By Michelle @~>~~
 On one Tuesday afternoon in early September Cody sauntered into the bunkhouse with a satisfied smirk on his face. Laura Sierra pushed a stray dark curl back out of her eyes as she bent over to pick up a crate. It was full of her mother's china and was pretty heavy. She strained to lift it but couldn't. I need a pair of strong arms right now, she mused. Cody took her inside the main house and introduced her to the housekeeper Rachel. Laura immediately liked the friendly woman and Rachel felt the same. "Cody, don't you have the next ride?" Rachel reminded Cody as he showed Laura around. "Yeah." His face fell. "Rider comin'!" Noah shouted. "Cody, I got your horse ready. Ya better get out here!" Cody frowned and turned to Laura. "I have to go now, but I'll be back soon." "Okay Cody. I'll see you when you get back then. I'll still be here, "Laura teased. Cody smiled and touched the brim of his hat as they went outside. A boy named Jesse had Cody's horse waiting for him. As the rider galloped up in a cloud of dust Cody swung onto his horse and grabbed the leather satchel. "Jimmy's back," Rachel said. "Who's Jimmy?" Laura watched the dusty figure dismount and lead his horse into the barn. "Yes, Jimmy Hickok." "Wild Bill Hickok?" "Some call him that," Rachel said. "But he's not like that at all." Laura shrugged. A young man came around them corner of the bunkhouse and nodded politely when he saw her. His head was covered by a red bandana and Laura immediately knew he had had scarlet fever at some point. "Hello." He smiled back and nodded silently. "Ike, this is Laura Sierra, the new blacksmith's daughter." Ike gesticulated with his hands and Rachel nodded. Ike grinned at her this time and tipped his hat. "What did he say?" Laura asked Rachel. "Oh nothing." Rachel stifled a smile. "Did he have scarlet fever?" "Yes. A long time ago." "Can he hear me?" "Yes, he just can't answer. He uses sign language. Buck taught him to him." "Oh. Maybe I could have Buck teach me too then." "That'd be nice. Why don't you go meet Jimmy? Jesse's probably still in the barn too." "Nice to meet you Rachel." Laura went down the stairs and headed for the barn. "You too." Rachel smiled as she watched bubbly young woman trot to the barn and peek in. Laura blinked and ventured into the dim barn. "Jesse, are you in here?" "Hey Laura." She looked up to see Jesse's big blue eyes peering down at her from the hay loft. "What're you doing here?" "Buck and Noah brought me here. I wanted to meet the riders." "Who have you met?" "Ike, Buck, Cody, Noah and Rachel. She said Jimmy was in here." "Yeah, he's groomin' his horse over there." Laura nodded. "Thanks." She saw the horse and someone standing behind it. "Hello." "Hi." The man didn't look up just yet. "Are you Jimmy Hickok?" "Yeah. What about it?" "Nothing. Just saying hello." "Well hello." "I'm Laura Sierra." This time he did look up. Eyes almost as dark as her own, chocolate brown, shadowed and inscrutable peered back at her. "Hi Jimmy." His face softened a bit. "Hello Miss Sierra." "No, just call me Laura. Everyone else does." "Okay Laura." "So, what's it like being an 'outlaw'?" He stiffened. "I'm not-" "I know. I'm just teasing." She smiled playfully. "It's no joke Laura." He was not smiling. "I don't care what people think of you. It's who you are that really matters." His squint lessened. "Thanks." "You're welcome." She patted the horse's side. "Nice to meet you Jimmy." "You too." Laura patted the horse's neck one more time and smiled as she left. Jesse called to her from the hayloft again. "What?" "Come up here, got somethin' to show ya." "okay." Laura glanced around to make sure no one saw her and gathered up a fistful of her skirt before starting up the ladder. Jimmy glanced up just in time to see frothy petticoats and Laura's boots climbing up the ladder. He had to grin at the rather interesting sight. Laura got up the ladder and plopped in the hay. Then she sneezed. "Where are you Jesse?" "Over here." She saw him hunched over a hollow in the hay. "What is it?" "Baby mice." Laura kneeled beside Jesse and watched the tiny bodies in the hay. "They're tiny." "Yeah, but I hafta get rid of 'em." Laura knew mice could quickly become a problem, but just the same she felt sorry for the little animals. Down below Jimmy listened to Laura talk with Jesse. She had a soothing voice, low and melodic, almost as if she was singing. He liked listening to her voice. He heard Jesse ask her to go fishing with him. "I can't today Jesse, I have to go back home. But I'll be able to go tomorrow." "Okay." Jimmy glanced up as Laura shimmied down the ladder and smiled as she smoothed her rumpled skirts and brushed off a bit of hay. She turned and smiled at him. "Good bye Jimmy," she called. Jimmy looked up. "Bye Laura." "Bye Jesse." "See ya