The winter passed uneventfully for Buck, he still didn't like school but there were no problems with his teacher or serious problems with Patterson. He'd gotten used to Becky and after the incident with Matt, even Julia seemed okay, most of the time. He was starting to think maybe girls weren't as bad as he'd always thought until Del decided Becky wasn't his girl anymore. That should have been good for Buck, but Del seemed to talk about the girl more when she wasn't his than when she had been. After a few days, Del had decided he wasn't mad about whatever it was that Becky had done, and he was once again completely taken with her. Then the unthinkable happened, a spat during recess one day had Becky deciding she wasn't Del's girl anymore.

Del was devastated when Becky had hotly informed him he could find a new girl, and he'd moped around for days until his father told him to apologize for whatever he had done, even if he wasn't sure what it was. The apology worked and the two very young lovers were content again, until the next time. Buck soon learned that whatever was happening between Del and Becky was going to be a common occurrence. It was a cycle that seemed to repeat itself every three or four weeks, and it was all the turmoil that made Buck more convinced than ever that Guinevere was the only girl he had any interest in.

Since the day John had officially given the mare to Buck, he had spent as much time with her as he could. It wasn't easy to go on joyrides during the winter months, the early darkness, cold weather, and snow were hard to work around. Buck still managed to find time for her, though. He worked in the livery a couple of hours every day to pay for Guinevere's board and was able to use some of his time to see to her. On days when the weather was decent he would take her for rides in the corral, and on the rare really nice days, John did his best to see Buck got a proper ride on her. By the time spring came around again, Buck and Guinevere had indeed forged a bond.

Ida had spent the winter watching her son, and was impressed with Buck's great love for the horse. She also liked the work ethic he seemed to have developed since receiving her. Buck had never been one to cheerfully do chores, but he never complained about his work at the livery. He seemed to enjoy the time he spent there, and even his harmless mischief had slowed since Guinevere had been bestowed on him. He had proven that he was responsible, for an eleven-year-old anyway, and it was because of this that she agreed to something Buck had been asking about for years.

Soon after Buck had started spending time with John, the two had starting hunting together. Buck had loved it and had soon begun asking about learning to shoot a revolver. Ida hadn't minded the rifles, but she had been leery of handguns. Something about revolvers had seemed so much more grown up, and she'd been reluctant to allow John to start those lessons. Buck was growing up, however, he had proven it time and again over the past few months and Ida finally told him she was going to let John teach him to use a handgun.

After discussing the matter with John, Ida shared the news with Buck. She told him after he'd come in from school on Thursday, and immediately realized she shouldn't have done that. Buck was beside himself when he'd heard the news, and had spent the next day asking questions and talking a blue streak about John's gun. It was almost a relief to send him to bed Friday night.

Friday night at the Palace was the same as usual with Ida seeing her last client off in the early morning hours. By the time she made it back to her room, all she wanted was sleep. And she hadn't had near enough of it when she was woken by a soft knocking on the door of her room.

She warily opened her eyes wondering what time it was, judging by the dimness of the room she guessed it to be around sunup. That meant she'd only been in bed about three hours, and she couldn't think of anyone that would need her at the moment. Before she could think of how to respond to the knocking her door cracked open.

"Mama?"

Ida sat up when she heard her son's voice. "Is something wrong?" she asked still not fully awake and a little concerned at Buck's early morning visit.

Buck strolled into the room and lay down next to her. "No. I couldn't sleep and just wondered if you was awake."

Lying back down she smiled at him. "I am now. Why couldn't you sleep?" Buck's answer was a grin. Ida pushed his hair back with a chuckle. "You know it's too early. John probably wasn't in much earlier than I was; he needs sleep too."

"I know." Buck was quiet for a minute. "How much sleep do you think he needs?"

Ida shook her head. "I wouldn't expect him to be here any earlier than he normally is." She continued to run her fingers through Buck's hair and thought about the gun, and how much this meant to Buck. She still wasn't completely comfortable with this, which was really ridiculous. Buck had been using a rifle for years, he did need to know about revolvers, and he was going to have the best teacher in the world. "Buck, you know revolvers aren't toys, don't you?"

