by Heather (fishgirl) Daly
�Cody you get back here with that book or I�ll shoot ya in the back!�
�The cat jumped over the hill and sat on a ball� Cody read slowly as if every word was a struggle.
�I mean it Cody give it to me now�
Cody pretended to stutter �Th th th th the then�
�Alright Cody if you don�t give me that book back I�ll drop your jacket into this bucket of white wash�
Cody turned to him with an angry look on his face �You wouldn�t dare�
�Oh ya think so?�
Buck thought this was a very funny idea and Ike seemed to agree. They were both laughing.
Jimmy finally caught up with Cody about the time he dropped the book into the horse trough and they both fell to the ground in a big fight. Kid was trying to break it up, and all Buck and Ike could do was stand back and laugh.
Rachel came out of the house when she heard the struggle, shouting at them to get up. Lou came riding up a look of bewilderment on her face. Teaspoon who was right behind her, he didn�t look at all pleased.
�BOYS!� he shouted.
Cody and Jimmy broke apart immediately, both of them looking like a kids caught with there hands in the cookie jar. This caused everyone who was not already laughing to start and Buck and Ike could barely breathe.
�Alright now everyone shut up!� Teaspoon shouted. The laughing finally subsided to some light snickering. And Teaspoon asked, �Now can someone tell me what happened?�
Jimmy and Cody without hesitation pointed the finger at the other. �He started it!�
This caused the giggles to return to side-splitting laugher. Buck and Ike fell off the steps. Ike tried to grab Buck for balance but ended up knocking both of them down onto the board that happened to be holding the bucket of white wash. Before anyone knew what was happening the bucket was on top of Teaspoon�s head white wash dripping down over his face, and Buck and Ike were on a 3 night ride going right through an area without a town in sight.
=I don�t see why Teaspoon didn�t send Jimmy and Cody. They started the fight= Ike signed.
�It could have something to do with the fact that they didn�t knock a bucket of white wash onto his head�.
=I lost my balance=
�Ya well it don�t matter now. Lets just hope Teaspoon has calmed down by the time we get back.�
=I�ll never forget the look on Teaspoon�s face when that bucket hit him though.=
�You better, if you ever bring that up in front of him you could find yourself tied upside down in the barn. You know Teaspoon.�
=Ya, ya I know,= he had a huge grin on his face and Buck couldn�t help but smile too.
�Swift there are riders down there!�
�Yep��
�So what are we gonna do about it?�
�Nothin�, we ain�t gonna do nothing.�
�We are gonna share there camp though right?�
�I suppose they wont begrudge us some hospitality and a space by their fire�let me do the talking ya hear? I don�t want you to say a word.�
�Got it.�
Buck heard them approaching long before he saw them. They certainly weren�t trying to be quiet. It was their approach more than anything else that made the two riders comfortable with allowing strangers to share the fire. One had been singing �Oh Susanna� while the other played his harmonica.
Ike noticed that all though neither one of them was exactly a blabber mouth one of them hadn�t said a word since he got there. He was beginning to wonder if perhaps this man was silent too when he heard the man let loose a gut wrenching laugh. Nope, not silent.
Buck seemed a little more uncomfortable when he saw the second man. He was a half-breed, Ike figured that this would make Buck more comfortable but no Buck never took his eyes off this guy. It was like Buck sensed something was wrong about the man. The man told Buck that his name was Swift and his friend was Tyson. They were on their way to Rock Creek to visit a sick friend. Swift asked why they were out there and Buck explained that they were express riders on there way to Green Creek. They finally bedded down for the night. Buck only pretended to sleep he kept an eye on the both of them til he was certain both men were asleep before he allowed his exhaustion to overtake him.
In the morning Buck and Ike were packing up to go when Swift handed Buck an envelope. �When you get to Green Creek could you see this gets to the marshal? It�s very important�. Buck promised to and he and Ike left.
Rick had been following the tracks for hours, now there were 4 sets of tracks branching off in 2 different directions. Being not much of a tracker, Rick decided to follow the ones leading to the expected destination�Green Creek.
* the following night*
=We should be getting to Green Creek around noon tomorrow= Ike signed.
�Ya if you don�t sleep in again,� Buck smiled, he nearly always rose before Ike did. It wasn�t that Ike slept in, Buck just loved to watch the sun rise.
Ike stuck his tongue out at Buck and threw some food at him. Buck ducked and pretended to be mad but soon they were both laughing. They decided to go ahead and sleep early since they had lost some sleep watching the two men the night before. Before they knew it they were both sleeping soundly. They never even heard Rick approaching the camp until they heard the gun cock.