tomorrow!" he called back from the loft. Laura blinked as she went back out into the bright sunshine. Noah smiled and waved as she passed and she said good bye to Buck. She barely kept herself from skipping on the way home. It had been an exciting afternoon what with meeting the riders and seeing "Wild Bill" Hickok face to face. He was certainly nothing like what writers had painted him. He was stern yes, but Laura could see the real man lurking behind the veiled brown eyes of James Hickok. Laura was careful not to swing her fishing pole as she set the picnic basket down. Jesse stuck his head out of the bunkhouse. "Ready to go? Lou?" "No, it's me Jesse." Laura tipped her hat up to show her big brown eyes and dark curls, now pinned up with a few curls escaping the confines of her hat. "You're wearing pants." "I doubt I could fish comfortably with my skirt on. Why are you so surprised?" "Lou is the only girl I know who really wears pants." "Who's Lou?" "A rider?" "I thought girls couldn't be riders?" "Well, it's supposed to be a secret, but we all know. Say, what have you got in that basket?" "Oh, just some lunch. Fishing is hungry work so I hear tell. I made cookies and stuff." "All right!" Jesse dashed back inside and emerged wearing his hat and carrying his pole. "Let's go." He headed for the corral full if ponies. "We aren't walking?" "No. It's too far to walk in one day. We'll ride." "Oh all right. Oh hi Jimmy." She waved to the surprised Jimmy as he went by. Jimmy did a double take when he saw Laura. She had been curvy wearing a cotton short and calico skirt. Now, wearing pants and a shirt borrowed from her mother's trunk of her brothers' old clothes she was alarmingly distracting. Jimmy had seen Lou wearing pants many times and it never stirred him this way. And Laura seemed to be totally oblivious to the effect she was having on Jimmy, and the other riders. Buck stared after her and Ike winked at Noah. Jimmy shook his head and looked away, although he definitely noticed how Laura nicely moved in those pants. Once in the corral Laura chose a gentle-looking mare with soft brown eyes and a white star on her forehead. Jesse helped her saddle the horse and she was just mounting when Cody walked up. "Where're you goin' Laura?" "I'm going fishing with Jesse." "Mind if I come along?" "Ask Jesse." He shrugged. "Sure. We'll meet you there." "All right then." Cody ran inside. Laura shook her head and laughed. "C'mon." The pond wasn't far by horse, but it would have been if they had walked. The pond was fed by a small creek, the banks of which were strewn with various sized rocks and boulders. They tied the horses to their stakes and sat down in the grass on the shore. The wind rustled in the trees overhead, but all was quiet as they baited the lines and tossed them into the water. "Ever catch anything here?" Laura asked as she leaned back against a tree stump and closed her eyes. "Yeah, lots of fish. Even caught a turtle once." He laughed and laid back down in the grass. Laura was dozing off when hoofbeats startled her awake. Cody jumped down from his horse. "Hey Laura, Jesse. Any luck yet?" "Cody, we've only been here five minutes." She leaned back against the stump again. "Now hush, you'll scare the fish." "Yes ma'am." He grinned and sat down beside Laura, stretching his buckskin-clad legs out. 'So, where're you originally from Laura?" "Sacramento. My father Brent was born here in Rock Creek." "Really?" "Yep. But he went West, wanted to see Sacramento. So he moved there and fell in love with my mother Rose. They got married and had a family." "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" "Two big brothers, Daniel and Douglas." "Where are they now?" Daniel is still in Sacramento and Douglas is back East studying medicine." "No sisters?" "Nope. I'm the only girl and the baby." Cody grinned. "That might be a good thing." "Why?" "Cause if there was more of you I'd have a hard time deciding between ya'll." Laura hid a smile at Jesse's groan. Cody grinned and asked, "Do you like livin' in Rock Creek?" "Having been here only a week, I really couldn't say, but I like it. It seems like a nice place. It's much better than the city; it was too crowded there." "I could see how." Laura tipped her hat back and smiled at Cody. "Would you mind tellin' me some of your adventures as a rider? I'm sure you must have many to tell." "Oh, I wouldn't say that, Cody said modest;y. "I've been a lot of places though." Laura settled back to hear a tale about the time he and Noah had to haul and tiger to St. Jo. She was a captive audience, oohing and aahing in all the right places. Of course Cody left out the young woman he had met along the way, but it was pretty accurate. Just as Cody was finishing his tale Laura' pole almost flew out of her hands. "Get him!" Jesse