A/N: So I was taking a 'quick' break to write a 'short' Cricket story. I am a foolish mortal...there isn't anything quick and short about Cricket stories anymore :) Thanks to Kristina, Jenna, and Leah for helping me through this whole story. It fought with me for a while and there was a point I thought I might scrap the whole thing and start over.

Chapter One

Cricket Jones sat thinking under a tree near the school yard during recess. It was her favorite spot to sit at lunch time. She could see most of the town and most importantly she could see the Pony Express station. Most of her favorite people lived at that station. It was nice to see all the boys, but especially Buck going about their chores every day.

The gentle breeze blew Cricket's red hair about her face. Sometimes it tickled her nose as a few stray strands would brush against it. Cricket wanted to think of pleasant things today, such as her birthday. She would be fifteen in two and a half weeks. Then she would only be one year away from being sixteen. One more year and she could officially be courted and escorted to dances by young men close to her age. She didn't know how close to her age her parents had meant when they said it. Buck was still close to her age. He was only about three years older than she was. She hoped that would be close enough, but her parents still had other objections about Buck, so Cricket wasn't sure it mattered how much older Buck was than her.

Cricket wondered if her parents would even remember her birthday this year. They almost didn't last year and right now they were acting downright strange. They stopped talking whenever she walked into a room and they were being secretive all the time. Her mother was eating the craziest things and it looked like she was putting on a little weight. When they left Chicago over a year ago, her mother was acting similarly strange. Cricket was starting to get scared that maybe they wanted to move away from Rock Creek or something equally awful. She hoped they would give her whatever news they were hiding soon. Although getting bad news for her birthday would be terrible. She decided to prepare herself for bad news anyway. It was really the best plan of action.

Cricket looked over at Violet Markham. It was nice that she had some friends now. They wouldn't forget her birthday. At least she didn't think Violet would forget. Jesse, well Jesse was acting a little out of the ordinary and Cricket didn't trust him to remember anything right now. The Riders and Rachel and Teaspoon were always busy. Oh who was she kidding? Violet would probably be the only person in the world that would remember her birthday this year, but even she was looking distracted this last week. Maybe Violet wasn't going to remember either. Cricket would be thankful to spend the day with her very best friend or at this point, anyone at all.

It seemed as if something was going on and everyone knew except Cricket. Most people were acting stranger than normal and not just her parents and Jesse. Jesse was really distant and it was bothering Cricket greatly. He seemed to be sneaking around on some sort of adventure and leaving her behind. He seemed tired during school and she knew he was sneaking out at night. He had all the tell tale signs. She was more than a little hurt and getting increasingly angry. She taught Jesse almost everything he knew about sneaking around and now he was keeping her in the dark. It wasn't fair. Cricket thought she might need to do some sneaking around herself. She couldn't ask anyone at the station what was going on with Jesse, because she might get him into trouble. She would have to find out on her own.

Cricket needed a distraction from her birthday anxiety. She was probably misreading the entire situation. Perhaps her friends have always been acting this strange and this was the first time she had noticed. That would make her a bad friend and she was determined never to be a bad friend. Her friends had really rallied around her on her last adventure. Cricket was glad those events were safely tucked into her past but they sure were exciting. Nothing exciting was really happening right now. Cricket almost missed having Maryellen Webster around. Maryellen's family moved away from Rock Creek in shame weeks ago and Cricket had been rather bored ever since. While Maryellen hadn't been the source of any fun at all, still the school day was a bit livelier. Of course, it was because of Maryellen she had nearly drowned and Buck could have been hanged, so maybe boring was better.

Everything seemed really calm on the surface in Rock Creek, but she kept coming back to the realization that something strange was going on with just about everyone she knew. It was subtle but it was there. She looked over at Violet who was lounging on the ground with her nose in a book. Violet, thankfully, was not acting strange at this moment. For that she was happy. She needed for someone to be refreshingly normal right now.

Buck wandered into Teaspoon's office to see what the marshal wanted. Rachel told him when he got back from his run that Teaspoon had sent for him. Buck was surprised to see Cricket's parents sitting patiently in the chairs. He was all of the sudden nervous that he had offended them or even worse, Cricket had gotten herself into a really big mess this time. He quickly looked toward the schoolyard just to make sure she was there. He relaxed a little when he noticed the girl sitting under a tree safe and sound.

"There you are, Son," Teaspoon said greeting Buck. "Mr. and Mrs. Jones would like to get Cricket a pony for her birthday and they want you to pick it out."