Buck looked offended she had even asked. "Yes. I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not, and I'm sorry if it sounded like I did. I just want to make sure you realize that this is serious."

"I already shoot rifles and shotguns."

"I know. And I know you're always careful. Just remember to keep being careful, all right?"

Buck looked confused but readily agreed. "Okay."

Ida leaned forward and kissed his head; her sweet boy. She couldn't believe how fast he'd grown. "When did you get so big on me?" Buck shrugged and Ida chuckled. "Why don't you try to go back to sleep for a couple of hours?"

"I can't."

"Really?" Ida asked skeptically. "Why don't you try."

"I can't."

"If you roll over I'll rub your back; I bet you could go to sleep then." Buck had always loved having his back rubbed, and it would put him to sleep faster than anything.

"It won't do any good," Buck said as he turned his back toward his mother.

"It probably won't" Ida replied as she began to move her hand along Buck's back, knowing he would be asleep within minutes. "But it will feel good anyway."

The next time Buck opened his eyes, sunlight was filling the room. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up wondering why he was in Mama's room instead of his own. It all came back to him in a rush, and he jumped out of bed with a gasp. John would be here soon, and then he could finally shoot a revolver. Hurrying back to his own room, Buck quickly dressed and ran down the stairs to the kitchen.

Mama, John, and Rita were there drinking coffee when he rushed into the room. "Mornin'," John greeted.

"Is it time to go?" Buck asked excitedly.

"After you eat something," Mama said before John could answer.

John asked the next question. "You want to eat here or the hotel?"

Buck considered that. Normally he loved eating at the hotel, but he wanted to get started with their lesson as soon as possible. "Which would be faster?"

John laughed. "A person think you'd never shot a gun before. Come on, I think we can spare twenty minutes for the hotel."

Buck nodded. That was fine with him, but he was ready to go . . . now. "Let's go," Buck said giving John's hand a tug as he ran to the door. "Bye, Mama. Bye, Rita," he called over his shoulder before disappearing outside.

"I guess I'd better go before he leaves me," John said getting to his feet and nodding to the women. "Bye, ladies. Buck, wait up."

After a big breakfast at the hotel, which Buck had to admit was worth the time it took to eat, they saddled up and went out to one of their spots to practice with a revolver for the first time. John started with the standard it's-a-tool-not-a-toy talk, and Buck tried to look interested through it. John had told him most of this when he had first learned to shoot, but Buck wasn't going to do anything that might make John retract his offer, and if he had to listen to it all again, he would. Surprisingly, John actually said a few things Buck didn't know; revolvers were just a little different than long guns after all.

At long last, John passed his gun, butt first, over to Buck. Buck couldn't keep a grin from coming to his face as his hand wrapped around the grip. It was heavier than he was expecting but at the same time something about holding it felt right.

"What's the rules?" John asked.

"Always treat it like it's loaded, don't point it at anything you ain't willin' to shoot, and finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire."

John nodded his satisfaction. "All right, check to see if it's loaded."

"It is."

"How do you know?"

Buck looked at the man in confusion. "You said it was."

John smiled as he knelt down beside Buck. "I did. But you're not going to take my word for it, are you?"

Buck's mouth formed a silent "oh"; he hadn't anticipated John trying to trick him.

"I'm not tryin' to trip you up," John said almost as if he'd read Buck's thoughts. "But if a man hands you a gun and says it's loaded, or unloaded, always look for yourself. You wouldn't want it to be empty if you needed it, would you?"

"That makes sense."

"Yes, it does. Remember how I said to check it?"

Buck did remember. His hands were still a little small, and the action was unfamiliar to him, but he was eventually able to get the cylinder out and check for bullets. "There's five," he announced a little surprised to see the empty hole.

"That's right. I load it like that so I don't shoot my foot off when I'm carrying it. You can put six in when you reload it."

