is it? Everything?" Cody paused and waited.
Of course, he didn't expect Noah to answer. Nevertheless, he needed some
kind of direction, comfort and assurance that he was doing the right thing
by riding off with Army.

"The family" was over. But they were still all trying to hang on. Dimly,
Cody wondered if the others felt the same immense loss. They were as close
to kin as he had. He didn't want to leave them. But he had always wanted to
seek glory and fame. And the Army needed him. It was only a matter of time
before the war engulfed the entire country. He was one of the best scouts
the Express had. The Union would benefit from his skills.

However appealing the glory would be, Cody could not forget that he probably
would be fighting against men he had grown to love and consider family. Kid
and Teaspoon had made it known that they believed in the South. Would Cody
one day find himself pointing a gun at Teaspoon? How could any of them let
this war tear apart their family? He had expressed these doubts to Captain
Erbach, who had let him take some time before joining the Army permanently.

Noah was already gone. Cody sometimes woke in the middle of the night with
tears rolling down his cheeks and his arms cradling his pillow as if it were
Noah's dead body. Noah had wanted so much to fight for the Union. But the
Army -- like so many others -- didn't allow blacks to be a part of it. The
war was being fought in part for men and women like Noah, but Captain Erbach
made it more than clear that Noah could not fight along side Cody.

But that didn't stop Noah. He had secretly followed the Army to the Pierson
hideout and had ended up getting killed. The Army had at least given him a
proper funeral. Noah would have been proud.

Cody stood and wiped the dirt from his pants. Captain Erbach had arrived
yesterday with orders that he and his squad -- including his scout -- would
be moving on to Pueblo, Colorado at the end of October. There were rumors
that Confederates were gathering men and supplies there in an effort to gain
control of the western territories. It was time to start moving. He had a
few more runs for the Pony Express and then he would be a real soldier.

The rider smoothed his hair and replaced the butternut hat on his head. He
took one last look at the grave and its wooden marker then walked toward the
bunkhouse, its form a huge shadow as the setting sun glowed red behind it.

                                    *****

Erbach was waiting for Teaspoon as the U.S. marshal entered his office. In
the darkened room, Teaspoon was startled when Erbach rose from his chair to
greet his old friend.

Gripping the railing of the fence in front of his desk, Teaspoon told him,
"I could have shot you, Tommy. You really ought to give me some warning
before you go popping up like that."

"Teaspoon, you're just jumpy. I made enough noise to scare a deaf man."

Realizing he and his friend were on opposite sides of the same conflict,
Teaspoon was hesitant to ask what business Erbach had with him.

"I don't have business with you, I have business with your Express station."

"Well, Cody's rearing to go with you next month. I saw him over by the
cemetery earlier if you need to talk to him."

"It's not about Mr. Cody, though I hope he has worked through any misgivings
he had about joining the war. The Army needs your company to transport some
important material to troops in Colorado."

Anger and fear rose in Teaspoon at the thought of putting what was left of
his riders in the middle of a war zone. "We did enough by helping you bring
down Pierson. I already lost one of my riders to this war. I don't plan on
losing anymore -- at least not while they're still working for me."

"I was hoping you would be more cooperative. This isn't a request. This is
an order. Transporting this information has been added to your list of runs
by the head office of Russell, Majors, and Waddell. It seems the Army
offered them a large sum to transport it and, as you know, your company has
been hurting for funds for some time now."

"Well, if it's so all fired important, why don't you just use the
telegraph?"

"That has not been proven a secure means of communication. The Pony Express
has proven to be most reliable -- you've helped us before. Why should this
be any different?"

"You know why," Teaspoon told him.

                                    *****

Toward the back of the barn, outside, next to the tack room, James Butler
Hickok drew one of his twin Colts and fired at the cans lined up on the
fence. An outsider might have thought that "Wild Bill" was just practicing
for his next kill. But Jimmy could never be the gunfighter created in the
mind of dime novelist J.D. Marcus. In truth, the sound of his guns helped
him think.

The wind blew his long auburn hair, but he paid it no mind. The gunshots
drowned out all other sounds and allowed him to concentrate on his own
thoughts. They were very confused and conflicted -- much like those owned by
the other individuals around him.

Rosemary was dead. Noah was dead. But for what? Noah had died trying to save
Rosemary's life. He had sacrificed himself for her. That's why Jimmy was so
angry with her for taking her own life. By doing so, Rosemary had made
Noah's death invalid. Noah didn't have to die. Was Rosemary as guilt ridden
and desperate as the others had claimed? Did she kill herself to escape her
self-inflicted torment, rather than the torment inflicted on her by Kid and
the others?

The old anger welled up in Jimmy's throat as he thought of the angry looks
Kid had thrown at Rosemary over Noah's grave the day of the funeral. She had
broken down in tears later that day. She had wanted to leave town, but Jimmy
had convinced her to stay. Did that make him responsible, too? Did that make
him responsible for Noah as well? He didn't know. He drew his gun and fired.

From a few feet behind him, came a shot a scant second after his. Two cans
exploded off the fence. Then two more, then another two. Finally, the fence
was empty, the smell of gunpowder heavy in the air, the ground strewn with
bits of tin. Jimmy re-holstered his gun and turned to face Kid. He almost
smiled at his friend. Almost.

"Felt just like old times, didn't it Jimmy?"

"Felt like, but isn't," Jimmy told him as he began to stack bottles on top
of the fence. "Let's go again."

Inside the bunkhouse, Teaspoon asked, "Rachel, who's scheduled for the run
to Denver tomorrow?"

Rachel, the blond schoolteacher/waystation housekeeper stood from where she
was grading papers and thought. "Come to think of it, I don't know. Lou made
up the schedule for the next month. You want some coffee?" She walked over
to the stove a poured herself a cup.

"No, I have to find the schedule first."

"Well, Lou and Buck are in the barn sweeping out the stalls."

"Thanks." With that, Teaspoon exited and strolled toward the barn. He could
hear the gunshots of Kid and Jimmy echoing through the afternoon. Just let
them be firing at cans or even prairie dogs, but please don't let them be
firing at each other. When the sound of breaking glass eased his worries he
entered the barn to talk to Lou.

