Lucy had gained permission from her parents to chaperone Cecilia and Phoebe on their picnic with Jimmy and Billy. Her parents actually encouraged it so she could learn some responsibility. It was hard not to give away her real plans to meet Buck on the picnic too. Lucy was so nervous now that she thought about it. She and Buck barely knew each other but had shared a most amazing scandalous kiss. Lucy really hoped she and Buck could have some time to get acquainted.
All three ladies were at Cecilia's house getting ready. Lucy was styling Phoebe's hair when Cecilia came back in the room wearing a new dress.
"What do you think?" Cecilia asked with a bright smile.
Phoebe immediately blushed.
"That dress is gorgeous, Cece," Lucy said, "But isn't it a little low cut for a picnic?"
"Why yes it is," Cece said with a giggle. "I think Mr. Hickok will appreciate it all the more."
"Oh, Cece!" Phoebe said blushing more. "What if he can't keep his hands to himself?"
"Then that'll make two of us!" Cecilia said and tossed a small throw pillow at Phoebe.
"I don't think I'm quite ready to even think about that," Phoebe said innocently.
"That's ok, Phoebe," Cecilia said, "I'm sure Mr. Cody is a complete gentleman."
"I hope so," Phoebe responded, "I would hate to have to slap him away for getting fresh with me."
Lucy said nothing. She was just hoping that perhaps she and Buck could share another kiss. Only this time she hoped it would be longer and wouldn't be interrupted by anyone. That was what she really wanted to happen, but after they had gotten to know each other better, of course. Truthfully she hoped they would at least start calling each other by their first names.
"How long do we have until the boys get here?" Lucy asked. Her mind had wandered away and they still had so much to pack.
Phoebe looked over at the mantle clock. "Oh, only fifteen minutes!" she squealed.
"Relax ladies," Cecilia said. "My ma has packed the baskets and set out the blankets already. All we need to do is get ourselves ready."
Lucy looked around at her things. She had gloves, handkerchiefs, and her bonnet. Phoebe had all her things set too. Cecilia's things were still scattered all over the room.
"Come on, Phoebe, let's get Cece's things put together," Lucy said as Cecilia put the finishing touches on her hair.
"I wonder if boys go through the same sort of problems getting ready as us girls do?" Phoebe wondered aloud.
"Cody you've had enough time in the mirror," a frustrated Jimmy declared. "Move aside so I can make sure I'm presentable."
"You look fine Jimmy," Cody replied without looking. "I need to look just right for Phoebe. She is a lady of refinement."
"Are you saying Cecilia isn't?" Jimmy asked angrily.
Buck rolled his eyes from a dark corner of the bunkhouse.
"No, she's just easier to please than Phoebe," Cody clarified.
Cody went back to primping in the mirror until Jimmy lost his patience again.
"Cody it's a good thing you don't have a beard," Jimmy remarked, "You'd never look away from the mirror."
Cody started to laugh and then stroked his chin and contemplated growing some whiskers. "Nah, a beard would cover up too much of my beautiful face."
"Can you two please just hurry up?" Buck said impatiently.
"Relax, Buck," Jimmy said, "We're not expected at Cecilia's house for another fifteen minutes."
"I'll go hitch up the buckboard and ride out to the picnic spot and make sure everything is ready," Buck said.
"Alright, Buck," Cody said with a baffled smile.
"Cody, can I use the mirror now?" Jimmy asked with a low growl.
"In another minute," Cody said as he smoothed out his hair over his ears once more.
Jimmy didn't feel like waiting anymore and tipped Cody unceremoniously to the floor. He mussed his hair a bit and put his hat on his head.
"There, was that so hard?" Jimmy asked. "Come on, we've got to go pick up the ladies."
Cody stood up and dusted himself off. He gave himself one more quick look in the mirror and adjusted his hat slightly to the right. He winked at himself and headed for the door. He was ready to charm Miss Phoebe Jacobs like she had never been charmed before.
Buck paced the area after finding all the pretty and interesting spots around their picnic spot. He couldn't wait to see Lucy. He was well aware that they might not have a thing in common or really like each other at all, but he needed to take the chance that she was different. She seemed to overlook the fact that he was half-Indian, but he wanted to make sure it wasn't just the magic of the dance that influenced her somehow. Buck wanted to know everything there was to know about Lucy Halston. All he really knew so far was that she was very beautiful and that her lips were sweet like honey. Buck smiled as he remembered the kiss they shared. There were times where he wished he was still kissing her. Everything bad in the world washed away. All the hateful looks vanished while he was kissing her. He remembered when she asked him to dance. Everything in the room melted away and all he saw was her.
Buck shook his head. It was likely she would change her mind. Pretty girls didn't give him a second look and he felt sure Lucy would be the same. He just hoped not.