Buck pushed the cylinder back into place and got ready to shoot.

"Both hands," John said putting his own hands around Buck's.

"I thought you was supposed to shoot fast," Buck said while John was showing him how to sight down the barrel.

"That comes with practice. Now squeeze, just like always."

Another grin came to Buck's face when he squeezed the trigger and felt the pistol's recoil. He didn't hit the target the first time, but by the third shot he was getting used to the gun and by the time he'd emptied the gun, he had hit the target.

"Like it?" John asked as Buck lowered the gun.

"Yep."

John chuckled. "All right, now open it back up."

It was a little easier to get the revolver open this time and Buck ejected the spent casings the way John had shown him. He then put six new bullets in the gun. Pushing the cylinder back in, he gave it a spin.

"Stop that," John said.

"What?"

"Spinning it."

"Why?"

"Because spinning it can make it loose and if it's loose it could fall out."

Buck's eyebrows went up; he'd never heard that. "Really?"

John laughed. "You know what? I have no idea. But, somebody told me that once and it made enough sense that I never saw the point in testing it."

Buck gave him a long look then looked at the gun, and back to the deputy. "I don't believe it."

John returned the look. "Would you be willing to stake your life on that? What would you do if you needed to use that and the cylinder fell out on you?" Buck didn't answer. "That's what I thought. Stop spinning the cylinder."

"Yes, Sir."

"Let's try it again."

By the time they were ready to head back to town, Buck had spent an entire box of cartridges in the gun and was feeling pretty good about his ability to use a handgun. Mama wouldn't let him have his own yet, he knew better than to even ask that, but John told him he could use one of his to practice with until Mama thought he was old enough for his own. That wasn't Buck's ideal situation, but he knew it would have to do for now.

Sunday passed quietly, as most Sunday's did. The palace was closed on Sunday and the girls spent that day lounging around and recovering from the week. Since there wasn't much going on at home, Buck took advantage of the free day and spent several hours with Guinevere. He enjoyed the day but by supper, as odd as it sounded, he was ready for Monday. Monday meant school of course, but it also meant he would see Del, and Buck was ready to have someone new to talk about his weekend with.

The next morning he managed to get to the school before Del and was waiting for his friend when Del came running up. He was wearing a grin when he slid to a stop in front of Buck. Buck wondered if the grin might mean Becky was Del's girl this week, but before he could ask Del spoke.

"If I tell you something, will you promise not to say anything to anybody else?"

Buck couldn't imagine what would have Del that excited and secretive but he nodded. "Sure. What is it?"

Del looked around almost as though he was afraid someone was listening in. "Pa had to go to town Saturday evenin' cause the mayor wanted to have a meeting with some of the men. After he got home, he and Ma started talking."

"So?" Buck asked. So far that didn't seem like anything special.

Del's grin grew. "Mr. Harper's leavin'."

Buck's eyes widened, he hoped he'd heard Del right. "What?"

"Yeah. That's why Mr. Patterson wanted to meet. Mr. Harper told them he was leavin', and they talked about what they were gonna do for a teacher."

"We didn't run him off, did we?"

"No. Pa said he got a job at some fancy school back east. Anyway, he's leaving at the end of the year."

A grin slowly broke out across Buck's face. "He's really leavin'?"

Del nodded. "Yep, soon as school ends. But you can't tell nobody. Pa don't even know I know, and if anybody finds out I won't admit that I said anything."

"I'm not gonna say anything. Who you reckon they'll get to replace him?"

Del shrugged. "Pa didn't say anything about that; I don't think they know yet."

Buck started to say something else but the ringing of the bell cut him off. He and Del both looked to the schoolhouse where Mr. Harper stood ringing the bell and shared another grin. Buck couldn't believe the luck he'd had this week. First he'd learned how to use the revolver, and now he was finding out that his time with Mr. Harper was limited. And not just for the summer, but for good.

He walked to the schoolhouse feeling better about his lessons than he had in a while. Could life get any better than this?