Neither one of them had the time to grab for any weapons, they had not expected trouble, are they were certainly not ready for it.
�All right get up slowly with your hands way above your head.�
They did as they were told getting up as slowly as possible all traces of sleep gone as they stared down the barrel of a gun. The first thing they noticed upon closer examination was that their gunman had a lot in common with a certain friend of theirs.
She pulled a pair of cuffs out of her saddle bag and tossed them to Buck. �Put those on.�
He gave her a hard look judging his chances at grabbing his knife from his boot. She noticed his look about the time he noticed a deputy badge pinned to her shirt.
�Hold it!� she yelled as he started to move. She saw the knife hear his boot and motioned to Ike �Pick up his knife really carefully,�
Ike looked at Buck and bent over to do so. Buck tried to interrupt �We are not��
�Quiet! I don�t want to hear a word from either one of you or I�ll shoot, now toss that knife over by my feet nice and easy now.�
Ike did as he was told.
�I�m Deputy Rick Carson, and your both under arrest for murder. Cuff that Indian�s hands behind his back.� Ike gave Buck an I�m sorry look then cuffed his hands behind his back. When Buck was secured she tossed a second pair of cuffs to Ike, �Now cuff your own, in front is fine. Both of you over by that tree.� The walked over to it, she tossed a length of rope to Ike and said �Tie him to that tree.�
Ike rolled his eyes, how much trouble was Buck gonna be with his hands cuffed behind him like that, but rather then get one or both of them shot he did as he was told. Then he turned back to the �deputy�.
�Sit!� was all she said. Once he had sat down she walked toward him and checked that his cuffs were locked tight, then she walked over to Buck and checked his cuffs and ropes, satisfied she picked up Bucks knife and the two gun belts and stowed them on the back of her horse. She turned back to face Ike �What are you names?�
Buck started to tell her but she cut him off with �I didn�t ask you, I asked him�
�He don�t talk� Buck snapped back, he was mad now not only was this person wrong about who she was after she obviously had some chip on her shoulder about Indians.
�How does he communicate then?�
=Indian sign language= Ike replied sick of being talked about like he wasn�t there. The signs were harder to understand since he could barely bring his hands apart from each other.
�That�s good cuz I know Indian sign language, and I guess this means you are not deaf�.
=No not deaf just silent, and if you want to talk to me maybe you should take these off first.= Ike didn�t look as angry as Buck but he was very annoyed.
�My name is Buck cross and this is Ike McSwain and we are not the people you are looking for.�
�Didn�t I just tell you to shut up, I don�t talk to Indians. How�s this, you talk when I don�t tell you to and I shoot your friend Ike here, he makes one wrong move and I shoot you, sound fair?� Neither one of them answered but Ike rolled his eyes. �Now are you or are you not heading to Green Creek?�
Buck opened his mouth to answer remembered and put his head back against the tree.
=Yes we are, we are pony express riders=
�Ya right if you are then where are your messages� Ike motioned toward his horse. She got up slowly and walked over to his horse keeping an eye on both of the riders. She pulled the mochilla from the horse and looked inside. She smiled �Just as I thought it is empty�
=It can�t be= Ike signed, he moved to get up but she pointed her gun back at him and he reseated himself. =It was full when we left Sweetwater=
�Ya that I believe, you probably stole it off some poor dead rider. What�s this?� she said she pulled the letter that Buck had been given out of the outside pocket of the bag. She opened the envelope and read the letter, she also pulled out its most interesting contents, a map.
She smiled.
�Now I have all the proof I need.� She walked over to Ike he glared at her and moved to get up. She hit him over the head with the butt of her pistol. Before he blacked out he could hear Buck struggling to get loose, Ike wanted to reassure him, but he couldn�t seem to keep his head up��
The next morning Ike awoke to find that the girl had also tied him to a tree, she was busy packing up Ike and Buck�s belongings in her wagon and tying horses to the back. He turned to look at Buck to find that he was already awake watching the girl with anger in his eyes. Ike�s vision was a little cloudy but he remembered what happened last night and sighed. He thought more about the wagon, he hadn�t seen it last night, she must have had it hidden somewhere when she came into camp.
The girl finally noticed that Ike was awake and walked over to him. �I guess I hit you a little too hard last night�.how�s the head?� He couldn�t answer even if he wanted to he looked up at her strangely. She said �oh� blushed a bit and walked behind the tree to untie him.
=It�s fine= he reply stiffly as he got up off the ground. He moved toward Buck to untie him as well.