"That's four for four, Jimmy. Looks like we're even," Kid said to his fellow
rider as he holstered his smoking gun. Jimmy turned to face Kid with an
even, piercing -- and deadly -- stare. Kid stared back.

"Not quite even, Kid." A coldness crept into his brown eyes.

"You figure you owe me over what happened to Rosemary? You still think I was
to blame? She killed herself, Jimmy. Everyone else can see that. Even Cody,
who's on your side. You have to get pass it." Jimmy continued to stare at
him. Kid turned and started for the barn. He whirled and drew his gun at the
sound of metal clearing leather. The two men stood facing each other, guns
drawn.

"Jimmy, Kid! What the hell is going on here?" Teaspoon asked as he stepped
between the feuding men.

After a moment, Jimmy broke the silence. "I was just foolin'," Jimmy told
him, trying to hide his fear of what he had almost done. He re-holstered his
gun.

"Yeah, it looks like it. Get into the bunkhouse. I have something I need to
discuss with you boys." With that, Teaspoon turned on his heel and led a
trembling Jimmy and a stunned Kid back to where the others waited.

"What's all this about, Teaspoon?" Jimmy asked impatiently.

"I'll make this as quick as possible so that you and Kid can go back to
shooting each other. Just have a seat." Jimmy sat on the edge of the bench
next to Lou. Kid leaned against his bunk. Rachel sat in the corner, Buck
next to the hearth. Cody propped his form against the table. The glow of a
single lantern cast shadows upon all present.

Teaspoon stood by the door and looked at Buck. Despite the darkness, he
could see that there were shadows under the young man's eyes, proof that he
was taking the war as hard as everyone else. Out of all of them, Buck was
the most poignant victim. It was his land too the United States was tearing
itself apart over, yet he was helpless to do anything about it. Teaspoon
thought that perhaps with the war taking up so much of the Army's time, it
would give the Indians a chance to recover from all the hardship they had
had to endure in the past. But looking at Buck, that seemed doubtful.

"You're scheduled for the relay to Denver, right?" Teaspoon asked the quiet
Indian.

"Yeah, I'm riding out tomorrow morning. It shouldn't take more than a few
days. Just a regular run, right?" The young man pushed his long raven hair
behind his ears and leaned forward, waiting for the negative answer from the
older man.

"This isn't just another run. The Army has requisitioned us -- the telegraph
is too 'insecure' at the moment -- to transport information about the
Confederates. They hit Fort Fillmore beside the Organ Mountains in July. The
town of Mesilla has been appointed the capital of Arizona Territory under
the Confederates. The North is afraid it'll lose more territory in the
coming weeks. The information you'll be carrying is very important to the
Union troops garrisoned outside the town of Pueblo."

"Why would either side bother with land all the way out there? There's
nothing there but a few small towns and a lot of Indians," Jimmy said.

"It's not so much the land but what cuts across it. The Oregon and Santa Fe
Trails -- not to mention the stage and mail routes -- run smack dab through
the western territories." Teaspoon paused to let the information sink in.

"Whichever side gains a stronghold out there gains control of the only
overland routes to California," Kid realized. Teaspoon knew his boys weren't
dumb.

The enormity of the situation struck Buck. "What kind of information is in
this mochilla?"

"Maps mostly. They tell the locations of Confederate stores and camps.
Erbach carried them from Washington. It seems the Union Army has spies
everywhere. He would have carried them himself, but only he and Cody are in
town now. The rest of the squad won't arrive till next month. And, of
course, the Express' reputation gave him no other choice to get the mochilla
to the Army in Colorado. I wasn't able to get much else out of Erbach."

"This isn't my war, Teaspoon. I didn't ask to be a part of this," Buck told
him, hesitant to aid either side.

"I'll take the run. I'm already a part of this," Cody told him.

"Now hold on, Cody. I'm not going to treat this any different than I would
any other run. Buck's the one assigned to make the run to Denver. You may
not want to be involved in the war," he looked at Buck. "But you're a rider
for the Pony Express -- you can sense trouble coming up from behind you and
know how to find a way around it. You'll be fine."

"Come on, Teaspoon. This isn't just any other run!" Kid exclaimed. "Buck
shouldn't have to take risks for the Army."

"You'd feel pretty different if the news he was carrying helped the South,"
Jimmy challenged.

"No, I wouldn't. You were always the one who didn't want to get involved.
Why are you so anxious to get blood on your hands, now?" Kid asked.

"Because I already do," Jimmy stated.

"Will you two just shut up!" Lou shouted. "You may hate each other, but that
doesn't mean you have to argue every time you're in the same room! Teaspoon,
what if we all made that ride?"

"What? Are you crazy?" Jimmy and Kid had finally found something to agree
on.

"Lou's right," Rachel chimed in from her corner. "You've done it before, had
an extra gun on special runs. Instead of one gun to back up Buck, there'll
be four. It's not as though there are any other runs that need to be done."

"That sounds like a plan," Buck sounded relieved at the possibility of not
having to make the ride into rumored Confederate territory alone.

"Do you three have any objections?" Teaspoon asked Cody, Jimmy, and Kid. All
three shook their heads. "If you run into any trouble, look up Will McCall,
he's the marshal in Denver. He's a friend of mine. You five better get a
good night's rest. You'll leave at the first crack of dawn."

                                   *****

The small frame house near the edge of town was dark save for the faint glow
coming from a second floor window. It was a sultry early fall evening --
warm, slightly oppressive but with a gentle breeze blowing. The full moon
shone down on the house and the neighboring corral and way station. Two
occupants of the house were still awake, though it was nearing midnight.

The young man with sandy colored hair looked at the silhouette of the woman
standing by the window she had just pushed opened. He studied her while she
paused to look out at the town below. The breeze from the open window
ruffled her dark brown hair and billowed the shirt she had slipped on.
Grinning, he noticed how tiny she seemed in that shirt; it dwarfed her and
came down passed her knees. He liked how she looked in his shirt -- though,
at the moment, he wanted her out of it and back in bed with him.