shouted, jumping up as Laura started playing tug-of-war with the fish. "Must be a big one," Cody remarked, seeing how Laura was pulling. He was enjoying the sight of Laura's hat coming off and her hair coming undone while she fought. "No kidding!" Laura panted. It was a long struggle and Laura was starting to tire. Cody finally got up and wrapping his arms around Laura, helped her pull the fish out. It flopped around on the bank. "Whoo-ee girl, ya got the big one!" Cody cheered. Laura laughed as she pulled the hook out of the fish's mouth. It had to weigh at least ten pounds; it was a very large large-mouthed bass. Her big catch seemed to have started something for soon Cody and Jesse were pulling out fish like crazy. They took a break after an hour of fishing and sampled the contents of Laura's basket. Cody declared that he'd never tasted better, causing Laura to blush and Jesse to roll his eyes. When they finally left each had several fish to his, or her, credit. "Looks like we'll all be havin' fish tonight," Jesse joked on the ride back. Back at the corral Cody helped Laura down. "That was fun Cody." "Maybe we can do it against sometime." Cody touched her cheek, brushing back a stray curl. Laura stepped away and smiled. "Maybe." She waved to Rachel and Buck who were talking on the porch. Rachel noticed Buck looking after Laura and smiled. "What do you think of Laura Buck?" "I think she's beautiful. But I think Cody likes her more." Cody jumped up on the porch with a huge grin. "That Laura Sierra is sure somethin'!" Rachel laughed, then she saw Jimmy's face. Laura waved to Rachel and noticed two new riders talking with her. "Laura, this is Lou and Kid." "Hi Lou, Kid. Is that your real name?" "No." And the finality in his voice told her she would not find out his real name anytime soon. Laura noticed Lou watching her with concealed animosity in her brown eyes. Laura have her a friendly smile but Lou didn't really smile back. Laura glanced at Kid and saw the look in his eyes. Oh ho. Laura immediately guessed what was going on. "Well, nice to meet you both. I'm off to find Jimmy." "He's out on a ride," Lou volunteered. "All right. I'll find someone to talk to." Laura smiled as she left. She wanted to take Lou aside and assure her that she did not want to come between Kid and her, and that she only wanted to be friends. But Lou didn't seem to want that; she was polite, but rather cool. Within the few short weeks Laura had been in Rock Creek she had won over nearly all the riders. She had even won over the crusty Teaspoon, a gruff man on the outside with a soft spot for his "boys." Laura went fishing every few days with Jesse and Cody took her on walks around town and showed her how to use a lasso. Buck was starting to teach her sign language and how to throw a knife. Whenever Laura would try to talk with Ike and make a mistake he would smile and show her how to do it right. Lou thawed a little, but was still cool, and Kid was friendly, but not overly so. The only person she couldn't seem to get any closer to was Jimmy. he kept her at arms length, polite, but distant. And she did not want that distance between them. She knew he was unfailingly loyal to his friends, but she couldn't figure out how to win his approval. Laura decided to go visit Rachel one afternoon. She knew none of the other riders would be there, so she would be able to talk to Rachel in private. She knocked on the door, but no one answered. A sound came from behind the house and she went around the corner to investigate. Jimmy was standing about fifteen feet from a rail. he stood absolutely still, not seeming to notice her. Then she saw the bottles lined up on the rail. This ought to be good, she thought as she watched him. In a blur he'd puled out his two pistols and shot every bottle off the fence. Laura applauded. "Good shot Jimmy." HE noticed her for the first time. "What're you doin' here?" he asked gruffly. "I came to see Rachel." 'She's not here." "So I noticed." He smiled drily. "Well, I've got to be goin' to." Here was her chance. "Before you go Jimmy I have a favor to ask of you." "Uh-huh." "Would you teach me how to shoot?" "Shoot? You don't know how to shoot?" He was surprised. "I can shoot a pistol pretty well, but not a rifle. Word around here is you're a crack shot?" "Cody is better with a rifle than I am." "But Cody's not around too often now. Besides, he teaching me how to use a lasso." Laura leaned over the fence rail and turned her brown eyes on Jimmy full force. "Please?" He felt himself melting. "All right." Laura smiled her thanks and watched as he left to get a spare rifle. When he came back he had Laura stand in front of the fence and showed her how to hold it. It was rather heavy and Laura kept letting the rifle barrel point downward. Jimmy stood behind her with his