The Locket

The outside world was forgotten as Lydia gave herself up to the sweetness of Buck's kiss. Therefore any intrusion was unwanted. Kid's voice was an intrusion; and she wanted it to go away. But his voice was just getting closer and closer; and while they did not want the kiss to end, for some reason neither of them wanted to get caught. So they broke apart in haste just as the Kid walked into the barn.

"There you are, Buck," Kid said, seemingly oblivious to what had just gone on. "Lou thought you might be out here."

"Hey Kid," Buck replied, glancing sideways at Lydia. "What did the Marshal say?"

"Not much. He locked the man we caught up, and started askin' questions, but he wasn't gettin' any answers. The man works for McCaffrey, though."

Buck snorted. "No surprise there."

"Yeah well, McCaffrey's claimin' that he knows nothin' about the raid and that he was in the saloon all night."

"Figures."

"What did the Marshal say about the other man?" Lydia asked. "The one I recognised. The one who shot Adele?"

"He said he'd look into it, but he wasn't too hopeful. and the good Captain doesn't think much of it. He reckons that you either imagined it, or you're tryin' to throw the heat off of you, and that's exactly what he said. He even questioned me for a while, thinkin' that because I'm from the South I'm somehow involved." Kid shook his head. "He's just out for blood, as long as he gets his man he doesn't care who he hurts anymore."

Lydia started shaking her head. "This is all my fault."

"What are you talkin' about? McMullen never really trusted me. That ain't your fault.

"I have to leave. They know where to find me, and I'll just bring trouble down on you all if I stay."

"Lydia..."

"I mean it! I know they're gonna come after me again!"

"Come on, Lydia. There's no guarantee that you'll be any safer if you leave, and you'll be on your own. At least if you stay here, you'll be safer, and we can take care of ourselves."

"Kid's right," Buck added. "Besides, you have nowhere to go to. So I don't want to hear any more about you leavin', all right?"

Lydia nodded. "Good," Kid rubbed his hands together. "Well, it's gettin' late, and there are chores to do. I'm gonna saddle Katy and head out."

"Want some company?" Buck and the Kid looked at her in surprise. "What?" she exclaimed. "I can ride, and maybe it'll take my mind off things."

"What do you think?" Kid asked Buck.

Buck shrugged. "She used to be a pretty good rider. But she's been back east an awful long time."

"Hey!" Lydia hit Buck on the arm playfully. "Do you really think that I'd go two years without ridin' a horse at all?"

"True."

"Buck, come on, I'll be fine."

Buck just shrugged again, and the Kid grinned. "Okay, it's settled."

After watching the Kid and Lydia (wearing an old pair of breeches) ride away, Buck went over to the porch where Emily was seated on the swing, rocking baby Ike to sleep. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she replied, just as softly. "Do you want to hold him for a while? He won't settle down."

"Sure." Buck sat down next to Emily on the swing, and Emily placed Ike in his arms. Buck marvelled at how much the little boy looked like his father and namesake, Ike McSwain. The same eyes, miniature face, even the same shaped head. (although Lou pointed out that the resemblance would not be so noticeable once the baby's hair grew in.) He could not believe that he had doubted that his best friend was the baby's father. He had said quite a few things against Emily, and refused to concede his point. After the baby was born, and Emily was so ill, he happened to be there when the baby stated fussing. He couldn't help taking a look, and that was the turning point. It was then that he knew the baby was Ike's.

"You seem like a natural with children. Have you ever thought about gettin' married and havin' any?"

Buck shrugged. "Maybe. One day. Actually I never gave it much thought. I guess I just never saw myself marryin' someone and settlin' down before."

"Before? You mean you do now?" Buck didn't answer her question right away. He was singing softly to Ike, a Kiowa lullaby that seemed almost too gentle for his dulcet baritone. "Buck?"

"Hmm?" Buck glanced up at Emily.

"You love Lydia, don't you?"

"What?" Buck flushed a little under his darker complexion.

"You heard me. It's somethin' I've noticed the last few days. And when you just said that you could see yourself settlin' down with someone now..."

"I never said that," Buck cut in.

"But you meant it," Emily returned, fiddling with the locket that Lydia had given her.

"What's that?" Buck asked.

"This?" Emily removed the chain from around her neck and showed Buck the locket. "Lydia gave it to me. She wanted to apologise for... everythin', so she just..."

"Do you know what this is?" Buck opened the locket and confirmed what he already knew. This was the locket that Ike had given Lydia before they were sent away.

Emily nodded. "Lydia told me. She wanted me to understand that she was truly sorry. I tried to tell her that I couldn't take it, but she wouldn't hear of it."