As she continued to gaze out the window, he grew somewhat impatient.
Mischievously, he asked his wife, "What's so interesting out there that
you've abandoned me?"

"I thought you were supposed to be asleep," came her quick reply. "If you
must know, I was looking at the vacant house across the way. Have you given
it any more thought?"

Kid groaned inwardly as he tried to think of an excuse to deflect the
question -- again. He rose and pulled on his pants. Barefooted, he took the
few steps to stand behind Lou. Following her line of sight, he looked at the
house Teaspoon had told them about. It had been almost two weeks and neither
of them had seriously looked into it.

"To tell you the truth, I haven't been able to give it much thought. Were
you able to look at it while I was on my run to Benton?"

Lou looked at her husband's reflection in the window. "Well, I've been busy
helping Rachel schedule the runs and look after the station." Her eyes
quickly darted from his. That was only a half-truth.

A few weeks after the wedding and the start of the war, the Express was
busier than ever. It seemed that the news of the conflict back East couldn't
be carried out West fast enough. Every method imaginable, people looked ways
for to find out information, any indication of how soon the war would reach
those in the territories. Russell, Majors, and Waddell even hired forty more
riders to carry the load. Even the new telegraph couldn't get the news to
people fast enough.

But now the lines were almost complete. The hoof beats of the fastest pony
could not compete with the tapping across those wires. The runs had started
to become more easily scheduled as the weeks rode on. They were getting
shorter as well. Relays were being cut. Several stations to the east had
already been closed. Many had already lost their jobs. Everyone at the Rock
Creek station could feel the Express slowly dying.

Still, the station refused to truly believe the end was near.

"Mmmhmm. I can see how you would be busy," Kid lied. "Maybe in the next week
we can look at it together."

"That'll be nice. It wouldn't be too far from Rachel and the boys."

"If they're still here by then."

It had been five months since the wedding -- and all the tragedy that had
followed it. Michael, a friend of Lou's, had died at her feet minutes after
the ceremony. He had signed up to fight for the Union -- it was still hard
to think of the United States in terms of the Union and the Confederacy --
and had died in a border dispute at the hands of southern sympathizers. A
few days later, Noah Dixon, the free-born black rider and their friend, was
killed by the same men.

The final blow came almost immediately.

William Cody, the newly recruited Army scout, revealed he had seen Frank
James among the men responsible for Noah's death. The young Jesse James
confessed to telling his brother about the planned Army attack on the
sympathizers. He swore he never had meant for Noah to get caught in the
middle. Nevertheless, he had. The last the riders saw of Jesse was at Noah's
funeral, when Jesse headed to Missouri to wait out the war that had so
quickly and irrevocably torn apart the Express family.

The five riders that remained -- William Cody, James Hickok, The Kid, Lou
McCloud, and Buck Cross -- anxiously waited. They waited for the news none
of them wanted to hear, news that would force them to face their uncertain
futures -- futures all of them subconsciously felt would be unavoidably
separate. Everyday they waited for Teaspoon Hunter, grizzled Express manager
and U.S. marshal, to inform them that the telegraph lines had been finished.
Through modern technology news from St. Joseph to San Francisco could be
relayed in seconds rather than days. The Pony Express would be obsolete. The
fragile bonds so painstakingly built among the riders, and worn thin by the
newly erupted War Between the States, would be forever severed with the end
of the Express.

Would any of them survive? Not just the war, Kid thought. Can any of us
survive without one another?

Spurred on by his melancholy musings, Kid turned and sat on the windowsill.
"I guess we have to face it, Lou. It's only a matter of months, maybe even
weeks, and the Express will be gone. We have to decide what we're going to
do."

At the flash of apprehension on his wife's face, Kid added, "I'm not going
to make any decisions without you."

So, here we go, Lou thought. The one thing she feared the most was about to
escape her husband's lips. She knew his home state of Virginia was always
close to his heart. With the advent of the war, she could almost feel Kid
being pulled there as if it were a physical being. Kid had become so
disillusioned since Noah's death, so lost. It seemed as though his past in
Virginia were a beacon, guiding Kid through the storm-tossed present.

"You want to go back to Virginia and fight for the Confederacy," Lou
breathed, almost as a resignation. She raised her arms and clasped her hands
behind Kid's head.

"Lou, I don't know if I want to fight in this war," he told her as his arms
encircled her slim waist. "All I know is that I promised I would never ride
on without you. I plan to keep that promise. But we have to face the truth.
We can't pretend this war isn't going on or that we'll be out of jobs soon."

Remembering a night not so long ago when she and Kid sat talking across a
campfire, Lou felt in her heart there was only one choice she could make.
That night when she, Kid, and Buck had been tracking Frank and Jesse James,
Kid vowed that he would return to Virginia if his memories of home were ever
threatened -- with or without Lou. She remembered the anguish on his face
and the quiet conviction in his voice when he told her that he might one day
have to leave her and return to his boyhood home.

Looking deep into the sharp, intelligent blue eyes of the man she had so
recently vowed to love and cherish, Lou spoke quietly and carefully.
"Growing up I was never in one place long enough to develop any good
memories of it. My pa was always moving us from place to place. After he ran
out, my ma kept moving, trying to find work to keep us together. I never
understood how you could love a place so much. Virginia isn't a person or
even an animal that could ever return the love and respect you have for it.
It doesn't have a heart, or a soul, or memories.

"But then I started listening to you talk about it. It stopped being some
distant place. It became your family, your friends. It became your heart,
your soul, your memories. Listening to your stories and seeing you defend it
against people like Rosemary Burke -- or even Jimmy -- I understand how real
Virginia is. It's your home. It's who you are." She stopped to take a breath
and allow him to digest what she was saying.

"In spite of all that, it still scares me so much to think of you fighting
and dying for it," she whispered. "But it scares me more to think of you
facing that fight by yourself. If you decide to go back to Virginia and
fight, I'll be with you. I know I could never physically fight the war by
your side, but I want to be as close to you as I can. I don't ever want you
to leave me, but I know nothing could ever stop you from fighting for your
home -- for who you are."