It wasn't long before Buck heard the tell tale sounds of a horse and wagon. He slipped his body behind a tree until he was certain that his friends were the cause of the noise. The buckboard stopped and Buck peeked from behind the tree. Lucy was a vision of loveliness, he thought as his pulse quickened. She had her long brown hair swept to one side and wore a summery yellow and lavender blouse with a dark skirt. Buck felt himself swallow hard. He rolled back around the tree and tried to build up the courage to appear before his friends. If it was possible, Lucy was even prettier than he remembered. He didn't know what to say to her. He quickly straightened his hair and wiped his palms on his pants. Buck couldn't hide forever even if he wanted to.
Buck swung around the tree in time to see both Jimmy and Cody help their ladies from the buckboard. That left Lucy sitting sort of forlornly in the middle of the back seat of the buckboard with no one to help her down. Buck's nervousness subsided quickly as he felt the need to rush to Lucy's side and help her down from the wagon. Lucy smiled as soon as she saw him and Buck was immediately more at ease. She was here and happy to see him. Those two things bolstered his confidence.
"Thank you, Mr. Cross," Lucy said sweetly as Buck lifted her gently down from the wagon.
The pair held onto each other even though Lucy was safely away from the buckboard. Neither Buck nor Lucy seemed to want to break their hold on each other.
"Please, call me Buck," he said and smiled shyly.
Lucy nearly squealed with joy at the request and then put in one of her own. "Only if you call me Lucy," she said.
Buck smiled. Phoebe and Cecilia were busy setting up the food while Jimmy and Cody laid the blankets down. The two young women kept stealing looks at Buck and Lucy and tried not to giggle. The two of them were still holding onto each other and gazing into each other's eyes.
Buck cleared his throat slightly. "I suppose we should join the others for lunch."
Lucy nodded and dropped her arms from Buck's shoulders. Buck offered her his arm and escorted her over to the blankets.
The riders and ladies smiled shyly at each other while they ate sandwiches and sipped lemonade. It was awkward and uncomfortable for Buck and the others. None of them could seem to think of a thing to say. Even Cody was uncharacteristically quiet.
Lucy spoke up first. "You all ride for the Pony Express, you must have had some interesting adventures," she stated.
"I love hearing stories of adventures," Phoebe said brightly.
"Do I have a story for you," Cody said and launched into his harrowing story featuring Bart the Bear. Phoebe eagerly listened and Cody felt like he was in his element.
After that there was no shutting Cody up and Phoebe was completely drawn into every word Cody uttered. Buck watched as Cecilia pulled Jimmy up and the two went walking alone. Buck looked down at Lucy and saw her looking back at him. She smiled as if to answer the question of whether she would like to go on a stroll. Buck quickly got up and helped Lucy up too. The two of them walked the opposite direction from Jimmy and Cecilia.
"Phoebe will keep Cody occupied for hours," Lucy remarked. "She wasn't lying when she said she loves adventure stories."
"Well, it seems like they might be a perfect match," Buck said with a smile. "Cody loves telling them."
"How about you?" Lucy asked, "Do you have lots of fascinating adventures?"
"Not really," Buck answered. "I try and stay out of people's way mostly. Too many things could go wrong for me."
"I guess I can see that," Lucy said sadly. "I'm sorry. I hope I don't turn into one of those things that goes wrong."
"Me too," Buck said nervously. "I don't court a lot of ladies."
Lucy blushed.
"I don't know anything about you, Lucy," Buck observed.
"I'm not that complicated to figure," Lucy said. "I have two best friends and I can't imagine the world without them. I love to draw and paint. My ma thinks I'm pretty good at it. I don't have any brothers or sisters, but Phoebe and Cece are like sisters to me. How about you?"
"I guess you know I am half Indian," Buck started nervously. "I ride for the Pony Express. That's really all there is to tell."
"Oh, no it's not," Lucy teased. "You have a whole world of experiences that is like no one I know. I suppose it is hard to talk about though?"
"I guess it is strange to me that someone is interested," Buck said.
"Do you have any Indian family?" Lucy asked.
"I have a brother, named Red Bear," Buck answered, "But that's really all."
"Do you ever see him?" Lucy asked.
"I saw him once since I left," Buck said. "It was hard."
"You don't have to talk about it," Lucy said acknowledging Buck's discomfort with the subject. "I like to think the family that matters, we choose. I chose Phoebe and Cecilia as my sisters."
"I guess it's the same for me with the other riders," Buck said. "We are like brothers."
Lucy smiled and stopped walking. She turned and looked deeply into Buck's eyes. She could see sadness there, but also hopefulness. She looked at his face and tried to remember every detail. He had a very interesting face and she wanted to draw him. Buck was looking just as intently back at her and she felt nervous all of the sudden. She knew what was coming next and it excited her.
Their lips connected eagerly and Lucy relaxed and let herself enjoy the kiss. There would be no one to interrupt the moment this time. She moved her arms up around Buck's neck and tangled her hands in his hair as he pulled her closer. Lucy had never been kissed like this before. The kiss was intense. It wasn't hard or bruising, but very passionate. Lucy wasn't sure why but it made her feel bold. Their tongues started to dance around each other in a complicated ballet and everything seemed to happening instinctually. She didn't want to fight it. Lucy didn't know why, but she dropped her arms down and started to tug at Buck's shirt. The shirt came untucked easily. Lucy couldn't help but slink her hands underneath Buck's shirt. She immediately remembered how his muscles looked the other day when he was chopping firewood. Now she could feel them too.