"She's held onto that locket for years. I can't believe she'd give it away so lightly."

"It wasn't done lightly. She was really upset, but she felt that she had to do it. She said that the locket should be a legacy for Ike's children, so she gave it to me to pass on to the baby."

Buck was silent for a moment. "I know Lydia meant what she said, but she shouldn't have given you the locket. Regardless of what happened between you and Ike and Lydia, Ike gave Lydia that locket for a reason. And givin' it away, no matter what the reason, isn't gonna lessen her pain...or yours."

"But it was her choice."

Sighing, Buck tried another tactic. "Emily, what did you feel when Lydia gave you the locket?"

Emily shrugged. "Surprised, I guess. I wasn't expectin' her to do anythin' like that. I was also a bit uncomfortable. It felt funny to see her give away somethin' that most people would want to keep. I really believed that she meant it. The locket itself makes me uncomfortable, too."

"Why?" Buck inquired.

"Because of what it represents. Ike loved Lydia enough to give her that locket, and while it was so long ago, it still makes me feel funny. Ike never gave me anything like that."

"He never got the chance to, Emily."

"I know that, but it doesn't make it any easier. " She was silent for a moment. "You don't blame me for what happened, do you?"

Buck shook his head. "Not anymore. I did for a while, but that was only because I needed someone to blame. After killin' Neville, everythin' just came floodin' back. It was a while before I was able to move past it. You were just an easy target for all my emotions. I'm sorry if I hurt you because of that."

"I know you are. You said all of this just after Ike was born." She smiled at Buck's startled look. "I was awake, sort of. Driftin' in and out really, but I heard what you said. I just wasn't able to answer."

Emily closed Buck's hand around the locket. "Give this back to Lydia, Buck. I know she wanted to give it to me, but I don't feel right keepin' it. If she wants to give it to Ike when he gets older, she can, but she really should keep it for now. Try to make her understand that I don't hate her for it."

"Don't worry about that. I think she'll know what you mean. If not, I'll explain it to her."

"You really do love her, don't you?"

"Yeah," Buck replied after a while. "I started fallin' in love with her back when I worked for her father, but 'cause she was with Ike, I never said anything. When me and Ike left Mitchell's, I gradually forgot about her, but I guess the feelin's never died, because almost as soon as she came back into my life, everythin' came floodin' back. I didn't want to say anything because she has enough to deal with at the moment."

"Didn't?"

"Well, I wasn't gonna say anything, but somethin' happened in the barn that makes me think that maybe I should. We kissed, Emily."

"What?! How'd that ha... come about?"

"We were talkin'. I was tryin' to find out why she was determined to leave, and she... she... said that she loved me. It seemed so natural to kiss her. Now I don't know what to do."

"Could you stop pacin' please, Captain? You're gonna wear a hole in the floor."

"Forgive me for bein' impatient, Marshal, but I happen to want to catch the outlaws here."

"And you think I don't?"

Marshal Gavin Pierce and Captain Scott McMullen glared at each other from across the Marshal's office. McMullen had been interrogating the man Kid and Jeremiah had captured during the raid the night before, but to no avail. What Kid reported back to the pXp still stood. All they knew was that he worked for McCaffrey at the saloon. Naturally McCaffrey claimed he knew nothing about the raid, and Pierce gave up questioning him. McCaffrey was just too oily sometimes.

"I still think you oughtta send more soldiers out to look for the man Lydia Mitchell said she recognised."

"What for?" McMullen asked. "I already have a dozen men out there, searchin' for a needle in a haystack. They're not even sure what this man looks like, as this Lydia claims she can't remember any distinguishin' features on him. In all probability he's long gone by now, if he was even there last night, which I doubt. No, I sent a telegraph back to Fort Kearney, enquirin' after Simon Walters, if he knew Miss Mitchell and Buck Cross, but I suspect the only answers we need we'll get from Miss Mitchell herself."

"You already know everythin' she has to say on the matter, Captain."

"I know what she has to say to me," McMullen corrected. "That doesn't mean she's tellin' us everythin'."

"You still think she had somethin' to do with all the stage robberies, don't you? you heard what she said, wait for the telegraph from Fort Kearney. If Simon knew Buck and Lydia, then you have no need to question her further."

"All that will prove is that they once knew each other, and perhaps that she was catchin' the stage with him. That doesn't prove that she had nothin' to do with the hold-ups, No, I suspect that this young lady still has a few secrets up her sleeve."

Before Pierce could answer, a very harried-looking McCaffrey rushed in. "Don't tell me you rushed in here just to talk to your man?" Pierce asked dryly.