Kid expelled the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Lou had been
thinking about this for a long time. He could see the torment in her brown
eyes, which were wide and weary. Now, gazing into them, he could see his
face mirrored there, twin reflections of the love and admiration he felt for
this woman standing before him. This decision hadn't been easy for her. But
she was giving him her blessing to return to Virginia.

He couldn't think of any words that could equal the ones she had just
spoken. "I don't know what to say, Lou."

"Good. I'm not sure I could handle your answer right now." She gently stoked
his cheek. Both were mildly surprised when her fingers came away moist with
tears.

"I love you," Kid breathed with a conviction and strength he never knew he
possessed. He tightened his hold on her waist and brought his mouth up to
hers. The kiss was born of a need to express all the emotions kept too long
hidden.

Kid broke the kiss and closed his eyes. When he opened them he looked to
find his wife smiling ruefully down at him. "I know you do," she whispered.

Without another word, he rose from the sill and took her hand firmly in his.
Leading her to the bed, they began to make love.

Their passion that night was not the result of desire or even love. It was
an ardent expression of the fear, apprehension, and dread both felt as they
reflected on what lay ahead. Whatever was in their future, they would face
it together. No words were needed to secure that promise. That night the
young couple's loyalty, love, and commitment to each other were irreversibly
sealed. Both knew neither could be complete without the other.

Outside, the full moon shone brightly and a slight breeze blew. ***

Seventy-five miles outside Denver, the riders stopped to water their horses.
They had been following the South Platte River, and from here they would
turn south and follow the trail through the forest. What lay before them was
a dense expanse of maple and aspen -- a place where men could easily conceal
themselves from view.

The five of them dismounted and stretched their legs.

Lou placed herself upon one of the granite boulders that sat atop the rise
leading down to the bank of the river. "I sure have missed this. I'd
forgotten how fun it is."

"I'd hold off on saying that until we get through those trees over there,"
Cody reminded her as he threw the pouch onto a shrub next to the giant
rocks. He looked up at Lou as he sat down on the ground and leaned against
the trunk of a fallen maple tree. Jimmy and Kid wandered down the slight
hill to walk along the water's edge.

Buck sat next to Lou and asked, "Do you think we're going to run into any
trouble so close to Denver?"

Lou answered, "Have we ever been on a run where we didn't find some sort of
trouble?"

Almost as if Lou's words had been a prophecy, their attention was drawn by
the sound of approaching horses. From the southwest came six riders, all in
Union blue.

"She had to say that," Cody mumbled to himself as he rose to greet the
newcomers. Buck and Lou climbed off the boulder to join Kid and Jimmy who
had returned at the sound of the hoof beats. The four of them stood in front
of the pouch, a human shield.

The man in front was clearly their leader. He sat tall in the saddle,
shoulders back, boots and buttons shining. Though he returned Cody's smile
of greeting, no warmth entered his flint-gray eyes. Cody observed that his
men were not as sharply dressed. They were dusty, dirty, and had an anxious
look about them.

"Gentlemen, my name is Lieutenant Tanner, 7th Cavalry stationed outside
Pueblo. Am I correct in assuming you are with the Pony Express?"

"That be us, Lieutenant. William F. Cody, under Captain Tom Erbach, Rock
Creek.

"You're an Army man? What are you doing riding for the Pony Express?"

"I've worked for the Express since it started -- all five of us have.
Figured I'd see it through till the very end."

"That's very commendable. We've been waiting for your arrival. Now, if you
will hand over the documents, we can all be on our way."

"That's real nice of you to want to save us the trip, but company policy
says you have to pick up the mail at the way station in Denver," Kid told
the lieutenant, growing suspicious.

"Why not hand it over now?" Jimmy asked. Kid cast Jimmy a look to silence
him.

"The company's got rules, Jimmy," Buck reminded him.

"Excuse us," Cody told Tanner. He and Kid pulled Jimmy aside, out of hearing
distance from the Army men.

"Jimmy, we can't know for sure if these are the men we're supposed to hand
the maps over to. They could fakes," Cody told him.

"How do you know they're fakes?" Jimmy threw back at him.

"Don't you think it's strange that they would meet us out here, in the
middle of the woods?" Kid asked. "They should have known we can't hand over
the pouch like that."

"The only reason you don't trust them is because they're in blue uniforms,"
Jimmy accused.

"That's the only reason you do," Kid shot back.

"Well, there's one way to find out," Cody told the feuding men. He walked
over to where the men on horseback waited. Jimmy and Kid stayed close to the
others near the mochilla.

"These are real fine horses you have, Lieutenant. Real fine," Cody told him
as he circled Tanner's horse.

"Are you gonna hand over the pouch or what?" a man with a long jagged scar
running down the right side of his face asked.

"Quiet, Jerome! Please excuse my man's impatience," Tanner glared at Jerome.
"But we need those documents as soon as possible."

"You said you were stationed outside Pueblo, Fort Fillmore is it?" Cody
asked as he rounded the horse's flank.

"Yes, Fillmore," Tanner said quickly. "Now please give me the pouch so we
can get a move on. There's a war on, you know."

"We'll hand over the pouch if you can answer this one question: Why don't
your horses have Army brands?"

"You're making a serious mistake, son," Tanner returned.

"Looks to me like he's avoiding one," Jimmy said from behind his friend. "I
don't know who you are, but you're not with the Army."

"Why, because our horses haven't been branded yet?"

"No, because anyone with common sense would know that Fillmore, a
Confederate fort, is in Arizona Territory, not Colorado -- especially
someone claiming to be assigned there," Kid informed Tanner.

The lieutenant began to reach for his holster. "I wouldn't do that if I were
you." Cody leveled his rifle at the man. Jimmy, Kid, Lou, and Buck each drew
their guns to back Cody up.

"Well, it seems it won't be as easy as we thought, boys," Tanner addressed
his men. With that he drew his gun and fired.

The small clearing, so quiet a few minutes before, erupted in a chaos of
shouts and gunfire. Lou ran for cover behind the boulders, with Buck a few
inches behind her. He placed the mochilla between them.

"The pouch!" Cody yelled from behind a fallen log.