�Don�t you dare!� she said as she stepped in front of him. �Here,� she picked up a nearby plate of food. �Eat some of this then feed some to him. I�ll untie him when I am ready. We�ll be leaving soon.�
Ike shrugged and sat down near Buck. He fed him some of the food, but Buck wouldn�t eat much so Ike ended up finishing most of it. She finally had Ike untie Buck and told him to get in the back of the wagon. Ike had to help him in since his hands were still cuffed behind him, then she took out a pair of leg irons and put them on Buck. Ike was told to get in the front of the wagon with her so she could keep an eye on him.
Buck couldn�t keep his mouth shut he was outraged. �Why am I more dangerous than him? What do you think I am going to do, scalp you with my hands behind my back? Why are you chaining my feet am I going to run away in the middle of nowhere with no horse and my hands cuffed? Besides you�ve got the wrong guys!� by this time he was shouting, Ike had rarely seen him quite so mad.
The girl �Rick� didn�t seem the least bit worried about his anger.
�Let me describe to you the men I am after and see if you guys think you fit� she paused glaring at them. �Two men came into town, a half breed and his silent partner they killed the marshal so that they could steal a map describing the path of a certain gold shipment. Now I find you two out here, a half-breed and his silent partner, you are carrying the stolen map plus a letter to the crooked marshal of Green Creek. Express riders, I don�t think so, I have met express riders they are honorable men you two are slime.�
She turned to Buck practically in his face now. �Why do I hate you in particular? The half-breed killed my father, the marshal, slit his throat. Probably with this knife� she was holding the knife she had taken from him the night before. She held it to his throat �I should do the same to you.�
Ike moved to try to stop her, but she pulled the knife away. �But I wont, I want to see you swing!�. She grabbed Ike arm and practically threw him onto the front of the wagon she followed him up grabbed the reins and they rode away.
�Well look at that, I guess we have nothing to worry about after all, she must think they did it!�
�That�s good and bad, they have the letter and the map and we need those or none of this matters at all.�
�Then we got to get it back.�
�Well get it, don�t worry, she�ll be so busy with those two she will never expect anyone else would try to jump her.�
�Your right Swift, how�d you get to be so smart?�
�By keeping my mouth shut! Now why don�t you do the same?�
They rode along in silence for a long time, Ike could sense that the girl was upset she had tears in her eyes but she refused to release them in front of her father�s killers. Ike tried to come up with something to say to her, he wanted to comfort her, he didn�t know why. She had been cruel to his best friend Buck, but that was because she was mistaken about who he was. What do you say to comfort a girl who thinks you killed her father? He decided to start off as simple as possible. =Where are we going?=.
She didn�t answer right away, she was trying to decide if he should know or not. =Green Creek?=
�Ya right,� she snorted. �You would like that wouldn�t you, that crooked marshal would certainly take my word over his employees, he probably sent you there to begin with.� She looked at him waiting for him to deny it, she was surprised when he simply asked.
=Where then?=
�Sweetwater, my father knew the marshal there, besides he runs the pony express office so he would probably be interested in who attacked one of his riders to steal that mochilla and those horses you�ve got.� He almost smiled at this response but quickly decided it would probably be better to let her take them there. Teaspoon would straighten it out later. As long as Buck didn�t rip the girl to shreds before they got there. He should have been mad too he supposed, after all she had nearly cracked his skull open with the pistol of hers. All he could think of though was that if he was in her place he probably would be doing exactly the same things. How was he going to get that across to Buck though?
He tried again to begin a conversation, hoping that maybe he could improve conditions for himself and Buck. =How�d you get to be a deputy?=
�You mean being a girl and all?� she asked.
Ike looked down at his hands, he supposed that was what he meant, if she hadn�t been a girl he certainly wouldn�t have asked. Knowing Lou, he shouldn�t have needed to ask that question, he didn�t know what else to say so he just nodded.
�My father deputized me, he had me carrying a message to a nearby town and thought that being a deputy might make me better protected. That�s why I wasn�t there to help him. He always felt that his badge was a shield of sorts.� Her voice deepened. �Apparently your friend back there doesn�t agree.�
Ike didn�t know what to say to that except, =I am sorry for your loss.=
She looked hard into his eyes and replied, �I don�t know why, but I believe that.� She smiled, �I guess you have an honest face.�
The rest of the day was spent in silence, the girl was confused, she could see where the Indian would be capable of murder, but she just couldn�t imagine Ike doing such a thing. She also couldn�t see him defending one who had. How did she know this though, she had barely even spoken to him. She didn�t know what to do, here she had her father�s killers, and she desperately wanted to let one of them go. She must have been exhausted because despite her troubling thoughts she fell into a deep sleep that night. She never even woke up when someone came up behind her and hit her on the back of the head.
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