"I already told you I had nothin' to do with last night," McCaffrey panted. "But I do have some information about Lydia Mitchell."

Loran was furious. He had not expected things to go so badly the night before. This Lydia woman needed to be eliminated, plain and simple. She knew too much. But that simple act was proving to be most complicated. She could identify them, the fact that they had not been caught already just meant that no one recognised them yet. But time was running out...

Maybe a full-blown raid was a mistake. Maybe stealth was the answer...

McCaffrey disagreed, he knew that. But McCaffrey did not know the whole story, how could he? In McCaffrey's eyes, it was too big a risk to go out to the pXp alone, in broad daylight, just to catch a petty criminal, which is what he thought Lydia was. He thought Loran should wait until dark at least, if he was determined to do something so foolish.

But Loran could not wait. He could not take the chance. There was too much at stake.

Maybe he sounded too determined. Maybe he sounded too preoccupied with the gold locket. Whatever he said or did, it sure had McCaffrey hurryin' out of the saloon. Was he headed to the Marshal? Loran was not about to wait around and find out. He tapped his partner on the shoulder.

"What?" Forge groaned

"McCaffrey may talk, we gotta get outta here."

"What is it you need to tell us, McCaffrey?" Pierce asked.

"Well," McCaffrey responded slowly, "this may be nothin'. But it could be everythin'."

"Just spit it out!" McMullen ordered.

"As you know, I picked Lydia up on the trail here from Long Greek."

"Yeah, I know the story, what have you got to tell us?"

"So you know the trouble I had tryin' to negotiate a fee for my help?"

Pierce snorted. That was a good one.

McCaffrey glared at the Marshal before continuing. "Well I noticed that she was wearin' a gold locket. Real fancy lookin'. I asked her for it as payment, and she got real cagey, wouldn't give it to me. That was when she jumped off the balcony."

"So?" Pierce asked. "She's already explained that."

"Yeah, well I always thought there was somethin' odd there, but the lot out at the pXp protected her, so I let the matter drop. Then, a few days later, two men came into the saloon..."

"Wait a minute," McMullen interrupted. "How did she react about the locket?"

"She was real cagey, like I said. She didn't want me to even look at it. She said that someone special gave it to her, and she wouldn't part with it. 'At any cost' I believe were her very words."

"What are you gettin' at, Captain? That doesn't prove anything."

"If what McCaffrey here says is true, she would never give up that locket."

"So?" Pierce frowned. "I remember that locket. She was wearin' it the day I first talked to her. She kept fingerin' it nervously."

"She wasn't wearin' it last night, when we went out to the pXp. I would have noticed it."

"So maybe it was under the blouse."

McMullen shook his head. "Doubt it. Besides she was a wreck last night. If she was gonna play with the locket, it would have been then. She wasn't wearin' it. She probably didn't have it."

"That's a long shot, Captain."

"Is it? Just think about it. Lydia Mitchell was on the Overland Stage, and she said she was headed to Old Bent's Fort. Problem? Wrong stage; she should have been on the Santa Fe."

"She already explained all that..."

"Just listen, Marshal. Now the Overland Stage is attacked and robbed by Southern Sympathisers, the occupants either killed or badly wounded. All except Miss Mitchell. She claimed that she was kidnapped and later escaped. Unlikely, this particular band have never been interested in hostages before."

"There's always a first time, Captain."

"As I said, unlikely. Miss Mitchell was later found by Mr. McCaffrey here, wanderin' on the road. He takes her in, asks her about the locket that she was wearin'. You saw her fingerin' the same locket. Later, when I met her, the locket was no where in sight. Answer?"

Pierce's head was reeling with McMullen's logic. "Why don't you tell me?" he asked. "You seem to have everythin' worked out."

"Oh, I do. Lydia Mitchell claims to be survivor of a stage hold-up by Southern Sympathisers, with a locket that later is gone. A locket that she was real cagey about. The answer is obvious. Lydia Mitchell is working with the bushwhackers, and the locket contained information that she was carryin' South. I'm goin' out to the pXp to have a talk with her."

"What about the telegraph you're waitin' on? The one that can confirm that Lydia and Simon Walters were friends?"

"As I said, that's all that will confirm. People have been known to sell out friends before. Takin' her in just may draw out the other bushwhackers." With that, McMullen grabbed his hat and coat and stalked out, yelling at his lieutenants. Pierce started to go after him, ready to do some damage control, when McCaffrey grabbed his arm.

"There's somethin' else about Lydia Mitchell I think you oughtta know, Marshal."

Pierce smiled sardonically at McCaffrey. "Have you decided to cooperate with the law now, McCaffrey?"

To be continued...