"I got it!" Buck shouted over the loud whizzing of bullets ricocheting off
the pale brown rock. He rose to take aim at the nearest man. Sitting on a
powerful black roan, the man fell to the ground with a hard thud, dead from
a single bullet through the heart. The horse galloped away as if relieved it
had lost its burden.

During the course of Cody's conversation with Tanner, Jimmy and Kid had
inadvertently moved away from where the three others were now hidden and
closer to the mouth of the woods. In an effort to find shelter as quickly as
possible, the pair had run deeper into the trees.

"We have to find a way around them," Kid spoke to Jimmy as they watched the
fight taking place a few yards ahead. "The others are pinned down."

"I say we split up and circle around them from the left and right. They're
mainly concentrating on where Buck and Lou are since they have the pouch."

"Damn, I knew Lou should have stayed in Rock Creek," Kid muttered.

Proving that she was holding her own, Lou aimed her gun from behind the
boulders and fired. Another man fell to the ground.

The four remaining men on horseback slowly circled the boulders. Cody,
seeing the men focused on his friends, took the opportunity presented to
him. He pointed his rifle at the nearest rider -- Tanner -- and got him in
his sights.

Tanner's horse reared as the bullet pierced the man's right arm, throwing
him to the ground. That caused a chain reaction among the other horses.
Unfortunately for the rider closest to the bank of the Platte, his horse
lost its footing on the thick leaves and soft soil there. It threw him off,
sending him rolling down the slope toward the water. With a sickening
crunch, the man landed in the river, his neck broken.

"They're getting closer, Buck," Lou said as she began to reload her weapon.
"Any ideas?"

"Besides handing the pouch over? No," he told the female rider.

"Where are Kid and Jimmy?"

"Probably firing at each other."

"Great! Remind me to kill both of them if we get out of this."

To their surprise, the shots ceased. Cautiously peering around the boulder,
Buck saw only a wounded Tanner trying to scramble back onto his horse.

"I see only one man. Tanner must have sent the other two to hit us from
behind."

"Cody, watch the back! I think the rest of them are behind us," Lou shouted.

Cody's attention was focused on the escaping man. He rose from his hiding
spot and ran to Tanner.

"Tanner!" Cody screamed as he tackled the bleeding man. "Don't leave so
soon. I was just getting to know you." With that, Cody punched Tanner in the
face. Tanner slumped, completely unconscious.

"You two all right?"

"Where the hell are Kid and Jimmy?" Lou asked, frustrated. She and Buck
walked toward Cody.

Kid made his way through the forest and emerged just in time to see one of
Tanner's men, on foot, steal behind Lou, Cody, and Buck, who were distracted
with the now semi-conscious Tanner.

Bracing himself against a tree, Kid fired, sending the man staggering and
falling a few feet from the boulders.

As he began to make his way to his friends, Kid saw Jimmy appear from the
right of the boulders. At the same time, he heard hoof beats to his left.

Jerome materialized from the cover of the trees and fired. The tree inches
from Kid's face splintered, momentarily blinding him. Tanner's man took the
opportunity to get the drop on him.

Seeing his friend's life in danger, Jimmy instinctively drew one of his guns
and fired. Tanner's scarred companion fell at Kid's feet.

"Kid! You okay? Jimmy asked as he rushed to his friend.

"I am now."

"Is that all of them?" Buck asked as he and Lou joined the two men.

Cody emerged with a wounded and groggy Tanner in tow. "That's all of them."
Seeing his friends emerge unscathed and the mochilla still in its rightful
place, Cody remarked, "You know, I think riding for the Express is getting
way too dangerous."

The five riders made camp outside a small bluff surrounded by tall aspens.
Interspersed with the yellow of the slender trees was the full red of the
maples. The air was still and quiet save for the crunch of the riders' boots
as the leaves crumbled beneath their feet. As the sun set, they ate supper
in silence, afraid to break the serenity around them. All were thinking of
the morning's events and the journey still ahead.

It was about a day's ride to Denver. They would make it by nightfall the
following evening.

Though Tanner didn't pose much of a threat with his arm bandaged and his
legs tied, the five were aware others might try to steal the pouch. The
group decided to take shifts and stand guard on the outreaches of their
camp. Kid and Jimmy volunteered to take the first watch.

"You two want to stand watch together?" Lou asked, apprehensive. "Is that
such a good idea?"

"We'll be fine, Lou. I promise I won't shoot Kid. We just need to get some
things aired out."

"It'll be fine," Kid reassured her.

"Just remember, we're supposed to be working together. Let's not turn on one
another now," Lou warned both of them. "Or I'll shoot you both."

Now, an hour later, as she sat across the fire from Buck and Cody, Lou asked
them, "You think they're all right? Maybe I should go check on them again."

Buck, slightly annoyed, told her, "You've already checked on them twice.
They're fine. I haven't heard any gunshots."

"That's a good thing, Lou," Cody teased. "Of course, unless, they're beating
each other to death."

Lou's eyes grew wide at the prospect. "I have to go answer a call of nature
anyway." She rose and threw a handful of leaves at Cody as she passed him.

"That woman is going to nag poor Kid to death."

"Can't help but feel a little jealous, though."

"Don't. Kid's not you're type anyway."

"Can't you be serious, Cody?"

"If I do that, Buck, I might just go crazy," Cody confessed, all the teasing
gone from his voice.

Buck, unusually talkative around Cody, took the opportunity to ask, "How
much longer before you leave for Pueblo?"

"A couple more weeks. You think the Pony Express will probably be over by
then?"

Buck could not be deflected; he ignored Cody's attempt to change the
subject. He asked what had been on his mind since Cody joined the Army. "Why
did you do it? Join the Army, I mean."

"The glory and fame, why else?" Cody looked at the Indian with a wry grin on
his lips.

"So why didn't you ride off with Erbach when he first left?"

"I had to heal up from the wound I got fighting Pierson."

"Oh, I see," Buck answered reflective and quiet once again.

"Couldn't ride with one arm, now could I?" Cody prodded, afraid he had let
Buck see something he wanted kept hidden. Buck just had the knack for seeing
people's inner most thoughts. Cody hated that.

"Have you healed from the other wound Pierson gave you -- gave all of us?"

