Printers Daughter
Chapter 4

Author's note: Time for a bit more romance… As usual, I don't own anything except my own characters. I appreciate the reviews. It's very encouraging. As this story continues, I'm going to be balancing story cannon and historical accuracy. Please continue to let me know what you think.

Now that Mr. Ray had agreed that the Riders could escort Maggie home (not Lizzie), all of us quickly signed up to help. Partly it was curiosity. Who was this young, white woman who so clearly had Buck tied up in knots? And why was such an eligible young woman dating him? it think it was Cody who asked that most often.

I was glad to see Lou and Maggie getting to know each other. I had long thought that Lou needed a female friend her own age. And Maggie did too. I was hoping that Maggie would soon be able to trust the rest of the riders (and Teaspoon and Rachel) with her secret. Lou and the Kid keep arguing, but mostly it's about what her role will be once they are serious. The Kid is such a Southern gentleman and Lou goes against how he thinks women should be. I think they'll work it out, but it may take a while.

Within a week we all agreed that Maggie was a pretty special young woman. Even Jimmie. The two of them tangled at first. Jimmie assumed that Maggie would know about his reputation as Wild Bill and dislike him for it. Eventually Jimmie figured out what we all did-Maggie honestly doesn't care about what other people say about someone. She prefers to watch how they interact with others, and to find out what their friends say about them. Probably because of her Indian training, she doesn't care about skin color either. Once Jimmie figured this out he started thinking. He's really good at the Pinkerton type stuff. I expect he'll figure out Maggie's secret before too long, He commented to me, "Damn it Ike, why are the really good women already taken?"

About a week after all this, the news came out that there was going to be a dance. With all the craziness about the War and all, there hadn't really been time for much socializing, but somebody finally got around to organizing it. I sort of like dances. There's always good food and I like seeing everyone all dressed up. And the music. I didn't usually get to dance much. Public opinion tends to keep the girls away. Poor Buck has it even harder. None of the girls' families will let them dance with "that Indian." They're just fools! Buck's a pretty good dancer. And he's a great guy. Maggie's lucky.

But all of us Riders, Buck included, did get to dance at least one dance. Rachel would take each of us out to the dance floor at least once. She didn't care about her reputation. Rachel was fun to dance with, but she had the most fun with Teaspoon. After dancing with Rachel, Buck and I would go back to eating and watching the others dance.

I decided that I wanted this dance to be different for Buck. He couldn't just walk up to Maggie and ask her to dance, as much as the two of them wanted that. She's the school teacher. And, supposedly, white. So I talked to the other riders and we came up with a plan.

After Buck and I got our dances with Rachel we went outside. Jimmie asked Maggie if instead of dancing she would like to take a break and get something to drink? Since she had been dancing pretty steady, she agreed. Then he suggested going outside to cool off. Lou joined them as a chaperone.

Outside Buck was waiting for her. "May I have this dance?" he asked her.

"Out here?"

"There's no one out here but us riders." and held out his hand. Smiling she took his hand and they danced, a slow dance. From the smiles on both their faces, it was worth any trouble we got into for it.

Near the end of the dance Teaspoon showed up. I expect he was wondering where we had all gotten to. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Buck and Maggie dancing. He waited until the dance was over then moved towards them to talk. The rest of the Riders faded away, but I stayed, since it was my idea.

"Buck" Teaspoon began, "I'm going to talk to you later. But for now, I'd like to talk to Miss Ray. I'll see you back at the bunk house."

"Teaspoon" Buck began.

His boss interrupted. "Buck, I need to talk to Miss Ray first. Then we can talk. Now git!" Buck left. Teaspoon glared at me, but I stayed.

"Miss Ray" Teaspoon began in his polite voice. "What the hell were you doing dancing with Buck out here?"

"Teaspoon, it wasn't my idea, but I'm glad I had a chance to do it." I stepped up and signed to Teaspoon that it was my idea. Teaspoon nodded.

"Thank you for your honesty Ike. Miss Ray, do you have any idea how much danger you put Buck in, dancing with him like that? There are men inside that building who would kill him for having done that. Do you care? Or are you planing on using him and breaking his heart? I won't put up with that!"

I signed to Maggie that she needed to tell Teaspoon the truth about herself. She nodded. "Marshall, there's something about me that only a few know. I'm asking for your silence as well. To be brief, I was captured by the Pawnee when I was four. A Cree holy man rescued me and brought me up as his daughter. Ten years later the Pony Soldiers came and brought me back to the white world. My father sent me out with his vision-that I was to be a bridge between my two worlds. That I would be able to help both the white and the Indian understand each other."

The revelation set Teaspoon back a moment. "I had no idea…" Then he went on,"This does change things a mite, but you're still playing with fire. Are you serious about Buck?"

Maggie looked Teaspoon straight in the eye. "Marshall, I have never met a man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with before. Like me, he walks in both worlds. We understand each other. Right now we are still getting to know each other. It's a much slower process than it would be if we were both Indian or white. But it has been so very much worth while. I promise you, I value Running Buck. I would walk away before hurting him." She paused. "Tonight was a fluke. It won't happen again. For now. Too much is at stake. We left New York because my captive status became known. My father's business was ruined, my sister lost her boyfriends, and I lost my first teaching job. It is important that my secret stay that way for now. I have to balance this with my growing feelings for Buck."

"Miss Ray, I don't envy you. I wish you the best and please let me know if I can help. Ike, you're coming back to the bunkhouse with me. You, Buck, and I are going to have a little conversation."

As we walked away I heard Maggie say, "If I walked out of my lodge and found horses tied there, I would accept Running Bucks marriage offer today." Then she went inside.

Teaspoon chewed the two of us (and the others once they came in) up one side and down the other. He said that it was nice of us to provide Buck and Maggie with a romantic moment, but there was a lot at stake here. If that dance had been seen, Maggie's reputation, as well as that of her sister would be at risk. And Buck's life as well, seeing as how he's only half white. Did we at least have sense enough to set guards? He was glad to hear we at least done that.

He talked to Buck privately later. Once he determined that Buck was serious about Maggie he warned him to be very, very careful and congratulated him on how well he was handling Mr. Ray so far. He told Buck some story about how he had fought to win one of his wives and said that the right woman was worth it.

Some times making the mail runs was the easiest part of our lives.