arms around her, showing her again. Then he set a bottle up on the fence and came back. "you're letting it drop. Don't do that; you're likely to shoot your foot." "Sounds painful." "It is, believe me." Laura closed her eyes and Jimmy kept talking, his breath tickling her ear. Without thinking she turned her head to look at him; he was so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. Her eyes widened slightly as he stared back at her, dark eyes glimmering. She had been wrong; Jimmy did like her. A lot. She felt her eyes drift close as Jimmy lowered his face toward her, rifle lesson forgotten completely. She faintly heard the rifle's thud as it hit the dust. He was less than a hair's breadth away when Rachel's voice made them both jump. "Yoo-hoo!" Anybody here?" Jimmy backed away looking regretful and thwarted. His eyes promised things that made Laura shudder with anticipation; his every look was a kiss. But the veil dropped over his eyes once Rachel rounded the corer and came into view. "What's goin' on?" "I was tryin' to teach Laura how to shoot a rifle." Jimmy's voice was a rumble. "Oh, well, if ya want to let Cody take over now, he's back." Laura felt a twinge of disappointment as Cody walked over. "Hey Laura. Want me to teach ya how to use a rifle?" She picked up the rifle and shot to the bottle clean off with a single shot. "I think I've got it pretty well don't you?" She turned on her heel and left the confused Cody standing in her wake. "How'd the lesson go?' Rachel asked in a knowing voice as Laura headed her way. Laura looked at the retreating figure of Jimmy. "Promising. But I think I'll need a few more lessons." "Lou, ya wanna go for a ride?" Laura asked as she sat on the porch talking to Lou and Rachel. "Where to?" "Just go for a ride. Maybe talk." Rachel knew what Laura was up to and nodded in approval. "Sure." They saddled up and rode out toward the woods surrounding the town. After a breathtaking gallop Laura slowed her horse to a walk. "Lou, I have something to tell you." "Okay." "Lou, I am not, in any way, trying to take Kid from you. I know you love him and he loves you. I wouldn't do anything to come between you two." Lou sighed. "I guess I already knew that. I was just jealous. You're so pretty and I'm-" "Lou, Kid doesn't even know I exist when you're around. He doesn't even give me a second glance when you walk by." Laura laughed. "He lights up whenever he sees you." "You think so?" Lou gave her a hopeful smile. "Oh yes. That man is head over heels in love with you Lou. I'm happy for you both." "Thank you." This time Lou's smile was genuine. After this little talk they began chattering away about their lives and became friends. As they headed back for town Laura asked Lou, "Does Jimmy have a girl anywhere?" "Jimmy?" Lou snickered. "Hardly. He's a solitary kinda guy." "Oh." "Why?" Lou darted a smirking glance at Laura. "Just wonderin'." "Why? Ya like Jimmy?" Laura blushed crimson. "Yes." "I thought you liked Cody." "No." Laura shook her head. "Not that that. He's funny, but I think Jimmy stole my heart." Laura told Lou about the rifle lesson a few weeks ago. Lou listened in thoughtful silence and nodded. "I could ask." "Would you? Oh but he'd think I put you up to it." "No, Jimmy's a friend. He'll tell me the truth." "Lou, I'd be eternally grateful if you did." Lou nodded. "I'll ask him after supper." Lou did just that. She got Jimmy's attention and told him she need to ask him something. "In private!" she said when everyone start to follow them outside. Jimmy sighed and leaned against a post, supporting the porch. His eyes were distant and Lou could guess what, or who, he was thinking about. "Jimmy, what do you think of Laura?" His smile faded. "Laura?" His eyes grew shadowed. "Well, since she's Cody's girl, I don't think I have a say at all." "Jimmy, she doesn't like Cody. Not like that." "And how would you be knowin' his?" "She told me." Jimmy stared at the barn. He said nothing for a long time. Lou waited silently, knowing he would talk when he was ready. "I dunno Lou. She's beautiful and smart and funny and sweet." His expression mellowed as he told Lou just what he thought of Laura Sierra. Lou smiled gently. "Jimmy, sounds like you're in love with Laura." Jimmy froze. What did he know about love? He frowned. yet the fact was inescapable. Somehow, without even knowing it, he had fallen in love with Laura Sierra. And now he knew Cody wasn't in the picture. But did Cody now that? He shrugged the thought off. "But what can I do Lou?' I don't know much 'bout courtin' and all that." "Don't worry. Ask Rachel. I'm sure she can help." Jimmy nodded, then his face softened. "Thanks Lou." He hugged her before heading for the barn. Lou watched him leave with a fond smile. [email protected] On To Chapter 6 Return To Fan Fiction Page |