"Sure," Cody sighed, unable to meet Buck's eyes. "Noah's gone, there's
nothing more to say or do. Life goes on."

"I still miss Ike," Buck stated softly.

Cody raised his head to look at his friend. His heart grew heavy at the
mention of the mute rider's name. It had been months since Ike had died
trying to protect the woman he loved, but the ache would always remain. The
riders may have had difficulties among themselves from time to time, but the
loss of Ike and Noah was felt deeply by all.

"I find myself doing things because of Ike. Giving extra hay and carrots to
Samson, being extra careful to all the animals at the station. Sort of like
doing those things for Ike."

"No, Buck." He knew what Buck was trying to make him see. "I'm not fighting
in the Army for Noah. They wouldn't let him fight remember?"

"All the more reason."

The coffee Cody had just swallowed turned bitter in his mouth. The loss of
Noah had never felt more acute. One, because it should have been him instead
of Buck he was talking to; and two, because Cody realized Buck was right.

*****

Lou quietly crept up to the two men sitting under the shelter of the trees.
A rifle lay across Kid's crossed legs and Jimmy had his hand on one of his
guns. Relieved that neither had yet been killed by the other she turned to
go back to the campfire.

She stopped when she heard Jimmy ask, "Are you and Lou going back to
Virginia?"

Kid looked at his friend, relieved that there was no hostility in the
question. He thought it over for a moment. "I'd like to, but I have a
feeling Virginia won't be the same as it is in my memories. I'm not sure I
want to see how it's changed since I've been gone. Besides, I don't think
I'm ready to leave the West yet. I know Lou isn't. And it won't be the same
without my ma or Jed."

"I guess you can blame me for that, huh?" Jimmy asked quietly. There was
still a part of him that regretted taking the life of Kid's older brother.

"I never faulted you for that, Jimmy. You did what you had to do. So did
Jed. He chose to kill and steal for the South. No one could have stopped him
from taking that path. Not even me. Sometimes you can't save people from
themselves -- no matter how much you want to." Jimmy couldn't miss the
message in Kid's words.

"Maybe not," Jimmy replied. Then he was quiet, unsure of what to say next,
of how to bridge the gap he and Kid had created between them. Before he
could speak, his companion broke the silence.

"You saved my life tonight, Jimmy. I know you didn't have to. I won't forget
that."

Not sure of how to respond, Jimmy let a slight smile touch his lips.
"Neither will I, Kid."

In the bushes, Lou rose and silently made her way back to the fire. Seeing
the strange look on her face, Cody asked her what was wrong.

"Jeez, Lou. Did they push each other off a cliff?"

"No, Cody. For once, there seems to be a truce in that war."

*****

"You boys look like you had a hell of a ride," Marshal McCall greeted them
at the Denver station.

"In more ways than one," Jimmy told him as he handed their prisoner to the
deputy.

"This man will be handed over to the Army to stand trial for treason. He'll
probably hang." McCall turned to Tanner. "You with the same bunch of
sympathizers who hit the Overland stage a while back? A lot of people will
be glad to see you dead.

"They stole a gold shipment worth $30,000.00. And killed innocent men and
women in the process," the deputy told the five weary travelers.

"I'm sure folks will be glad that's over with," Lou responded.

At the marshal's nod, Tanner hissed, "This is far from over. The war will
not end until the Confederacy is its own nation without the Union
interfering in its ways. Many lives will be lost, but mark my words, the
South will emerge victorious!"

The deputy dragged the southerner toward the jail. "Can't help but think
he's right. Too many men are going to die," McCall said to riders. "Well,
why don't I buy you fellas some supper. It must be nearly 9:00. That way you
can tell me about my old friend, Teaspoon. He hasn't gotten married again,
has he?"

"It looks like six was his limit," Buck told McCall, who smiled at the
mention of Teaspoon's numerous wives.

"I'll meet you over at the restaurant. I have to drop these off at the
station," Kid indicated the mochila slung over his shoulder.

The others crossed the street as Kid made his way inside the building. The
sign outside no longer read Denver Pony Express Station, but Denver
Telegraph Office.

"Evening, Kid," said the gentleman wearing horn-rimmed glasses who was
sitting behind the counter. "You interested in the operator's job?"

"Huh? No, I'm here to drop off the Express mail, Cyrus."

"We're looking for people to fill the positions at this office. We just
switched over this week."

"Well, I just want to get this dropped off and get some supper. Good luck,
though."

"Thanks." He took the satchel from Kid. "I'll make sure it's safe. You're
not interested? The pay's good and from what I hear, you've only got a
couple more weeks before the Express is finished. Let me at least show you
how this telegraph works. I tell you, it's pretty amazing."

Half an hour later, Lou went looking for her errant husband. She found him
still talking with Cyrus at the telegraph office.

"You say the office is willing to hire women, too?" she heard Kid ask.

"Like I said, there are hundreds of offices opening and no one to work them.
They're looking for anyone willing to work."

"What going on?" Lou asked as she came around the desk.

"Nothing," Kid smiled. Seeing Lou's brow furrow, he told her, "Just
something I think you and I should talk about."

EARLY NOVEMBER, 1861

"Rachel, you're going to be too busy with teaching to miss them much,"
Teaspoon told her as the two of them sat outside waiting for the party being
thrown in honor of the now defunct Pony Express to begin. The telegraph
wires had been strung from St. Joseph to San Francisco. The last official
Pony Express run was scheduled for the middle of November, when the final
batch of the Express mail would be delivered to San Francisco. The Rock
Creek station had closed the last week of October.

"I suppose. But it will be awful quiet without any of them here."

"Peaceful is more like it. I tell you, without those boys here, I can live
my sunset years in happy tranquillity," Teaspoon said.

"Denver isn't too far away, Teaspoon. We'll be here visiting you every
chance we get, so don't sound too relieved," Kid told him as he and Lou
climbed the stairs to the meeting house.

"How long before the telegraph office is up and running?" he asked the young
man.

"Not more than a few weeks. After we find a place in Denver, we'll pick up
my brother and sister from the orphanage in Missouri. We'll all be settled
soon enough," Lou said.