"What? Why me?" Buck asked his attention pulled from the soft breeze blowing through Cricket's hair.

"Because, Son, you are Cricket's friend and you know a lot about horses," Teaspoon answered. "You've also been on rides with her before. They have no idea what kind of horse would be a good fit for their daughter, is that correct Mr. Jones?"

The Jones' just nodded.

"They will pay you to find it, buy it, and train it," Teaspoon said.

"But with as much as Cricket hangs around the station, I'll never be able to hide it from her," Buck said trying to discourage the endeavor.

"Well, have her help you," Teaspoon suggested, "And just don't tell her she's taking care of her own horse."

"But Teaspoon," Buck protested under his breath. He couldn't finish the sentence as he didn't want the Jones' to hear. Buck was concerned with Cricket's crush on him. He knew she would read the situation very differently.

"It'll be good for her," Teaspoon said obliviously.

Cricket's parents agreed and shook Buck's hand on their way out of the Marshal's office.

Lou was just finishing up talking to Cricket's parents as they stopped by the school to pick their daughter up. Cricket's facial expression at the whole scene was priceless. Lou and Violet locked eyes and they seemed to have the same concern. Cricket knew something was up. They needed to figure out some sort of distraction or their plan for a surprise party was going to be ruined.

Lou walked up to Violet as she waved goodbye to Cricket. "I think we need to get everyone together before Cricket figures out our plotting."

"Oh, Lou, I think you are right," Violet agreed. "Cricket is dreadfully curious about everything."

"Can you come over to the bunkhouse?" Lou asked. "I think all the boys are there. They can help us figure out how to keep the party a secret."

Lou and Violet walked inside the bunkhouse to the usual activities. Jimmy was cleaning his guns, Cody and Noah were playing cards, Kid was reading, and Buck was distractedly looking out the window. The boys all looked up when Lou and Violet entered.

"Where's Jesse?" Lou asked.

The boys all looked at each other and shrugged.

"Violet and I are going to need some help with Cricket's party," Lou said. "I just spoke with her parents and they were wondering if they could have the party here."

"What do you need us all to do, Lou?" Kid asked.

"Well we'll need some help decorating," Lou explained, "But the biggest thing we're gonna need is to keep Cricket from figuring this all out."

The riders all exchanged knowing looks. If there was one person in this town that could figure out a mystery, it was Cricket.

"She isn't on to us already is she?" Noah asked astonished.

"She's about to be," Violet said nervously. "She's got that look in her eye. You know, the look she gets right before getting herself into trouble. She knows something is up."

"We need a diversion," Lou concluded.

"I think I can help with that," Buck said quietly and relayed the conversation he had with Cricket's parents and Teaspoon's suggestion that they hide the horse in plain sight.

"A horse?" Violet asked amazed. "Oh goodness. Cricket's going to be so surprised."

"If she helps me train her horse, that should keep her occupied up until the party," Buck reasoned.

"We should all chip in to get her a saddle and bridle," Cody suggested.

"I bet Rachel and me could make her a couple of riding skirts," Lou added.

"I'll make the cake," Violet said. "Cricket is especially fond of my applesauce cake.'

"She's not the only one," Jimmy commented with a smile in Violet's direction.

Violet blushed.

Buck was grooming his horse out in the sunshine when Cricket and Violet stopped by after school the next day.

Cricket walked up and petted Buck's horse on his nose.

"He's so pretty," Cricket lamented. "Someday I'll have a pretty horse."

An idea struck Buck and he started to formulate a plan in his mind. If he was going to do this job for the Jones', then he would do it up right.

"If you did have a horse what would you want it to look like?" Buck asked casually. "I'm going to buy a new horse and I can't decide what to get."

"I would get a black and white pinto," Cricket decided dreamily. "I've only seen a few around in my life and I always thought they looked so majestic and beautiful."

Buck smiled to mask his wariness. He was hoping the finding of the horse would be the easy part. That type of pinto was rare around here. He thought he might have to trade with a nearby Indian tribe to find one. The local ranchers and horse breeders usually didn't breed for that type of coloring. Most of the horses bred around there were quarter horses so chestnuts, bays, and palominos were the most common. He might have to look and see if there were any mustang herds around. It would be harder to attain that way but it would be cheaper.

At supper that night Buck asked the other riders to keep an eye out for wild horse specifically the coloring of the horse he was looking for while they were on their runs. He would check with some of the tribes they traded for horses with, in a few days.