Buck moaned at Lucy's touch and deepened the kiss. The two were so distracted by their kiss that they didn't notice when a gentle rain began to fall. It wasn't until they heard the gentle roar of thunder that they became aware of their surroundings.
"Oh, we should find some shelter," Lucy said quickly as she tried to keep her blouse from clinging to her skin.
Buck grabbed Lucy's hand and started to lead her back to their picnic site. "I know a place we can take shelter," he said.
Buck and Lucy were quickly reunited with the others. Jimmy handed Buck the extra picnic blanket and Buck put it over Lucy to protect her from the cold rain which was falling quite heavily now.
Jimmy pointed to Buck's untucked shirt. "I see you got distracted," Jimmy teased.
Buck pointed to the misaligned buttons on Jimmy's shirt. "No more than you," he teased back. "You missed a button."
Jimmy blushed and fixed his shirt as Buck led the group to an abandoned cabin very near their picnic spot. Cody had unhitched the horse from the buckboard and lodged it in a lean to shed next to Buck's horse which was already there.
Jimmy started a fire in the fireplace.
"We should all get out of these wet clothes," Buck said trying not to make the ladies uncomfortable.
"Yes, we wouldn't want to catch our deaths," Cecilia said. "Other things maybe…"
"Cece!" Lucy whispered loudly.
"What should we do?" Phoebe asked in a small voice. "I've never been in my skivvies in the company of a young man before."
"Well you may never again if we don't get out of these clothes," Lucy said thoughtfully. "It'll be alright, I trust them."
Cody opened a trunk and found some quilts and blankets and handed them to the ladies as the riders turned their back to let the ladies change. The ladies then helped each other out of their soaked skirts and blouses. They then wrapped themselves in the dry blankets. The boys hung the items near the fireplace so they could dry. Cody, Jimmy, and Buck all stripped down to their long john bottoms and hung their clothes up too and then sat next to their lady of choice.
"Oh Jimmy, you're freezing," Cecilia said coyly. "Why don't you come inside this blanket with me and warm up."
Jimmy swallowed hard as he looked over at Cecilia. She had opened the blanket revealing herself sitting in her bloomers and corset.
"Alright," was all he was able to utter as he blushed crimson and scooted over to the blanket. Jimmy positioned himself behind her and wrapped the blanket around them both.
"Now that's better, isn't it?" she cooed.
"Mmm hmm," Jimmy hummed.
Lucy and Phoebe giggled to each other and then invited Buck and Cody to do the same. It would be scandalous if they were caught like this but the young ladies didn't care. It would be highly unlikely that anyone would see them, so they took the chance.
Lucy rested against Buck's bare chest and felt absolutely content. She could feel his sweet breath on her neck and gave an involuntary shiver. Buck rubbed her arms to warm her and her mind keep thinking impure thoughts and wishing his hands would roam other places.
The quiet of the afternoon was suddenly interrupted when Phoebe squeaked. "Mr. Cody!" she said, "Watch where you're putting your hands."
Cecilia looked at Lucy and they both knew they were thinking the same thing. They wished Jimmy and Buck were a little bolder like Cody. Lucy watched Cecilia move Jimmy's hands to her bosom and blushed slightly as she watched Jimmy's eyes go wide and a smile creep across his face. She didn't think she could be so bold herself but she snuggled herself deeper into Buck's embrace. She carefully and quietly unhooked the top few hooks of her corset so she could be more comfortable. Lucy hoped Buck would catch her subtle hint, but understood if he didn't feel comfortable touching her in the company of others. Lucy caressed Buck's arms which had encompassed her own and she slowly felt one of his hands venture up the front of her corset. He started to gently kiss the back of her neck and she in turn tilted her head to the side to give him better access. Lucy closed her eyes and let out a quiet, but happy moan. Buck took it as the encouragement it was and deftly slid his hand inside Lucy's corset and caressed her bare skin.
Lucy took a quick peak around the room. Cecilia and Jimmy seemed to be doing the same thing as she and Buck. Phoebe was letting Cody kiss her. Even though the picnic got rained out, everyone seemed to be having a better time anyway.
A short time later the sun came out and shone brightly through the window. The three couples suddenly knew it was time to go back home. Their clothes should be dry by now and if they didn't leave they would all have much to answer for. Lucy couldn't wait to talk with Phoebe and Cecilia about what happened and suspected they couldn't either.
"We should get back to town," Lucy reluctantly said. "We wouldn't want anyone to come looking for us."
The other couples all looked up and agreed with the same reluctance.
"We need to do this again sometime," Phoebe said cheerfully.
Lucy and Cecilia looked at each other and giggled. The boys got up, quickly got dressed, and went outside to hitch up the horse to the buckboard and pack the wagon. The girls got dressed and straightened the cabin up. They could each see the potential for this place to be a secret meeting place for them and their chosen rider. They were soon on their way home with Jimmy and Cody, leaving Buck behind to return to the station alone.