"Well, I think it's time we caught up with the others inside, don't you?"
Holding his arm out for Rachel, the two couples entered the building and
joined the celebration within. ***

The meeting house was filled with what seemed like the entire town. Of
course, Teaspoon, Rachel, and the riders -- save for Lou and Kid, who were
out on the dance floor -- were gathered around the desserts and two surprise
visitors who had arrived the day before.

"So Sam, how long are you and Emma going to be in town?" Cody asked as he
picked up a slice of cake.

"Just long enough to enjoy the party and see y'all off. This baby is getting
heavier by the day," Emma Cain, the red-headed former station mistress, told
him as she patted her protruding stomach. "Besides, Sam has to get back to
keeping the peace over the entire territory."

"Something that gets harder everyday. But I'm sure we have nothing to worry
about with you leading the way, Billy," Sam Cain added. The lanky,
tawny-haired lawman laughed as Cody dropped a huge piece of icing over his
blue uniform.

"Cody, if you keep eating like that, your uniform is going to burst its
seams. Shouldn't you be gone by now?" Jimmy asked.

"It's not my fault the entire squad got food poisoning. I guess I just have
an iron stomach."

"To go along with your head," Buck teased.

The music stopped and the dance floor was cleared. Kid and Lou rushed to
where the others were standing.

"Well, you two look a mite pleased," Emma informed the out of breath couple.
"Married life must agree with you, Loulabelle. I'm sorry we missed your
wedding, but I was just feeling so poorly. Didn't know what was wrong. Then
I figured it was this." She pointed to her stomach and smiled.

"I'm glad I got the chance to see you before Kid and I left. I've missed you
something terrible, Emma. Oh, you too, Sam," Lou added as an afterthought.

"Thanks for remembering. So, I hear you two plan on running the telegraph
office outside Denver. How did that happen?" Sam asked Kid.

"The last run we made together was to Denver, where they were finishing up
the telegraph office. They asked if we would be interested in participating
in the future' and we said why not."

"Why not? That's it? Don't you have to be trained or something?" Sam asked.

"We survived Teaspoon's bag o' tricks', I think we can handle how to operate
a piece of machinery," Lou told him.

"May I have your attention, please?" Teaspoon stepped to the center of the
dance floor.

"He's not going to start singing again, is he?" Rachel asked Cody.

"Like that time he had half a rum cake?" Buck whispered.

"I hope not or else I might have to join the rest of the boys in the
infirmary," Cody supplied.

Much to the riders' relief, Teaspoon did not break into song. Instead he
pulled out a piece of paper and began to speak.

"As y'all know, this little social is being thrown to honor the Pony
Express. Moreover, it's being thrown to honor those who made it what was.
For almost two years, these five young riders rode to join this country
together. They risked their lives daily. And it's only proper we honor
them." The townsfolk raised their glasses to prepare a toast -- only to be
interrupted by Teaspoon.

"But we can't forget either, the women who ran the stations -- and helped
raise this rowdy bunch -- Emma Cain and Rachel Dunne. Let's raise a toast to
these fine men and women."

"Aren't you forgetting someone Mr. Spoon?" Emma asked.

"The most important person in this whole thing," Rachel added.

"Who might that be?" Teaspoon asked, a blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Teaspoon Hunter, stationmaster extraordinaire," Cody stated.

"Without you, the Sweetwater and Rock Creek stations never would have gotten
off the ground," Kid told him.

"And we never would have survived the first week," Buck added.

"Nah, you boys -- you men -- would have done all right."

"You know it's true, Teaspoon. Stop trying to be so modest," Jimmy teased.

"On that note, Russell, Majors, and Waddell would like me to read a message
from the President of the United States himself, Abraham Lincoln:

A grateful people acknowledges with pride its debt to the riders of the Pony
Express. Their unfailing courage, their matchless stamina knitted together
the ragged edges of a rising nation. Their achievement can only be equaled
-- never excelled.

"We need to remember what this Pony Express stood for. Now more than ever,"
Teaspoon continued. We worked hard to join this country together, but now
it's tearing itself apart. You riders came to me looking for a job. You
found it, along with something much more valuable. You found a family. Hell,
two of you even got married. Just don't forget that. You've been through a
lot, learned a lot, changed a lot. But through it all, you did it together.
You'll be going your separate ways in a few days, but never forget that
you'll always have family in one another. Buck, Jimmy, Cody, Lou, Kid, you
take what you've learned here and carry it with you. It's who you are."

The town raised their glasses and drank a toast.

*****

The celebration didn't die down till late into the night. Lou and Rachel
were sitting inside the house filling Emma in on all the events she had
missed while she was away. Teaspoon and Sam had taken Cody and Buck for a
drink in the saloon. Cody agreed to go only if they would buy him a "real"
drink.

"None of that sarsaparilla for me," he had told them, reminding them of the
company's policy against drinking. "That's one of the things I won't miss
about the Express."

Kid and Jimmy declined the offer, preferring the quiet of the night to the
boisterous activity of the saloon.

"You know, I never would have actually shot you that day by the barn," Jimmy
told Kid as the two sat on the front steps of Rachel's place.

"Could have fooled me, Jimmy. The look in your eye told me you were plenty
serious. What's happened to us?"

A long silence ensued as Jimmy contemplated the answer. For the past year
and a half, he and Kid had become friends, despite different beliefs and
backgrounds. But one thing they did share was a deep commitment to doing
what was right. The only trouble was, there were times when they couldn't
agree what that was.

Jimmy had gone looking for someone who could tell him what to believe. He
mistakenly had thought he had found her. Instead, he had found a woman so
torn apart by grief, she brought it about in all the lives she touched.
Jimmy still believed in the cause of abolition, but he wasn't so sure he
still believed in Rosemary.

She had used him to get to Pierson, to exact revenge for the death of her
husband. In the process, she had turned Jimmy against his friends. She had
stopped fighting to abolish slavery. In its place, she had started fighting
the guilt and responsibility she felt for the death of Isaiah -- and of
Noah. Rosemary Burke once had stood for something Jimmy believed in. But
before she died, she had begun to self-destruct. And she had almost taken
Jimmy with her.

Because of her, he had forgotten what had kept him and Kid together in spite
of so many differences. Kid was his friend. They had saved each other's
lives countless times. But Kid was on the wrong side.

Jimmy didn't know what that meant anymore. He thought Rosemary was on the
right side. But she had gotten Noah killed. That definitely wasn't right.
But Kid believed in a world that kept men and women like Noah as slaves.
That wasn't right, either.

"Which one is it, Kid? Which side is right?"

"There's no right side, Jimmy. Otherwise, a lot of good people wouldn't be
dying. There's only home and family. That's what people are fighting for.
That's what I would fight for."

Jimmy believed all Kid was saying but there was still a question in his
mind.

"What about Virginia? You wouldn't fight for it?" Jimmy challenged.

"Up until a few weeks ago, I thought I could -- I even planned on it. But
Lou said something to me before we left for Denver. She told me she wanted
me to fight for who I was. Virginia is who I am, but so are all of you. I
would die for Virginia, but I couldn't fight for it. Not now. I couldn't
kill for it. Especially knowing it might be you or Cody dying. If I ever
fought against one of you, it would be like fighting against a part of me. I
love Virginia and the memories of my family. I'll defend them with
everything I am. But I have family here now, Jimmy. And that is what I would
kill to defend."

Jimmy realized that, more than anyone, he had been blinded by the ferocity
of war. The trip to Denver had proved it. He had been so willing to believe
in men he had never met rather than the men he had grown to trust with his
own life. All because Tanner had claimed to be on the right side. Jimmy had
done the same with Rosemary. He had seen in her an ally; in Kid, he had seen
the enemy.

But this was no longer true. Teaspoon's words of earlier in the evening had
struck a chord. They had forced Jimmy to see where his loyalties truly
belonged.

Jimmy looked off into the distance. The moon was obscured by clouds, the
night was dark and chilly. Winter would be upon them soon. "I don't see you
as the enemy anymore, Kid. But that doesn't change the fact that we believe
in separate things now. It's just different. I'm not sure if we can ever go
back to the way things were."

"I don't know either. All I know is that this war has taken too much from us
already. I'm not going to let it take any more."

Jimmy hesitated. How did he express what he was feeling? He would risk his
life for Kid -- even die for him -- but he knew they could no longer stand
by each other.

"It's hard to say what I would do. Times are just too confusing to make
sense of anything."

"Maybe one day they won't be. When the war is over."

"Yeah, when this is all over," Jimmy stated. ***

An unusual quiet mingled with the sounds of Rock Creek awakening to face
another day. The store owners and shopkeepers were throwing open their
shutters and unlocking their doors. Women were preparing breakfast for their
families. The sun was coming up to cast its might over all.

The homestead nearest the edge of town was calm. The barn and corral were
empty except for one or two horses and a few chickens.

Outside the bunkhouse of the former Rock Creek Pony Express station, five
horses were lined up at the hitching post. Inside, their owners were bidding
one another farewell.

As Rachel walked in from the school, she joined Teaspoon in looking at the
faces they had grown to love. Lou McCloud and The Kid, young and happy, were
going off to Denver to face new challenges and dreams. James Butler Hickok,
the reluctant gunfighter, was on his way to Seneca to help his sister and
her abolitionist husband -- in a way, to help Rosemary as well. William F.
Cody, always the showman, was going off to fight the war -- and a few
demons. Buck Cross, the one who held himself apart, but who knew the souls
of all the others, was leaving with Sam and Emma Cain. Together they would
work to get fair treatment for the Indians in the territory -- something the
couple had gotten involved with shortly after Sam's promotion.

The last of their belongings were packed and placed over their saddlehorns.
Rachel noticed how none of them carried many personal possessions. What they
had gained from one other went far deeper than that -- and was much more
important.

Sam and Emma joined the group in their buckboard. "You ready to go, Buck?"
Emma asked.

"As ready as any of us are," Buck stated. He mounted his horse and looked
down at the four riders, Rachel, and Teaspoon. "I guess it's time."

Kid, Jimmy, and Cody mounted their horses, each one hesitant to get moving.
"All of a sudden it feels like I've never been on a horse," Lou stated as
she looked at her friends, fearful she would never see them again.

"We might see each other again." Jimmy told her, though he knew it to be
untrue.

"We better get a move on," Sam told Buck.

"Oh, we'll send you all word about the baby!" Emma yelled as the buckboard
rumbled down the street. Buck followed and paused to turn and raise his hand
in farewell. He then spurred his horse to catch up with Sam and Emma.

"You'll be seeing me -- on posters when I'm rich and famous," Cody told
them.

"Will any of those posters have 'Wanted' written on them?" Jimmy asked,
evoking laughter from all present -- except Cody.

"Just you wait, Hickok. Just you wait." With that, Cody trotted off toward
his squad's camp.

"Well, we should head out, too," Kid said to the others, as he adjusted the
load on Katy's saddle. "We'll come visit when we can, Rachel. So don't worry
too much."

"You take care of Lou, Kid," Teaspoon instructed. "If you don't treat her
right, I'm afraid of what she might do to you," he whispered as he shook
Kid's hand.

"Take care of yourselves," Lou said to Rachel and Teaspoon as she gave them
a hug. Quickly, she mounted Lightning, always the Pony Express rider.

Kid turned to Jimmy. "Have a good trip, Jimmy."

The two men shook hands. "You two have a good life."

"You too, Jimmy. You'll never be far from our thoughts. And you know where
to find us," Lou told him.

The three waited for more words to come. When they didn't, Jimmy broke the
silence. "I best get moving. Rachel, Teaspoon. You take care." With one last
look, Jimmy, Kid, and Lou spurred their horses in opposite directions.

At the edge of town, the rider on the palomino reined in his horse. He
turned to look at the shrinking figures of the two riders headed toward
Denver.

One day, when the war is over. Jimmy put his face to the wind, bent low, and
rode.

                                   The End

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"... I'll never understand it, how the journey lead me here. But I have made
a promise that I intend to keep. My love, wherever I go, I take you with
me." -- Melissa Etheridge, "I Take You with Me"
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